“The Federation sealed the other side of the portal back on Earth after war destroyed your planet. It was done so long ago, they decided to reopen it and send a scout to explore, see if any life forms had managed to survive. I’m a scientist, a genetic biologist. I study other worlds and how life has evolved on them. I volunteered for the mission.”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and decided to risk another lie. “If I don’t reappear on Earth in three weeks, they’ll send a search party to find me and bring me home.”
“And how did you learn our language so quickly?”
She swept back her hair to show him a small incision behind one ear. “An implant. It’s called a Tellex chip. It gives me the ability to speak and understand any language after only a few hours of exposure to it.”
“You let them cut into your head?” He looked incredulous.
“It was a minor procedure. Local…” She stopped short. Their language didn’t have a word for anesthesia. “The doctor gave me medicine so I wouldn’t feel any pain.”
He processed that silently while finishing off his flask. “And what of your Earthly mate? Surely she knew this mission would be dangerous. She didn’t try to stop you?”
Lexi stared at him, confused. Maybe the Tellex chip wasn’t working properly. “I have no mate. And if I did, it wouldn’t be a female.”
Now it was his turn to look confused. “Earlier. When we were in the water. You said you’d never had a man pleasure you. But Eva told me your body shows that you’ve mated. I know some women prefer the touch of a female, even though it means settling for a hand and a mouth instead of a cock. So, if you’ve never been with a man, and you have no female mate, then how…” He stopped. “Oh. We have such things here, too. Stone phalluses, mostly. Some crystal. But those are very rare — handed down from Mother to Mother to be used in mystical ceremonies. They think the men don’t know what goes on during those ceremonies, and we allow them their illusion.”
Lexi bristled. “I don’t have a mate because I have a…” She had no word for holographic either. “A sort of imaginary lover. I achieve gratification when he stimulates my core of pleasure with a probe.”
Ayron raised one eyebrow. “An imaginary lover. With a — probe. So that’s what it’s called on Earth. And just how big is his ‘probe’?’
“That’s a rather personal question. I’ll tell you only that it’s of a length and girth adequate for me to achieve gratification swiftly and efficiently.”
“Swiftly and efficiently? What of the hours of pleasure to be found in the arms of a real lover?”
Lexi responded by rote, as though reading from the manual she’d been given when she reach age thirty. “On Earth, we’ve learned to regulate and control our base animalistic needs. We satisfy our physical desires through regularly scheduled sessions with a…” She was about to say “holographic but caught herself in time. “An imaginary partner, one we design to fit our personal preferences. He or she comes with a mechanical device programmed to simulate the act of intercourse and provide gratification at every session, without the emotional complications of an intimate human relationship.”
“So, when we were in the water and you ‘achieved gratification,’ it was truly your first time with another person, male or female?”
She’d had clinical discussions of the process, both in classrooms and with her colleagues after hours. But having to answer his frank questions while she sat there beside him, stark naked, made her horribly uncomfortable.
“Yes.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
His eyes darkened. “You’re lying. You touched my cock when I was asleep, stroked it until I shot my seed. If you’ve never been with a man, how did you know what to do?”
She glared at him. “You did that! You were awake enough to grab my hand, put it around your…your… You wrapped my fingers around it and made me stroke up and down.”
He had the grace to look embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I was dreaming and thought you were…” He stopped. “It doesn’t matter. I swear it will not happen again. When we are both strong enough to travel, I will take you back to the Tryb and present you to Mother Eva as a tribute.” He went on, his voice cold. “You will serve her until your people come for you. Until then, you will obey me at all times.”
He rose, signaling the conversation had ended. “Take these flasks to the pool and refill them. Then make another batch of the drink. I’m going back to get the food and everything else we left behind. And to deal with Eli before the huracas come for him.”
Lexi glanced down the dark passage nervously. “Huracas?”
“They’re descended from wolves, only smaller and faster. They live in underground burrows, coming out at night in packs to prey on the youngest and weakest of the other creatures. But you need not worry. I’ll leave a line of piss across the mouth of the cave. They’ll pick up the scent of a healthy male and keep away.”
He picked up a torch and lit it from the one still burning in the sand. “Stay here. Drink the herbal brew and try to get some rest. The sooner your body heals, the sooner we can leave.” He raised one eyebrow. “I trust your ass still stings enough to remind you not to do anything foolish while I’m gone.” Ayron disappeared into the darkness without a backward glance.
Lexi drained her flask, picked up the one he’d left, and headed for the pool. She waded in then sank to her knees, gasping when her sore bottom hit the cool water. The chill made her nipples poke out in hard little peaks. She touched one as if she’d never seen it before, marveling at the way the colors from the crystals played over it.
Her senses had come alive on Iridia as never before. Sight, sound. She cupped water in her hand and tossed it up into the rays of colored light. Watched, fascinated, as it splashed down in rainbow-colored droplets.
And touch. When drops of water hit her skin, she flashed back to Ayron’s semen spraying her breasts and stomach. How hard his penis had gotten when he wrapped her hand around it. How the veins on his shaft bulged as he made her stroke it.
The man was so confusing. He’d stepped in to protect her from the other hunters. Not only did he protect her, he’d taken another man’s life rather than allow her to be violated. She cringed at the memory of throwing herself at him earlier, practically begging him to run his finger farther into her ass. Not only did he oblige, he captured her mouth at the same time in a feverish kiss that had left her heart racing and her body aching for more.
Sometimes she caught him looking at her with hunger in his eyes. Other times he seemed cold and withdrawn. Though he never spoke of a mate, from what she’d seen, men in the Tryb who were around his age had all taken a partner. He’d almost said something about it earlier, when he mentioned the dream. But he stopped before revealing anything. She was intrigued by the stern warrior with his aloof manner, so at odds with his sensuous touch.
When the cool water had soothed her stinging bottom, Lexi waded back to shore. She spread a handful of the herbs on a flat stone and used another to crush them into tiny flakes. Then she added half the mixture to each flask, setting them near the torch to steep.
