Anya

My head is spinning. I’m trying to process what just happened, but I can’t. Between my legs, my pussy is slick with seed and throbbing with a tender ache and echoes of pleasure that I tell myself can’t be real.

Having taken my virginity, the warrior who chased me down is now holding me tenderly as I shake with disbelief. My face is against his bare chest as he cradles me; his skin is smooth and warm under my cheek. He is sitting on the boulder, holding me in his lap. I’m as small as a child in his arms.

“What village are you from, little mate?” he asks. “I will send your father treasure, along with a message that you are safe and bonded.”

Safe? Bonded? Village?

“This is a mistake.” I have found my shaky voice. I push myself off his lap to stand on shakier legs. “You… you have made a terrible mistake.”

He’s sitting there with his legs spread, the huge cock that impaled me now hanging long and limp between his muscular thighs. He’s completely oblivious to his own nakedness, even as I struggle to pull the top of my dress back in place, tying one side of the torn top over my left shoulder. “I’m not from a village,” I tell him, and begin to sob as I work on the other side. “I’m a tourist. From Earth.”

He stands up and walks over, taking his chin in my hand so that I must look up at him. “The fight is over, little one. We have mated. We have bonded. There is no need for lies or trickery now. I am the warrior Khon, chieftain among my people. What is your name? What village are you from? Who is your father?”

He doesn’t believe me! I’m incredulous!

“I’m not lying!” I back away, my fists balled at my sides. I point to the cave. “I snuck into the mating fields. I hid there…”

He laughs, infuriating me. “You are adorned as a virgin, you had a knife…”

“A knife that was thrown up there!” I protest. “By a virgin captured by another one of you… you… animals!” A scowl crosses his face as I continue. “I mimicked this face paint! I gathered the little bones I put in my hair on hikes. I can prove it!”

I turn and head to the cave. I half expect him to try to stop me, but he’s at my heels now as I hike up the rocks, and when we reach the cave I retrieve the bag I dropped when I fled. I pull out the recorder, I flip it on, showing him the tiny screen.

“I’m human!” I say again. “And you forced yourself on me.”

“No,” Kohn says firmly. “I did not force you. It is impossible.”

“You lie,” I say. “I saw it today.”

He’s remarkably calm. “The cock of a Ythilian warrior cannot rise in the presence of an unreceptive female. Our virgins do not fight to escape, but to prove to themselves that the male is strong enough to best them. How else can they be assured strong children unless their mate proves himself worthy?”

He’s talking to me as if this makes sense, as if this is common knowledge.

“Take me to the outpost,” I say, shaking. “I plan to file a report. What you did…”

“We are mates.” He cuts me off. “You are mine.”

I stop, staring at him.

“We are not mates! I am a victim… I…” I stop, remembering the orgasm, the sounds of my own moans, how my pussy got wetter and wetter as my spanked ass was pressed into the boulder he took me on. He may have taken me by surprise, but he’s right. He didn’t take me by force. My body welcomed his persistent seduction, craved it. I flush at the memory. “Just take me to the embassy,” I repeat wearily. “I have to leave.”

“You are my mate,” he says. “You will not leave.” His calm persistence is maddening.

“Are you not listening? I am human. I am an Earth citizen. I do not abide by your laws. I will not stay!” I raise my voice, unaware until I see him looking that two others have joined us—an older male and a younger one who looks very much like the man who just took my virginity.

“You have mated, brother!” The younger man embraces him, and the older man looks me over and smiles. “Now both my sons are mated,” he says. “It is a glorious day!”

“Father, Rothar…” The larger warrior turns in my direction. “I mated, but not with one of our own virgins. This female…” He inclines his head toward me. “She is a human, an Earth visitor. She entered the restricted area…” He looks at me and for the first time I see acknowledgement of our situation, but also anger. “She is a spy. She sought to blend in by dressing as one of our virgins before she took shelter in the rocks. I did not know. I took her without knowing.”

The older man speaks after a moment. “If you took her, then she received you. Any virgin taken, even an outsider who receives an Ythilian male, forms half the coupling bond.”

A ball of fear forms in my stomach as a better picture emerges. Sex is not just sex here. It is something more. They aren’t just going to let me walk away.

“I demand to be taken to the outpost!” I walk over, my fists balled at my sides. “I want to report what you did! You struck me! I demand justice!” My words trail off as the memory of what happened burns anew, causing my nipples to grow hard under the skin dress. Can they see? I cross my arms.

The three males fall silent, then the one who identified himself as Kohn steps forward.

“The outpost is a long distance. The most we can do is send an emissary to the outpost, who can send word for one of your officials. But understand, as you demand justice, so will I.”

Something in the way he says emphasizes the word ‘justice’ only makes me more nervous. My mind races as I try to remember the penalties for violating interstellar law. Laylah was right; I was foolish. Even if I escape this warrior, I may face worse consequences in a council court.

Kohn tells me we will return to his village. We take the same route as the couple I observed who coupled before us. I see their footprints in the dust, footprints of lovers walking side by side. Khon and I walk side by side, too, but he’s looking straight ahead, and I glimpse his noble profile, human, but with more chiseled features. His thick dark hair, fashioned in a long braid down his muscular back, is bound with a leather cord.

We walk for what seems like miles before I see structures in the distance. It’s his village, but the ground turns rocky here. I am barefooted, but my feet are not accustomed to this rough terrain. Kohn looks down at me.

“I should make you walk,” he says. “If you would play the part of a virgin, you should play all of it. The women of Ythilia grow up barefooted. They can run over these rocks without danger. They do not wince at the feel of their native ground.”

“I’m not a woman of Ythilia,” I say.

“No. You’re not.” He leans down then without warning and scoops me up. I consider resisting, but village is a long way off. He begins to walk and my arms slide around his neck. I inhale his scent, a combination of sweat and musk and an herbal oil that he’s rubbed into his bronze skin. His muscles move against me. He is so strong; he carries me as if I weigh nothing. I feel helpless in his arms, and stop myself from replaying our sexual encounter.

I do not mean to nod off, but I do, falling asleep with my head on his shoulder. When I next awaken, I realize I am lying on furs inside one of the tents. It’s a huge, six-sided structure held up with massive poles. The interior walls are hung with brilliant color tapestries, some depicting images of battles.

The top is open, and through it I can see stars. I almost panic, thinking I’ve slept hours. Then I remember that the Moon Festival takes place on the shortest day of the year followed by the longest night, which lasts five Earth weeks. It’s a night illuminated by the planet’s massive moon, which is reaching its apogee.

I sit up, groggily. The bed Kohn has laid me on is beside a rock circle under the tent’s opening. In the center of the rocks is a mound of Flame Stone, a gem that used to be the main source of income on the planet. Just a few put out enough heat to warm an entire structure, all without smoke or pollution. The mineral had made Ythilians prosperous before the War of the Seven Stars. But enemy forces targeted the slopes beyond the plains, collapsing the mines and setting back the Ythilian economy. I remember hearing news reports on how the attacks on the mines was a turning point in the war.

I remember being pleased. Earth has long looked down on what they considered a primitive race, and I’d absorbed that disdain. From what I’d heard of Ythilian culture, they were a barbaric culture unworthy of pity—a culture that forced women to mate. Already, though, I’ve learned that not all is what it seems.

“I’ve sent the emissary.” Those are Kohn’s first words to me as he enters the tent. He’s holding a platter of food. The Ythilians eat mostly native fruits and dried meats and vegetables, as well as a soft bread filled with a grain paste. I prefer food from my own planet, available at the tourism outpost, but I’m too hungry to object as he places the oblong carved bowl in front of me.

“Why not just take me to the outpost?” I ask.

“It’s not that simple,” he says. “You have broken our laws, little one. Your treachery led to your being bonded to an Ythilian warrior. Until your emissary arrives, you will be in my keeping, as my mate, and subject to my authority. Do you understand?”

I seethe at his words and bite into a piece of fruit that tastes like a cross between a date and a peach.

“I asked you a question, little mate.”

“I’m not your mate.” I hastily swallow my food.

He walks over and sits down, ignoring my objection. “What is your name?” He’s changed into a longer skirt with a leather belt and some sort of fabric slung over his shoulder. It reminds me of old pictures I’ve seen on earth of the ancient Highlanders, except his legs and upper body are bare.

“My name is Anya Givens. And regardless of what happened on the plains, I’m not your mate. I’m no man’s mate. Do you understand?”

“You came here to study us?” he asks.

I don’t know how to answer this. I’m here as a tourist, unauthorized by any agency to research. I’d wanted to expose them as barbarians, but I can hardly tell him that.

“Yes,” I lie.

“Then if you’ve studied my people, you know that when an Ythilian warrior mates, it is a life bond. His cock cannot rise for another so long as his true mate lives.”

“Your cock isn’t my problem.” I don’t address the fact that I did not already know this. “When will a representative to be here?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “As long as it takes one to arrive at the outpost and travel here. Once that happens, you will make your case.” He pauses, fixing his dark eyes on me. “And I will make mine.”

I want to tell him there’s nothing to tell, that I’m a citizen of Earth. But what use is there in arguing with this barbarian?

“Try this,” he says, and picks up a piece of yellow fruit. He holds it to my mouth. “It’s dusk fruit from a tree that only bears when the sun gives way to the long night.”

I look at him warily. I can smell the fruit. Its odor is sweet, like buttery chocolate with a hint of spice. My mouth waters. I part my lips, unable to resist the intoxicating odor. He pops it into my mouth and I chew. It’s beyond delicious as it melts on my tongue.

“Do you like it?”

I nod. “Yes. Thank you.” I want more, but am too proud to ask. My gaze, however, must give me away, because he picks up another piece and feeds it to me. I’m like a little bird, leaning forward to take it this time.

“I suppose from your studies of our culture you know the dusk fruit enhances fertility, and increases the desire of a mated female to her true master.”

I nearly choke on anger as the morsel he’s just fed me slides down my throat. I regard the next, considering whether to decline it. It’s so delicious, and I want it. But I am not eager to swallow another of his taunts.

“You’re wasting it on me, then,” I say. “Because nothing could make me want a brute like you.”

“You were eager enough on the plains.” He pops the last piece of fruit in my mouth and I chew it, relishing the delicious flavor.

I don’t answer him.

“Come,” he says, standing, and extends his hand.

“Where?”

“To the springs. Tonight, I will bathe you in the sacred waters in preparation for the ceremony tomorrow.”

“Ceremony?”

“The day after the mating ritual, the priestess stands under the moon and asks the gods to bless the unions. When couples pair after under the god’s favor, the final bond is made.”

“I’m not going to the ceremony. And I’m sure as hell not going to let you bathe me.”

He kneels and faces me, then puts the tip of his finger under my chin. “Little mate,” he says quietly, and his deep, kind tone is juxtaposed with his warning words. “Your representative will decide the matter. Until he does, you are my mate, subject to my rule. If you refuse to do as I say, I will punish you as you have never been punished before.”

My hand subconsciously moves to a bottom still slightly tender from the earlier spanking. I’m not keen to repeat it. Also, I need a bath. I want the evidence dried on my thighs washed away. Soon enough, I will see an Earth ambassador. Until then, I will obey the warrior Kohn. But as I do, I will keep a tally of every slight, of every threat, and when my people learn of what this arrogant warrior has done, he will pay.