* * *

 

Kira had always heard the stories, as a child. They would be cautionary tales told to the other military children housed on the Interstellar Aeronautic Military base she’d grown up on. How there were worlds, lightyears beyond the safety and comfort of the earth, full of wonder and discovery – but also of danger and barbarism. How, sometimes, creatures from those worlds would seek out others like theirs, capture their people, enslave them or worse.

She had always been fascinated by these stories, more than she had been scared, because in all of the universe and its vast number of worlds and civilizations, who would come to the earth and expect to find anything worth taking? They were just talks told by old military folk, hardened by wars long since settled, after all. There was no reason to be afraid, no reason to think that a night’s jog alone would leave her open to the very thing she’d been warned about as a child.

Kira, it turns out, had been very, very wrong about that.

She reflected on this fact as she lay, arms bound to her sides with bindings of a strange, unforgiving black metal that she was unfamiliar with. Similar metal bindings strapped across her chest, painfully constricting her torso to the slab she was on, and there was a strap for each of her thighs and ankles, as well. There was no light, none anywhere, except for the blinking pad across from her, where the door to her cell blended in seamlessly with the rest of her surroundings.

That same, matte black metal surrounded her in the tiny room she had been shoved into after her capture. It had been done so quickly, she hadn’t gotten a glimpse of whatever alien ship had certainly descended from the heavens, but she imagined whatever it was, whichever system it came from, it was just as black and depressing as the rest of her surroundings.

What am I going to do?

She had only caught a brief look of her captor. It had been a shimmering beam that had transported her from the earth up into the sky in a flash. All she could remember was a large body, muscled, snatching her up as soon as she’d nearly gotten her bearings. A blow to the back of the head had left everything dark and empty, and then she’d woken up where she was then. She had no weapons to speak of, and with no idea of where she was, where she was going, or even of who had taken her, she was left woefully under prepared for the situation.

Futilely, she struggled against the straps holding her to the cold metal slab. The edges of the binds dug painfully into her skin, and she only tried it seconds more before she stopped, realizing that the more she tried to move and free herself, the more the bindings constricted about her body, like the chorded muscle of a snake trying to squeeze the life from its struggling prey. Breathing heavily, she thudded her head back against the slab, wincing at the shock of pain that wracked through her skull.

“What am I going to do?” She spoke to the darkness around her, her voice echoing, though she received no answer. She frowned, as if she had expected some sort of response, some sort of indication that she was at least not alone, but she received none. She couldn’t imagine that this was some sort of strange, intergalactic slave ship; they’re have been more people aside from herself on board, she was certain, if that was the ships’ purpose. But why would she be here, then? What could some strange, alien creature possibly want with her? She wasn’t even military – she’d had enough of that growing up to last her a lifetime.

Kira was left to ponder this for hours. The minutes ticked by, one by one, so slow she often felt herself drifting off to sleep more often than not. It wasn’t a comfortable sleep; she strained against the binds even in her mildly unconscious state, never quite able to fall into it completely. It left her groggy, restless.

After what seemed an eternity of this peace-less slumber, the smooth paneling of her cell slid open with a mechanical whoosh, and the sound of heavy footsteps woke her.

She blinked her eyes open, not expecting the bright light that filtered into the darkness. It took her a moment to adjust. Her eyes squinted, and she strained to look up and see if perhaps she would finally get a glimpse of her captor, if perhaps she would see just who it was who had snatched her away. Perhaps she would learn the reason and purpose; it certainly wasn’t clear to her yet.

Standing in the doorway of her cell, was a large man. Or, she at least assumed it was a man; he had the obvious anatomy of one, but it was sometimes hard to tell when it came to aliens, and he clearly was one, if there was nothing else to indicated what he was. He must have been at least six feet tall, and was chorded in thick muscle. His skin was a strange coloring, a near shimmery, metallic blue, and from the sides of his head protruded long, pointed ears. He had a single, dark strip of hair from the front of his head going back, and his face an angular, high cheekbones and carved jaw.

He stared back at her, this tall, strange creature, clad in a black suit that conformed to his body. His eyes were light, a pale sort of green she had never seen. He was entirely otherworldly. Handsome, even, and she was quiet for a moment as she pondered that fact. She swallowed a bit, and when he said nothing, she gained her courage and spoke.

“Who are you?” she said first, gambling on if the man would even understand her at all. “What do you want with me? Why did you take me?!” Standard questions, she thought, for someone who had been captured and was now facing her captor.

The man didn’t say anything, for a moment. He merely stared back at her, his eyes narrowing as he looked her over. He stepped forward, and with every heavy fall of his footsteps, her heart echoed a nervous, pattering beat. She watched him unwaveringly as he came to her, stood over her. His form was imposing but she steeled herself. Certain he wouldn’t harm her now, if he hadn’t already? She nearly winced when he leaned over her, putting his face close to hers. He smelled strange… Earthy, almost. Natural. It pulled her strangely to him, but that pull lasted only a second, broken when he spoke to her.

“You will not speak.”

She was surprised that he spoke any Earth language, let alone in English, and that shock had her mouth agape. He seemed satisfied with her silence and smirked, nodding.

Kira watched as he stood at his full height once more, and kept her eyes on him as he moved a small distance away from her. His armed folded over his chest and his head tilted as he peered at her. Kira remained silent, waiting for him to say something before she dared speak back at him once more.

“You are mine,” he said finally. The statement sent a chill through her spine. “I have chosen you, as is my right as a warrior of Ka’thon. You will give me many sons. That is your purpose. We will be on Ka’thon soon. You will stay here until then.”

Kira didn’t even have a chance to be angry, or protest, or to even fully process the straight-forward way that he spoke to her, before he turned on her and left with little more than that.

~*~

 

The man didn’t return after that. The only company that Kira was left with was the dull hum of the ship, and the empty darkness that she had woken to.

She had heard of Ka’thon. It was a civilization that was… indeed different from most. Where most planets either fell on the ‘technologically advanced’ or ‘backwater’ spectrum, Ka’thon fell in the middle. Their way of life was barbaric. Men ruled, bred women like cattle, claimed territory for themselves and their clans. They were brutal in the way that they ruled, fearless and godless in their beliefs. That being said, they were also highly intelligent. Their battle ships and weaponry were vastly superior to systems with similar social practices. In that, they were ruthless beings; most systems tended to leave them to their own devices, not wishing to get involved with a race bred and born to fight, kill, breed, and repeat.

And she had just been captured by one.

Why this particular Ka’thon had chosen her, she didn’t know. But there was little that she could do about it now, when she was already on a ship bound for the planet. It would take a while before anyone noticed that she was gone in the first place, and she doubted that she would be able to just hot wire one of their cruisers and leave once she was on-planet. She knew enough, theoretically, of interstellar travel to write an essay about it, but she was woefully without practice. She could take a speeder for a wild ride on the weekend – space travel was a different story.

The thing that pressed most incessantly at her mind, then, was what the Ka’thon had told her. That she was his. That she would give him many sons. She didn’t know if the Ka’thon typically took women from other planets to breed with – though she studied many civilizations, Ka’thon was one that she less knowledge on; few had ever dared venture far enough to study its people first hand, and those that did rarely made it out alive. Her curiosity as a researcher, then, was there, but she wasn’t keen on the idea of the way she would potentially experience this ‘research.’

The tears that fell from her eyes were angry ones, hot as they ran down her face. Perhaps she wouldn’t be able to get off the planet… But certainly she could figure out a way to keep herself alive and well.

She had purpose, she decided. And it was to survive.

~*~

 

Kira lost track of time. There was little for her to do, or to plan, until she finally got a look of the planet Ka’thon. She slept. She woke. At some point, she realized that she was hungry, but her captor had not returned since coming in to see her, and she didn’t expect that he was going to anytime soon. He had said that they would arrive soon, but she had the feeling that her idea of soon and his were two completely different things. It was this cycle – the restless sleep and the hungry, foggy awake – that kept her company as she waited.

Her reprieve came in the form of the ship shaking, and the whoosh of her cell door sliding open once more. Kira looked up, her eyes red from the lack of decent sleep and they narrowed in suspicion. He seemed unperturbed by her discontent, and leaned against the wall. His eyes stayed on her, gaze unwavering, pondering almost. She wondered if he was as curious and wary of her as she was of him. Did he wonder what she was like as she did of him, considering the purpose that he had taken her for?

Their stalemate lasted moments, the two of them keeping their eyes on each other. The alien’s gaze was penetrating, unnerving. Kira steeled herself against the onlooking creature, and didn’t speak up.

He did instead.

“We’re descending into the atmosphere,” he said, in that rough voice. “You will accompany me to my clan. You will be silent until you’re spoken to. You will remain with me.”

Her brows furrowed then. So that was her place, then. A subservient role. She didn’t like that, not at all. She averted her eyes for a moment, thinking.

“Why?” she asked, turning her eyes back to him once more. She wanted explanation.

For a moment, she thought that he wouldn’t give it to her. His head tilted at her, and that pondering look remained on his face. He approached her, then, walking close to her. She stared up at him apprehensively as he leaned over her, and that scent that wafted off his skin tingled at her nose pleasantly once more.

She flinched when he took her face in one of his hands, but he didn’t hurt her despite the firm grip with which he held her. Warmth radiated from his fingertips, and rose an interest in her that she couldn’t quite place. A flush bloomed upon her skin, and that seemed to please him as he smirked in response.

“Because you are mine; the bond doesn’t lie.”

~*~

 

The bond doesn’t lie.

That was the phrase that the alien uttered to her, every time she asked him to explain to her what he meant. The bond doesn’t lie, he would say, and then go about her cell, opening panels, pressing blinking buttons, sliding his fingers over touch-pad surfaces. What he was doing, she had no idea, but he was in no mood to tell her, that was for certain. It ate away at her curiosity – curiosity that she knew she should control, given her situation and what he had told her she was taken for – but she couldn’t help it. It was in her nature.

Perhaps it was that strange feeling that came over her when he got close to her and she could pick up his scent once more? How strange…

After a while, the creature left. With no windows in her cell, there was no way for her to see what was going on outside her bleak confines. She could feel the vibration of the ship, though, and stiffened a little when the whole thing jostled a bit.

Were they landing? Had they finally gotten to Ka’thon? What’s more… what awaited her when they departed? Her caution wove in and out of the curiosity she felt – curiosity over the man who had taken her, where they were going, the bond he claimed that they had. That one was the most persistent, and she couldn’t place it as to why. So she simply continued to lay against the slab, knowing that she would not get her answers until the alien man returned. He did so, a few moments after the strange jostling that she experienced.

“We have arrived,” he said, confirming her suspicions. “If you try to run, I will stop you.”

He didn’t need to tell her that for her to know it, but she watched him as he began to undo her bindings. He started with the ones across her chest, and arms, moving down to the binds that were at her legs. She remained perfectly still, only moving when his bare skin managed to touch hers and the warmth of him tingled against her. She wasn’t sure if the feeling of it should make her uncomfortable, but it gave the same effect as his scent did. She watched him, his movements. They were strangely fluid despite the solidness of his body and the sheer size of him.

The creature stood back when he was done, and Kira took this as a sign that she was allowed to sit up. She did so, wincing a bit; her back was stiff from how long she’d been strapped to the slab, and she rolled her neck, loosening herself up a little. With the light that was now in the cell, she could see herself reflected back at her in the surface of the black metal. Her bright red hair was a mess, and she was glad that her image was at least a little distorted in the metal. She didn’t want to know just how rough she looked, and she ran her hand through her hair a bit in an attempt to tame it.

Kira could feel the eyes of the alien on her as she did so. Despite the creeping red blush of heat that went up her neck, she chose to pretend to ignore it. She swung her legs over the side of the slab with the intention of standing on her own. The creature was at her side in an instant – did he think that she was going to run?

“I just wanted to stand up on my own.” She stepped a little away from him, and he took a step toward her. She tilted her head, silently measuring how much she was allowed to get away with. “Am I not allowed to walk?”

“Do not run,” he repeated.

“I wasn’t. I’m standing. Not running. Where am I going to run to, anyway?”

He seemed pleased by her assertion that she had, truly, nowhere to go at this point.

If she had expected the rest of the ship to be brighter than her cell, Kira would have been woefully disappointed. The hall was lined in the same black metal that her cell had been, and the only source of light came from strange, illuminated orbs that floated in the air of the hall.

She took in as much of the ship as she could, on their journey down the hall, but there was truly very little to see. All of the walls were the same smooth paneling that her cell had been. Every few feet were panels of blinking buttons, and she could only assume that there were rooms on the other side – perhaps more cells. She wondered idly how many women from other worlds had been taken and boarded on this ship, and she decided that she’d rather not think about it, save for the hope that maybe there’d be women like her, that perhaps she wouldn’t be so alone, that maybe she’d be able to learn a little more given her captor certainly wasn’t one to willingly offer up information.

They came to the back of the ship quickly. The creature’s strides practically drug her along; his legs were considerably longer than hers. He placed one of his large hands on a touch-pad along the smooth expanse of the ship. Kira watched, mouth open in awe, as the entire back wall of the ship dematerialized before her eyes. In preparation for the flood of light from the outside, she squinted, though the action was unnecessary.

It was night.

Darkness encompassed the outside, and she opened her eyes fully when she realized this. She could see the faint glow of light from more of those strange lit orbs. She wasn’t given much time to consider this, as the creature started to walk forward, taking her with him.

From what Kira could make out with the light, they were at the edge of a village. Stepping onto the ground from the ship, the terrain was rocky. Further ahead, where there was a higher concentration of those shiny orbs, and Kira could make out large, high-reaching shapes against the blackness of the night.

Her captor didn’t let her have much time to take anything more in. His hand gripped her forearm, and he pulled her along a rocky path, leading towards the dark shapes and the concentration of the shiny orbs giving off light. Her eyes strained to make out much else, but she could hear the sounds coming from the group of strange shapes. She could have sworn it was talking, but it didn’t sound like any words that she had heard in her life.

Kira was led down the path, into the first grouping of the buildings. They were tall, black things, jutting up from the ground like sharp slates of the same kind of metal that the ship was made of. The rocky path gave way to a smoother kind of stone beneath her feet, along these stone walkways tread more creatures like the one who held her then.

They were all male. Kira couldn’t make out a single female in all the silvery-blue-skinned men around her. They were all as tall, some slimmer and some just as thick as her captor, but they were all of the same race, that was certain. They turned interested, shining eyes towards the two of them, and spoke in that strange language that Kira didn’t know – couldn’t even make out perhaps a single, earthen English word. She felt totally exposed, their continuous, open, unashamed gazes making her feel as if she were walking among these people completely nude, devoid of any covering or modesty.

Instinctually, this caused her to press close against her captor, as if he would protect her. She felt as though there was more to their looks than mere curiosity; there was a hunger there that she could not place, and her mind went back to what she had been told she’d been taken for. Was it because there were no women here? Her mind went back to what her captor said, and what she knew of Ka’thon. Certainly she wasn’t meant for… all of them?

As they continued to walk, bypassing the first cluster of those strange jagged buildings and the smooth stone streets, one of the others approached Kira and her captor. He was as large as her captor was, with thick hair on his head. He wore the same dark, conforming clothing that her captor did. Oddly, the newcomer was more intimidating than he was, and she found herself pressing closer to the one who held her arm, once more lulled by the scent around him.

The two exchanged words. More than once the newcomer gestured to her, and Kira could only imagine that they were speaking about her. The newcomer eyed her an awful lot as they spoke; her captor didn’t seem to like that at all. She didn’t, either. The way he leered at her made her feel even more exposed, and the fact that her captor was displeased with this fact made her feel only marginally safer.

Kira noticed, the more they spoke, the more their tones rose and the more people stopped among the buildings to stare, gather around. Kira began to feel herself get lightheaded. So much heady scent was all around her, so many pulsing hormones. It was like alpha against alpha and the more the two argued back and forth, the worse it got, the more she pressed into her captor’s side –

Kira didn’t know that she had fainted, until she opened her eyes. She was no longer in the middle of the cluster of buildings, but rather in one, she assumed.

It was not big – at least twice as large as the ship, but no more, and the walls were just as black. There was a considerable amount of light though, from those strange glowing orbs hanging from nothing in the air, and the scent of cooking permeated the air in a sweet beckon that had her sitting up on something soft, and plush – a bed! Thank god for that, that it wasn’t another cold, unforgiving slab. It was one thing that wasn’t cloaked in complete darkness, and as she got her bearings, she allowed herself to stroke her fingers along the strange, almost-silken material of the red cloth that adorned where she had been laid.

She looked around, curious, even in her situation. The bed was in the center of the area she was in. A single, red-wooded chest rested at the end of it, and a large mirror was across from it. All along the wall, hung a number of weapons. Sharp and wicked blades, and blasters the likes of which she’d never seen, but they made her curious to their uses and firepower nonetheless.

The wall behind all of these contraptions was smooth, like in the ship, and there was a large rectangular opening there that she could see led out into a hallway. She imagined that it functioned much like the paneling of her captor’s ship, and noted the hand-sized panel to the side of it, indicating that she was right.

Kira saw hide nor tail of her captor, however, and wondered where he must be – and if she should get up and look for him or remain in place. She had no idea why she had passed out during his argument with the other – nor had she any explanation for the strange way that his scent affected her so. It had been all that raging testosterone-fueled arguing that had made her all lightheaded. But that was so strange…

She shook her head. It had to be some weird alien thing. They were obviously the more… instinctual sort of creatures. She was also quite sure that she knew the reason that the two of them had been arguing over her in the first place.

A sound from the hall has her looking up, and she was surprised to see her captor – at least surprised to see that he was carrying a tray with something warm and steaming for her. Food? Kira eyed him with a wary caution that he seemed to pick up. He frowned at the untrusting furrow at her brow.

“You are awake.”

“I am.” He stared at her a moment before setting the tray down beside her. She didn’t look at it, rather kept her eyes cast up at the man. He wore nothing on his chest anymore, and it would be a lie to say that she did not stare at him.

“Eat,” he said after a moment. His tone spoke little for wiggle room by way of refusing. Reluctantly, she looked down to her tray. There was a single bowl with a reddish-brown liquid and a plate with a slab of strange, stripped meat. It didn’t smell unpleasant, but it didn’t look like anything that she had ever seen before, either. She glanced back up at him, and saw him watching her intently. Given he had not given her utensils to eat with – something that struck her as odd, he had an interstellar ship but no forks? – she took the bowl first, tilting it to her lips.

She was pleasantly surprised to find that the broth wasn’t bad. Nice and warm, it had a strange spice that tingled against her tongue. It was a reminder that she had been feeling particularly starved since the trip. She hadn’t eaten anything since the morning she was beamed away from Earth, and who knew how long ago that had been by now? She drank the soup down hungrily, ignoring for the moment that she was being watched. Even as a few of the juices dribbled down her chin, she didn’t stop drinking down the liquid until it was gone.

“That was… good…” she said. Her tone mimicked her surprise; she was almost disappointed that there was no more for her to have. She licked her lips, tongue darting out to catch a dribble on her mouth.

And then the alien leaned forward, licking at her lips as well.

That strange electric warmth bloomed upon her skin when they touched. Her surprise caused her to freeze, caught off guard at his gesture. The lick was proceeded by a kiss, quickly pressed to her lips as the alien took her face in her hands. It wasn’t the action that was so odd to her – it was the fact that she did not stop him once he started.

He tasted savory, when he slipped his tongue between her lips. It made her want to taste him more, and she pressed herself close against him without thinking, without caring. That muscle-relaxing, obedience-inducing scent was all around her once more, beckoning her, encompassing her. She let out a sigh that turned to a sweet moan as their kiss deepened, and she could not control the heat that rushed hot through her body, like an intense wave that threatened to burn her through her very core –

Kira pulled away suddenly. What was she doing?! She had resolved to survive, but that didn’t mean playing into the ‘purpose’ that she had been given, no matter her curiosities on the matter. And yet here she was… allowing him to kiss her as if it were something that she actually wanted.

But… it had felt like she’d wanted it.

She made a point of scooting away from the alien man before he could react. His expression was a mixture of confusion and agitation, brows furrowed as if he were trying to process that she had stopped him. She prepared herself for anger, for a backlash.

Instead, the agitation slid from his face, and he stood. He took the tray off the bed, and left her alone once more.

~*~

 

Kira was running

She had taken the chance when she had gotten it. The man had left her alone – perhaps to go off to brood, maybe to think of how to punish her, something. Her mind ran wild with the possibilities, and as her mind ran, it came to the conclusion that that’s what she should do, as well. She had taken one of the blasters hanging on the creature’s wall, not knowing exactly how it worked, nor how powerful it would be. It hadn’t mattered when she’d aimed it at him, nor when she’d pulled the trigger as he turned around from putting away her unfinished dinner. Whether she’d killed him or stunned him, she didn’t know. She saw him go down after a blast of green, catching the surprised, if not angry look on his face as he went down twitching.

All she knew, was that she was running. She could not stay there with him. Her curiosity be dammed, it frightened her, the way that he made her feel after so little time.

She could hear footsteps behind her. She knew that it was a few of the alien men of the village. They had spotted her when she had thrown herself out of the home of the one who had captured her. One had tried to grab her, speaking to her in the language that she did not know. With sheer will she had wretched herself from the man, ending up with his nails leaving scratches in her forearm. She’s cut away from him, running in the direction that the alien had brought her in, away from the strange village with its barbarous men, and into the thick forest that lay beyond.

They chased her, and were never far behind her. She could hear their shouts and the crunch of the ground beneath their heavy-beating feet. She was a fast runner, had done track all through high school and college, but even this was a challenge. They were large, but they were fast – and they were right on her tail.

She made the mistake of looking back behind her as she ran. She wanted to see if perhaps she was making them lose ground behind her. It was a brief glimmer of triumph that she felt, seeing the distance between herself and her pursuers was getting wider and wider –

Kira cried out suddenly, a sharp pain shooting through her ankle, radiating up her leg. She fell to the ground, hitting it hard. Sharp points from rocks dug into her skin, and tears pricked in her eyes. She’d twisted her ankle – or broken it, all she knew was that it hurt – and she cradled it between her hands, rubbing her fingers over it in a futile attempt to soothe away the pain and perhaps get up and continue her run. Unfortunately for her, the aliens were on her before she even got a chance.

There were about ten or so, and she eyed them from the ground where she’d fallen. They closed in around her quickly, all grabbing at her at once, yanking her from the ground. She let out a yelp when pressure was forced on her ankle, but the men who had hold of her didn’t seem to notice.

She thought that they would take her back to the village, but that wasn’t the case. She was yanked, back and forth between them as they growled and snapped at each other in their foreign language. It didn’t take long for her to realize why: she hadn’t seen another woman in the village yet, and hadn’t her captor exchanged words with one of them before? Her eyes darted around, and settled on the one that she recognized as that one; he had the strongest hold on her and was the one that ended up yanking her away from the others, holding her close to him as she did.

They were fighting over her.

There was little more that she could manage after that realization, before she was drug back by the alien. Tears fell down her face at the pain in her ankle, and she drew in a shaky breath when the alien shoved her against the tree. She stood shakily, realizing for the first time that trying to run was probably the stupidest thing that she could have done. She should have stayed, she never should have shot her captor, and now where was he? Laying in his home as the one from earlier pressed himself against her and ripped her top open, exposing her.

His hands were rough against her body, and she tried to shove him away despite how much stronger than her he was.

“Stop!” she yelled at him, her throat hoarse from how loud she’d yelled. He merely clamped one of his large hands over her mouth as she struggled, silencing her. She looked up at him with her tear-streaked face, kicking and punching him wherever she could reach him, though it did nothing to deter him.

Her heart beat in her chest. High ringing tingled loudly in her ears. The others did nothing to stop him – they seemed to be encourage him, in fact. She didn’t stop her struggle, though. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

And yet, her thoughts wondered to her captor, who she had left lying motionless in the middle of his own home.

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, or maybe it was the bond that he claimed they shared. She didn’t know. She didn’t really care, either. As the other’s hand went to her pants, his intentions clear, another person came barreling through the forest, and grabbed her attacker by the neck.

She slid down the tree and watched with wide eyes as her captor took her attacker’s head in his hands. It was with a brutal, brutish ease that he squeezed, snarling angrily as he squashed the other’s head between his hands. Though it was horrifying, the sickening crack of skull and squelch as strange blue-black blood oozed out of the other’s head, she couldn’t bring herself to look away. Her attacker didn’t even have time nor opportunity to fight or get away, and her captor tossed his body to the ground where it twitched before finally laying still.

All was silent as her captor breathed hard and rough. Blood dripped off his fingertips and onto the ground below. The others eyed him warily, their eyes darting back and forth between her and him. She didn’t know how he had gotten to her, or how he had recovered from her shooting him – he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries, but perhaps his species healed quickly?

She pondered that when he spoke, but it wasn’t to her, it was to the others. Though she couldn’t understand what he said, the intention was clear; go away. They all did, looking at her reluctantly, as though they’d missed out on something, and one by one they headed back towards the village, leaving her and her captor alone.

~*~

 

The next few days were solitary, though Kira learned a lot.

After her attack, her captor brought her back to his home. He had nursed her, first taking care of her injured ankle, and then cleaning up the scrapes and cuts that she had sustained when she had run away. The whole time, she expected backlash; he had crushed another man’s skull for touching what he clearly saw as ‘his,’ so what would he do to her for shooting him and running?

Nothing.

Not a single thing.

It baffled her more than anything. These people were clearly brutish warriors. She was a possession, that much was obvious. She expected that he would treat her worse, but she received treatment that she had not expected. His behavior in front of others was not his behavior with her, and it added to her curiosity.

One thing that was at least sated, was knowing her captor’s name. She had asked it of him, after he wrapped and stabilized her ankle. It was Thrain, and she gave him her name, as well. She also learned that she had apparently only shot him with a temporary stunner; it was used in hunting to take down large prey. Thrain told her it was customary for all of them to hunt in the vast forests surrounding the village, and that often they fought over prey with neighboring villages of other Ka’thon.

The interesting thing she learned, however, was why Thrain was not angry with her. When she asked, he merely looked at her, as if the question was a strange one.

“You are mine,” he said. “Mine to have and protect.”

~*~

 

Kira was not allowed to leave the home, and she was both grateful and annoyed by that fact. Thrain was willing to answer any questions that she had, and though she was not keen on experiencing another situation like the one in the forest, she was still curious about her surroundings. She would not be leaving anytime soon – that much was evident, and she was smart enough to accept that fact for now. At the very least, she wanted to get her bearings of the area, but that was not ideal. There were few warriors in the village, according to Thrain, who had earned their right to go out and seek their woman. Those who had not would have no issues taking her just because she was around – that was the nature of their culture.

That being said, it also meant that Kira spent a lot of time with Thrain. She shared his space, which wasn’t very large. Her shirt had been ruined, so she was left to walk around in a pair of pants that Thrain had given her, ones that strangely fit her perfectly despite their vast difference in size (which she later came to realize were made out of a material that adjusted to the size of the wearer) and her bra. Thrain’s wondering eyes did not go unnoticed, but she didn’t stop herself from looking at his often-bare chest, either. What’s more, they shared a bed, and Thrain made no fuss about kissing her deeply every night, nor did he stop his hands from wondering.

She remembered the first night, following her attack. He had let her sleep alone the night of, for which she was thankful. The next night, however, he had made himself comfortable beside her as they settled in for the night. She slept in her clothing, unsure of the custom of sleep for the Ka’thon, but Thrain was not shy and slept completely naked. She hadn’t been sure what to make of it when he’d come to her that way – she thought perhaps he meant to sleep with her, and she didn’t know if that was something she was ready for, all things considered.

But he had laid behind her, pressed against her. He was warm, inviting. His scent relaxed her. Even when she felt how well-endowed he was from the way his member poked against her back. All things considered, it should have frightened her that he was so open with his physical affections of her, but as with their first kiss, she didn’t stop it, and she didn’t stop it when his hand went to her front, touching and feeling over her with a practiced curiosity.

He had cupped her breasts over her bra before moving it out of the way, as if it had been a hindrance. She’d drawn in a breath, but allowed him to continue. Her body, warmed by his presence, wasn’t opposed to his fingers, rough, circling over her pert nipples. His lips went to her neck, kissing and biting as his fingers made their way from her nipples downward, over her flat stomach, to the hem of her pants.

She’d not realized how in need she was of him until his fingers slipped into her pants, spread her thighs as much as they’d go in the confines of them. Her thighs were slick with her want, and it surprised her. She had thought that maybe she should stop him – this was too much, too far, but she wanted it so bad, even if she couldn’t explain why. And despite his brutish demeanor otherwise, he was gentle enough with her as his fingers circled and moved over the pleasurable bud between the lips of her sex, as they slid between her folds and brought her to a sweet ecstasy.

This happened every night. For a week or so. He never slept with her, though he did rock against her, giving himself his own completion as hers washed over her time and time again. That was, possibly, the thing that jarred her curiosity even more. He had been clear that her purpose was to give him children. That she was his to own. And yet… he treated her as a lover. He took care of her. She didn’t know what to make of it, but she was certain of one thing.

She wanted more of it. No matter how insane or deadly that was, she wanted. It was only a matter of time before she would get it.

~*~

 

“Thrain?”

Her ankle had finally healed, and she was back to walking properly. Kira and Thrain had settled into a routine. He would wake early, before even she had. He would go and hunt with the others – something she surmised after she learned how to work the windows of Thrain’s home and was able to watch him leave and see when he came back, usually carrying a strange, antlered creature as big as a male moose, if a male moose also had leathery tentacles growing from its spine. He would then spend time in the center of the cluster of home in which his was, and the men would clean and gut their kills, and then they would bring them home.

Sometimes, a fight would break out, and Kira would watch with wide eyes the brutality with which the Ka’thon fought each other. They were not opposed to killing, even their brethren, and she saw many deaths over the course of her time with Thrain. None of them seemed to bat an eye at this. When the fights were over, the others would go back to what they were doing, or disperse. Then, from another cluster of homes, older Ka’thon would come, and carry away the remains of the body. She learned they were elders, revered among the Ka’thon for living so far into old age, and it wasn’t hard to see why they would be; it was a miracle to live long as a Ka’thon, then murder was a daily activity and one’s value was placed in how well they fought and hunted.

In this daily routine, which Kira began to find less and less barbaric and more and more normal, she noticed she wasn’t actually the only woman in the village. She would see them watching from the windows, too, from time to time, and once or twice she had seen one accompanying one of the Ka’thon. They were never Earth women, but she didn’t imagine they were Ka’thon, either. One had been tall, and thin, with blue skin wispy wings growing from her back. She was also impossibly round with child.

It was seeing that, that reminded her what Thrain had said to her before. What her purpose was. But he had never gone farther than touching her, slipping his fingers inside her and allowing his completion to come by rocking his body against her. She couldn’t imagine that that’s how they reproduced. Often, with a blush on her cheeks, she would wonder that she’d likely already have one inside her if that was the case, with how many times they came to that peak together without actually having sex.

It was this thought that had her leaning against Thrain’s bedroom door that evening, what had to be several weeks after her arrival. Her own wants confused her; she didn’t want to be bred like some common brood mare, but she did… want to explore this attraction more. Even taking into consideration how she had gotten here, it hadn’t been all bad. Thrain had protected her. He had looked after her. He looked at her as his – as a possession – but surely the fact he had not forced himself on her like the other had tried, meant something? At any rate, she figured it was a trait that she could work with, perhaps sate her own curiosities, understand this strange man more, maybe even find her way.

So when she called to him softly, and he looked up from polishing one of the shiny blasters on his bed, she smiled a little at him. Kira walked towards him with small steps, coming to stand in front of him. He watched her, with his head tilted. She found that that was a look that he gave her often, that curious tilted head. Gently, she pried his fingers from the blaster, moved it aside, and slid herself into his lap.

“You never explained this bond to me,” she said, giving him time to elaborate for himself without prompting. When he merely looked at her, she went on. “I’d like to know what it is. What do you mean by that?”

He looked for a moment as if he would not answer her. His brows furrowed, in that way that they did on the occasion that he took her out of the home, and she said or did something she was coming to learn was out of place for her. Though his treatment was lax within the home, it had been made clear that outside of it, there ways that she was and was not to behave. She almost thought that pressing that issue even within his home was forbidden, then, until his hands came to settle on her waist.

“The bond,” he said, “is sacred. All Ka’thon have one who is theirs. We can take many women, but there is one that will give us strong sons.”

That was another thing she had learned while with Thrain – all Ka’thon were men, and all Ka’thon men needed women of another race with which to breed. That’s just how it was.

He went on.

“When we are boys, and the elders decide we are ready for the great search, we go to the sacred place, and give a drop of blood,” he explained. “The Great Pool shows us our one – and it is we who must seek them out, wherever they are, and bring them here to breed.”

“But you haven’t bred me yet,” she pointed out. “You said that was my duty.”

Again, he stared at her, as if conflicted with her observation. Finally, he gave a shrug.

“I want for you to want it. The elders say the strongest sons are born from mothers willing – I am strong and young. I will wait.”

The admission puzzled her, she had to admit, and left her with more questions. She shifted in his lap, and tried to ignore the stirring between her legs that she felt from him in doing so.

“But I’m yours?” she asked for clarification.

“You are mine.”

“I belong to you?”

“Yes.”

She frowned.

“You want my consent, but I’m a possession to you?”

She was happy that, at least she wasn’t the only one that was confused. His brow furrowed, and he huffed.

“Yes. That is the way of all on Ka’thon. You are mine; the bond says so.” He brought his hand to her, brushing his thumbs over her cheek. The whole time she had had his scent in her nose; now, with his touch, she couldn’t help but lean into it, even with her confusion – her apprehension.

“See?” he said. “You respond to my scent. Your body heats when I touch you.” He brought his hand down to her neck, and then lower, as he skimmed over one of her breasts. She took in a breath, unable to help how her body responded to him, unable to deny that he was right – her reactions were honest, even with her reservations. That was perhaps the most jarring thing of this whole situation.

“But the others – the way they act with theirs. The way you act when we’re out –” She was trying to rationalize things out, trying to figure out where on the spectrum of lover verses possession she rested with him.

He silenced her questions with a kiss, and for the life of her she couldn’t bring herself to push him away.

“The others keep theirs the way they want; I will keep you the way I want. I do not need to be like them. I am a warrior, not a follower. But I must uphold our customs; out there, you must be as they are. That is the way.”

Their lips stayed close as they fell into silence. Forehead to forehead, and Kira let her eyes fall shut as she contemplated what that meant. Would he be willing to come to understand her, then…?

“You want to wait until I want it, then, even with the way it is?” she murmured.

“Yes.”

~*~

 

Kira didn’t know how long it would take her to want to carry Thrain’s young, but it didn’t take as long for her to decide that she wanted to take their nightly routine further after their talk.

She felt comfortable around Thrain. It was an insane thing, she was certain. The intelligent half of her brain knew that she should be seeking a way back home, but the part of her that held mundane curiosity kept pushing her more and more to explore this new path laid before her. It had been months, after all, since she had arrived on Ka’thon with Thrain. No other Ka’thon had dared touch her or try, either, since the incident in the forest. She lived in relative peace, all things considered.

That comfort only got stronger with the lust that mounted and mounted each night Thrain had his hands on her.

It started like any other night. Thrain and Kira had eaten together, and over the time that she had been on Ka’thon, Thrain had opened up to the point of having proper conversations with her. It got to the point that they even spoke of Earth – he asked her many questions of her family, her friends. Having been gone so long, it was strange to speak of them, but his interest made her happy. So after dinner, and cleaning up, they settled down into bed. She had taken to sleeping in the nude, like Thrain, though that had not prompted him to do more than what he had, and that was part of the reason she was as comfortable with him as she was – he kept to his word when he said that he would wait.

His lips found her well-marked neck, suckling on her flesh as he took his time with her body. His hands roamed firmly, having learned where she liked to be squeezed, and where she preferred to be caressed. Her wetness was prominent, even before his hand made his way down between her legs, but she parted her thighs easily for his wondering fingers, sighing when they entered her two at a time.

She laid her head back against his chest, having become pleasantly accustomed to his attentions. She hadn’t made moves to return anything, but as he stroked inside her, touched deep inside her womanly walls, she wanted. She wanted to give back to him, and what was more, she wanted him inside her properly. Whether or not that would mean something significant, she didn’t know – but there was too much need between them and too much time spent putting it off for her to be content.

Her hand found his, and she withdrew his fingers from inside her. he made a protesting sound against her neck, and hips that had been steadily rocking against her, nestling his member against her back, stilled.

“What—”

She rolled over before he could finish his question, to face him. She slid her leg over his hip, and traced her fingers over his chest. The look on his face was amusing to her; it was clear he was somewhere between confusion and interest. She smirked a little, self-satisfied that she was able to get him in that state. She leaned forward before he could say anything, and kissed him, letting her hand go between them to wrap around his length.

The sound of his groan had her sighing against his lips as she began to stroke him, glad that he wasn’t going to push her away, or stop her. Their kiss was deep, impassioned, and their bodies pressed close as their hands worked each other to pleasure. He was heavy in her hand, and she was wet against his fingers; their bodies were hot and between the sparking warmth of his skin and the way his tempting scent pulled her attention into the dance they were doing, her lust mounted, radiated through her.

He was all too eager to allow her to have him in her hand, and he happily slid his fingers in her once more – but that wasn’t her only goal, and she closed anymore distance between them, rubbing the wetness of her sex against him.

“Please,” she begged softly. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

And he certainly didn’t make her. It was with an eager bite to her lip that he withdrew his fingers from her, and removed her hand from him. He didn’t even bother to move her to her back – but she didn’t protest as the head of his length, swollen and large with his want pressed against her open entrance. She held to him as he slid inside her, his hand at her hip holding her as he did. She could at least say she was glad he went slow; he was larger than any human male she had ever slept with, and his length pulsed when it was inside her in a way that no human male had with her. it made him feel larger, and her fuller. She couldn’t help but gasp in pleasure as he slid so far and touched even places she had never done so on her own.

He loved her, hard, but easy. It was never painful her, and his hips rocked steady against her. He held her hips with one hand, and toyed easily between them on the pleasurable bud between the lips of her sex, bringing her dual sensations that kept her clinging to him the whole time. She had honestly never experienced something like that before – it wasn’t just the sex, but the experience. It felt right, as if she was meant to have Thrain this way. All the waiting seemed to culminate into the moment, and it was the first time that she thought she understood, just a bit more, what Thrain meant about their bond.

There was nothing more pleasurable, nothing more freeing and enjoyable, than giving herself over to him in this way.

He had her, over and over. Eventually he moved her to her back, after the wave of pleasure washed over her, left her body in spasms. He kept their fingers threaded together as he had her pinned to their bed, kissed her deep as he laid into her smaller body, her legs splayed on either side of him. She had not expected it, but he took her directions – when she wanted it faster, he gave it; when she asked for it slower, he drew out her pleasures better than any man had ever had.

And when she finally conceded, and begged for him to spill inside her, because she wanted to feel the warmth of him filling her, he did.

~*~

 

Thrain and Kira walked the streets of the Ka’thon village, hand in hand.

She had been taken from Earth in the middle of what was Ka’thon’s version of winter. That had been months, and months now, and their summer – known as Re’lain – was now in full swing. Kira had originally thought that Ka’thon was simply a bleak, sunless sort of place, but once Re’lain set in, she came to realize how beautiful it truly was.

Ka’thon had two suns, and both of the orange-red orbs shone brightly in the sky. Blooms of all sorts of different flowers sprung up in every crack of the village walk-ways, and flying birds with silver-and-gold colored feathers circled over them, singing melodiously. Thrain had tried to teach her their name, but Ka’thon’s language was difficult, and she was still trying to figure out simple words, let along the mouthful that was. Re’lain, apparently, was the time of year where it was appropriate in Ka’thon for the women to roam about more freely than usual. When she asked why, Thrain had told her that was simply the way it was, that the elders determined it to be. That seemed to be the answer for many of her questions that did not get further explanation – but as Kira was learning, that was the way it was.

Either way, she was happy that it was the ‘summer’ time that she was allowed more freely out. She didn’t mind having to stay nearer to hers and Thrain’s home, and over the months that she stayed on Ka’thon, she had come to think of it as that, but it was nice to be out nevertheless. No one had come for her from Earth; she imagined that they likely thought her disappearance a human one, and if they had not traced her off-planet, then they would not anytime soon. Besides, she knew that, by Earth standards, she was not important enough to waste resources on an interstellar search party on. The thought, initially, had saddened her, but there were things for her to look forward to…

Her hand settled on her belly as they came to the village market. The women who had been claimed the longest, and who had birthed the most and strongest sons were the only ones allowed to run it. They were the ones that gathered the fruits, and vegetables, who handled the technology that built the warrior’s weapons. New women – women like Kira – or those who had not had sons, or who had given their men children who were weak, were not considered worthy of running the market. It these women who achieved status on Ka’thon – and it was these women who guided expecting mothers through the trials of pregnancy.

Kira had not thought she would find herself needing their services so soon. After she and Thrain became intimate fully, he had settled in teaching her everything of the village, the customs – especially of the revered women who ran the market, tended the food, the tech, and the mothers to be. She had thought his enthusiasm was amusing, and hadn’t thought to make much of it, aside from having more knowledge. She wasn’t planning to carry his young anytime soon; and for all intents and purposes, they still had had a lot to learn about each other, and he still had yet to separate her duty from her as a person. It was a process, one she was willing to work through, but a process nonetheless.

Her belly, in comparison to others that walked among the streets that day, was considerably flat, seemingly empty. It didn’t bother her. It didn’t even bother Thrain – he was willing to continue their intimacy until he got her full with child, and then he would do so again when she gave birth. They had time. As he had said to her so many months ago, he was young, he was strong. He could wait.

She smiled to herself as Thrain went to grab his favorite fruits from one of the women, and made eye-contact with a knowing smile. Small-bellied she was now, it was a happy thought to her that day that he wouldn’t have to wait much longer – and perhaps, if luck was as kind to her as it had been so far, her visit to Earth, with Thrain and her baby, wouldn’t be too far behind.

 

THE END

~*~