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  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 th
ey 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

  ~*~