Alien Caged Page 9

  Elisa relaxed when she saw that Coombs sat in the guard room alone, shuffling the tattered deck of cards over and over and watching an old vid of a gospel music concert. Relief filled her entire body, along with the familiar delight that she was about to see the men she secretly adored.

  She usually didn’t exchange more than the obligatory polite greeting with Coombs. However, Remington’s absence made her almost giddy. Her tone bright as the sun, Elisa said, “All alone tonight, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  Sometimes it seemed to Elisa that the man was so lazy that he couldn’t muster up the energy to do more than grunt. Still, she couldn’t seem to shut up in her ridiculous joy that he was the only one there. Not only that, Coombs didn’t seem to be in any hurry to haul his ass out of his chair to escort her into the block. Impatience made her chatty.

  “Remington had better things to do?”

  “Said he had a lead on some bev.”

  Elisa frowned. “‘Bev’?”

  Coombs made a motion with his hand and mouth, as if drinking from an invisible bottle. Elisa guessed the guard alluded to beverage, as in the alcoholic sort.

  “Oh. Rare stuff on this ship.” When was he going to take her in to see Clan Zemos, anyway? Get up, you lazy lump!

  “Yep.” Coombs finally turned his gaze from the vid to glance at the doorway that led to the cells. “The Kalqs are locked up tight. You don’t need me. Go on in.”

  Usually Elisa would have been thrilled with the opportunity to hang out alone for a few extra minutes with the clan. Unfortunately, she’d discovered a major snag before coming in here.

  “I would, but I’ve misplaced my field disruptor.” Sudden inspiration hit. “Can I use yours?”

  What she asked for was a major security breach. Only the armed guards could use the full field disruptors, the ones that took down an entire containment wall. Even if the device was set on limited disruption, Elisa was not cleared for its use.

  Coombs didn’t bat an eye. He took one off the wall without getting out of his chair. He handed it over to her. “Sure. You know how to use it, right?”

  “I think so.” Elisa studied the device, which had a dial in addition to the button she was used to seeing. She made sure it was set for about the same size window her personal device allowed for and held it out to show Coombs. “See? Set for limited field disruption only.”

  “Yep.” He kept watching his vid, paying no attention.

  Elisa put the disruptor on her belt where her missing device usually went. She’d already alerted general security she’d misplaced hers. They would retrace her steps in the effort to find the device and issue her another one in the morning if it didn’t turn up. She was pretty sure it had to be somewhere in the kitchen or in the corridor between here and there.

  Meanwhile, she was going to visit with Zemos’ clan with no nasty guard hanging over and threatening them. The day that had started out so awful would end on a positive note after all. Humming a happy tune, Elisa entered the cell block.

  The three men waited near the containment field as they often did when they knew she was due to bring their food. Elisa’s heart throbbed a happy drumbeat as she drew near. Now that she knew for a fact that she had nothing to fear from the trio, the last bit of restraint had crumbled into dust ... at least in her heart. She would have to be more vigilant than ever when it came to her actions in front of others. Giddiness could get her in trouble if she became overtly friendly with Zemos, Oret, and Miragin.

  They watched her with more care than usual as she neared. She thought they were perhaps concerned over how she would be with them after being thrust unexpectedly in their midst earlier today. Elisa gave them her sunniest smile ever to let them know how all right she was. All three men smiled back, yet their expressions seemed strained. Oret’s uncomfortable smile was no surprise as he didn’t give into the compulsion for merriment too often. Yet it was Miragin who looked the most tense. The Imdiko seemed downright ill at ease, in fact.

  Elisa supposed she should have expected it. His breed was supposed to be the most sensitive of all the Kalquorian race. As kind as Miragin was, he probably worried she had been traumatized by her temporary incarceration with them and the violent interaction with Remington. Miragin had demonstrated time and again his concern for her over the past weeks.

  Trying to ease his worry, Elisa kept her bright expression plastered on her face. It wasn’t hard to do, not with the absence of Remington to celebrate. She drew in front of the clan’s cell and triggered the borrowed disruptor. It opened a slightly larger than usual window in the containment. Her clumsy use of the gadget hadn’t made such a big difference. She didn’t bother correcting the mere two or three extra inches in the field’s interruption. She hooked it back onto her belt.

  Oret stepped forward as he always did, his hulking body looming over her. It reminded Elisa of the brief moment they’d been pressed up against each other when Remington had thrown her into the cell. She had given much of her daydreaming this afternoon to remembering that delicious contact. It was too bad she hadn’t had the presence of mind to enjoy it at the time it was happening.

  The Nobek asked, “You have no guard this evening?”

  Elisa rolled her eyes. “It’s Coombs. You know how he is.”

  She turned from Oret and picked up the first dish. His gentle snarl of a voice was casual as he asked, “That’s his field disruptor you’re using, isn’t it?”

  Elisa set the harmless plastic utensils in their slot on the tray. She wallowed in her enjoyment of the moment. She was alone with the Kalquorians, alone and able to chatter as much as she liked as long as she didn’t stay too long. “I lost mine. I can’t find the darned thing anywhere, and I had to report it to security. Boy, didn’t I get an earful over that. I hope they track it down, because I’ll be in trouble if we don’t find it.”

  She turned around with the tray and performed the same task she had dozens of times in the last three months. She slipped it through the opening in the containment field, handing it to Oret.

  His grabbing her arm instead of the tray was so unexpected that Elisa didn’t credit it as happening at first. Nor did the sight of her field disruptor in the Nobek’s hand alarm her. She simply stood there, smiling up at him, waiting for him to take the fried liver and onions dinner and inspect it before handing it off to Miragin.

  Oret’s harsh but pleasing features looked at her with a sense of sadness. Regret, even. His growling voice was soft as he said, “Consider your disruptor found, poor girl.”

  Elisa’s happy mood stilled as she realized what was happening. The room around her tilted as Oret clicked her disruptor. The tiny slot of an opening between them bloomed wide open, big enough that she could have dived through to the other side of the field. Electric alarm slammed in her gut, driving a gasp from her lungs.

  Oret dropped the stolen disruptor and reached through the opening. Elisa’s heart took off at a gallop, trying to pound a hole through her chest in the sudden panic that drove it. Her mouth dropped wide open as she stared up at the Nobek, still not quite believing what he’d done. He grabbed Coomb’s disruptor off her belt and dialed it to the 100 percent setting with his thumb.

  Oret pressed the button to collapse the entire containment field as Elisa’s scream tore loose from her throat. The wall disappeared and he pulled her hard, swinging her around to be caught in the waiting arms of Dramok Zemos. The Kalquorian captain’s hold was like steel bands, pinning her arms to her body, rendering her helpless before she remembered how to struggle.

  Elisa’s awareness crystallized to such a degree that every detail stood out in harsh relief. Zemos was at her back, his chest and abdomen hard as impenetrable granite. He held her straining frame with seeming effortlessness. His musky scent, animal male, was all she could breathe. Miragin stood nearby, his face drawn in a pained grimaced as he looked down at her.

  Oret dropped low in a crouch in front of them, every tendon on his carved body standing in
harsh relief. His lips wrinkled back to display long curved fangs behind his blunt human teeth as he sighted on the doorway that led to the guards’ office.

  She heard the startled exclamation that Coombs uttered, his chair squalling as he jumped out of it, a momentary flurry of activity that must have been him grabbing a blaster from the rack. Then the ponderous thud-thud of his boots sounded as he performed his comically slow version of a run.

  He appeared in the doorway and kept coming, stupidly not checking for danger before heaving himself into the corridor. Elisa could almost forgive Coombs’ dullness in that moment as he stampeded in his startled way to her rescue. He hadn’t hesitated to put himself in danger’s way when he’d heard her scream. He came – thoughtless and clumsy, but he came.

  Coombs got no further than to shout, “What’s going on in here?” Then the waiting Oret shot from his crouch, a streak of darkness racing so fast he blurred. Before Elisa could draw another breath to scream again or warn Coombs, the Nobek was on the guard, knocking him flat on his back and yanking the blaster from his hand.

  Elisa’s shriek cut through the air. She wrenched desperately in Zemos’ unyielding grip, trying to break free. Moist warmth latched onto the side of her neck. A moment later, sharp pain jabbed deep into her flesh. Elisa thought of Oret’s fangs and knew what Zemos was doing to her.

  With this new horror to cope with, she was barely aware of Oret ordering Coombs, “On your feet, Earther. Get into the cell.”

  Miragin’s upset face filled her vision. In a desperate tone he told her, “It will be all right, Elisa. We’re not going to harm you.”

  She cried into the Imdiko’s working face. “He’s biting me! Make him stop!”

  “It’s only to make you do as we wish. The intoxicant Zemos is feeding into your veins will make you obey us. We’re sorry, my sweet little girl, but we have to get out of here.”

  Coombs’ frightened voice carried to Elisa. “What are you going to do to me?”

  Oret’s dangerous answer was only one word. “This.”

  There was a thud. Elisa couldn’t see past Miragin to know what the brutal Nobek had done to her fellow Earther. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  Zemos’ mouth remained sealed to her neck. Elisa could no longer feel his fangs in her flesh. It didn’t even hurt anymore. Wispy warmth insinuated itself in her head. It offered a siren song of pleasure and comfort. Elisa tried to drive it back.

  She gasped with effort. “Don’t hurt ... don’t hurt Coombs. He’s only doing his job.”

  Miragin stroked her cheek. “He is all right. Oret knocked him unconscious, that’s all. We are not going to kill him or you. Relax and let the venom take effect.”

  Elisa blinked at him, tears stinging her eyes. The sense of betrayal warred with growing euphoria. “I liked you. Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

  Miragin’s expression was miserable. “We had no choice. You offer our best opportunity for escape.”

  Elisa was losing the battle with the intoxicant’s siren song. Her legs unhinged, and Zemos lowered them both to the floor so that she sat on his folded legs.

  Her disappointment grew more half-hearted with each passing moment. “Not nice. And you’re such nice men. Always nice to me.”

  Something new insinuated itself in her senses, stealing her from the all-important tasks of remonstration and escape. Elisa became aware of Zemos’ arms around her body. Her sense of touch seemed to have grown to a level of hyperawareness she’d never known before. The wall of man at her back, with its swelling hills of muscle, gave her the urge to arch and rub against him.

  She was also swallowed up in the view before her. Miragin’s intelligent purple eyes seemed to burn into her soul as he gazed at her. Each time he stroked her hair and face, it felt as if trails of warmth spilled from his touch, flaring molten paths down to the pit of her stomach. Suddenly it didn’t matter that she was probably in great danger from the Kalquorians. All that mattered was that they were holding her, touching her.

  Then Oret appeared, the dark, dangerous, beautiful beast standing over Miragin and looking down at Elisa. Three of them. Three men. One Elisa, so very vulnerable right now. It didn’t frighten her. Instead, she was enthralled with her helplessness against them. She made a thick sound in her throat.

  Miragin leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. It warmed her entire body.

  He said, “We’re going to be as gentle with you as possible, Elisa. Just do as you’re told, all right? Be a good girl for us.” His gaze flicked to the side of her face where Zemos’ head pressed close. “I think she’s sufficiently under the influence, my Dramok.”

  Zemos’ mouth left her throat. Elisa felt a sense of loss and whimpered. The arms around her tightened, however. Perhaps he only meant to be reassuring, but Elisa’s insides fluttered to feel the strength of the Dramok’s grip. Being his prisoner no longer seemed a terrifying prospect. It excited her.

  Zemos shifted her in his arms, cradling her like a baby. His handsome face hovered over hers, and Elisa wished he would kiss her. Yes, she definitely wanted him to kiss her and then do other things.

  This is what they call yearning. I thought I wanted them before, but it was nothing compared to this deep, desperate want. I’d sell my soul just to feel their bodies on mine. To feel them inside me.

  The man holding her spoke. His words were not quite as important as the fact he talked to her, filling her ears with his sonorous melody. “My apologies, Matara. I wish there had been another way.”

  How sweet. Zemos was sorry he’d had to frighten her. He was sorry his clanmate had stolen her frequency disruptor and gotten her in trouble. The Kalquorian captain looked genuinely contrite, and Elisa rushed to ease his worries.

  “It’s okay. You have to do what you have to do, right? I can understand that.”

  From way up high, Oret spoke too. His voice tickled something deep inside Elisa, but it was the kind of tickle that made her want to moan, not giggle. She struggled to get past the delicious feelings of his voice in her body to attend the meaning of his words.

  “Elisa, I need to get to a computer. One where we won’t be discovered. Can you safely take us somewhere private with computer access?”

  Elisa blinked and tried to think. Yes, somewhere private would be good. Somewhere they could all be alone with little chance they’d be discovered. She thought she knew of such a place, one where Oret would have the access he craved. If she got the Nobek to a computer, would her own cravings be rewarded? Heat surged at the idea. “Mmm. Maybe. I know the least used corridors, but we could still run into people.”

  Zemos smiled encouragingly. “That will be fine, little one. Thank you.”

  Seeing him happy with her lifted Elisa’s spirits to where she could have wept with bliss. She’d pleased him.

  He stood, lifting her gently to her feet as he rose. Elisa swayed, but her strong, wonderful captor’s arm remained around her, keeping her safe. Zemos wouldn’t let her fall. She clung to him, reassured by that.

  He held her close while addressing the other two. “Let’s go, clan. We don’t have much time.”

  With Zemos on one side of her, Miragin on the other, and Oret leading the way, they left the cell where the Kalquorians had been imprisoned for so long. Elisa was aware they passed the crumpled form of a man as they went, but he didn’t make much of an impression on her. Not when she was sandwiched between Miragin and Zemos, their combined warmth making her feel calm and excited all at once.

  There was a pause as they stepped outside where the containment wall should have been. Oret pointed one of the field disruptors in his possession at that area, and the field flared back to life, locking in its lone occupant. With a reassuring smile for her, Oret turned and led the way to the guards’ office.

  The gospel music concert vid continued to play as it had when Elisa had arrived a lifetime ago, ignorant of Coombs’ absence.

  Chapter 7

  Zemos and Miragin stopped
Elisa next to the wall where the weapons hung. Zemos handed his Imdiko a blaster from the rack. The Dramok armed and took another blaster for himself. Oret already had Coombs’ firearm. The Nobek crossed to the other doorway, the one leading out to the corridor, and eased out far enough that he could look out. In one direction lay the general population brig. The other way accessed the rest of the ship.

  Apparently he spied no one in either direction. The Nobek stepped back into the office and jerked his head at the rest of them. Zemos told Miragin, “Stay behind with Oret.” He then prodded Elisa forward with a gentle tug on the arm he held.

  She went to the doorway and had a look out herself. No one was in evidence, and she heard no sounds beyond the ever-present hum of the ship and the country twang of a southern gospel hymn. She couldn’t even hear her Kalquorian companions. If she’d closed her eyes, she wouldn’t know they were there.

  Elisa started to step out into the corridor, but Oret’s sinewy forearm stretched across her path. “Where will you be leading us?”

  She looked at the arm in front of her, thinking about having it wrapped around her body. Lower parts warmed at the thought, and Elisa had to force herself to look up into the fierce face of her captor instead. She wondered how much his tense visage would soften if she kissed him.

  Oret winced. “I know you are intoxicated, little one, but I need you to concentrate. Where are we going?”

  Elisa shook her head to clear some of the fog from her brazen thoughts. Her tone husky, she said, “Captain’s quarters. Well, the former captain’s quarters. He committed suicide shortly after Armageddon, and Captain Walker didn’t move into his rooms.”

  Zemos’ rough voice turned her head in the Dramok’s direction. “His quarters will have a computer with information about the ship?”

  Elisa tittered. Silly man. He was so big and delicious standing there holding her arm. She could climb that gorgeous creature like a tree. “Of course his personal computer had ship’s information. He was the captain, right? He had access to everything at a moment’s notice.”