“That doesn’t change the fact that your lust gas isn’t working, Grrn.” Fsst sounded exasperated. “You have had your turn—why do you not allow me to try managing these subjects my way?”
“You think you can do better?” Grrn demanded.
“I believe I can, yes. You do not understand matters of the heart—you are too coldly logical.”
“Fine!” Isobel could almost imagine Grrn throwing up his weird, skinny, six-fingered hands in disgust. “Do as you like with them but I have one caveat.”
“Name it,” his companion said.
“I will do better than that, I will show you. But it must be done carefully and privately.”
“Agreed.”
Suddenly, Isobel had the weightless sensation again and everything seemed to go sideways somehow. She opened her mouth to scream…and found herself standing once more in the round, white room. Only this time, it had changed.
Looking around, she found herself standing in the middle of an elaborate bedroom suite. There was a white fur carpet underfoot which tickled her bare feet and red velvet wallpaper on the curving walls. There was a vast round bed in the center of the room with black satin sheets on it and a mirror mounted above it. It looked like something out of a boudoir photography set.
Isobel herself had changed too. Looking down, she saw that she was wearing clothes again…well, if you could call the outfit she was dressed in clothes. It was actually more like a lacy black cobweb that draped over her breasts and opened just below them to show a pair of naughty panties to match.
Both the cobweb baby-doll nighty and the panties that went with it were so transparent they were practically see-through but at least she had some cover now. Isobel wondered what Hail was wearing—or if he was wearing anything at all.
He was standing by the side of the vast, round bed, she saw, and sure enough, the little gray men had given him clothing too. He had on a long pair of what looked like satin sleep trousers. They were a little less see-through than Isobel’s own outfit but she could still see the outline of his hard shaft pressing against the thin material.
The big Kindred was also completely healed of his previous wounds, Isobel saw. The blood was gone and there were only scars where the spike-monster had swiped him with its arm.
But Hail didn’t seem to have noticed he was suddenly dressed again or even that he was healed. He was standing perfectly still and the look on his face was one of intense concentration. Slowly his hand crept to the back of his neck.
“Hail?” she ventured, not sure what was going on. “Are…are you okay?”
“No.” He looked up at her and shook his head. “No, I’m not. They’ve taken it.”
“Taken what?” Isobel asked.
“My emotion damper.” His oculars retracted and he looked at her, his pale blue eyes blazing. “It’s gone, Isobel. I have no way to control my emotions.”
Chapter Eight
Hail knew at once he shouldn’t have told her. He could see the look of uncertainty and fear on her lovely face the minute he admitted he had lost the ability to turn down his emotional responses to a safe level. It was the same way she had looked at him when he had released his beast to fight the spiked thing the aliens had sent against them.
But what else could I do? he asked himself despairingly. I could not fight such a creature without unlocking my battle rage. And I turned my emotions back down to a safe level as soon as the danger was over.
Yes, but now he had lost the ability to do that. The place on the back of his neck where his emotion damper had been all his life was completely smooth. The silver button was gone and his fingers met only bare skin when he touched himself there.
What was he going to do?
I’ll tell you what you’re not going to do, he told himself firmly. You’re not going anywhere near Isobel. Not when the beast could come out at any minute! The best way to keep her safe is to stay the Seven Hells away from her!
And then the little gray bastards that had captured them spoke again.
“Well?” asked the one who called himself Grrn. “We are trying it your way—they now have sexually arousing clothing, an environment conducive to coitus, and the emotion control has been removed from the male’s neck. Why are they still not mating?”
“I do not know.” The one called Fsst sounded perplexed. “For a primitive species, they are certainly sexually complex.”
“We aren’t mating because you can’t force people to…to want to do that,” Isobel called, surprising Hail. She was shouting at the curving wall, in the general direction of where their captors were watching. “You can’t force people to fall in love!” she explained.
“Oh, can’t we?” There was a dangerous note in Grrn’s voice that Hail didn’t like one bit.
Fsst seemed to hear it too.
“Now Grrn, do not be hasty,” he said quickly. “What do you plan to do?”
“Only reason with them.” There was a sly note in the gray alien’s voice that told Hail he wasn’t to be trusted. Despite his determination not to go anywhere near Isobel without his emotion damper, he went quickly across the transformed room and stood in front of her, ready to shield her if necessary from whatever threat came next.
“I thought you said they could not be reasoned with.” Fsst sounded confused.
“Well, I’m trying things your way now, my friend,” Grrn said. “Let’s see if they respond—shall we?” He cleared his throat—or at least, Hail assumed that was what the high, whistling sound was. “Now listen to me, the both of you,” he said, sounding stern. “If you ever wish to return to your normal lives, you will mate at once. Our time bubble is rapidly collapsing and we do not have any more time to cajole or coerce you.”
“You…you’ll send us back?” Isobel whispered.
Hail turned to see that she was standing there with her arms wrapped around herself, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.
“Isobel,” he began but she was still speaking to their captors.
“You’ll send us back—let us go back to our normal lives and our…our families if we do this? If we, uh, mate for you?” she asked.
“Indeed we will, my dear,” Grrn said at once.
“We Chalombs are scientists, not sadists,” Fsst put in helpfully. “We wish only to study your primitive methods of reproduction. Then we will return you to your ship and you may be on your way.”
“And if we refuse?” Hail shouted, feeling desperate. There was no way he could do this with Isobel. She was too tiny, too fragile and his beast was too near the surface—he had no way to control it.
“If you refuse,” Grrn said menacingly, “You will never see your families or return to your normal lives again.”
* * * * *
Grrn’s words pierced Isobel like a thorn in her heart. Never again? She would never see her little boy again?
No, that can’t be! It can’t! Brandon needs me—no one else would love him and understand him like I do. No one else will stand up for him and advocate for him at school. He needs me—I have to get back to him!
And there was only one way to do that.
Looking up at Hail, she bit her lip. He was huge and liable to get even bigger if his beast came out again. And that seemed to be a real possibility now that the little gray men had taken away his emotion damper.
But if having sex with the massive Kindred was the only way out of this situation…
I’ll do it, Isobel thought desperately. I’ll do anything I have to in order to get back home. Anything.
“All right,” she called to their watching captors. “We’ll do it. Just promise to let us go home when we’re done.”
“You have our word, my dear,” Fsst said. “But please proceed—the time bubble cannot last forever and we need to collect our data.”
“Okay.” Isobel nodded and turned to face the big Kindred, a feeling of determination rising in her. “Hail,” she said, taking a step towards him. “I’m afraid we have to do this.”
/> But the huge warrior was backing away from her, shaking his head.
“No…no, Isobel, I can’t.”
“You have to. We have to.” Their situations were reversed now, with Isobel advancing on him while Hail backed away as she had earlier. Somewhere inside, a little voice was pointing out how ridiculous this was. She felt like a Chihuahua confronting a Great Dane. But she had to get this done—it was the only way to get home to her son again.
Riiiight—you want to do it because you have to, whispered that sarcastic little voice in her head. And the fact that he’s big and mouthwateringly muscular and smells incredible has nothing to do with it.
Unbidden, a new fantasy suddenly rose in her head. Isobel saw herself riding the big Kindred, her legs spread wide to straddle his lean hips as she impaled herself on that massive shaft she saw pressing against the thin fabric of his trousers. She could almost feel his thickness opening her, stretching her inner walls as he slid slowly inside her…
Wait—why am I thinking like this? Do I still have some of that lust gas they hit us with in my system?
Isobel didn’t know—she only knew she was incredibly attracted to the big Kindred and she wasn’t going to let him get away as he seemed intent on doing.
“Come here, Hail,” she murmured, stalking towards him. “We need to do this and you know it.”
“I can’t,” he repeated, backing away another step. But he had backed up against the large, round bed in the center of the room.
Seeing her advantage, Isobel put her hands on his broad chest and pushed him down so he was sitting on the side of the bed. Boldly, she went to stand between his thighs. His oculars were retracted again and she found she could look directly into those pale, gorgeous blue eyes of his. He was so tall they were face to face, even with her standing and him sitting.
“We have to,” she repeated. “There’s no other way to get out of here.”
“I want you…” Hail cupped her cheek, his eyes searching hers. “But…I fear to hurt you. My beast…I have no way to control it now.”
His beast. That’s right…his beast.
Isobel felt a sharp stab of uncertainty. Somehow as the heat overcame her, she’d managed to forget about the huge, scary thing Hail kept caged inside him. And now the lock to the cage was broken. What had he said about the beast? That it only wanted to fight and breed. And Isobel had seen how well it could fight. What would it be like to make love with it?
It was a frightening thought…but not nearly as frightening as the idea of never getting home again. She felt a surge of renewed determination.
“It’s all right, Hail,” she murmured, nuzzling her cheek against his big, warm hand. “I…I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be,” he said harshly. “You’ve seen what I can become—what can be unleashed if I’m not careful. And Isobel…” He looked at her earnestly. “I don’t know…don’t know if I can be careful with you. I want to be, but…”
Isobel felt like her heart was lodged in her throat but she knew she couldn’t let fear stop her.
“It’s all right,” she said again. “Why don’t we just…just take things slowly?”
He shook his head. “I am not even sure how to begin.”
There was an open look on his face Isobel hadn’t seen before—a naked desire mixed with uncertainty that touched her somehow.
“That’s right,” she said. “You told me you’ve never…never been with anyone before, right?”
“There were, as I said, no females on Z4,” he replied. “There are…resources for single males aboard the Mother Ship but I never thought…never dared to allow myself…” He shook his head. “Besides, I thought that such an act should mean something. I did not wish to waste it with someone I did not care for…didn’t love.”
His soft words spoken in that deep, growling voice touched Isobel even more.
“I haven’t been with anyone in a long time either,” she admitted. “Even before I ran away from my ex, we hadn’t…you know, in quite a while.”
“Your ex…the male who was cruel to you. Who hurt you.” He looked at her appealingly. “Isobel, I don’t want to hurt you like he did.”
“You won’t. Here, just…just touch me.”
Biting her lip, she tugged at the little bow between her breasts that held the cobweb-thin baby-doll nighty closed. It parted, baring her breasts completely for him.
He had seen her naked earlier but this time was different, Isobel thought. This time she wanted him to see her and she made no effort to cover herself.
“Here,” she said again. Taking one of his big hands, she brought it to her right breast.
Hail moaned deep in his throat.
“I shouldn’t…” But Isobel noticed he didn’t try to draw his hand away. She felt a thrill race through her—God, his big hand on her felt so good. How long had it been since a man had touched her? It seemed like forever—and it had been even longer since she was touched by a man she actually wanted to touch her.
Sex had been the first thing to go in her marriage, long before the ultimate end of the relationship. Of course, it had been hard to feel enthusiastic about making love with a man who was mean and abusive—mostly Isobel had just tried to shut her mind off and endure it when she and Mitch had sex.
But she wasn’t shutting anything out as she did this with Hail—her eyes were wide open. And despite her fear of his beast, she felt an uncontrollable thrill when he cupped her breast and rubbed his thumb gently over her tingling nipple.
“Mmm…” she couldn’t help murmuring as an electrical surge of pleasure ran from her nipple straight to her pussy.
“This feels good to you?” Hesitantly, the big Kindred cupped her other breast and thumbed her left nipple as well. “You like the feel of my hands on you?” he rumbled.
“Y-yes,” Isobel admitted. “Feels…feels good when you touch me.”
“What about when I taste you?” he growled softly. Leaning down, he lapped gently at one pink bud, circling her nipple with the tip of his tongue and making Isobel moan.
“Yes,” she admitted again. “But it might…might feel even better if you sucked me—sucked my nipples, I mean.”
Part of her couldn’t believe she was suggesting this. You’re only doing this because you have to, scolded a little voice in her head. You’re not supposed to enjoy it!
But Isobel couldn’t contain herself. When Hail sucked her tight, pink nipple between his lips and drew on it hard, she felt a bolt of pure pleasure that went straight between her legs to her pussy.
“God, Hail!” she gasped and threaded her fingers through his thick, dark hair.
Hail growled softly, deep in his throat, and sucked harder, taking as much of her breast as he could into his hot, wet mouth. He went back and forth, sucking first one nipple, then the other, tasting her as though he found her incredibly delicious.
Isobel bit her lip and pressed her thighs together tightly. God, she could feel her pussy throbbing and she was certain if she looked down she would find that the tiny, indecently thin panties the little gray men had somehow conjured onto her were completely soaked. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so turned on and she didn’t think any residual lust gas still lingering in her system could be blamed.
From the moment she’d seen him sitting in her living room, she’d felt an instant connection to Hail, she admitted to herself. He seemed so big and scary on the outside and yet, she felt drawn to him. Maybe it had to do with the dream-sharing thing Kat had told her about. But for whatever reason, she felt herself melting against him as he tugged her left nipple gently with his fingers while he nipped lightly at the right and then sucked it hard, making her moan again.
“Hail,” she gasped. “Oh God, Hail.” He might not have done this before but it was clear the big Kindred was a very fast learner—the way he was sucking her tender nipples was enough to have her squirming and wishing for more. Much more.
As if they had heard her sile
nt wish, the little gray men started talking again.
“Most interesting,” came the voice of either Fsst or Grrn—Isobel’s mind was too clouded with pleasure to make a distinction. “See how he pleasures her sensitive areas with his mouth in order to ready her for penetration?”
“Not all of her sensitive areas though,” came the reply. “Warrior—you must also use your mouth between the female’s legs. This is a behavior we particularly wish to study.”
Isobel felt a sudden flush of heat and embarrassment.
“Be-between my legs?” she stuttered uncertainly. Oh God, just the thought of letting the big Kindred kiss and lick her there made her feel hot and cold all over.
Hail released the nipple he was sucking with a slow, teasing tug, letting it slide reluctantly from between his lips.
“Do you not wish me to?” he growled softly.
“I, well…” Isobel shifted from foot to foot, feeling her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. Actually, she had used to love having a man go down on her. She’d had a boyfriend in college who was especially good at it. But that had been years and years ago and Mitch had never shown much interest in the activity.
“Because I want to,” Hail went on, his blue eyes blazing. “Gods help me, I want to taste you so badly, Isobel. Just the thought of spreading your thighs and lapping your sweet, ripe pussy has my shaft rock hard.”
“Oh!” Isobel’s heart started pounding even harder. Was he talking dirty to her now? That was certainly something she hadn’t expected from the big, stolid warrior. He had seemed so stern—almost robotic when she first met him. But clearly passion was loosening him up considerably. “I…I don’t know,” she said at last, trying to cover her confusion.
“If you’re shy or embarrassed to let me perform such an intimate act, maybe we could take things slowly, as you suggested earlier,” Hail murmured. “I could simply kiss your panties first. Would that be acceptable?”
“I…well…” Though she craved this particular act, Isobel was ashamed to admit it. But the idea of lying on the bed and allowing the big Kindred to kiss the naughty, see-through panties she was wearing and her throbbing pussy beneath them turned her on so much she could barely breathe. “All right,” she whispered at last. “But only…only kiss my panties, all right?”