Tukui’s tone was steady, though he shifted, as if uncomfortable. “Kalquor was devastated by a virus a few generations ago. Few females survived. Those who did, and the rare girls born since—most are infertile. We’re in danger of dying out.”
“I had no idea you were facing extinction.”
“When our species met Earthers and discovered we’re compatible to have children together, we asked them to join our clans. To be our Mataras.”
“We’re—we’re able to have children that are from both our species? That’s possible?”
“It is.”
A vision of him lying on top of her erupted in Tina’s mind. Kissing her. Pushing her gown up, pulling her panties down. Eager to make her pregnant so his world wouldn’t die.
Tina could barely breathe. The idea was awful, of course it was, but the image refused to leave. Neither would the churning heat between her legs.
Yorso pulled her from the insistent picture in her mind. “We came to the Earther women living on stations and planets away from Earth and asked them to be our lifebringers. Wives.”
They’d asked? “You didn’t force them to go?”
Tukui laid his hand on her knee. The contact was warm. “Our people are dying out. We have a lot to offer your women, and we made sure they knew that.”
“Good homes. Security. A clan that sees to every need their Matara has, which does all in its power to keep her happy.”
Tina seized on one word. “A clan? As in three men with a single woman?”
Yorso spoke softly. “That’s our way. There are too few women for monogamous unions like those of your world.”
“Is that what’s going to happen to me? Are you planning to take me to Kalquor to have babies for your people?” Tukui on top of her, stripping her, kissing her, pushing her legs apart, the others waiting their turn…
Their expressions told her that was exactly her fate.
The reality of her situation interrupted the wayward thoughts and sensations Tina had no defense against. The Kalquorians were taking her away. Forcing her to leave all she knew behind. Dismay filled her as she woke to the full meaning of her situation.
She hated to beg, but it was all she had. “I have a family on Earth. A father, a brother and sister, and my stepmother. I don’t want to go somewhere else. I don’t want to live on Kalquor.”
As she babbled, Tukui and Yorso petted her, stroking her arms and hair, speaking soothing words. She pushed them away and jumped to her feet. She ran for the open doorway.
Osopa caught her easily before she could get two steps. He held her against himself, against that hard, implacable body. “It’s time to do as Dr. Degorsk suggested.”
“Gently, my Nobek.” Yorso and Tukui crowded against her, stilling her frantic struggles.
“Let me go!”
Yorso pleaded, “Tina, look at me. No matter how scary this is, it’ll be all right. I promise.”
His glance at Osopa warned her. She looked up.
And saw fangs.
Tina screamed as the Nobek swooped down, the slender fangs that had appeared behind his blunter incisors a blur. He latched onto her neck. A jolt of pain sizzled as he punctured muscle.
In her panic, she failed to notice how the hurt faded almost immediately. She jerked, knowing she couldn’t refuse what they planned for her but unable to keep from struggling. Tukui and Yorso uttered shushing sounds, attempting to comfort even as they let their companion attack her.
It doesn’t hurt. That fact stole into her senses, along with the warmth and strength pressing against her.
She wasn’t sure when heat began to weave through her synapses, curling soft tendrils throughout. It glowed within her, deep within her belly and chest. An enthralling sensation pulsed between her legs. She became astonishingly aware of herself, her skin feeling as it never had before. Her gown, soft from numerous washings, rubbed against her with electricity. Especially against her nipples, which pressed against the fabric as if to tear free. Acute awareness of her flesh, and of the men touching her, was a lightning strike that left her gasping. Her sex spasmed.
She puzzled over her fear ebbing as Tukui and Yorso rubbed dry the last of her tears. Osopa stopped the painless biting. With a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan, he hugged her tight. Almost as if he were the one in need of comforting.
It was strange to feel safe as they stroked her face, hair, arms, and back. Yet she did. She was alight with serenity, in contrast to the suffering expressions around her.
Maybe they didn’t wish to force her to Kalquor. Could it be some authority had ordered them to? She patted their shoulders to make them feel better. She knew all about being told to do things she wasn’t happy with.
“It’s okay. You didn’t mean to scare me. I’ll be fine.”
Tukui winced. “Poor Matara. I’m sorry it’s come to this.”
He cupped her jaw. She sank into the gorgeous purple of his eyes. What a pretty shade they were, with cool, blue undertones. The slitted pupils, bizarre at first, no longer bothered her.
She was still considering his eyes when he kissed her. Then all thought fled.
She’d never been kissed before that she knew of. Her mother had died giving birth to her, so she’d missed knowing that embrace. Her father, harsh and disapproving, hadn’t kissed her either. She’d been sent to Europa before she’d had the opportunity to date.
She’d had no idea lips against hers could be so astounding. Tukui’s were soft, growing firmer as they moved. Then something warm and wet—he was licking her. Tasting her lips. Startled, she gasped, and his tongue rubbed against its twin.
Fireworks lit within. The tumbling sensation in her stomach intensified, and her sex clenched hard. An impression of melting joined the upheaval.
Tukui’s body was hard against hers, demanding surrender. She softened, going pliant as he devoured her. She operated on an instinct that demanded she acquiesce to his exciting demands. Obeying unfamiliar urges, she tasted him in turn, clutching at his uniform in an effort to meld their bodies together. The vision was back, more powerful than before.
On top of her, pulling her clothes off, pushing her legs apart…
A scent rose between them, something that reminded her of cinnamon. Sweetish, with a spicy kick. She had no idea what it could be, and dismissed it under Tukui’s delicious assault.
She whimpered when it ended, but Yorso was there to take up where his clanmate had left off. Once again, she submerged in a maelstrom of heady impressions. Her heart thundered, and she shook all over. Her skin radiated heat. And down where she’d never been touched by anyone else, she ached. A violent craving demanded to be satisfied.
“Beautiful, wonderful woman. We’ll do all in our power to make you happy,” Tukui breathed in her ear.
On the heels of that, something brushed against her breast, right over her nipple. Galvanizing shock that traveled straight to her sex made her cry out in Yorso’s mouth. Someone gripped the mound, his thumb rubbing over the stiff peak, shattering her.
The next few seconds were a confusion of tugging, of air striking her skin, of calloused hands exploring bared flesh, of wet mouths licking and sucking what had been covered moments before. The notion she needed more overcame what should have been the terrifying realization that the insistent fantasy was real. She was naked and lying on her bed. It had been pulled from the wall, and the Kalquorians surrounded her, fondling her with growing excitement.