Initiation (Xylon Warriors 1) (7 page)

“Braden will attempt to initiate you by himself. I’m not sure why he made that decision. It’s not standard. But it’s what he wants.”

Alexa wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or not. Though if it were only Braden… Geez! Was she actually considering this?

“And, yes, you do need to be initiated in order to breed with our men. A lot is riding on this, Alexa. We need you. The future of many free planets is in jeopardy. We need our numbers to remain strong, so we can continue to fight the Egesa.”

This was all too much. However, if Leila was telling the truth, then a lot did rest on her decision.

“Would Braden be my husband then, or whatever you call it?”

“Breeder-mate.” Leila wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Yes.”

She got the uncomfortable feeling that Leila wasn’t telling her the exact truth with that answer. The woman looked too nervous, all of a sudden, sitting there, chewing on her thumbnail.

In their favor, these people hadn’t hurt her, even when she had tried to hurt them. Braden had saved her, in fact. The circumstances were just all so strange and confusing that she wasn’t sure what to do or believe. She needed more information. Anything to help her figure all this out. “Can you explain the ceremony?” Her voice lowered. “From what I know, it’s very erotic.”

“Yes,” Leila answered, her gaze returning to Alexa, and her voice lowering in kind.

She stood and lifted a case that was leaning against the wall. Alexa hadn’t even noticed it there. It looked a lot like the one Lizard-man carried. That did
not
calm her. Leila brought it back to the bed and pushed it open.

She took out what looked to Alexa like a clear, glass dildo with a tube encased inside, along with some wires. And she saw buttons located on the base.

“This is the first part of the rite. The tube contains a vaccine of sorts that will protect you from any diseases the other side might try to infect you with. The Egesa sexually transmit diseases, and they often inflict various poisons through torture techniques. It’s how they sterilize or incapacitate their victims.”

Alexa shuddered, thinking about the now-healed wounds to her breasts. What she’d experienced could have been a lot worse. “Those creatures did say they planned to make me sterile.”

“It’s one of the ways they’re trying to extinguish our race. We can protect you from that. You’ll be stimulated with the dildo, then when you orgasm, the fluid will be ejaculated into you. Your orgasm will pull in the medicine, so to speak, and your system will absorb it.”

The dildo looked huge. She had to be kidding. “Um, can’t the vaccine be administered through a shot or a pill?”

“This is an Ancient Rite, Alexa. It’s a protection and bonding ceremony, full of tradition and very powerful. We’re looking for alternate ways, but so far nothing has worked effectively.”

“What if a person can’t orgasm? Is that required?”

“Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “I’ve…never had one.” She averted her eyes when she felt her face heat at the admission.

“Never? Are you a virgin?”

“No.” Though she might as well be. Her past relationships were, well, unexciting. “I’ve just never been able to do it.”

“Hmm.” Leila chewed at her thumbnail. “It might present a problem. I’ll talk to Braden about it.”

Alexa’s gaze snapped to hers. “I haven’t agreed.”

Leila studied her a moment before answering. “Okay. I understand that.” She set the dildo into the case and withdrew a much smaller dildo with feelers at the end. “Are you still willing to at least listen and consider what I say?”

Warily looking at the object in Leila’s hand, Alexa hesitated, but then nodded. She might as well hear it all. It would buy her time to think, if nothing else.

“This is the second part of the rite. The tiny feelers are coated with the protective vaccine and inserted anally.” She pulled on the base, and the feelers disappeared inside the dildo. Then she pushed, and the feelers re-emerged, shiny with liquid.

Alexa shivered. Oh, no way! “I’ve never done anything like that. I don’t think I could.” The understatement of the year. She should get a trophy for keeping her voice much calmer than she actually felt. Why would anyone agree to that sort of bodily invasion?

“Braden’s very skilled. You wouldn’t have to worry. He won’t hurt you.”

Alexa wondered if the woman’s knowledge was first-hand. “Did he initiate you?” The thought of him initiating who knows how many women bothered her. It was such an intimate act. And did that mean he bred all of them, too? She didn’t like that idea. Of course, being a man, he probably got off on it. Or was she judging him unfairly?

She tended not to give men the benefit of the doubt much. Because of caution or self-preservation, she wasn’t sure. That’s just the way she was. Maybe her mother’s constant mistrust of the opposite sex rubbed off on her in her formative years. Or maybe she simply always knew, deep down, that she wanted a different sort of man.

Wait. No. Her thinking must be wrong. Because if he initiated Leila, then they’d be mates. Unless she lied about the mate part. Or unless they could have more than one mate, which kinda made sense, since normally three people performed an Initiation. This whole thing was so bizarre.

“What makes you think I’m a breeder?”

“Oh! I’m sorry. If that’s an insult or something…”

“No, it’s a compliment. I am a breeder, but unmated so far. And, no. He didn’t initiate me. My ceremony was…different.” She slapped the dildo back inside the case and slammed it closed.

Whoa! Distress and anger were clearly visible on Leila’s face. Maybe Leila had feelings for Braden and
wanted
him to initiate her. Then didn’t get her way. Why hadn’t she produced children if she was a breeder and there was such a need? And if Leila went through the initiation, then how could she be unmated? Something was wrong somewhere. “You’re lying.”

Leila’s head snapped up. “What?”

“You said that Braden would be my breeder-mate. If you’re a breeder and went through the initiation, then you can’t be unmated.”

Leila stiffened, and Alexa swore she saw tears in the woman’s eyes, before she got herself back under control.

“My situation is a special case. It has nothing to do with how yours will play out.”

That’s all Leila said, and it was obvious that’s all she intended to say, much to Alexa’s frustration. “Is that everything then? I mean, everything I need to know about
my
situation?” Alexa asked, though she really wanted to ask more about Leila’s situation.

“Not quite. The third part of the rite is voluntary, but highly recommended. Your mother might still be with us if she’d gone through it, but she decided against the act. This last part will allow your body to heal spontaneously when injured in some manner. It’s ninety percent effective.”

“What is the third part?” It had to be worse than the first two for her mother to refuse it.

“It’s, well…we don’t know exactly where it originated, but male and female Warriors and breeders who have gone through all three parts contain this healing ability and can transfer it during an Initiation.”

“Wait a minute. Men go through this, too. Just Warriors or also regular Xylon?”

“All breeders go through the ceremony. The ceremony for men is somewhat different, of course, given their anatomy. Warriors are the strongest breeders and produce the most children. Almost all Warriors are breeders. Not all breeders are Warriors.”

Alexa fidgeted. For that to be true they
must
be allowed more than one mate, otherwise Braden wouldn’t be available. She did not like the idea of multiple mates, and wondered who had initiated the man these people had chosen to initiate
her
. Or had Braden even gone through the ceremony before? He must have, or he wouldn’t be able to perform the third part. She needed a damn handbook for all this stuff. “Who initiated Braden?”

“I don’t know. Three women from what I’ve been told.”

Well, duh. She could’ve figured that out. Unless… Something Leila said earlier came back to her. She had asked Braden if he wanted
her
to be part of some Alliance. And Erik’s reaction seemed to suggest that Leila could be part of the Initiation. That would mean opposite sexes weren’t necessarily paired up for the ceremony. If that were so, then they couldn’t use this method to select breeder mates. A society so desperate for children would frown upon same-sexed partners as mates, she was certain. Perhaps Leila had lied to make her more comfortable with giving her body to a virtual stranger, an alien species. Or had she missed something somewhere?

“Um, the women ultimately chose other mates.”

That caught Alexa’s attention. “So, he’s not mated?”

“No.”

A surge of relief swept through her. She did believe Leila about that. The honesty shone in her eyes. She suddenly felt more energized. Not only because there weren’t other women in Braden’s life, but also because apparently women actually were given a choice in the matter. She needed to know more. “So how is that healing ability transferred?”

“Orally.”

“Orally? By kissing, you mean?” More memories returned in a rush, and she knew the answer.

“No.”

The woman in the cemetery on her hands and knees sucking the Egesa’s cock played through Alexa’s mind. “You mean I’d need to swallow Braden’s semen, don’t you?” she asked with a strangled voice. “I remember that from the cemetery.”

“Yes. Some women can’t handle it. Warrior semen, especially, is particularly thick and heavy. And for it to work, you need a large amount taken in a short period of time.”

“It could be pumped into a glass and drank, right?” That sounded so unappealing she almost gagged. But, she’d never sucked a man’s cock.

“No. Ingested directly is the only way. If it comes in contact with non-living tissue, the protective elements neutralize. It
is
your choice, Alexa.”

Her choice
. And if she chose not to do it? Any of it? “I’m just one woman out of who knows how many. You’ve made it seem like the future of your world, and mine, rests completely with me.”

“Well, maybe not completely. But we can’t afford to lose more women. We’re in a desperate situation.”

“It’s a little hard to believe all this.”

“I understand. But you can’t deny what you’ve seen and experienced. And what would we gain by lying?”

“A cheap thrill?”

“It’s a lot of work for a cheap thrill, Alexa.”

That was true. And she had seen unexplainable things. How could she continue to doubt their words?

“Also, you should know, there’s a
reaction
to being initiated.”

She raised an eyebrow. A reaction. Any
reaction
couldn’t be good. “What’s that?”

“It’s an uncontrollable sexual appetite, which is why three people generally form an Alliance. To be able to deal with it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ll become sexually starved for several hours. You’ll need sex repeatedly. If the appetite isn’t satisfied, the imbalance in your brain waves will become so severe that the result could cause insanity or even death.”

“Peachy.” She hugged her arms around her middle. She’d always wanted to be more sexually aggressive. Somehow, this wasn’t how she’d envisioned accomplishing that. So, for several hours she’d be some sex maniac. If she understood correctly, only Braden would be touching her, satisfying the hunger. She could think of worse fates. Still…

Something suddenly tugged at Alexa’s mind. She gripped the padded armrests of the chair. A wave of nausea hit her, then faded. The room darkened. An orb of light grew, starting as a dot and expanding rapidly.

She saw another room as if from above. She blinked, but nothing changed.
She
was on a bed, naked. Her ass up, her head down. Braden was aggressively pumping his cock into her from behind. Oh, my!

Braden’s face held a look of complete concentration and need. The erotic image pulled a moan from her throat.

She watched her mouth open in ecstasy. The pleasure on her face caught her attention and seemed to transfer directly to her body—the one looking down.

Braden grabbed her hips and thrust harder, faster, moving with such speed and force that the sound of their bodies slapping together echoed in her ears.

No man had ever taken her like that. So wild. She couldn’t look away from his complete, sexual dominance of her. They were like pure, hot sin together.

Her breasts tingled. Her clit throbbed. Her whole body tightened. She was right on the edge, ready to tumble.

“Alexa? Alexa?”

Her vision cleared.

Leila stood and approached her, an odd look on her face. “Are you all right?”

“What?”

“Are you all right? You zoned out.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m fine.” Where the heck had that vision come from? Her body teetered on the edge of unfulfilled passion. She wanted to go back to the vision to see how it ended.

Leila placed a hand on her forehead. “You’re strangely pale and cool.”

Alexa laughed, but the sound held very little humor. “Considering the circumstances, I’m not surprised.”

Leila took a small, flat panel out of a pocket in her jacket. “Can you raise your sweatshirt a little and let me put this against your skin? It won’t hurt. It’s just a medical monitor.”

Alexa raised her shirt. Leila stuck the monitor against her skin. It looked like one of those flat night-lights, except with buttons along the bottom. The little machine clung to her flesh, but she felt no pain.

The monitor clicked and whirled, then beeped. Leila removed it and studied the display.

“Am I okay?”

Leila put away the monitor. “You’re fine. Will you excuse me?”

“Of course.”

Leila opened the door. “Kam. Can you come in and sit with her? I need to talk to Braden.”

Chapter Five

“So?” Braden approached Leila. Another moment and he’d have stormed the bedroom. He hadn’t thought she was ever coming out. “Did Alexa agree to the Initiation?”

“Not yet.”

A string of expletives exploded inside his head, and it took all his energy not to let them fly. The hope he’d held drained out of him, and he felt like collapsing from exhaustion right there on the beige and green area rug. With a sound of frustration, he scrubbed his hands over his face. “We don’t have time for these delays.”