A Hero’s Welcome (14 page)

The Queen was lurking around out there somewhere and she knew they were here too. He couldn’t help but wonder why the Queen had let Annie go so easily or why she wanted to speak with him. Surely Annie was mistaken about the woman wanting him to have sex with her?

Or was it just some of Annie’s insecurities coming out? It was totally understandable. She knew next to nothing about him. She thought he was from this planet. How in the world was he going to explain he was from Earth? Would she still want him if she found out he was pretty much an alien?

The question burned into his brain with razor sharpness and he shifted his body around in the darkness. Curling an arm beneath Annie’s soft shoulders, he cradled her tenderly and inhaled her sweet feminine scent. God, she smelled so damned good it was sinful.

Immediately she cuddled closer to him, burying her head into the crook of his neck. Her warmth was intoxicating and despite his best intentions he could feel himself going hard for her.

He swallowed and forced his voice to stay calm as he whispered into her hair.
“Go to sleep, Annie. I’
ll
take first watch.”

She nodded and said nothing but he could feel the tremors of fear still coursing through her body. He ached to ask her to tell him again what exactly the Queen had said in case she had forgotten something.

He decided to keep silent. She needed sleep. They both needed sleep. They could discuss this tomorrow when they were far away from here and they didn’t need to keep quiet.

It took a long time for the trembling in her body to subside. Finally her breathing grew shallow and steady and she fell asleep.

Darkness fell like a heavy blanket over the narrow gully and with it came the night sounds. A small creature slithered through the nearby weeds. Wings of some nocturnal bird fluttered overhead. There was no other sound. No other indication someone might be around except… Joe sniffed the air and the blood in his veins froze.

Wood smoke!

Shit!

Gently he moved Annie out of his arms. He sat up and waited to see if he could hear anyone talking.

Absolute silence. And yet the delicate scent of wood smoke hung in the air.

Making sure she was still asleep, Joe leaned over and kissed Annie gently on her forehead, then got up and crept up the nearby embankment.

The meadow was aglow with a white glaze, compliments of the full moon. Fireflies flickered but he saw no one or nothing that would produce the smell of wood smoke.

Following the scent, he kept to the darkness and silently trekked along the tree line until he came to the gurgling river.

Up ahead, on the rocky shoreline, a campfire glowed. Orange sparks shot into the air. In front of the campfire a lone woman sat on the log.

Not just any woman, but the Queen.

And she was naked as the day she was born.

“I’
m glad to see you decided to come, slave,” she called out.

Damn! How did she know he was here? He
’
d been exceptionally quiet as he
’
d come upon her.

“Come out. I am alone.
You have my word,” she said.

Joe remained silent as he surveyed the dark surroundings. Nothing moved. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No sounds except the gentle lapping of waves on the river
’
s bank and the crackle of burning wood.

Stepping closer, Joe made sure he stayed clear of the circle of light the campfire cast.

“Come closer, slave.” the Queen ordered.

“I’
m fine right here.”

Her eyes pierced the darkness and she frowned. “What are you wearing? Don
’
t you know it is against the law for a slave to wear clothing?”

“I’
m not a slave.”

“All males are slaves.”

“Not this one, honey.”

Her frown vanished. She smiled sweetly and patted the log beside her. “Come, sit with me. We have things to discuss.”

“What things?”

“Annie’
s freedom for one.”

“She’
s already free,” Joe said as he cautiously approached the Queen.

He was a sitting duck entering the campfire light like this but he needed to know why the Queen had followed them without her women.

“There’
s a price on Annie’s head. A death price.”

His guts tightened at her words and she craned her neck to look up at him. “I have a proposition for you. A way you can gain her freedom.”

“What’s that?” he asked cautiously.

“I want you to fuck me.”

Joe’s breath backed up into his lungs. Son of a bitch. Annie had been right!

He allowed his eyes to rake the Queen’s breasts. They were full and luscious. Large nipples. The rest of her was like something out of a
Playboy
magazine. Curvy hips. Flat stomach. Cute belly button. Clean-shaven pussy. Long muscular legs.

She was a looker, but she didn’t turn him on the way Annie did.

“And if I do? How does this make Annie free?”

“I’ll go to the council. Tell them to give Annie a second chance. She can come back home. She can have the job I promised her.”

“Where I come from, sleeping with the boss to get a job is illegal.”

“Where do you come from, male?”

“It’s better you don’t know.”

She ripped her intense gaze from his face and looked up into the star studded sky.

“From up there somewhere?”

He visibly jolted. How the hell did she know? As if she’d read his mind she smiled and said, “I’m the Queen. It’s my business to know about planets and space explorers.”

“Then you know there are other worlds out there.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“The ancient books tell us. The Queens have access to all of them.”

“Including access to guns and computers. Why don’t you share your wealth of knowledge with the rest of your people? Why keep them in the dark?”

“Our ancestors decided long ago the general public would be better off with limited use of technology. They didn’t want us to become like the male race.”

Joe couldn’t help but frown at the disgust in her voice. “What happened to them?”

“Same thing that happens to all inferior species. They slowly go extinct or kill each other off or are killed by their enemies. In case you hadn’t noticed, the males are rare on our planet.”

“Why?”

“We feel it is best to keep them at a minimum. Only a certain number are produced.”

“Ah yes, your famous prison system.”

“You disapprove?”

“Forcing women to have babies when they don’t want them is obscene.”

“It’s punishment for wrongdoing. No different than your prison systems where people are incarcerated against their will for years and sit with idle fingers producing nothing.”

Shit! How did she know about Earth’s ancient prison system?

“Listen lady, this is not the time to chat about the social similarities of our planets. I want to know why you’ve been following us? Why do you want me in particular? Why not just get any male slave?”

“I watched you and Annie together yesterday when you took her under the waterfall. Watched you two in the ferns and then again today by the river. I saw what you did to her. The different positions. I saw the bliss on her face. I want you to give it to me too.”

“I’m sorry
Jacey
, but it doesn’t work that way. It goes deeper than just having sex.”

She pouted. “I don’t understand.”

“Chemistry. A man and a woman have to have some sort of an attraction to one another. They need to like each other. They have to be willing to do things for each other. Willing to protect each other from harm. They work like a team.”

“Annie,
Cath
, and I would have been a team if you hadn’t come along. Why do you think I gave her the rings? She was mine.” Anger sparked her words.

“She’s not yours to keep or to give away,
Jacey
. She’s a person with a mind of her own. You can’t just expect her to come to you simply because you’ll give her the dream job she wants. That’s called buying a person’s love. You’re not earning it.”

“Are you lecturing me?”

“No, just call it some friendly advice. Now, you mentioned something about a price on Annie’s head?”

“The council has ordered Annie to be put to death after she is captured.”

Joe’s stomach sank. “You’re the Queen. Don’t you have a say in this? Can’t you help her?”

“If you do what I want, I can change the council’s decision. But you’ll have to come back too. The women want you.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. Not after the last welcome I got. I’m not eager to experience another round.”

“You’ll be well taken care of. You’ll have many women every day. They will pleasure you. I’ll even allow Annie to visit you secretly any time she wants.”

“I can have her anytime I want now, why should I change that?”

The Queen frowned and stood up. She was a tall woman. Taller than him. For some strange reason he had the feeling she’d be a perfect match for his middle brother, Ben. Joe shook the thoughts away.

Before he could stop her she reached out and unsecured the knot holding the cloth he’d fashioned around his waist. It dropped away from him allowing her to see his nakedness.

Her eyes widened with appreciation as she gazed hungrily upon his privates.

Despite his urge to cover himself, he didn’t. The last thing he wanted was to give her ammunition that some Earth males didn’t like to be on display…unless it was in front of someone they cared about.

“I want you inside me,” she breathed.

She made a move to touch his penis but he grabbed her wrist and pushed it away.

“You don’t always get what you want, lady.”

She smiled seductively. Suddenly he felt sorry for her. Sorry that she had to throw herself at him this way.

“I told you
Jacey
, I’m not interested. Now, if you came at me with a better offer to free Annie…”

Without warning she curled her arms around his neck and kissed him, cutting off his words. Her hot body melted against him and her moist mouth moved expertly over his lips. When her velvety tongue came crashing through his lips he clenched his teeth preventing access.

He grabbed her shoulders and broke the kiss.

“I have to admit, you’re a good kisser,” he whispered, “Probably good in the sack too. But like I said, I’m with Annie.”

The Queen blinked in confusion.

“But I’m the Queen,” she snapped.

“I don’t care who you are. Annie and I are together. Nothing you do or say can tear us apart.”

The shocked look on her face gave him little satisfaction. Slowly her arms slid from his neck. Before he could blink, she slapped him. Hard. He winced at the sharp pain searing through his left cheek.

He made no move to retaliate. He’d never hit a woman in his life and he wasn’t about to start now.

“You turn down my offer! You insult me! What kind of a male are you?” she gasped.

“A free one.”

Her eyes sizzled with anger. “The next time you’re pulling on Annie’s nipple rings and fucking her, be sure to keep an eye over your shoulder because you’ll never be safe as long as you’re free.”

“I’ll take that as the warning I’m sure it was meant to be. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to be going.”

She said nothing as he reached down and yanked his breech clout from the stones where it had fallen. Without looking at her, he strolled casually up the rocky shoreline.

Inside, his guts were stretched tight. He got the feeling that any minute a group of screaming women would erupt from the nearby bushes and ambush him.

Nothing happened.

When the darkness of the nearby bushes crept in around him, Joe sighed with relief and sprinted for the gully.

And for Annie.

Chapter Seventeen

Early the next morning Annie and Joe hit the trail to the ocean. They moved quickly and quietly, neither speaking more than a few words at a time. Since yesterday’s meeting with the Queen, Annie had remained quiet. The longer they were on the trail the quieter she got.

He wondered if perhaps she was thinking about what she’d left behind. Her dreams. Her way of life. Her almost mates.

His guts knotted at that last thought. She must have really wanted her dreams to agree to those rings and to agree to have sex with
Cath
and the Queen. He had nothing against lesbianism. To each woman her own, but Annie?

He never would have figured. But then again, it was her way of life, wasn’t it? It was the way these women had been raised. To bow to their Queen’s wishes. To take females as mates and use males as sex slaves.

Last night he’d gotten lucky with the Queen. Lucky that she didn’t have a passel of women in the bushes ready to cart him off to sex slave hell.

Odd that she was out here all alone. Even odder that she’d tracked them this far. So why in hell hadn’t she just sent her women after them and captured Annie and him? What was she up to? Besides trying to get him to make love to her.

As he traipsed along the trail he scanned his surroundings. Was the Queen following their trail right now? Was she planning on tracking them directly to the spaceship so she could catch his brothers too? If she was, she’d have a hard time of it. He’d been busily covering their tracks.

“Over there.” Annie suddenly pointed to a dip between two large hills.

Joe lifted his head and followed Annie’s gaze.

Golden sparks shone off dark blue waters beneath the late afternoon sun’s rays.

“The sea?” he asked hopefully.

“
Freedom
Sea
.”

“How long before we reach it?”

“Before sunset.”

Excitement ripped through Joe. By sundown he’d hopefully see his brothers. When he met up with them, he’d hug them like crazy.
Dammit
, he could hardly wait. Grabbing Annie’s hand, he tugged her along the trail.

He was going home!