Alien (26 page)

“Dorra isn’t a High Mystik, yet
I’ve heard Klykka say they’ve entered into
hyatzi
together.”

“Aye, but ‘tis one-sided, child.
Klykka can reach
hyatzi
without Dorra, but Dorra cannot reach it without
her sister or another High Mystik. Leastways, you see the difference.”

“Like the day Klykka found me and
pulled me into the silver waters with her?”

“Aye.”

“Why did Dorra never train to
become a High Mystik?”

Arista shrugged. “’Tis not within
the power of every warrior, child. Were we all of us High Mystiks in the
making, there would be none to take orders.”

Kari couldn’t stop herself from
laughing. “You got me there.”

Arista smiled, her full lips
curving. “In answer to your question, nay, I cannot read your mind.”

“Then…?”

“A child cannot school their
emotions, though they always believe themselves capable.”

Kari sighed. “In my world, I’m not
a child. I’m a middle-aged woman.”

“Be grateful you are
galishi
then.”

She grinned. Point taken.

Hesitant to ask the question
foremost on her mind, she was relieved when Arista answered it for her. “You
find naught appealing of Galian males.”

“No.” Kari sighed a breath of
relief, grateful to be able to unburden herself. “They are handsome, of course,
but their mannerisms and emotionalism cancel out and overpower their good looks
for me.”

Arista’s look was thoughtful as she
poured herself a chalice of warm, blue
jumya
. She was silent for a long
moment as she sipped from the cup. When she placed the chalice back on the
table, her gaze found Kari’s. “’Tis not often we make war on others, but when
‘tis necessary those we conquer become our chattel under the holy law.
Leastways, not all Galian husbands are born here. Some of them are sold into
matrimony, yet they are who they are. For a certainty they possess the
fierceness and mettle you so crave. Would you care for a drink?”

Kari blinked at the turn in
subject.

“I’ve
jumya
,
pici
,
and
matpow
to offer. What is your desire, child?”

With this conversation? There
wasn’t a contest. “I’ll take the
matpow
. I have a feeling I’m going to
need it.”

Arista’s smile was equal parts
devilish and angelic. “Aye. You will.”

The conversation with Arista de Valor
lasted for three hours. The High Mystik freely answered every question Kari put
to her then sent her home for the remainder of the night. She wanted Kari to
process her thoughts and prepare for the next evening when she officially
commenced her training.

Kari was grateful for the reprieve
because her brain truly did need time to absorb all she’d learned. Waiting
tables and performing an erotic show would have been too much after the
tête-à-tête she’d engaged in with Arista.

Exiting Mettle Tavern and walking
toward the crystal tower she called home, Kari was too distracted to notice
much of anything, including the glowing golden gaze that tracked her every
move. The prey wasn’t aware of the predator’s stare, but the hunter knew he’d
successfully located the hunted.

Kari stared at herself in the
holo-mirror as she tried to calm her nerves. Arista had instructed her to enter
Mettle Tavern through the back doors guarded by female warriors, rather than
through the front ones guarded by no one. She was grateful for that option
because she was able to enter her private dressing room without being bothered
by customers.

Dressing room. She mentally
harrumphed at the misnomer. A more appropriate term would be
un
dressing
room because she’d be working totally in the nude. Worse, nude and oiled down.

When she’d arrived in Crystal City
it was under the impression that all the women who worked in Mettle Tavern were
warriors-in-training. That turned out not to be the case. “I’ve changed the way
I do things since Klykka trained under me,” Arista had told her. “Leastways,
‘twas two hundred years ago, that. You need serve trenchers of food only whilst
one of the servers is absent or the tavern has more patrons than anticipated.
At those times, we all pitch in.”

In essence most of the serving
wenches were in fact serving wenches. They were warriors, yes, but they would
never be High Mystiks. It was the performers who were apprenticing under The de
Valor. Arista had decided a long time ago that lesser warriors who heralded
from sectors that specialized in serving were needed to wait tables full-time
so the warriors-in-training could focus on the mind-and-body control techniques
employed in the erotic arts. The techniques, so crucial, were the same as those
used in battle, though to different ends.

Almost time for my first
performance…

She was thinking too much, which
increased her anxiety exponentially. Her heart was racing and her breathing was
too rapid. She needed to calm down.

A holo-image zapped into the
mirror. It was Klykka.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Kari
said on a gasp. “I’m literally shaking!”

Klykka’s expression was kind, but
firm. “Aye you can. Leastways, I would not have sent you otherwise.”

“Remember all the sexual hang-ups I
had when I first came to Galis?”

“Aye.”

“They’re back,” Kari panted. “I
think for good this time.”

Klykka’s laugh was somewhat
comforting. It also made her realize what a chicken shit she was being. “’Tis
nerves, this, and naught more.”

But still…

“Klykka—”

“You can and you will finish your
training, Kari Gy’at Li. ‘Tis three bedamned moon-months you have to master
your powers, yet for a certainty ‘tis doubtful you’ll need more than a
sennight.” She shrugged. “Your time in Crystal City ‘tis no more than a
formality.”

Kari bit her lip.

“’Tis a vow betwixt sisters, Kari,”
The Gy’at Li said softly. “You are ready and you can do this.”

Kari blew out a breath. She
obediently inclined her head. “I’m sorry. I guess I am a little nervous.”

“And so you should be. ‘Tis the
first time you will attempt to command an entire chamber filled with males not
of our species. I would worry did you not feel fear.”

As always, the High Mystik knew
exactly what to say to calm her down. And yet…

“What if I suck? What if I can’t
command the entire tavern tonight? What if Arista sends me away?”

“I’ve yet to meet any
warrior-in-training who commanded the entire chamber on her first attempt.”
Klykka waved that away. “Leastways, relax and enjoy yourself. The more at ease
you are with your sexuality, the more provocative you will be.”

A glowing, pulsating light blinked
twice—Kari’s cue that she was due to perform in five
Nuba
-minutes. Her
heart was beating so fast she felt faint.

“Go,” The Gy’at Li commanded. “All
will be well.” With those final words, Klykka’s holo-image vanished.

An idea struck Kari, one she hadn’t
thought of before. Slipping into her black
zoka
and grabbing her
matching sandals, she left her dressing room and walked toward the stage.

“What are you doing, child?” Arista
whispered in a harsh voice. “Remove the
zoka
and—”

“Trust me.” Kari pleaded with her
through wide, silver-blue eyes. “Please.”

Arista frowned. “I’ve no bedamned
time to debate this so apparently I must!” She didn’t look pleased, but she
exited onto the stage.

Still behind the stage where
customers couldn’t view her, Kari closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.
She entered into the trance-like state it had taken years of training to reach.
She could hear Arista announcing her arrival to the gathered throng, but the
meditative state kept her calm.

Kari’s private parts were covered,
but she would be nude before the performance ended. Arista might not have
understood why, but some niggling feeling told Kari none of the patrons had
ever seen a striptease before. She just hoped to hell and back that Arista
would be proud of her initiative.

Since
zokas
didn’t have a
top portion, she had made do by ripping off the scarf-like strings from her
sandals and quickly fashioning them into something of a bra. With naturally
large breasts, the black strips of cloth covered only her nipples and tied
behind her back.

“’Tis with great pleasure,”
Arista’s voice boomed out, “that I introduce to you the most seductive and
beautiful apprentice ever known to me…”

Kari’s eyes flew open. She grunted.
Even if The de Valor was only saying that to get the crowd riled up, it was a
lot of fucking pressure! Praise the goddess for trances. And
matpow
.

“From the House of Gy’at Li, under
the protection of her sister and Mistress, I give to you…”

Just say my name already! I feel
like a slutty boxer being publicized by the Don King de Valor!

“Kari…”

Primitives can out-sexy anyone.
I’ve got this! Fuck! Shit! Fuck!

“Gy’at…”

Hurry up!

“Liiiiiiiiiiii!”

I very well may faint!

The crowd burst into raucous
applause the same moment the music cued. Their excitement was palpable and
bolstered her confidence—at least enough to give her the courage to walk on
stage.

The shimmering lights dimmed and
the spotlight basked her in a fiery glow. The tavern fell silent. She smiled inwardly,
knowing she’d made the right bet—they had no idea what a striptease was.
Primitive Earthlings: 1, The Allegedly Advanced: 0.

The music was simultaneously
hypnotic and sensual. Kari sauntered toward middle stage, strolling like a
fashion model on the catwalk in slow motion. All eyes were on her, waiting to
understand what came next. She could see Arista standing backstage gnawing at
her lip.

Kari looked to the crowd, a sensual
smile curving her lips. She raised her hands above her head before slowly
bringing them down to rest above her breasts. Trailing her hands down to the
strip of cloth covering her nipples, she started to remove it, showing a hint
of her areolas, then put the cloth back.

The crowd roared. She could feel
Arista’s approval without looking toward her to confirm it.

Turning around to give the crowd
her back, she threw the patrons a naughty look from over her shoulder while
playing with the ties that held the cloth together. Again, the customers
cheered. She undid the tie and let it fall away while keeping her breasts
shielded from view by holding the cloth in place. The hollering grew louder.

Methodically and sensuously turning
to face the crowd, she held the strip across her nipples, her breasts spilling
out both over and under it. The men wanted to see her nipples more than they
wanted air to breathe. She gave her breasts a jiggle, teasing the patrons, and
earning louder cheers than before. Biting her lip in a playful manner, she used
the cloth like a feather boa, slithering it around, but not letting it fall.

It was all they could take; the
crowd went wild.

Kari prepared to drop the cloth.
Deciding to make eye contact with one of the customers, she zeroed in on the
man closest to her. Her eyes widened. She did a double-take. Kari’s breath
caught in the back of her throat as her silver-blue gaze clashed with a glowing
gold one too familiar and commanding to ignore. It was
him
.

Out of all the taverns in Crystal
City, the Trystonni warrior of her most fevered fantasies had managed to track
her down. She didn’t know how she knew he’d hunted her in particular, but she
did. His eyes, heavy-lidded with arousal, narrowed in on the nipples he badly
desired to see. He wanted to do more than look, she realized, but looking was
all he would get.

His arousal empowered her. The
fierce warrior had managed to throw her off her game for a
Nuba
-second,
but Kari was back in control. She let the cloth fall to the ground, her puffy,
pink nipples bared and erect, her wine-red curls cascading down her shoulders
and framing her body. She could hear the patrons shouting and hooting, but her
attention was focused solely on the only man she’d wanted in seventeen
years—the one she couldn’t allow herself to have.

She played with her nipples,
tweaking and massaging them, her gaze not straying from his. His erection was
visible through the black leather pants all males of his species wore. His
golden gaze, so possessive, stayed trained on her nipples. She knew he wanted
to suck them and that knowledge was the most powerful aphrodisiac in all the
worlds combined.

Next was the
zoka
. She
teased and taunted, gave the audience her back again, and pretended to remove
it. When the crowd groaned, she didn’t care, for it was only
his
reaction that mattered. Sliding the
zoka
down so he could see her bare
ass, Kari bent over and gave him an unobstructed view of her wet pussy. She
heard him mutter something imperceptible under his breath. He reached out to
touch her cunt, but she stood up and pulled her thong back on. The tavern roared.

Turning again to face the warrior,
this time Kari slid out of the
zoka
and let it fall to the floor. She
could hear the shouting, but it didn’t signify. Again,
he
was all that
mattered.

His golden gaze zeroed in on her
triangular patch of wine-red hair. She let him run his fingers through it,
didn’t resist when he rubbed her clit, and allowed herself to reenter the
trance.

She sat in front of the giant, legs
spread wide open, and massaged her pussy for his viewing pleasure. Allowing
herself to go deeper into the trance, Kari’s mind reached the void—the source
of all power. Too aroused to feel the elation she deserved to feel for reaching
it, she used her power from within the void to bring the audience into an
arousal-lock. From this moment until she broke the trance, the customers would
feel everything she did.

Kari played with her nipples,
plumping them up, and moaning from the pleasure. The patrons followed suit, all
of them experiencing the very hedonism Kari was. Her gaze found the warlord’s.
His breathing, in tune with hers, was heavy with arousal.

Like a wild animal unable to
control himself, the warrior buried his face between her thighs and sucked on
her pussy as if he owned it. Kari groaned as her head lolled back. The crowd
groaned in response, unable to break her spell if they’d wanted to. The giant’s
callused hands found her breasts. His fingers massaged her stiff nipples.
Kari’s breathing grew increasingly labored as the warlord sucked harder, his
possessiveness a tangible feeling.

Her orgasm was explosive. She knew
from the moaning and shouts of satisfaction permeating the air that the
audience was coming as hard as she was. She could feel the warrior’s hot cum
spurt from his cock as though it was inside her. He kept sucking on her cunt as
he came, forcing a second, harder orgasm on her.

Kari screamed from the intensity of
it. The patrons came so hard that all but one of them passed out. That one kept
nuzzling her pussy, his tongue curling around her clit and demanding more. She
gave him what he wanted, her fingers running through his hair while pressing
his face closer. “I’m coming!” she wailed. “Only for you—
ohhhhh
!”

The mutual orgasm was so strong, so
all-consuming, that Kari damn near passed out from it too. The giant at last
lifted his face from between her thighs. His breathing was heavy and
perspiration slicked his skin as his golden gaze found hers. He knew he was
losing consciousness and that she would be able to run away. The last look he
gave her before succumbing to blackness promised her that she could run, but
he’d always find her.

Kari broke the trance. Taken off
guard by the powerful connection she felt to the unconscious warrior, she
shakily stood up. Her eyes wild, she looked at Arista. The de Valor inclined
her head, proud. Kari nodded her gratitude and fled back to the crystal
penthouse.