Hunger (7 page)

But the way her breasts heaved as he pressed the cloth to her lower ribs, where the bruising was still purple and blue, made him want to rip her clothes from her body and claim her. Did she feel the same way? He could see her watching his colours as they danced out of control across his skin. Did she want him? Or did he repulse her? Ishk had never asked himself that question before. Maybe she wanted this over with as quickly as possible because
he
repelled
her
.

For that reason, and only that reason—it was
not
because
he wanted
to mate with her—he dropped the cloth into the water and said, “This would be much easier if you stripped.”

With that, he took the bowl of water into the bedroom and waited for her. For a long moment, he thought she wasn’t going to obey him. Maybe he hadn’t made it clear it was an order not a request. And then he heard her, walking slowly, still a little stiff, but he could sense that wasn’t why she took her time.

She was scared of him. Scared of what an alien would do to her. Ishk was the kind of man who liked power, and yet it gave him no pleasure to see her afraid of him. His thoughts went back to those old familiar, feelings of his childhood. When he was alone and other boys bullied him because he didn’t know how to put a toy cruiser together. They didn’t care that he was from the farming belt, that a life in a town was all alien to him.

Ishk had made himself strong; he learned to stand up for himself. And when he moved back to the farming belt, he made sure that his people, those who worked the land, had a voice. His father would have been proud of him; he would have understood that greatness takes sacrifice.

Ishk only began to feel truly part of Karalian society when the others lost their fathers and became orphans. At that point, he was able to shine, because his sorrow and loss were long gone. That was the time he made his move to the council, and he wanted to make sure that no boy with dirt beneath his nails from hard work would ever be thought of as stupid again.

He knew that his people were the ones who kept the planet supplied with food and cloth. Things that were valuable commodities, and this was why he didn’t want the planet to be invaded by humans. The more females that came here, the harder his people would have to work.

He would never forget his roots. And he firmly believed that they could halve the number of females needed if they shared them. This was why his female would be the first to go to the breeding house, no matter how much she fascinated him.

Broken from his trance, he watched as she came to him. Then without being told again, she began to remove the tunic she wore. He held his breath, the blood draining from his organs, surging to his cock, which became the new centre of his being. His brain disengaging as he reached out and touched the curve of her breast.

Ishk was about to conquer his first human.

Walking to the bedroom, she had made a decision; she entered the lottery with the full knowledge of what was expected of her. Sex. The sooner they got it over with, the better. At the moment she was filled with a sense of dread as to what it would be like. The first time would be the worst, she was sure, so getting it out of the way would be best.

Hell, once she was pregnant she wouldn’t have to do it anymore anyway. She got the feeling Ishk didn’t intend to keep her around, and the look of distaste on his face made it quite clear he was doing this because he had to, not because he wanted to. So yes, sex right now was the best way forward for both of them.

Only problem is, he scared her a little too much. And her sense of arousal was so low, she doubted he would even be able to enter her. Unless he forced her. Swallowing down her fear, she went to him, removing her clothes, just like he asked.

Unable to take her eyes off his hand, she watched as he touched her, his fingers outstretched, trembling slightly. The normally cool Ishk was out of his depth. Perhaps if she were experienced she would have been able to help him, but she knew nothing about sex. Other than he had to put his cock inside her and come.

“Remove the rest of your clothes,” he said.

The only clothes she had left from Earth were her bra and panties. It seemed funny that these were the last barriers between her and the alien. Finding the courage to unclasp her bra, she allowed her breasts to spill out. Expecting him to touch her again, she was surprised when he didn’t. Confused, she bent down and wriggled out of her panties, standing straight so that he could gaze on her body.

Ishk went back to the bowl of water and took up the cloth. Then he carefully and thoroughly bathed every bruise on her body. Somehow, the first tendrils of arousal awoke in her. His touch was at times gentle, always firm, but not unkind. She closed her eyes and tried to conjure up the image of someone else. Wasn’t there a StreamStar she had a crush on when she was a teenager?

Yes. She pictured him now. Not too tall, no human men really were, but he was thicker set than most humans, some muscles, and long hair, golden, like the sun. She imagined him touching her, kissing her skin. Deep inside her, her arousal grew. She didn’t need much, she just needed to be wet, ready for him.

Finished with her body, he went back to the bowl and put the cloth in it before leaving the bedroom and taking it to the kitchen. Was that it? Had she mistaken him? Wasn’t he going to come back and fuck her?

That word.
Fuck
. An alien was going to fuck her, stick his cock in her and make alien babies with her. Would they burst out of her womb through the walls of her abdomen when they were ready to be born, or did they come out like normal babies?

Why didn’t they have females of their own, was it because they all died in childbirth?

Her courage failed her and she went to pick up her clothes. But Ishk had returned. She froze, and turned to face him.

“Kneel on the bed.”

Evie moved, her body no longer hurting, but she didn’t feel like celebrating that fact, not when she had no idea what was about to happen.

Climbing on the bed, she knelt, looking down at the white sheets covering it, while behind her he moved, undressing. She squeezed her eyes together and tried to recapture the image of her crush, but the faces of her parents came to her instead and her throat constricted in sorrow.

Come on, Evie, self-preservation
, she told herself.

Dismissing her thoughts, she instead concentrated on the sensations flooding her body. A thrill of excitement, the wonder of the unknown. This she could work with. And when his weight made the bed dip, she did feel her desire awaken. Yet it was a different desire, one that wanted to be loved, not used. It would have to do.

His hand on her hip made her jump, his fingers dug a little deeper to keep her still. The other hand went to press her knees further apart and she cringed inwardly at the thought of him looking at her. She must be exposed to him, her sex in plain view. Would he touch her, or just thrust into her?

Turning her head, she looked at him, seeing the expression on his face and then watching when he reached forward and drew his finger along the length of her. She was dry, much too dry.

Ishk pushed the same finger into her, working it deep, her body responded, gripping him. In and out he worked it. Evie closed her eyes and told herself it was good, she was enjoying his touch but it was only half-true. He still terrified her.

He removed his fingers, and the large head of his cock pressed against her outer lips. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, trying to stay relaxed. If she tensed up, this would really hurt, because he felt massive. Did they fit together, would he hurt her?

Evie was about to find out. He pressed forward and she heard him grunt as he breached her outer lips and entered her. Slowly he pushed forward, one fluid movement, until he broke her. A sharp pain filled her as he took her virginity, now she was his.

Ishk pulled back as she tensed and then thrust forward hard, filling her to the hilt. She cried out, wailing in fear at the fullness of him. He paused, his hands on either side of her hips, as he stilled. Her body fought to accommodate him, to yield for him. But it protested, her internal muscles aching and she wished he had put some of the ointment inside her sex to numb her internally.

When her cries subsided, he moved to pull out of her, but then he thrust back in again, hard and long. Ishk took her, long hard lunges in and out. Slowly he woke up the woman in her, and she felt her orgasm building. The feel of his cock grazing the inside of her sex was incredibly stimulating.

But she needed more. There was a peak, just out of reach and she didn’t know how to climb there, what it would take to touch it and then fall off it. Ishk moved faster, his hips jerking hard and his breathing became laboured. Then he reached his own peak. Inside her, his cock seemed to fuse with her body and she felt him pumping his seed into her. The potential of life, of an alien child being made, as he filled her.

When he finished, he released her and she sank down onto the bed, her arms and legs not able to hold her up. Ishk left her there, going to the bathroom and closing the door.

Evie tried to feel happy. She was still alive, and he hadn’t split her in two. Yet she felt empty, her body unsatisfied. But maybe that was all there ever would be with a man like Ishk.

His world had shifted. Whatever human females did to Karalians, she had done to him. He wanted to hold her, to cradle her against his chest and kiss her.
Kiss her
. He splashed cold water onto his face. Why would he ever want to press his lips to any part of a human’s body?

Looking in the mirror, he tried to see if the change was noticeable, if the same face he had looked at for decades showed his apparent weakness. If it did, he could not see it. Slumping forward, he let the relief wash over him. Later he had to go to the tower for a council meeting. He would hate to have to look at the knowing faces of the Hier Ruler and the Hier Commander.

Shaking off the feelings of defeat, he stood straight, put his shoulders back and stared at himself. He was now going to walk out there as if this had not affected him. He could not let the female know of the profound effect she had on him.

He simply could not.

Opening the door, he saw she still lay on the bed, naked, her face buried into the pillow. She was crying. Was she crying? He couldn’t tell, he didn’t want to know.

The door was only ten paces away; he could reach it, without uttering a word. He didn’t care if she was well, if he had hurt her. It wasn’t his business. All he had to do was leave her alone. If he had hurt her, she would be thankful he had left her alone to recover.

Going to the kitchen, he boiled some water. He would make some
tole
. It was like their simcoff, only so much better. That might help her. It was probably the shock of having him inside her. She was what they call a virgin; it was one of the criteria for the lottery. So she had no experience of being with any man, let alone a Karalian.

He smiled at the irony. The arrival of the Karal and the chance to win the lottery had meant the amount of babies being born on Earth had dropped. More women were saving themselves for the aliens now. He had never thought of himself as a form of contraception. Maybe that was how they would save the human race.

For now, he would settle for making his human feel better. Stopping short, he caught his train of thoughts and cursed. She was not
his
human. Nor would he
ever
be
her
Karalian.

Evie wiped the tears from her face and pulled herself together. The whole thing had been so emotional and yet so unsatisfying. Her body still craved the release it felt cheated of. Her tears had nothing to do with him leaving her so soon after he had come inside her. It had nothing to do with him making her feel like a whore. A baby whore.

“I’ve brought you something to drink,” he said and she sat up, hiding her confusion and pulling the sheets over her body. He had no real feelings for her, so why did it matter so much, what he thought of her?

“Thank you,” she said accepting it from him. Although when she looked at the red liquid, she didn’t know if she wanted to drink it at all. “What is it?”

“It’s like your simcoff. But much better.” He sipped his as if to make her understand it wasn’t poisoned, or anything. Well, it did look like thin red blood.

“Where does it grow? Do you harvest it?” she asked, smelling it and then tasting the steaming liquid. It was hot, but delicious.

“It grows out across the desert plains. We can only go there at certain times of the year,”

“Do you ever go and harvest it, Ishk?” she asked, wanting him to share something, anything about himself, with her. Maybe if he did, she wouldn’t feel quite so like a lower life form.

“My father used to be a harvester. But it’s dangerous because of the heat.” He sipped his coffee and then put it down as though the taste of it was suddenly off.

“What do you do? Do all Karalians have jobs? The planet seems almost deserted.”

“We are scattered; it is best if we are widely distributed across our world. And yes, mostly we all have jobs. Although no one is made to work. But if you don’t, then there is no food or medicine.”

“I see. Were you a farmer before you came to live here?”

“I am still a farmer,” he said shortly.

“Oh, I didn’t realise. It’s just, apart from the garden there doesn’t seem to be a farm around here. I didn’t see one from the cruiser. Or do farms look different to those on Earth?”

“This area is not suitable for farming. I have another house on some land along the farming belt. I have not studied your farming; I thought that it was impossible now to grow anything on Earth.”

“Some food. Or we would all starve. But not enough. My parents used to work on a farm. They were great big areas of land, but often the crops failed.” She drank some more, he was right; it certainly made her feel more perky. Between the drink and the ointment he had bathed her bruises in, she felt the best she had for some time.