Then she spoke softer after a low whimper that broke my insides, shattering them with my lack of a target to destroy. "It was on a rock of tarnpul, overlooking the wading pool, just on the edge of the clan's main palace," she began.
I wasn't sure what she was trying to tell me, but I resumed letting the short strands of her hair play through my claws. Absently, I found myself snipping uneven chunks with my claws, as my own spawn maker would do with the sacred plant she cared for in my youth that spun soft silks from its branches.
"My mother told me not to go to the clan until I was ready to follow their customs. She showed me the way to that pond and spoke to me about how that was where lovers went when they were not sired to each other. She left me there to watch overhead as the couple that was there touched each other.
"It was the first time my mating loh ached, and I rocked myself against the smooth tarnpul I sat on. I guess I haven't learned much since that rising."
I listened as she spoke of pleasuring herself and I ached to be used as she used that rock, as she used my tail only a short time ago. Her head sat in my lap, and she turned, rubbing against my swollen scales that held back my cock to stare up at me with vibrant green eyes. She nibbled on her lip, and I felt the shift in her like she was about to retreat, but I held her face and nodded for her to continue with what she wished to share with me.
"I," she stopped and then took a deep breath and continued, "I went to that pond often, and that was the last place I remember before I was taken. Before I was given to Lord Zorn's ship, and during processing..."
I couldn't hold my words back anymore thinking about her in the captivity of slavers, "They took your jewels?" My muscles tensed like I could jump from this bed and kill them like they were in the room with us.
Her eyes were wide, and she shook her head before averting her gaze. "No, one of the slaves helped me leave saying the only thing that awaited me where I was going would be death if I didn't find a way back to my planet. No..." she paused with a whimper, "I removed them myself."
I gathered her up in my arms and we stayed there until her breath was shallow and came in smooth cycles.
Destroying an entire empire of outlaws would harm their slaves more than the low life that ruled them, I reasoned with myself. There would always be the blue market traders that lacked moral navigation in their bones. Striking one down would only ensure another grew in its place.
My brain spun up like an engine firing through the endless space of the galaxy until I realized the answer was already in my grasp. By this time, my treasure was fading into her mind, and I stared down at her with resolve.
"Never again," I promised. She would never again feel the need to trade herself for survival. The pieces were already in motion, with no one willing to claim responsibility when the stars begin to break.
Chapter seven
Hazel
MybodyachedasI startled awake with the realization that I had slept without my radiation pack. My loh wouldn't have absorbed enough energy to function properly for the day without it. My lungs burned as I gasped and clawed at the hard wall I was against. My fingers grazed off the firm surface, and a low chuckle rumbled around me as my hands were gently held down.
"To a new rising, Treasure."
"I didn't mean..." I realized with shock that I was clawing at the one who had helped me.
"It'll take more than that to scuff up my scales," he assured with a twinkle in his eyes.
My hand went to my rough throat. "It's just the last time I woke up aching… it was after I was..."
"Taken," he finished for me, and he started to move me away. I clung more desperately, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"No," I begged. He was cool to the touch, but it felt nice against my burning loh jewels. If they didn't have radiation to absorb soon, they would crack the skin surrounding them and I would start bleeding again.
"Are you in pain?" he hissed in question.
I nodded against his chest.
"That shouldn't be possible," he said before he cupped the loh at my shoulder and pulled back, staring at it with narrowed eyes. "My scales disperse heat, but you are burning too hot for my tincture to absorb into your skin. Is this normal for your species?"
I breathed in his scent and rubbed my face against his cool scales with a sigh. "This planet doesn't have a moon. I traded my loh for a radiation pack that I normally sleep with."
"Where is it?" He stood immediately and grabbed his robes, which he promptly pulled over himself and me with his tail, while he continued to hold me to his chest. I was not a small female, tall and lithe like much of my clan. The robes were large, and both of our heads fit inside the ample fabric of the hood.
I giggled despite myself. On Estreldez, our fabrics were thin and light. We rarely, if ever, covered our loh from the moon's rays. Having so much fabric seemed so odd until I came to Delta Fal, where I had to cover my loh just to not bring attention to myself. Many leered at them greedily like I was a walking jewel mine that they wished to pluck the riches from my flesh. I would not survive it.
"Your robes are much larger than even the two of us," I had to explain my sudden outburst, not wishing to offend him. I hadn't noticed how much fabric there was before as the layers folded over each other and I was too focused on his eyes. Well, that and he wasn't wearing it when I caught him shirtless. His tail was hidden until it'd snuck its way between my legs. I flushed at the memory.
"The thick robes protect others from coming into contact with my tincture oil and keep my scales comfortable. The hood is to stop my baser instincts from spraying enemies or... mates while also hiding my predatory nature." He smiled, showing off his razor-sharp teeth.
He had sprayed me before with a mist that came from his scales along his head. I bit my lip, wondering what exactly the spray did to people.
