Brides Of The Kindred: Targeted Part 9

The scent fills me with need-the same need the other is feeling- and somehow I know he is making it just for me. It kicks my desire into overdrive making anything I've ever felt up til now seem like a pale shadow-a mere whisper. My nipples are suddenly incredibly sensitive-my b.r.e.a.s.t.s full to overflowing. I feel the swollen lips of my s.e.x part as my p.u.s.s.y blossoms with l.u.s.t and my juices wet my inner thighs.

I feel the need to f.u.c.k-to breed-filling me as it fills the other and I know it is because she is me. She has taken over completely. Breaking the kiss with the big Kindred, she turns her head and looks me in the eye for the first time. Then, very slowly she smiles...

Emily woke up in a kind of s.e.xual panic. Her heart was drumming against her ribs and the dream was fresh in her mind-a nightmare she couldn't be free of. Yet, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s also felt full and tender and her p.u.s.s.y ached-throbbing with the same deep need to be filled and bred she'd felt in her sleep. Her eyes were burning too and though the headache was gone it felt like someone had lighted a fire inside her-waves of heat were rolling over her so fast she could barely breathe.

My eyes! Emily ran a trembling hand over her face as though she could feel the color change. Had the other taken over? Had she changed in her sleep?

She stumbled out of bed and looked wildly around for a mirror. She found one in the corner-a full sized 3-D viewer that showed her from all angles. Was she a little taller than she had been? The hem of her nighty seemed to be riding higher up her thighs than it had before. Or was that because her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were bigger? Because they definitely were-she was sure of it. And they were tender to touch. Oh my G.o.d, what's happening to me?

But it was her eyes she was most concerned about. As she leaned forward, she saw the familiar flicker of gold. The other was trying to come forward, all right. Doing her best to take over Emily's body...to steal her life.

"No!" Emily shouted at the viewer. "No, you can't do it! I won't let you!"

But how could she stop her?

A sudden thought came to her-she, Emily, couldn't stop what was happening. But the big Kindred could. He had before, just by spanking her. Yes, it had been scary and humiliating but it had worked-the pain had driven the other underground.

Have to find him-have to ask him to get rid of her again. Before she takes over completely.

Panic made her lose all fear of the huge alien. She tore open the bedroom door and went running down the long, unfamiliar metal corridor looking for him. Only he could help her. Only he could put the other away, pus.h.i.+ng her back like a malevolent jack-in-the-box that had popped out and was trying to escape.

"...that is unacceptable and you know it," Tier Shan was saying from the viewscreen. He was a Vash`aran and his mandibles clicked as he spoke, the anger evident in his compound eyes. He was also Tragar's superior in the Verrak and the only hope he had of rescinding the death sentence that currently hung over Emily's head.

"You don't understand," Tragar said, trying to control his anger. "The contract was given erroneously. This female has done nothing wrong-she does not deserve to die. I was misled by the one who hired me."

"That matters not in the slightest. Click-click. I know you have your own personal code of ethics and I have allowed it as long as it did not clash with the Verrak way. However, now it has become a problem. Click-click. You know perfectly well that a Verrak a.s.sa.s.sin does not care if his target is innocent or guilty, young or old, male or female. When you take a contract, you must fulfill it."

"I cannot," Tragar said thickly. "Tier Shan, she is a Khalla. Everything within me urges me to protect her."

"Then you will die with her...or for her. You know the law of our order. Click-click." Tier Shan's mandibles worked angrily. "A death is needed to satisfy the contract. If you cannot do the job yourself, I must send another after you to take care of the matter."

"No!" Tragar sat forward. The last thing he needed was another a.s.sa.s.sin as ruthless and deadly as himself after Emily. He could fight off other would-be killers with ease but another of the Verrak would severely test his resources.

"Then do it! Click-click! And do not speak to me again until it is done."

"Tier Shan -"

Suddenly Emily came rus.h.i.+ng into the control area wearing only the silky, thin night garment she'd had on when he took her from Earth. Only now, Tragar saw, she wasn't even wearing the outer robe that went with it. The thin garment was clinging to her full curves and molding to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in a most distracting way.

"Tragar, please-I know it sounds crazy but I need you to spank me again," she gasped. "I...the other's coming forward. I had such a strange dream and I can feel her trying to take over!"

Tragar dragged his gaze up to her face and saw that her eyes were wild-flickering between pale blue and deep gold. She was trembling all over and her scent...G.o.ds. He tried not to inhale but couldn't help it. Her scent was stronger than ever, a ripe, female musk that proclaimed her body's growing readiness to be bred.

"Is this the target? Click-click."

Seven h.e.l.ls, he had forgotten all about his conversation with Tier Shan!

Emily stopped short and stared at the viewscreen.

"Oh my G.o.d," she said faintly. "Why are you talking to a giant bug?"

"I can see the attraction," his superior continued, his compound eyes raking over Emily's barely clad form greedily. "She is quite juicy for one of your kind. Maybe I will come attend to her myself. Click-click." The working mandibles sounded hungry.

A low, possessive growl rose in Tragar's throat.

"Stay away from her and let me handle this, Tier Shan. Or I swear by all the G.o.ds that ever were I'll split your carapace myself and spill your guts into s.p.a.ce."

"Very well. Click-click. I will let you handle it-for now. But be warned, Tragar-you cannot break the oath you swore without severe consequences. I or another of our kind will come after you if you fail to fulfill your duty."

The narsh on Tragar's arm burned briefly with a sharp, insistent pain as though to ill.u.s.trate his point. Then, with a final angry clicking, the viewscreen went black.

"Who was that? Your boss?" Emily asked, putting a hand to her chest.

"That is not your concern. You should not be in this part of the s.h.i.+p." Tragar rose from the captain's chair and took her by the arm. He marched her back down the metal hallway and into his cabin-which he had given up so she could stay comfortably locked away. He was intending to leave her there and try to get far from her maddening scent, far from the heat it caused in his groin.

"Here. Lie down. Maybe you'll feel better." Tragar pushed her firmly down onto the bed and turned to go.

To his surprise, she jumped up and came after him, boldly tugging on his arm.

"No-you can't just push me away like that. I need your help." Her eyes were flickering again, changing from blue to gold so fast it was hard to follow. "I told you, she's trying to take over. Trying to make me do...things I don't want to do."

"I told you before," Tragar growled. "Your Kit'tara is part of you-your second self. She's not some stranger inside you trying to hijack your body." He tried to explain patiently but her scent was making it hard to think. Hard to do anything but react.

"But that's exactly what it feels like!" She ran a hand through her hair, tousling the long, silky strands. "Look, have you ever read Fever Dream by Ray Bradbury? No, of course you haven't," she said, when he opened his mouth. "It's about a boy that gets a sickness-an illness that gives him a high fever. But the fever changes him into something else-it takes over his body. First it's just his hand...then the rest of him starts to change-starts to become other. No one believes him, not his doctor or his parents..." She ran both hands through her hair this time, her eyes wild. "And he changes even though he's begging everyone all around him for help. Changes until his body isn't his own anymore. At the end of the story he...he's not himself. It's someone else looking out of his eyes...using his body...pretending to be him. And he..." She let out a small, terrified sob. "He's not there anymore. He's gone."

"Emily..." Her terror and sorrow tore at him, driving back some of the all- consuming l.u.s.t, making it easier to concentrate on the girl in front of him instead of her warm, tantalizing smell.

"Please..." She put her hands on Tragar's chest, holding the front of his black leather vest in a panicky-tight grip. "Please, I'm begging you to listen to me. Don't just dismiss me or tell me I'm crazy! Help me."

"What do you want me to do?" He spread his hands, trying not to touch her.

"Spank me, like you did before." She left him and went over to the bed. With trembling hands, she raised the short hem of her night garment and pulled down her silky, pale blue panties. Then she gripped the bedpost with both hands and looked over her shoulder at him. "Please!"

Tragar sucked in a breath when he saw her round, full a.s.s come into view. True, he had seen it when he spanked her earlier but this was different. The pose she was in was very like one of the shapes of submission that females on Rageron sometimes used to entice a Beast Kindred warrior to bed. The way her hands were raised over her head, her body bent at the waist so that her thighs were open for him was so reminiscent of the way a female would call her mate that he felt a low groan rising in his chest.

That wasn't the only thing that was rising, either. For the first time in years, he could feel the mating fist at the base of his c.o.c.k swelling, eager to thrust deep in her sweet p.u.s.s.y and lock them together for a long, leisurely session of bonding s.e.x. Eager to breed her.

I must not-I cannot! I'm not right for her and besides, another early breeding would kill her!

He held on to that thought with all his might, willing his mating fist to go down, trying not to notice her scent.

The tears in her rapidly s.h.i.+fting eyes helped calm him. Her distress did nothing to fuel his l.u.s.t-rather it damped the desire he felt and replaced it with a strong urge to help. But could another spanking really drive the Kit'tara back again when she seemed so determined to come forward? More importantly, could it keep Emily from entering the second stage of her Tenrah or was she moving out of Kalor and rapidly into Scintil? If that was the case they were going to have a h.e.l.l of a lot worse problem than her sweet mating scent calling to him.

"All right," he growled, stepping forward and trying not to notice the way her hips were thrusting out to show the sweet, wet nether lips of her p.u.s.s.y, swollen and hot with desire. "All right, I'll f.u.c.king spank you. Just hold still."

"I'll try. I'd do anything-just don't let her take over." She bowed her head and braced herself, gripping the bedpost tightly, her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s swaying under the thin night garment.

Feeling like he was drowning, Tragar took aim and swatted her hard with the palm of his hand. She moaned and jumped as his hard palm connected, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggling even more with the motion. He did it again, and again and then stopped when he saw the red marks his large hand was leaving on her pale, silky skin. He had the sudden urge to drop to his knees and kiss her there-kiss away the pain and redness he'd caused and then kiss deeper-to bury his face between her thighs and bathe her p.u.s.s.y with his tongue to make up for the hurt he'd caused. To taste her sweet juices right from the source...

He held himself back with an effort and asked instead, "Well? Is it helping?"

His voice came out rougher than he'd intended, slightly strangled which was exactly the way his shaft felt in the tight confines of his leather flight trousers.

"I...I don't know." She turned her head to look at him again. "My eyes still feel hot-are they still changing?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. The spanking wasn't helping this time-her eyes were still flickering rapidly between pale blue and gold. She must have read the verdict in his face because a look of desperation came over her own delicate features.

"It's not working is it?"

"I'm afraid not." He eyed the pink handprints on her skin. "I am sorry."

"Don't be. You...you just need to spank me harder." Her eyes dropped to his waist. "Use that."

"What?" He looked down, fingering the thick black leather strap with its wide silver buckle. "You want me to use my f.u.c.king belt on you?"

"Yes-do it!" Her eyes blazed and for a moment he couldn't tell what color they were-something that was neither blue nor gold but pure flame. "Do it!" she insisted.

"I cannot!" Tragar raised his hands in a gesture of warding. "You don't understand how my kind feel about hitting females. This...this is hard enough. I cannot strap you with my belt as though you were some common thief or criminal I mean to punis.h.!.+"

"You have to." Her eyes blazed again-even brighter this time and for the first time he felt the fire of a Khalla-the consuming, demanding fire that refused to accept defeat or dissent.

"I don't want to f.u.c.king hurt you!" It came out as a muted roar but still she didn't back down.

"Well, I do want you to. Do it! Anything to stop this...this process I'm going through. Anything to drive her back. I don't care how much it hurts-just do it!"

He had to admit her words made sense. If she was getting closer to Scintil they were in for trouble. The nearest stable wormhole that came out near Rageron was still days away. If this could keep her from entering the second stage too early...

"Hurt her," he heard the voice of his old master saying. "Hurt her to help her, Tragar. Keeping the Tenrah in check is more important now than anything else, even the respect you feel for her as a female or the reverence you have for her as a Khalla."

Could he do it? He didn't want to but the fire in her eyes decided him-he had no choice.

"G.o.ddess, forgive me," he muttered as he unbuckled his belt and looped it carefully over his fist. He held it by the buckle, letting the black length of leather dangle from his hand like a snake. Then, raising his arm, he brought it down on her quivering b.u.t.tocks.

Emily moaned and gasped, jumping as the belt snapped against her naked a.s.s. But she only spoke one word: "Harder."

"What?" Tragar couldn't believe it. He'd given her a fairly decent blow. Nothing like what he would have given another male but still, it had left a wide red stripe across her soft, innocent bottom-a mark he was already regretting.

"I said harder!" She braced against the bedpost again, sticking her bare a.s.s out further, spreading her legs to give him an easy target. "Do it harder-now!"

Almost by reflex he raised his arm again and brought down the belt much harder than before. She moaned and jumped but held tight to the bedpost.

"Emily? Khalla?"

"Don't stop." Her voice was a tight whisper. "Don't stop-I think it's working. Do it again!"

He whipped her again and then again, his arm rising and falling as if moved by her will alone. And indeed, maybe it was. The fire of a Khalla was nothing to dismiss lightly. A male could very well get burned if he was not careful, playing with such a flame.

At last, when her soft bottom was criss-crossed all over with red stripes he stopped.

"Why did you stop?" She turned to look over her shoulder, her pale blue eyes awash with tears. "Do it, Tragar-hit me again."

"No! G.o.ddess d.a.m.n it-no." Her tears and the way he had marked her filled him with remorse the hundreds of a.s.sa.s.sinations he had performed could not. He untangled the black leather belt from his hand and dropped it as though it was a poisonous creature that had bitten him.

"Do it!" she insisted but her voice sounded faint and far away. Suddenly she collapsed, crumpling to the floor in a little heap.

"Emily!" Her name was a groan on his lips. Rus.h.i.+ng forward, he took her in his arms, trying to support her without hurting her. She was limp and lifeless in his arms-completely unresponsive.

G.o.ddess, he thought as her head rolled loosely on his arm. Oh G.o.ddess forgive me-what have I done?

Chapter Eleven.

Someone was patting her cheek. "Emily, come back to me! Emily, please."

The deep, urgent voice seemed to penetrate her brain, making her stir.

"What...?" Emily came back to consciousness slowly, feeling very strange indeed. She looked up at Tragar who was cradling her in his arms, an anxious expression on his face. "What happened?" she asked uncertainly.

"You fainted," he said roughly. "G.o.ds, I shouldn't have done it-shouldn't have used my belt on you. I should be beaten or killed for treating you so."

"I asked you to," she pointed out. She lifted a hand to her face. "And...my eyes, they're not burning anymore."

"Your Kit'tara has been driven back...though at a very high price." Tragar sighed and shook his head. "Don't ask me to do that to you again, Emily. I cannot." The anguished look in his golden eyes spoke volumes of remorse.

"You have to do whatever's necessary." She sighed and tried to sit up. "I...I think I'm all right now. I just-ow!" Her bare bottom had brushed the carpeted floor, causing a flaring jet of agony to her wounded posterior.

"I'll get a cooling cloth. Here." The big Kindred helped her up, holding her as gently as though she was made of fine china and might break at the least touch. He laid her carefully on the bed, face down and left the room.

Emily lay there, very aware that her nightgown was hiked up and her panties were down somewhere around her ankles. But her a.s.s was on fire and it was hard to think about anything else except how much it hurt.

Still, it was worth it if it got rid of the other-if it drove her back into whatever little box inside me she hides in, she thought grimly. Except...how many times would she have to go through this? How often would she have to get rid of the other, how many blows with the belt would she have to endure to keep holding her back? Could she stand it? Could she bear the pain to hold the other at bay? If I have to, I'll do it, Emily decided. Whatever I have to do, I'll do it, d.a.m.n it! Anything to keep her from taking over.

But could she count on Tragar to keep helping her? She couldn't help remembering the stricken look on his face when she'd come to after fainting. He might be a brutal and deadly a.s.sa.s.sin but he hadn't been kidding about how hard this was for him. Emily sensed he was close to hating himself for beating her with his belt, even though she'd all but commanded him to do it. What would she do if he refused to help her? If he- Just then something cool and soft and wet connected with her bottom.

"Oh!" She jumped and looked around.

"It's just me." Tragar's deep voice still sounded faintly strangled and the remorse on his face was clear. "G.o.ds, look what I've done to you."