Chapter 40

CHAPTER FORTY

VYA

Khorahn was driving me insane in the best ways possible.

After a week of living on the ship with his dad, I'd let go of the modesty I'd been taught and had stopped being embarrassed every time Khorahn and I disappeared for a sex-a-thon, which was all the damn time. So I didn't freak out when Khorahn leaned forward and suggested a little more non-sex fun time.

Nope, not at all.

Instead, I hooked my arms around his neck and arched back into him, making damn sure his top dick pressed hard into a place I desperately wanted to feel it, fully aware I was playing with fire.

"I don't think you can," I said. "We both want each other too much right now. So we're both still in a time-out. No sex—not even any licking or tasting—until we're done with our business on the trade station."

Since our little trip to the Helix station, my eyes had been opened to how the systems viewed me and how hard everyone would question Khorahn's care of me. Yes, it was my right to choose to stay with him. But if he was somehow proven to be a danger to me, I wouldn't be allowed to leave with him. Which I thought was horseshit. However, after the way I'd been treated by the Wsoau, I understood the need for the scrutiny.

His dad had been a little surprised to learn how potent the scent-markings were to humans and had cautioned both of us not to share that information with others. So I really needed to act like his scent-markings weren't affecting me, or no one would believe I wanted to stay with him of my own volition.

It wasn't easy to pretend, though, when I wanted to beg him to ride me hard again, regardless of the fact his dad was two feet away from us.

"Now, help me stand up, and let's make me pretty so I can reassure everyone on that station that you're good to me."

Khorahn stood with me in his arms and let me slide down his ambal, which left a wet trail on my back.

I fought not to moan.

"You just lost your chance to help me dress. Dad? Will you help me?"

Khorahn Senior chuckled and held out his hand. I took it and stuck my tongue out at Khorahn. This wasn't the first time I'd used his father as an excuse to get away from him. Neither man seemed to mind.

Like Khorahn had said, they didn't get offended by anything I did or said. They were patient and usually amused. In Khorahn's case, highly aroused too. That man's second dick hadn't wanted to go into a dormant pose for any reason an hour ago. I didn't know how he'd managed it, only that he had once I'd left him.

Once Khorahn Senior had my gown neatly arranged with no "accidental" brushing of my skin like my Khorahn would have done, he led me to the cargo bay.

My need for Khorahn to bend me over faded with my growing excitement to see humans in person again. I'd spoken to Stacy and Adriana several times over the last several days, and while the calls had been great, it wasn't the same.

The ship rumbled slightly as we docked. Khorahn stood on one side of me—fully clothed, thankfully—and Khorahn Senior stood on the other side.

"Ready for this?" I asked.

"Are you?" Khorahn asked.

"Sort of. I'm a mix of excited and terrified but definitely ready to find out what's been happening since I was taken."

The ship announced we were docked, and Khorahn gave the command to open the door.

Before the ramp even settled on the ground, I saw the people waiting for me. Eight human women. Seven of them were wearing pretty silky gowns that showed their nips, and one wore a systems dress like me. The two I'd spoken to, Stacy and Adriana, were notably pregnant.

However, I didn't care about any of that. I saw familiar human faces, broke into tears, and ran to them with my arms wide open.

Stacy caught me up in a hug, and I was surrounded by women comforting me a second later.

"It's okay, now," one of them said.

"Poor thing," another said.

"Your ass looks ah-mazing in this dress. Does mine look that good?"

My tears dissolved into laughter, and I pulled back to apologize.

"We get it," Stacy said. "Unfortunately, Earth's defense isn't yet strong enough to stop all abductions. You're not the first one to return home."

I nodded and wiped the tears from my face to look for Khorahn and Khorahn Senior. They were still standing where I'd left them. A laugh escaped me.

"I probably freaked them out by bursting into tears," I said.

"A female crying isn't common," the woman with the pink hair said. "They don't know what to do when that happens."

"Khorahn does. He's helped me through a lot of tears."

Stacy's hand rubbed my shoulder.

"We saw your scans. You had to be terrified."

"I was. But not for long. He was amazing." As I spoke, I met Khorahn's gaze from across the distance and held out my hand to him.

"I recognize that look," the woman in the systems dress said. "We've lost another one."

I didn't bother trying to deny it. I simply waited for Khorahn and his father to join us.

"This is Khorahn and his genetic founder, Khorahn Senior. I added the senior bit myself, or it would be confusing."

"Genetic founder? A clone?" the lady with the black hair asked. "That's so cool."

I smiled at Khorahn, silently agreeing with her assessment and grateful Khorahn Senior had cloned himself. If not for them, I wouldn't have been alive.

The thought sobered me and brought me back to my purpose.

"So why can't I go home?"

"Do you still want to?" Stacy asked, surprised.

"What I want is the choice. Leaving Earth wasn't my choice. I think returning to it should be."

"And it is," Adriana said. "But the protection and care you experienced here isn't something you'll find planet-side."

"What do you mean?"

"Initially, we were worried our governments would take the women and mistreat them in the line of learning more about the systems," Adriana said.

"It's not our governments that are the problem, though," the one in the systems dress said. "It's the people. Once the lottery was instated, protests started. People ended up in the hospital and an addendum was added to the treaty."

Stacy took my hands. "The Oebri can no longer interfere if a female connected with the systems or otherwise is in danger on the surface."

"So if you go to the surface, you would be on your own. And trust us when we say keeping your return quiet would be a hard thing to do," the one with the black hair said.

"The fear of the lottery and anger for anything alien spread on the surface. Not everyone hates everything alien, but enough do to cause problems," the one with pink hair said.

I didn't like hearing that, but I understood it wasn't something within their control.

"That means my parents won't be able to come here to see me?" I asked.

"No, they'd be fine. Apparently, visiting the trade station is less offensive than hooking up with an alien," the one in the systems dress said.

A hand settled on my shoulder, and I breathed a little easier when Khorahn's thumb stroked over my skin. It reminded me of what he'd said. The problems of today wouldn't likely be the problems of tomorrow. Everything changed. Always.

"Our ship is large enough to allow for your parents to live with us," Khorahn said.

Two of the girls covered their mouths to laugh as my face flushed at the thought.

"I don't think my parents would be as accepting of my nudity as your dad is. And asking them to leave their lives on Earth isn't a solution. We need to work on changing Earth's opinion of the people outside of their atmosphere.

"It's great that the Oebri and Earth's leaders are trying to protect everyone on the planet. But like you just acknowledged, it's not a perfect system. What happens when it fails? It's not just the things that take us who should be punished but any race that keeps us against our will. Maybe if everyone on Earth sees what lengths the systems are willing to go to keep all the females who leave the surface safe, some of the unrest will calm."

Stacy nodded. "We've been discussing your experiences with the Prime Assembly. They have Khorahn's accounting of the incident, yours, and your scans. It's enough for the Prime Assembly to take action."

"What does that mean?"

"Why don't we continue this discussion in the park?" a petite woman said.

Willing to set aside the conversation for now, I toured the trade station with them. Khorahn and his father walked behind us while two other men I recognized from the news led the way. They didn't interact with us, but I got the feeling they were listening to the women's commentary just as avidly as I was.

When we walked through the trade center, males stopped their browsing to watch us pass. The way they stared at Adriana and Stacy's bellies—a combination of yearning and wonder—had me wishing this had been my first experience with the systems rather than what I'd gotten.

The "park" was a huge grow bay that didn't feel like a bay but like being outside back home. I tipped my head back and spread my arms wide, letting the light and warmth touch every part of me.

"You've adapted well to the systems dress," the woman wearing the same said.

"The pajamas I'd been wearing during my abduction had been reduced to rags by the time Khorahn found me. Afterward, I was so hurt, it made sense that he hadn't given me anything to wear."

"I didn't want to cover your beauty," Khorahn said.

I rolled my eyes at him, and the women laughed.

Stacy sobered first and motioned to the blanket spread out, waiting for us. As soon as we were settled, she continued our discussion.

"The Prime Assembly is not against genocide when warranted. Your case and the way they treated you almost saw them hand down that verdict. However, there are two extenuating circumstances. The first is that females of their race are kept as you were—in chains in their underground burrows and used solely for breeding. The second is that their planet contains an element needed for a lot of the technology the systems use.

"So they cannot destroy the planet."

My stomach churned, and I wasn't sure if it was because they'd considered destroying a planet because of what happened to me or that they'd voted against it.

"For breaking the systems law regarding the treatment of breedable females, the inhabitants of Narlin Four have been given a choice. Surrender all males that are five years or more into their adulthood and free all females, or surrender the rights to their planet."

"Both would mean death to many of their males and a severe reduction to their numbers," Adriana said. "They've chosen to surrender their mature males, who will go to mining camps on prison planets while the younger ones will stay with the freed females, who have been abused their whole lives. Our hope, along with the Prime Assembly's, is that their society will evolve to have more respect for females. The Prime Assembly won't forgive their race another violation."

I felt horrible for the females who'd lived their lives like I had those few weeks, but I had no remorse for the males who would spend the rest of their lives on a planet not their own.

"Their decision seems fair to me," I said. "But, I don't want what happened to me to end there."

"What do you mean?" Adriana asked.

"You shared your story to help sway the people on our planet. Don't hide my story, either. Let everyone know what happens when a female is mistreated out here. Acknowledge that it's not all rainbows and sunshine but that the Prime Assembly stands by its laws.

"Then, maybe someday, things will settle down, and I'll get to go back home."

"What will you do until then?" one of the other women asked.

I looked at Khorahn, who was studying the grass under our feet, and smiled.

"I'm going to learn more about what it means to be a loved and protected female in the systems and embrace the new life that's been handed to me."