Page 49 of Alien Rescue

“Why does your tongue have that enzyme? Is it so that you can force women to be your breeders?” she asked. It would be a long time before she forgot the threat of those fifty babies.

“No, it is to give our women pleasure. We do not have any females anymore.”

Rose frowned at him. “Do you mean females born like you?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, you said anymore—why not anymore?”

“A long time ago our people did genetic experiments. It caused only male children to be born. We have taken breeders from our conquered for many generations now.”

It chilled her, the casual way he talked about genetic experiments. Before the Golden Age, there’d been attempts to lengthen people’s life spans. Those hadn’t gone well for humans. And the easy way he answered her questions bothered her even more. Didn’t he worry at all that she’d escape him and tell the authorities what she knew? If there were any human authorities left. If the few TC casts were any indication, the president had been noticeably absent through all the alien activity. She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t leading a rebellion at the very least.

“Is the gland in your tongue originally for your females?”

“Yes, during the first knowing, we would use it to increase our female’s pleasure by licking her whole body.”

Rose almost panted at the thought of Zanr licking her all over. Flames licked at all her nerve endings and she pressed her thighs together.

Zanr continued, “It also aided them to do the many hours our males are capable of doing sex.”

“Many hours,” she said faintly. The flames of pleasure licking her skin became an inferno.

He fixed her with what she suspected was supposed to be a stern look. “Yes, many hours and we will not negotiate.”

Obviously he had no idea how seductive the thought of many hours of pleasure was to a woman on the brink of death. “Fine. So why are you telling me about the enzyme in your tongue? You could’ve just kept quiet and done it.”

“Zacar said not to use it until our human breeders agree to many hours in the sleeping place.” He narrowed his eyes at her and it was a truly scary look with those black eyes swirling with black-and-red tendrils. He could’ve made a good living in the golden era playing a creature in a horror movie. And yet, he was not repulsive. Rose immediately pushed that thought away. One kiss to pay her debt. That was it.

“All right, I appreciate you telling me about the problem with your tongue. I will kiss you anyway.”

“There is no problem with my tongue, only pleasure,” he said with typical arrogance.

“You say you use the enzyme to give your women pleasure, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s not to persuade them to become breeders. Horrible word, you’d think you’d be clever enough to change that. You’d get more women willing to kiss you.”

“Zyrgins do not kiss on the mouth,” he said.

Rose lifted her hand to push through her hair and encountered the braid. She frowned at him and started to loosen the braid. “What, then why did you bet on a kiss?” she asked while she continued to unravel the braid. His eyes followed her every move. Whenever he looked at her hair, red flares exploded in his irises.

“It is not a habit we practice, but our leader, Zacar, told us how enjoyable kissing the human way is, and we are all superior at it now.” He added, “But we only kiss with tongue after our breeders have agreed for time in the sleeping place.”

“Okay.” She scooted closer to him. “I’m ready. A bet is a bet,” she said. She didn’t want to talk anymore. She needed his kiss, needed that enzyme of his to give her pleasure.

He did that weird pouty thing again and she had trouble keeping her face straight. But she forgot all about laughing the moment his lips touched hers. He curved his hand over her shoulder and held her still for his kiss. His lips were not as hard as she thought. The texture was different, firmer than a human’s, but it wasn’t cold and slimy. Instead they were warm and glided over hers softly. He nipped her bottom lip with his and she’d never have thought that could feel so good. Her emotions were all over the place. She was kissing an alien. More than that, she was kissing the enemy. And she felt pleasure. A pleasure she desperately needed to drive out the fear of death. If Zanr could give her a long life, maybe having fifty little aliens wouldn’t be so bad.

He moved his lips, his tongue seeking hers. This was Zanr, the warrior who’d given her those horrible dresses to wear with such pride, she didn’t have the heart to refuse to wear them. Zanr who always made sure she ate. Zanr who wanted to find her kidnappers.

When at last he lifted his head, she crawled backward until her back touched the wall. “You’ve got glands in your lips, too,” she accused.

He threw back his head and made that unearthly noise she suspected was their version of laughing. She didn’t know what was scarier, that laughter or the way he just stopped. “I am pleased at your compliment. We will sleep now.”

Rose sighed. She didn’t think he was talking about anything more than sleeping. “I don’t think I can sleep.” Morgan’s words kept spinning through her mind and her skin itched, because she kept thinking she could feel the nanites in her body. Doing their evil.

He picked up the cards and played them through his fingers. “Do you wish to play another round for the first knowing?”

“The first knowing?” She’d do just about anything to get out of her own head.

“The first time we do time in the sleeping place with our breeders. What you call fucking.”

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