Page 10 of The Commander

He laid a hand on the metal of the closed door and allowed the hunting awareness connected to his inner senses to open and perceive his prey. It felt like a deep, relaxing inhale. Many believed that the goddess breathed prime battlers into being with wings.

Allowing his true self freedom felt like taking flight.

Behind its seam, his cock pulsed. The outermost layer of his skin itched with unwelcome stretching, and the exoskeleton guarding his pelvis ached with ancient, instinctual memories—exactly the type of memories in which he would never indulge.

Inside, the captive talked to herself, wrestling with her restraints. “Have to do it. Have to break the bones. Can’t let that thing come in here and just…”

Hurting herself might get her out of the ropes, but not the building. The idea showed marked resourcefulness—one most humans could not manage, the brutality of it beyond their drive for self-preservation.

Her voice again: “One step at a time. Gotta do it. One step at a time. Harder. Faster. Hurry.”

If bone cracking were going to happen, he would be the one to do it. He didn’t want to spoil the marrow. Pushing the door open, the female sucked in her breath.

“Welcome to my home.” He let his voice boom into the small chamber.

She reacted to his greeting with one of those unintelligible noises. Instead of moving where he wanted her, her struggle pressed her into a corner across the room. Using the speed gifted by the gravity of this planet, he lunged forward, dragging her to the center of the room before she could scream again in surprise. Too fast for her to see—a simple lift—and he ruthlessly dropped her on an old flat table before her slow human perceptions caught up.

Her jagged scream of pain hit every wince inducing pitch as she spiraled instantly into noisy terror. He forced himself not to react as the vibrations in his tympanic membranes rang through his head and down his bones.

“Stop that!” He slapped her sharply on her thigh. That was some defensive cry she had there.

The sound didn’t trail off fast enough. That pitch! He gave her five more openhanded swats until she couldn’t breathe, and only jagged cries came out.

“No! You will not make that noise if you want to keep your vocal cords.”

The remains of her clothes dulled his blow, but she understood, mouth clamping shut.

“Better. None of that now unless I give you a real reason for it, little human. Nod your head if you can understand me.”

She nodded. Her eyes had gone big and glassy, and her face drained of most of the color. With tiny spots across her nose and those big, helpless eyes, other humans must consider her pretty.

His immersion study helped him adjust to this world, fitting all the information the Sarrians had collected into his head. Humans aided the process with their incessant need to be noticed. They had been broadcasting into space like noisy, ill bred children for longer than Bastian had lived.

His tenure on the base and hundreds of data downloads aligned his words with his intentions. He assumed.

She watched him. Blinked. Gulped down whatever she was feeling.

Humans had hundreds of languages. He smiled in satisfaction, knowing that this small human and he spoke the same one.

His smile made her cringe. He assumed his sharp teeth were to blame, their presence accentuating his cheekbones and jaw, making them sharper and more pronounced than those of human men. A few creatures resembled him, though none of them had a comparable exoskeleton.

Unsure of where to look, the girl kept her eyes averted from his face.

His size, shape, appearance, and scent screamed alien predator encouraging her to panic. She should panic. He was bigger, stronger, older, better trained, and held all the power.

“Look at me.”

“What are you? Who are you?” Her muscles popped in her neck and shoulders as she tried to pull back as far as possible. There was nowhere for her to go.

“I get to ask the questions.” He stooped over her to give her a better view of his face.

He wanted her to see him while his hunting senses fed him information. Blood rushed through her delicate veins due to an elevated heartbeat. Her eyes dilated. Sweat on her brow supplied him with peppered notes of hot adrenaline and tangy sweet cortisol.

This close to her full aroma, he couldn’t stop himself from taking it in. She smelled so good.

The muscles in his belly constricted, a sudden punch of want in his gut fighting his self-control. He wanted to growl, to release his primal hunter. He craved more of this essence, wanted to find the source, to lap it all up.

Unfortunately, he also wanted answers.

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