Page 25 of Seduction

“Look at it. The color. Vivid, bright. Kissed by the warmth of your sun.” He held it to her lips. “Sink your teeth into it. There’s a satisfying crunch as you breach the firm skin. Then the first burst of sweetness hits your tongue.”

But it was in introducing her to the world of sexual experiences where Haldor excelled. He brought his rich, sensual nature to every encounter. True to his promise, he’d never pressured her to take his cock inside her. The sheer size of it still made her nervous. Instead, he’d taught her the myriad other ways two people could pleasure each other. Made every atom in her body hum.

He'd been readying her for his cock, though. Seducing her. Building her desire as he broke down her resistance. Slipped one finger into her pussy, then two, and, last night, three as she moaned and writhed in his arms. Making her want it. Need it. Ache for it.

He’d be leaving soon. Up till now, she’d refused to think about it. But the ceremony had driven home the reality of her situation. Selena couldn’t bear to let him leave without sharing that one last experience with him. Create a memory that would have to last her a lifetime.

She picked up her pace. Tonight, she’d go to him. Kneel before him naked, hair down. “Please my lord,” she’d say. “I hunger for you. Will you fuck me? Spread the lips of my pussy apart and let me feel the heat of your cock. Then slowly slide it in, inch by inch.”

Lost in erotic daydreams, Selena never heard a door open behind her in the deserted passage. Never saw the shadowy figures creep out. She only felt a sharp prick in the side of her neck. She struggled as rough arms crammed her into a long black bag, then her body went limp. Unable to move, to cry out, she watched the light gradually disappear as they sealed her up in it.

* * *

He heard a commotion outside his door. Raised voices, a rarity in this world.

Scuffles. A crash.

He threw open the door. Mia stood outside, arguing with James, Selena’s lab assistant. Her cyborg photographer knelt on the floor, picking up camera equipment that lay scattered around him.

“Haldor! Thank goddess. We’re here to speak with you about the tragedy that’s befallen your doctor. But James wasn’t going to allow it – something about instructions from Minister Symon that you weren’t to be told yet.”

Mia spoke fluent Gadolinian. She’d been fitted with a Tellex chip when she began her career as a reporter so she could communicate with beings from other worlds when covering stories. She’d spent several hours with Haldor and Selena before the interview, listening to them talk and priming her chip.

Haldor shoved James aside and strode up to her. “What are you talking about, Mia? What tragedy?”

Mia shook her head. “I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you, Haldor. I know you two are very close. Doctor Reston has been kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?” He shook his head. “No. She’s at the ceremony. Your gathering of the galaxies. They’re giving her a medal, promoting her to minister.”

He glanced out at the sky, the sun nearly below the horizon. “She should have been back by now,” he muttered to himself.

The look that came into his eyes made Mia take a step back.

“Tell me all you know,” he demanded.

“I’m not sure how much you were told about the techniques Doctor Reston used to save your life, Haldor. Between your injuries in battle and the massive blood loss you suffered, the added stress caused by the trip through the portal damaged almost every major organ in your body beyond repair. It’s a miracle you’re standing here. Doctor Reston could have taken the common route and turned you into a cyborg, essentially creating a machine that held your thoughts, your memories, even your personality. But then you’d never have been able to go back through the portal to Gadolinium.

“Instead, she replicated your blood and took the radical step of cloning nearly every organ in your body. Then she replaced them one at a time, keeping you alive mechanically all the while. She disconnected life support systems as your new organs began functioning. Returned you to life as a man, not a machine.”

Mia went on. “They almost lost you twice. Mindy told me Doctor Reston slept on a cot next to your pod every night for the first few weeks, afraid to go home because you might not live till morning. She’d been working on a groundbreaking new technology to replicate cloned organs in half the time. But the new organs had never been transplanted into humans to see if they’d remain viable over the long term. You were her test subject, Haldor. Fortunately for both of you, it worked.”

“She put me to sleep when I arrived. I had no knowledge of the days passing. Why the need for haste?”

“I asked Doctor Reston that myself. She told me psychological testing has shown that after a prolonged period with their lives dependent on the pod, humans emerge from it damaged in an undefinable way. They’re like walking ghosts. The body is still there, but the essence, the spirit of the person has faded away. She said she couldn’t bear for that to happen to a mighty warrior, a hero of his people. She had to make you well. Fast.”

Haldor had been listening with an increasingly frustrated look on his face. “What does that have to do with Selena being kidnapped?” he snapped.

Mia flinched but stood her ground. “I know all of that may seem unimportant, but the ministry thinks that’s why she was taken. News of her work bringing you back to life and the ceremony honoring her has circulated throughout the universe. According to Minister Symon, a contingent from a rogue world infiltrated the gathering, seized Doctor Reston, and has taken her back to their world to treat one of its inhabitants.”

Haldor’s eyes narrowed. “Take me to the minister. Now.”

Chapter Fourteen

Mia was in the middle of a story that would bring her interplanetary fame. “Get those cameras rolling,” she hissed to her cyborg.

“I’d be happy to take you to Minister Symon, Haldor,” she said sweetly. “Perhaps you’d like to put some clothes on before we go?”

She motioned to the cyborg to get a full shot of his body, clad only in rough linen trousers held up by a leather thong tied loosely around his hips. Not all planets were as prudish about partial nudity as Earthers. The pictures would fetch a good price on the open market.

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