Hers, Untamed Read online

“No?”

  “Hey, I’ve tried. I kind of felt human at first, having grown up on the Moon. I tried living on Earth, but they thought I was an alien freak. I had to cover my body and pretend my funny eyes were from contact lenses. Then I tried to get in contact with S’laurians when I was star-hopping in my twenties. They refused to acknowledge any kind of kinship with me. You know S’laurians? Curious as fuck. Usually you see them all over any stranger, touching and poking. But me? They did a big semi-circle around me and pretended I didn’t exist. All the other races consider me a mongrel and treat me accordingly. We hybrids sure don’t have it easy.”

  “But that’s completely absurd!” Hybrids were highly valued on Silenia. Alyssa couldn’t believe they were treated like rejects on other worlds.

  “Yeah, but what can you do.”

  “It must be terrible for you.”

  “The way I see it, some assholes created me; they can face the consequences. I’m not gonna apologize for my existence or feel sorry for myself. I go wherever I want and take whatever I want and have fun while I’m at it. But I don’t always steal, if it makes you feel any better. Stealing is nothing but a good way to get every imaginable police force on your tail. Most of the time I just pick up stuff that no one misses. After a nice battle, there’s always valuable debris floating around. I grab the best bits, haul it to a recycling outpost or sell it directly to the opposing side who want to get their hands on the enemy tech, and I collect a nice profit.”

  “So you’re…”

  “A scavenger. Following warships. Whenever they blast someone to bits, I’m there to pick up the useful things like weapons systems or jump drives. If the hull is mostly intact, I’ll tow the whole thing. Building ships is fucking expensive—most places are thrilled to get some materials so they don’t have to start from scratch.”

  “What a strange occupation.”

  “Maybe to you. It’s far more common out there than you think.”

  “So how did you end up here? How did Interstellar Pet Training find you?”

  “I guess someone picked up my beacon and found me drifting. I got into a squabble with another ship…those guys were assholes. I was tailing this nice, plump armada, all shiny and menacing, loaded with weapons and headed for war. I couldn’t wait to pick up their scraps. Then this other asshole had the same idea, but it was my stuff, I was there first. I crippled their ship, left them drifting. I marked down the location. Figured I’d wait until the life support went out and the crew died. Then I could go back and pick up the ship, tow it back to civilization and sell it.”

  Alyssa stared at him in dismay. “You left people to die?”

  “Not one of my better ideas. Karma bites back like a bitch. So a few weeks later, after I’d cleaned up after the armada, I went back to look at the rival vulture. Not only was the crew still alive, but another ship was hiding behind the wreck, waiting for me. The fuckers had friends. They’d decided to pay back in kind. They crippled my ship, obviously with the intention of selling it. They blasted a hole in the hull and killed life support. I got out in an escape pod.” Jax barked a sarcastic laugh. “I’m sure they saw it. You can’t fucking miss someone shooting out of a ship in an escape pod; any radar can pick that up. They could have taken the shot, but they didn’t. Instead they locked a tractor beam on my ship and towed it away. The bastards. Left me to die in space.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “The only thing I could. I steered toward the nearest star system, turned life support down to minimum, and hoped for the best. A few days later, I was running out of oxygen and thought that was it. I passed out at some point. I woke up in a glass box surrounded by people who were of the opinion I was a wild beast and had to be tamed. For a minute I thought I’d ended up in a fucked up version of afterlife.”

  Alyssa couldn’t help the giggle.

  “I’m glad you find it funny.”

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.”

  “No, go ahead. Karma, like I said. I did something stupid and this is my punishment.”

  “I don’t want to punish you…” Alyssa said, fighting the drowsiness creeping over her again.

  “Of course not. You just want to own me and use me as your plaything.”

  “But I take good care of you…” she argued sleepily. Her head hurt. She found it hard to keep her eyes open.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re obsessed with my well-being. Go to sleep, Alyssa. You still have to shake off this damn flu. I’ll watch over you.”

  Chapter 11

  Judging by the slant of the sunlight from the windows, Alyssa woke up in the late afternoon. She sat up slowly, taking in the situation. Her head was clear again, even though the memory of the past few days was blurred. She felt a little weak, but otherwise fine. She cast a look around her in the quiet apartment, her gaze landing on Jax, who sat cross-legged in his cage, watching her.

  “You look a lot better now,” he commented.

  He looked better, too. His gaze was sharp and his face was no longer pale. Despite his beard stubble and slightly untidy appearance, he was back to his healthy, sexy self.

  Alyssa cleared her throat. “How long have you been…? How long was I…?”

  “I’ve been back to normal since I woke up this morning,” he replied in a casual tone. “I’m not sure how long we were out. What day is today?”

  “Um…” Alyssa looked around for her things, until she remembered her wristband told the time. “It’s Thursday, about five p.m. I was sick for five days, you a little bit longer.”

  Jax shrugged. “That wasn’t too bad then. I had Distian brain parasites once. Shit…it hurt to flush the buggers out, and took six months to recover. It didn’t help that it made me blind and put me at the mercy of a dubious street doctor on Brexia 9.”

  Alyssa stared at him, uncertain if she wanted to believe him. She’d never heard of Distian brain parasites or Brexia 9. She straightened her hair and looked around her, trying to decide what she should do now. Used tissues littered the floor, so she activated her cleaning robot, and the small, metal-colored hubcap emerged from its slot in the wall and began to vacuum. Alyssa dragged her bedding to the laundry room, but because she didn’t feel like attending to it further, she simply closed the door. Upon returning to the living room, her stomach growled, not having digested anything except water for several days. And if she was hungry…

  She cast a wide-eyed look at Jax. “You must be starving.”

  “Not yet, but getting there,” he replied.

  “Wait, I’ll bring you something.” She rushed to the kitchen.

  “Take it easy,” he called out after her. “Are you sure you’re fit to be up and about?”

  “I’m fine,” she replied. “I need to take care of you. It’s unthinkable to keep a pet in hunger.”

  “How about you let me out of this cage and I’ll find my own food,” Jax’s annoyed voice came from the living room. “I was a fully functional being before your lot grabbed me and put me in a box.”

  Alyssa pretended not to hear and kept busy going through the cupboards, only to discover that her food was spoiling, or else non-existent. Only some dry soy meat remained—a pain in the ass to cook.

  “Damn it.”

  Then she realized she wasn’t thinking straight.

  Why cook at all?

  So she ordered a food delivery online via the kitchen data terminal. The terminal flashed the delivery time of ten minutes at her—just enough time to take a shower. Alyssa looked forward to being clean again. She ran to the bathroom, kicked her dirty pajamas off and enjoyed a hot shower with lots of shampoo and soap. The doorbell rang as she was putting on fresh clothes. Alyssa rushed to answer it. She inhaled the delicious aromas of food, wanting to faint at how good it smelled, and carried the big pile of steaming boxes to the living room.

  Jax observed with a hungry look while she opened the boxes and slipped his portions into the cage. He grabbed the boxes and began to eat without delay.

  �
��Damn, this is good,” he mumbled, his mouth full. He hastily bit into the next thing as if worried the food might disappear. “This is really fucking good. I can’t believe this. I was afraid proper food didn’t exist on this planet.”

  Alyssa frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re a terrible cook, Alyssa, that’s what it means.” When her face fell, he flashed her a grin and added, “I should cook for you one of these days and show you how it’s done.”

  Alyssa snorted. “For your information, you ungrateful jackass, I made sure your meals contained all the right nutrients.”

  “Doesn’t change the fact that everything you cooked tasted like a pile of soggy cardboard.”

  She waved her fork at him. “Careful, Jax. If you criticize my cooking, I might lose motivation and the next portion of ‘soggy cardboard’ you get will be served cold.”

  He chuckled. “Won’t make much of a difference, baby, but my offer stands—show me the kitchen and I’ll cook for you for a change.”

  Baby? Who does he think he is?

  But Alyssa enjoyed his banter and let it slide. She was tempted to hold him to his promise. How sweet if she got her pet to cook for her! Lucia would be so envious. But then she thought, Kitchen—knives, forks, spoons—every manner of stabbing weapon in this apartment is stored in the kitchen. Blood drained from her cheeks. No, I’m not going to let him in there.

  She entered new commands on her wristband. All the doorways in her apartment monitored who passed through them. Alyssa reprogrammed the kitchen doorway as well as the apartment’s front door—Jax’s collar wouldn’t let him through unless Alyssa was with him. She added a few other dangerous rooms to the forbidden list: her work room, her bedroom, the closets where her household robots were stored… Jax, too busy enjoying his meal, didn’t notice her silent maneuver.

  After they finished eating, Alyssa asked him if he’d like a bath.

  “Hell, I’m always up for a bath,” he said, grinning, flexing his limbs. He looked happy and re-energized. “I have to warn you, Alyssa, I’m in a really good mood today. Fever gone, the best food I’ve had in ages, and now you offering to bathe me…I’m gonna have a hard time holding back.”

  “Holding back from what?”

  “From throwing you down, tearing those clothes off, and ravishing the hell out of you.”

  Alyssa’s heart leaped, but she kept her voice calm. “Very funny.”

  “You think I’m joking?”

  “I think you’re still suffering from the after-effects of something.”

  He shook his head slowly. “No. I’m just feeling good. And I think it’s time I showed you what I can do.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I was delirious when I had a fever, wasn’t I?”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “Nonetheless, I remember some things. Bits and pieces. You caressing me, soothing away my pain…”

  “I tried to take care of you.”

  “You did. I don’t know what shape I was in, but whenever you touched me, I hurt less. I remember, and that sort of thing messes with a guy’s head, you know. I might have wanted to throttle you before, but now I just want to get my hands on you. I want to give you so much pleasure you’ll scream.”

  Alyssa swallowed. After what they’d been through together, she felt even more attracted to him than before. Turning him down was suddenly a lot harder.

  Great, just what I need…I can handle him. I just don’t know if I can handle myself.

  Jax stood up and leaned against the bars, his manner so sexy that Alyssa had to look away. “I have an idea,” he drawled. “How about you take this collar off me? I’ll give you the ride of your life. It’s what you want, right? It’s the reason you bought me. I’m more than willing to cooperate now.”

  Willing to cooperate!

  Alyssa pressed her lips together and stifled a whimper. She felt her pussy turning wet. The mere thought of his hard, alien cock inside her made her want to swoon. Never mind that she had only just woken up from a fever…her body welcomed the idea of a hot, rough tangle.

  “No, Jax,” she said breathlessly. “You’re just taking a nice bath, like before.”

  “That’s what you say. But it’s not what you want.”

  “If you’re ready to go, step back so I can let you out.”

  Alyssa pressed her thumb to the keypad, opened the cage, and then nodded toward the bathroom. When Jax stepped out, she couldn’t help but notice the huge erection bulging in his pants.

  “I could take you right here on the floor,” he rumbled. “Whatever way you want. You could even ride me if you want. Hell, we can go several rounds.”

  “Jax…the bathroom.”

  “I can do you in the bathroom, too. You’ve got such nice, soft carpets in there.”

  Alyssa drew a deep breath and fought to keep her voice even. Her legs felt weak. “I’ll do you, Jax. I’m happy you’re so ‘enthused’. I look forward to taking care of you.”

  “I bet you do. Your pussy is so eager you can barely walk straight.”

  “Jax!”

  “Don’t think I can’t see you squirming.”

  “You’re just horny. Don’t worry. You’ll be satisfied.”

  “Yeah, but what about you?”

  He turned and reached out for her, which caused the collar to activate. Jax stilled and winced, biting back the groan of pain.

  “You have to be more careful,” she reminded him.

  “Yeah.” He rubbed his neck. “Difficult holding back, like I said. I want my hands on you, Alyssa.”

  “Patience. Maybe someday you’ll get to touch me.”

  “Maybe…someday? I’m ready to touch you now.”

  Bathing Jax was torture…sweet, heady torture. Alyssa pleasured him first thing, grabbing his cock as soon as he was in chains. Thrilled, she watched his body arching to her touch. His muscles clenching and his teeth gritting as she pumped his shaft filled her with triumphant joy, his loud groans music to her ears. She brought him to a fast, roaring orgasm, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  After his climax, she shaved his jaw and scrubbed him clean. She fought to keep calm, but as he recovered, he tried persuading her by talking dirty to her, saying how badly he wanted to throw himself on her and make her every fantasy come true. She became hot and flushed, feeling as if she couldn’t breathe properly in the steamy bathroom. Her belly tightened and her clit throbbed. She feared if this went on any longer, she might orgasm simply from Jax talking to her. After she had finished washing and drying him and had seen him into a fresh set of clothes, she briskly ordered him back to his cage. Jax grinned.

  “I’ll have you soon, baby. Sooner than you know.” He went back into his cage without resistance and closed the door, locking himself in. His self-confident manner shocked her. “You can’t resist me much longer. It’s pointless. Why suffer when I can give you everything you want?”

  Alyssa looked away.

  “I know you’re afraid,” he said, leaning against the bars. “You think I’m gonna hurt you. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise. I swear I’m not gonna hurt you. I’ve grown to like you too much.”

  “I think you should stop talking now,” Alyssa warned him. She didn’t want to catch him in a lie.

  “It’s agony to be either chained or caged all the time,” Jax went on. “I get to watch you and feel your hands on me—and you’re hot, let me tell you. You’re gorgeous, and you’ve got great curves. Fuck, I’ve had dreams about pulling off your bra and grabbing your breasts! And you keep hinting you want to get properly ‘up close and personal’ with me. It’s driving me crazy. No matter how good your hands are, it’s not enough. I want to do what you’ve been talking about. I want to have real sex with you. I want to fuck you properly.”

  He made sense. Alyssa was willing to believe him. Perhaps she had been teasing him too much.

  Jax reached his hand out through the bars. “Let me prove that I’m not gon
na hurt you.”

  Alyssa gave him a suspicious look. She had tasks she needed to do. She had to empty the kitchen of spoiling foodstuffs and pick up some groceries. She should put the household robots to work. She should call Lucia and tell her she and Jax had recovered. And she definitely should leave Jax alone for a while so he could cool down. But his offer was so enticing.

  “Come on, girl. You’re gonna have to start trusting me someday. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

  He was right. Sooner or later, she would have to give him more freedom. She inched closer to his cage, her heart beating faster.

  Do I dare? He’s so convincing.

  “Just let me touch your hand. Just your fingers.”

  Alyssa swallowed. She stared at his outstretched hand, at his thick, masculine fingers. She reached her hand out toward his, slowly, seeing how close she would dare to go.

  “I’m not gonna do anything,” Jax murmured. “You can touch me. Please.”

  Alyssa held her breath. Soon, she was so close he could grasp her if he reached out further. But he remained motionless. Their fingertips touched. A shiver, like a bolt of electricity, went through her.

  I’m touching him!

  She was touching the most dangerous part of him—his hand—and he didn’t move.

  “Yes,” Jax hissed, sounding as if he also held his breath, understanding how monumental this incident was to both of them. “Come closer.”

  Alyssa slid her fingers over his palm, fear and excitement pounding in her veins. Jax flexed his fingers softly, giving her hand a fleeting caress. Alyssa gasped.

  “I just want to touch you,” he said. “I need to touch you, Alyssa. I need it so badly.”

  Her hand trembled, but she didn’t pull it away when Jax caressed it.

  “God, yes. Closer. Come closer.”

  Alyssa managed a half a step forward. She was much too close to the cage now to be safe, but Jax’s attention was on her hand. He stroked it, and then his fingers closed around it. Alyssa became so tense she could barely breathe. Hair stood on the back of her neck.

  This is a bad idea. A bad idea.

  “See?” Jax said in a low voice. “I’m not hurting you.” Desire burned in his intense, pale eyes, but she could tell he fought not to startle her.