Chapter 6: Beastly Temptations

Knox

The human female quivered in the corner, shaking her head. But it was taking all the energy and strength I didn't have not to not pick her up, thrust her against the wall, and f*ck her until she was carrying my child. I wanted to know all of her secrets. Her sounds. What made her laugh and have her blue eyes light up with joy at seeing me and know that I was the only one for her.

F*cking sexual aphrodisiacs. I hadn't noticed before because my nose was broken and swollen from the Roulex beating and I'd purposely stayed on the other side of the cell from her. They must have washed her hair in some chemical compound that mimicked our female's pheromones amped up and drove my kind into rutting beasts. How had they found the right mix though? I'd never had or been interested in any of the other females they'd tried to force on me. Not even when they injected us with their sex drugs.

Yet Samantha's scent aroused me, tantalized me. I wanted to feel her, taste her, touch her everywhere. My lust magnified with each breath. Thought of how she'd sound screaming my name tortured me.

The need to claim her pulsed with every beat of my heart. I clenched my fists and teeth, willing my lust to stop raging along with my throbbing c*ck. I would not subject any child to the tortures of this place. They hoped by me getting this female pregnant they could learn how to accelerate healing like my species did.

If it worked, they'd probably force me to mate with other females, maybe even the vile Roulex.

Simitar!

I would rather die than touch one of those vile creatures. Would rather have their scaled necks in my hands so I could squeeze the life out of my captors. Watch them beg for their life like they did Celica. My wife. The only woman I'd ever loved.

Giving in to the rutting herbs would dishonor her memory. But the Roulex wouldn't back off. They wanted more of my kind, even half-breeds to experiment on and find out how they could use our quick healing abilities.

I backed into the far end of the cell, as far as I could get from the female and glared at her. Her tempting scent curled around me. My c*ck stirred, but she looked ready to hurl. Good to know the possibility of being with me made her ill. I could use that, keep myself away from her until the damn allure of her wore off.

The herbs mingled with her scent permeated the small cell.

I couldn't get away. I took breaths to lessen the effect of the traitorous concoction.

I dug my nails into my palms, my breathing becoming ragged. My c*ck hardened - straining my thin prison pants. I needed to do something soon.

"Talk," I growled out. Maybe her incessant ramblings and questions would help quell this ache.

She jumped. "About what?"

"I don't care."

"Then why should I - "

"If you don't find something to occupy that pretty, little mouth of yours, then I will."

She paled, drawing her legs up to her chest and hugging them. "Um...I really don't think my lawyer and judge knew they were sentencing me to...this." Her hand fluttered between us like a frightened bird.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe if I imagined her as something hideous it would help. Instead of doe eyes and chestnut hair and that alluring scent - Stop it. Stop it!

"I mean having an alien's baby?" She hiccupped a gasp. "No offense but that's just horrid."

"No, that's just like the Roulex."

I brought forth images of Celica. How they'd bloodied her. Tortured her. Raped her. Experimented on her as she'd carried their offspring. How they'd torn her body to try and save the half-breed child, and how I had watched her die without being able to do a damn thing about it. But the babe had been stillborn despite their efforts.

I wouldn't go through that again. Even with this stranger. I wouldn't give the bastards any child of mine. If they gained our ability to heal quickly, they could use that to take over this planet and others.

The human was talking again, and I'd missed what she'd said.

"...so, there's no reason to do what they want, right?" Her voice was high-pitched and her words rushed as she paced back and forth. "You're sexy - I mean cute - and all, but I'm not ready for this." She gave me a sideways glance.

When was anyone ready for prison and torture? I opened my eyes and wished I hadn't. Her cheeks were scarlet, making her dark eyes shine even more. Simitar. I needed a change of topics before I crossed the three feet to her.

"Talk about something else." I grunted.

"Do you have a family? I don't. Not anymore," her voice softened. She lifted her right hand, touched the middle of her forehead with her fingers, then moved her hand to her sternum, touched the front of her left shoulder, then her right in a rapid movement that looked practiced. "Mom died of cancer and Dad had a heart attack two years later," unshed tears glistened in her eyes and coated her words. "Life insurance only paid for medical debt and funerals. I've been on my own ever since which is how I got the job teaching kids how to drive."

"And you f*cking ended up here because you failed." I was piecing together snippets of her words here and there.

She frowned, her chin lifting. "I kept a child from getting killed and wrecked a valuable piece of equipment."

"Then what you did was invaluable."

"Thanks." She smiled. "You're the first person to have said so. Everyone else, even Mr. Simmons, my boss, acted like I was the biggest criminal in history."

She was like me then. "To the Roulex, I'm - my people - are the worst in the universe because we won't let them know how they can use our healing power."

"Wait, like magic?"

I smirked. If this woman had been sent here to tempt me and get information, I wasn't going to hand it over.

She threw her hands up in the air. "Well, is it or isn't it?"

And I was right. She had to be working for the Roulex. Willing to get pregnant with my child whatever the cost and to glean any secrets she could along the way. I knew I shouldn't have gotten distracted by a pretty face.

"Not all of our people have healing abilities." I lied. "Some, like me, only have it to heal ourselves. But it's not anything we can control. I could be unconscious, and my body would still work to repair itself." Truth, but nothing the Roulex hadn't figured out by now.

"What about if you break a bone?" Her eyes widened. "Or lose a limb?"

The Roulex knew the answers to both. They'd done it to me often enough. Was this to throw me off that she was a spy?

"They heal or grow back." I rolled my shoulders back, my wings ruffling.

"Your horns and wings too?" Her breath caught like she was worried that she'd offended me.

Oh, she was a good little actress. "What do you think?" I let venom lace my words.

She didn't even bat an eyelash, but her cheeks colored bright pink. "I would hope they'd grow back." She rubbed her arms. "They did that to you? That's horrible. I'm so sorry. Do they do that to all the prisoners here?"

Seeking my sympathies now? I snorted. "Something tells me you won't be subjected to the cruelty of this prison and the Roulex, unlike me and my kind."

"Oh? Are there others of you imprisoned here?"

Why was she asking this? She already knew there had been three of us. Me, Celica, and her brother who had tried to warn us that day on the beach that the Roulex had been coming. How I should have never left the dome's protection over our lands despite Celica's begging. Her assistance that we hadn't had a Roulex attack in months. And I had given in, wanting to hear her laughing as she dove in and out of the sea.

"I'm the only one left."

"I'm so sorry." She hugged her knees to her chest, the compassion in her eyes nearly undid me. "If you don't want to talk about it. I understand."

Her words drove spikes into my heart. My admission spilled out before I could stop it. "There was one who tried to escape but... he's dead."

"And the other?" she asked, twisting the spike in deeper.

I couldn't hold back the anger surging through me. This was bait to trap me. Get me to share in order to feel a connection with her. And they'd nearly succeeded. "You wanna know what happened to the other?"

She flinched from my tone, swallowing hard. "Y-you don't have to tell me."

"No, you want this right? To check off all the boxes on your list?"

She shook her head, her brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"After they hacked off her wings, they used her, tortured her until her mind couldn't heal. Until she bled to death while I was chained and forced to watch the whole f*cking thing. Is that what you want to hear?"

I stood and marched over to her. She scrambled up, her gaze darting around the room as though seeking an escape. But I knew the truth. If given the chance she'd gut me once she was pregnant with my child and had all my secrets.

But now, she realized she'd been played.

In one swift movement, I grabbed her by the shoulders, hauling her up and slamming her against the stone wall. Her eyes widened and her face paled.

I grinned a wide, crooked grin. "I will never forgive any of you for murdering her."