Sparrow's Release (3 page)

She felt Kameeta take one side as Tesla took
the other. Without looking, she knew the petite blonde Marissa was
following directly behind her. She glanced back at the smaller
woman with an encouraging smile she hoped would give the girl
courage.”

When she turned back, she saw four men who
seemed to be very much the same as any man on Earth. The only
things different about them were the varying colors of their skin
and the fact they had no hair. They were all bald.

Sparrow found the scene almost comical, and
she had to fight to keep from laughing when Marissa made the
observation out loud. “They don’t have any hair. And they’re crazy
colors!” Her voice was soft, as if she was in awe. “Is
that
a shade of blue?”

Tesla was the one who looked back at her.
“You
are
a virgin. Aren’t you?”

Sparrow didn’t look back at the now bickering
women around her. Kameeta told Tesla to shut up. Marissa defended
her choice to save herself for her husband, and Tesla asked her
what she thought of it all.

Sparrow couldn’t answer, though. She simply
watched as the strange men drew closer, moving to put herself in
the forefront, blocking them from getting closer to any of her
fellow Earthlings. The color variation of their skins were almost
mesmerizing. One was silver; another was blue. The last two were
two-tone shades of maroon and gold. When the silver-toned one drew
closer to her and looked her in the eye, she gave him her most
serious stare. “We are
not
slaves. We will never be
slaves.”

He said nothing at first, but merely held her
gaze with eyes the color of the sea. When he took a step toward
her, she braced herself to keep from backing away. Suddenly, his
scent flooded her senses, and she felt her womb tighten in
response. He smelled like fresh rain. She closed her eyes for a
moment, trying to calm her body’s reaction. She could feel her clit
pulsing, and it alarmed her. She was shocked at how his fragrance
could instantly turn her on.

He watched her for a moment before inhaling;
as if he could smell her arousal. “We do not want you as slaves,”
he said in a voice that made her breasts tingle. “We need you to
become our wives.” His hand moved; closing over her upper arm, and
pulling her flush against him. They both groaned at the
contact.

Her bare breasts, already tender, rubbed
against the material of his shirt. She found herself wanting to rub
all over him. Even though she was shocked at her reactions, she
couldn’t help it. Instant, liquid fire coursed through her veins,
and she was powerless to stop it. Slowly, she began to move, just
slightly, side to side, so her nipples were stimulated even
more.

“Wives?” she half-asked for justification.
“Why do you need us as wives?” She wasn’t sure she understood. At
the moment, she hardly cared. She had never been as aroused as she
was at that moment. She found it torturous; he was wearing too many
clothes. She might not have had on enough, but he was definitely
overdressed. Her hands moved of their own accord to start tugging
at his tunic. She wanted it gone; now.

Without even turning to them, the man holding
her spoke to the Slavers. “The currency is waiting on the loading
dock.” He moaned as she moved closer and pressed her belly closer
to his arousal. “We require the passing of two moons to be certain
this is successful. At which time, we will contact you to arrange
for more to be brought.”

Sparrow could feel herself dripping, she was
so aroused. Frustrated, she struggled to make sense of what he was
telling Dread-head. She barely grasped the meaning of what he was
saying.
Wait two moons, and then get more girls? Is that what
they mean? How long do two moons last? Is it like on Earth, where
two months pass? Two weeks? . . . Two days?

The silver stud turned and began escorting
her away from the Arena. His arms came around her, pulling her
tight to him, and she whimpered at the loss of contact to her
breasts and belly. She chanced a glance back to the other women and
saw that they too were each preoccupied with a man. She almost felt
relief to find she wasn’t the only one who was reacting in such a
way.

Giving up on fighting her attraction to this
man, she let him lead her to the steps located outside the Arena
and down the path which lead to what looked to be a palace. It
stood huge and foreboding at the end of the trail. She had a crazy
desire to recite,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road,
but stopped
herself. The path wasn’t yellow brick, and she was
not
in
the land of
Oz.
She was certain it was someplace just as
crazy, but definitely not Oz.

She resigned herself to accepting the fact
she was behaving as though she was drunk. She wasn’t thinking
rationally. She resolved that when she was able to think clearly
again, she would reflect on what she’d heard. Right now, she needed
him to assuage the almost unbearable ache she was enduring.

Navar felt as if his entire world was about
to be enveloped in flames. This small woman beside him made his
blood boil. He marveled at how delicious her arousal smelled. When
he had first seen her, he had sent out his pheromones, hoping she
would be the one to respond. She did not disappoint him. What he
had not expected was to be as deeply affected as she was.

He had watched as they all entered the Arena.
All of them were beautiful, but this one had carried herself with
the grace and calm befitting a queen. That, coupled with her beauty
and her declaration she would never be his slave, had driven him to
test her to see if she was his.

Almost immediately, she had responded, and he
had known for certain she was his. As a formality, he had told the
Slaver to allow the agreed-upon test time in order to be sure, but
Navar already knew without a doubt, this union between himself and
the Earth woman would be successful.

Without a word, he led his woman to his
mount, silently praying the beast wouldn’t frighten her. When the
LaDroc turned to trot up to them, she stopped and stared at it.
“What is this?” She asked softly. She didn’t seem scared; only
hesitant.

With one hand holding on to her, he reached
up to stroke the smooth skin of the animal. “This is our ride to
the Palace, little one. He is a LaDroc. Does your world not have
such things?”

She stared up at him for a moment before
answering, “Well, I live I a city. Animals like this aren’t allowed
in the city limits, except in specific locations. Do you not have a
machine to ride in?”

Navar understood what she meant. He looked at
her with a straight face. “We used to have motorized
transportation. But because of such technology, we lost something
far more precious—our women.” He grasped her around the waist and
lifted her to sit on the back of the hairless beast before swinging
himself up to take his seat behind her.

“Because of the pollution caused by such
tools, our women have become barren, and healthy children without
abnormalities have become scarce.” He clicked his tongue, and the
LaDroc started its trek to the Palace. “Because of the devastation
caused by the pollution, I had no choice but to hire the Slavers to
bring you.”

Sparrow leaned back into his embrace as she
contemplated his words. He was telling her he had no choice but to
have her taken from her world, because his women couldn’t have
children? Mixed emotions went through her at the thought. She
wasn’t some broodmare. She wanted kids, sure; but not for at least
another year or two.

Trying to command her heart to calm and her
body to stop demanding she rape this man, she asked, “So you had us
brought here to help repopulate your world?” She chuckled. “That’s
a tall order for just four women, don’t you think?”
Damn, he
smells so good.
She arched her back, and was rewarded when she
felt his erection press into the crease of her bottom.

His hand moved from her belly to her breast,
and he began circling the tender nipple gently, eliciting a moan
from her, even as his lips pressed to the back of her neck. He took
his time, licking her skin, savoring her flavor. “You and the other
three are the first. We wanted to make sure we could make this work
before we uprooted so many of your race from their homes.” He shook
his head, inhaling the fragrance of her hair and enjoying the
softness of it against his skin. “We did not know what to expect,
and we wanted to be sure we are truly compatible.”

Her emotions warred within her. Tremors ran
through her at the intimate attention he was showing her. She had
been prepared to become a slave. She had been ready to fight if she
needed to. She wasn’t sure how to take his explanation. How could
she fault a race for wanting to find a way to survive? How could
she hate them when Earth was overpopulated and probably headed down
a similar road, if something didn’t change?

She looked around at the people who were
gathered, watching them as they passed. When her eyes lit on a
woman of his race, she started to demand he explain; until she saw
the child in her arms. The beautiful small face watching her was
perfect. But the body was malformed. His arms were short, with no
hands to grip anything. Legs dangled from the body, but had no feet
to carry him independently without the aid of his mother.

Navar followed her gaze, and spoke softly as
he waved to the mother and her child. “That is Useph. He is one of
the five children born in the last six years. His mother had so
many complications when she delivered him, they had to take her
reproductive organs after he came.” He paused. “We do have women,
little one. But they are few and the number of live births has
slowed to almost nothing.

“I did not want to do what I have done,” he
explained, “but your world is headed down a parallel path to ours.
Perhaps if we combine our two cultures, we can create a race in
which the best parts of both species will endure?”

Sparrow bit her bottom lip, considering his
words. As much as she wanted to feel angry and rebellious, she
couldn’t. He didn’t mean any harm to her. He didn’t wish harm to
any of them. He just wanted to give his people a way to survive. A
thought came to her, and she found herself almost relaxing as she
considered their plight. There were possibilities in this
situation, and maybe even be a happy ending; if they would take the
feelings of women they had brought here into consideration.

As they rode into the entryway of the Palace,
the huge doorway shut behind them. The horse-like creature stopped,
and she felt the loss of Navar’s warmth as he slid off from behind
her. He stood beside her, and held his hands up in a silent offer
to help her down. She felt her feet steady in the stirrups of the
saddle-type harness that fit on the beast and knew she could get
down on her own. She was thrilled for him to be so chivalrous, but
wanted to make a small statement if she was going to agree to
become a part of his world.

With a determined expression, she held the
reins, and stood in the stirrups. Slowly, she lifted her leg and
over the LaDroc. As she lowered herself, she watched as he dropped
his hand and allowed her independence. With her feet safely on the
ground, she turned to look up at him. His eyes held hers, and she
felt his admiration. She found herself smiling at him. “So, other
than being a way to keep your people alive, where do we fit
in?”

He tilted his head, questioning, “Fit in? I
don’t understand.”

Taking a deep breath, she pressed her hand to
her chest. “Back home, I’m a Detective. I worked on the Police
Force. I can’t just sit around the castle while you do whatever it
is you do. I’m asking if we women will be given rights. Will we be
able to hold jobs? Will we be given citizenship? Or are we just
your broodmares?”

Navar stepped closer, looking down at her
with a serious expression. “We do not treat our women as
broodmares.
Anyone wanting a job can take one. We have many
fields of work that are very similar to the things you do on your
world.” Then his expression grew somewhat guarded. “Although you
will no longer be a . . .” he paused as he worked to form the word,
“. . . De-tec-tive, here. As my wife, you will be queen.” His gaze
moved from her face, traveling down her body, and she could almost
feel the touch of his stare.

Her eyes widened as she took his words to
heart. “Queen? I’ll be Queen? So that means you’re . . . You are
the King?” She felt herself blushing and brought her hands to her
cheeks. “Wow! I thought you were important, but I thought maybe a
soldier, or something. But King?” Her brows knitted and she found
herself biting on her thumb nervously. “What does a Queen do?”

Navar closed the distance between them and
swept her up in his arms. “We will discuss this further in our
chambers. Right now, I want to better acquaint myself with my
wife.” He took the spiral staircase swiftly, with her in his arms.
Sparrow marveled at how strong he was. At five foot ten, she was no
light thing. Yet he carried her up the stairs like she weighed
nothing.

When he reached a room with double doors, he
lifted his foot, kicking them open to allow him entry. Once inside
the room, he carried her a few steps more before setting her on her
feet and turning to lock the door. She used the moment to really
look at him. He was bald, like the others. His skin had a silver
tone to it, and his eyes were a bright blue. His tunic, although
covering his torso, was tailored to his body, and she could tell he
had a healthy physique beneath.

When he turned back to face her, he began
advancing on her slowly. She felt her insides heat at the desire
she saw in his eyes. But nervousness made her back up. “I just got
here, and already I’m your wife? That was . . . uhm . . . fast.
Where I come from, there’s always the formality of a wedding.”