Spears of Uu'kata

Chapter 19 - Questions

Charlotte took a nice long bath. No skath this time, just soap and water. The scene near the skath tank played over and over in her head and she tried to think of every angle she could come up with that might point her to a situation of simple cultural misunderstanding. But she couldn't come up with any.

Being exposed to the Uu'k'asht language every day, all day had made her pick it up a lot faster than she thought she would, but she still tried to consider that maybe she got a few words wrong. But Shodara's body language left little room for doubt.

She was left with only one possibility. They wanted to fuck her.

Charlotte swallowed hard. She didn't believe they would force her if she didn't want to, but she didn't didn't want to, and that's what scared her. She'd been forced to listen to and watch her captors making love to each other for... God, had it been months already? She hadn't even had a moment alone to properly rub one out since she was captured and the sexual tension she felt was overwhelming at times.

You are never getting away, a voice in her head whispered. Will you go the rest of your life celibate?

"Well I don't exactly want to get ripped in half either," she mumbled aloud, remembering how big the males were.

Why would they want to mate her into their... what had Shodara called it? A Shelen? Charlotte assumed it meant a group of mates. Maybe they were more like humans than they would want to believe. After all, humans would try to fuck everything if given the chance. That was probably why the rules of engagement with otherworldly species were so strict. But did those rules apply to her anymore?

She'd broken so many laws by ejecting from her suit on the battlefield that if she ever did escape and make it back to her people, she'd probably be imprisoned for the rest of her life.

So this was the only life she had left. The only human on a planet of enemies. Perhaps letting them fuck her would give her a layer of protection. God she hated herself for thinking that way. But Charlotte hadn't survived as long as she had by shying away from hard decisions.

She got out of the bath and dried off, then gathered her laundry, which had mostly dried while she procrastinated in the tub. Just before leaving the bath tent, she realized how stupid she was. This was the first time she'd actually been alone since being captured. She could have taken care of her needs.

With sigh, she pushed through the tent flap to find Tasha outside, sitting on a bench with one of his books. He looked up and smiled, closing the book and stuffing it into his satchel. He stood and towered over her, waiting. She should have known they wouldn't leave her completely alone yet. For fuck sakes they still kept the damn chain around her neck.

He reached out and took the chain, his knuckles grazing her lower belly as he did. She sucked in a breath and shivered. Those casual touches seemed more significant now. When she looked up at him, his eyes twinkled with barely contained glee. He'd liked that shiver.

He led her back to the tent, casually toying with the chain and watching her like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

When they reached the tent, he pulled the tent flap open and stepped aside to let her in first. She stepped inside, and froze. The tent was full of huge warriors, all crowded around the table. As one, they turned to look at her. Ahnekk stood up straight, his expression serious. The others held a mixture of emotions from anger and hostility to curiosity.

These were the clan chiefs. they had to be.

Tasha put a hand on her shoulder and nudged her forward so he could duck in behind her.

"This must be your human captive," one of the chiefs said.

Ahnekk grunted in response.

"Helkta Dorrehekka, Helkta Venket," Tasha said, nodding to one of the chiefs, who nodded back to him, while keeping his eyes on Charlotte.