“It’s not pleasant,” she growled through gritted teeth.
He raised his eyebrows, as if the news surprised him. “Hmm.” He removed his fingers from her channel and spread her ass cheeks with his thumb and forefinger.
She lifted her bottom in the air, squeezing her back hole against his examination.
He pushed her pelvis back down and pinned it in place with one hand, wiggling a finger into her anus with the other.
She pinched her lips closed on a moan and held her breath, squeezing her eyes closed and willing it to be over. She could get through this. It was a physical examination.
As long as they didn’t find out her real secret, she would survive.
~.~
Zander exited the battleship, unbuckling his helmet. Training for war had been a part-time job for him since he was fifteen solar cycles old. The rest of his time was a nightmare of campaigning for support to wage war on the Finn, and keeping up with business to fund the war.
A crowd of servants and advisors stood on the landing deck, waiting to brief him on various aspects of business or the household.
“I have her,” Daneth said, dropping in to walk beside him as he strode into the pod.
Veck. The breeder. His new slave.
“Where? Here?”
“In my lab.”
“Fine. Bring her to my chamber.” Ugh. The thought of breeding with another species turned his stomach, but he’d do what he had to do. He entered his chamber and washed up.
When he emerged from the washroom, Daneth had brought the slave. She stood fully nude, except for the wrist, ankle, and neck cuffs he would use to keep her chained up. She crossed her cuffed wrists in front of her sex. Daneth led her by a chain attached to the ring on her collar.
Her jaw was thrust forward, mouth set in an angry slash.
Excrement. No, Daneth couldn’t have chosen a meek, submissive human, trained to serve males as a human slave should. This one would be a pain in his ass.
He scanned her body. Fragile. Small. Weak.
How could this human’s genes be the perfect mix with his own?
But the sight of her bare nipples, jutted out in stiff points, her flat belly and long, shapely legs did stir his cock and stiffen his horns. Daneth had been right; without the dirt and grime, she was beautiful. Exquisite, even.
But what need did he have for beautiful children? He wasn’t bad-looking himself. He needed cunning warriors.
He folded his arms across his chest. “She appears stubborn.”
Daneth looked at the data readout on his armband. “Actually, elevated pulse would indicate she’s afraid.”
She darted a glance at Daneth, as if frightened to hear he was monitoring her vital statistics.
“Then why doesn’t she look afraid?”
“Perhaps she wishes to hide it, my lord. Humans often attempt to mask their emotions.”
Humans. He had no time for their deceptive ways. “They lie, yes. But it doesn’t make sense. If she showed me fear, I would take pity on her. Insolence, I will beat out of her.”
The stubborn mask fell away for a moment. Ah. There was the fear. So she had tried to hide it. Why? It made no sense. And she continued, even after he’d said how he would deal with her attitude.
He reached for her, and she shrank back, attempted to dodge his touch. Daneth yanked her chain forward too harshly, and she stumbled against Zander, her fragile form soft against his body, her skin baby smooth under his hands.
He gripped her upper arms to immobilize her and studied her face. Her eyes were moss-green with yellow starbursts around the pupils. He’d never seen eyes like them before. All of his people’s eyes were the same color—brown, rimmed in violet, a complement to their purple-hued skin.