Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders
Chapter 41
Kehtal moaned, his hips thrusting wildly. Despite the threats from the human male, Kehtal refused to cooperate. Thankfully, Lori was of the same mind and did not object to helping him every time the new dose of whatever poison they gave them raged through his blood. Each time they were given a few spans of peace, often broken up by food and sleep, before it was administered through the darts they shot into his throat and the base of his wings when they discovered those too yielded a vulnerable point.
He did not know how much time had passed since in the human nest his ethin failed to work. All he knew was that one span slipped into the next, he noted the despair settling deep within him. Not just over his own lack of freedom, but most especially in seeing the way that Lori was treated. More than once he was forcibly sedated so that the humans could remove her from his protection. It was to run tests to examine her blood and skin, she told him later, but it did nothing to calm the fury building up within him.
If he had been able to find even the smallest space to escape from his confinement, he would have slipped out among them, killed each and every one of the humans, and carved out a blood path for their escape. He did not have the imposing strength of a male Daskh’s size, but he moved with more agility, silence, and deadliness than most other males of the Aglatha. He did not enjoy killing, but he would put all of his skills to use for Lori. He would do anything to spare her from having to assist him again and again.
As she was currently doing, her nimble human fingers sliding enticingly over his sant. He knew that she was uncomfortable with the aid she selflessly offered, but he could not find it within him to refuse her—nor could he quell the feeling of immense pleasure he received from it. Not just sexual gratification, which was such a new experience for him that it still surprised him to discover anything could feel so blissful. It brought him a warmth in his hearts and an increasingly deepening attachment for the sweet selfless female. When she was not assisting him through one of his episodes, she was happily curling up close with him to speak in soft voices about their pasts and the situation that they found themselves in.
He knew acceptance and affection in her arms. He wanted it, coveted it. And right now, he wanted desperately to be buried inside of her more than anything. Her hand was merciful, but he knew that it would pale to the feeling of her clutch around him. He had heard Slengral mating with Lori. He had listened to the wet slap of bodies and heard the unhinged vocalizations of the male as he rutted. He had not understood then what he had heard, not entirely, but now he had a glimpse and he wanted it.
More than anything else, he could not give up Lori. Not now. Even if he never knew pleasure from her again, he could not give her up.
A grunt escaped, an electric pulse running through his tail and up his back. The end of his tail twisted up and around Lori, the minor sant there already half-extruded before he proceeded to flex his tail, rubbing it between her breasts in a way that evoked a soft chuckle and a coo of encouragement. A shiver ran through him, his groin tightening with the pressure from his seed rising. The eruption when it came bowed his back with its force and a guttural growl strangled out of him. He pumped his hips furiously as jets of his seed splashed over her hands, arms, and belly all over again. His tail fell away as he reluctantly released her so she could get up and walk to the watering device that she called a sink.
Sprawling on the bed, he accepted the cleansing cloth from her, grateful that with the exception of the first time he did not have to suffer the indignity of having her clean his body. If she would have permitted it, he would have cleansed hers reverently, but she was busily wiping herself down with her own cloth, ignorant of his desire to care for her.
And that is the way it should be.
The thought was depressing but not inaccurate. It was just as he had told Daskh a multitude of times whenever he caught the male mooning over Lori. She was Slengral’s mate, and no other male had the right to her. To even try would to be to lose a friend, and possibly one’s own life. But he was tempted, and a human mate was so small and vulnerable. How could one male alone adequately protect and care for her? The answer was that he obviously could not, and that was the whole reason that Daskh and Kehtal had been brought in to assist with her care. She required the care of multiple males.
And therefore… she required multiple mates.
He winced, expecting to the self-loathing to descend at even thinking such a thing. Strangely, and gratefully, his conscience was silent.
“You’re being all kinds of quiet and introspective,” Lori teased softly as she readjusted her coverings.
He hated that the sound of her amusement was strained, but he understood the reason just as he appreciated that she tried not to let the situation kill her spirit. Hearing it made him all the more determined to get her out of there. It needed to be done before the humans caught another Seshanamitesh. He knew that they were attempting to do so. He could see it in the eyes of the human who stared at them, speaking in a grating, ugly voice every time they defied him. Kehtal knew it was only a matter of time. The moment they had another male to replace him, he would no longer be able to protect her.
An angry hiss escaped him, and he shook his head, his ear ridges pinning back as he rose from the bed.
“I do not like this place. I do not like the way the humans speak and the way they watch us,” he growled. He silently joined her, his arms curling around her to drag her close to his chest. He buried his face in her head fur and breathed her in. “They will separate us.”
“Then we need to get out of here before they do,” Lori replied in a low voice, breath fanning against the scales of his chest. “I just wish I knew how.”
Kehtal closed his eyes, blocking out the view of their surrounding prison. It was the only escape he had at that moment, and it was the only one he could give her. He folded his wings around them, encompassing them in darkness as his body curled over her protectively. The end of his tail twined around her waist, anchoring her to him. He wanted to be all that she saw and felt. Together, they could pretend that nothing else existed.
A loud crack startled him as the faint light visible at the edge of his wings plunged into darkness. His body stiffened, his wings tightening around Lori as he lifted his head. His nostrils expanded and he opened his mouth to draw in the air, tasting it. There was no immediate threat that he could detect.
Lori shoved at his wings, fighting her way out until he conceded and dropped them from around her. He did not fold them against his back again but let them remain partially unfurled as they lay lax as their sides, the tips lightly scraping against the floor.
“What the hell?” Lori murmured, her body pressing closer to him as she stared sightlessly, looking left and right.
That was okay. He would be her eyes. His vision had already adjusted, everything sharpening to clarity though lacking color saturation. Shades of gray were broken up by a faint blush of reds and yellows from the heat of their bodies. His arms tightened around Lori nervously. He never liked being caught in one place in the dark. It was one thing when flying through the caves and he could orient himself by sonic location, but being caught on the ground with not even a single galthie made him vulnerable.
A loud click sounded overhead, and he winced as a dim green light filled the room. He peered up at the source, curious as to what caused the change in the light.
“Emergency lights,” Lori whispered. “Something must have happened to the power.”
Kehtal’s wings rose again, the edges fanning out defensively as his gavo rose. Humans were incapacitated even in faint light. If anyone tried to access their cell, he would take that opportunity to kill anyone standing between them and freedom.
His ears ridges rising, he could hear the sound of human feet running forward, the annoying clomp of their boots echoing. Not many people. Three.
He could kill three.
His coils tightened, a deadly hiss rattling in his chest as the end of his tail wrapped around her waist. He could pull her after him as he shredded his way through their enemy. His tail functioned better than another hand.
The door swung up so violently that he rose high onto his tail, turning his back to Lori. His eyes tracked the humans running to their cage. His heart leaped with excitement. They were coming right to them. One of the males pressed his hand on the flat surface beside the door, his face lined with tension. The two humans beside him, a male and a female looked around, but stopped when they finally caught sight of them. The female’s mouth rounded wide as the door slid open.
That was it!
Kehtal’s wings snapped open as he surged forward with a vicious shriek.