Awakened by the Giant Read online

  But that’s why I need to do this, she thought, fighting the guilty thoughts in her head. They’re gone but I’m still here. I need to feel alive, damn it! To know that I survived and I’m here, living and breathing and feeling.

  “Please, Calden,” she heard herself say. “I think…think you should go deeper, just to be on the safe side. I don’t want to take a chance that the enzymes might get, you know, up inside me.”

  “Of course,” he rumbled softly and now Maddy saw that his glowing topaz eyes were half-lidded. When she looked between his legs, she could see that his thick shaft was fully erect—and completely huge. Gods, he had a monster down there! There was no way she could ever take that between her legs.

  But I don’t need to take his cock—just his fingers, she thought and spread her thighs a little wider.

  “Please, Calden,” she said, hearing the breathless note in her own voice and not caring. “Please, touch me deeper. Make sure I’m protected.”

  “You’re so small and delicate,” he murmured and his hand began moving again, stroking her inner folds and sliding over the aching bump of her clit. “I’ll just use one finger.”

  “All right.” She nodded. “That’s all right.”

  She tried not to moan as one long finger slid down over her clit and found the aching entrance to her pussy. But she couldn’t hold back the gasp of pleasure that came to her lips as Calden slid deep inside her, filling her until he pressed against the end of her channel.

  “Oh!” Maddy threw back her head, feeling her long hair tickle her lower back as he pumped slowly into her. “Oh, yes, Calden—just like that! Please—make sure I’m protected. Keep me safe—don’t stop,” she moaned.

  Part of her was aware that she was being completely shameless but she couldn’t seem to stop—didn’t want to stop. And Calden didn’t seem to want to stop either. At least if the hungry look in his topaz eyes was anything to go by.

  “Gods, Madeline,” he murmured. “You’re so tight and wet inside! I never dreamed a female could feel this way.”

  “Because…you’re touching me,” she gasped. “Can’t help…getting wet when you pet…my pussy.”

  Calden looked both curious and aroused.

  “Forgive me, I’ve never been with a female before. Does this…what I am doing, please you? Does it really bring you that much pleasure?”

  “It more than pleases me,” Maddy assured him. “Oh God, if you’ll just rub my clit a little more, I’m so close…”

  But just then the door to the baths slid open and the old Mentat came hobbling out again.

  Both of them froze and then Calden pulled out in a quick, surreptitious motion and rose, putting himself between her and the Mentat.

  Maddy’s heart was pounding and her body still felt flushed with sexual need and unfulfilled desire. She felt like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Only it was Calden’s hand in your cookie jar, wasn’t it? whispered a jeering little voice in her head. But you were definitely caught. I wonder how much that Mentat saw?

  It was impossible to tell. The old Mentat simply looked at Calden for a long time without saying anything. Then he shook his head and hobbled away, swaying heavily on his backwards-bending knees and broad, splayed, seven-toed feet.

  “Come,” Calden said, as the Mentat left the steam room. “I think it’s time we got into the baths.”

  Neither of them said anything as he led her through the final doorway and into a room covered in pale blue and lavender tiles. In the center was a large, perfectly round swimming pool filled with fizzing, dark purple liquid.

  “So these are the enzyme baths?” Maddy said, breaking the silence at last. Her voice echoed against the strangely tiled walls and she felt suddenly even more conspicuously naked for some reason.

  “Yes, these are the baths.” Calden’s deep voice was neutral and it was impossible to know what he thought about what the two of them had just been doing.

  Maddy scarcely knew how she felt herself. Part of her was ashamed—what was wrong with her, acting like this when she was such a new widow? But part of her felt defiant. She was all alone on an alien space station and as far as she knew, she was the only human left in the universe. That was a pretty scary situation and she had a right to seek comfort from the one male who seemed to care about her, didn’t she?

  To be honest, she didn’t know. But she did know that her body still tingled where Calden had touched her and she was still aching with desire.

  Trying to push her conflicting emotions away, Maddy stepped up to the shallow edge of the pool and dipped her toes in. The purple liquid was pleasantly warm and the way it fizzed tickled her so much she couldn’t help giggling—her feet had always been horribly ticklish although they seemed even more so now. She wondered again why her entire body, with the exception of her hands, felt so sensitive everywhere.

  Calden looked at her quizzically.

  “Does it feel all right?”

  “Yes—just ticklish. What are all the fizzing bubbles?”

  “Just the enzymes at work. Come in—just be careful, the baths get deep near the center.”

  Well, deep on the big Kindred would almost certainly be completely over her head, Maddy thought. So she waded carefully into the dark purple liquid, going in up to her calves and then her hips.

  Calden was a little ahead of her, the purple liquid still only up to mid-thigh on him even while it was at Maddy’s waist, when he took a deep breath and dove forward, deeper into the pool.

  “Oh!” She hadn’t been expecting his sudden motion and the resulting wave swept her off her feet. With a gasp, she went under, thankfully remembering to close her eyes and mouth before her head went under the surface.

  Before she could panic, strong arms were lifting her up and Calden was holding her to his chest.

  “Are you all right?” He sounded anxious.

  “I think so. But I’m afraid to open my eyes—is it safe? I don’t want any of the enzymes getting in them.”

  “The enzymes dry almost immediately,” Calden reassured her. “So if you’re not fully immersed in them, it’s safe to open your eyes.”

  “Okay.” Blinking carefully, Maddy looked up at him. “Thanks for catching me.”

  “It was my fault you went under in the first place,” he said gravely. “I was…trying to cool off. I didn’t think about the consequences to you before I dived in.”

  “Well, don’t let go of me,” Maddy said. “We’re in really deep here and I don’t know how good of a swimmer I’d be with these big, heavy gloves on.”

  “Of course I won’t let go.” Calden pulled her closer and looked into her eyes, his topaz gaze strangely intense. “I never intend to let you go, Madeline.”

  The way he was looking at her made her breath catch in her chest but Maddy told herself he was just being supportive and kind again, as he had been earlier when he told her he wouldn’t leave her alone while she was grieving.

  Some grieving, whispered the voice of guilt in her head. You’re being held naked by a huge, muscular giant in a fizzing purple pool. And you’re enjoying it!

  Maddy pushed the voice away as well as she could. What was she supposed to do—ask Calden to drop her in over her head in the enzyme pool? Why couldn’t she just relax and enjoy the warm, comforting contact of his big body against hers? Was that really so wrong?

  Yes! said the voice firmly but Maddy decided not to listen.

  “How long can we stay in here like this?” she asked Calden. “I mean…how long will the, uh, gel last before we have to start worrying about our sensitive parts getting nibbled on?”

  “The gel lasts for a good amount of time,” he assured her. “Why—do you want to get out now?”

  “No.” Maddy shook her head. “This is kind of nice—relaxing. If you don’t mind holding me why don’t we just…wade around the pool for a while?”

  “Of course I don’t mind. In fact, I enjoy it.” He looked slightly troubled as he said it. “Much
more than I ever thought I could.”

  Maddy wasn’t sure what he meant—was he having doubts about what they’d been doing—or had almost done earlier—too? She thought about broaching the subject with him but to be honest, she didn’t want to. She’d had enough negative emotions lately to last her a lifetime. Right now she just wanted to relax in the big Kindred’s arms and let herself drift.

  Closing her eyes, that was exactly what she did.

  Calden looked down at her, lying so trusting and naked in his arms. Gods, she was lovely! He had never before understood his Kindred brothers’ need to seek mates—to find females they could join with, bond with. Now he thought he was beginning to.

  Better be careful, Calden, whispered a little voice in his head. You’re getting awfully attached here and you know you can’t afford to—you know that in the eyes of FATHER and the Mentats, Madeline is just a specimen—one with a limited shelf-life. As soon as her time is up, the self-termination unit in the back of her neck will—

  No! He tried to push the thought away but it wouldn’t go. He was beginning to think—no, to know—that implanting the unit in Madeline when he was growing her in the nutrient bath tank had been a big mistake. He should have disobeyed FATHER and left it out. After all, the sentient AI wasn’t omniscient—it couldn’t see everything.

  But then if he had, the Mentats would have known at some point. No specimen lived forever. And it was a moot point anyway because Madeline did have a self-termination unit implanted and the only one who could turn off the timer which was even now ticking away the seconds and minutes and hours of her life was FATHER. And Calden was very much afraid that the sentient AI would never agree to that.

  But what if I presented her as a valuable asset to the station? he asked himself. Another scientist—one who has special knowledge of Earth species. Considering all the specimens we have to study that we collected from her ship, we could be working for years to catalogue and study them all. It would make sense to make her a permanent addition to the station.

  Could he really convince FATHER that turning off the unit in the back of Madeline’s neck and letting her live at the station permanently was a viable option?

  He would have to, Calden thought grimly. Because already the idea of watching the little Earth female die in his arms was unthinkable.

  I can’t lose her, he thought and had to fight the impulse to squeeze her hard against him, to feel her soft, curvy body press against his own. I must protect her! She’s mine—I have to keep her safe!

  But in order to do that, he would have to prove her worth to FATHER.

  “Calden?” Her soft, melodious voice drew him back from his musings. He looked down at her.

  “Hmm?”

  “Is everything all right?” Madeline asked, a worried look on her lovely face. “You just have the most intense expression. Like you’re determined to do something really difficult. You’re not going to dive again, are you? Please put me down in the shallow end first if you are.”

  “Of course not.” Calden held her even closer. “No, I was just thinking—we’ve been in here for some time. How would you like to come see my specimen lab?”

  “I’d love to.” Madeline smiled. “And I know you want to know about animals from Earth but I’d like to know about some from your home world too. Or whatever you have that’s alien and interesting.”

  Calden smiled back, loving her curiosity.

  “I think we can manage that. In fact, I have a new litter of branthas growing now that you might like to study.”

  “Like the one I saw in your lab? With orangish-red fur?” she sounded hopeful.

  Calden nodded. “Exactly. I instructed the nutrient bath to grow some on the accelerated setting. They should be opening their eyes any moment.”

  Excitement shown in Madeline’s silvery-green eyes.

  “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

  Her enthusiasm was catching. With a smile, Calden carried her out of the fizzing enzyme baths and back through the steam room.

  It was almost time for Mid Meal now and several of the Mentats had stopped their work long enough for a quick steam and a bath before gulping down the four liquids which kept them going until Last Meal. Several of them gave Calden disapproving looks as he carried Madeline close to his chest but he ignored them. His little female was too delicate and fragile to trust around the big brutes—the run in with Grack-lor the day before had proved that, he told himself.

  So what if they stared at him as he carried Madeline—let them stare. He wasn’t going to put her down and trust them to behave. He had thought that he knew these males that he lived and worked with but the addition of a female to their motley mixture proved it wasn’t so.

  He might never have been with a female before, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to treat one, Calden told himself. As a Kindred, respect for females was imprinted on his very DNA. He could no more hurt one or allow one to come to harm than he could willfully cut his own hand off. So he watched over Madeline with careful, protective eyes as he moved swiftly through the steam room and back to the changing area.

  To his intense displeasure, he saw that Grack-lor was standing in the corner of the room, hanging a stained white lab coat on a hook. But he said nothing, for which Calden was glad—only watched Madeline with a hot, avaricious gaze as Calden held her close to his chest.

  But just as he had reached the hooks where their clothing was hanging and was about to put her down, another big Mentat named Jong-tar approached him.

  “I see you have your new little female with you, Calden.” His voice was harsh and accusatory. “Grack-lor told us all about her—how FATHER gave you a special dispensation to have her. What gives you the right to a female when the rest of us have none?”

  Madeline stiffened against him but Calden gave her a warning look. He put her down and pushed her gently behind him as he confronted the Mentat.

  “Madeline is not my female in the sense that she is my mate—I have sworn the oath not to take a mate, as did every male here aboard the station,” he said calmly. “But she is a sentient person and she wanted a bath. Since I have used up most of my allotment of bathing water for the standard week, I brought her here at a time when I thought the baths would be mostly empty and we would bother no one.”

  “But it does bother us.” Jong-tar squared his shoulders belligerently, like a male looking for a fight. “It bothers all of us Mentats that FATHER made an exception for you and let you have a female—to bed and breed—when the rest of us have none.”

  Calden felt his hands curl into fists at his sides and his vision grew hazy and red.

  “I am not bedding or breeding Madeline! You have only to look at our size difference to know how impossible that would be! Now stand aside so that the two of us can get dressed. We are going to my lab and Madeline is going to help me classify some of the specimens the droids found in the wreckage of her ship.”

  “Yeah, I bet you’re just going to work in the lab,” Jong-tar sneered. “Work on getting your shaft inside her, most likely.”

  “You will take those words back or I’ll make you eat them with my fist,” Calden growled, meaning it. He had never been a violent male before but this intimation that he would do improper things with Madeline and the insult to her virtue were too much to bear.

  Except you were doing improper things with her earlier, weren’t you? whispered a little voice in his head. Remember how you rubbed her soft little pussy until she got wet enough for you to slip your finger inside her? Remember how she moaned and begged you to do more…to touch her deeper?

  Calden pushed the memory away. That had been a…momentary aberration. A kind of experiment, in a way. After all, he had never been with a female before so he was naturally curious about it. No one could fault a scientist for trying to satiate his curiosity—could they?

  “You Kindred liar! I won’t take it back—you’re breeding her, I know it!” Jong-tar snarled, breaking his guilty train
of thought.

  Calden pulled back a fist to punch the bastard right in the jaw when a new voice interrupted.

  “Already it begins,” cawed the harsh voice of Kro-thur. “Just like on our home world when there were not enough females to go round. If one male had one, the others all wanted her. Truly it is a shame that FATHER was willing to allow one in our midst again to cause such strife. I predict that this will be a serious problem.”

  Calden rounded on him.

  “The only problem is that you Mentats seem to think that a female is a ‘thing’ to have and to use only for slaking your lusts. Madeline is a person—a sentient being—who deserves respect.”

  He nodded down at her—she was shivering at his back, her eyes wide with fear. Because of course she was afraid—males many times her size were about to come to blows right in front of her! At the sight of her white face and big eyes, Calden knew he had to get her out of here.

  “Come, Madeline,” he said. Sweeping their clothing off the hooks, he bundled them under one arm while he lifted her in the other.

  But as they left the enzyme baths, still naked, he heard angry voices raised behind him as well as the thick, cawing laughter of Grack-lor echoing against the tiled walls.

  Nine

  The fuzzy little brantha kits were absolutely adorable, wobbling around on their short, stubby legs and blinking their large, crystalline eyes. They made hooting sounds, almost like owls through their long trunk-like noses and nudged against Madeline’s legs, begging to be petted.

  Maddy was happy to oblige them. Calden had taken off the gloves and cleaned her hands and she was beginning to have some control over them—though still not as much as she would have liked. She had worried about taking them off but Calden had pronounced that a recess from the gloves would give her tissues some time to rest before putting her hands back in the slime again. So for now, at least, she was free of the heavy black things.