Viper's Hope (Anguis Defenders Book 1) Read online

  Her muscles screamed wonderfully. Hope tried to relax again but was ready to get up. How long would they be like this?

  Drogo seemed calmer now. He even looked contrite as he spoke to her and cleaned her poor shoulder. His skin was warm, firm, and comforting at her back.

  Her mind drifted through the last few hours. The man had been frightening and sexy all at the same time. The sex was mind blowing. The mindless lust filled beast seemed at odds with how Drogo was now.

  "Or maybe this is how he really is when lust grips him. What is going on here? Was I taken to be some sort of sex slave?" The questions assailed her one after another.

  The thought of being some sort of sex slave frightened her. She'd never survive such a thing. "Maybe I'll just belong to Drogo."

  He seemed to get agitated anytime the others came near. That seemed the best she could hope for till she found some way off this ship.

  "Wild animal sex is so not worth it." Hope mused. "He'd wear me out after a few days of this kind of madness. Oh god what if we aren't on earth anymore?"

  Hope didn't know how long she went round and round in her head before Drogo finally pulled back and she felt him slide free of her sore body.

  Hope anchored the blanket around her and stood up on wobbly legs. Damn her pussy was tender.

  Drogo jumped to his feet and steadied her, his large hands bracketing her hips. His ripped chest and abs loomed close, his heavy cock swaying between his thighs. Her body felt suddenly flush with warmth.

  "I really need to stop eyeing the man." Hope admonished her wayward eyes.

  She couldn't seem to separate what her body wanted from what her mind told her she needed to do.

  "Speaking of imperative needs."

  Hope looked around.

  "Where's the bathroom?"

  Drogo nodded and led her to the small cubicle at the back of the room. He showed Hope the facilities, turned on a water shower then just stood there.

  "I am not going to the bathroom while you watch!" Hope said angrily.

  She'd had more than enough of his attention.

  Drogo nodded but didn't look pleased as he left the small room.

  Oh god it was such a relief to use the toilet then step into the warm spray. Hope was salty with dried sweat, and her hair was a matted mess. Her fingers stroked through her pale tresses, working out the tangles. Carefully she felt the bite on the curve of her shoulder and neck. It was deep, but no longer bled. Hope rubbed her hands over her body, gingerly scrubbing at the sticky mess between her sore thighs.

  Hope turned to see Drogo staring from the doorway. He looked so serious. She must've been taking too long. Considering what had happened she deserved to languish in the shower till she turned all pruney.

  "I'm not done!" Hope snapped at him with a frown.

  Drogo shook his head then turned and walked away.

  Hope had no idea what to make of him. She probably shouldn't push her luck. If he really wanted to he could pull her out of the shower and do whatever he wanted with her and she didn't have a hope in hell to prevent it.

  Hope attempted to relax again in the hot spray, but she couldn't, as she stood wondering what was in store for her.

  After stalling in the hot water for a while longer Hope finally decided she better leave. No sense in pissing the brute off any further. She used the little disk knob to shut the water off the way she'd seen Drogo adjust it, then stepped out and re-wrapped the blanket around her chest and hips.

  Drogo was waiting quietly when she emerged.

  He led her out of the cell, with one hand at the back of her neck to guide her. It was a possessive, controlling gesture. All he had to do was tighten his grip, and she'd be helpless to run or even move.

  Eventually they came to his room. It had a different bed and table, but Hope was pretty sure it was the same room. A tray of food with several plates sat at the table and Drogo gestured to sit.

  As they ate in silence Drogo stared at her, but Hope concentrated on her food instead.

  He could understand her but what could she say. 'Hey, I'm not a sex slave asshole!' Seemed unwise and counterproductive if she ever wanted her freedom.

  Hope decided she needed to bide her time, earn his trust, and do a better job planning her escape than she did last go round.

  "But what if we leave Earth? What if we've already left?" Hope realized the flaw with her plan. "Oh god."

  She stared sullenly at her plate, no longer hungry.

  There was a beep at the door.

  "Enter." Drogo called out.

  "Wait a second I understood that." Hope nearly yelped out loud as she realized as the word translated clearly rather than just the impressions she caught before.

  Why could she suddenly understand them? What had they done to her while she slept? Whatever it was felt like another invasion in a long line of transgressions.

  Hope held her tongue, waiting to see if this was just a fluke.

  Another alien entered Drogo's apartment. This one looked different than the others she'd seen, but still the same species. The person was smaller in breadth than Drogo, with much longer dreads, almost to its butt. The alien was shorter than Drogo's seven foot towering height, but still a head taller than Hope. Hope felt incredibly small and vulnerable by comparison. This alien had reddish skin, no arm spikes, and facial features that were more delicate.

  Hope realized she had to be looking at a woman of their species. She wore a skirt instead of pants, and rather than a bare chest she wore a swath of material over her nearly flat chest.

  "I have come with clothes for your subeo. The diplomats have also arrived. They await you in the council room, my Prognatus." The alien woman set the clothes down, took the dishes and exited with a slight bow.

  Hope understood almost every word, the alien spoke in a soft almost meek voice, but a few words didn't translate. The woman had looked at her when she said the word subeo. Hope knew what a sub was and didn't quite shine to the term. It was one thing to submit to a strong man, bending to his will. But it was quite another thing for someone to declare you're their sub. It was akin to woman calling themselves bitches, but woe to any man that dared to do the same.

  Hope really hoped she just didn't know what the word was. Maybe it meant friend, associate or something. Somehow that didn't ring true though. When the woman said it, it sounded far more formal.

  There was only one way to find out the answers to all of her questions.

  "Do you mind telling me why I'm here and how I can suddenly understand you?" Hope cringed realizing her question came out far more angrily than she intended. She was attempting to reign in her temper but was failing.

  Drogo quickly turned his green eyes towards her.

  "Good the implant is working." He said as he stepped towards Hope then stopped cold. "I am sorry for how you were treated."

  "Okay that's not what I expected!" Hope mused, but as nice as an apology was that didn't answer shit.

  "What the hell is going on?" Hope demanded. "Do you people make a habit of kidnapping women, chaining them up and fucking them? Or am I the lucky winner of this special lottery!?" Hope bit out sarcastically. Well there went the plan to behave.

  Drogo cringed and looked stunned by her angry outburst.

  "Too bad!" Hope thought.

  "Please get dressed and come to my meeting with me." Drogo asked appearing rather contrite.

  "Great he's going to watch my every move now, after my botched escape." Hope brooded as she stared up at Drogo trying to gauge his intent.

  Again she was confused. He looked genuinely sad, and he had manners as he asked her to come with him. What was with these aliens, did they have multiple personalities or something? One minute he's a deranged humping beast and the next a gentleman.

  "I wish I had time to explain, but I must meet with the four ambassadors. When that is done I will explain everything. Just know that I'm sorry."

  A part of Hope wanted to resist doing anything he asked, but
she wanted answers, and he seemed apologetic and willing to give them after some meeting.

  Hope grabbed the clothes the woman had brought and looked them over, noting they were similar to what the alien woman had worn herself. Hope started to release the blanket to pull the skirt on, and Drogo turned away from her.

  "Why bother with modesty now?" Hope wondered. He'd had his face shove deep into her ass merely hours ago.

  At least the longer they were awake the more normal Drogo acted. He hadn't growled once at the woman that brought her clothes. So that was good.

  "Hey what's your name?" Hope asked realizing she'd been calling him something she invented.

  "Viper." He said as he turned back towards her.

  Viper, that seemed appropriate.

  "What are you called?" Viper asked, his eyes diverted while Hope adjusted the stretchy tube top, that was nearly too small for her boobs.

  "My name's Hope."

  Viper took her hand before she could pull it away. He bowed deep as he raised her knuckles to his forehead.

  "Hope." He repeated her name, almost reverently, in greeting. The gesture was sweet and had her even more confused about the man.

  Hope was sore and tired and had no clue who these ambassadors were or why Viper felt the need to bring her along. Again she debated pitching a fit to see if he'd leave her alone in the room. But it was better to go see this ship and maybe learn something useful.

  "Ready?" Viper inquired.

  Hope really wished her outfit had a bra and panties with it as she tugged again at the sagging top. Her tits were way too large for the band of fabric, nearly spilling out over the top and bottom. Viper seemed to notice that fact as well.

  "Well I'm ready as I'll ever be." Hope sighed in resignation. At least she wasn't naked.

  Viper reached out and placed his hand on her bare shoulder intending to lead her out.

  Hope flinched as his hand brushed the bite mark.

  "Sorry." He said a bit frustrated as he shifted his hand to her other shoulder.

  "It'll be fine unless you have rabies or something."

  It was a bit mean, but then again it was a jagged nasty bite he'd inflicted on her. She didn't know, he could have some sort of alien disease.

  "No." Viper said quietly.

  Hope almost felt bad, almost.

  Viper led Hope out of his suite and down the long tan hall. They walked for a while passing several other aliens, mostly male. The men bowed their heads to Viper as they passed but looked at Hope strangely, with wide shocked eyes, but refusing to make eye contact.

  Hope tried to look them square in the eyes. She felt like some sort of leper with the way they acknowledged Viper but ignored her like she wasn't there. Occasionally the men bowed their heads at her. She assumed it was a greeting so Hope did the same in return, not wanting to be rude to the few men who didn't ignore her.

  Here and there someone stared too long or came too close and earned a low feral growl from Viper. It seemed though that he only growled at men not the occasional woman. Was he warding them off? It made Hope feel a bit like a favorite chew toy.

  Hope noticed another alien woman being led by a man, his hand at her neck similar to how Viper held her.

  Viper followed the couple at a distance and entered a large three story vast domed hall. It had benches and strange plants with ponds and sand. The trees reminded Hope of Joshua Trees. The giant room looked like a desert garden.

  The alien man and woman veered off on a narrow path, to sit on a bench. Hope snuck a glance as the male nuzzled the woman's neck biting gently as she rested her cheek against his head. It was a tender gesture.

  "Is this how Viper views me?" Hope considered the similarities between how Viper treated her, and how the couple behaved.

  Her attention was suddenly captured by the large domed window and she stopped with a gasp.

  "Oh my god!" The sky was black with a million stars, and there was the curve of her blue planet. "We are in space."

  Hope started to shake as reality set in. It was just what she feared. There was no escaping this!

  "Come Hope. I will explain everything soon." Viper encouraged her forward his hand firm on her shoulder.

  "You bet you will!" Hope snapped and pulled away, still riveted to the sight of Earth impossibly out of reach.

  She just couldn't seem to suppress her bitchy side, and she really didn't want to. Viper had drugged her, kidnapped her, gone nuts and fucked her. It didn't matter if in the end she'd climaxed harder than she ever had, or he was being gentle and apologetic now. It was fucked up beyond belief.

  They entered a large room with a big table and several seats occupied by more aliens. There were several aliens like Viper but there were four very different creatures seated around the table. Hope assumed these must be the ambassadors Viper referred to.

  One looked almost like a praying mantis, another had striped orange and yellow fur with feline features, the third had a beak with tiny feathery hair all over, that stood up in a long blue mohawk. However it was the fourth that weirded Hope out.

  The last alien looked just like the picture of the standard alien. Big round bald head, pale almost white skin, large black oval eyes, and long skinny limbs.

  "Well I guess all those people had been right with their alien sightings." Hope almost snorted.

  This character wasn't any more strange than the rest but he gave her the creeps. Maybe it was all the abduction probing stories.

  Viper pulled out a seat for Hope, then sat down by her side.

  "I apologize for the delay." Viper said to the gathered group, suddenly appearing very professional. The others nodded. "How are your retrieval efforts progressing?"

  "Fifty percent of our ships are at capacity." The cat man replied.

  "We are almost full after having shifted inland from the Eastern continent." The mantis trilled.

  "Another two weeks and we will be ready to head off world with the humans." The birdman almost squawked as he spoke.

  What the hell! They were collecting people and planned on taking them off Earth. Hope bit her lip to keep from screaming.

  "The Morbo have started swarming many of the populated areas of the coastlines across the entire planet." Said the big eyed baldy.

  That didn't sound good. Who were the Morbo and why were they swarming Earth?

  "The damage from the meteors have already affected the planet wide temperature by several degrees." Baldy followed up.

  That's not good either. It had supposedly been a meteor strike that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct.

  "Numbers show that the cataclysmic event won't do long term damage. Unfortunately the Morbo seem to be very interested in this planet." Mantis stated.

  "That's because we've driven them from every other viable quadrant." Viper said as he shook his head. "It is a shame!"

  "My people were aware of this planet, we should've been better prepared for this." Baldy replied.

  "Yeah buddy we're aware of you too! Sort of." Hope silently retorted.

  "I assume you've discussed which colonies are the most viable." Viper inquired.

  "That has been a problem. This species isn't as hardy or advanced as the other species we've retrieved. Most of the colonies are unsuitable for one reason or another."

  Hope felt insulted by the cat man's comment.

  "We think that Anguis Minor would be the most viable option."

  "I see." Viper said as he considered what they said. "You realize we are already accommodating half of the new colonies in our system."

  "Yes but it is also well protected, which will be important considering the human's needs. We'd be willing to send forces and supplies to defray the burden." Birdman quickly followed up.

  "And since I wasn't here you have all conveniently made this agreement already." Viper replied with one eyebrow raised.

  The others looked hesitant but nodded.

  Viper looked at Hope and seemed to consider something his green eyes fla
shing.

  Hope had had enough of them talking about her people and her future as if she wasn't even there. She smacked her hand on the table.

  "Are you serious!" Hope hollered, and all eyes turned to her. "You've abducted my people and now you're farming us out like cattle. What the hell gives you the right? I want to know what is going on and I want to know NOW!" Hope growled at Viper and the rest of the table.

  "I haven't had time to explain what's going on to her." Viper told the table.

  "Why is the female not in hibernation?" Big-eyed baldy asked.

  "Can't you see the Prognatus has marked her." Cat man stated.

  "Marked me? Did he mean the bite on my shoulder?" Hope silently wondered as she eyed the feline.

  "Hope, we have not abducted your people. We are rescuing as many as we can. A series of meteors brought a terrible virus-like creature to your planet. We call them the Morbo. In a matter of months there will be nothing left of your people." Viper explained. "I am sorry." He said sadly.

  Hope's mouth hung open in shock and horror. She was devastated and confused all at the same time. Could she trust what Viper was telling her? If the aliens were rescuing humans why had she been treated so roughly? Hope's thoughts flew to her friends and family. She wondered if they were on any of the ships they talked about.

  She appreciated being rescued, if that truly was the case, but at the same time it rankled to have no choice in her future. The aliens knocked her people out and relocated them, like they were some sort of mindless beast on an episode of Animal Planet.

  "So you plan to take us to some strange new planet?! Did you think that maybe we might like to have a say in that?" Hope retorted.

  "Yes Hope, but our experience from rescuing other isolated species is that you are too overwhelmed to make the decisions required in time to escape the Morbo." Viper tried to reason with Hope.

  He had a valid point but Hope was still pissed so she crossed her arms across her chest defiantly.

  "I like this female, she is spunky!" The mantis commented. "Are all human females like you?"

  Hope looked at the buggy creature as she considered her question.

  "I guess so."

  "They are a female dominated species." Viper leaned down and whispered to Hope.