Page 35 of The Dalgur’s Pet

“What you did with Vrix is very intimate. It is considered taboo by Dalgurs, an act of pleasure that cannot lead to reproduction. An act of… love. It is no wonder he lost control with you.”

“Taboo?” Giselle rasped.

She couldn’t even begin to consider the other word he’d used. Love.

“Dalgurs believe that copulation should be for reproduction purposes only. Two Dalgurs reproduce by expelling their seed and eggs into a womb, artificial or symbiotic. Copulation with another Dalgur could never lead to life—not without a proper host—so it is frowned upon.”

Thase brushed a hand across her cheek, the gentle scratch of his claws sending a shiver down her spine.

“But there is more to sex than reproduction, is there not? Pleasure and pain, two sensations that are worth exploring, worth exalting.”

His words chilled her, the hand at her cheek brushing down her neck and collarbone. He was right, of course. She’d never wanted children, but sex? That was something she very much enjoyed. The way the Dalgurs pushed her body and mind to its limits while they used her—it was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

Certainly worth exalting.

But as erotic as it all had been, she didn’t really want to die. And Vrix had been out of control.

Giselle narrowed her eyes, unable to stop the words from coming out.

“He tried to kill me.”

Thase frowned.

“Vrix… he has trouble controlling himself at times. We have tried to remember how fragile our human pets are, but it can be easy to forget. We can be quite vigorous with each other because Dalgurs are hardy, but you are not the same.”

With just a few words, he brought her back to reality. This wasn’t some dream vacation, an early retirement in a beautiful seaside cove.

She’d been abducted, and other humans had been killed because of their obsession with reproduction, with pleasure. Her chest ached and she needed space. She couldn’t breathe, as if Vrix still held his clawed hand to her throat.

Giselle pushed away from Thase, stepping gingerly out of the bed and backing into a corner. She was a rabbit and they were the wolves, destroying any in their path.

“Please, just let me go back to Earth,” she cried.

They would kill her if she didn’t, kill her like all the rest of them. The poor souls who’d died unspeakable deaths.

Her eyes darted to the door as it whooshed open, Vrix entering with a look of wide-eyed terror. It matched Thase’s, who stood from the bed, his hands in fists at his sides.

Tears flooded her, the futility of it all crashing down on her with a vengeance. She didn’t want to die. Of course not, not even after all Thase and Vrix had subjected her to.

Giselle wanted to survive, and these aliens were nothing but danger.

Vrix let out a whimper and Thase took a step towards her, but she treaded back, pressing against the wall.

“Please, don’t touch me! Just let me go! I want to go home!”

Giselle’s voice was harsh, gravelly, emotion knotting her throat and making it difficult to speak.

Thase took another step forward, and she held her arms up, as if that could ward these monsters off.

Vrix put a hand on Thase’s shoulder, grasping him tightly.

“Thase! I do not wish to lose this one.”

He looked back at Vrix with a somber expression.

“Nor do I.”

Thase turned to her, his eyes soft. None of the darkness she was used to.