of furniture and as soon as he sat down next to her, she was conscious of the heat of his body and that subtle citrus fragrance. Only one small lamp lit the room and the dimness made it feel more intimate, sitting close to him in the dark. She took a cautious sip of the liquor. It had a sweet, fiery taste, not unlike cinnamon, and left a trail of warmth down into her stomach.
“Is drinking allowed on military vessels?” she asked, trying for a lighter tone.
“This isn’t exactly a military vessel.”
Alarm spiked through her veins. Had this all been a ploy to get them on board and helpless? “What do you mean? You said you represented some planet thing.”
“We do,” he said quickly. “We represent the Confederated Planets. But we are part of the Interplanetary Reserve—we are volunteers, rather than a regular military patrol. I purchased this ship when I… left my planet.”
Her curiosity returned, even though she had seen the pain on his face. “Was that because you have no women there?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes.” He tipped up his glass and drained it, then refilled both of theirs. “The Confederation was hit by a terrible disease when I was a child. We called it the Red Death, and it raged for many years on many planets. We eradicated it eventually, but the damage was enormous. Billions of people killed on almost every planet. It hit Ciresia especially hard. Not only did many of our men die, but all of our females were taken from us. It destroyed not only our present, but our future as well.”
He drained his glass again, then stood up and paced restlessly. “We tried so many things. We even attempted to use artificial wombs and incubators like those the Vedeckians have on their ship. Our scientists are still trying, even though only a fraction of the infants have survived. All of the survivors have been male. Ensign Ribel is one of those few, along with most of my crew.”
She stared at him for a moment and then poured herself another drink with a shaking hand, trying to imagine such a horrific event. Hrebec stopped pacing and leaned against the big wooden desk, a look of weary resignation on his face.
“Tiana is female,” she said gently. “Perhaps there are others like her.”
“We have searched to no avail. I pray the Vedeckians will provide more information.”
“The ones who took us—” she started tentatively.
“The Vedeckians.”
“—They called the girls breeders. Kwaret said they would be valuable. Is that because of this Red Death?”
“Yes. There are still many desperate races out there. We are one of them.”
“You would buy females?”
“Never,” he said immediately.
“Have you tried, um, mating with other races?” She knew her cheeks were turning pink but the liquor gave her courage. She downed her glass and poured him another while she waited for him to reply.
“No. We Cires consider ourselves unique and there was a fear that we would lose our identity if we mixed with other species.” He contemplated his glass. “The High Council is still opposed. Of course, that did not stop some from attempting to violate that prohibition, especially when it became clear that none of our females would survive. However, it turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. The population of many other planets was decimated. Most races are still concentrating on restoring their own populations. And…”
“And what?” she prompted, when he paused.
“Many races are not physically compatible with us.”
Chapter Nine
Despite Abby’s best efforts, her eyes dropped to his groin. The rigid bar of flesh she’d detected earlier had seemed normal enough, if exceptionally large. Emboldened by the liquor, she asked. “Why not?”
“A female would be required to allow my cock inside her cunt,” he said.
Her cheeks flamed at the blunt words and she pressed her thighs together. The thought of that large cock entering her was both exciting and a little intimidating.
“Um, isn’t that the way it’s normally done?” she asked.
He shook his head, sitting down next to her once more. “It is less common than you would expect. There are many ways of mating.” Black eyes glowed at her. “Do you have a cunt capable of accepting a cock, Abigail?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Is that all?”
“No. My… a cock would have to knot inside her and remain locked there after ejaculation while my tail brought the female to climax. Could a human female handle that?”
The flush on her cheeks had spread down across her chest, her nipples were diamond hard, and