Read Coto's Captive for Free Online

even cry out.
    “No one told me this would harm her.” Coto’s voice was deep and no longer mechanical. “Make it stop now, Gar. Help her!”
    “It is just seconds of pain. It will pass. The implant is taking hold and it is integrating into her system.”
    Coto adjusted his hold on her and bent. He scooped her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. He walked over to a fallen tree and sat with her on his lap.
    The sharp pain inside her ear stopped as suddenly as it had started.
    “If you allow her to be harmed again, I will hurt you, Gar,” Coto warned.
    She stared up at him as he lowered his chin. He really looked furious as they eyed each other. “It’s better.”
    “I am sorry it hurt. I never would have allowed it if I had known it would harm you in any way.”
    His mouth moved and there were actual words. The translator not only worked but it was translating emotion, and gave the alien a unique voice. There was no time delay anymore either. The lip movement to sound was a little off, assuring her he was probably still growling, but she could understand him as if he were actually speaking English.
    “Are you well now?” Coto shifted his hold on her, still cradling her in his arms, but freeing one hand to reach up and gently cup her face. He lowered his head so they were a breath from being mouth to mouth, their eyes so close she could see the silver specks with amazing clarity even in the blue light from the ground. “Nothing will harm you again—or I will harm it much worse.”
    “Your voice. I can hear it.”
    He took a deep breath, making her realize she was pressed against his naked, broad chest. It was an intimate position with his arms around her, her ass on his lap.
    “We have the technology to translate our language.”
    “That’s…” She struggled to find words. “Cool. Really advanced.”
    His body tensed. “We come from very far away, where things are different than they are here.”
    She nodded. “I can totally believe that.”
    “I told you she would be fine.” Gar sounded irritated. “You threatened me without cause.”
    Lynn turned her head to stare at the redheaded alien. He spun around and she noticed the backpack he wore as he stalked to the center of the small clearing. He removed it and threw it down. They began to set up camp. Coto gently lifted her off his lap but placed her next to him on the fallen tree. She didn’t move, too afraid one of the other men might decide to ignore what Coto had ordered. He was the only one who seemed to want to keep her alive.
    They had all kinds of stuff she’d never seen before as one of them dropped another backpack-like bag onto the ground and bent, pressing his finger into a hole on the side of it. In seconds, a hiss sounded and the entire thing started to inflate. She watched in astonished fascination while it continued to increase in size, taking the shape of a large dome. By the time it stopped it was at least twelve feet high in the center and a good twenty feet in diameter. It looked more like a dark igloo created from a strange fabric than it did any tent she’d ever seen.
    Gar opened his pack and handed out dark-brown packets. He gave two of them to Coto, who hesitated before placing one on his thigh and gripping the other with both hands.
    “Are you hungry, Lynn?”
    “You remembered my name.”
    He nodded. “I was able to fully understand you. I already have an implant that translates your language.”
    “It didn’t hurt you?”
    “No. I am used to pain.”
    She let that one go, deciding to return to his original question. “I’m starving. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.” She glanced at what he held in his hands. “Is that food?”
    “Yes.” He tore the side seam of the bag and placed his hands under it.
    Lynn nearly fell off the log when the bag practically exploded, going from near flat to being balloon-like in size. Coto’s quick reflexes stopped her fall. His hand shot out to grip her thigh,