Page 133 of M!lked For His Pleasure

I lifted my chin, squared my jaw, and replied, “Then you will die.”

It opened its massive wings and reared up, making a roar that reminded me of dragon. Between the smell and the flappingappendages, I screamed bloody murder and began poking my fork toward it, trying to keep distance between us.

But the ladybug wasn’t trying to attack me, I realized. It was trying to escape— to fly off before the five ants that came out of nowhere were able to attack.

It did not succeed in getting off the ground in time.

And what they did to that thing was brutal.

Though only one third the size of the ladybird, the sheer strength and brutality of the ants was enough to make me want to vomit. They had their stingers out of their pants, and they were stabbing the creature.

The beetle tried to reflex bleed, secreting a foul liquid from its joints meant to repel the attackers and mimic death, but the ants didn’t care. They kept on, stabbing and stinging, wrenching and ripping with their hands and mandibles.

On Earth, ants attacked ladybugs who tried to feast from their aphid herd. I guess in this place, on this planet, hucows fell into the same category.

The ladybug tried to close into its shell and hide, but with five ants who had the combined strength of fifty humans, it was nothing for them to turn the insect over to finish dismantling it.

It was so horrific a sight that I dropped my pitchfork and ran back to the barn.

Chapter Nine

Crying like a little bitch, I reclaimed the cloth that had come with my cage, shoved my pillow back into the palanquin, and crawled inside. I curled into a ball, hidden under the sheet.

For a universe that had no problem altering my DNA so I would make a good, docile (albeit horny) human cow that wasn’t prone to fits of emotion, they surely missed the mark on grief.

Not sure why I was grieving. I should not care what happened to a beetle that wanted to have me for breakfast. It was horribly executed for daring to approach me like that. Yet, seeing it dismembered— torn apart with blood and screams and all— was a horror I never wanted to see again.

I think I wished my captors had let it go. The ladybug was fleeing. It would have flown away and probably never returned. But being ants, they didn’t give it that chance.

As an insect lover, I always knew that ants were among the more brutal creatures Earth had to offer. It likely wouldn’t be different here, especially in a universe known for its walking, talking bugs. But the sentient aliens really weren’t differentfrom those in my universe— at least where the Milky Way was concerned.

Like humans, ants also communicated with each other through sound and touch, worked as a team to solve complex problems, farmed other creatures and cultivated food. And like humans, they enslaved other colonies, murdered for the greater good, and even committed suicide.

Emotionally exhausted, I was almost asleep when I heard my captors return to the barn. Hidden away in my little cage, I hoped the insect farmers would take the hint and leave me alone.

“Little Hucow. Come out from there.” I recognized the voice as the one-eyed one. Hovyk. “You must answer for this foolishness.”

“I don’t want to,” I replied.

“You’re a naughty girl, Molly Maiden. Do you have a death wish?”

Gyanys’ rebuke made my eyes well. “No. I just had to urinate.”

“You should never leave the safety of the barn without one of us. There are predators on this planet that will have no problem eating a little hucow like you.”

“Had to pee,” I mumbled. “Humans don’t relieve themselves just anywhere, you know.”

“She will need to be punished,” Hovyk said.

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t even care. It was all so ridiculous.

“She’s new here. She didn’t know.”

I didn’t recognize this voice, which sounded slightly younger than Yoane’s voice. I figured this must be one of the brothers that were mentioned before. I think their names were Hovo and Yany.

I peeked from under the blanket. Like my three captors, the two wore the overalls, boots, and straw hats of a farmer. Maybetheir antennae weren’t as thick and long, but their eyes and hair was just as beautiful.

“How do you do that?” the other new arrival asked. “How do you punish a misbehaving hucow?”

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