“Sssee who?” The other male licked one yellow, slitted eyeball in a desultory manner.
“Mistress Neh’sanna—the female who bought me!” Thorn exclaimed impatiently. “You sold me to her at the auction barely more than a standard week ago—surely you remember!”
Greed’lik shrugged. “Perhapsss—all of you fleshers look the sssame to me.”
Thorn tried to control his impatience.
“She’s beautiful—tiny and curvy with long dark hair and big dark eyes? Did you see her or not, damn you?”
“Oh her.” Greed’lik straightened up from his slouch. “Yess, she came thisss way.”
“She did? Well, where did she go? Where is she now?” Thorn demanded.
The Horvath shrugged again.
“Don’t know. Wherever the three males who had her took her, I suppossse.”
“What?” Thorn exploded. “You just stood there and let them take her?”
“What elssse could I do?” Greed’lik demanded, sounding peevish. “There were three of them and only one of me. Alssso, they informed me they would kill me if I interfered. I prefer not to die—it isss a peculiarity of mine.”
“Ha-fucking-ha,” Thorn growled. “We have to follow them before it’s too late! We have to try and find their trail.”
“No need.” Greed’lik pushed away from the ship and pressed the opening mechanism, causing a set of steps to detach and descend from its silver side. “I heard their leader sssay where they were going. Berroff Prime—I believe it isss in the Xrandosss System.”
“Berroff Prime?”
Thorn felt his gut clench. It was a planet of barbarian space lords—a place where males reigned supreme as surely as females did on Yonnie Six. A savage land where females were trodden down like dirt beneath the males’ feet. Neh’sa had a strong will but she was tiny and delicate and the Berroffs were huge—bigger than Thorn. The Goddess alone knew what those filthy bastards would do to her.
“Gods,” he groaned. “This is fucking terrible! We have to stop them before they take her there!”
Greed’lik frowned. “You said nothing about pursssuing piratesss into dangerous territory when we made our deal. This will cossst extra.”
“I don’t give a good Goddess damn what it costs—just get us in the fucking air and hail that ship before it’s too late!”
The Horvath shrugged his scaly shoulders.
“Asss you wish. Come.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Much to Thorn’s relief, the pirate ship was still in deep orbit around Yonnie Six. If the pirates had taken the nearest wormhole to Berroff Prime, it would have been too late to stop them. But as it was, he felt like he still had a chance—a slim chance but a chance nonetheless.
“Hail them,” he told Greed’lik, who was piloting. “I want to talk to their leader face to face.”
“Hold a moment.” The Horvath sounded bored but he worked efficiently. After a moment, the face of the male with the cybernetic eye-patch appeared on the viewscreen.
“Who are you?” he growled at Thorn. “And what do you want with us?”
“I want the female you just took from Yonnie Six.” Thorn saw no reason to delay. “She’s mine and I want her back—now.”
“She’s not yours.” The pirate gave him a shrewd look. “She’s a Mistress of Yonnie Six. They do not allow themselves to be claimed by males.”
“Nevertheless, I claim her,” Thorn said, frowning. “I’ll challenge you to any kind of physical duel or contest you want—or if you’re not feeling combative, I’m happy to pay for her.”
“Sorry.” The pirate shook his head. “This little female is already bought and paid for.”
“I’ll pay you double then—triple!” Thorn couldn’t help the desperation creeping into his voice. “Whatever you want but I have to have her!”
For a moment the pirate captain looked tempted. Then he shook his head regretfully.
“Wish I could help you, Brother. You look like you’ve got some Kindred or Havok blood in you and I hate to turn away kin. But this little female is a special delivery for the Supreme Krine of Berroff Prime who swears he must have a Yonnite Mistress this very night. He’ll have my head if I don’t bring her in—it’s not worth my life to hand her over to you.”
“Gods!” Thorn felt like tearing his hair out by the roots. “They’re savage and ruthless in their treatment of females there. What does the fucking Krine want with her?”
The pirate shrugged.
“Don’t know. Look—if you want you can follow us there and challenge for her. The Berroffs might be barbarians but they always welcome fair conflict. Who knows, you might even win her back.”
Thorn saw it was the best offer he was going to get. He couldn’t threaten to blow the pirate ship out of the sky because Neh’sa was on it. All he could do was follow them to Berroff Prime and pray the Krine was in the right mood to deal.
“All right,” he said heavily. “Can I see her at least?”
The captain jerked his head in affirmation and called to one of his subordinates.
“Hey, Tharn—bring up the little female. She has a call.”
In a moment, Neh’sa was standing before the viewscreen. The sight of her made Thorn’s heart squeeze in his chest. Her face was as pale as paper except for two spots of color burning high in her cheeks but she wasn’t crying or begging. She looked as composed as he had ever seen her, though her eyes were wide with fear.
“Neh’sa,” he said. “Mistress, I—”
“Don’t call me that.” Her voice was cold. “I was never your Mistress—not truly. I see that now.”
“I had good reasons for doing what I did,” Thorn protested. “And none of that is important now—do you know where they’re taking you?”
“Yes, I—yes,” she said and pressed her lips tightly together into a scarlet line. “But I don’t know why…why they want me.”
“I don’t either but I’m coming after you to find out,” Thorn told her. “I’m going to try to get you out of there but I don’t know how long it will take. Now, listen to me, Neh’sa…” He leaned forward, looking into her eyes, wanting to make his point. “The Berroffs don’t have the best reputation when it comes to females. In fact, they pretty much treat females the way you Mistresses treat males on Yonnie Six.”
Her eyes widened and for a moment Thorn was afraid she was going to cry. Instead, she simply nodded wordlessly.
“You have to be careful,” Thorn told her. “Don’t make them angry—don’t try to fight. Let me do the fighting for you. Understand? You’re going to have to do what I did when I put myself up for sale at that damn auction—you’re going to have to submit. Can you do that for me, Neh’sa?”
“I…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I…I suppose I can try.”
“Do it,” Thorn told her earnestly. “Do whatever it takes to stay alive. I’m coming for you, Neh’sa—I swear I am!”
He felt the fire rising inside him, the flames dancing in his eyes as he spoke. He wondered if she could see it over the viewscreen. For a long moment she was cold and silent. Then she spoke one word.
“Hurry.”
“I will—I am,” Thorn promised earnestly but before he could say more, the guards were hustling her away and the pirate captain took her place in the viewscreen.
“Well, that was a touching exchange,” he said dryly. “Are you certain the lady wants you to rescue her?”
“I’m sure of it,” Thorn said grimly. “No female wants to be stuck on Berroff Prime.”
“Follow our wake then.” The pirate shrugged. “And may the Goddess of Fortune favor you.” He made as if to turn off the viewscreen but Thorn stopped him.
“Wait! I have one request of you. Will you swear, on our shared blood that neither you nor any of your crew will harm or molest Mistress Neh’sanna while you have her in your custody?” he asked.
“That’s an easy vow to take,” the pirate captain sa
id. “The Krine specifically said that the Mistress we brought him was to remain unpenetrated and untouched—it’s part of the deal.”
Thorn felt the tiniest bit of relief, though he couldn’t help wondering ominously why the leader of the Berroffs would specifically want a Yonnite Mistress who was untouched.
“Thank you,” he said harshly. “We’ll fall into line behind you and follow your trail to Berroff Prime.”
“You do that.” The pirate winked his one good eye at Thorn. “And good luck to you, Brother.”
The viewscreen went dark and there was nothing more Thorn could do but plot a course to follow the other ship to Berroff Prime.
* * * * *
Neh’sa thought she had never felt so all alone in all her life as she did in the pirate ship—not even after Heroth had died. Utter desolation filled her.
At least her captors didn’t try to molest her. Instead, they locked her away in a small metal cell and left her to herself with nothing to do but think.
And all of her thoughts seemed to be of Thorn.
Why was he coming after her? Did he really care that she’d been kidnapped and was headed for a fate worst than death?
Neh’sa thought again of the strange story she’d heard about Beroff Prime. About their crown prince, the Krineling and how he had been—but no. She refused to think of that, refused to let her mind dwell on it and the awful possibilities it raised in her mind.
Instead she thought more of Thorn—of his words to Lady Wraith’neck.
“You think I wanted to come here be some kind of Goddess damned slave for sadistic females like you? Hell no, Mistress. This information was my only interest in Yonnie Six and now that I have it, I can’t wait to get the Seven Hells out of this fucking crazy place.”
Thorn hadn’t been a willing participant in anything she’d done to him. He’d only submitted because he had no choice—because he wanted access to the information in the Library of All Knowledge.
The realization made Neh’sa feel angry—both at him and at herself. She was furious at Thorn for making a fool of her, for making her feel so deeply for him when it had all been a game of subterfuge he was playing.
And she was angry with herself for not realizing he wasn’t a willing participant.
Though most Yonnite Mistresses wouldn’t give a damn about their slaves’ feelings, Neh’sa took her role and her actions as a Domme very seriously. She thought of all the ways she’d pushed Thorn’s boundaries—or what he’d made her believe were his boundaries.
She’d thought he was simply too Alpha to allow himself to give in to her easily—now she realized he must have been faking any desire he felt.
Of course, he couldn’t fake his orgasms but she’d forced those from him—forced them in the belief that he was willing to allow her to take him to a higher level, a place of openness and submission most people never reached.
I should have known better, Neh’sa told herself bitterly.
Some males just weren’t made to submit. Thorn was obviously one of them. And yet he had said that he cared for her.
But does he care for me in the way I care for him? Neh’sa wondered. Or is his caring more…conventional?
She knew many Yonnite Mistresses who preferred a relationship that was less kinky. In fact, it was many of these whom she had given the contraception which would make them get pregnant with only female children even if they allowed their body-slaves to penetrate them. These females wanted to be hugged and cuddled and to have regular sex without chaining their body-slave to the agony-cross and flogging him first.
Neh’sa had known the pleasure of conventional sex with her first body-slave, Heroth. She had enjoyed it too—the sweet weight of her lover’s body covering her own, the soft kisses and tender endearments whispered between long, slow thrusts. The deep welling of orgasms that came from the heart as well as the place between her legs.
But though that kind of sex was sweet, it wasn’t all she wanted—all she craved.
Her mother had been right to move them to Yonnie Six when she was just a child. She needed the kink that was at the heart of Yonnite society. The power play—the rush that being a Mistress brought.
And if she was honest, she needed the rush being the submissive brought as well.
Neh’sa remembered the “switch” game she and Heroth had played. She had enjoyed binding him and teasing him and fucking him…but she’d loved it when he did the same to her as well. Had loved being able to give it all up on occasion and allow the male in her life to take control sexually.
I opened that part of myself to Thorn—at least a little, she thought, remembering the way she’d allowed him to hold her down and taste her. I allowed myself to submit—I showed him that needy, kinky part. He knows what I need—both sides of what I need. What must he have been thinking when I tied him down and penetrated him…or when I let him hold me down and do the same to me with his tongue and fingers?
She knew well enough what other cultures thought of the Yonnite sexual practices. “Sick,” they were called. “Disgusting. Perverted. Wrong.”
Was that how Thorn thought of her now?
How he must despise her! The way he’d played her for a fool, leading her on, making her believe he really cared…
“You don’t know everything about me and I can’t tell you…Please don’t grieve over me—I’m not worth it.”
Neh’sa frowned. Yes, Thorn had said those words too. Had he been trying to warn her he wasn’t what he seemed? But why? Was it possible he did care for her? Well, why else would he be coming after her?
She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything anymore.
Drawing her knees up to her chin, Neh’sa wrapped her arms around herself and hid her face. She was kidnapped and on a spaceship headed for the most brutal, male-dominated planet in the sector where the leader himself wanted her for some unspeakable fate. The male coming to save her was one she couldn’t be sure of—she couldn’t be sure of anything.
Goddess, what was going to become of her?
Chapter Twenty-six
“Supreme Krine, we have visitors.”
“Hmm…yes, so we have.” The deep, gravelly voice sent a chill of fear down Neh’sa’s back.
The palace of the Krine of Berroff Prime was built on a strange, floating ball of rock, suspended somehow between two craggy peaks that rose thousands of meters into the air from the frozen dessert below. And the inside of the palace was scarcely less intimidating than the outside, including its inhabitants.
Neh’sa tried not to stare but the male sitting on the roughly hewn stone throne in the middle of the great hall was huge. In fact, he reminded her of Lady Wraith’neck’s Clopsian in both size and shape.
At least he has two eyes instead of just one, she thought.
And then a third eye—a long, lashless lid that looked like a cut in the gray, granite-like skin of his forehead—blinked open and stared at her.
Neh’sa felt sick all over again. Gods, this creature was a monster. Ten feet tall at least and his gray skin looked like it had been carved out of rock. One of his closed fists was larger than her head. What was he going to do to her?
Whatever it is, please Goddess, let it be over quickly! she prayed.
“Supreme Krine,” said the pirate captain who had captured her—Neh’sa had heard his crew calling him Valoth. “We have brought an untouched and unpenetrated Yonnite Mistress, just as you ordered. Now we ask the payment you promised and that you remove the threat you made against us.”
“First I will see that what you say is true,” the Krine rumbled. “To make certain you didn’t just dress up a female as a Mistress to try and pass her off.” He motioned to Neh’sa with one huge gray hand. “Come.”
Neh’sa didn’t want to go but she remembered Thorn’s words—you’ll have to submit. Where was the big Kindred anyway? Had he changed his mind about coming to try and free her?
“Come!” There was a touch of impatience in the gravelly voice and
Neh’sa realized she was just standing there, staring up at him. Even seated on the gray stone throne, he was a great deal taller than she.
Hesitantly, she took a step forward and then another and another until she was standing right in front of the huge male. She said nothing, only bowed her head as a proper body-slave would do on Yonnie Six, trying not to anger her captor.
“Very good,” the Krine rumbled. “But look up at me—I wish to see you.”
Mutely, Neh’sa looked up. She had the feeling when he said “see” he wasn’t just talking about looking at her with his physical eyes. Indeed, his two normal eyes were closed when she looked up at him but the third eye—the one in the middle of his forehead—was trained directly on her. It had a whirling purple iris, unlike his other eyes which were a dull gray like his skin, and it seemed to pulsate as she stared into it.
At last the Krine nodded and opened his regular eyes again.
“Very good. She is as you have said—a true Mistress of Yonnie Prime.”
“She is,” a new voice rang out in the vast stone chamber of the throne room. “And I claim her.”
“What? What’s this? Who is that?” The Krine straightened up on his throne, a frown creasing his granite-like face.
“I am Commander Thornx of the Kindred Elite Espionage Corps.” Thorn came into view, pushing past the guards though they all had two or three feet in height on him. “I have come to claim what is rightfully mine—Mistress Neh’sanna of Yonnie Six belongs to me.”
The Krine glared at him, all three eyes blazing.
“You lie! The Mistresses of Yonnie Six do not allow themselves to be claimed by males. They claim males for their own—this is why I wished one brought here to me.”
“I do not lie—she is rightfully mine. See me and you will know.” Thorn stepped closer, looking up into the huge male’s face fearlessly.
The Krine’s two regular eyes drifted closed and the purple third eye focused on Thorn for a long moment. Then he nodded and opened the other two eyes.
“Very well—I believe you when you say this female is yours.” He frowned. “But I perceive that you are somehow hers as well.”
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