by Lace, Lisa
He held himself against her as he softened then pulled away. But she wasn't finished yet. Tracy wanted hers. She launched herself against one of his massive legs, squirming against it to reach her release. His fingers touched her mound, finding her clit, and she groaned gratefully as he massaged it.
"Yes," she moaned. "More."
His fingers dug in, finding her slick folds, rubbing them as she bucked her hips. With a thrust, two were inside her as he worked her clit with his thumb.
Her ass clenched and he dug in deeper, stroking her as her juices poured over his hand. She needed to come, but she didn't want to stop the sensations that consumed her. With a final jab of his fingers, she burst apart, her orgasm sweeping through her body, her inner walls pulsing more strongly than she could remember.
In her excitement, she didn't feel the tranquilizer dart enter her thigh.
"Awesome," she said as she collapsed into the stranger’s arms.
Chapter Eight
Bris stood over a disguised Rev, who looked just like Cax. Bris held his captive, who was as unconscious as Tracy.
"Good job, Cax. Looks like you got a live one there."
Rev looked down at the brown-haired woman and was deeply ashamed. He tried to tell himself that he’d had to do what he’d done to keep his cover. Rev needed evidence, damning evidence, about this wiver ring to bring to his superiors.
It was obvious to him what was happening. Women from the nonaligned worlds were being abducted and sold into marital slavery. Having irrefutable evidence was the only way he could get justice for his brother.
But the fact of the matter was that when the woman pushed herself against him, the most intriguing scent filled his nostrils. Though she looked much different from the women of his homeworld, his sexual organ filled immediately, and it was a strain on his mind to ignore that stirring to concentrate on his work. And the woman persisted, touching her mouth to his. He'd never tasted anything so sweet, alluring, or seductive.
When Rev had ignored his superiors' orders and gone looking for his brother, he didn't imagine he would get so deep into a wiver ring. It was the most dangerous assignment any tracker could get and given only to the most skilled men.
Rev was barely out of training when he’d received a cryptic message from his brother with the coordinates of Jaal's ship. The ship wasn't at that location when he arrived, but he’d tracked it.
If the Enforcement Wing didn't care enough about his brother to look for him, he would. Damn the consequences.
The one consequence he hadn’t imagined was having sex with a female from a nonaligned world. What he had done was so outrageous, he'd be locked in prison for sure.
To make things worse, it looked like in order to get the evidence he needed, he'd have to allow Bris to take these women back to the ship. Rev felt sick to his stomach.
"Are they okay?" he asked Bris. “We can't bring any damaged ones back." He didn't know this for sure, but he hoped that would be the case.
Bris took a scanner out of his pocket and held it over one woman then the other.
"They're fine. The drug knocked them out like it’s supposed to. They'll be unconscious long enough to get them on the ship."
Bris moved down the alley, dragging his victim, and glanced back at Rev, who was still standing near the wall.
"Come on! They won't stay asleep all night!"
* * *
Jaal met them in the landing bay and inspected the women as if they were pieces of meat. Rev had to hold himself back from punching Jaal in the mouth as the captain touched the captives, especially when his fingers ran over the one Rev held, pulling up her brown hair.
Jaal scowled.
"We only needed one more. The stasis chambers are nearly full."
"You know how it is, Jaal," said Bris, "one might not make it through the process. I'd rather not be short one like the last time."
Jaal rubbed the back of his neck.
"Besides," said Bris, "we can always keep one in the tank until we off-load."
The captain gave a grudging nod. "Well, get them down there before the rest of the crew sees them."
"Sure," said Bris. He picked up the woman he’d captured, slinging her unconscious form over his shoulder. Rev cradled his victim in his arms, earning an incredulous look from the first mate.
"What?" said Bris. "You like this one?"
"No," Rev said quickly, though as he held her close, thoughts of what happened in the alley came to mind. The sweetness of her kiss, her lips wrapped around his cock, and the look on her face when he’d brought her pleasure stirred his dick again. He cursed himself, wishing away his arousal, willing control.
They traveled through the corridors of the ship and took a lift to the lower decks. The ship had a starboard and a port hold. Each was designed to carry different cargo.
The port hold was a collection of racks where large sealed containers were stored, but it was the starboard hold that Bris called for on the command pad.
Exiting the lift, they walked out onto the deck of the starboard hold, which stretched out fifty yards ahead of them. The room was cut in half by a bulkhead. A thick red stripe was painted across the bulkhead, and biohazard signs were posted at the entrance. They walked twenty feet to the hatch in the wall of the ship. Bris held his hand to the scanner. When the hatch popped open, a rush of air shot out.
The first mate shook his head. "Damn doctor. I've warned him about excessive oxygen use."
Rev scanned what he could see of the restricted section. The interior was dark, but there were some machines there, rising in grim towers against the farthest bulkhead.
"Well, come on," grumbled Bris under his breath, "I'm not going to haul this one all day."
"Doc!" called out Bris. "I have cargo for you!"
Rev winced at Bris calling the women “cargo.”
"The old sot," muttered Bris. "Doctor! Front and center!"
An older Deneb shuffled out of a door on the left bulkhead. He limped a little, and his white hair hung in his eyes. When he saw Bris and Rev, he stood straighter and glared at them.
"You don't have to shout," he complained.
"How is the work going, Grenta? We only have two weeks before we’re due at the mining colony."
"You'll have your cargo. Don't worry."
"Yeah, well, you’re lucky Cax here found an extra one for you. Jaal will flip out if one of them dies."
Grenta shrugged. "Genetic manipulation always has some risks. And Cax is a good assistant. Much better than you, Bris."
Bris shrugged. "Where do you want them?"
The doctor took a small device from his pocket and two lights hit tables near the center of the area.
"There, on those beds."
Bris laid the woman he carried on a metal bed that had only a thin pad. He unfastened her pants and started to pull them down. He looked over at Rev, who was still holding Tracy.
"What is your problem today? I've had to ride your ass all day. Get her on that bed and strip her clothes."
As Bris yanked down the captive’s slacks, the doctor walked closer and glanced over the first mate's shoulder. "What did you bring me? More Terran women?"
"Yes, is that a problem?" asked Bris.
"No. Not for me. Sometimes their genetics aren't compatible with the modifications. It's always a gamble with humans. You never know."
"Well, does it work a hundred percent for Casta?" snarled Bris.
"I've told you!"
"Yes," said Bris, "I know. No genetic modification is one hundred percent guaranteed." He said the words tonelessly as if he’d heard them hundreds of times.
Rev swallowed hard as he listened and worked at the clothing of the woman he’d set on the table. Genetic modifications? No wonder trackers had had a hard time gathering evidence. To get close enough to an operation to gather information risked fatal exposure, the same sort of exposure that had put his brother in danger.
The tracker managed to pull off her shirt, tho
ugh her undergarment presented a challenge. Did he need to take that off? He tossed a glance over his shoulder and found that Bris had removed the other woman's. Her breasts lay exposed under the harsh examination lights.
"You didn't harm her, right?" said Grenta.
"No," said Bris. "Just did the testing, per usual."
The doctor gave the first mate a suspicious look and stood in front of him with a scanner. "Open your mouth."
Bris did, and the doctor moved the scanner inside his mouth.
"A good sample. Her DNA and yours are present. You, Cax, come here."
It took Rev a moment to remember he was Cax, and he turned, not knowing what to do. A scan would reveal he wasn't the second mate.
"Sorry. I didn't."
"You mean you just brought her?"
"Well, you needed the extra woman. She was available," said Rev.
Bris chuckled. "Check his dick. He had her sucking it."
"Shut up," snapped Rev.
"Enough! I can't use that because the proteins in his waste products will contaminate the DNA. I'll just take a direct scan and compare it to the database. Next time, Cax, follow the protocols."
"Okay," replied Rev. He turned back to his work of undressing the woman on the table. She started to groan.
"Restrain her," Grenta said dispassionately.
Rev closed his eyes a second then did what Grenta instructed, securing her wrists and ankles with leather cuffs chained to the table. He didn't like it, but he had to see the entire process so he could testify later. The woman opened her eyes and started thrashing.
"Calm down," said Rev. "If you hurt yourself, they'll have no further use for you, understand?" Rev hoped the language translators in his holo disguise worked well enough to get this message to her. On the planet they hadn’t seem to work very well.
The woman looked at him with wide, fearful eyes, but she nodded.
"Where's Carol?" she asked.
"The next table over."
"What are you going to do to us?"
"Cax, damn it!" said Bris sharply. "What have I told you about talking to the subjects? Go help Grenta with the examination of the other one."
Bris stared moving towards Rev’s table.
Rev intercepted him.
"Don't touch her."
"You don't—"
"He's right, Bris," said Grenta. “She doesn't need you touching her. Go. Go back to your other duties. Cax is enough help."
Bris scowled at Rev but left the room.
"Finally," said Grenta, "we can get some work done."
* * *
Rev stood, conflicting thoughts inside his head, watching Grenta put his fat hands on Carol and touching every inch of her skin.
"Not so different from a Deneb, eh, Cax? Just smaller." He looked at his scanner. "Not enough of a DNA match to pass her off as an undersized Deneb though. We wouldn't get much for her on the homeworld."
Rev just grunted, unwillingly transfixed by this show.
"How does that happen," said Rev, "that species can look so similar, but not share the same DNA?"
"I didn't say that. I said we didn't share enough DNA." Grenta rubbed Carol's nipple and watched as it contracted.
"Hmm," he said. "And we don't know. There are some theories that say an ancient race colonized the galaxy, but evolution and adaptations to various planets changed us so that interbreeding was no longer possible."
"But," he said tracing his hand down Carol's legs, "we can tweak DNA to what we want, at least for a little while. Her bones are sturdy."
Grenta went to the table where Rev’s captive lay. She screamed when he got close to her, shaking.
"Cax, get over here and calm her down. I'm surprised your temporary language patch still works. They’ve usually ceased working by now."
Rev went to the table and bent over her. "Please," he whispered, "I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'm plenty hurt, you bastard, and when I get out of this thing, you'll be hurting too."
"I'm sure I will be," said Rev. "But for right now, please keep calm. What's your name?"
She turned her head away.
"Look, I can't keep calling you Sweet Thing in my head, so a name would help."
"You bastard," she spit.
"You have every right to call me that. And more." He leaned over closer, "Right now I'd like nothing more than to get you away from here, but I can't. Not right now. But I promise I'll do what I can. Just be patient and go along with the doctor."
He gave her an earnest look and hoped she'd see he was telling the truth.
"My name is Tracy," she said very quietly. "Tracy Walsh. Please don't let him hurt me or Carol."
He gave her a slight nod of his head. "I'll do what I can," he said. "But I'm only one in a crew of a fifty. Just do as I say, okay?"
She nodded her head.
"Good."
He turned back to Grenta, who was withdrawing a metal instrument from between Carol's legs.
"She's small, but she can bear children," said Grenta then picked up a syringe.
"A language chip will make this all a little easier." He plunged the syringe into her carotid artery. He held the injection spot down with his finger on a small bandage.
"There, that will do it."
Rev was glad Carol was still unconscious. He'd hate for her to suffer the fear that Tracy was going through right now.
"Now for the other one."
Grenta moved towards Tracy, holding the device in his hand. Rev took a deep breath and knew he could not stop this examination.
The doctor looked at Rev. "Did you manually examine her while you were on the planet?"
Rev flashed back to inserting his fingers into Tracy.
"Yes," he said.
"And did everything seem normal and in the proper place?"
Rev took a deep breath, but Grenta misinterpreted it.
"I know that she's an alien, but—"
"No, everything was fine."
"Good. I'll leave it at that. I hate to examine the ones who are awake. So much screaming. With the modifications, things will change anyway. So we'll just give her the language translator."
Tracy lay rigid on the bed, her eyes filled with fear, but she didn't fight as Grenta injected the small piece of hardware that would connect with the language centers of her brain. When he pressed on her neck, she drew in a breath but made no other sound.
Grenta dropped the syringe on a metal tray. "Good." He forced her mouth open by pressing the sides of her jaw with his hands. Then he inserted the small scanner and pulled back.
"Now I can grab some dinner while I wait for the results of the bioscans. Clean up here, Cax. Once we get the results, we'll put them in the tanks and flush those drugs Bris uses out of their systems. Can't do any modifications until that happens. "
Rev wondered what kind of drugs Bris used. There was one to make them lose consciousness and maybe another to heighten sexual desire? The tracker wasn't sure, but he felt very sick to his stomach. It hit him that Tracy's response to him planetside was the result of chemicals. Vomit roiled in his gut, and he wanted nothing more than to get out of this damned place. But he couldn't do that yet. Rev had to see to the women's safety.
At that moment, a hissing sound issued from the back of the chamber, and a warning alarm sounded.
"Damn it," swore Grenta. "Cax, let's go!" He raced straight ahead past several hulking shapes in the dark to the back wall. He flicked on the lights, which illuminated a wall filled with stasis tanks. One of them was smoking and leaking liquid. Cursing, Grenta ran to a closet on the left, dragging his bad leg behind him, and pulled out two biohazard suits. "Put this on," he said, tossing one to Rev.
Rev had plenty of practice donning biohazard suits, so he donned his quickly and helped the struggling Grenta with his. Rev didn't know what to do with the leaking pod, so he thought it best to leave it to the doctor. Now protected in a suit, Grenta approached the chambers, losing his footing on some green
ish liquid. Rev steadied him with an arm. The doctor punched some buttons on the keypad, and the warning noise stopped, but the smell and the mess continued to seep out of the tank.
Grenta opened the chamber.
"Here, help me."
Between the two of them, they hauled the sloppy body out of the chamber and lay it on the floor. If the body had once been a woman, you couldn't be sure any longer. The face was melted, and the skin oozed in sickening folds over the bones.
"Total cellular breakdown."
The doctor sighed.
"I guess that proves it. You can't change Argulans to Kerdos. There just has to be some basic incompatibility that the scans can't pick up. Let's just hope your humans don't have the same incompatibility. Cax, clean this up, and dispose of the body."
Rev looked at him coldly, unable to comprehend how any man could be so callous about sentient life. This wasn't just the abduction and trafficking of women, this was wholesale genetic assault that had tragic consequences for the victims. He never wanted to hurl his fist into a man's face more than he wanted to right then.
But that would have to wait until he could get to his superior and give a deposition about this shipmaster's and his co-conspirators' crimes.
Grenta didn't see Rev's stare, because the mask of the biohazard suit hid his face. The doctor turned and shuffled off, leaving Rev to clean up the mess.
Chapter Nine
Tracy lay naked on the cold, uncomfortable bed. Her arms and legs were strapped down, and she had been left alone for a long time. She had no way to measure time, so it felt like she had been there forever.
This was a nightmare, a freaking nightmare.
Where was she? Why was she there? What were they doing to her? When she got free, she'd do some damage.
She didn't work in newspaper circulation for nothing. Tracy worked on the streets in the middle of the night because she had gumption. People who worked with grumpy, sleep-deprived, and dissatisfied independent contractors had spunk. And she certainly didn't deal with upper-level circulation management more ruthless than a school of piranhas without knowing how to defend herself. All she needed was an opening, and she'd deal with Mr. Tall and Hunky, giving him something to remember her by.