Not bothered by my thrashing, Prust doesn’t stop until I’ve drunk every last drop of pleasure from the climax. When I settle down, he lets go of my thighs, but only long enough for him to strip off his clothes, showing me his gorgeous form. I groan as he drags me to the edge of my bunk and spreads my legs, allowing him to plunge his rock-hard rod deep into my sopping core.
“Who are you, Alexis?” he says, pumping me slowly.
“I’m... yours,” I mumble, so blissed out I can barely think.
“My what?”
“I’m... your plaything.”
He smiles, thrusting a little harder. “That’s good. I like that. Go on.”
What else does he want me to say? “I’m your... yours... yours to use.”
Prust tickles my throbbing clit as he penetrates deeper. “That’s right.”
Satisfied, he begins pounding me hard, giving me every inch of his massive cock. Quickly enraptured, I nearly howl out loud, but Prust presses his hand over my face, muffling the sound. I don’t complain, and he doesn’t let go, enjoying the site of my pleading eyes as he hammers home. When I come again, he grunts in pleasure, peaking at the same time. As his warm essence fills me, I clench down on his shaft, milking out every drop, wanting to please my beautiful, alien master.
Once we’re both spent, Prust pulls me on top of him and lies down on my bunk, the small frame and mattress barely big enough for his height.
“Thank you, sir,” I say, clearing my throat. “I feel a lot better.”
He kisses the top of my head. “You’re welcome. I’m glad.”
“I need to fix this, but what can we do?”
“We’re a we now?” he asks, fondling my breast.
“Yes, sir,” I reply. “I think you’ve earned my trust enough. I’ll never doubt you again.”
He nods. “Thank you, Alexis. And you don’t mind asking me for help?”
“No. Vahree is a menace. Even if I never lead the colony again, he’s a threat to us. I can’t have that on my hands.”
“Good. I have a plan, but you’ll have to trust me completely.”
“I do,” I say, reaching for his hand. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
He kisses me again. “It’ll be dangerous. There’s a lot that could go wrong.”
I squeeze his hand, feeling his heart beat beneath mine. “I believe in you, sir. I believe in us. We can do it, together. And we will.”
He smiles. “All right. Here’s what I’m thinking...”
Chapter Twenty
“Has his ship left yet?” I ask, a little short of breath.
“No,” says Prust. “Though its engines are warm. We don’t have much time.”
Prust and I rush back to his residence, catching a few pointed looks. I’m sure I must look a mess, but right now that’s not important.
“Dani!” I shout as we get into his residence. “Wake up, we need to talk!”
Prust heads over to the fabrication unit, where the first of several auto-injecting syringes are waiting. “They’re ready,” he says. “Where’s your friend?”
“Good question,” I reply, poking my head into the sleeping area. His bed is unmade from use, but Dani is nowhere in sight.
Prust takes my arm and presses an injector against it, sending a painless shot into me. “Just in case,” he says.
The inoculation is a biological compound to protect everyone against allure, starting with me and Dani. I know she wouldn’t want nanites, and as for myself, I’m not taking any chances.
“Damn,” says Prust. “I checked the security footage—Dani left ten minutes ago. There’s a note on the table.”
I rush over to where he’s pointing and find a folded up piece of paper with Dani’s handwriting.
Alexis, I know you told me to stay here, but I’m sorry. I can’t. I’m going with Vahree to see the galaxy. He and I are in love! Someday you’ll understand—and I know we’ll be back here to visit and trade, so it’s not like you’ll never see me again. I wish you and Prust all the best—if you love him, you must know how I feel about Vahree.
“Shit! She’s still under the allure. She’s going to leave with him! I have to find her now!”
Prust pulls me into an embrace, and Dani’s letter rings in my mind. If I love him...
Maybe she’s not wrong about that, but I’ll process it later.
“This is a setback,” he says, “but it doesn’t really change the plan. Go now, get to Vahree before he leaves.”
He gives me a kiss, followed by a light smack on my bottom and a grin. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You better,” I reply, then run as fast as I can.
* * *
I reach the field where Vahree’s parked nearly winded, but he hasn’t lifted off, and that’s all that matters. Relieved, I give myself a second to catch my breath, then yell out, “Vahree! Open up, now!”
Up in the cockpit I see a flash of movement, and after a minute his ship’s hatch opens up. Vahree stands there, pointing a compact black alien gun at me. I wanted to bring mine, but Prust said Vahree would be ready for that.
“Had a change of heart, Alexis?” he asks, walking toward me.
“I want Dani back, now. Get her out here immediately.”
Vahree laughs, holstering his weapon. “How? She chose to come with me of her own free will. If you’re her friend, you’ll respect her decision.”
“We both know that’s bullshit,” I growl. “You pumped her so full of allure, she’s not in her right mind. That’s a crime on Earth, and it’s a crime here.”
“Says who? You’re not in charge. No one is. This is the Blight. There’s no law or crime. But thanks for seeing us off. I’ll tell Dani you came to wish us well.”
He steps back onto the boarding ramp and the hatch starts to close behind him.
“Wait!” I shout. “I’ll make you a deal.”
The door reopens, and Vahree spins around.
“You let Dani go, and you can have me instead.”
Vahree masks his reaction well, staring at me intently, his calculating eyes searching me for truth. Is this what you expected me to do, dickhead?
“You two must be very good friends,” he says at last.
I could tell him that as the leader of the colony, she’s my responsibility to protect; it’s a perfectly true answer, but at the same time not an honest one.
“We’ve known each other almost our whole lives,” I admit. “She left her family behind to come here with me. I can’t let anything bad happen to her. I can’t let you steal her away. So, if it will keep her safe, I’ll go with you instead.”
Vahree’s gloved hand slides to his holster once more. “What kind of game is this, Alexis? Why would I do that?”
I raise my hands in the air and take cautious steps forward. “Because I’m the one you wanted. Weren’t you after me to steal the Dominar’s girl, to score a little victory over your people’s oppressors? Dani’s just your consolation prize.”
He laughs, but keeps his fingers on the gun’s dark grip. “That’s a bold assumption, human. Maybe I just think she’s prettier.”
“You don’t. You just didn’t come all this way to leave empty-handed.”
Vahree stares some more. His hands move to a small gray disc attached to the wrist of his jacket: a scanner, according to my nanites.
Within my head, I open a communication channel. Okay, Prust, here we go, I send to him, then immediately disable all of my nanites.
Keeping my arms raised, I watch as Vahree scans me from head to toe.
“No weapons, but you’ve got nanites.”
“I won’t use them, I swear. If I do, shoot me. I’m not going to risk doing anything that could get Dani killed.”
Vahree regards me again, weighing his options. Then he grabs me by my neckline and presses his head against mine. “If you turn those things on, I’ll know and I will shoot you. Then I’ll dump your body out an airlock, in case your Dominar friend tries to track us.”
“Understood.”
He takes hold of my arms and nudges me toward the ship. “You know Dani’s not going to want to leave. I’ll honor our deal and let her go, but if she refuses to leave, you’re still coming with me.”
“I’ll convince her,” I mumble, hanging my head in defeat.
Vahree chuckles. “Good luck.”
He’s not wrong. Rescuing Dani wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan.
Vahree keeps his grip on me as the hatch shuts behind us, metal clashing on metal like a gunshot. Even when he lets go, he stays close, his gun always in reach.
He leads me into the same cargo bay I saw on the tour, but now I’m paying attention to my surroundings, rather than him. Above us, a dark seam runs across the length of the ceiling—a freight door, I suppose. At the far end of the chamber there’s a staircase leading up to another room; through a pair of windows I see banks of control consoles. Beside the stairs, a series of monitors display several shots of dark rooms and corridors—the ship’s security cameras, presumably.
Looking down, though, I see Dani. Locked in a cage, her hands are bound behind her back with black rope. A thick cloth rests between her lips, the fabric yellowed with grime. She moans softly as we approach.
“You fucking bastard,” I snarl. “You said she came willingly!”
Vahree smirks. “She did. I just haven’t had time to make up the guest room.”
“Fucking asshole,” I mutter, marching up to the cage. Reaching through the bars, I pull the gag out of Dani’s mouth. “Are you okay?”
Slowly, she nods. “Yes, I’m okay, Lex.”
“Your friend wants you to go back to the colony, Dani,” says Vahree, opening the lid to her cage and pulling her to her feet. “What do you think? Would you like to go, or would you rather stay?”
Dani’s eyes shift between him and me like a pair of ping-pong balls.
“If you stay, Vahree is going to keep you in this cage,” I argue. “You won’t be safe at all. Please, let’s go back.”
“But I love him,” she argues, shaking her head. “I’d do anything for him.”
“You’d live in a cage for him?”
Dani blushes, biting her lip. “Wouldn’t you do the same for Prust?”
“I think so,” I say, leaning in close and hugging Dani. Would I let him put me in a cage? It sounds twisted, but if he asked it of me... “I do, I think I would, but Prust and I have been seeing each other for months. You and Vahree just met...”
Now or never.
Reaching into my pocket slowly and carefully, I pull out one of Prust’s syringes and jam it into Dani’s arm. With a hiss, the device injects Dani with the allure antidote.
“What was that?” Vahree snaps, yanking me off of Dani. “What did you do?” He swipes the syringe and examines it, teeth gritted. “Clever.”
“Lex! I don’t understand...” Dani glances around, her body trembling. Twisting against her bonds, gasping and shaking, she screams, “Let me out of here! This is crazy, I want to go back!”
“Bitch!” Vahree grunts, shoving me to the floor. Dropping the syringe, he crunches it underfoot, then shoves Dani back into the cage. He slips her gag back in, then turns to me. “Deal’s off, cunt.”
The ship lurches, rumbling deeply through the deck. We’re lifting off.
I leap to my feet, ready to throw a punch, but Vahree draws his weapon and fires a shot into my side. Electric fire grips my body. I fall once more, landing in a heap, convulsing helplessly.
Dani tries to stand, banging her head on the roof of her cage. Her eyes widen in fear, and her squeals pierce through the cargo bay.
I’m sorry, I mouth to her, my muscles feeling like thin pudding. Vahree crouches beside me and binds my wrists together with the same black rope he used on Dani. Thick and rough, the fibers burn into my skin. He pulls from a pocket on his jacket another cloth and ties it into my mouth, tightening it until I’m close to tears.
Once he’s finished, he hauls over a second cage; its scraping along the metal floor makes my body shudder. I’m still mostly paralyzed from Vahree’s shot when he lifts me up and locks me in the cage. He positions me less than a foot from Dani; I listen to her breathe, wiggling my fingers, not that it’ll do any good now.
“This is lovely,” says Vahree. “I’m glad you decided to join us, Alexis. Now you can keep Dani company. We’ve got a long trip ahead of us.”
I glare at him with pure poison.
“Yes, I know, you’re very mad at me,” he says, reaching through the bars and grasping my chin. “Get over it. You see the roof when we came in? That opens out into space. You activate those nanites of yours, the roof will open right up, venting the atmosphere. You and Dani will asphyxiate in less than a minute. Understood?”
“Mmm,” I mumble in affirmation.
“Good. Now settle in. You’re going to be here a while.”
* * *
Dani hasn’t stopped crying since I gave her the allure cure. I wish I hadn’t bothered. My words slur through my gag, but I’ve said “I’m sorry” enough times to be understood. Dani slumps against the bars, not replying, other than to shake her head.
It’s been hours since Vahree left us here. I’ve watched the security monitors, desperate for something to happen, but he bides his time patiently. Sitting in the cockpit, he browses through holograms I could probably decipher if my nanites were working. My stomach thunders, especially as I watch him snack on slim sticks of meat.
I try ignoring my hunger. I dismiss my fears. Prust won’t let anything happen to me and Dani. He’s out there, putting our plan into place—or he better be. I wish I could tell Dani that, to bring her some comfort, but Vahree’s got to be listening to us. He’d be a fool not to.
Looking back and forth around the cargo bay, I shiver at how much space Vahree’s got on his ship, and how many unmarked containers. Have they ever been full of people? Do the Venai exiles trade in slaves? Is that what he intends for Dani and me? Or will he keep us for himself? Are we more useful to him as workers, or as currency?
Kicking the bars of my cage hurts my foot, but I do it anyway. I need to take my mind off of my fury at not listening to Prust sooner. He could easily have destroyed Vahree and saved us all this ordeal.
And maybe, just maybe, none of us should have come to the Blight in the first place. If Dani and I get out of this alive, will we really want to stay on Piskiron? Without Prust, we’d be sitting ducks...
I can’t worry about that now. Leaning back against the bars, I try to get comfortable and rest. I need to be calm and ready for what’s coming. I trust in Prust’s plan. It’s going to work, and Vahree’s going to be sorry.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dani’s whimpering stirs me from sleep. Vahree’s on the move, jumping from one security monitor to the next as he stalks through the ship. I look to Dani, my face a study in calm. My tongue scratches like sandpaper, and a rattle sounds with each breath, but I don’t care. Whatever Vahree’s up to, we’re going to be okay.
Dani inhales deeply and nods to me. She straightens her posture, shifting onto her knees, ready to spring to her feet. I do the same.
When Vahree arrives, he grins. “Good evening. You two ready for dinner?”
He opens Dani’s cage and pulls her hair, forcing her neck back. For half a second he looks like a vampire, about to drink my friend, but then he forces her to move.
Bucking and thrashing, I mutter a curse at him through my gag.
“What’s that?” he asks, reaching in to slip out the cloth.
“I said you better not hurt her, or I’ll kill you.”
Vahree shakes his head and laughs. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping you both very safe for now. But if you want to get fed today, I suggest you behave.”
Fed echoes in my head as they walk off. What are we, animals? People don’t get fed, they eat.
I follow him and Dani on the monitors as long as I can, but they soon disappear. Waiting for their return, I cry so
ftly. Where are they? What is he doing to her? He’d better just be feeding her, or I will make good on my threat.
Staring at the monitors causes my wait to stretch like a kettle refusing to boil. When I finally catch sight of them, Dani looks okay; she’s even smiling a little. Vahree grips her hair with one hand, nursing his other wrist, which is wrapped by thick bandages. His face glows a deep crimson. I’m still grinning when the two of them reach the cargo bay.
“Maybe it wasn’t her I needed to be worried about,” I say as he shoves Dani back into her cage. “What happened?”
Vahree spits. “She bit me. She literally bit the hand that feeds.”
Dani laughs, rocking against the back of her cage. I join her, howling with glee. Sleep deprived and loopy with stress hormones, I laugh until I can barely breathe. It’s good to see Dani has some fight in her too.
“Have your fun, ladies,” he snaps. “Enjoy yourselves while you can. I’ve got some very nasty ways of punishing my slaves.”
I stop laughing. There it is: he’s taking us as slaves.
“So Prust told you about our allure,” he says to me. “Did he mention we have all kinds of different pheromones? I can give off a scent that causes pure pain.”
“Is it your breath?” says Dani, making us both cackle once more.
Vahree smiles too. “I wonder if that inoculation immunized you to all my pheromones. That would be a shame, but I can still cause you pain the old-fashioned way.” He draws his compact pistol and points it at me. “It’s your turn to eat, Alexis. You try to pull any more stupid human shit, I’ll shoot both of you. Twice.”
My stomach wrenches at the thought. Dani shouldn’t have to suffer that. “I’ll try to behave,” I murmur.
“Good.”
He gets me out of my cage and leads me by the hair until we reach his ship’s meager kitchen. Lacking any decor, the Spartan facility barely has room for a table. Vahree sits me down in a gray seat made seemingly from hard plastic. He spoon feeds me from a bowl of cold white sludge. My cheeks burn as he holds the grimy utensil to my lips.
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