by E J Darling
She wanted to ask him why he was there, why he was locked in a cage ready to be sold, but she didn’t. She wanted to walk away and forget what he’d done for her, but she didn’t. Instead, she wrapped her fingers around the bars of his cage and leaned in closer. If she reached in, she could have touched his warm skin. “That Sca-riin wants to kill you now. You know that right?”
“Everyone wants to kill me it seems.” He smiled, and white teeth shone bright against his tanned skin, the sharp points of his canines threatening to reveal themselves fully.
“Holy shit.” She didn’t know why she’d said it, but it wasn’t because of the canines. Maeve had seen them before and wasn’t shocked by them. It was the way he looked at her, like she was good enough to eat, good enough to sink those sharp teeth into, like she’d heard the females gossip about after taking them to their beds. Do they really bite? She thought warily, but not warily enough because she didn’t think she’d mind such a thing in the throes of passion. He was impossible to not imagine, even in the most innocent mind, throwing a female on to a bed, stretching his large body atop hers and possessing everything she had to offer.
He laughed, and she realized she’d never tire of hearing it. “Aye.” He clicked his tongue with his teeth, his purely sinful tongue she would imagine, and dropped his head back against the bars. “How I have fallen. Though, I do believe, between the two of us, we’ve had our fair share. An Earthling? Interesting.”
She glared at him, but if she was being honest, she didn’t care. It had been nearly five hundred cycles since Humans left the dying planet of Earth, and Ascena Pura was her home planet as far as she was concerned. She’d been born and raised on the water world, her safe space, and she wanted to get back there as quickly as possible. “I have no loyalty to Earth,” she whispered. “It isn’t the same.”
“So, what is a Human slave doing on the other side of the bars on Slave Row I wonder?”
Maeve looked down to her now exposed wrists and quickly covered them. Her heart was pounding all the while. “That’s none of your business.” She cursed him under her breath in the grunty language of Gotsu. She only used it when she was upset, and she was. The Turnish gave her a smile and raised his brow at her. “Of course, you understood me.” Dammit, she wanted to crawl under a rock. If this barren wasteland had any. What right did he have calling her out? It could get her killed if something heard him that wished to harm slaves, and he was obviously an educated male that knew what he was doing.
“My dear.” A female’s voice chimed softly from behind her. Maeve didn’t dare move or even look her way. The voice, the language, and the airy way she spoke told Maeve all she needed to know. Wealthy, female, the beautifully fragrant scent that came off her wasn’t cheap either.
If Maeve turned around, she’d give away the fact that she was a Human, alone on a slave planet, to a wealthy Forga. They were one of the most infamous alien races in the galaxy and were known for their philanthropy, insatiable desires, and being absolutely stunning. “A Turnish in my very wake. What I’ll do to you.” The way she said it put a knot in Maeve’s stomach. It didn’t sound like the Turnish would be enjoying any of what she had to offer.
Sex slave owners came in all forms, even beautiful ones, and there was no doubt he would be put to work pleasing any and every species and gender there was, whether he liked it or not. After, of course, she had her way with him. After she broke him into more pieces than he was already in. After any life left in him was gone, and his soul turned as dead as the planet he hailed from.
He turned his head, his hot gaze studied the new female, and Maeve felt cold and invisible. She knew from experience how beautiful they were, and it only made her feel less than she already was. His eyes raked down her tall thin body, like he may actually enjoy what she had to offer. It made Maeve seethe and she didn’t know why. Did he not care about his life? But, as quickly as he’d taken her in, a deep rumble came from his chest, and he bared his teeth at her in disgust. His eyes came back to Maeve’s and he inhaled deep, cooling whatever it was that enraged him. She could have melted into the sand when he looked at her like that, and a little green part of her felt smug by it.
The Forga must have noticed the same carnal look in his eye that she had, because in a heartbeat, Maeve was spun around, and Säiph growled as she was thrust against the unyielding cage bars.
“I don’t take defiance well.” She spat in a no longer airy voice. The Forga sniffed at Maeve as if she smelled like death and decay and all manner of nasty things. “A Human?” She looked over Maeve’s shoulder to the presence felt without even needing to see it. The Turnish moved with a presence that demanded he be recognized whether your eyes were on him or not. “You will be mine, Turnish.” It sounded like the worst promise in history.
“Let her go.” There was a darkness in his words, and it chilled her to the bone. “Let her go, now.”
“You have lost everything, Turnish. You have now lost even your body, to me. I will have you. I do not lose.”
It was yet another promise that made Maeve’s stomach sick. There was something evil in her beautiful eyes and she couldn’t understand how power made creatures such awful things. The Forga female let her go with a shove and Maeve didn’t move a muscle until she and her lackeys were out of sight into the menagerie of the market.
A hand slipped out of the bars and touched her arm. Maeve started and spun around, backing away. Her heart was still pounding in her chest and her senses hadn’t come back yet.
“Are you okay?”
Okay? I’m in the middle of a slave hive, my only protector not doing a damn thing, being threatened by two of the most unsavory species in the entire galaxy. No, I’m not okay.
“Don’t worry about me, Human. I’ll survive that one.” He pressed up against the bars and wrapped his fingers around the metal. His face bracketed by them and holy shit she wanted him just like that, face first in…
“I’m not,” she lied and swallowed. “Worried about you that is.”
He only smiled at her with those perfect lips, and drew her attention to those canines that she wanted him to rake over her skin. Sinful.
“I’m not.” She tried to convince herself that time. “I have my own problems and I don’t need you adding to them.”
“I understand.” He looked away and mumbled under his breath, but she couldn’t hear it.
She leaned in a bit, which was obviously what he’d wanted, and he grabbed her by the cloak and pulled her in against the bars.
His mouth captured hers, punishing, and she yielded without a thought. It was deep, full of passion, and never in her life had she experienced anything quite like it. His tongue nudged at her, begging her to open her mouth, and the deceitful thing obliged. He filled her mouth and her body with sinful lust, and she reacted just like she thought she would, just like he intended for her to do.
His other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her up against the cage, up against a hard steel bar. But it wasn’t a bar, she realized, and the warmth in her lower belly spread down to the warmth pressing on…
Damn. He was every bit as delicious as he looked and kissed her with a fury and passion she knew she’d never find again.
He broke it off, tugging her bottom lip as he went, and it drew a soft moan from her. “Thank you, Human.” His voice was light as a feather, and airy on her wetted lips. He tipped his nose on hers and smiled. “That may very well have been the last kiss with my own consent for a very long time. I’m sorry I had to do it without yours.”
Without her consent? Was he blind? She was like an animal in heat when she looked at him and it didn’t take an education, which he obviously had, to figure that out.
Maeve cleared her throat and bit her bottom lip, still thinking about his. “We’ll just say you had it and leave it at that.”
His lips fell from a devastating grin, and his eyes widened as he backed away from the bars. “Please forgive me. I beg your apology. I shouldn’t have
touched you without asking.”
Maeve’s mouth dropped. How was he even real? He was something out of a romantic tale, not the real world, nothing like him existed in the real world. She shook her head, not sure how to answer.
“Please. I will never see you again after this. I will never get to fully apologize to you the way my people do.” He paused and winced. “Did.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. She dared to get closer to his cage once more, to maybe taste him one last time, but Säiph alerted her to incoming Siipi guards and Maeve merely glanced one more time at the Turnish in his cage.
His head was slunk forward against the bars as he looked at the sand. They both heard the announcement over the loud murmurings of the busy market. “Auction begins in five minutes. Please take your seats.” The announcement played over in different languages, all of them sounding ominous and startlingly final.
“I have to leave now.”
He nodded without looking at her, and Maeve turned to walk away, but paused. “Thank you for saving me and thank you for,” she trailed off but touched her lips with her fingers remembering how his felt on them. It was time to shut those emotions down again, to push away all that wasn’t her job, her mission. She wasn’t here for him and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do for him now. She’d seen his future played out in front of her, and it was dismal. If one dwelled, one could drown in the misery.
“Don’t mention it.” He spoke in his native tongue that time. The words rolled off his lips like they finally belonged there.
“Mya beeg tu.” she murmured and walked away. I’ll remember you.
Three
The auction ran smoothly, despite the fights breaking out about a choice few of the females who’d been in impeccable shape. Those warriors had been a hot commodity. Most of the males, and odder species of females, had gone for a fair price, and Maeve’s selection was now walking up, after waiting the entire day.
There was a flat-topped rock sitting in the center of the arena like a display stand. She had Zeke’s money to burn and she wasn’t going to let the female go. She was perfect, and Maeve felt hopeful about her prospects. Zeke opened a credit account with the Siipi before she’d arrived, and there was no chance she could get out bid, not with his money.
Keeli stepped up on the platform and scanned the crowd with a face Maeve could only describe as fear and shock. The bidding started, and Maeve tore her eyes from the female to make sure she had her full attention on the screen, but held off on putting in her bid immediately. They handed her an electronic pad when she’d walked in the door, and found her seat in a box where the other wealthy buyers had their claims. It was private, and she didn't have to worry about what all the other wealthy assholes thought of a slave being there.
The pad lit up when a slave was being sold, showing their picture, race, and any other known information about them. Keeli’s face popped up, Sola-Tallek half breed, black hair, Tallek appearance, and her containment date was three days ago. A bid of five hundred credits came over the screen. Instantly restarting the timer, a low ball bid for someone like her in Maeve’s opinion. The timer slunk down to seconds and another bid came through. She waited until the timer was almost to zero before tapping her bid icon. Two more bids popped up, but after she placed hers at one thousand credits, the timer went off without another coming in and her screen turned green.
The Siipi guard dragged the female off the platform and Maeve got a notification of where to pick her up, and that her bid had been finalized. “We did it, Säiph! She’s ours… well she’s Zeke’s, but we can still talk to her.” She rubbed the top of her companion’s head and he looked up at her, panting. He always looked to be smiling, despite the razor sharp teeth.
She stood from her seat and put on her cloak and gloves to leave. The crowd began to cheer, and Maeve turned as the next slave was escorted onto the platform. Her heart dropped when the Turnish stepped up, and she watched the Sca-riin asshole from before stand to attention, yelling something she couldn’t hear from so high above the arena floor.
He was throwing his long arms around in frustration, so enraged by something. Her eyes went up to the massive screen above them, displaying the current ware in full and close view. The Turnish was smiling. He had a set of balls on him that’s for sure.
“Shit.” Damn her weak heart. She didn’t want to see him go to that horrible planet with those horrible aliens, nor to that horrible, beautiful, powerful woman.
Not after what he’d done.
Not after talking to him.
Not after he…
Maeve touched her lips, remembering every sensation that sexy stranger made her feel in a matter of a few short moments. The tightening in her stomach was back and it flooded her body. She was in deep shit.
Don’t do it. Shut down, Maeve. Shut it all down and leave. Walk away. This isn’t your fight and he isn’t your problem.
Despite her mental plea to her heart, Maeve sat back down and pulled up her digital pad, ignoring every warning going off in her mind. She knew it was stupid, that it was going to cause more problems than it would solve, but she didn’t care. If there was one thing Maeve did care about, it was the galaxy and everything in it; the knowledge of it, the languages, the creatures that lived within its ever swirling grasp. She cared that Vora Galaxy was going to lose an entire race of people, and if she could halt that indefinite flame blowing out for just a while longer, she was going to do it.
Everything else she could figure out later.
She examined his information on the electronic pad. Teakin Kade, Turnish Race, ex-military from the planet Turnix Beta. It had nothing else on the report, which was odd, except for one word on why he was being sold.
Mutiny?
Had this Teakin truly been a captain of a ship? He was educated. He spoke dead languages. He was unbelievably handsome. To top off everything on that list, he was the only Turnish male she knew in existence, the reason she told herself she was doing it. Two cycles passed and that was a long time to be one of the only members of your race, alone in the galaxy, trying to find your place again. She could relate. Where would she go after she bought her freedom? Was there a place a Human like her could even call home? A home that didn’t keep them as slaves and a place she could be her own person without the duty and requirements of masters?
There he stood, though, solid and strong. He was a fighter, even after his fall from grace. He still looked strong and invincible, yet completely and entirely helpless. It could give her hope. It could give her a purpose that was her own.
The bidding began and Maeve’s fingers shook. She shouldn’t do it, really. She shouldn’t risk her own money on a man she just met, but she wouldn’t be there if it hadn’t been for him. That massive red fist had been the size of her torso and it would have crushed the life out of her. There was no way Säiph would have been able to help, and she damn sure wasn’t going to live through getting her skull bashed in.
Then, he’d shocked her even further by kissing her, followed by thanking her for it. Who in their life, for the rest of eternity, could say they’d even touched a Turnish, let alone kissed one? And damn he could kiss.
The bidding began at five hundred credits, and Maeve watched the timer trickle down. Her insides told her to turn tail and leave right now, but she held firm. Three, two. “Shit.” Maeve’s finger tapped bid before she could think, and the Sca-riin slammed his fists down on the rocky wall in front of him. It was obvious who she’d outbid, and now, Maeve really did want to run. Another bid came in before the timer got close to zero and she reacted immediately. It wasn’t too late to turn back, but she was in it. She’d made her choice and she wasn’t going to let him become slave labor to miners, nor a sex slave.
The bidding went back and forth until the Sca-riin asshole screamed in rage. Teakin smiled as the massive male threw a fit. So many slaves had come through and stood right there where he was standing now, and not one of them demanded attention like he did. He
didn’t do it on purpose, he naturally drew the eye and Maeve was no different than any other female. She saw him.
She couldn’t help herself and smiled with him as she bid her life away, not thinking about the consequences of her actions any longer. No one knew who was bidding against the red beasts, and she felt brave. But there was a problem, a third bidder had emerged when funds had gotten high, and she was quickly running out of money.
The timer trickled down, once again to almost zero, and another bid came in. Damn, it was high, too high for her, but one look at Teakin’s face had her hitting the button again and again.
Three thousand.
Four thousand.
Funds were diminishing.
Five thousand.
The Sca-riin were slowing down now, and Maeve hoped they didn’t see the value in spending credits on something they were going to end up torturing and killing. They were literally pissing their credits away. But what was Maeve doing? She was locked in a battle, a battle she didn’t think she could win, and it was only getting worse. One more bid on her side and she would be dipping into Zeke’s credits. Seven thousand credits was an insane price for a male slave, but she was in it, her conscience wouldn’t allow for anything else.
Her savings were now gone, if she won the battle, and she’d have to start completely over, but she was doing the decent thing and she couldn’t and wouldn’t fault herself for that. Teakin would be free and not in the ground somewhere killing himself for jewels he’d never get to own, nor would he have to sell his body for sex to make his master credits. He’d slowly succumb to some disease he couldn’t fight off and die alone somewhere in a dirty bed.
Maeve bit her finger as the timer counted down. The Sca-riin male was throwing chairs, and aliens of all shapes and sizes were running away. They’d already lost the battle. Säiph went on alert at the change in demeanor, but Maeve kept her focus on the timer as it counted down faster. She needed all her focus and attention to catch it right. The higher the bids got, the faster it counted. “Five, four, three, two.” Her heart hammered in her chest, and the adrenaline in her body lit her up. She felt alive. “One.” Her screen glowed green to finalize the payment and the confirmation scrolled across the screen. Maeve looked up as they dragged Teakin out of her line of sight.