“I mean that I have deviant tastes,” he said as he grinned at her. Her heart pounded and sweat dripped from her forehead. He nodded. “That’s right. I like my sex rough and my women restrained. And since you’d probably kill me if you could, it’s a good thing I do. For me. Not so much for you.”
He flicked a button on a huge console near the door. A large metal…thing dropped from the ceiling and her heart almost jumped out of her chest. A long beam the length of the room held several different hooks, cuffs, leather straps and other things that she didn’t recognize. She couldn’t help it. She trembled.
“Please, Tory,” she said, trying not to sound like she was begging, even though she was. “Don’t do this. My family left me money—” She sucked in a breath as he jerked on her arms, tightening his hold.
The grin was gone and his gaze glittered. Why hadn’t she noticed the cruelty in his eyes before this? Because she’d avoided his gaze, afraid to fall for his seduction and drown. Now, they shone with evil intent.
“This isn’t about money. This is about revenge.” He kicked her feet into two metal restraints that she hadn’t noticed on the floor. Then he roughly clicked her wrists into restraints that had her arms extended to the ceiling. He picked up his laser pistol and aimed it at her body.
She tensed, even though she was well aware he had no intention of killing her. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t maim her, cut her. After all, she could still serve her purpose as his mate and continue the bloodline, even with scars. She closed her eyes, but his image was burned into her brain.
When she’d first met him, he’d resembled an Old Earth pirate with his black hair and seductive blue eyes. He’d swaggered, he’d joked, he’d had no sense of the seriousness of his missions. Even as a Black Ops officer, he was a wild card. But he always got the job done. His lack of respect for authority kept him from promotions, but his men loved him. Women fawned over him but he didn’t brag. The women did. How “good” he was, how skilled he was.
But then, those women hadn’t banished him from his home. She had.
The restraints bit into her wrists and her ankles throbbed. Her arms were already sore from being splayed in this position. Then, heat on her shoulder made her jerk. Her eyes flew open. He used the laser pistol as a cutting tool, slicing through the material of her uniform.
With precision, he cut through her clothes, her bra, her underwear and cold air hit her body as the shredded material dropped to the floor in burning bits. She shivered. Naked, unable to cover herself and completely exposed to his gaze, she wanted to die. Was this what he wanted? Her humiliation? Her subjugation? She wasn’t going to submit or surrender. She straightened her back and met his stare but almost glanced away when she noted the desire in his.
He took his time studying every inch of her. His gaze trailed heat over her skin as her body betrayed her. Her nipples tightened and she wanted to scream in frustration. She didn’t want to want him. This was going to be rape. He would have to take her by force. She yanked on her wrists restraints, oblivious to the pain. She had to get away from him. Her pussy started to heat.
She was enjoying this.
How could that be? How could her body like the restraints, the way his eyes devoured her? How could she want this so much? She fought harder. If she didn’t get free, her humiliation would be more than if he raped her. She’d surrender.
“You know the requirements.” His gaze focused on her breasts and her nipples puckered more, reaching out for him. Requirements? Hell, she knew them better than anyone. To complete the ceremony of the Saria, he had to consummate the mating. It was his part, his duty.
“I’ll fight you,” she spat, even as her body betrayed her, her pussy throbbing, her breath coming fast.
“Please do,” he said and he smirked. “I always knew you were the woman for me.” She wanted to hit him, wipe that satisfied grin off his face. She kicked against the ankle restraints. She would be bloody and bruised before she’d let this happen. She fought both him and herself.
When his hand closed over her breast and his fingers stroked her erect nipple, she lost the battle. Her head dropped back and her body trembled. “Noooo.” Tears squeezed from her eyes.
“You’ve always wanted me, Alexandra. And I’m going to prove it.” His hands cupped her breasts and she gasped. Her pussy ached, wet and needy. He stared at her, his gaze on her face, his hands dancing over her tits.
She bit her lip to stop a groan from escaping her dry mouth. Pinpricks of need shot through her. God, she wanted this, his hands on her, his fingers warm on her skin. She jerked against the restraints, but this time because her hips rotated with unspoken, embarrassing desire.
He lowered his head and his mouth claimed hers. There was no persuasion, no seduction. He took, she gave. His tongue plundered her mouth and sent her senses reeling. Every thought of resisting him dissolved and her head swam. There was no anger, no accusation in his kiss. Only passion. She wanted it. All of it.
His fingers rolled her nipples and she arched into his hands. Helpless, enthralled, his. Maybe she’d always been his. She’d lived on his kiss—the one kiss they’d shared—for a year. It had been a sweet, passionate meeting of lips and tongues. Not like this. Not possessive, demanding and overwhelming.
One of his hands slid down her body, leaving a trail of fire on her stomach, her hip, and he finally reached her clitoris. His fingers flicked the bundle of nerves, his mouth never leaving hers, his other hand rolling her nipple. The combination of sensations overloaded her and made her head spin. Her pussy clenched and she thrust toward his hand. He responded and slipped two fingers into her slick channel. He tore his mouth away and hovered over hers. “Say the word. Say the safeword and I’ll stop.”
Her gaze held his. She could say it. The safeword was her right, her power, but her body throbbed and ached for him to finish what he started. His fingers in her pussy, his breath hot on her face, his wicked mouth a hairsbreadth away from hers.
When she said nothing, he captured her lips in a bruising kiss. She groaned into his mouth and twined her tongue around his. Whatever their differences, in the face of this…this…passion, she couldn’t deny him. For five dull years she had ignored what her body knew in this moment. No one had aroused her, made her laugh, or touched her heart the way he had. The thought, fleeting and startling, created fear tinged with relief. All that was swept away by his insistent touch. His fingers slid in and out, faster, faster. Oh God, she couldn’t control her body or her mind anymore. She wanted him. She wanted his dick inside her. She wanted him to fuck her blind.
It was incredible and humiliating and overwhelming all at the same time. There was no conscious thought, no resentment left. There was only this burning need in her belly that ached and longed for more. He drove her on, his talented fingers beckoning her to the edge and, finally, over it. Her pussy convulsed around his fingers, the pleasure washing over her like water. He broke the kiss and whispered, “Scream for me, Alexandra.”
His fingers pumped inside her until she convulsed again, her body slammed with hot need and desire, her orgasm going on and on. Control slipped from her fingers. He gave her orders as if she could choose to disobey him. Choice? What was choice in the face of this? The pain within mixed with the physical pain and sobs tore from her throat. She did scream. His name. “Tory!”
Tears dripped from her chin and she could barely breathe. Gasping, she tried to get air into her lungs. He dropped his fingers from her pussy and his other hand left her breast.
She blinked, trying to focus. He licked his fingers clean and a wicked gleam in his eye made her skin flush. “Very nice, Alex.”
That was it? He wasn’t going to—
“No, I’m not.” He grinned and she wanted to kill him, all past desire wiped away.
Somehow she found her voice. “We aren’t mated until you do.”
“I’m going to let you stew a little longer.”
“You’re the one who will suffer. I had mine
,” she said, trying to infuse her voice with flippant sarcasm. She sounded breathy and needy instead.
“Oh, yes, you did. And I enjoyed it,” he purred. “But I like anticipation.”
She clenched her jaw to keep from screaming at him. But she wasn’t sure if she would scream at him for keeping her captive or not fucking her.
She was in big, big trouble.
He stepped away from her and pressed buttons on the console in the wall. A dark screen dropped down between her and the door. “So no one can see you when the door opens and closes.”
What was she supposed to say to that? Thank you? Alex stayed silent. A few noises and beeps indicated he was still programming something. Then, silence. He said, “If you need to relieve yourself, you’ll have to say it out loud and the computer will provide for you. Also, if you say my name, the computer will let me know you need me.” Something about the way he said that made her shiver. She didn’t need him. Nothing would induce her to ask for him.
But when the door whooshed shut behind him, she wondered if she would be strong enough not to beg for him.
She did have to pee. Badly. “I need to urinate,” she said out loud.
Out of the floor, a bowl-shaped container appeared and positioned itself between her legs. She relieved herself and tried to ignore the humiliation of this latest personal affront. When she finished, a nozzle rose from the floor and sprayed a light stream to clean her. Then, the bowl descended and a towel dried her carefully.
All the amenities.
She could be here for the rest of her life. Her punishment completely in his hands, her personal hygiene no longer her own, her body possessed by him. Mated. Her throat closed and a dry sob escaped her lips. This wouldn’t do. She was a soldier, a trained Teran One Commander.
In twenty-four hours, everything she knew about her life had changed. Her brother was traitor who had been planning to destroy her planet’s ruling family. The man she once believed to be a criminal had been falsely accused and held her life in his hands. Why hadn’t she seen that? How could she have been so wrong? Worst of all, now he knew the truth. She wanted him, had always wanted him.
She took a deep breath and managed to slow her heartbeat. Assess the situation. Somehow, Tory had known about the secret delivery. How? And what had he meant that Teran One was more likely to send an assassin for her, not him? Unwanted thoughts drifted through her mind, like how her family had been slowly disappearing. In the last five years, her mother, her father, even her cousins had been killed.
Hers was a military family, rooted in tradition, raised to be fighters. Even Celeste, who was only eighteen, was in training for Black Ops. Their family connection to the royal family was strong and certain. King Darius Stender was her cousin, his father brother to her father. Darius’ family held the power of the throne and the Zeerah family protected the line. When Darius ordered her to take an unknown quadruple grack-lined box to Teran Five and deliver to a General Costas, Alex did it without question.
She wasn’t a fool. At court, loyalties shifted and alliances were created while families rose and fell from power. Had hers been deemed unnecessary? Bile rose to her throat. Standard operating procedure when faced with an implacable enemy with valuable cargo onboard? Blow up the ship. Suicide. Stars, she’d made it easy for them.
Worst of all, Tory knew. She couldn’t even cry anymore. It was as if she weren’t there, a ghost, empty. Someone had tried to wipe out her and her family after centuries of dying on the battlefield for Teran One. The Zeerahs had fought in the civil war that put the Stender family on the throne. For three generations, Alex’s bloodline had kept the peace but now, the only ones left were her and her sister. And what would happen to Celeste? Perhaps the Stender line had decided to eliminate the only family left that could contend for the throne.
Not Darius. For a moment, she wasn’t in Ingle’s quarters, hanging like a piece of meat, but in the Grand Hall on Teran One. Darius seemed like a gentle man, his kingship a duty he took seriously and reluctantly. Alex had the impression if it weren’t for his demanding family, he’d be tending his horses.
The King’s family had dwindled too, with Darius taking the throne unexpectedly after his brothers’ untimely deaths. Her mind spun around. Who would eliminate his family and hers? What about Darius’ uncle? The man stood beside Darius, always submissive, always reverent. But what if Pontoon had other plans?
He was Darius’ uncle by marriage. Pontoon came from the Gregor family, a distant heir to the throne. He’d married into the ruling family through King Treco Stender’s sister. Now, he stood at the right hand of the throne.
Another deep breath and her mind calmed. A strategy. She needed a strategy. Otherwise, her planet might be plunged into another civil war.
Chapter Three
“She has realized her planet’s government has tried to kill her,” Jezar told Tory.
It bothered him that Jezar was reading Alex. It was one thing when the Judge of Light read her. That was his job. But when Jezar probed her mind, it seemed…intrusive.
What did he really know about this Ardasian? A citizen of Teran Five, Jezar fit in well with the melting pot of that democratic colony, even though he was an Ardasian. Ardasians seemed human, though they weren’t. In fact, Jezar had told him that his people weren’t sure where they had come from, but their current planet, Ardasia, hadn’t been their first.
They were all telepaths, mind readers. Teran Five used them in every aspect of their trade and government. The Judges of Light were invaluable to all the Teran planets. But Jezar had signed on with Tory. The Ardasian seemed to know something was in the wind. On top of reading minds, some of them knew the future.
Tory didn’t ask and Jezar didn’t tell him. He was good with that. Tory didn’t want to know the future. He lived in the moment.
“Teran One’s Representative is live,” his communications man announced.
“By all means, open the channel.” He slipped into his command chair and stared at the stars dotting his view screen.
“This is Deputy Director Lin Mauser. I demand—”
“Let me straighten you out on one count. You demand nothing.” Tory kept his tone even. Perhaps this desk jockey didn’t know what had been in that hold.
“You are holding a commander of the Teran One military. That is an act of war—”
Tory interrupted him again. “A war against whom? I have claimed Commander Zeerah as my Saria.”
Silence.
He resisted a chuckle. The man was dying to ask about the cargo, but he didn’t dare. It might reveal what the cargo actually contained. And how important it was.
“What is the status of The Athena?” So Mauser was going to continue to beat around the bush.
“Commander Zeerah set the self-destruct sequence.”
More silence. Then, “So, her ship is destroyed?”
“Her ship is destroyed, but her cargo is safe with me.” He exchanged a smirk with Jezar. Fools. Tory was a master at this game.
“You mustn’t open it!” Mauser lost all his composure.
“Why not?” Tory hardened his tone. This planetary government hoped to get away with something heinous, horrible and he wanted them to pay. Through the fucking nose. “Tell you what? Why don’t I jettison it down to your planet? I mean, the impact might jar it a bit but—”
“No! You must not!” This asshole knew exactly what was in that box. Tory’s jaw clenched.
“Then you don’t get to demand anything, do you, Deputy Mauser?” He shook his head. There would be no negotiations. He wasn’t going to let anyone have possession of that shit. But he was going to make Teran One pay for their mistake.
“I wish to speak to Commander Zeerah,” the Deputy requested. That was better. His voice was a little more respectful now.
“Sure. Set it up, Dink,” he told his communications man. Tory shot a glance at Jezar. He would know what to do.
“On your transfer, sir,” Dink said.
&nbs
p; Tory pressed a button on his captain’s console. “Alex? I’ve got a desperate Deputy on the line for you.”
A small silence and then, “Is it video streamed?”
Tory winced. Yeah, she would think he’d do that. She was completely naked, trussed up like a pig. Why wouldn’t he humiliate her before her government? He sighed. “No. Audio only.” He clicked off. She always had believed the worst of him, hadn’t she?
She doesn’t think she knows who you are now, Jezar said to Tory telepathically.
She never knew me. In his thoughts, he admitted the bitter truth. If she had, she wouldn’t have believed her brother.
Considering the position she’s in now—
You’ve been listening? He didn’t regret restraining her on his rack. Maybe he was a bastard, but he’d fantasized about her in just that position. Her response had been everything he’d hoped. In taking her as a mate, he took a risk. Even now, she would kill him if she could. He couldn’t blame her.
It would be ironic if he died while trying to mate with Alexandra. What a way to go. For five years, he’d fantasized, wondered, replayed the time they’d spent together. He had made a few guesses and he could have been wrong about her. But he wasn’t. Commander Alexandra Zeerah liked being at his mercy. Whether she admitted it to herself or not, her body didn’t lie.
Do you want to know what she thinks about it?
Did he? Not really. No, but I need to know what they want her to do. Someone wants her dead.
Jezar gave him a short nod and closed his eyes. It would be easier if I connected you to her as a bridge.
No! He definitely didn’t want that. Part of him was afraid he’d find out things he didn’t want to know. Part of him wanted that advantage over her. Mostly, he didn’t want to know her thoughts at the moment. I’d rather just…hear what she hears. You can do that, correct?
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