Battling Rapture

by Stormie Kent

  He knew Bronwyn would do what he asked, but Niki was more unpredictable. She had only shown fear for a moment before her usual anger had consumed her. If she was as unpredictable as her sister, and quick tempered as well, she and Bronwyn could end up the property of Bute Chaeen and the rest of them could end up dead.

  They needed to be alive and get a message to Venn.

  “Bronwyn, you show them all the hauteur of the Huntu’s number-one edela. Never let one of them touch you without reminding them of your rank, status and the wrath of your brother.” He knew this was a role she’d been taught to play since infancy.

  “I understand, Rhine.” She was more subdued than he could ever remember seeing her.

  He turned to his new slave. Bute Chaeen would definitely want her. Rage welled to the surface in him and he quickly took control of the emotion. His cousins shifted uneasily.

  “Niki, you are my slave on Tuetvon. You must do as I say quickly and without question.”

  “Why?” She shifted and he controlled the urge to inhale deeply of her scent.

  “The Contu will not accept you are off-limits if you aren’t openly and aggressively possessed and guarded by an owner. Bute Chaeen will take offense that I do not give you to him in tribute.”

  “Give me to him. There will be no giving. Once I finish neutering him, I will be back for you.” She almost snarled it at him.

  He resisted the urge to hold his balls. “You must act the part. We can’t give him a reason to take you and Bronwyn and kill the rest of us. There are too many of them and no one knows where we are.”

  “We are cleared for landing,” Olaf said.

  Rhine turned away from her distrustful eyes. He needed to focus on landing the ship. Bute Chaeen wanted something. Rhine guessed it was the trilliu, a rare mineral the Huntu had acquired in the twelve thousandth galaxy. It could be made into clean fuel for space transport. The Huntu currently had a monopoly on the substance. They had refused to sell to Bute Chaeen. Maybe he wanted to renegotiate.

  They landed smoothly. He pushed a button on the captain chair controls and turned to Niki. He stood. He observed her tense body and intense expression. She gazed back at him. Hostile was too mild for this woman.

  “What?” she asked.

  His next move wasn’t going to make her any more docile. Before he could think too much about it, he snatched her from her seat and cradled her in his arms. He ran his hands over her back as he made sure to slide her along his front.

  “What the hell are you doing? There isn’t time for you to feel me up, you perv.”

  She pushed against his chest. Her struggles to free herself helped accomplish his goal and enflame his senses at the same time. Her full breasts pressed and jiggled against him as he clutched her ample ass. It was enough to make him forget his true purpose.

  He caught her wrist before her palm connected with his nose.

  He spun her away quickly. “I needed my scent to be fresh on you.”

  She watched him through slit lids. He forced his eyes from her heaving breasts and focused on what was important. Her wide leg stance and fisted hands. He knew how fast she was. She wasn’t as quick as him, but she could do a lot of damage if he happened to be distracted, which he was. He sidestepped her first pass, moving away from the fist that almost struck his jaw. His right hand deflected her side kick and he used his left hand to grab her arm and jerk her around so that her back was flush against his front.

  He crushed both her arms to her sides and jerked her away from anything she could gain leverage from with her feet. He couldn’t resist pressing his face to the crook of her neck and inhaling. Somehow their little sparring session was arousing him more than it angered him. He jerked his face back quickly as she turned her head to bite him.

  “Calm down. You will be among strong hypersensitives who won’t believe I own a level one exotic and haven’t touched her.”

  “Warn me next time, asshole. I don’t like surprises and I definitely don’t want to be manhandled.”

  He leaned close to her ear and spoke softly. “You lie.” Her nipples were hard against his arms and the sweet spice of her pussy clouded his judgment. His cock pressed against her back. Her struggles stroked him nicely. “You call me Sir in alien company.”

  “Would you two stop the foreplay? We’re really in trouble here,” Bronwyn said.

  “What do you know about foreplay, little one?” Rhine asked.

  “Nothing, and I won’t ever know anything because she’s going to get you killed and me passed around as though I’m a five-credit whore,” Bronwyn snarled.

  Niki calmed instantly. She turned her face to Bronwyn. “It is important that I do this?”

  “Yes. We have to buy time. We need my brother to look for us or time to get a message to him.” Bronwyn’s features softened for a moment. “I know Earth women find it hard to follow orders, but…”

  “I understand,” Niki said.

  He released her slowly. She stepped away from him.

  “They’ve signaled for us to disembark. I’ve set the ship to stun anyone attempting to board the Alta without our life signs,” Tor said.

  “Grab your emergency bags. Bronwyn, add clothes appropriate for the edela to yours. Niki, get a few garments together.” He wouldn’t try to pretend Bute Chaeen would let them go quickly.

  Rhine glanced through the view screen at the wasteland that was Tuetvon. The Contu had exploited their planet’s resources. The only thing left of the once flourishing world was the decrepit shells of skyscrapers and factories. Bute Chaeen held the last semi-fertile fields and farm animals. He also owned land rich in mines. He controlled the planet’s only natural resources.

  They exited the Alta to a fully armed guard. Bronwyn descended the ship’s ramp on Tor’s arm. Rhine watched her performance. Her posture was perfect and her head high. She looked down her nose at the Contu guard in front of her, then straight ahead. She stared past the men with a slight sneer on her face. Bronwyn at her haughty finest.

  He braced himself and reached back for Niki. The moment she stepped into the open, the Contu’s muzzles went up. They sniffed the air. One stepped closer. Rhine brought his hand quickly to his blaster. Gunter moved closer. The Contu stepped back.

  They moved forward. Rhine looked up. Bute Chaeen controlled his planet from this fortress. It soared into the gray sky. Clouds and smog obscured the sun even though Rhine knew it was daytime on Tuetvon. Aircraft patrolled the sky above the buildings and used spotlights to investigate the darkest corners. Each splash of light against fortress walls showed them to be the color of spilled blood.

  For once, Niki gave off neither anger nor desire. She was completely blank. He wished her scent was blank. Her voice would be pleasing to the Contu as well. He’d reminded her to remain silent. She wasn’t covered enough, but it couldn’t be helped. Bronwyn’s clothing would be too big for her, so her arms remained bare and the upper swells of her breasts exposed. The first dog to touch her would die.

  She’s mine. He controlled his breathing with effort. He had to remain in control. He couldn’t afford to let misplaced possessiveness interfere with his duty. As the highest-ranking Huntu present, he needed to get them all out alive.

  The fortress entryway was long and dark, lit sporadically with artificial torches. Rhine studied the path they took. The corridor was surprisingly empty, yet he could hear many voices ahead. They turned a corner, and through a double archway, Rhine spied the great hall filled almost to brimming with Contu men and women. Here and there he spied various other aliens, mostly women. They each carried the slave brand.

  In the center of the large room, in a chair which resembled a red throne, sat Bute Chaeen. He was in his humanoid form. Quiet spread as they were led deeper into the room. Many of the beast men were inhaling deeply. The air was thick with lust and desire.

  Bute Chaeen sat up from his lounging position. “She is the exact color of Rhinonian colbruna. I love the decadent candy. And her smell.”
The shifter’s face changed from humanoid to beast, then back again.

  Rage exploded within Rhine. No one would be allowed to touch her. He would bathe in Bute Chaeen’s entrails first. “Mine.”

  “Surely you would share with your host.” The shifter smiled, but his eyes were hard.

  “I don’t share.” Rhine would not back down.

  Bute Chaeen stood and moved closer. He inhaled deeply. “You haven’t even fucked her. If you need help breaking her, I have trained many slaves.”

  He forgot himself for a moment and repositioned to launch himself at Bute Chaeen. Niki pressed her body to his back and side, managing to leave his arm free. Heat spread through his body. It startled him that she would touch him voluntarily and he calmed enough to gain control.

  “You don’t train a level one as if she were a common slave, Bute Chaeen.” He didn’t react as she pinched his back. “We have more pressing matters. I have the Huntu edela with me and her brother is expecting her within the week. Why have you…invited…us here?”

  The shifter turned to Bronwyn. Concern and then calculation crossed his features. “My apologies, Edela, I did not realize you would be with the males of your tribe. I do have business with them, and when it is completed to my satisfaction, you may be returned to your brother.”

  “I am not accustomed to so much mixed company, Bute Chaeen. I will need to retire, and I am not allowed to go anywhere without the males of my family.” She stared past his shoulder, head high.

  The shifter regarded her for a moment. Rhine remained ready.

  “The edela is tired. Do you have a suite large enough for us all?” Rhine would speak for Bronwyn as the second-in-command of Tribe Huntu.

  “I’m sure our host doesn’t mean to be inhospitable, cousin.” The way Bronwyn said it left no doubt that she indeed believed that is exactly what the shifter meant to do.

  He tensed as amusement bubbled up in Niki, who was still pressed against him, one hand at his back. It was the first emotion she’d let slip since exiting the Alta.

  Bute Chaeen smiled. The smile contained mostly sharp teeth. “Find a suite large enough for our honored guests in the third east tower.”

  He turned abruptly and stalked to his crimson throne.

  Rhine gripped Niki’s arm as they were ushered out of the room by their guards. The fortress was a gigantic maze. He opened all of his senses to make sure he could retrace their steps. He was sure his cousins were doing the same.

  The guards left them at the door. They filed in slowly, then closed and locked the door. There was a table in front of the overstuffed sofa. The men surrounded it. Tor brought Bronwyn, Rhine tugged Niki over. Rhine signaled his cousins. They all formed a tight circle and placed their bags on the narrow table.

  They quickly pulled out the things they needed. They assembled the audio-visual jammer together and turned it on. The noise it made was annoying to hypersensitive ears and Rhine flinched before he regulated the sound.

  “It would be wise to only keep the jammer up for eight minutes this time,” Gunter said.

  “What is it?” Niki asked.

  “It jams any audio or visual surveillance of the room,” Gunter replied.

  She backed toward the wall and looked around warily.

  “We have the parts to create a long-range communicator, but it will take days,” Olaf said.

  “Days where we have to follow Bute Chaeen’s rules. Let’s keep our eyes on Bronwyn. Bute Chaeen all but admitted he would hold her until he got what he wanted.” Rhine stared at the young woman as he said this.

  Bronwyn stared at Niki.

  “Niki, you’re going to have to have sex with Rhine,” Bronwyn said softly.

  Rhine was almost glad Bronwyn had addressed the issue with the Earth woman. She seemed to listen to Bronwyn, where she only fought him.

  “Say what?” Niki’s eyes doubled in size.

  “We can all smell that he hasn’t claimed you. Bute Chaeen has already mentioned it.” Bronwyn pressed her advantage. “Unless you want to be rutted by a furry man whore when he demands to train you properly.”

  Acid pooled in Rhine’s stomach as he thought about Niki being violated by the Contu dictator. The shifter wasn’t known for taking the female’s body frailty into account when engaging in sex play. He fucked each woman as if she were a Contu, even if her bones were softer and her skin thinner. He glanced at Niki’s delicate throat.

  Bronwyn joined the men around the table as they deactivated the jammer and returned the parts to the bags. Niki still stood pressed against the wall. He felt her eyes on him before he turned to her. She looked more ready to fight him than to fall into his arms for a passionate interlude.

  They stood facing each other as he listened to each of his cousins check the rooms behind the doors along the walls. Eventually they were left alone.

  He could hear her heart pounding. She hadn’t moved from the wall. The way she held her hands, he could easily imagine daggers in them. Her head was slightly lowered and her jaw tight.

  Her pupils were dilated. Her features were set in fierce lines. If he couldn’t smell the overwhelming aroma of her pussy, he would believe she didn’t want anything to do with him.

  “It has to be done, Niki.” He tried to keep his voice neutral and calm.

  “I’m not Camryn.” Her mouth barely moved as she spoke through gritted teeth.

  If he hadn’t been trained from the cradle to mask his reactions, she would have seen his eyes widen. She might have seen him shudder. He raised an eyebrow instead.

  “I don’t sleep with men in love with Camryn.”

  It felt as though she’d kicked him in the stomach. How had she discovered one of the most shameful secrets of his life so quickly? He almost hesitated in his duty. She saw too much.

  He saw something too. He saw the rapid pulse at her throat and the accelerated rise and fall of her breasts. He saw the outline of her stiff nipples against the bodice of her gown. He could smell her arousal. Her pussy called to him, overriding any distress he felt from her words. His cock strained against the supple leather of his pants.

  Something more than the desire to keep her from becoming the unwilling tribute to Bute Chaeen coursed through his body. He gazed at her clenched hands and fierce expression. She was vulnerable and he wasn’t immune to her struggle. He didn’t want to cause her harm, but he had a duty to her. He stiffened his resolve.

  She was getting fucked and it was for her own good.

  Chapter Three

  He didn’t look deterred in the least. He hadn’t even flinched when she accused him of being in love with Camryn. He didn’t deny the accusation either.

  “Is this your only objection?” he asked.

  He pulled off his jacket and shirt. Rope after rope of tanned muscle distracted her for a moment.

  “Yes…no. I make the choices as to who I sleep with and—”

  He’d taken off his shoes and worked the molded pants down his legs. He was commando. No warning or anything. He just put all that gigantic male goodness on display. Thick veins coursed around the base of his penis. The mushroom head was slightly lighter than the flushed shaft, but no less impressive. Yeah, her mouth watered thinking about how his cock would feel inside it.

  She knew she had to have sex with Rhine for her own good, but she wasn’t going to just lie down and take it. Maybe a fight would be good for him too. He couldn’t really want to fuck a woman who would only be second place in his heart to the woman he truly wanted. Despite the enormous physical evidence to the contrary.

  Damn, his dick is big. She was almost afraid she couldn’t handle it. It was moving closer as she just stood there, mesmerized. She looked up. She didn’t care for the smirk on his face at all.

  “I don’t necessarily need to fall asleep with you, though it will help to transfer my scent.” He shrugged. “You can take the floor if you don’t like the bed.”

  The comment snapped her out of her lust-induced stupor.

&nb
sp; “You’re tall enough.” She stopped, and looked down at his cock. “And long enough to ride this ride. But are you strong and smart enough? No weapons. Pin me and we proceed.”

  It wouldn’t take long for him to get the best of her. He was stronger. This way she could enjoy him without the guilt. She was really going to enjoy him.

  Her heart thundered loudly. There was no other choice for her. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to touch him without this concession.

  “Are you sure this is how you want to do this?” He shook out his arms and she admired the flex of the muscles there and on his chest.

  Her response was to feint left and then dive right to remove herself from the corner she had backed herself into. She immediately pressed both her fists together, jumped and brought them down on the back of his neck. He didn’t even stumble. She danced away as he turned. If she had been less quick, he would have caught her in the gigantic hand which grabbed for her arm.

  He moved at her fast and she went from offensive to defensive. She blocked the hands that sought to grab her while managing to throw a few punches. Punches that never landed as Rhine blocked each one. She’d never fought a man and not given as good as she got. Ever. Her admiration for his strength and quick reflexes fueled her arousal. Her nipples were tight and her pussy tingled as it swelled.

  He wasn’t even attempting to hit her, which was definitely allowing their little sparring session to play out longer than it would have if he endeavored to hurt her. He wasn’t exactly gentle, but his focus was apprehension, not attack. He backed her into a corner which contained a horrible curio cabinet full of animal figurines.

  She ducked his next attempted grab, spun away and pulled the curio cabinet down between them. She didn’t pause to watch him leap away. She turned and ran for the sofa. She hopped over the arm and landed on the seat. She wanted the large piece of furniture between her and Rhine. A hand grabbed her ankle and tugged. She fell on the soft cushions. It was hard to turn on the plush surface. She was dragged backward quickly. She used the momentum to turn.

  His flushed face and determined expression made her nervous. She kicked out with her free leg. Her foot made contact with his naked chest. He grunted. She almost winced. She’d forgotten she was wearing shoes. The shoe print looked red and obscene across his pectoral. Her hesitation was her downfall. He grabbed her offending leg more roughly than he’d touched her so far. He jerked her forward, released her legs and grabbed her wrists in mid jab.