Chapter 4
Natalie turned off her computer and strolled out of her office, but in the corridor, she met Tina. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Tina peered into the office. “It looks like you’ve been in here for a while and not looking for me at all.”
Natalie fidgeted. “I meant before that. I only came here because I couldn’t find you.”
Tina waved her hand and looked away. “I’ve been doing my training to get ready for the gathering.”
Natalie frowned. “Training happens down in the training studio, but you haven’t been there all morning. Arno hasn't been there either, so you can't tell me you've been training.”
Tina narrowed her eyes. “Are you calling me a liar?”
Natalie elbowed her. “You know what I mean.”
Tina eyed her with her head on one side. “Not all training happens in the studio, you know. My training schedule lists psychological preparation for the gathering. I have to be ready to act as Arno’s slave…”
Natalie stared at her. “So you were with Arno, practicing master and slave. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Arno lately.”
“I have to prepare myself, and that means learning all about him and what makes him tick,” Tina replied. “I have to know how to please him when we get down to the planet.”
“He’s not your lover,” Natalie pointed out. “He's your mission partner, and he'll be doing all sorts of distasteful stuff to you down there. Are you preparing yourself for that?”
Tina burst out laughing. “Of course, that’s exactly what I am preparing myself for.”
Natalie blushed to the roots of her hair. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You just came out of seclusion, and now you're doing who knows what kind of wild stuff with a man you just met. I'm worried about you.”
Tina burst into a radiant smile. “I know it’s crazy, but I've never felt this way about anybody, not even my fiancé back home. Maybe it's the modifications the regeneration bed made to my cellular structure, but I've never responded to anyone this way before. I can definitely see myself spending the rest of my life with him.”
“But Arno’s an officer of the Galactic Police Force,” Natalie pointed out. “You wouldn’t be spending your life with him on this ship. Where would you go, and what would you do?”
“I don’t know,” Tina replied. “I only know my future is with him.”
The two friends walked together back to the crew compartment. Tina paused at the bend in the corridor. “I’ll see you later tonight, won't I?”
Natalie nodded. “The four of us have a final briefing with the Commander before we transport to the gathering tomorrow. He’ll want to know we've completed all our training before we leave.”
“I’m sure he’ll be satisfied,” Tina turned on her heel and walked away.
Natalie stared after her. What was she going to do about this? Should she tell Kyan about Tina and Arno? She headed for her own quarters, but when she came around the corner, she spotted Kyan and Arno in conversation at the far end of the corridor.
The two men stood nose to nose, and Kyan murmured under his breath so no one but Arno could hear him.
Arno listened to Kyan with intent concentration. He nodded in response, and occasionally replied. What could they be talking about in low tones in the crew corridor? They could only be discussing Arno developing a relationship with Tina, the same way Natalie just discussed it with Tina.
Natalie stood stock still until Kyan finished speaking. His hands dropped to his sides, and Arno nodded one last time. He turned to leave, and his eye fell on Natalie. He smiled at her and murmured something back over his shoulder at Kyan. Then he strode right past her and disappeared around the corner.
Kyan came up to Natalie and took her hand. “What was that about?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “It’s like I told you before. You have nothing to worry about for your friend.”
”You know they're playing master and slave together behind closed doors, don't you?”
Kyan cocked his head to one side. “So are we.”
Natalie blushed again and stared at the floor. “That's true.”
Kyan shrugged. “He understands the danger, and he'll protect Tina from danger. I don't think we could have picked a better man to partner with her on this mission.”
Chapter 5
Natalie shifted from one foot to the other. She glanced around the transport bay, but of course there was nothing to see but Kyan. “So where are they?”
Kyan looked up from adjusting his belt. “They’ll be here. Don’t worry.”
“They still have ten more minutes before we’re scheduled to transport. Relax.”
“How can I relax at a time like this?” Natalie pulled the satin wrap around her shoulders, but she couldn’t keep warm. Under the wrap, her naked skin crawled. The atmospheric control blasted warm air into the transport bay, but the bare metal walls chilled her not matter what she did.
Kyan regarded her. “You should put your control collar on now.”
She stared at him. “Now? Why?”
“You can’t show up on the planet without it. You know that.” He rummaged in his pocket. “Here it is. I should shackle you before we transport, too.”
Natalie opened her mouth, but she couldn’t make her voice work. Why did this mission make her so anxious? Going back to the gathering didn't bother her. Ever since she saw Tina and Arno together in the training studio, she couldn’t make her peace with this mission. She couldn’t stand the idea of watching Tina perform that way, and she didn’t want Tina to see her perform with Kyan, either. Thinking about it made her skin crawl.
At that moment, the door slid back and Tina walked in with Arno. Actually, Arno walked in first leading Tina on a leash. The leather strap connected by a metal clip to her control collar. Electro-shackles held her hands behind her back, and she wore the same crossed leather harness over her bare chest that Arno wore.
Tina locked her eyes on Natalie’s face, but Natalie couldn’t recognize her friend. The woman she knew before had vanished and left a craven, submissive slave in her place. This slave wanted one thing in life: her master’s body. She wanted to lay herself at his feet and give herself to him, body and soul. Nothing else mattered, and nothing else occupied her thoughts. The smoky desire burned in Tina’s eyes. Her body, her heart, and her spirit belonged to Arno.
The big Eqel wore the same mask of hard determination. He owned Tina now, and he knew it. He was her master. He could do whatever he wanted with her, and she would obey and fall at his word.
What had he done to her? How many times had he taken Tina since that first time in the training studio? What had the two of them done together to prepare for this mission? Natalie dared not think. She would lose all her nerve if she did. She did her best to turn away, but she couldn’t.
She stared at Tina with morbid fascination. If she hoped to make a convincing performance down on that planet, Natalie would have to find some way of transforming herself into that craven slave, too. She couldn’t go down there the way she was. She would break the first time anyone touched her.
Kyan took hold of her arm and turned her toward him. He fixed her with his eyes, and the expression on his face sent a stab of red hot fire into her very guts. He wasn’t her tender lover anymore, either. He’d crossed the threshold to the other side, just like Tina. He was a master, too—her master.
In answer to her thoughts, he lifted the control collar and buckled it around her throat. The cold leather welded to her skin and burned her to her core. Kyan took a leash out of his pocket and clipped it to the collar. Natalie held his gaze, and a warm trickle of desire crept through her deepest tissues. Her delicate flower opened its luscious petals, and the nectar oozed down her thighs.
This was it. This was the change sweeping over her, transforming her into someone she didn’t recognize. He would drag her down into the underworld of insatiable desire, unt
il nothing would satisfy her but to serve Kyan with all her being. She was his slave, now and forever.
He watched the change wash her reservations away, and he gave the leash a yank. “Who’s your master now?”
Natalie’s lips pouted open. “You are.”
He yanked the leash again, and her hands relaxed their grip on the silken wrap. It slipped off her shoulders and crumpled to the floor, leaving her exposed to the world. Kyan stepped around behind her, and the next thing she knew, the electro-field buzzed around her wrists. She could tug and struggle all she wanted, but she couldn’t move her arms. Her nether lips yawned open again, and a spurt of juice wet her thighs.
Kyan ran his hand up inside her legs to the moist thatch of hair between her legs. He brushed the dripping petals aside and sent a fresh flood of juice running down her skin. Natalie caught her breath, and her thighs opened to his hand.
Kyan hummed under his breath. “Good. Very good.” He brought his fingers up to his mouth and tasted the juice. “Yes. Very good.”
He strode around in front of her again and took hold of the leash. He nodded to her, and then at Arno. He tugged the leash to make Natalie follow him and stepped onto the transport platform. Natalie took her place behind him, and Tina took her place behind Arno. They exchanged no words. They barely knew each other anymore.
Kyan took a handheld device out of his pocket and pushed a button. The deafening crash of the transport beam struck Natalie’s ears, but she couldn’t move her arms to cover them. She winced at the noise, but as soon as it began, it was over, and she found herself standing among towering trees with a bright golden sky overhead. Pastel-colored clouds drifted in the firmament. Iron mountains jutted into the sky along the far horizon, and flecks of light twinkled across the landscape.
Natalie looked around, but Tina and Arno were nowhere to be seen. Her position as Kyan’s slave stopped her from asking what had happened to them. He would explain nothing to her anymore. He would make all the decisions, and she would follow and obey. She put all her trust in him.
He surveyed the surroundings. Then he gave the leash a tug. “This way.”
Natalie followed him without a word. Anyone who saw them would see a master leading his slave to the gathering. He led her through the trees to a wide open plain. Dozens of lights dotted the land, and more than a thousand people strolled over the field. The countryside rolled down to a deep, green sea beyond the Promontory.
Natalie let her gaze wander over the scene. Was Tina out there somewhere? What about Amber and Melanie? No matter what might happen to her, she had to keep her eyes open for her friends. That was their mission. She couldn’t forget that.
Kyan started forward, and the leash yanked taut. He nearly pulled her off her feet, and when she stumbled after him, she crashed into him from behind. He glared at her over his shoulder with another hard yank on the leash. She struggled to keep pace with him. She walked a delicate tightrope between paying attention to him and keeping her awareness on everything around her. Above all else, she had to serve him properly. He wouldn’t stand her stepping out of line.
He led her into the heart of the gathering, and the festivities were already in full swing. Representatives from every imaginable species worked their slaves from every angle and in every position. Screams and cries rang into the sky. Fires burned here and there, and chairs, couches, beds, and platforms stood open to the air. Males and females reclined against them, bent over them, rolled on them, and banged against them.
Natalie did her best to keep her eyes pointed straight ahead while scanning the crowd for familiar faces. Every scene presented a hypnotizing picture of lust and carnal desire that fired her own appetite for contact with this dizzying array of potential partners. There seemed to be a lot of dainty iridescent Syllics around, but the field contained just as many Trunklians, Corelians, and even Eqels, along with some species Natalie didn’t recognize.
But she didn’t see any Toom, and definitely no humans. Tina and Arno must be on the other side of the Promontory. Like Natalie and Kyan, they had to make a convincing performance before they could relax and start looking around for their friends.
All at once, Kyan stopped and Natalie bumped into him again. He spun around with his eyes blazing. “That’s the second time you’ve failed to keep your leash. I have no choice but to punish you.”
Natalie opened her mouth to protest, but she caught herself in time and dropped her eyes. “Yes, Master.”
Chapter 6
Kyan headed for a large structure to their right it. Huge stones made up its walls, and a high arch covered the only opening through its heavy exterior. Daylight shone through the arch from the sky above the structure, and shouts and cries echoed out into the field. A long queue of representatives with their slaves waited to get in.
Natalie’s pulse quickened, but she couldn’t see into the structure. This must be the arena Kyan mentioned. What would happen in there? Would he really shackle her to a post and take her in front of all these people? Did any of the people around her wonder what she would be like? Did they imagine how she would perform in the arena? Dozens of slaves surrounded her on all sides, and no one paid them any attention.
When they got to the entrance, though, Kyan didn’t lead her into the arena. He led her up into the stands instead. He found an open seat overlooking the arena’s central ring and sat down. He dragged her down next to him so she sat on the stone floor at his feet.
Natalie gazed out into the arena. As Kyan mentioned, several thick posts stood in a circle around the middle of the ring with a slave shackled to each one. Different masters worked their slaves at each stanchion, and the crowd shouted and cheered and encouraged them.
At the post closest to Natalie and Kyan, a giant Trunklian worked his Corelian slave. The thick mane of golden hair around his head flew back and forth every time he moved. He towered over his wiry slave. His hefty body threatened to shatter her fragile form. But Corelians were stronger than they looked. Natalie observed them at gatherings before. They could bend and adjust to any position and any size master who came their way. This slave pressed her chest against the post and he pumped her ass from behind.
All at once, he threw back his shaggy head, bared his fangs, and let out a roar that resonated through the stands. Natalie's hair stood on end at the sound. It brought back a flood of memories from her past, of Trunklians roaring in ecstasy over her
The slave twisted and writhed against her shackles. The Trunklian pulled out and spun her around to face him. He lifted her off the ground and took hold of her legs. He pulled her straight out from the post and spread her legs around his waist. He dove in and pumped into her while she dangled by her shackles, but she screamed in greater ecstasy with every pump. The crowd went wild, and some people threw money into the ring.
Natalie stared at the pair in fascination. Her genitals ached for release. When would her turn come? When would Kyan drive his own blistering jack hammer into her gaping hole and make her scream for the crowd? When would she twist and spin in base passionate rapture?
A growl from Kyan brought her attention back to him. He pulled her closer by her leash, and she dropped her head to his knee. His rough hand closed over her neck and squeezed. His hips flexed toward her, and he moved her head closer to his crotch.
At that moment, a movement down in the arena caught Natalie’s eye. She glanced up and almost cried out in surprise. The Trunklian and two other masters led their slaves out of the arena, and another group was leading their slaves in to take their places.
A Syllic unshackled his slave from the next post over, and the slave collapsed in a heap at his feet. He waved toward the side wall, and a group of Corelians hurried into the ring. Their slender limbs and wraith-like movements struck a surreal contrast with the burly Trunklian, and the sun shone on their translucent skin. They surrounded the prostrate slave and lifted her off the ground. Then they carried her out of sight.
On the other side, a Corelian master
put a bit into his Eqel slave’s mouth and made her crawl out of the arena on her hands and knees. He steered her with reins attached to the bit, and every time she went the wrong direction or slowed down, he switched her across the buttocks with a stiff hand.
Natalie ignored all these spectacles, though, because the people entering the arena commanded all her attention. The first pair to enter she recognized instantly. Arno led Tina by her leash and took the post right in front of Natalie and Kyan. She could make out every detail of their matching harnesses, and she could see the expression on Tina’s face as clear as day.
Tina’s mouth hung open in a craven pout, and her thighs glistened with damp. A blush of excitement colored her cheeks, and she gazed at Arno with naked desire. She wanted this. She wanted whatever he was going to do to her. Natalie’s heartbeat quickened, and her blood raged in her veins. Kyan’s grip tightened around her neck. The rising tension caught him, too. They would watch this spectacle together, and Kyan would take her in the heat of the moment.
Then, all at once, Kyan caught his breath, and Natalie couldn’t suppress a cry of astonishment when another couple entered the arena. Natalie would recognize that copper red hair anywhere. It was Amber! And striding into the ring at her side was none other than Natalie’s old Toom master, Fo.
Kyan’s hand fell away from her neck, and she rose to her knees to get a better look. Amber moved through the ring with assured steps. Fo’s presence calmed her. Her recent experience in the regeneration bed calmed her. The Toom's modifications made to their human captives open and receptive to every sexual suggestion. Amber’s slavery excited her deepest passions, and she savored everything Fo did to her.
Natalie’s vulva swelled and opened at the memory of her time with Fo. He dominated her and forced her to submit to his whims, and she loved every minute of it. She craved his attention, and she would do anything to please him. She gave herself to the representatives to whom he sold her at the gatherings. Every male who touched her, every body part inserted into her hungry orifices, ignited her deepest, most sensitive passions. She couldn’t get enough of it.
Alien Romance Box Set: Eblian Mates Complete Series (Books 1 - 3): A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance Page 11