by Renee Rose
She screamed.
Veck yes.
He spanked her there again. And again.
“Hurts, Master,” she whimpered.
His balls tightened. He returned to her plump cheeks, spanking harder. If she kept calling him Master in that pained little voice of hers, he’d come all over her ass.
But her skin turned a hot shade of red under his palm, and his conscience nipped at him.
“I’m sorry, little slave,” he murmured, rubbing her ass swiftly. “I spanked you hard, didn’t I? Want me to veck it better?”
For one second she didn’t answer, and he had to deal with the careening guilt and disappointment. Because he wouldn’t force himself on her if she didn’t want it. She may be a slave, but she wasn’t his slave.
But then she let out a held breath. “Yes.”
Thank veck.
He got on his knees behind her and shoved his flight pants down to further free his throbbing malehood. He already knew how wet she was, so he entered her without preparation.
He let out a growl of pleasure at sinking into her wet heat. “I’m warning you, human, I’m going to veck hard.”
There was no holding back. The need to claim her, to own her, to vecking ruin her barrelled through him like a ship going warp speed.
He pistoned in and out. “Naughty human for tempting me.” He plowed in deep, smacking her hot ass with his loins with each in-stroke. “Naughty slave for trying to seduce me. Why would you do that?”
She didn’t answer, not that he expected her to. How could she when he used her so ruthlessly? On and on he vecked her, gripping her hips to hold her immobile for his high velocity thrusts.
“Naughty, naughty little female for making me want to come all over your pretty face.” He reached around and cupped one of her breasts, squeezing tight. “All over these perfect breasts.”
In and out he jacked, all rational thought gone, replaced only by the need to turn the little female inside out.
He wanted it to go on forever.
Couldn’t take another second.
She was too hot. Too tight. Too juicy. Too vecking pliant.
His roar echoed off the ship walls as he plowed deep and stayed there, filling her with his Zandian seed.
As a sex slave, she’d be modified not to conceive.
That idea shouldn’t piss him off, but it did.
He didn’t want to ever pull out, so he gathered Leti up onto her knees, her back against his chest, his hand caged around her throat.
“Human, you just short-circuited my mind,” he growled in her ear, inching back and then tapping her sweet ass again. “I wish I could veck you all night long.”
She trembled, perspiration dripping down her back, her breath making her rounded breasts bob.
He stroked his thumb along her frantic pulse. “Are you all right, little female?”
When she didn’t answer, he pulled out. “Release cuffs,” he voice commanded the handcuffs, and they dropped to her calves. He moved swiftly, picking her up by the waist and backing into the chair.
He settled her on his lap, his lips finding her shoulder. He knew next to nothing about females, even less about human females. He’d never even vecked before, but it had been a meteoric first attempt. And what he’d seen in the old Zandian holograms looked nothing like what he’d just done. No, they’d shared something far more bestial and raw. Something other species do.
He stroked Leti’s back. “I was too rough. Forgive me, beautiful.”
“I’m fine,” she said, but her voice shook and she attempted to stand up from his lap.
No. No, no, no, no. He held her fast. He didn’t like that one bit. Was she running from him? He hoped to the one true Zandian star he hadn’t traumatized the beautiful creature. He hadn’t meant to be so cruel but hurting her had made him delirious with lust.
Which might mean something terrible about him.
Or it might just be how sex felt. Hadn’t she admitted some human females find pain sexual?
“Look at me.” He didn’t even know this side of himself. This male who suddenly had to soothe. Was it not enough to possess the little human female’s body? Now he wanted her soul, too?
When she looked, he quirked a sympathetic brow. “More than you bargained for?”
The proud little thing kicked up her chin. “Of course not.”
He couldn’t stop the smile tugging at his lips. Her inner steel made him want to go a second round with her. What would it take to break the beautiful creature?
No, he didn’t want to break her.
Yes, I do.
Veck. He really did.
It wasn’t the pain that had her reeling. Yes, her ass burned, but that would pass in an hour or two. It was the effect the horned alien had on her.
Every time she thought she was getting somewhere with him, he’d flip the game. She’d found herself incapable of “pleasing” him other than surrendering to his rough desires. Rough desires that awakened an incredible fire within her. And left her without any form of defense.
Like an empty hull.
Who in the hell was she, if not the over-sexualized pet who worked every angle to keep her feet dry? Though the warrior hadn’t threatened her with anything worse than his hand on her ass—and he’d already apologized for that, she’d never felt so vulnerable. So unprotected.
He held an arm around her waist like a tight band until she stopped struggling. When she wouldn’t look at him, he pinched her chin between his thick digits and turned her. His purple-brown eyes searched hers, forehead wrinkled up in sexy confusion.
She forced her armor back in place and put a purr in her voice to keep it from wobbling. “You know my name, warrior, but I don’t know yours. Unless you wanted me to call you Master.”
She hadn’t missed his excitement every time she called him that. This male loved the idea of having his very own female to punish and fuck.
The thing was, she’d been used by every sort of male, of at least a dozen species. Some had been rough. Some had hurt her.
But no experience compared to what she’d felt with this male.
She wanted him to hurt her as much as he’d seemed to want to inflict pain. She’d craved his every slap, every thrust, even though the intensity behind them was too much. No, not too much. Exactly right.
She loved the brutality behind the warrior’s dark interest. Maybe because she felt he, too, lost control. Not to her, but to his own dark desires to possess her.
Something snapped behind his eyes. Irritation. He disliked when she flirted with him. Even though his attraction to her was undeniable. “I’ve changed my mind,” he said cooly, pushing her off his lap. “You will call me Master.”
She tried to ignore the staggering disappointment at being released, despite the fact that only a moment before she’d been trying to escape his touch and scrutiny.
A comms unit near his collar crackled. “Trouble in the ballroom. We’re exiting through the back. Do you copy, Paal?”
She tensed. Did that mean Mina was in trouble?
“Copy that. Preparing for takeoff,” her warrior answered.
Paal. So that was his name. Strong and sturdy like him.
She watched in fascination as he sprang into motion. He clapped the handcuffs back on her wrists and pinned her once more to a nearby wall before he took the helm of the ship and started the engines. The doors swished open and Mina and the other purple warrior rushed in.
Thank the sweet mother Earth.
“Take off,” the other warrior barked at Paal. “I will report to the prince.” He disappeared into a separate room.
Mina cocked her head at Leti, her glance sweeping over her position and resting on her ass, which must be painted bright red. “Looks like things didn’t go so well for you, showcat.”
A laugh burst from her lips at the old nickname, even as tears speared her eyes. Mina had been the only other pet at Dorhock’s she’d liked. The only one with half a brain and the same inst
incts for survival as Leti. They’d used humor and sarcasm to make their situation bearable, and relied on each other for safety and the small comforts.
“Buckle up for takeoff, Lady Tara,” Paal barked.
Mina ignored him and rushed over and reached for the cuffs, but she couldn’t budge them. “How do you release these handcuffs, Paal?” she called.
“Are you buckled? I’m taking off.”
She grabbed Leti’s wrist as the ship swooped into flight, throwing them both to the side. “Uh, no. I wasn’t. The cuffs, Paal?”
“I’m sorry. No time to wait.”
The ship swooped again and Mina knocked into her.
“Maybe let him fly for a minute,” Leti muttered. “Are we being chased?” She didn’t want to die just yet.
“Someone tried to assassinate us, so Erick killed him first. Then the Emperor suggested we leave before we disturbed his party any further,” Mina summarized.
Leti digested that information. She’d gone from abused sex slave to escaped slave on the run with three purple-skinned beings who were wanted dead.
She decided it was still an improvement. Her life may be in more danger now, but at least her sanity would remain intact.
Unless she made the mistake of tangling with Paal again.
But more importantly, “Who’s Erick?”
She swore Mina blushed. “My mate.”
Genuine happiness filled her chest. Her friend had found freedom and love. Miracles really could happen for a pair of pets.
“How did you get on Paal’s wrong side?” Mina asked, quirking her brows at Leti’s still smarting ass.
In the cockpit, she saw Paal stiffen, clearly listening. Mina followed her gaze with a curious gleam in her eye.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I got on his wrong side.” She weighed her words. “More that he’s the sort who’d rather take—forcibly—than have it offered.”
Paal’s spine straightened, the back of his neck radiated tension.
Mina gave an exaggerated expression of awe. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that of him.”
Were the tips of his ears turning a darker purple?
The ship banked again sharply and she had a feeling it had more to do with Paal’s irritation than any real need to fly that way.
“Paal, how do you release these cuffs?” Mina asked again.
“Release cuffs,” he grumbled and the cuffs sprang open.
“You do realize humans are far more delicate than Zandians, don’t you?” Mina scolded him.
Her casual treatment of the whole Paal thing helped Leti tamp her rioting emotions down.
“She experiences far more pain and won’t heal as fast as a Zandian, either.”
Zandian. So that’s what they were called.
Still Paal did not turn around, but he answered stiffly, “She did not lacrimate.”
“Lacrimate?” Leti repeated.
“He means cry.” Calling to the cockpit, Mina said, “That doesn’t mean you didn’t hurt her. Ohhh. You meant take forcibly.” She stared at the rainbow-hued jizz between Leti’s legs.
That made Paal turn. When he caught the direction of Mina’s gaze, he surged to his feet, his expression wooden. “I apologize, Lady Tara. She was not mine to claim or to punish.” He bowed.
“Mina,” her friend corrected.
“Lady Mina,” he amended.
Lady Mina? Whoa. Her friend had really risen in station since finding her kind.
Mina walked to a closet and produced a white tunic, which she tossed Leti. “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to her.”
“He already did,” she mumbled. “I’m fine.”
“She is your friend. I should not have…” he stopped and swallowed, probably remembering in vivid detail all the things he’d done to her. She sure as hell couldn’t forget them.
She tied the tunic around her waist. It was short, only coming to her upper thighs, leaving an ample amount of flesh showing between the top of her boots and the hem. Paal glared at her legs as if she were tempting him on purpose again.
And just like that, her sense of power returned.
That’s right, warrior. I have the goods that make you lose control.
“I’m thinking she will require a Zandian sponsor for the prince to grant her assylum. I guess I’d hoped for a happier partnership between you two.” She shot Leti a conspiratorial glance, one Leti knew all too well.
Her friend was telling her to make nice with this male, because he could be her ticket to freedom, or at least safety.
I fucking tried.
She’d tried her best, but the male resented all her attempts. He must think she was trying to play him.
Well, she was.
“Why wouldn’t you be her sponsor?” Paal cast Mina a wary look, mistrust simmering beneath his stern gaze. There was something else, though, too. He wore the awareness of a trap being sprung.
Another surge of power went through Leti.
That meant Mina’s plan had worked. Because if the warrior didn’t want her, he would shrug and tell her to find some other being. But, instead, conflict vibrated in the tense set of his shoulders, the firmness of his jaw.
And damn if his gaze didn’t keep flicking to the apex of her bare legs as if he wanted to see where he’d just spent.
“Well, I think Prince Zander hopes to mate his warriors to every available female to ensure the continuation of the species. Especially before the war.” Mina gave an innocent shrug. “Also, I’ll be traveling quite a bit with Erick on official ambassadorial business.”
A muscle flexed in Paal’s jaw and his horns twitched, but he simply nodded stiffly and bowed.
Mina waited until his back was turned before she tossed Leti a smile. “Come on.” She hooked a hand through Leti’s elbow and led her toward a washroom in the rear. “You look underfed, and although you certainly look adorable with your, ahem, rainbow decoration, we should get you cleaned up and comfortable. There are clothes in the back and a washroom. Did you hate the food on Jujo?”
“The emperor made me earn it,” she muttered. She couldn’t resist a glance over her shoulder as she left and found Paal had also turned, a deep frown etched between his brows. Did the warrior actually care?
She smiled, winked, and snapped her pigtails as she whirled back, earning an eye roll from the purple-skinned warrior.
A flutter of something foreign winged through her chest. Excitement? Interest? Whatever it was, she’d better watch herself around Paal. The last the she needed was emotional involvement. It violated her personal code of slave conduct. She’d learned from the tender age of six never to care for anyone or anything. And if you do, for some reason, take a shining to someone or something—never let it show.
Because if they know what you love, they know how to hurt you.
2
Zander paced the length of what had become his war room. Seke, his Master at Arms, stood against a wall, arms folded across his chest as they waited for Erick’s hologram to fully appear.
It flickered and then projected into the room from the ship he’d taken on a diplomacy trip to Jujo. His incoming transmission had been marked urgent, which worried Zander.
“My lord, we were attacked,” Erick said as soon as the conference began. Thank veck his business advisor knew how to get straight to the point.
“Taramina?” Seke barked. His concern for his daughter, Erick’s mate, was immediate.
Zander kicked himself for allowing Erick to take her. She was one of only three female Zandians of childbearing age alive.
“She’s fine. We all are.” Again, Zander appreciated Erick’s concise report.
“What happened?”
“There was a party after the banquet and during the entertainment, a being fired a laser from a balcony. I returned fire and killed the would-be assassin, a Finnian.”
“How did the assassin miss?” Seke asked.
“I’d assessed all possible threats and vulnerabilities to our posi
tion when we were seated.” Erick left it at that, but the rest was clear. He’d kept Taramina and himself safe. Though Erick ran all of Zander’s business and financial dealings, he’d been trained as a warrior by Seke, same as all of the remaining Zandians. He would know what to do when under attack.
“The emperor insisted he didn’t know how the male got on planet and swore he hadn’t given permission for any attack, but I have my doubts. I informed him the time had come to choose sides. If he chose to support the Finn, we would cut them off completely from the supply of Zandian crystal when we take back our planet.”
“And?” Zander prompted.
“He asked for time to consider his position. I gave him until the next planet rotation. I asked that his show of support come in the form of military aid.”
Seke nodded. “Good.”
Erick shrugged. “We’ll see. Any word from the other leaders?”
“We’ll brief you when you come in,” Seke cut in, before Zander could answer, reminding them both that the communication could be hacked.
“Of course.” Erick nodded.
“Anything else?” Zander asked.
“One small detail.”
“What is it?”
“We’re returning with a stolen human slave. A female pet of the emperor. Mina knew her.”
“How is that supposed to help diplomacy?” Zander snapped. He seriously didn’t have the vecking time or patience for this sort of excrement.
“Her disappearance should not be linked to us. Paal freed her.”
“It had better not. I don’t care what she means to Tara, one human isn’t worth jeopardizing our entire vecking war effort.”
“Of course not, my lord.”
He ground his teeth. “She’ll be Tara’s responsibility.”
“Yes, my lord. I’m sure Mina understands.”
Mina. Yes. He’d forgotten she preferred to be called the latter part of her name now.
“Be sure she does.”
Erick bowed and ended the transmission.
He turned to hear Seke’s assessment. “Well?”
“It’s not a good sign. We should assume they’ll back the Finn.” The grim lines around his Master at Arms’ face showed his age more than ever. “The pressure Erick applied is good, though. The trouble is that most planet leaders believe us incapable of winning this battle. And we’re even less so without their support.”