“I find I want you because you intrigue me.” The alien reached up and lowered the part of his veil that covered his face. “I am Mingor Faur.”
“Holy shit.” Noah couldn’t help himself. Mingor was purple. But not a dark purple like his eyes. Mingor was the exact same shade as the massive lavender farms that Noah passed on his way to the docks. When the flowers came into bloom, the scent was almost overpowering, just like this guy. Not that he smelled bad, not at all. He smelled…fresh, almost like an ocean breeze. It was his very presence that was overwhelming. “What are you?”
Mingor smiled, revealing very human lips and teeth. “I am from Thand, so I suppose that makes me a Thandling.”
“Your eyes are the color of amethysts.”
After a hesitation for the translator, Mingor’s smile deepened. “You compare my eyes to a precious stone?”
Noah nodded. Frankly, he didn’t know how valuable amethysts were, but at the moment he didn’t really care. There was simply nothing more stunning that he could compare Mingor’s eyes to.
“I compare your vivid blue eyes to the backs of the ocean turtles.”
It took a moment for the words to translate into ocean turtles. “Are they ugly?” Noah wasn’t sure if he was being insulted or not.
“To the contrary, they are the most beautiful creatures in all the ocean.” Mingor took another half step closer. “May I have a name to call you by?”
“Noah. Noah Cameron. I’m from Earth.”
“Noah,” Mingor repeated. “It is a strong name that matches your strong back.”
Hope slipped away. This was just another kinky alien who would probably pay a fortune to fuck him. There was no doubt in Noah’s mind that time was coming far faster than he could imagine.
“I say that strictly to praise you, not to as a way to seduce you.”
“No?”
“No.” Mingor said the one word with such conviction that hope slipped right back into Noah’s heart against his valiant efforts to keep it out. Why did he want to believe this alien was any different from any of the others? If he was here in Hindur’s house, he was a purveyor of slaves. That right there made him despicable in Noah’s eyes. But there was something terribly compelling about Mingor. Then again, maybe he only felt that way because unlike the hideous Mahadocon, this Thandling was delicately handsome and far more similar to his own kind. Noah had always been a sucker for slightly built men. Mingor wasn’t human, but he looked like a tall, thin purple twink. Without realizing what he was doing, Noah’s gaze wandered down to Mingor’s hips. With all the draping layers of the robe, he wasn’t able to see anything at all.
“I am male.”
“Right.” Noah yanked his gaze back up to Mingor’s eyes, losing himself in the wicked depths.
“I will free you.”
Why do I sense a but coming? After his encounter with the Mahadocon, Noah was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
“But you must do something for me.”
Bingo. “What’s that?”
“You must enslave yourself to me.”
Chapter 2
Mingor waited anxiously for the stunning Earthling to consider the merits of his offer. After what the brutal Vaugar had done to him, Mingor didn’t think Noah would trust anyone, but that was not Mingor’s primary concern. He needed Noah. He couldn’t free him from this house only to watch him walk away.
“What do you want me for?” Noah shook his head. “Don’t tell me. You want to put me on display at your house?”
“I do not live in a place like this. I also do not believe in putting sentient beings on display as if they were inanimate objects.” Mingor understood what the Vaugar wished to do, which was impress upon his visitors that he lived in such luxury he possessed slaves that were purely decorative. Hindur’s motive was abhorrent but easily understandable. Generally, his desire to impart excessive affluence was successful. But not on Mingor. Stripped of his riches, removed from his plush surroundings, Hindur was simply a frightened soul in desperate need of reassurance. Material wealth gave him that. Unfortunately, it never kept him protected for long. Once he had something, like the stunning Noah, Hindur then became exceedingly worried that someone would steal him. So he then surrounded him with protective systems. Hindur then added a layer of soldiers to protect all the things in his home. In turn, he did not trust them to protect him, so he hired others to verify his soldiers’ loyalty. It was a destructive circle that would eventually collapse upon itself.
“You don’t seem to have a problem owning sentient beings as slaves.”
Actually, Mingor did not own any slaves, but telling Noah wouldn’t result in him believing that truth. He would only come to know what kind of a soul Mingor was by being in his presence. So he simply assured him, “You would not be my slave.”
“No?”
“No.”
Noah hesitated for only a moment. “What would I be?”
“You would be my sephir.” After a moment, the word was translated into shield. Mingor wasn’t certain if that was the same thing as his intended meaning. Judging by the confused twist of Noah’s angular features, it was not. “I need you to protect me.”
“From what?”
“There are so many dangers.” Mingor had gone to several galactic slave auctions looking for the right type of sephir. He’d not even come close to what he needed until he’d seen Noah. When he found out he wasn’t for sale, he despaired, but then realized there were other ways of getting what he needed.
“Why would anyone want to hurt a pretty purple guy like you?”
It was a flattering comment made to obscure Noah’s deep desire to know exactly what kind of situation he was getting into. As much as Mingor wanted to tell him in excruciating detail, he simply couldn’t. “Because I have power. When one has power, there is always someone else who wants to take it away.” Mingor cast his attention toward the closed doors where Hindur’s auction was underway. “He sells them to keep his hold on his authority.”
“Hindur is one sick fuck. He sells children.”
Mingor bowed his head, praying for the souls of those poor beings.
“I want to kill him.”
“Hindur?”
“Yeah.”
“It would not stop the sickness. One of his kind would simply rise up and take his place.”
“Then I’ll kill him, too.”
“Then you will die old, sad, and saturated in blood because they will keep coming.” Sick souls abounded in the universe. It was a tragedy, but killing all of them would not stop them from rising up and twisting the beauty of life to fit their diseased view. Killing only kept the disease attached to the soul. Noah had to learn that violence would solve nothing.
“How can you say that? Don’t you care that he’s enslaving children?”
“I care, but I do not see how I can change what is.” Mingor considered the Earthling again. He was determined to impose his view upon others. Noah’s passion was curious to Mingor. The notion of morality was very strong in Noah. Perhaps the strongest of any soul he had yet met. “I find myself further impressed by your strong sense of right and wrong.”
“Great. I’m impressive. Now you want to enslave me just like Hindur did.”
“Not like he did.”
“How would you be any different?” Noah put his hands on his hips, widening his stance. He was now even more visually impressive. Obviously, his stance was his own way of establishing dominance despite his captivity.
“As I said, you would not be a display piece. You would have your own living space.”
“I have one here. It’s a cage.”
“I would not lock you up.”
Noah frowned. “But you said I had to enslave myself to you.”
“I would ask that you not leave, but I would not take steps to make you stay.”
“I would have to stay with you by my own word?”
“Yes.”
“Huh.” Noah seemed to be considering.
“Given your strong sense of morality, I would believe you if you promised me.”
Noah’s expression was unreadable.
“Also, I would not allow others to poke and prod you at their will.”
“Right. You’d reserve that for yourself.”
“I would not molest you.” Mingor found the Earthling mentally stimulating, and physically handsome, but he was not a soul who enjoyed forcing intimacy where there was none.
“What’s to say I won’t go with you to get out of here and then leave you as soon as I can?”
“Nothing.”
Noah’s eyebrows rose.
“As I said, I would trust your word.”
“Why in the world—universe—would you do that?”
“Because a creature who wishes to defend innocents would not lie to another who wished to help him.”
“Fuck.”
The word translated perfectly well, but Mingor was not used to such vulgarities being spoken so effortlessly in his presence. Noah didn’t even stammer when he said the vile word. And then, rather than anger that Noah wasn’t suitably worshipful in his presence, Mingor felt a most curious wave of laughter. Noah didn’t know who he was, so he had no reason to curb his behavior. Somehow, in some strange way, Noah’s irreverent behavior was charming. Not a soul on Thand would dare to even speak unless Mingor spoke to them first. This wonderfully strong yet compassionate soul would be the same with anyone he met. It was beyond endearing.
“I will free everyone here but only if you swear you will enslave yourself to me as my sephir.”
The conflict showed clearly on Noah’s features. Would he willingly sacrifice himself for the freedom of every other creature that Hindur held?
“You’ll free them?”
“They will be returned to their homelands.”
“What if they don’t want to go there?”
“Then I will have them taken to where they wish to go.”
“Can I kill Hindur?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Noah’s scowl stripped the handsome off his face.
“I cannot allow you to murder another for revenge.” Doing so was not just, and if this creature were to be his sephir, he could not have such smut on his soul.
“Are you going to beat me?”
“No.”
“Rape me?”
“No.”
“Will you make me do anything against my will?”
Mingor considered for a long time. He did not lie so he had to make sure there would not come a time or a situation where he would ask Noah to do something he didn’t wish to do.
“Well?”
“I am considering the question. I would expect you to stay with me even if you did not wish to because you have given me your word. I would not lock you up or harm you in any way, but I do expect you to stay by my side. That is the only thing I could anticipate doing to you against your will.”
“Seriously?”
“I am quite serious.”
“Yeah. I noticed that.” Noah’s attention went to the closed doors. “So all those slaves will be free and the fuckwads who wanted to buy them will get to simply walk away?”
Once the derogatory slur translated, Mingor confirmed, “That is the way of it.” He then considered the internal voice that told him if he were to take this slave and free the others, the time to do so was drawing very close.
“I do not wish to pressure you, but you must decide soon.”
Noah looked at Mingor, the doors, then sighed. “You already know what I’m going to do.”
Mingor nodded. “But you do not believe I can actually keep my word.”
“No offence, but I don’t see what you can do against all those guys in there.”
“Because I am smaller?” Mingor almost laughed.
“Well, yeah, there’s that, but you’re also only one guy.”
“So are you.”
“I don’t get the comparison.”
“By your sacrifice, you will save hundreds, who in turn will undoubtedly bestow kindness on thousands. It is like a ripple in the vast ocean of the universe.”
Noah tilted his head to the side, considering what Mingor had said. There was something very interesting about the way his emotions showed clearly on his face. “I guess I didn’t think of it that way.”
“So we are agreed?”
“Yeah. I’ll be your shield.”
Even though the word didn’t translate quite the same, Mingor knew they had a meeting of the minds. Just like he, Noah was a man of his word. They might be different species, but that didn’t matter when it came to something as universal as the concept of honor.
“And now let’s see you get me and the slaves out of here without killing anyone.”
Lowering his head, Mingor thought of the bodies of all the beings in the house and on the grounds. Their forms were remarkably complex, and each system they possessed was fully integrated into their forms. Each creature was unique, even when compared to members of his or her same species, but the one thing all of them possessed was sentience. They were conscious. Into that shared collective, Mingor pushed. It was a slow process that allowed him to feel all of the beings present. He knew them now in ways that were almost exceedingly intimate. By welcoming their experiences and refusing to judge them, Mingor was able to encourage them to act in their best interests.
“Come.” Mingor lifted his head and offered out his hand to Noah.
“But my collar.”
“Hindur has turned it off, just as he has for the others.” Mingor again extended his hand.
When Noah reached out, it was clear he was bracing himself for a shock, but his expression changed to one of deep confusion when the jolt never came.
“How the hell did you do that?”
“It would take too long to explain.” Besides, Mingor thought, Noah would be far more interested in learning how to replicate his act rather than understanding the process by which it worked. “We will go now.”
“But the others.”
“They will be going where they wish to go.” Once Mingor was deeply intimate with all of them, he was best able to match each slave with a means for getting where he or she needed to go.
“How?” Noah was clearly reluctant to simply take Mingor’s word that he would do what he said.
“Hindur’s security will take them. Some of the souls who came to buy them will take them.”
“As slaves!” Noah wrenched his hand away. It was clear from his stance he wished to do battle with Hindur and his fellow slave traders.
“No. They are now conditioned to take them where the former slave wants to go and release them. They will suffer terrible mental unrest if they do not follow that directive.”
“So you mind fucked them?”
Mingor considered. He had not fornicated with their brains, not in the literal sense, but he had altered their mode of thinking so he nodded.
“If you can do that, then why can’t you just fix them so they don’t want to buy slaves in the first place?” Noah sounded exasperated.
Compassion filled Mingor’s heart. “Because I am not capable of changing them that deeply.”
“But—”
“Please. I will try to explain but not here. We must go.” Mingor took Noah’s hand and startled a bit at how enjoyable the contact was. Any contact between souls in this manner was usually pleasant, but Noah’s touch was more so. Baffled as to why this was so, Mingor pushed the curiosity aside until he could examine it at his leisure.
“Where are we going, exactly?”
“To Thand.”
Chapter 3
“That’s your home planet?” Noah held a little tighter to Mingor even though he didn’t fear being separated from him. He clung to his hand because touching the beautiful purple man felt good. Really good. But then Noah thought that since he’d been deprived of gentle contact for so long, it might just be a craving for kindness that endeared Mingor to him. The only way
Hindur had ever touched him was in brutal ways. The only way his guests touched him was in unwanted sexual ways. Any soft hand holding was striking compared to all of that.
“Yes, Thand is my home world.”
To Noah’s shock, he witnessed the cockroach guys helping slaves down from their pillars and then assisting them out of the house. They were walking almost side by side with him and Mingor but showed no interest in them. As he and Mingor continued out of the house, Noah witnessed Hindur’s guards helping the stunned slaves into vehicles of some sort.
It was the most remarkable display of power that Noah had ever seen. What made it a million times more impressive was that it was all so understated. Mingor didn’t make a big deal about his ability. He simply accomplished his goal and moved on.
“You don’t feel any need to brag, do you?”
“I do not feel a compulsion to boast about my abilities.”
“Can all Thandlings do what you did?”
“I do not know.”
Noah found it unsettling when Mingor simply answered a question without offering more information. He had a feeling that there was a lot going on in Mingor’s mind that he simply saw no reason to share. Unlike humans, who seemed to have minds like a whirling dervish flinging up sand, Mingor’s mind seemed to be calm. There was a huge amount of information swirling around in there, but it was meticulously organized and flowed smoothly, kind of like the rings of Saturn.
As Noah allowed himself to be led by Mingor, he watched as all the house slaves were brought out and then the other slaves, the Vaugars like Hindur, were unshackled and led away from the house. It seemed that all the slave buyers were now doing exactly what Mingor said they would.
“Where is Hindur?”
“He is freeing more slaves. He doesn’t always put all of them up for auction.”
Noah sensed there was something dark behind Hindur holding some back, but he didn’t need further proof that his former master was vicious scum. “How did you know?”
“I found it in his mind when I was suggesting he should free those he’d enslaved.”
Enslaved by a King [Sold! 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 2