by Leila Brown
If this had been an ordinary mission, he and Ace would have had plenty of time to check the credit transfer and get the hell out of here before the escort was within tracking distance.
“We don't have enough time. They'll catch the end of our ion trail.” Ace didn't need to say anything else.
Ryas knew what that meant. The slavers would catch their trail and come after them. Any of their secret docks would become instant property of the slavers. All the men who were unfit to become slaves would be killed, and the women enslaved. Fuck.
“Ace, just get us the hell out of here. We'll figure out what to do about the ion trail when we reach the ship.” Ryas pinched the bridge of his nose as his head pounded with the knowledge that his crew had most likely been doomed by their need to inform the women of what had awaited them on the Pleasure Planet.
The kick of the engines rocked the small vessel before the hyperdrive engaged. One minute they were staring out at dark space littered by pinpoint bursts of light, and the next they were about twenty clicks from a ship easily ten times as big.
“Credits came through as always,” Gio, their engineering pilot, said across the intercom system on the tiny pilot's ship.
Ryas watched the women clasp hands and look at each other.
“I told you we were pirates. What did you expect?” Ryas walked up to Ace's seat. “Dock quickly. We need to create several ion trails. Confuse them. Hopefully they choose the wrong trail.” As plans went, this one smelled like the piece of shit that it was.
Hopefully it would buy them some time. Not a lot but enough to give them a chance to come up with a better option. He turned back to the women.
“Your vacation is over. This is your life now. When we tell you to move, you move your ass. Don't question. Don't be a smart-ass, just move.” He walked back to stand directly in front of the woman who had his cock achingly hard. “Next time you walk somewhere and get us into a situation like this, we will drop you at the nearest colony and not think twice.”
“No one told you to hijack our ship. That was your choice. And you didn't tell us to run.” The woman leaned forward, and her breasts sat up as if they were on display.
Ryas flexed his right hand and curled his fingers into a tight fist to keep from grabbing her breast and pinching it until she shut up. He gritted his teeth and sucked in a breath. “Rule number one, don't argue with your captains.”
“Captains?” the younger woman interjected. “I thought there was only one captain per ship?”
“As I said, we are your captains. You will do as you are told, or you will find yourself punished.” His lips caressed the last word as he said it. He could imagine her soft flesh below his hand as he smacked his new pleasure-giver's ass. Would it bounce back greedily to his waiting hand? Would she scream out his name?
“Docking now.” Ace moved to the left and pushed another button. The back hatch groaned and opened. He raced off the ship before either woman could unstrap her harnesses. Ace would get them out of here while Ryas dealt with their newest crew members.
“Follow me.” Ryas sighed and walked a little faster than normal. Those women needed to learn that moving slow would do nothing but get them killed. Only the best pleasure-givers were allowed to take their time. Everyone else moved at one speed. His. “Move your asses, now.”
Sera looked at him and bit her tongue to keep from cursing him out. She wasn't a runner, had never been, and would never be. After standing up, she grabbed Sophie's hand, and they both followed their asshole of a captain out of the ship.
“Let's get you into uniform.”
“Who said anything about uniforms? I don't do uniforms.” The look on Sophie's face meant there was going to be trouble.
“Come on, Sophie. It won't be anything like a fast-food uniform. Look at how he's dressed. Can you see him in khakis and a matching red shirt?” Hopefully they had better taste than that.
“Doesn't matter. Neither one of us has ever been able to fit regular-sized clothes.”
“I know. But what do you want to do? Piss him off? End up someone's butt bitch?” Sera kept her voice low. The last thing she wanted to do was give the man in front of her any ideas.
“Okay, ladies, strip.” His words barely registered.
“What?” Sophie turned away from a dumbfounded Sera.
She couldn't take her gaze off the brown eyed hottie. Sera shook her head. This couldn't be happening. No freaking way. He did not just say what she thought he said. He'd better not have. She didn't just strip. Not for him. Not for anyone, unless she had plans to get horizontal with them. Her clothes were staying right where they were.
“You need to strip and step into the synthesizer. It won't work if you are wearing any clothing.” His fingers drummed along the edge of the silver console in front of him.
“Naked?” Sera asked. “No underwear, no bra? Dude, I am not walking around without a bra on.” Her DD-sized breasts would jiggle out of control. Not to mention after a week they would be black and fucking blue.
“Strip, or we will drop you at the nearest stop. And I guarantee the slavers will find you and punish you for leaving.” His voice was hard and serious. There was no doubt he meant it. “Now strip.”
Fine. She looked over at Sophie, who looked like she was going to jump on him. Fuck. Even if she helped, there was no way they would be able to take him down. There was only one thing to do. Strip. If she did it, so would Sophie. Maybe.
Sera unzipped her travel shorts and let them fall into a puddle at her feet. Granted, her thighs and ass were probably bigger than he was used to seeing. But it wasn't like she had a total cottage-cheese ass. All the walking she did at work and her weekly gym visits meant she could take the pants off first. But after that her heart stuttered. She inhaled a steadying breath, then yanked her shirt over her head. Her sandals were next. She took the few steps over to the damn machine.
“No clothes whatsoever, babe. If you have a problem being naked, you're going to have issues. This is the only synthesizer on the ship. You'll need to use it before and after each shower. So get used to people watching that ass.”
Was that laughter in his voice? Was he making fun of her ass? “Fuck you.” She might not have washboard abs or muscular arms, but damn it, she knew her ass looked good for a woman of her size. She looked at it in the mirror enough to know it was one of her best features.
She hurriedly took off her panties and bra and stepped into the machine. If her breasts had been smaller, she might have tried to cover them up, but her hands weren't going to do much. Not to mention she had no intentions of showing her discomfort to the man staring at all her goodies.
“Okay. I'm naked. Now what?” She was not standing here like this a second longer than necessary.
“Simple. Green button adds clothes, red button takes them off.” His eyes weren't making it up to her face.
“They don't talk, asshole.” Sera stabbed the green button and held her breath as the machine filled with a thin mist. It covered her from head to toe. The air in the machine turned warm; then everything went quiet. A green light emanated from the glass all around her. The scan made two passes. She almost opened her mouth to ask how long this was going to take when the scan started a third time. But something was different. It wasn't scanning. The liquid coating her skin hardened and stopped feeling wet. Instead it was clingy. Almost like a superspandex.
In less than a minute, a tight tube shirt barely encased her breasts, and a tube skirt hugged her ass like a second skin. The material was as thin as the finest silk but conformed to her every curve. Her every flaw was on display. She definitely didn't like having her stomach out.
“Any other choices?” Sera tried to pinch the material away from her body, but it didn't move. Its only plus was that it was able to keep her breasts propped up.
“That is a standard-issue pleasure suit. We don't do glitz and glamour when we are on a deep run. I doubt you have credits for much of anything else.” He tapped the glass
. “I programmed in your job classification so that each time you get in, the machine will recognize you and clothe you accordingly.”
The machine beeped three times; then the door opened. Sera stepped out and looked at her sister.
“Sera?” Sophie's voice wavered.
Sera walked to the captain and stood between him and the synthesizer. “Turn around.”
“Why? I enjoy watching beautiful naked women.” The amusement in his voice grated on her nerves.
“Because I asked you.” She closed the distance between them and tried to remember what she and Sophie had learned in that self-defense course. One well-directed hit would be all she needed.
“What will you give me?” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and rocked back onto the balls of his feet.
“What do you want?” Sera looked at Sophie shaking her head side to side.
“Just a kiss. You kiss me until she steps out, and I won't look.” His smile was almost as potent as his words.
Her stomach flipped in a dozen directions. Kiss him. For the entire time the machine was clothing Sophie? Sera steeled herself.
“Are you ready, Sophie?” Sera looked over her shoulder to see Sophie standing near the door of the machine. She still had on her matching black bra and panties.
“You don't have to this, Sera.”
“Just get ready to get in the damn machine.” She was doing this for her sister. It had nothing to with the sense of anticipation that hit her when he'd mentioned kissing her. Sera took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. Now or never.
“Whenever you're ready,” Sera muttered as she closed her eyes.
She didn't have to wait long. His lips captured hers seconds before she heard the door to the damn clothing machine close. His tongue traced her lips. The velvety feel of his tongue didn't disguise the way his hands wrapped around her sides to grab her ass. His fingers curved around her flesh and molded against her cheeks.
His tongue pushed through pursed lips and stroked hers. Her sex tingled as heat engulfed her. Could he feel that? She sucked air through her nose in order to continue the kiss. If there were a flavor called forbidden, it would be him. He was exotic. A taste she could never imagine existing. It slipped over her tongue and attacked all her senses. Every piece of her exposed flesh was on fire. It had been over a year since she'd had sex. And the slide of his callused hands against her stomach was making her cream herself.
“Excuse me,” Sophie said after she cleared her throat.
Sera broke the kiss and tried to pull away from the fingers pulling her closer to the captain's stiff erection.
“She's done.” Sera reached behind her and tried to pry his hands off.
“I'm not. I'm just starting.” He bent to capture her lips again, but she turned her head at the last second, and he ended up kissing her cheek. “Don't turn away again. Your job is to please the captain. Do I look pleased?”
“But you said there were two captains.” Sophie narrowed her eyes at them and scrunched her forehead.
“I know.” He smiled as he pinched Sera's ass.
Chapter Three
Sera walked next to Sophie while the brown eyed Captain walked in front of them. Her ass was still hurting from where he'd pinched her.
“This isn't going to work, Sera. You and the two of them. There's no way,” Sophie whispered while keeping her gaze locked on the captain.
“It's got to work.” Sera knew there wasn't a choice. At least not right then. Once they stopped on a planet, any planet, they could find a way out of this mess. Until then, they would just deal.
“Ryas. I need you on deck now.” The other captain's voice thundered over the computer's speaker.
Ryas took off down the barely lit hallway. Sera turned to Sophie, who lifted her shoulders. Hell, what were they supposed to do? Run? The other captain didn't ask for them.
“Move your asses!” he yelled without turning around.
Sera and Sophie both ran after him. Neither caught up with him before he got on what looked like an elevator. Sera didn't put on the brakes until she'd cleared the doors.
“My speed. Always.” He punched a button on the panel beside the doors as they closed. A slight knock sounded as the lift started to move. “If I run, you run. No questions.” His hard, unyielding voice brooked no argument, and neither of them gave him any.
When the elevator stopped, he marched out without a sound. Sera and Sophie were right behind him.
“What is it, Ace?” He took the seat directly next to the other man.
“The bug we left behind just started transmitting. We've got twenty-eight seconds.” Ace's voice sent chills through her. What the hell did he hear?
“That bad?” Ryas asked.
“Worse.” Ace pushed a button, and the sound of women screaming blared through the speakers.
“We are missing two,” a menacing voice stated over the crackling static.
“Which two?” another man asked.
“Twelve-A and twelve-B. Special order.” The voice sounded angrier than before.
“Get them back.”
There was a crackling hiss and pop before the computer reported that the recording had ended. Sera bit the inside of her lip as she thought about what kind of “special order” she was. And for whom?
“How many trails did you put down?” Ryas asked.
“Six. We should be good. For now,” Ace muttered as he turned his seat around and stared at Sera.
His eyes were a piercing blue. He was even more handsome than Ryas. What the hell was wrong with them? On Earth men like them wouldn't give her a second glance. Now the two of them were acting like they couldn't wait to fuck her.
“Gio, make two more vapor trails, then take us to Ursula Minor.” Ace spoke into a microphone, then stood up and walked over to her. He grabbed Sera's right wrist and dragged her to the back wall. When the cold metal touched her back she tensed up, but he didn't seem to care. His lips came down on hers, taking everything she had to offer and more. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and traced her teeth. When she didn't open right away, he had the nerve to scrape his teeth along her bottom lip. The urge to raise her hand and smack him burned in her palm.
“Sera?” Sophie's worried voice broke through the red haze starting to cloud Sera's vision.
She wouldn't fight with the captain. Not now that she knew for a fact they had been telling the truth. Slavers? Slavers who did special orders. Could things get much worse?
“Ryas, I need to decompress. Now.” Ace rocked on his heels and slammed his hand into the wall right above her head.
She jumped. Please don't let decompress be code for “I need to fuck.” That wouldn't be good. A few kisses? A little groping? That she could handle. But full-blown sex with both of them? She looked at Ace's strained face and tense body and then over at where Ryas was staring at the two of them.
“Take her to her room. I'll go show Sophie her new job.” Ryas punched a few buttons and then moved to stand beside Sera's sister. “Get her ready.”
“No!” Sophie screamed. “Sera isn't your whore.” Sophie moved toward Sera. Ryas put an arm out and clamped onto Sophie's forearm. Sophie twisted, then dropped. She swept his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground but didn't let her go.
“Sophie, stop.” Sera went to help her sister but stopped when Ace moved into her path.
“We don't tolerate mutiny,” he growled at her. “Of any kind.” He grabbed onto her left breast and wrapped his fingers around her protruding nipple. He squeezed as he rolled it between his finger and thumb. The movement went from exhilarating to painful in the matter of a heartbeat.
She watched Ryas pop up and twist Sophie's arm behind her back. His hand came down on her shoulder and pulled up. “Move again, and I will twist your arm right out of its socket.”
Ryas's voice sounded deadly to Sera's ears. Sera relaxed against Ace, determined to project a calmness she didn't feel. “Sophie, stop. Just do what they say. Come on.
I'll be fine. Don't worry.”
Ryas didn't look up as he rushed Sophie out of the room. Sera's heart seized up. Even deep breathing didn't help her racing heart or uncontrollable lungs. Being separated was like ice clutching at every cell of her chest.
“Come on.” Ace led her out of the room and down a deserted hallway.
It became harder and harder for her to put one step in front of the other. It wasn't that she disliked sex. Fun sex she could handle. Her problem was both men seemed determined to control her. Control. Not something she felt comfortable handing over to anyone, much less two men she barely knew.
All too soon Ace was punching a code in an electronic keypad near the door. Six, six, seven, two. Shit, she'd missed the last four numbers. Not that it mattered, since the code had only caused the keypad to slide up to reveal a handprint scanner. Something she couldn't fake. When the door in front of her slid open, he turned to her.
“After you.”
If she had any sense, she'd turn around and make a run for it. Not that she would make it far. He would grab her, pick her up, and carry her into the room. What if she was too heavy and he dropped her? The image made her face hot with embarrassment. It hadn't happened, but if it did, she would be mortified. She walked into the room with her head held high.
Ace stepped in behind her and wrapped his hands around her. Her nipples hardened as he grasped her breasts in his palms. He rocked his erection against her ass, and her pulse shot into overdrive. He pulled the tendrils of her hair aside and kissed the pulse at her neck.
“Don't fight it,” he whispered against her skin.
She shivered as the slight movement along her throat sent tiny shocks through every nerve ending in her body. She should move away. Or at least put up some type of fight.
“Please.” She uttered the word in a slight whisper. Not at all her usual strong, independent voice. It was too weak. Much too weak.