Had altruism affected Rayder’s decision to keep the women healthy or simply a desire to assure his purse was lined with money? “I see. Are you great friends with Phili?”
Malena laughed, her eyes sparkling with genuine mirth. “Oh no. That two-faced mother of a dragon would never be my friend.”
Xandra didn’t hold back a smile. “How long have you been down here?”
“For five weeks. I was on a pleasure cruise with my husband when the Beast came alongside.” Malena swallowed hard, her eyes filled with hard memories. “My husband was killed in the fight.”
“By the god. I’m sorry to hear that.”
Malena shrugged. “Don’t be sorry about my husband. He was a filthy miner. We only managed to get the cruise because my lover arranged it.”
Xandra’s mouth popped open and shock must have shown on her face because Malena chuckled.
“Don’t be so surprised, Xandra. I’m from Magonia, but I’m not like most women you’ve met. I’m not some innocent creature without a mind of my own. I don’t think you are either.” Leaning against a wall, Malena stuffed one hand through her short hair. “You’re in a position to help me.”
“I am?”
“Your husband isn’t like the rest of the slavers on this Magon-forsaken ship. Rayder has been good to the women. A few of the slaves have been down here longer than I have. They say he’s visited at least a few times a week. He may be a slaver, but there’s something very different about him. He’s never taken a woman out of here to have sex, nor does he call us names or mistreat us in any way. Half the women here are in love with him.”
Xandra’s lips twitched in a half-smile as disbelief warred with belief. Malena’s description of him rang true and false. “It makes no sense. Why would a man like that be on a ship like this?”
“That’s the rub.” Malena nodded. “Maybe you can use that against him to get us set free.”
Recognizing a possible ally, Xandra relaxed a little. “Have you ever hoped to escape?”
Malena nodded and crossed her arms. “Every day. What about you?”
A loud bang announced the door at the top of the stairs had closed. The snick of a lock sounded.
Xandra stepped out of the alcove and looked around. Phili was nowhere to be found.
Malena chuckled. “Well, would you look at that? The bitch has locked you in here with us.”
Chapter Ten
Rayder took in the jungle around him, half cautious and the other half excited to be on land again. Birds sang happily in the trees, lending virtue to the jungle it didn’t have. The jungle had everything a man needed to survive and everything that could kill him too.
A dragon’s roar in the far distance reminded Rayder and the men with him that danger could present itself at any time. Rayder and the other men slashed the foliage with their swords, and the sharp metal cut through with ease. Paths didn’t exist through the greenery. Plants grew so furiously in the Tarrian jungle that everything they hacked down would have grown back within a couple of days. Feudal lords who ruled the castles in the jungle always employed men to keep the jungle back—it proved a fulltime job.
His mind turned to Xandra for the eight-hundredth time, and no matter how many times he pushed back thoughts of her, it didn’t work. He’d left her well protected with his dagger, and she was resourceful and intelligent.
She’d be fine.
Didn’t matter. Worry ate at him, especially with the admiral on board.
“Fuck,” he whispered under his breath.
He couldn’t afford to worry, even if she was his mate. He needed to keep his mind on the dangers that lurked in the jungle. They’d narrowly avoided a fight with a dragon, and some of the men had wanted to take on the creature. Rayder had warned them they didn’t have the time. Drakus Fina expected them at his camp. While he didn’t tell the men, Rayder wanted to know what was happening in Dragonia before he set foot on the Beast again. He’d never liked living on a ship, not the whole three years he’d sailed and rose up the ranks, waiting for the right time to take revenge.
He knew what some of his fellow Daryk Ones would have said to him about Admiral Aramus.
Just kill the bastard and be done with it.
He could have long ago.
Problem was this. He killed in self-defense in battle and to save an innocent. The admiral deserved it, but Rayder needed a little more time to accomplish his revenge. To ruin the admiral’s life once and for all without hurting the innocent women on the ship.
Second, he wanted to make it out alive if he could. Now that Xandra was in his life, he would have children. He would fulfill his promise to his mother. Nothing stood in his way. Magonian women proved fertile. He’d never expected the good fortune of his mate being a Magonian woman in the first place.
The black stench of the ship had wended its way into his heart, and maybe if he stayed on the Beast long enough, his soul would be as filthy as the rotters who trailed behind him into the jungle.
Xandra wormed her way into his thoughts.
Xandra.
By the god, she did things to him no woman had ever done. She reached him in ways no other woman had. He wanted to make slow, passionate love to her, give her pleasure beyond her wildest dreams. If he gave a woman one orgasm or at the very least some pleasure, he was happy enough. With Xandra, he wanted her writhing, squeezing his cock as her body exploded in ecstasy. And he wanted her to come so many times that she fell asleep in his arms.
It had taken everything he had not to seduce her into full sex. She made him happy, and he’d almost forgotten that emotion until he met her.
Aggravating thoughts such as these swirled in his head despite his efforts to keep his mind on the dangers before him. From the few landmarks he could depend upon in the jungle, he knew they neared Drakus Fina’s camp.
He held up one arm and made a fist. The men behind him stopped. Rayder cupped his hands around his mouth and made a shrill call that mimicked a bird not found in the Tarrian jungle. Out of the jungle came the return undulating call. It was safe to enter camp.
Daryk Ones who served as guards for Drakus Fina halted the group not far from the perimeter. As far as camps went, it was a large complex. Anyone trying to find the camp had to guess if they resided in the same place. Men frequently had to cut back the vines, creepers and other plants that would have overtaken the camp daily.
Once the guards realized it was Rayder, they allowed him and the other men to enter the encampment. While the slavers headed to the trading tent or the drinking tent, Rayder headed straight for Drakus’ elaborate, large tent near the center. His gut roiled at the thought of hobnobbing with the slaver and rogue Daryk One, but what choice did he have? He’d made this trip for supplies and to forge a fake bond with Drakus Fina more than once. He’d do it again.
Two guards at Drakus’ tent nodded and parted the tent opening without saying a word. Drakus didn’t stand on ceremony with other slavers.
At first the tent’s unusual splendor came to Rayder’s attention. A huge bed dominated the tent with frilly pillows tossed here and there and exotically colored linens. Plunder such as statuary and other art stolen from Magonian ships stood around the room in hasty disarray.
Lying on the bed, propped on his elbows, was a large man in his late thirties, his blue eyes sharp with intelligence and cruelty.
Drakus Fina.
Like all the Daryk Ones, he wore a sleeveless tunic. Like every Daryk One, the man was muscular and powerful. Long blond hair flowed over Drakus’ shoulders to mid-chest. But Drakus wore something else.
A woman.
An extraordinarily homely woman, at least in the face. The naked woman’s body was half-draped over Drakus’ naked lower body. She slurped and gulped noisily at the man’s cock.
Blasé, Rayder watched the rogue leader take his pleasure. Many men would have found the scene arousing, but Rayder didn’t. Rayder knew the slave had probably been called to the tent to service the leader over
and over again. After all, a man like Drakus Fina owned concubines whom he treated with callousness.
The woman looked up, her eyes widening in shock. Her white hair flowed around her shoulders. She stopped sucking, her mouth still wide around the huge penis.
Drakus grunted as he saw Rayder standing there. “Rayder. Enjoying the show? Pippan, don’t stop or I’ll have to hurt you.” His voice was nonchalant and calm even as his breathing quickened. “Show Rayder how talented you are and perhaps I’ll share him with you.”
The woman’s cheeks flushed. Maybe she wasn’t used to having someone watch her commit fellatio. She returned to her work—for the look in her eyes said this was work and certainly not pleasure.
“I can return later.” Rayder figured he could give the woman some privacy.
“Stay,” Drakus said as he gasped. “If you’re lucky, perhaps you can watch me fuck her.”
Damned if he would. He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t watch a man rape another woman, and he wouldn’t suffer even Drakus to hurt her. Fuck. That would screw his plans. Rayder bit his inner cheek, his mind whirling in turmoil. He hadn’t lied to Xandra. Rayder would do what he could to protect the woman. Killing Drakus now would create a huge problem.
Luckily, the woman seemed clever enough to realize what would happen if she didn’t please Drakus. She moved faster, her hand pumping, mouth sucking and licking with quickening pace. Drakus groaned, his hips twitching, and it didn’t take more than thirty seconds before Drakus lay back and let out a throaty gasp of pleasure as he shot come down the woman’s throat.
“That’s it,” Drakus said as he panted. “Lick it all off, girl.”
Rayder’s stomach wrenched. He hated this.
The young woman continued to lick until Drakus barked an order. “Stop.”
The nameless woman started and stumbled off the bed. “As you wish.”
Rayder surveyed the woman’s naked body. The girl might be homely of face, but her body more than made up for it. She’d fetch a fine price in the slave market. Rayder couldn’t banish the disgust that curled inside him.
Drakus sat up as his cock went flaccid. He slid off the bed and reached for his breeches. He stepped into them, buttoned them up and smiled at Rayder.
Drakus gestured at the woman. “Please take her. As a welcome present.”
Trembling, the woman gazed at Drakus with wide blue eyes. Rayder saw fear there. Fear and hatred for Drakus. Disgust rose inside Rayder at the woman’s situation. Helplessness also burned within Rayder. He could do little to help the woman here and now.
“No.” Rayder walked toward the woman. “I’ve had mine earlier today.”
Drakus grunted as he reached for a goblet on a side table and poured red wine. He slammed back the wine with one gulp. He choked and some of the wine ran down his chin.
Drakus wiped away the wine with his forearm. “You aren’t usually so reluctant to take a gift, Rayder. Why is that?”
“You’ve never offered me a woman.”
“Fuck her.”
Rayder’s blood started to boil. “I don’t rape.”
Drakus laughed and he slammed the goblet down on the table. “Come on. You know you could make her willing.”
“If I have to make her do anything, it’s rape.”
Drakus’ eyes burned with a curious mixture of humor and contempt. “Such a noble man for a scum-sucking slaver. You vex me, Rayder.”
“You’ve known me three years. It’s just the way I am.”
“Never understood that.” Drakus walked closer, eyes laser sharp and filled with barely concealed menace. “Unless you aren’t who I think you are.”
Rayder shrugged. “I can’t help what you think.”
Drakus walked around Rayder, hands on hips. “You’re a Daryk One through and through, but something changed you.”
“You know the answer to that too. We need Magonian women so we can repopulate Dragonia.”
“We’ve had few pregnancies from the Magonian women we’ve bred. Not in the three years I’ve known you. So it must be something else that keeps you going.”
Rayder should have expected this. Drakus liked to test him every time he came into camp, which was more than once a month. “My reasons are my own.”
“Secrets can get you killed. Makes a man think he can’t trust you.”
Rayder didn’t move as Drakus crossed behind him. If Drakus thought he could kill Rayder, the man had no idea who he was up against.
Drakus came back into view, but Rayder didn’t relax. “I don’t trust you either.”
The leader of the largest band of rogue Daryk Ones glared at Rayder. “You don’t approve of what I’m trying to do.”
“I think you’re right about one thing. Magonians and Dragonians should no longer be apart. We should mix and understand each other’s cultures and blend our peoples. It’s the only thing that’s going to save us from going extinct. But the Magonians don’t see it that way and they’re having plenty of children over there.” Rayder wasn’t in the mood to play games. “I think they don’t give a fuck whether we live or die.”
Rayder chuckled. “And you think we’re wrong to steal their women and prepare for war with them.”
“I don’t think they’ll invade Dragonia and fight us.”
“You think they’ll try to breed us out of existence?”
“Probably.”
“You don’t approve of us invading them?”
“Never did.”
Drakus shook his head. “If I hadn’t seen you slay so many men, I’d think you were too soft to be a Daryk One.”
Rayder could have lectured Drakus on the morals held dear by true Daryk Ones, but knew it would fall on deaf ears. He kept an impassive face and said nothing.
Drakus threw a contemptuous glance at the naked woman, who stood with her arms wrapped around herself. “This bitch will fetch a fine price. Perhaps. If a man can get over her face of course.”
Rayder took a closer look at her pockmarked face. She’d probably survived the putrid fever that sometimes struck otherwise healthy Dragonians when they didn’t eat enough as a child. Rayder almost went to the gaudily appointed bed and ripped a covering off so he could give it to the concubine. She shivered. Probably from fear more than anything. A hot wind blew through the tent. It was too balmy to cause a chill.
Drakus took another goblet and filled it with wine. He handed it to Rayder. “I could have you beaten and chained for not obeying me and mocking my goals. Eventually the Magonians will be made to see how wise we are.”
Rayder’s spine prickled, his muscles tightening with barely concealed hatred. “At least that’s what you think will happen someday. Or maybe you’re using that theory as an excuse to fuck as many women as you want.” Rayder handed the wine to the woman. “I came here to discuss procuring more supplies for Admiral Karman Aramus and the Beast.”
Drakus’ eyes glittered dangerously. “Why did you give her that wine?”
“It’s the least she should get for sucking your dick, don’t you think?”
Drakus’ eyes turned red, and Rayder knew he’d pushed the asshole too far this time.
The woman dropped the goblet and wine splattered everywhere. She gasped and edged closer to the entrance. Drakus stalked toward her and grabbed her by the arm. Drakus shoved her toward Rayder. Rayder caught her in his arms and held her close. Trembling and gasping, the woman gazed up at Rayder with pure terror. He hated seeing that in a woman’s eyes. Especially when she feared him as much as Drakus. When Xandra had looked at him with a little fear but a lot of defiance, it had fired Rayder’s blood around the edges, exposing feral needs within him like a live nerve. He’d wanted her instantly. Wanted to do nasty, sex-filled things with her. Things he hadn’t tried with her yet.
This…well, this was damn different.
Drakus snarled his next words, eyes red with fury. “If you want the supplies, you’ll have to show what a man you are. Fuck this whore. Here and now. In front of m
e.”
* * * * *
Xandra stood for a moment and her situation surrounded her with quick, disturbing force. Voices intensified around her, as did the smell of sweat, of the bathing room, the food and the stuffy air. She swayed on her feet a little. Better to sit down.
“Stupid girl,” Malena said as Xandra sat next to her.
Xandra threw a hard look at Malena. “I beg your pardon?”
Malena smiled as she chewed bread. She swallowed. “Not you. Phili. She’s a troublemaker of the first order.”
“How long have you known her?”
“I don’t know her really. I just know her type.”
Xandra couldn’t deny that. “I think I do too.”
“Yoanda’s been down here a time or two.” Malena smiled with only one side of her mouth, her eyes sparkling with a malice that made Xandra vaguely uneasy. “That woman is even worse.”
Surprised, Xandra threw a glance at her. “She seems very nice.”
“Seems is the right word.”
Xandra frowned. She didn’t know what to believe anymore. She hoped her instincts proved right about Yoanda and not Malena’s. Xandra took a quick, hard glance at Malena, blocking out the other chatter nearby. Lines bracketed the woman’s mouth—she was older than Xandra had first guessed. Not that Xandra ever found age easy to judge, but Malena appeared around fifty. Subtle wrinkles around her eyes and on her forehead gave it away.
Malena chewed a bit of dried meat then sipped water from a goblet. “So how did you get here? On this ship?”
“My passenger ship was capsized by a wave.” Sadness pierced her, a hot and overwhelming pain. “Two women I was building a friendship with…I think they died.”
Xandra winced, recalling how she’d lied to Ketera and Mia about her marital status. In a very weak moment, she hadn’t wanted to admit Taris was her husband, and perhaps part of her hoped the marriage could be dissolved. After all, since she couldn’t have children, Taris should want to toss her out of his household. He’d threatened as much, but she knew his cruelty demanded he keep her long enough to torture her. To humiliate her.
DarykRogue Page 12