She shuddered.
The trader shoved Teon out the exit-bay door and she stumbled. He caught her by the upper arm, his grip iron-clad, sending pain radiating through her. She knew better than to whimper or show any more signs of weakness. They’d exploit it.
The other women, from all over the universe, were led out as well. The traders gathered in a group, leaving the women on their own. Teon was sure some of the women considered running, the hint of freedom too much to resist after being held captive for so long, but with the electronic shackles they wore, they wouldn’t get far before enough energy was charged through them to stop their hearts for good. She’d heard tales of limbs being blasted off during escape attempts. She wasn’t sure how much of that was true or simply tales spun to strike fear in the galaxy, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She liked her limbs attached as they were and would certainly prefer her heart continue to beat.
Teon’s breath caught as she stared around at the sights presented to her. The planet was unlike any she’d seen before. She’d been off-Earth a number of times but none of the planets she’d visited were as visually stunning as the one she now stood upon. The trees were massive with blue leaves so dark they were nearly black in places, and oddly colored yellow tips. Everything seemed bigger here. More grand in every way, including color.
Sensing the flight risk of the others, Teon motioned for the women to come closer to her. They did. “If you run, they’ll send bolts of charge through your shackles. It will kill you.”
They shared a somber look and then nodded. The ones eyeing outer areas stopped and focused on her. She knew then their likelihood of running had just slimmed. Good. They didn’t need to lose any women because of fear or stupidity. She pressed a comforting smile to her face. “I’m Teon.”
Many of them relaxed somewhat.
She looked them over for signs of injuries. Some had bruises. Most looked underfed and scared. Life hadn’t been kind to any of them. The galaxy wasn’t exactly fair on women. Far from it. While she’d been privileged, she’d been educated—too educated for her own good some had said. She knew how harsh planets on the outer quadrants were. She knew even on her home world, where the elite reigned supreme, women lacked the same power men held. She sighed. Life was more than likely only going to get worse for the women who had become her forced traveling companions, and soon.
This is better than the alternative, she reminded herself.
It was strange to have actual ground beneath her feet again. She’d spent months aboard a starship, locked away, unable to even see out a window. It had been all too easy to lose track of days, weeks and months. Had she not been sneaky and tried to learn some of her captors’ native language—which was based loosely off one of the many she’d been taught by high-priced tutors growing up—she’d more than likely still not know how long she’d been held prisoner. It wasn’t as if the men holding her did anything on a regular basis. Even meals were scattered, few and far between.
Rusted metal walls had been her only view, and company aboard the ship didn’t exist. The other female inmates who were in transit to the nearest Galactic Corrections Facility were kept locked away from her, their company coming only in the form of their voices through the walls. Voices that had become a lifeline of sorts to her. Friends without faces. Friends learned by listening to them describe themselves, their wants, their desires, their fears. She wondered which woman was which as she looked them over. It would take them speaking to know, for she only knew them from the sounds of their voices.
She wasn’t sure what each woman’s crime was, but she suspected that, like her, they were bogus charges. She was “guilty” of turning down a prominent council member from Earth, her home planet. Her stepmother had wanted more credits in her account, and the way she got them was by bargaining sex with Earth figureheads. And while her stepmother had normally been the one to pay what was due, she was ageing and the men wanted someone younger. When the price for her stepmother’s actions had come due, she offered up Teon. The council member agreed to the change of terms, but Teon hadn’t. She hated her stepmother, hated everything the woman stood for and everything she did. When Teon refused the council member, he’d framed her for crimes she’d never committed,—saying she’d solicited sex from him and that he’d then caught her orally pleasing two other men for coinage. Lies.
Here she was, officially a criminal and on her way to life on a barren planet.
She was now a commodity to be traded to the highest bidder. Her first clue she was to be auctioned as a sex slave came when her captors had robots enter her chamber, bathing her, shaving her body hair clean away and then styling her hair in a strange fashion. When she’d protested, two of the guards reacted. She was no match for them physically, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying. Now her face and her body bore the bruises to prove as much.
She yanked at her hair, pulling it free from the fancy twists and braids they’d styled it into. Her wrists were still bound but she had enough movement to get the job done. Her long, brown hair fell free and she shook her head, using it to cover the bruises on the side of her face. As much as she hated the idea of being for sale, she hated the notion that the next stop was either the prison planet or death, because she didn’t think the traders would want to answer for their actions should Galactic Guards happen upon them. The traders would probably put the remaining women out the airlock in deep space. She wouldn’t put it past them.
Chapter Three
Teon needed to catch the eye of one of the men currently gathering near the ship. Most were shirtless, showing off impressive upper bodies. Many had scars marring their tawny flesh. Almost all had hair to at least their shoulders. And every one of them oozed dominance. She wasn’t used to warrior-grade men. Earth had been overrun by bureaucrats years ago, men who didn’t lift a finger let alone have a muscle to flex.
She’d blinked in surprise when the men first approached. Many of the other female prisoners had gasped audibly. The warriors were intimidating, yet something deep inside told her they were better than the alternatives. Prison camps and death held little offer of hope. At least this planet did.
Her sex moistened as her gaze swept over two of the men closest to her. One had hair as dark as night. The other was his opposite with blond, straight hair and slightly softer features. Both were close in height, nearly seven feet tall. Her gaze locked with the dark-haired one. She froze. It was as though he were looking through her. Her pulse quickened and she had the urge to run again.
Predator.
The word played in her mind again and again. He was dangerous yet alluring all in one. A mystery for sure. One she wanted to go to her knees before. The action felt right, like she should be offering total surrender. She held her ground but her knees wobbled. They wanted to bend to him. All of her wanted to submit to him.
Teon had a fairly good idea of which planet they were on. She’d managed to sneak a glimpse at the star charts before exiting the craft. Ralen, a planet on the edge of the Union’s territory, known for supplying armies and private security with able soldiers. It would make sense, especially seeing the sheer size of the men before her. She’d had a run-in once with a male from Ralen. He too was tall, muscular and screamed alpha male without saying a single word. They exuded dominance, and the very idea of that turned her on. She knew she shouldn’t be. Now was a time for fear and worry for her future, but damned stars nation if her pussy didn’t cream with each glimpse she stole of the sexy men before her.
She’d heard stories about the Ralen men being able to shift into various animals. She’d never seen it done but the source had been trustworthy. She bit her lower lip. If they could become animals…
She stopped her thought process. It would do her no good to start dreaming of being ridden by a beast man. Oh, but her body ached all the same.
Sara, a woman she’d befriended as best she could while aboard the ship, whimpered and moved closer to her. Teon touched the woman’s arm. “It’s o
kay. They won’t hurt us,” she whispered.
“But they’re…they’re huge,” returned Sara, her deep red hair blowing in the breeze, resembling fire.
“They don’t hurt women.” Teon remembered as much from her dealings with the Ralenium male. For all his chauvinistic outlook, he’d been outraged at the treatment of a council member’s wife. “It’s against everything they stand for. They are fiercely protective of their women.”
Sara relaxed somewhat but remained close to Teon. When one of the warrior males took a keen interest in Sara, she dug her fingernails into Teon’s arm. Teon patted the woman’s wrist gently and Sara eased her death grip. Half-moon circles remained on Teon’s arm, proof as to how scared Sara was with their situation.
“I promise, they won’t do anything you don’t want them to do,” Teon stated. As the words left her lips, her nipples hardened. She wanted so many bad things. Things that shouldn’t even register on her radar with what she’d endured over the past months. Still, her body demanded attention and it seemed to want it from these men.
Two in particular.
The raven-haired man spoke with the blond one. Each man sported markings on their arms and across their chests. They were similar to the branding some of the sectors of Earth used to identify the lower lifes, but these held beauty to them. She wasn’t sure of their meaning, but knew the markings did, in fact, have reason to be there. It was hard to pull her gaze from their markings, from their toned, muscled bodies.
She noticed them watching her as if she were a piece of meat to be fought over. It was a good thing. If two men were interested in her, then it upped her chances of avoiding prison or death. She continued to try to hide her bruises from them, fearing they’d see her as damaged and move on to another woman.
Sara quickly found herself under the attention of two males as well. One of the men showing interest in Sara was even bigger than the males around him. He seemed very taken with Sara’s red hair. Teon couldn’t blame him. It was alluring and a color one didn’t see every day.
The raven-haired man stepped closer to Teon. “Where do you hail from?”
His voice was so deep the sound of it reverberated through her. She didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Now that he was close, she got a good look at him and he was gorgeous. His eyes were so dark, they too bordered on black. Thick lashes surrounded them and his chiseled face screamed powerful male—the kind of male who had but to twitch his finger and people would listen. She wanted to touch him to see if he was hard all over. This wasn’t like her. She wasn’t the type of woman who would pet a strange man. Sure she’d managed her fair share of infractions on Earth in regards to sexual conduct, but this was too much.
“Do you speak?” asked the man.
Again, she said nothing.
He dragged his gaze over her slowly, causing her body to heat. She shifted slightly. The wetness between her legs grew and she had to fight to keep from moaning. She wanted to be touched by him and wanted to be touched now. She wanted those long, thick fingers to shove inside her pussy and ease the ache building there.
The blond approached. He too was amazingly gorgeous. Did the planet produce a male who wasn’t? And what was in the air that was making her so damn horny. She burned, and if someone didn’t fix the problem soon she’d scream.
The blond surveyed her. He inclined his head, his measured gaze sliding over her slowly with clear appreciation. “She is certainly something to look at, isn’t she, Garon?”
Garon. Now she had a name to pair with the raven-haired man.
“Be gone, Lorne,” said Garon. “This will not end well for you.”
“Are you telling me you’re interested in purchasing her?” Lorne seemed amused at the idea. Teon nearly took offense. “You brag about never wanting a woman—a collared female to tie you down.”
Collared female.
Teon jerked at the statement. She recalled from her studies that the planet of males took mates and did in fact collar them as a show of ownership. The idea should have turned her off. Instead, she eyed the men coyly, wondering if either would pick her to put their collar on.
Garon exhaled and ran a hand over the bulge in his pants. “Yet the beast and I feel the urge to reproduce upon us.”
Lorne’s eyes widened. “The Heat has come over you?”
“It nears,” said Garon, refusing to look away from her. His very gaze was making her hot enough to want to burst. If he touched her, Teon feared she’d melt or simply ignite on the spot. “This one, though simple in the head, pleases my senses.”
Simple in the head?
Teon nearly kicked the man in the shin. She’d been top of her class with the highest marks. She’d been educated in the finest of schools, and her tutors growing up were the best money could buy. She’d always had the finest.
Until now.
She was hardly simple, unlike him and his very barbaric ways and culture. She was from Earth, known the galaxy and universe over for its cultured inhabitants. He towered over her five-foot-six inch frame. She huffed but kept her head bent, her hair still in her face.
Lorne snickered. “Pleases your senses? Meaning you would be willing to buy her, claim her and then sink your cock into her and her alone for the rest of your life? If you were to collar the bitch, she’d be the only pussy you’d have until the end of your days. Is that what you mean?”
Garon puffed his chest. “Yes.”
Teon’s dislike of the man faded fast. She wasn’t keen on being referred to as a bitch, but with her current situation she’d been called worse. It was hard to hate a guy who was willing to give up his bachelor life after having just one look at her. Lorne moved closer and she was given a better look at him as well. He too took her breath away. Men simply weren’t made that way where she was from. This planet seemed stocked with nothing but eye-pleasing man candy.
Her pussy dampened more and both men’s nostrils flared. They sniffed the air, their eyes swirling quickly with a mix of colors. Garon’s dark eyes went to an icy blue and Lorne’s green eyes went quickly to lavender. They moved in closer to her and stiffened again.
She held perfectly still, suddenly unsure how safe they were to be around.
Chapter Four
Garon stalked his prey. She was timid, shaking slightly in the thin shift that covered her womanly curves just enough to tease his senses—both the man’s and the beast’s. Her pink nipples were visible through the material. He wanted to pinch them first with his fingers and then bite them to see what her face looked like when receiving pleasure in the form of pain. He just bet she would make a pretty little submissive. One who craved a guiding hand and order.
His cock throbbed, hard with desire for her. Her hair, a deep brown, covered part of her face from view. He didn’t need to see all of her to know she was the one for him. His body told him so. From the minute he’d caught her scent, he and the wolf who was a part of him knew they’d found the one.
Lorne was close. Closer than Garon liked to the woman he’d selected to be his—the woman he’d sire his sons upon. Lorne, a fierce warrior in his own right, was there, his gaze upon the timid beauty before them. The others who had arrived at the docking zone were zeroing in on their picks as well. The women brought in on trading ships seemed confused as to what was happening. Garon had a strong suspicion many were collected against their will, though the traders always assured them each woman either came willingly or held no rights as a prisoner of the Intergalactic Corrections Facility—therefore, she forfeited her rights to any and everything.
The Ralenium men, strong in both number and physical form, were in need of females. As had been the way for as long as Garon could remember. Stories his father had passed down were much of the same. The planet, ravaged by a great sickness long, long ago, had seen the decimation of their female population. The males were forced to look off world to mate.
Lorne eased closer to Garon. They’d both been to many worlds, bedding many women, but had yet to take a woman a
s their own. Neither had collared a woman. To do so was a sacred event and never taken lightly. Often Garon was forced to travel off world with the military, and while abroad he’d fuck his share of women. While home on Ralen, the only women present were already mated, members of one of the many Houses of Pleasure, or currently working a low-level job to earn their keep until they either decided to mate or join a House of Pleasure.
Houses of Pleasure were whorehouses filled to the brim with women who had no desire to mate but were willing to service the men’s needs in exchange for the proper coinage. Garon was guilty of frequenting them. He enjoyed getting his cock sucked without having to have any conversation, and the women he paid there knew as much. He also liked how kinky the women were. So many loved to be spanked before being fucked hard, and the beast side of him liked it rough. He liked to dominate in the bedroom. In fact, he could have it no other way.
“She’s exquisite,” said Lorne, still showing a keen interest in the brown-haired female.
A low growl started deep in Garon’s throat. His beast pulsed within him, wanting free and to attack Lorne. “And she is to be mine.”
Arching a brow, Lorne cast an amused glance in Garon’s direction. “Really?”
Before seeing the woman near him, Garon would have said no. He liked his freedom. He liked getting to fuck who he wanted, as often as he wanted. The newcomer changed things in him. He couldn’t explain it. There was a certain vulnerability with an edge of hardness there. She would be a fine mate. She’d bend to him in the bedroom and she’d keep him on his toes out of it was well. He simply knew this to be true.
If he tried to explain it out loud, he’d sound like his father and his grandfather, with their talk of mates and women destined for them. That was absurd. This woman would do. He could collar her with ease. She was one he could see himself burying his cock in and not tiring of it or her. As for loving her… No. He did not even know her name, let alone have a stirring of love for her. She excited his cock and caught the wolf’s attention. No more. No less.
Sizzling Hot Alpha Male Paranormal Romance Box Set Page 7