by Renee Rose
Being back on the bridge of an interplanetary vessel triggered Cass’s military training. Despite being naked and strapped into a humiliating device, she lifted her chin and met his eyes.
“I want to see the pirates brought to justice as badly as you do. My crew members are being held captive on the Luna. In addition, the ship is carrying precious cargo, sentient beings they’ve abducted from other worlds to sell in the slave markets. I want your assurance that none of the beings I identify as victims will be harmed.”
“You are in no position to make demands!”
Rom’s bellow echoed in the huge room. She stared him down, unflinching. “That was not a demand. In hostage situations, demands are negotiable. This is not. I won’t allow myself to be used to bring harm to any more innocent beings. Give me your word—or kill me now.”
“You’ve admitted you taught the marauders to pilot your ship,” he shouted. “You entered the commands that allowed them to land on Cephaia. You have shown you cannot be trusted. We have no desire to harm those who have done no wrong. But we will determine who they are. Not you.”
He glanced at his brother, and another of those wordless communications passed between them.
“You will be brought to the bridge when we pick up traces of another craft,” Ryn announced. “Do exactly as you’re told at all times or you’ll be punished.”
Rom addressed the android that accompanied them to the bridge. “Take her to the quarters we prepared. Remove the harness and chain her to the bed.”
Ryn moved past her to take a seat next to his twin, his expression just as cold. Cass felt a stab of disappointment. It looked as though her care would be turned over to androids from here on out. There’d be no more wicked thrills from the touch of either brother, no matter how harsh it may have been.
The android chained her in a makeshift cell, a small storage room down the corridor from the room she later found out belonged to Ryn and Rom. At first, she’d spent most of her time there, except when he came to fetch her to the bridge. Though she knew the lifelike android was a robot, she still couldn’t get used to calling the creature “it.” Not when he looked and sounded so much like the twins.
They kept her with them for only short periods at first. Just long enough to listen to a faint transmission or pronounce judgment on a distant vessel. But as the days turned into weeks, the brothers found more and more reasons to keep her near them. Reports to study and logs from other planets of ships that passed nearby.
Six weeks into the voyage, they arrived on Euxcelon only a few days after the pirates decimated a small town not far from the capital city. The inhabitants of Euxcelon were a peaceful race, without an army or a fleet of warships. The planet’s enormous deposits of euxenite ore provided them with a valuable commodity to trade, so the Euxceli were among the richest beings in their galaxy. They could afford to indulge themselves. Their homes were decorated with objects made from precious metals. They wore jewelry studded with rare gems.
Rom and Ryn met with Euxcelon’s chancellor and heard firsthand about the devastation. The pirates had stormed the town, looted homes and stores. They’d slaughtered every male, from the elder to a newborn babe, along with the old and very young females. The others were taken captive. According to the chancellor, the sole survivor was a young boy who hid in a tree near the town square.
They were given permission to speak with him, but the lad was terrified of the seven foot aliens with their deep voices and purple-tinged skin. Out of sheer desperation, Rom and Ryn decided to have Cass meet with the boy. They came back to the ship laden with garments worn by females on Euxcelon and called her to the bridge.
“We have need of your services,” Rom announced. “If you perform this task to our satisfaction, we will grant you privileges.” He told her about the boy. “The child may have heard something that will give us a clue as to where they went. With your Tellex chip, you can speak with him. An android will accompany you at all times, to see that you do not try to escape.”
Ryn handed her the pile of clothing. “We thought he would be more comfortable if you dressed as a female from his world.”
Cass fingered the delicate fabrics in a rainbow of shimmering colors, trying not to look excited. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. Back home, garments like these had been banned centuries ago. They were looked upon as markers of class distinction that fostered unrest among the population. Earthers, male and female, all wore bland one-piece uniforms from the time they were children. Only the military and high ranking government officials were allowed vibrant colors in their uniforms.
“What privileges?” She made her tone confrontational. If the twins knew how badly she wanted to put on one of these gowns, they’d consider it reward enough. She figured she might as well get as much mileage out of the situation as she could.
“You may spend your days here on the bridge. And we will allow you to have items in your cell with which you can occupy the rest of your time.”
Thank heaven. She had grown weary of trying to relieve the boredom by creating new martial arts routines to perform in such a small space. “Books? Holograms?”
“Yes.”
She decided to press her advantage. “I want one more thing.”
Rom’s face darkened. “Be careful, Earther. Do not try my patience.”
“It’s a matter of comfort. We Earthers do not have the same ability to withstand changes in temperature as you do. Sometimes it gets very chilly in here for me. I want to be clothed whenever I’m on the bridge.”
“Clothed? In what? We have no seamstresses on board, and our garments would not fit you. Nor would they keep you warm.” Rom looked down at his usual mode of dress—chest bare, tunic worn low on his hips, sandals laced halfway up his calves.
She glanced down at the armful of gowns and shrugged. “Since you already have them, these will do. Whatever it takes to keep my body heat in.” She was confident they had no idea she’d undergone a bio-modification procedure before leaving Earth that allowed her body to adapt to the extremes of temperature on different worlds.
Before he could respond, Ryn broke in. “That is acceptable. Now, go and prepare yourself.”
She was allowed a few minutes every day in a cubicle that sprayed jets of green Cephaian mineral water all over her. The first time he accompanied her there, she asked the android for soap. He said he did not know the word. When she tried to explain, he told her they had no need of such a substance because the minerals in the water cleansed the body naturally. Since Cephaians had no trace of body hair, he didn’t understand the concept of shampoo either. Fortunately, the mineral water worked just as well on her hair, leaving it soft and gleaming.
She stood in front of the air jets that came on automatically after her shower, running her fingers through her long blonde locks to dry them. Normally, she twisted her hair into a knot at the back of her head. Today, seeing those gowns, she decided to leave it hanging down her back in soft waves, like the ancient portraits she’d seen of women fabled for their beauty. Helen of Troy, Venus rising from the sea, the Kardashians.
Ever so carefully, she picked up one of the gowns. Sheer fabric in a shade of turquoise that reminded her of a tropical sea back home. It had a full-length skirt attached to two long strips at the waist that crossed over her breasts and tied in back at the neckline. The cut of the gown left her upper body nearly bare. She fussed with the strips, trying to get them to cover her adequately since her breasts were apparently larger than those of the average Euxceli female.
They’d remembered to include sandals. She examined them. Narrow bronze strips to secure her foot with the sole attached to a thin spike at the heel. Impossible to run in or perform a roundhouse kick without losing balance. How impractical. She slipped them on and took a few hesitant steps.
The gown had a slit in one side, something she hadn’t noticed when she chose it. The skirt hugged the curves of her hips and bottom, and the slit gaped open with the slightest movemen
t, exposing her leg all the way to mid-thigh. She took a few more steps, and the silky fabric strips hanging down from her neck fluttered against her bare back.
Cass caught sight of her reflection in the glass wall of the cubicle and gasped. She didn’t look like Commander C. B. Randall of the Class IV Nebula Cruiser Luna anymore. She looked—softer. Feminine. Sexy.
The android had been waiting in the corridor outside and he escorted her back to the bridge. Ryn glanced up from his console when she walked in. She sensed the surge in his pheromones immediately and reveled in the delicious shiver that went through her as she breathed them in.
Rom took a heartbeat longer. The length of time necessary for Ryn’s reaction to hit his brother’s consciousness. When he turned and looked at her, she could swear she felt the heat radiating from his gaze.
Suddenly, all she could think of was how powerful their upper bodies looked. How it had felt to be slung over their shoulders, skin to skin with that broad expanse of rippling muscle. Whether they were identical twins everywhere. Was Rom’s cock as long as his brother’s?
Rom’s eyes narrowed and, for a moment, she was afraid he could read her mind as clearly as he read his brother’s.
“You will not leave this ship dressed like that. Go and find something else to put on.”
She flinched as though he’d slapped her. Turned without a word and went back to her cell. When she came back, she had on the most demure gown she could find. Calf length in pale pink, with a high neckline and cap sleeves.
Rom barely looked at her. “Come,” he snapped.
She resisted the urge to bark like a dog and followed him off the ship.
A representative of the Euxcelon chancellor led her and the android to a stark room, furnished with only a wooden table and chairs. The young boy waiting there was around ten or eleven. An unruly mop of dark hair crowned an angelic face. But his deep-brown eyes were dull. Lifeless. Cass could empathize. She’d been sickened when she stumbled onto the carnage the pirates wrought on Cephaia.
She took one look around and pulled the representative aside.
“This will not do. Take us to one of the chancellor’s private rooms. A place with pictures on the wall and comfortable chairs. And bring us food.”
“Food?” He looked at her as though she’d asked for a cache of jewels.
“Yes, food. What was your favorite thing to eat when you were his age?”
“Pala. It’s a honey cake studded with fruit and nuts. My mother made it every year on my natal day.”
“Fine. Bring us that, with something hot to drink.”
She sat with the child for hours. First chatting with him, winning his trust. Then holding him on her lap when he broke down and sobbed out his grief. Two Euxceli officials huddled in a corner of the room the whole time while her Cephaian android stood silently guarding the door.
Gradually, she calmed him down and got him talking about what he’d seen while he polished off half the gooey cake.
“Did you hear anything about where they might be headed next?”
“The one with only one hand said something to my sister about taking her to a slave auction. On someplace called Boltron or Belzone.” The boy wrinkled his brow. “There were some letters after the name.”
“Botryl XR?”
“Maybe.” His chin quivered. “Are they going to get her back?” He pointed to the android, indistinguishable to him from the twins.
“We’ll do everything we can to bring your sister home to you.” Her calm tone seemed to reassure him.
“Can I have another piece of cake now?”
She smiled. “You can have the rest, if you promise to save it until after your dinner.”
The twins were in a room nearby, out of sight. Ryn waited until they were all back on the ship to question her. She repeated her conversation with the child. Rom glanced at the android for confirmation.
“Her report is accurate, sir. Nearly word for word.”
“Escort the prisoner back to her quarters,” Rom addressed the android. “Then return to the bridge. We leave for Botryl XR as soon as we have clearance from the Euxceli space port.”
Rom called after her as the android led her down the corridor. “You performed satisfactorily. We will keep our part of the bargain. You have permission to don clothing when your presence is required here.”
The next morning, she was summoned to the bridge. She put on another modest gown, this one a soft green. Rom looked her up and down.
“That is unacceptable.”
“You said I had permission to wear clothing from now on!”
“You do. But that does not mean you may choose what clothing you don.”
Ryn spoke from across the room without turning around. “Put on the gown you wore yesterday. The blue one. It allows us easier access to your pussy and your ass if we need to punish you.”
She flushed at the knowledge she’d soon be bending over the console while they ran their hands up the slit in her skirt.
That night Ryn came to her cell for the first time.
Chapter Six
Present day
CASS
The twins stood at her door, both of them waiting for her response. Lost in reliving the past, she didn’t answer.
“We know you can understand us.” Ryn’s voice brought her back. “Why did you pretend you couldn’t speak Cephaian when we found you?”
Cass shook her head. “I wasn’t pretending. I didn’t speak Cephaian when you found me. Your language is not in the Federation’s database. The Tellex chip in my head requires hours, sometimes days, of continuous exposure to an unfamiliar language to function properly.”
She replied in Cephaian. The twins glanced at each other, communicating without words as she’d seen them do so often.
“So you’ve been listening to all our conversations, spying on us for the last four months?” Rom glared at her.
“Spying?” Cass rose to her feet, picked up the chain around her ankle, and shook it. “You’ve kept me locked up in this storeroom except for the times you had one of your androids haul me to the bridge. Then I spend hours sitting in front of you, analyzing data you give me and monitoring the transmissions from other vessels that you’ve made available so I can try to identify the Luna. If I make the slightest mistake, you punish me with the vela and the harness. I’ve done everything you ordered me to every step of the way. Tell me exactly how I’ve spied on you?”
Without giving either of them a chance to respond, she went on. “Or are you referring to the times you sneak in here in the middle of the night? The things you and your brother mutter under your breath when you’re getting your dicks sucked? Talk about pretending! You’ve both been pretending that never happens since the day we set foot on this ship. Treating me like I’m nothing more than another android.”
“You’re right.”
Ryn’s quiet words stopped her tirade in mid-stream.
He exchanged a long look with his brother, nodded once, and came into the room. Stood in front of her.
“You have done everything we asked of you. No, demanded of you. And we’ve treated you shamefully. Kept you a prisoner. Refused to listen to you. We’ve punished you unfairly when all the while you spoke the truth.”
He paused for a moment, as though summoning the strength to finish. “Worst of all, my brother and I took out our anger and pain on you. Used you to satisfy our own desperate needs, with no regard for your feelings. We’ve denied your right as a sentient being to be treated with dignity.”
She stared at him in shock as he bowed his head. “We beg your forgiveness. If you will allow it, we humbly ask that you give us the opportunity to make amends.”
“What about you?” She turned to Rom, eying him suspiciously. “Do you agree with what your brother is saying? Or is this some kind of trick?”
With two strides, Rom took his place beside his brother. He got down on one knee, like a knight of old paying homage to his queen. Their height diff
erence put him at eye level with her.
“As warriors of Cephaia, my brother and I bear the burden of seeking justice for those who were butchered so cruelly. Blinded by grief over our own loss, our beloved Mate, Zala, we failed to observe our prime directive when we took on the task. Our race prides itself on treating other sentient beings with fairness and decency, whether they be Cephaian or alien.”
He reached for her hand, bent to rest his forehead on it.
“We have wronged you. We…” He stopped. “I beg your forgiveness.”
Cass tried to ignore the sizzle where his forehead came in contact with her hand. Her fingertips picked up the pulse beating in his palm, and she gasped as the familiar pheromone rush traveled up her arm and rocketed through her whole body.
He sensed it the moment it happened, and his body responded instinctively, releasing a fresh cloud of the potent hormones. Ryn felt it, too. His scent, dimmed when he came into the room, swept over her like a wave in the ocean.
She struggled to keep her head. “Why the sudden change? Two hours ago, you both treated me like an enemy. An enemy you wanted to have sex with, but still an enemy.”
Ryn lifted his head. She’d seen lust in his cobalt-blue eyes before. He could crave her body and still be cold. This time, his eyes held something else. A sensuous heat.
“It was the Bond,” he said softly. “You Bonded with me tonight. You did it willingly, when you surrendered yourself and submitted to me. You opened your heart, just for a moment, and allowed me in. Allowed me to know you.”
His voice was warm and seductive, gliding over her. “All male creatures on our planet are born twins, sharing the same essence. What one feels, the other feels. When you touched my heart, you touched Rom’s as well. Earlier, you told him you were an innocent victim of the pirates, just as our Zala was. I didn’t want to hear that before. It would mean we’d wronged you. After we Bonded tonight, when I heard you say those words to Rom, I knew in my heart you spoke the truth.”