by Hope Hart
I move forward slowly while Udan watches me out of suspicious eyes. And then I reach up, my hand stroking his face as I fight not to claw my fingernails viciously down his cheek.
Instead, I smile up at him and then quickly drop my eyes as if shy. I step even closer, moving into his space, and manage to control my flinch as he wraps one hand around my waist, pulling me close to his body.
He’s hard against me and I shudder in disgust, even as I look up at him from underneath my lashes.
Oh, you stupid male.
He looks entranced, but a hint of suspicion remains in his eyes.
Here goes.
I move my hand to the back of his head and pull him closer, pressing my lips against his. He stiffens against me and then his tongue immediately finds its way into my mouth. I hold back a gag and give him a tiny moan, even as I fight back the need to claw his eyes out.
He’s bigger, stronger, and happy to beat the shit out of me. If I have to kiss this asshole to stay alive, so be it.
I pull away, hoping the smile I give him is sweet and none of the disgust I feel is evident on my face.
He pulls me close again and I let myself stiffen.
“I’m… sorry, I just need more time.”
I glance up at him. He narrows his eyes in displeasure, even as a knock sounds on the door.
“Fine,” he says. Then he points to the cage. “You will not sleep in my bed until you give me what I want.”
I let my eyes fall to the floor and nod as if contrite. In reality, I’m doing a happy dance. I may have only bought myself a day or two, but Udan has none of his whores around, and he just lost his planet. Hopefully his need for a little affection outweighs his urge to take what he wants.
I’m playing a dangerous game, but I let my gaze linger on his body before I crawl into the cage. I have no intention of sleeping in his bed. I’m crossing my fingers that I can find a way to get the hell off this planet before Udan loses control.
Chapter Fourteen
Peyton
Udan is busy the next day and I spend most of my time in the cage. At one point, one of his guards lets me out for a bathroom break, and I spend the rest of the day contemplating the ceiling and creating and discarding escape plans.
To be a good surgeon, you have to be able to push your emotions aside and focus on what you know. I did it every time I stepped into an OR.
Right now, I know that while I could probably get out of this building, my chances of getting off this planet are almost non-existent. I can do many things, but flying a ship isn’t one of them. I would need to not only make my way out of here, but I’d also need to get my hands on a weapon and take a pilot hostage.
So, I’ll take it one step at a time. Udan is bound to mess up at some stage. Someone will get complacent, and that’s when I’ll strike.
Udan seems to be in a good mood when he arrives back at his quarters. At least until he opens my cage and gestures for me to crawl out.
I comply, attempting to look happy to see him.
“You were gone for such a long time,” I lie. “I missed you.”
He ignores that.
“I’m meeting Herix for the evening meal again,” he says, and his eyes scan my body. “This won’t do. This won’t do at all.”
He backs away and moves to the door, screaming for a servant. I don’t hear what he says, but he wrinkles his nose when he approaches me again.
“You need to bathe,” he says, as if I’ve chosen to avoid the shower for three days. I hold my tongue and nod, desperate to be clean. At this point, I can almost smell myself.
Udan opens the door to the bathing room and gestures for me to enter. He removes the leash but leaves my collar on, and I’m not at all surprised when he presses a button on the bathing chamber and then tells me to take off my clothes.
I keep Vazta’s face in my mind as I pull off the thin dress, ignoring Udan’s low growl. I step into the bathing chamber and a sigh escapes me as the fragrant, cleansing steam hits my skin and hair.
“You enjoy that?” Udan’s voice is hoarse.
I smile over my shoulder at him. “I enjoy being clean for you,” I say.
His eyes darken and he steps forward, cursing at a knock on his bedroom door.
I blow out a breath of relief, shaking as he leaves the room. I’m playing with fire, and with Udan as unstable as he is, I’m guaranteed to get burned.
I have a mini-breakdown in the bathing chamber, tears rolling down my face as I shake. I wipe them away as Udan returns.
“I have clothes for you,” he says, and I turn, smiling brightly at him.
My smile has never been falser, but he’s sure as shit not looking at my face, and I immediately feel dirty again as he examines my body.
He places a bright bundle on the chair. “Wear this,” he says. “I must get ready.”
He frowns at me as if I have been making him late and I nod solemnly, blowing out another long breath as he leaves the room. I pull the cloth into my arms, raising an eyebrow at the soft material. It’s a long dress. I pull it on and immediately feel better as more of my skin is covered than has been in days.
It’s a dark blue, and in any other situation, I’d probably be admiring the bodice, which is covered in tiny sparkling gems, making it look like stars against a night sky.
What does this mean?
Udan is too unpredictable to understand, but surely getting an upgrade from the type of thin dress I wore when I was a slave on his planet to this gorgeous gown is a good thing, right?
Udan opens the door and I smooth my hands over the dress.
“It’s beautiful,” I say.
He stares at me for a moment and then smiles.
“You look like a queen.”
My hair is one big tangle that not even the bathing chamber could fix. Curly hair life. Udan frowns at it and then calls for another servant, this one appearing from inside the bedroom.
“Fix this,” he says and then disappears again.
The woman is one of the servants who was with Herix when we arrived.
“What’s your name?” I ask softly.
“Muly, milady.”
“My name is Peyton. Please, Muly,” I whisper, trembling at the thought of Udan hearing me. But I have to try. “Help me get out of here. I’ll take you with me.”
Muly simply blinks at me and then she glances over her shoulder. She shakes her head and I sigh, shoulders slumping as she pulls a device out of her pocket. It’s about the size of my hand and I reach for it, intrigued. It looks like an electric comb. She takes it back, holding it against my hair and I gape as my curls begin to unknot until she can run the comb through them.
Where was this all my life?
“You have beautiful hair,” Muly murmurs.
I open my mouth to beg her for help again.
“She does,” Udan says, and I tense as he steps back in the room. The servant bows and then rushes out, leaving me sitting as he looms over me.
I immediately get to my feet.
Udan’s gaze travels over me and he nods, obviously satisfied.
To my surprise, he leaves the leash off, although the collar is still wrapped around my neck. My neck is damp underneath, and a few stray drops roll down the back of my neck as I follow him down the corridor.
Herix looks surprised when he sees me but quickly moves his eyes past me. Udan gestures for me to sit at the table and I send him a grateful smile. Pretending to like him is obviously working.
I nibble daintily on the food, not tasting a thing. I’m starving, but my stomach is clenched with anxiety. The two males talk about people I do not know, but I mentally note down each and every name in case they become important. At one point, Herix offers me a plate of some kind of dried fruit and I automatically smile as I reach for it.
That’s when Udan loses it.
He reaches forward, grabbing the collar around my neck and throws me to the ground.
I shriek in surprise and then Udan’s st
anding above me, kicking me anywhere he can reach, even as I attempt to roll underneath the table. He drags me out by my hair and backhands me across the face.
Something cracks and I must briefly pass out, because when I next open my eyes, Udan is pacing a circle around me, spittle flying from his mouth as he rages at me, purple-faced.
“Stupid whore! Smile at another male again and I’ll kill you! You want to suck his dick? Do it then. Get on your knees and suck it!”
He lifts me once more by the hair and I can’t even lift my arms to take the pressure off my scalp. I roll my eyes up, taking in Herix’s white face as he stares down at me.
“Udan,” he says carefully, “I believe you have broken her jaw.”
Udan lets go of my hair and I can feel his gaze on me as I curl into a ball, fire exploding across my face as I accidentally brush it with my arm.
My whole body is agony.
“Get a healer,” Udan screams, and Herix must have called for one already because gentle hands are suddenly examining my face, even as the pain becomes too much and I lose consciousness.
Vazta
I know where she is.
Chapter Fifteen
Peyton
Unsurprisingly, I’m still in pain when I wake, curled in the cage. Since I can move my jaw, the healer has obviously fixed me.
The bedroom is empty, and I have no idea what time it is, but I take a moment to feel along my body, wincing at the bruising. Truthfully, I probably had internal bleeding. I’m lucky the healer got to me so quickly.
I don’t think I can do this anymore.
I push away the thought as soon as I think it. If there’s one thing I learned as a surgeon, it’s this: Even when it looks like there’s no hope, like you’re out of options, like you’re about to call time of death, people can surprise you.
I never believed in fate. I wasn’t religious, and I had a scientific answer for almost everything.
But I believed in miracles. I’d seen them too many times to not believe. People coming back from the brink of death, against all odds, surviving.
I’ve seen people lose mothers and fathers and children. Brothers, and sisters, and best friends. I don’t know how they do it. But they put one foot in front of the other and they keep going.
Humans may not be the most resilient or strongest species. Hell, it seems like we’re at the bottom of the food chain in this universe. But we’re tough. Against all odds, the human body can survive almost unbelievable trauma and keep going.
Udan walks in and I remain curled against the back of the cage, staring at the wall.
“This is what happens when you deny me and flirt with other males,” he says. I ignore him, unable to pretend anymore.
He growls and kicks my cage. “You will give me your body when I return. If you do not cooperate, I will take it.”
I wait until he’s gone to let the tears fall down my face. Is anyone coming for me?
The door opens and Muly pokes her head in, eyes widening when she sees me awake and in the cage. She has another woman with her, and they both carry cleaning products. The other servant carries a small robot-like device that immediately begins running over the floors. I snort. My Roomba could do the same thing.
That servant moves into the bathroom while Muly goes into the attached sitting room. Finally, Muly turns her attention to the bedroom while her friend moves into the office. I remain curled on the floor as I watch them clean up after a monster.
Muly glances at me, and then back toward the office. She moves faster than I’d thought she could, and she’s suddenly crouched in front of my cage, hands clutching the bars.
She gives me a long look and I stare back at her.
Her eyes travel over my face and fill with tears as her gaze lingers on the bruising around my jaw.
Finally, when I’m about to snap at her, she glances around again and then slips something into my cage.
She’s across the room in a blink, just as the other servant appears, never even glancing in my direction.
They finish up quickly after that, and I barely breathe as I wait for them to leave the room.
Then I finally unwrap the tiny bundle, hope hitting me for the first time in days.
It’s a knife. It’s tiny, barely bigger than a fruit knife. But it’s something.
Vazta
Herix is not a good man.
He’s known for buying slaves- mostly males, who he sentences to a hard life in the mines. From his hard expression, he feels zero remorse for his actions and allowing Udan to use his planet as a safe haven, taking my mate with him.
“Let me remind you, that I am cooperating with you against my better judgement,” he snarls. “When have the Arcav ever helped my people?”
“Cease relying on slaves for your mines,” Varian says mildly, his face unamused in his corner of the screen. “And perhaps we can form a trade agreement.”
Herix ignores that, addressing me.
“I do not want my people harmed,” he says.
“Then ensure they do not get between me and my mate,” I reply.
He bares his teeth. “Let me remind you that I contacted you.”
“Yes,” Varian says silkily. “Which was a good choice. Because we would have found Udan hiding on your planet eventually. And we both know that your forces are nothing compared to mine.”
Herix growls but nods. “And so I am cooperating with the great Arcav King,” he says sarcastically, and Varian merely nods as if acknowledging his greatness.
Herix’s eyes narrow but then he sighs.
“I am acting against my better interests here. If Udan finds out what I have done before you arrive…”
“Why did you notify us then?” I ask.
“Because he almost killed your mate in front of me, and if she died on my planet, it would lead to a war I cannot win.”
My heart stops at the idea of Peyton coming so close to death. I need to save her. Now.
“Okay,” I say impatiently. “Here is how this will go.”
Peyton
Udan is in his worst mood yet when he storms into the room later that day. I’ve spent the last few hours contemplating his physiology and comparing it to mine. If the Brexar are physiologically similar to humans and Arcav, it’s likely that he also has arteries in the same, or similar places.
As I learned with Agerx, even the largest male can die of blood loss within minutes if an artery is nicked or severed.
I tested the knife and it’s sharp, my thumb welling with blood when I press it against the tip. But that doesn’t mean I can get through the thick muscle of his thigh with such a small knife.
I’d have to be incredibly precise. If I miss, and I don’t manage to do a lot of damage quickly, I’m screwed.
Literally.
Fury like I’ve never felt before hits me and I frown, confused. Then it passes, and I’m left with my own terrified determination.
Udan mutters, kicking my cage furiously as he passes by and I tune him out. One of us is about to die.
When I fell asleep for a few moments earlier, Vazta’s face haunted me in my dreams. I woke groggily, still trapped in my dream, convinced that he was curled up around me, keeping me safe. I could have sworn he was there beside me, giving me courage and promising me everything is going to be alright.
Then Udan walked into the room and I rolled into the cold bars of my cage instead of into Vazta’s arms.
Udan quits pacing and turns to me. He pulls the key to my cage out of his pocket and opens the door, gesturing for me to get out.
I have the knife clutched in my fist, the long sleeve of my dress mostly hiding it from view. At least I have the element of surprise.
“Get out,” Udan says.
I hesitate and he leans down, a snarl on his face. “I said get out.”
His neck is close, his breath hot on my face.
This is it.
I lean forward, baring my teeth, knife clutched in my sweaty fist.
He moves out of the way and I crawl out, getting to my feet as he reaches for me. And then it’s like someone else is controlling my body as I step aside, ducking under his arm as I knee him in the gut, just like I practiced so many times on Arcavia.
Udan roars, and I hear my death in the sound, but I’m already swinging the knife, his blood arching as I slash it across his face.
He screams, hands moving to his face before he steps toward me, lashing out blindly with his foot. I’m too slow and he makes contact.
Pain. So much pain. He hit my thigh and I stumble, falling to my knees. I’ve lost the element of surprise, but I bare my teeth as I lunge toward him, still on my knees but aiming my knife at his groin.
BANG!
The door slams open and Udan jumps to his feet, baring his teeth.
He falls, either dead of unconscious. I don’t know which, and I don’t care, because I’m staring at the most perfect face. The face I’ve dreamed about every night but have tried not to let myself think about during the day.
I let out a choked sob, and Vazta is suddenly in front of me, dropping to his knees in front of me and pulling me into his arms. I cover my face with my hands, hardly believing it’s him, even as he gently pulls them away, pressing kisses to my cheeks, brushing away tears as they fall.
Distantly, I know his men are securing the room, but I only have eyes for my mate. “It was you,” I murmur. “You were so angry. I didn’t want to hope that it was the mating bond.”
He takes my lips and I’m suddenly home, even as I’m sitting next to a cage, trembling, exhausted, and confused. I move to put my arms around him, and he catches my hand at the last moment.
“And just what is this?”
Relieved amusement shines in his eyes as he takes in my tiny knife.
“It was me or him,” I say, and he closes his eyes, a shudder running through him.
“My brave, fierce mate. Udan didn’t know what he was getting when he took you.”
Vazta pulls me to my feet and we both turn as Udan groans. He opens his eyes, furious, and then fear dawns on his face as he stares at Vazta.