Companion 3000

by Evangeline Anderson

  “No,” the tall man said, and Leita could hear the scowl in his voice. This was a man who wasn’t used to being second-guessed. “This is the one I want,” he told the attendant, striding over to look down at her. “The only one.” He looked her over thoroughly and his frankly appraising stare made Leita blush and wriggle in her chains. She had almost managed to forget how horribly exposed she was in the tiny, revealing outfit she was wearing but the prospective buyer’s hot gaze on her body reminded her that she was on her knees, her naked nipples thrusting out and her pussy lips spread open for anyone to see the hot, wet interior of her cunt.

  “I have many other girls, each more beautiful than the last and all as compliant as silk.” The attendant seemed to be searching for a delicate way to change the rich buyer’s mind.

  “I don’t want any other girl,” the tall man said. He reached out to touch Leita’s hair and she considered biting him, then remembered her earlier worries and refrained. As long as he was only stroking her hair she’d let him get away with it. And there was something in his touch that made her shiver. Something familiar, something she had been longing for. She looked up at him, trying to get a better look at his eyes, the only part of his face that was visible, but he had turned away and was talking to the attendant.

  “She bites,” the attendant said bluntly. “I have many girls that do not. This one is too feisty.”

  “I like my women with a little bit of fire in them.” The buyer cupped her cheek with one large palm and caressed her lips with his thumb. The touch sent another chill through Leita, a tingle that started at her lips and traveled down to her erect nipples and exposed clit. What was it about this man that set her nerves on fire?

  “I would not do that if I were you.” The attendant looked worriedly at the trusting way the buyer was stroking Leita’s lips with his thumb. “This one has bitten no less than seventeen people since she got here. We are beginning to be sorry that she was taken in the first place.”

  The buyer slipped his thumb between Leita’s lips and she felt another chill go through her as she sucked it into her mouth, tasting the salt of his skin. What was it about this man? Who was he and why did he seem so familiar? Surely it couldn’t be…

  “She doesn’t appear to be biting now. Are you, baby girl?” He looked down at her, a twinkle in the deep blue eyes. Leita’s own eyes widened and she nearly bit him from sheer surprise. Pierce! It really was him—he had come for her!

  The next minute she had another thought. Why had he come? Was it because he really wanted to rescue her? Or did he plan some form of revenge for the way she had kicked him out of her life pod? Oh, dear. Leita wished she knew his intentions but his thumb in her mouth kept her from asking anything out loud. Pierce’s deep eyes caught hers and held her spellbound, unable to look away.

  “I cannot believe how you have tamed her!” the attendant gushed. “A man so great as yourself at mastering women should have two or even three slaves to keep him warm at night.” Clearly he was going to the other extreme, trying to get Pierce to agree to buying more than one slave now that one sale looked final.

  “One is enough for me,” Pierce said softly, still looking at Leita and not the attendant. “As long as she’s the one. But maybe I should inspect her to make sure she’s really what I want.”

  The attendant threw up his hands. “By all means, do as you like with her. But I will not accept any of the blame if she decides to be feisty again and bites off whatever appendage you put in her mouth.”

  “I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Pierce growled, withdrawing his thumb at last. “She knows she’ll get a punishment if she tries anything. Don’t you, baby girl?”

  Leita felt as if someone had poured a bucketful of warm water down her spine. A rush of heat encompassed her and she had to lick her lips twice before she could answer. “Yes…yes, Master,” she whispered at last, still looking up into his eyes.

  “Good girl,” Pierce rumbled, stroking her cheek. He turned to the attendant. “I’m allowed to inspect her any way I want?”

  The attendant shrugged. “Surely. Do as you wish.”

  Pierce’s eyes narrowed. “Has anyone else touched her?”

  “She has bitten every one who has tried.” The attendant looked irritated. “Had I known she could be made to be compliant, I could have charged a great deal more for her. It is most vexatious.”

  “She’s worth more than all the others here put together.” Pierce’s large, warm hand wandered down to cup one of Leita’s breasts. He tweaked her erect nipple gently, making her gasp and squirm. “You just have to know how to handle her,” he murmured.

  “Do her nipples meet with your approval?” The attendant looked bored. No doubt he wished to be helping another customer who might buy a pricier item.

  “I don’t know—let me see.” Pierce cupped both her breasts now in his warm, calloused hands and Leita bit back a moan as he began to torture her nipples, twisting them gently between his fingers. “Beautiful,” he murmured as Leita writhed in her bonds, unable to get away from his attention. “So responsive.” He leaned down and sucked one of her hard pink buds between his lips and this time Leita couldn’t help the little moan that came out of her mouth. It was humiliating to be touched this way, tasted as Pierce was tasting her now, in a room full of people. And yet, she couldn’t deny the effect his mouth was having on her body. Her nipples, which had been hard for hours, were more sensitive than they had ever been. Even the lightest touch sent flames of sensation from her sensitive buds straight to the slippery vee of her sex. And Pierce wasn’t touching her lightly—he was sucking hard on her tender tips, making Leita wonder if she could come just from having her nipples sucked and licked.

  At last Pierce stopped. “Good girl,” he said softly, looking into her eyes. “Did you like that, honey? Did it turn you on?”

  “I…I…” Leita’s face was flaming red with embarrassment but her body was throbbing with desire. But Pierce wasn’t done with her.

  “Are you wet, baby?” he asked her, still toying gently with her aching nipples. “If I touched your sweet little pussy right now would you be all slippery and hot for me?”

  “Goddess!” Leita turned her head, unable to meet his gaze.

  “Answer me, baby girl,” Pierce demanded. His voice was soft but he pinched her nipples cruelly, sending a fresh bolt of pleasure-pain to her wet center.

  “I…I don’t know.” Leita looked up at him, ashamed at the need she heard in her own voice. She didn’t know if Pierce was torturing her for revenge or simply playing the part of a prospective buyer and it was getting harder and harder to care. All she knew was that her body was on fire for him, that he was acting out one of her most forbidden fantasies whether he knew it or not. But by the heat in his blue eyes he knew—knew exactly what he was doing to her. And he was enjoying doing it.

  “Maybe I should find out if you’re wet or not, baby girl,” he said softly, holding her gaze. “Maybe I should see if your hot little pussy is all ready for me to fuck.”

  Leita caught her breath at his blunt words, a fresh heat building beneath her skin. Goddess, what he did to her! She gasped as one large, warm hand stroked its way down the trembling flesh of her belly to her spread cunt. She bit her lip in shame for having to endure such humiliation…for having to sit still for such treatment. And yet she knew what Pierce would find when his fingers reached her open sex. She was drenched with her own juices, her pussy was hot and swollen with the need for his touch. He was mastering her as surely as he had their last night together, playing on her deepest fantasies to make her lose all control.

  Pierce’s hand reached the apex of her pussy and two long, strong fingers slid down the length of her spread slit, stroking the slippery heated interior of her cunt gently. “That’s right,” he whispered, watching her intently while his calloused fingertips slid over and around the golden ring that framed her clit without ever actually touching the tender bundle of nerves directly. “That
’s right, baby girl. Open your sweet little pussy for me. Let me see how wet you are. How much you need to be touched.”

  “Goddess!” Leita gasped, squeezing her eyes shut in shame and pleasure, her body taut as a wire. Between her trembling thighs, Pierce continued to explore her heated depths, making her throb with need. His fingers slipped over her swollen folds without ever actually making contact with her throbbing center. Her clit was begging for his touch, inflamed with need and held at attention by the thin gold band that encircled it but still Pierce teased.

  “I like this little outfit you have on, Leita,” he whispered in her ear, letting one gentle fingertip trace the ring around her clit. “I like the way your tits are on display— the way your pussy is all spread open for me to see…to touch. Like this.” The fingertip tracing the gold ring around her clit at last made contact, brushing over the tender pink bud so lightly it was barely a touch at all. But that was all it took to push Leita over the edge. What felt like a tremendous electrical shock ran through her entire body as a fierce orgasm crashed over her, making her moan shamelessly out loud.

  “Please, oh Goddess…Master—please!”

  “That’s right, baby girl—come for me.” Pierce’s deep voice was hoarse with emotion and Leita opened her eyes to see an intense look on his face, centered in his blue eyes. “So beautiful,” he whispered, for her ears alone. “So Goddessdamn beautiful when you come, baby.”

  “Please,” she managed to say, her lips so numb she could barely get the words out. “Please, Master. I…I need you.” Her body throbbed and ached and she found herself unable to say anything more coherent. Rather than taking the edge off her desire, the orgasm had only increased it. Her pussy felt empty, almost achingly so and Leita knew she needed to be filled with his thick cock. She no longer cared that they were in the middle of a room full of people—every other person in the room faded into the background when Pierce looked at her like that.

  Pierce’s deep blue eyes got dark. “Need you too, baby girl. But right now we have to get outta here.” He stood up and threw the bag of platinum pieces to the bored attendant.

  “You will be wanting change?” the attendant inquired tonelessly, already looking for the next buyer.

  “Keep it.” Pierce was already working on getting her free. “She’s worth every bit.”

  The attendant brightened. “Congratulations on an excellent choice, Sir. May she serve you well.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Pierce muttered. “Just get her out of these chains. She’s mine now and I don’t want anyone else seein’ her like this.”

  He lifted Leita in his arms like a child the minute the last chain was unlocked, almost as though he was afraid she would run away from him if he didn’t carry her. Leita didn’t complain. She buried her face in his neck and breathed in the familiar, spicy musk she had loved from the first minute she met him.

  Her body throbbed with the aftereffects of the orgasm but in the back of her head, she continued to wonder why Pierce had come for her. Did he want revenge of some kind? Or did he see this as his way of paying her back for harboring him from the people who were hunting him for a while? There was a third possibility—one she was almost afraid to think of. That he loved her, as she had grown to love him even though she had tried so hard to deny it. Even though he had lied to her and deceived her, she couldn’t help herself. Seeing Pierce again, being touched by him and held in his arms brought all the emotions she’d tried so hard to suppress rushing back. Could it be that Pierce felt the same way? That he wanted to be with her, not just rescue her and send her back to her life pod? But Leita wanted that so much she was afraid to think of it. Afraid to let the hope grow in her heart.

  She had thought he might put her down once they left the large auditorium but Pierce carried her tirelessly through what seemed like miles of blank white corridors until at last they reached a small, private port. He had a ship—a sleek Titan Jaunter that looked like a big silver bird to Leita, who was used to the almost spherical droid ships that collected her ore. Pierce spoke a series of commands into his chronometer, which was obviously tied to the ship, and a long steel gangplank descended, ushering them into the dimly lit interior.

  “Here we are, honey.” Pierce sat her down gently just inside the entrance and raised the plank to close the ship’s door. He took off the privacy mask and threw it to one side. “Safe and sound,” he told her. “Guess I better warm up the engines.”

  Leita didn’t want to let him go. “I…” She stood with her arms around his neck, her body still throbbing with need but Pierce was acting like nothing had happened.

  “You okay?” he asked, ducking his head to look into her eyes.

  “I don’t understand.” Leita shook her head. “How did you find me? Why…why did you come for me?”

  Pierce frowned. “Schneider called and told me you’d been taken. I couldn’t just leave you there, could I?” He laughed unconvincingly. “Call it cosmic karma—you bought me—in a way, anyhow, when you ordered that damn Companion thing and I showed up at your door instead. And I bought you just now. I was just returnin’ the favor.”

  “But…but I yelled at you and threatened you and kicked you out of my place naked,” Leita said. “And tazered you,” she added as an afterthought. “I thought…I guess I just thought you’d hate me. That you wouldn’t come for me even if you did know where I was.”

  “I don’t hate you, baby.” Pierce cupped her cheek gently and looked down into her eyes. “What gave you that idea? I could never hate you.” He leaned closer and Leita thought he was going to kiss her. Her heart jumped in her chest and she felt her breathing quicken. But then the look on Pierce’s face changed to one of regret and he pulled back.

  “Pierce?” she asked, making his name a question. She would have given a billion credits to know what was going on in his head. Did he feel the same way she did?

  “Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “I just… I better go warm up those engines.”

  Leita began to get mad. She stood back and put her hands on her hips. “Why do you keep talking about the engines? What about what happened just now—when are we going to talk about that? What about…what about the way you touched me?”

  Pierce’s face got red. “I’m sorry about that, Leita,” he said in a low voice. “I was just… I had to play the part. And I’m sorry about touchin’ you the way I did, too. I guess…guess I just wanted one last chance. One last—” he broke off, shaking his head.

  “Look, we need to get outta here. We’re not far from your life pod. I promise I’ll get you back pretty quick.” He turned abruptly and left her standing in the small living quarters of the ship to go forward to what Leita supposed was the command center.

  She stood for a moment, crestfallen, uncertain of what to do next. So Pierce didn’t want her the way she wanted him. He’d come out of a sense of duty and obligation when Schneider called, not because he really cared. Not because he loved her.

  Leita looked around the living area, which was bachelor neat and bare. There was a tiny food synthesizer mounted on one wall by a table with one lone chair. Across from that was a single bunk that hardly looked big enough for one person, let alone two. Alone, Leita realized, looking at the arrangement. Pierce lives here alone and that’s the way he likes it. He probably travels around the galaxy having adventures, footloose and fancy-free with nothing and no one to tie him down. He doesn’t want to settle down in a boring little life pod with Schneider and me and spend all his time repairing ships and tying me up to satisfy my kinky desires.

  The thought brought tears to her eyes and Leita plunked herself down on the single bunk as the ship began its liftoff sequence. She swiped at her eyes angrily and stared down at the worn gray synthi-fur that carpeted the interior. Her body still hummed from the orgasm Pierce had given her but that didn’t matter. He had only been playing a part—the role of a prospective slave buyer testing the goods before he paid out good platinum. Everything about this rescue spoke of d
uty and obligation—not love. Not a wish to make any kind of a commitment.

  So why does it have to be about commitment? Leita sat upright on the bunk, her eyes widening. Why indeed? She loved Pierce, she had admitted as much to herself. But she also wanted him—wanted his big, hard body against hers, holding her, filling her. She wanted his love but if she couldn’t have that, sex was the next best thing. And Goddess knew the man knew how to fuck—he’d more than proved it in the month and a half he’d lived with her. What if she seduced him—right here on his ship?

  One last time she wanted to feel him inside her, taking her, owning her, making her feel loved, Leita admitted to herself. And she was certainly dressed for it. She looked down at the scarlet straps crisscrossing her body and the golden rings that encircled her nipples and clit. She still tingled all over from Pierce’s large, warm hands on her body. She wanted that one more time before he dropped her back on her life pod and went out of her life forever.

  Well, there was no time like the present, Leita decided. Standing, she ran both hands through her hair, feeling the pull of the gold nipple rings as she raised her arms. The memory of Pierce’s hot mouth on her there made her warm all over. And the thought of his long fingers caressing her tender clit made her press her thighs together in anticipation. Time she got him to finish what he had started.

  Pierce left her standing in the living area of the Jaunter and went up front to the control area. He slumped in the captain’s chair and ran a hand through his hair, trying to control his emotions. Damn if he hadn’t had to force himself to let Leita go before he took her right then and there. She’d been so soft and curvy in his arms—so responsive to his touch. But he’d lied to her and deceived her. Pierce didn’t intend to add rape to his list of crimes.