Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (10 page)

“I’ll make you scream, all right,” Stav promised in
a deep rumble. “Scream and cry and moan.”

“Please,” Charlie begged him, reaching between them
for the thick shaft. She loved the feel of him in her hand—his cock was like a
bar of heated steel covered in silk. “Please put it in me now—I need you.” She
fitted the broad, mushroom shaped head to her entrance and spread her thighs
even further.

“Gods, and I need you,
Falinda
. So
much
.”
Stav groaned as he thrust up into her and she sank down to meet him at the same
time.

Charlie gasped his name and dug her fingernails
into his broad shoulders by reflex. A low, encouraging growl was her reward.
She had learned that Stavros liked a little pain with his pleasure—possibly
because Blood Kindred liked being bitten almost as much as they liked biting.

“Yes,”
she heard him growl through their mental link.
“Bite
me, Falinda. Bite me and ride me until you come all over my shaft. And then it
will be my turn to bite you…”

He didn’t have to ask her twice. Leaning down,
Charlie sank her little white teeth into the strong column of his throat,
latching on to the side of his neck as he thrust inside her.

Stav gasped and pulled her closer, locking arms
that felt like muscular steel beams around her waist and hips. Charlie felt him
surge inside her, his thick length growing even thicker as he pressed deep into
her soft, velvety core.

Part of the pleasure of making love with Stavros
was that he created a kind of feed-back loop between them. She could feel the
sensations he was feeling—the way her inner pussy wrapped around him like a
velvet glove and he could feel her pleasure as well—the way her inner walls
stretched to take him and the lightning flashes of intense sensation when the
blunt head of his cock kissed the mouth of her womb with each thrust. This
feedback ability was the only thing left of his old Curse and Charlie loved
it—it made making love with him a unique and addictive experience.

“I’m
addicted to you too, Falinda,”
she heard him
growl through their link.
“Are you close, do you think? I want to fill you
with my seed as I sink my fangs into your neck.”

Charlie released him and licked the small wound her
even white teeth had made on the side of his throat.

“Then do it,” she said aloud, her voice husky with
passion. “Come on, honey—bite me.”

His eyes flashed with need but he shook his head.

“You haven’t come yet.”

“But I’m damn close,” Charlie pointed out. “And you
know the minute you bite me and inject me, I won’t be able to help it. I’ll
come right along with you.”

“If you’re sure…” The need in his voice made it
ragged and hoarse.

“Always sure,” Charlie assured him. She undulated
her hips, rocking against him to make her point. “Bite me, sweetheart—I
want
you to. I want your fangs in me
deep.
”

As always, her assertion that she
wanted
his
bite drove Stavros wild. For years as a Cursed One, no female of Tranq Prime,
his home world, had wanted his bite. The fact that Charlie was desperate to
feel his fangs in her made him incredibly hot.

“Bare your throat for me.” His voice was a deep,
guttural growl. “And spread your thighs wide,
Falinda.
I’m going to
plant my seed deep in your soft little cunt tonight. Going to fill you up with
my cum.”

Charlie moaned at his dirty words. She loved when
he talked like this to her—it was as much of a turn on as the way he tasted her
and made love to her.

Shifting her hair out of the way, she pressed the
side of her neck to his mouth and waited for his fangs.

This time Stav wasn’t quite so gentle—maybe because
he knew Charlie wasn’t adverse to a little pain with her pleasure either. She
moaned at the piercing sting of the double sets of razor sharp points
puncturing her tender flesh. Then, as before, he began to inject her and an
orgasm rolled over her, making her gasp and clench helplessly all around him.

“Gods,
you’re so tight around me!”
she heard him
growl through their link.
“Love you, Charlie—love you so much!”

“I love you too,”
she managed to gasp and
then he thrust up hard inside her, almost as if he was reaching for her heart,
and she felt the head of his cock pressing hard against the mouth of her womb.
She gasped and stiffened against him as he swelled even thicker within her.
Then something hot and wet spurted against the end of her channel, making her
moan again.

“Stav!” she gasped as he continued to bathe her
pussy with his seed. God, he felt so good inside her…so
right.
And as he
came inside her, she felt his pleasure at the way her inner walls spasmed
around him, almost milking the cum from him, as well as her own pleasure at the
feel of him coming so deep inside her.

“Stav,” she moaned again. “Stavros! God…love you so
much!”

“I love you too,
Falinda,”
he murmured,
finally withdrawing his fangs. “Love you forever.”

Charlie felt her heart overflowing and for a moment
she thought she might actually cry she was so overwhelmed. She looked deep into
her man’s eyes and opened her mouth to tell him it
was
forever because
she was never leaving…

And then the world grayed out and Stav’s indigo
eyes disappeared. Instead, she was seeing something completely different.

After a moment, she realized it was the interior of
a little spaceship—much like the Kindred shuttles they used to ferry people
back and forth between the Mother Ship and Earth. And in the shuttle, was a
tall, black haired man with piercing silver-blue eyes. He was holding a girl
with creamy brown skin to his bare chest and rocking her gently.

He was saying something but Charlie couldn’t quite
hear the words. What was going on? How was she seeing this?

But just as she thought to ask those questions, the
scene changed and she saw Two speaking to what looked like a living pile of
mud.

“Alas, they have escaped my liege,” Two was saying,
his steel teeth flashing as he spoke. “But never fear, I will bring them back.
And when I am done, they will beg for the merciful death of the passion
berries. But no, I have a different fate in store for our lovely couple. A fate
so much worse than death…”

He threw back his head and laughed—at least Charlie
thought
it was laughing. A strange, unearthly howling noise issued from
his skinny throat, sending chills down her spine.

“They deserve no less,” the mud creature said in a
thick, clotted voice. “Your reward will be great if you accomplish this, Two.”

“How great?” Two’s eye gleamed with greed but
somehow Charlie didn’t think he was greedy for money.

“I have been dishonored in my own lair,” the mud
creature said. “You shall have whatever you wish.”

“Then you will See for me?” It was clear by the way
he spoke the word that it had some great significance.

The mud creature frowned, making it look like his
face was melting off.

“That is a very great request. As you know, my
people can only See three times in their lifetime and then the gift is gone. I
have lived a long life and have already Seen twice. I had thought to use my
last Seeing to find the manner and time of my own death, so that I could
circumvent it as others of my kind do.”

“Ah, so you do
not
wish me to go after the
two of them after all.” Two shrugged his narrow, bony shoulders and sighed
deeply. “I understand, my liege.”

“I did not say that.” The mud creature shifted
slowly in its chair, making it obvious to Charlie why he couldn’t go after the
girl and the dark haired man himself. Clearly he was slow as molasses in
January, as her Mama used to say. There was no way he’d be able to get himself
going in time to catch anyone if it came to a chase.

Two, on the other hand, with his skinny physique
and stringy muscles looked like he could really move. And she knew from awful
experience how strong he was—he’d dangled her by the ankle over a bottomless
pit and almost dropped her to her death. He was definitely the man for the job
if you wanted to catch someone, she decided.

“Well?” Two asked, looking down at the mud
creature. “Will you agree to my terms?”

“I must consider.” The mud creature frowned. “They
are probably long gone, even as we speak. How can you find them? And even if
you do, how will you approach them without them knowing? Your appearance
is…singular, even for one of your kind.”

“If you’re referring to my striking good looks, I
must thank you for the compliment.” Two performed an elaborate bow. “But as to
tracking them, finding people who want to stay hidden and knowing information
that is supposed to be secret is something of a specialty of mine.”

“They why do you wish me to See for you?” the mud
creature asked.

“Because some things are beyond even my ability to
discern,” Two admitted. “Not this, however. I know exactly where the two
miscreants you wish to have punished are
and
I have a way to get right next
to them—to even
touch
them—without them having any idea about it.”

“That sounds…mysterious.”

“Mysterious but very effective. I can punish these
two for you in any way you see fit.
If
you will do the Seeing.”

“I must consider. Leave me for now.”

“As you command, my liege.” Two bowed obsequiously
and backed out of the room.
But look at his face,
Charlie thought.
He’s
like the cat that got the cream. He knows Mr. Muddy-britches will come around.
All he has to do is wait.

“I
just wonder what he wants the Lud’om to See for him,”
Stav’s mental voice murmured in her ear.

Charlie blinked and suddenly she was back again in
Stavros’s arms on the side of the bed.

“What happened?” she asked, looking at him
wide-eyed. “So you saw all that too?”

“I did.” Stav looked grim. “And so did you,
apparently. The only question is
how?”

Chapter
Ten

“I’m cold. So
c-cold.”
Trin shivered
helplessly and Thrace
held her close, rubbing his hands over her back to try and get her warm.

She’d been shivering ever since she woke up, an hour
after he’d gotten them aboard the small life pod. Even the thermal blanket he’d
found in the emergency stores and wrapped around her seemed to do no
good—probably because the damn passion berries demanded physical contact to
counteract their effects. So he was holding her, trying to warm her with his
own body heat though he wasn’t sure she’d like it. It wasn’t like she had much
choice, though—it was be held by him or shake herself apart. Thrace thought she’d prefer the
former to the latter—he hoped anyway.

At least she was all right. For awhile there, after
he’d gotten the pod a safe distance from the Demon’s Eye, he’d been afraid she
wouldn’t wake up at all. She’d been so still—barely breathing—and her cheek had
been icy when he’d touched her. That was when Thrace had gathered her into his
arms and held her close to his bare chest, trying to warm her and wake her.

But for a long time she wouldn’t wake. As he stared
at her still face, he’d wondered what he would do if she slipped away. Not that
he should care about her—not after the way she’d chained him up and treated him
like a Gods-damned pet. But he
did
care—there was something about her.
Something he didn’t want to lose. What, though?

Nothing,
he told himself uneasily.
I still owe her a debt
which I must repay. It would darken my honor if she died before I could make it
right. That’s why I don’t want her to die—only that and nothing more.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go and he’d been filled with relief
when she finally opened her eyes.

“Why am I s-so c-cold?” she whispered, looking up
at him.

“That’s just the effects of the passion berry wine
you drank,” Thrace
said grimly, brushing a lock of her long black hair out of her face. “You’re
lucky you’re not
dead.”
Then, as relief gave way to anger he demanded,
“What in the Seven Hells were you thinking, going into that place alone?”

Trin frowned and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Don’t talk to me like that! I had a deal with
B’Rugh. I knew it was risky but it was a risk I had to take. And it’s not like
I went in unarmed or unprepared.” She lifted one hand where a thin gold wire
ring was slipped over her slim index finger. There was a tiny green light on
the underside of the ring glowing a steady green. “See? A toxin sensor. I just
don’t understand why it didn’t detect the poison that man with the steel teeth
put in my cup.”

“It didn’t detect it because passion berries aren’t
really a poison even though they act like one in the wrong doses—they’re an
aphrodisiac. A very
deadly
aphrodisiac,” Thrace told her.

“An
aphrodisiac?”
Trin struggled to sit up
and get out of his arms.

Obligingly, Thrace helped her, sitting her on
the side of the fold out bunk where he’d been holding her. Hopefully some of
the drug was leaving her system. At least, she no longer looked like she was
going to freeze to death—for now, anyway. Later on might be a different story.

“An aphrodisiac?” she said again. “But I don’t
feel…sexual.” Her creamy cheeks flushed a bit. “I just feel
cold.”

“Because you only took the first sip,” Thrace
said. “The rule of passion berries is the first sip makes you cold, the second
makes you hot and the third makes you dead.”

“What?” She frowned.

Briefly, he described the effects of the passion
berry laced wine if a second and third drink of it was taken.

“Goddess.” Trin put a hand to her mouth and her
face grew so pale it worried him. “So you’re saying B’Rugh—”

“Was taking no chances,” Thrace said grimly. “He wanted you
and he meant to have you, whether you agreed to his ‘deal’ or not.”

“Ugh…” Trin shivered again and this time it clearly
wasn’t from cold. “I still don’t understand why he would
want
such a
thing from me! We’re clearly not compatible species.”

“I believe he said it was the color of your skin
that drew him,” Thrace
murmured, eyeing the creamy light brown tones of her cheek with admiration. “In
that I can’t say that I blame him. You are unique, Trin. And fucking gorgeous,
as I think I mentioned before.”

She drew away from him, eyeing him uneasily.

“Why are you saying this to me? You want the same
thing B’Rugh did? I told you—I won’t be penetrated by a male.
Ever
.”

“It was a compliment. An ill-timed one,
apparently.” Thrace
sighed and held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “Look, I didn’t save you
from getting raped just to rape you myself. I’m not like that—I’ve never taken
a female against her will and I don’t intent to start now.”

“They why did you say all those things to be back
aboard
The Alacrity?”
Trin demanded. “Why did you tell me all the things
you…fantasized about doing to me?”

“I was bored,” Thrace growled. “Bored and horny
out of my fucking mind. You had me chained up, treating me like a pet you could
wash and feed and play with while you walked around in your panties and
nightdress exposing yourself like I wouldn’t care.”

“I told you, I didn’t
know
you’d care,” Trin
protested. She sighed. “Look, I realize you hate me for what I did to you and
for not believing you when you said you weren’t a slave. It’s clear now I was
wrong about your past—you
couldn’t
have been a slave if you were off
fighting B’Rugh and his kind for control of your planet.”

“Well…” For a moment he actually considered telling
her about his past—about what had happened when he was sixteen cycles old and
he and his Sire had been taken by slavers. But only for a moment. “It’s all
right,” he said roughly at last. “You had no reason to believe me.”

“I had no reason to disbelieve you either—other
than my fear of your physical strength and my distrust of your sex,” Trin said.
“I treated you as inferior because you’re male. I’m sorry for that but I can’t
change the past.”

“What’s done is done.” Thrace made a chopping gesture with
one hand. “It’s over now.”

“Why did you come for me?” She wrapped the thermal
blanket more tightly around her slim shoulders and looked at him uncertainly.
“After what I did to you? Chaining you up…treating you like you were one of my
pets…”

“Because before you did all those things, you saved
my life,” he said roughly. “That fucking slaver at the Flesh Bazaar would have
killed me with the pain collar and why not? I was pure profit and no loss to
him since he scooped up me and my friend Solar at a dirty little portside bar
on Padge. He could have killed me and not lost a moment’s sleep about it but
you…you
cared
. Even though you don’t like males and I was a stranger to
you, you cared enough to stop him. To save me.” He looked into her eyes. “That
matters, Trin.”

She held his gaze for a moment, her dark eyes wide
and uncertain.

“So…a life for a life? We’re even now, is that it?”

“Even?” Thrace got off the bunk and started
pacing. “Ha. Not even close.”

Trin shook her head. “I don’t understand. What more
do you want me to do? Obviously you can have your freedom—with my apologies of
course. And I can take you wherever you want to go—”

“No, you don’t understand.” Thrace turned to her. “We’re not
even because
I
still owe
you.”

“Owe me what?” She looked completely confused now.

“Don’t play dumb,” Thrace snapped. “I know how much
you paid for me—
fifty thousand credits.
It nearly bankrupted you, didn’t
it?
That’s
why you decided to go into the Demon’s Eye alone—you were
desperate.”

She lifted her chin, fire flashing in her dark
eyes.

“I’m never desperate. I told you, I took a
calculated risk.”

“One that almost got you raped and killed,” Thrace
pointed out harshly.

“I’ve thanked you for saving me and given you back
your freedom,” she flared. “What more do you want?”

“I’ll tell you what I
don’t
fucking want,” Thrace
growled. “I don’t want my freedom. Not yet, anyway.” He took a deep breath.
“I’m going to continue being your slave until I make this right—until I pay the
debt between us.”

“What?” She looked at him blankly. “But that could
take
years.
You don’t know what you’re offering.”

“Yes I do. Gods…” Thrace shook his head. “I never
thought I’d volunteer for slavery willingly but I don’t see any other way—a
Havoc always pays his debts. And besides, it won’t take years. It’ll only take
until you can sell these.” Reaching into the pocket of his tight leather
trousers, he produced the small black bag filled with Jaxite crystals.

“You
got
them?” Trin jumped up from the
bunk, shedding the thermal blanket in her excitement. “You got the crystals?”

“Of course I did,” Thrace said roughly but he couldn’t
help liking the excitement and joy he saw in her eyes and knowing he was
responsible for it. “Had to blast some big holes in a few of B’Rugh’s thugs to
get both them and you out of there but I got them.”

“That’s
wonderful!”
Trin actually laughed, a
low, musical sound that he liked a hell of a lot. “Amazing.” She frowned. “Now
that I think of it, the last thing I remember before I blacked out was that we
were surrounded.”

“Not for long. I rigged the blaster’s power switch
and turned it into a heatbeam—little trick I learned in the war with the
Lud’oms. Cut a few of B’Rugh’s thugs in half and blasted a few more to puddles
of twitching ooze…they got out of the way pretty quick after that.”

Her eyes widened. “You overrode the safety setting?
You could have blown your hand off!”

Thrace
shrugged. “It was a calculated risk—like the one
you took. Just so happens it paid off. You complaining?”

“No…” She looked thoughtful. “I guess I don’t have
room to complain considering the results. It’s something I never would have
done myself but well…”

“But your new slave is crazy,” Thrace growled. “So he does
whatever the hell it takes to get the job done.”

*
* * * *

“I’m glad you do,” Trin said seriously. She was
still stunned that he’d come for her—she really couldn’t complain about his
methods. “Listen, about this slave business,” she began. “You really don’t have
to—”

“Yes, I do,” Thrace interrupted, frowning. “I
told you, a Havoc
always
pays what he owes. It’s a point of honor and
pride among us. If you deny me the right to serve you until I have paid this
debt, my honor will be forever darkened.”

“Well…” Trin looked at him uncertainly. Males were
such strange creatures—so big and strong and stubborn. There seemed to be no
reasoning with him about this. Though she honestly felt he had more than paid
his debt by rescuing her from B’Rugh’s horrible plot, he seemed determined to
help her sell the crystals as well.

But
can I trust him? What’s to stop him from taking over the ship the minute I let
him back on board?
Of course if
he’d wanted to do that, he probably already could’ve done it when he got out of
his chains in the first place. How
had
he gotten free, anyway? A sick
feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

“How did you get loose in the first place?” she
asked softly. “My crew…”

“Are fine,” he assured her. “Your good friend,
Sidna let me go. Then she held me at blaster point and forced me into one of
the pods—this one, in fact. I’m afraid we had to leave yours behind back at the
Demon’s Eye since I couldn’t pilot them both.”

“Sidna let you go?” Trin asked without surprise. It
was exactly what the medic had been advocating before she left—the exact course
of action Trin herself had decided on, in fact. She supposed she ought to be
mad at her friend for going behind her back and making the final decision
without her but considering the circumstances, she really couldn’t be upset. If
Sidna hadn’t set the huge Havoc free, Trin would be helpless, at the mercy of
the slimy B’Rugh right now. Ugh!

“She let me go and she’s fine—they’re
all
fine. Trin…” Thrace
looked at her steadily with those pale, piercing eyes. “Let me do this. You
need me to make the sale on Yonnie Six—I know you do. Sidna said so.”

Trin frowned, trying to think of an objection. One
popped immediately to mind.

“My crew won’t like it,” she said. “They think
you’re a monster and they saw Sidna escort you out of the ship at blaster
point. They’ll never believe you
asked
to serve me.”

“I’ll make them believe,” Thrace promised steadily. “I can be
very convincing when I want to be.”

“They won’t like to have a male—especially such a,
uh,
big
one running around the ship free,” she pointed out.

“That’s probably true.” He sighed. “All right, I
can’t believe I’m saying this but…put the pain collar back on me. Then keep the
remote on you at all times if you want.”