Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (12 page)

But somehow the collar had brought that response
out of him.

Why? Was it just because he’d nearly been killed by
it before? That would certainly be reason enough to cause an extreme reaction
but somehow Trin thought it was more than that. More of what she didn’t know.
She only knew that at the sight of the collar the proud, fearless, reckless
male she was coming to know and grudgingly respect had somehow lost himself. Or
rather…he was only holding onto himself by a thread. Maybe that was why he’d
shocked himself on purpose—to bring himself back, to clear his head somehow.

Or
maybe he was just showing the crew they were safe. Come on, Trin—stop making up
stories and deal with the reality,
she lectured
herself.

But the reality was that she’d seen genuine
distress when she showed the collar to him…the reality was that his big body
had trembled as she fastened it on.

But
he still said the proper words and made the proper gestures,
Trin reminded herself. It didn’t occur to her to
wonder how Thrace
knew
the proper words and correct gestures. After all, they’d already
established that she’d been wrong about his past. But there was something about
the pain she’d seen in his pale, piercing eyes that twisted her heart.

If she’d really seen it there at all. Maybe she was
just imagining things…

“I’m fine. I feel good.” Thrace was already getting to his
feet again, dusting off the tight leather trousers and giving her an irreverent
grin. “Well, was that show good enough for you,
Mistress?”

“It was,” Trin acknowledged. Although she wondered
how much of it was show.

“Good.” He nodded at her. “Well, let’s get back to
the cabin. I assume I’ll be sleeping with you tonight?”

“What?” Trin looked at him, genuinely startled.

“At the foot of your bed, of course. As any good
slave would.” He raised an eyebrow. “What did you think I meant?”

Trin cleared her throat, not willing to get into
that.

“I’m sorry but the small room where you were before
is supposed to be for my body-slave.”

“You mean the one where you had me chained down so
I couldn’t move for days on end?” His voice dropped to a low growl. “Look,
Mistress, no disrespect but I’m not going back in there. I…” He cleared his
throat. “I
can’t.
Not on top of this.” He touched the collar lightly
with his fingertips and winced again as he got a slight shock. The collar was
wired to keep a slave from trying to take it off too.

“Thrace—”

“Please, Trin…it’s too much,” he muttered, meeting
her eyes. “I fucking
can’t.
Not tonight, anyway.”

“I…” Trin wasn’t sure what to say. It was true that
there was space on the floor at the end of her bed—her cabin was rather large
as sleeping quarters went—probably because the ship had originally been built
for an elegant and spoiled mistress from Yonnie Six. But she’d never expected
to have to share it with anyone—most especially not a male.

Still one glance at his face convinced her. The
look was back in his eyes—that indefinable look that made her wonder…that made
her worry…that made her sorry.

“All right,” she said at last, stiffly. “But I’m
sleeping with the remote in my hand. Come on, I’m tired.”

“As my Mistress wishes,” Thrace murmured and followed her
out of the pod and down the long metal corridor without further comment.

Chapter
Twelve

Sidna was waiting for her in front of her cabin
door, as Trin had half expected she would be. She gave a mental sigh and
straightened her shoulders, unwilling to show weakness although she was
beginning to feel more weary than she ever had in her life.

“Sidna, what can I do for you?” she said, trying to
keep her tone light.

“I’d like a moment of your time, Captain.
Alone.”
It was always a bad sign when Sidna called her by her title instead of her
name. Inside, Trin groaned. Outwardly, she somehow managed to maintain a
pleasant, professional expression.

“Of course. Thrace—go in the cabin please and
turn my bed down for sleep. I’m tired.”

“I will. And then I’d like a shower, Mistress.” He
raised his eyebrows at her, making it a request.

“Of course, that’s fine.” Trin nodded. “Just go.”

The huge Havoc nodded and walked into her cabin
quietly. The metal door
swooshed
shut behind him.

Sidna looked at Trin, iron gray eyebrows raised in
disbelief.

“So now you’re letting him sleep with you? A male?
In your
bed?”
she demanded. “That’s sacrilege! The Goddess—”

“Of course he’s not sleeping in my bed,” Trin said
briskly. “He’s sleeping on the floor so I can keep an eye on him.”

“Right. So you can keep an
eye
on him.”
Sidna’s voice fairly dripped sarcasm.

Trin put a hand on her hip—time to nip this in the
bud.

“What
exactly
are you implying, Sidna? And
you’d better watch what you say. I don’t appreciate being insulted on my own
ship.”

“I’m not implying—I’m
saying
that this…this
male
has you fooled. Somehow he’s convinced you that he’s trustworthy when he’s
not—no male is and you know it!”

Trin felt her professional demeanor slipping. It
had been a hell of a long day and she was bone weary and not completely sure
about her choices. Which meant she
really
didn’t feel like defending
them to her friend.

“You know how he convinced me to trust him, Sidna?”
she demanded. “The fact that he came after me, all alone, and saved my life and
my honor in the Demon’s Eye. Then he risked his own life to get me back
here—fought off over a dozen of B’Rugh’s goons—and before you say that all
males are disgusting beasts that only think about sex and breeding, he didn’t
lay a hand on me either, even when I was completely vulnerable. Then he
willingly
let me put the collar on him just so you and the rest of the crew wouldn’t
feel uneasy about him being on board. So
that’s
how he earned my trust.
What else can he do to earn yours?”

“Nothing,” Sidna said flatly. “He’s a male—they’re
inherently untrustworthy and you know it. But since he has you fooled, I’ll try
my best to have your back when he turns on you.”

“He’s not going to turn on me like some rabid feral.”
Trin couldn’t keep the exasperation out of her voice. “Look, is that all you
came to say? Because I’m
really
tired—being in mortal danger and nearly
being raped and killed will do that to a girl.”

Sidna’s lips thinned. “As a matter of fact, no that
isn’t all. I also wanted to tell you that you have a message from Lady
Malroth
on Yonnie Six.
I saved it for you on your private viewscreen.”

“Thank you.” Trin nodded. “That’s good news—maybe
she’s ready to deal.”

“Maybe,” Sidna snapped. “And I guess you’re ready
to deal as well—now that you have a body-slave at your side to legitimize you
in the Yonnie Six circles.”

“I am,” Trin said calmly. “And as soon as I sell
the Jaxite crystals I got from B’Rugh to Lady
Malroth
, I’ll make
back the investment on Thrace.
Then he’ll consider his debt paid, and he’ll go. All right?”

Sidna looked slightly mollified.

“Really? This isn’t a long term arrangement then?
Because I never liked the idea of you buying a male slave in the first place
and I don’t trust this one as far as I could throw him.”

“It’s just a one time thing,” Trin told her
soothingly. “As soon as the deal is done, Thrace is gone.”

“Well…” Sidna took a deep breath. “I still don’t
like it and I still don’t trust him. But I’m willing to stick by you, Trin—at
least until Yonnie Six.”

“Thank you.” Trin put a hand on the other woman’s
shoulder. “That means a lot to me, Sidna. Good medics are hard to find and good
friends are even harder.”

A small smile graced the medic’s thin lips.

“Just be careful letting him in there with you.
Sleep with that remote in your hand.” She nodded to the small, black rectangle
Trin still held.

“I intend to,” Trin said gravely. “Now, I’d better
go listen to the message Lady
Malroth
left. And then I’m going to get some sleep—I’m dead
tired.”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Sidna said, nodding.
“Pleasant dreams, Trin.”

“Pleasant dreams, Sidna.” She watched the medic
walk away with the feeling of a near disaster averted. Sidna was strong willed
enough to stir the crew towards mutiny if she truly didn’t believe in a
decision Trin had made. They’d had their differences in the past but never
anything this severe. Trin just hoped she had put the older woman’s fears to
rest.

And she hoped that Sidna was wrong about Thrace.

With a sigh, she went into her cabin and closed the
door. There was nothing else to do.

*
* * * *

When he came out of the shower, a towel wrapped
around his hips, Thrace
saw Trin was sitting on the end of her bed watching a message on the
viewscreen.

“I received your message about your shipment of
Jaxite crystals with cautious pleasure, mingled, I must confess, with more than
a little trepidation,” a sharp, cultured voice said.

Thrace
started to go back into the fresher—this was a
private message, after all. But he could tell that the woman speaking was a
mistress of Yonnie Six by the way she was dressed. She was wearing an outfit
that was a bizarre mixture of modest and revealing. Her dress had a collar that
went up to her chin and fell down to her ankles, covering her completely. It
was a flat, opaque blue except for clear mesh panels over her breasts and the
area between her thighs. Though they were technically covered, her breasts and
sex were clearly revealed by the odd garment.

But her dress wasn’t the only strange thing about
her—her hair was dyed deep blue to match her dress and swept up in an elaborate
style that towered over her head. On her fingers, rings filled with rare and
precious gems flashed as she talked.

Oh
yeah, Yonnie Six, all right,
Thrace
thought. His old Master had had some dealings with
the mistresses there—though he’d been forced to use a female envoy to conduct
them. The Yonnites had absolutely no respect or use for males at all—except as
body-slaves. That was about as much as Thrace knew about them and it was
as much as he’d ever
wanted
to know. But since this call might affect
his future freedom and Trin’s ability to sell the crystals, he figured he’d
better listen in.

“My trepidation, of course, stems from the fact
that last time you came to see me, you were not properly
accessorized.”
The
Yonnie mistress emphasized the word. “I trust you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Trin muttered from
the bed. “You want me to have a body-slave, you snobbish
prig.”
Her back
was still towards him so she didn’t see Thrace standing in the shadows
watching her. There was a slump to her slim shoulders that spoke of her
weariness and he felt a surge of pity for his new mistress.

“I very much want the shipment and I’m prepared to
give you a very fair price.
But…”
The mistress held up one ringed
finger. “You
must
have a proper body-slave with you this time. It is of
utmost
importance as the only place I can see you is at the
Landra-Rey
Celebration.
There will be other mistresses there as well and I must
not
be seen to
associate with an inferior connection. Every move you make will be scrutinized
so I hope you’re up to date on the current customs and fashions. As you know,
they change daily—sometimes hourly—on our lovely world and only the latest
fashions and trends will be tolerated.”

“Customs and fashions. Goddess of Judgment, give me
strength!” Trin sighed and ran a hand through her long black hair.

“Your body-slave must also be perfectly behaved
with only the finest manners. An impressive specimen will be in order so I hope
you have procured one.”

“Oh, I think you’ll be impressed, Lady Malroth,”
Trin muttered to herself and Thrace
couldn’t help grinning. It was good to know she had confidence in his ability
to impress the picky Yonnite mistress.

“The
Landra-Rey
Celebration is being held
two days from now at Lady Tam-tams estate, Dreaming Hills, located in the
countryside just north of Opulex. I will leave your name at the estate entrance
and I hope to see you at the grand reception the first evening. There we can
meet and talk and finalize our deal…
if
everything is acceptable.”

The message ended abruptly with no good-bye.
Presumably Lady Malroth was too busy for such trivial courtesies.

“Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for
us,” Thrace
said, stepping forward.

“Oh!” Trin spun around, one hand to her heart and
the remote to the pain collar gripped in the other. Her eyes widened when she
saw him.

“Take it easy,” Thrace held out his free hand in a
gesture of peace—the other was holding the too-small towel around his waist and
he didn’t want to let it go. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Were you listening to my message?” Trin demanded,
her dark eyes flashing.

Thrace
nodded, seeing no point in lying.

“I figured it concerned us both.”

She sighed and seemed to lose some of her
irritation.

“You’re right about that. I was hoping she’d be
willing to grant me a quick, private audience in her own home to do this deal
but no—
apparently
I’ve got to go to some weird celebration or other
where my every move will be scrutinized in order to even
see
her.”

“What kind of celebration is it?” Thrace raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. The
daughters of Zetta Prime are descended from the Yonnie Six mistresses but we
stopped following their customs long ago.”

“Except for the one about having nothing to do with
males,” Thrace
pointed out dryly.

“Except for that,” Trin admitted. “Although even
the Yonnites have more dealing with males than we do. They use them for
body-slaves—we just prefer to avoid them altogether.”

“Too bad I seem to be unavoidable,” Thrace
remarked, smiling at her.

A small smile ghosted across her lips in reply.

“I guess so.” She sighed. “Well, that message was
dated from much earlier—it must have come in just as I was leaving for the
Demon’s Eye. Which means we really only have a day to get ready and get
ourselves back to Yonnie Six and this
Landra-Rey
Celebration.”

“Guess I’ll have to become the perfect body-slave,”
Thrace
said thoughtfully. “I’d better not screw this up for you if I don’t want to
remain in your service for the rest of my natural life.”

“I’ll have to be the perfect mistress as well.”
Trin sighed. “That’s not going to be easy. The Yonnites are so devious and
round-about. I prefer straight-forward dealings where you know where you
stand.”

“We’re going to be standing in quickmud the entire
time and we’ll sink in up to our necks if we don’t keep moving,” Thrace
muttered. “With your permission, I’d like to run a few searches on the
viewscreen—I need to find out exactly what’s going to be expected of me.”

“Okay, but tomorrow.” Trin yawned and shivered,
wrapping her arms around herself. “We’ll start early but right now I’m tired
and really cold. I need a hot shower and then I’m going to bed.”

“A hot bath would be better,” Thrace pointed out. “I noticed you
have a small bubble tub in there. You should submerge yourself in hot water—it
would bring up your core temperature.” Not that it would help that much if she
was still having after effects from the passion berries as he suspected. But it
couldn’t hurt…

Trin shook her head.

“That sounds great but I’m too tired for a bath
right now. Just a quick shower is fine. Um…” She cleared her throat and her
eyes flickered down to the towel around his waist. “The storage locker in the
corner has extra blankets and pillows and a few items of male clothing left by
the mistress who used to own this ship. I think she had a slave that was about
your size. Maybe you could find something to fit you.”

“I’ll look,” Thrace said, nodding. He was
heartily sick of wearing the tight black leather pants the slavers had forced
him into but the flimsy towel he was holding around his waist was hardly a
viable alternative. He fervently hoped he might find something both more
comfortable and more practical in the storage locker.