Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (5 page)

“You’re
like them in lots of ways,” she said, letting his nightmare go to Thrace’s
great relief. “In fact, I don’t see any difference except the fact that you
don’t bond with females. But I can understand why you don’t—the slaver said
your kind live longer if you don’t bond.”

“That’s
not the reason we don’t bond,” Thrace
said, glad to change the subject. “The real reason has to do with our
history—our heritage. We actually were Kindred at one time—the father of our
race was, anyway. Until he changed his DNA.”

“He
what?” Trin settled on the side of his cot, her eyes wide with interest. “Why
would he do that?”

“He
was trying to eradicate his need to bond with a female.” Thrace was glad to tell her—glad to
talk about anything but his past. “You see, his bride had left him for another
and he was bitter and angry about it.”

“What?
But if they were bonded—”

“She
was one of the unbondable—a
Y’lyn
.
They are females of surpassing beauty but they’re half demon and have no soul.
You can’t form a soul-bond with a being who has nothing to bond with. So when
she tired of him, she left. And Havoc—that was his name— Kern Havoc—swore to
rid himself and all his descendants of the need to bond with a female which is
the Kindred’s most singular trait.”

“And
did he?” Trin was hanging on his words, plainly very interested.

“Not
completely,” Thrace
admitted. “He managed to wipe out our ability to dream share—that is, for our
minds to align with the female who is supposedly perfect for us. The one who is
chosen by the
‘Goddess.’”
He sneered
at the idea.

Picking
up on his tone, Trin frowned.

“You
talk about the Goddess as though you don’t believe in her. My people certainly
do.”

“I
don’t,” Thrace
said grimly. “After the life I’ve led…the things that have happened…if there
is
an all powerful Goddess somewhere
controlling things, she’s got a hell of a lot to answer for.”

“So
now you and all the other descendants of Kern Havoc stay away from females
unless you have the urge to mate?” She nodded at his shaft, which had gone down
some as they talked of other things. “Like animals?”

Thrace
gave
her a fierce grin.

“
Exactly
like animals. Does that make you
feel better about chaining me up like a naughty pet?”

Trin
stiffened and sat up straighter.

“I
didn’t chain you up for piddling on the carpet or tearing up the furniture. I
chained you up because you proved yourself to be
dangerous
.”

“And
you haven’t given me a chance to prove otherwise,” Thrace challenged her.

“What
would you do if I let you up?” she demanded. “Run away? Or worse, try to take
over my ship? Kill my crew or turn them off onto a desolate waste planet?”

“I
told you—I don’t hurt females,” Thrace
growled.

Trin
shook her head in disbelief.

“I
can’t risk it, no matter what you say. I fear no male but I’d be a fool not to
have a healthy respect for anyone of your size and obvious physical strength.”

“Would
it do any good to
swear
to you that I
wouldn’t hurt you?” Thrace
demanded. “I’ll take an oath on anything or anyone you want—even your precious
Goddess
. Then would you take the word of
a slave? A
male?”

“Not
likely,” she shot back. “The daughters of Zetta Prime don’t trust males any
more than you Havoc trust females.”

“So
I’m stuck.” Thrace
couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice. “How long will you keep me chained
to this damn cot? How will I ever earn your trust if you don’t let me up?”

“Easy.”
Her eyes flashed. “Tell me what happened to your last master.”

So
they were back to that. Back to his past. Back to the filthy memories he
couldn’t quite seem to bury again.

“No,”
he said flatly, glaring at her.

“Thrace…”
Her voice softened. “I just want the truth. I need to know what happened. If
you’d just tell me honestly—”

“If
I told you honestly about my past, you’d be twice as horrified and scared of me
as you are now,” he snapped.

Trin’s
eyes widened but she spoke in a low, steady voice.

“I’m
not
scared of you.”

Thrace
gave a
harsh laugh. “If you weren’t, you’d let me go.”

“That’s
not why you’re still in manacles and you know it,” Trin snapped. “I’m not
unchaining you until I find out what you did to your last master. I want the
truth, Thrace.
Otherwise, I’ll never be able to trust you.”

He
shifted restlessly.

“Then
I guess you’ll never trust me and I’ll spend the rest of my life chained to
this damn bed.”

“It
doesn’t have to be like this,” Trin said softly…almost coaxingly. “Please, Thrace…” She
put a hand on his bare chest but he jerked away from her—as much as he could,
anyway.

“I’m
done talking about this. Fuck you.” He turned his eyes to the wall, refusing to
look at her. He’d be damned if he unearthed the pain and shame of the past just
to satisfy her morbid curiosity. She might hold the key to his body but his
mind was still his own and it was damn well going to stay that way.

“Fine,”
Trin said crisply, withdrawing her hand. She sounded slightly hurt. He hadn’t
flinched from her touch in days. In fact, he’d come to look forward to it. But Thrace
felt he couldn’t stand it now—couldn’t stand to be held down one more second.
And yet here he was, still chained to this fucking cot. It was more than he
could bear.

“If
that’s the way you want to be, you can forgo the bath until I get back,” Trin
said when he didn’t speak.

“Don’t
do me any favors,” Thrace
snarled, glaring up at her. “I’m only a pet anyway. Just leave me here in my
fucking kennel and go.”

Trin’s
lush lips narrowed to a thin line but she didn’t reply to his remark. Instead,
with quick, economical movements, she tucked his shaft away and fastened his
trousers. Then she picked up the basin of now cold water, turned and left him
to brood silently in the tiny room which was his prison.

* * * * *

Trin
didn’t know why she was so upset. Why should she let anything the big Havoc
said get to her? He was rude and crude and clearly uncivilized. And the things
he’d said he fantasized about doing to her…

Just
thinking of them made Trin blush. She considered herself a fairly worldly person
but she’d never heard sexual desire stated so bluntly. If another female had
spoken so to her…but no, a female wouldn’t have. Not one from Zetta Prime,
anyway.

Sex
on her home planet was highly ritualized with social protocols which had to be
followed for even the most minute relationship advancements. A pair of females
beginning a courtship might take five months before they felt ready to hold
hands and another five before the first kiss could be ceremoniously given and
accepted. Years might pass before a declaration of love and fidelity was made
and even more years before any kind of penetration.

That
made her think again of the long, hard shaft between Thrace’s muscular legs. She’d never
seen it grow so big before—it almost reminded her of her stallion, Swift when
he was eager to mount
Silk.

For
a moment she had nearly offered to help him…although in what way she could help
she didn’t really care to speculate. She certainly wasn’t going to climb aboard
him and allow him to penetrate her as Swift penetrated Silk—a phenomenon she’d
observed once or twice in the course of her time as their owner.

Oh
yes, she’d
seen
penetration
before—she’d simply never equated the idea with herself. Not as the one being
penetrated, anyway. When two females on Zetta Prime made a life-pact with each other
and agreed to penetration, they generally used slim, silver wands which were
made for that exclusive purpose. One of the females was the penetrator and one
the penetratee. Trin had sometimes wondered what the silver wand might feel
like—even though she knew in her heart she could never allow herself to be
penetrated.

But
a silver wand no bigger than two of her fingers was one thing. She couldn’t
even
imagine
trying to fit something
the size of Thrace’s
shaft inside herself. Just the thought made her feel hot and cold and wrong all
over. The daughters of Zetta Prime did not do such things—not with males. It
was forbidden…disgusting. Wasn’t it?

Of course it is,
she told
herself firmly. That fact had certainly been drummed into her head often
enough, during the sexual instruction classes she had been given at the temple
of the Goddess of Judgment. Even now Trin could hear the voice of the greater
priestess who taught the class…

Disgusting…evil…allowing a male to
penetrate you would damn you forever. As a Defiled One, your shame would never
end. You must never,
never
let a
male come near you in that way. Never!

But
despite the voices from her past, Trin couldn’t seem to get the memory of his
large, hard shaft out of her mind. She supposed she might have taken him in
hand and helped him in the way he’d wanted to help himself. Only Trin got the
idea that the big Havoc didn’t want to be touched sexually—not while he was
tied down. No matter what he might say to her, she somehow knew he wouldn’t
welcome such contact while he was helpless.

And
yet…the thick ridge of flesh had been almost throbbing with need—a
painful
need if what Thrace said was
true.

Why should I believe anything he says is
true?
she asked herself.
Everything
out of his mouth is probably just a lie.

If that’s so, why didn’t he just lie about
his old master?
whispered a little voice in her brain.
Why not just say he died of old age, or that he sold Thrace away for fighting with the
other slaves? Why not just make up any plausible sounding lie he thought might
appease you?

He could have done that,
Trin
admitted to herself reluctantly.
He could
have but he didn’t. Instead, he refused to answer. He left me to draw my own
conclusions, even though he knew they were bound to be bad. Even though it
meant he had to remain chained to the cot. Why?

She
had no answers. The big Havoc was an enigma—as well as a constant source of
concern and contention among the crew. They didn’t like having a male
aboard—much less a huge, dangerous one. Only that morning, Sidna had approached
her about the idea of simply letting him go…

“I
know the Havoc was a major investment for you and the idea was to be able to
deal with the high society on Yonnie Six with him at your back but it’s simply
not working out,” she’d said earnestly. “I hear the two of you talking
sometimes and he’s not getting any more tractable.”

“At
least he’s speaking,” Trin said defensively. “I’ll bring him around eventually,
Sidna. He may be male but he’s intelligent—not stupid or primitive like we were
raised to believe.”

Sidna
shook her head. “He’s
dangerous,”
she
said flatly. “And if he’s as intelligent as you say, that makes him even more
dangerous. We need to let him go before he figures out a way to get loose and
kills us all in our sleep. Not that anyone aboard can sleep knowing there’s a
huge, psychotic
male
strapped down to
a cot just around the corner from them.”

“He’s
not psychotic—he’s perfectly lucid and sane,” Trin defended.

“I’m
just telling you how the crew feels,” Sidna said. “And seeing those bruises on
your neck isn’t reassuring anyone either.”

“That
was an accident,” Trin said.

“No,
that was a
warning.”
Sidna’s voice
dropped into a pleading tone. “Look, Lonarra,” she said, using Trin’s first
name as she almost never did. “I’m begging you—for your own safety and the
safety of the whole crew, let’s just let him go. Just stop at some busy
spaceport or inhabited planet and drop him off. Then he’s off our hands and out
of our lives forever.”

“I…”
For a moment Trin had almost considered the idea. After all, despite the many
conversations she’d had with Thrace,
the big Havoc refused to call her mistress or swear any kind of loyalty. At
this rate, she’d never be able to unchain him—let alone walk into a Yonnie Six
gathering with him at her back.

He
also refused to tell her what had happened to his last master—a matter which
troubled her greatly. But the idea of letting him go and never seeing him again
bothered her for some reason. The universe was vast—if she set him down in a
busy spaceport or a hospitable planet as Sidna suggested, the odds were a
trillion to one on her ever seeing him again.

“Well?”
Sidna had asked, a touch of exasperation in her voice.

“I’ll
think about it,” Trin had said at last. “I promise I’ll give your idea careful
consideration.”

“Thank
you,” Sidna said. “But don’t think too long, Trin—the crew is growing
restless.”