Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (7 page)

“Very
well.” B’Rugh looked at her. “Sit, please. As we are waiting, perhaps you would
care to inspect one of the crystals?”

“Of
course.” Trin took a seat opposite him and steeled herself not to flinch as he
picked up one of the Jaxite crystals with oozing fingers and placed it in her
palm. The Lud’om’s touch was cold and slimy and a bit of his brownish goo was
stuck to the crystal. Trin flicked it away as unobtrusively as she could and
examined the silver-blue depths of the Jaxite.

It
was perfect—brilliant and clear and multifaceted. The color reminded her of
something—Thrace’s
eyes, that was it. The pale, sparkling color was exactly the same. But it was
the ring of black around his iris that made his gaze so piercing…so
penetrating.

“…to
you,” B’Rugh said and she realized she’d missed the first part of his sentence.

“I’m
sorry, what?” she asked while inwardly scolding herself. She was in a serious
negotiation—now was
not
the time to
be thinking of the big Havoc.

“I
said, you may consider that particular crystal as my gift to you,” B’Rugh
repeated.

“Oh…well,
thank you.” Trin gave him a grateful nod of her head. “That’s most generous.
But please allow me to pay you the price we agreed upon for the others.”

“Of
course. Let me see the color of your coin.” B’Rugh made a motion with one hand,
indicating she should produce her credit.

This
was the tricky part. Keeping one hand on her blaster, Trin reached under the
back of her plain black shirt with the other and unhooked the money belt. She
placed it on the table and opened it, giving B’Rugh a discreet glance inside so
that he could tell she had the correct number of golden credit chip-coins. Then
she took one out and handed it to him, as he had handed her the crystal.

“Perfect.”
B’Rugh nodded and gave the coin back. Then he took out a small black bag, which
was lined in the same black-grass fungus that covered the table, and swept the
shining pile of Jaxite crystals into it.

Is it really going to be this easy?
Trin felt
a cautious surge of optimism as she began counting out her pile of coins. It
seemed the Lu’dom was actually going to do a straightforward deal. But she
would wait to celebrate until she had the crystals in hand and was back aboard
The Alacrity.

At
that moment, the male with the steel teeth came over and set two identical
metal goblets in front of her and B’Rugh.

“Semlina
wine—the first pressing—infused with essence of fireflower and enhanced with a
secret ingredient of my own,” he announced, grinning broadly to show those
awful teeth. “Enjoy.”

“A
secret ingredient?” Trin looked doubtfully at the blood-red liquid.

“Nothing
harmful, I assure you. It should greatly enhance your experience.”

“I
see.” Trin nodded and waved her right hand unobtrusively over the top of the
wine. The tiny toxin sensor’s light remained a reassuringly steady green
without even a flicker of red. Well, so at least the “secret ingredient” wasn’t
poison.

“To
a deal well done,” B’Rugh burbled and raised his goblet, his fingers oozing over
its metal stem.

“A
deal well done,” Trin echoed and took a sip. The liquid made her lips and
tongue tingle in a strange way but other than that she felt no ill effects.

“Excellent,”
B’Rugh said, holding out the sack to her.

Trin
reached for it, while holding out the correct number of chip-coins in her other
hand towards him. In another moment the deal would be done…

But
B’Rugh held back, not quite taking her money or giving her the sack of
crystals.

“As
you have the correct currency, and I have the crystals, all we need is for your
mate to effect the exchange,” he said.

“My
mate?” Trin said blankly. “What do you mean?”

“Your
mate—the male you are mated to.” B’Rugh raised one oozing eyebrow at her. “Do
you say to me that you have no male to help effect the exchange?”

“Why
would I need one?” Trin asked, honestly mystified.

B’Rugh
frowned, an expression that made it look as if his entire face was melting.

“My
culture does not allow me to have hand-to-hand dealings directly with a
female.”

“What
do you mean? You just handed me a crystal,” Trin pointed out.

“Ahh,
but that was a
gift
, my dear. I am
talking about business transactions. There must be a male here to effect the
exchange. To take the crystals from my hand and place them in yours and to take
the coins from your hand and place them in mine.”

“How
about if we just leave both on the table and switch seats?” Trin suggested.
“Then I can pick up the crystals and you can pick up the coins without any
contact involved at all?” That would suit her just fine. She didn’t
particularly
want
to handle anything
else that had B’Rugh’s slime on it. But the Lud’om was shaking his head
ponderously.

“Impossible,”
he burbled, looking positively offended. “I cannot even think of such a thing.”

“Well,
what are we supposed to do, then?” Trin demanded. Her lips and tongue were
still tingling and now the tingle was spreading to the rest of her mouth. She
wished it would stop—the sensation was very distracting.

“Seeing
that you have no mate with you to effect the transaction, I might be willing to
provide one,” B’Rugh suggested.

“Provide
me a mate? As in, marry me off to someone?” Trin frowned. “I don’t think so.”

“It
would only be a
temporary
arrangement,
of course. Just to get the transaction done.” He smiled which made his face look
like it was melting upwards.

“A
temporary mate,” Trin mused. “And who
exactly
were you thinking of for this venture?”

“Why,
myself of course.” B’Rugh widened his small, yellow eyes. “Whom else?”

Trin
sighed. “Look, B’Rugh—if you’re trying to get more credit out of me by tacking
on some kind of matchmaker’s fee, you’re out of luck. This is everything I’ve
got.” She nodded at the pile of gold credit-chip coins on the soft black fungus
in front of her. “You and I both know it’s a fair price and you’re not likely
to find another buyer who’s willing to come all the way out here to you in
person. So why don’t we just—”

“Oh—no,
no my dear.” B’Rugh held up one oozing hand to stop her. “There is no need of a
monetary compensation.”

“So…what?
I marry you for fifteen minutes so that you can give me the crystals and I can
give you the coins and then we go our separate ways?” Trin raised an eyebrow at
him. All her instincts were on high alert. The Lud’om was definitely up to
something.

“Well,
for a bit longer than fifteen minutes,” B’Rugh said. “In point of fact, you
would have to spend one night in my bed in order to make the joining legal and
binding. Then, the next day, the deal could be effected and you would be able
to leave.”

Trin
swallowed hard, trying to keep her gorge from rising.

“A
night in your
bed?
Are you asking me
to
prostitute
myself to you in order
to do this deal?”

“Certainly
not!” B”rugh protested hastily. “My culture does not allow such things. I am
speaking of a temporary joining or marriage—whatever you wish to call it. But
of course, I
would
have certain
privileges as your mate.”

Trin
was beginning to feel genuinely ill—it didn’t help that the tingling in her
mouth had turned to a kind of numbness.

“And
what…” She could hardly make herself go on. “What kind of
privileges
would those be?” she finally managed to get out.

B’Rugh’s
yellow eyes gleamed in his sagging, doughy face.

“Why
the privilege of penetration, of course. I will hold you in my arms and
envelope you with my slime.” He indicated the dripping greenish-brown ooze that
covered his body. “Once you are completely enfolded, I will slide my member
within you and—”

“Stop!”
Trin held up a hand, unable to hear any more. “What…what would make you even
think
of such a thing?” she demanded,
glaring at him. “You and I…we’re not even the same species. Not even close.”

“The
color of your skin—that rich, creamy brown. I have never seen another female of
your kind with such coloring. I find it…most erotic.” B’Rugh’s gurgling voice
had gone thick with lust. “I makes me wish to fill you with my member and see
if you are as soft and lush as you look.”

“I’m
from Zetta Prime and we don’t…don’t do that. With
any
male,” Trin told him.

“Maybe
you could make an exception…just for one night.” Those yellow eyes gleamed in
his melting face.

His
words made Trin think of the conversation about penetration she’d had with Thrace
the night before. But imagining such a thing with the huge Havoc had made her
feel hot and cold and strange all over. She’d had a clear feeling it was
wrong—but of course, she’d always known that because of the way she’d been
raised on Zetta Prime. However, the idea of letting Thrace fill her with his shaft
hadn’t disgusted or repelled her. The idea had simply made her feel…strange and
guilty.

The
idea of letting B’Rugh fill her with his slimy cock and wrap her in his oozing
arms filled her with a different feeling entirely.
Nausea
. Looking at the Lud’om and imagining going to bed with him
made sour bile rise at the back of her throat. She wanted some water to wash
the horrible taste away from her mouth but there was nothing but the strange,
blood-red wine. Blindly she reached for it…

Only
to have it knocked out of her hand.

“Sorry,
but you can’t drink any more of that,” a familiar voice said. “That bastard
with the steel teeth laced it with passion berries. Another sip and you’ll be
in serious trouble.”

Trin
looked up in surprise to see Thrace
standing over her. The big Havoc was still wearing only the tight black leather
pants and leather boots he’d had on when she bought him but now he was also
carrying a blaster. She’d gotten so used to seeing him lying down, chained to
the cot, she had forgotten how huge he really was. He was like a mountain of
muscle towering over her and she had no idea why he was there.

Apparently
B’Rugh didn’t either.

“Who
are you and how dare you interrupt our negotiations?” The Lud’om sounded most
displeased.

“Don’t
remember me, do you?” Thrace
gave him a fierce grin. “We met a few cycles back when your people tried to
take over the mud flats on my home planet.”

The
yellow eyes narrowed. “I
do
remember
you, now. It was your leadership that kept us from completely conquering the
Havoc home world. Thrace,
isn’t it?”

Thrace
nodded.
“In the flesh.”

“But
that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here or how you’re involved with
the lovely Trin.” B’Rugh nodded at her.

“That’s
Captain
Trin to you,” Thrace
growled. “She’s the owner and captain of a star ship—not some cheap
prosti-whore you can buy for a night of what passes for pleasure with you,
B’Rugh—you fucking slimy bastard.”

B’Rugh
stiffened—as much as a being that appeared to be made of oozing mud could be
said to stiffen.

“I
would never presume to ‘buy’ her as you put it. But she must have a mate to
effect our transaction. I was actually doing her a favor, offering to act in
this capacity myself so that the sale can go through.”

Thrace
snorted. “Right. As if any female forced to sleep with you would consider it a
favor
. Fucking mud-slug.”

Privately,
Trin agreed with everything the big Havoc was saying but he wasn’t being very
diplomatic. There was nothing she wanted more than to stand up and punch B’Rugh
in the jaw—or maybe just shoot him with her blaster. She was afraid her fist
would get stuck in his face if she actually punched him. But giving in to those
impulses wasn’t going to get her the Jaxite crystals.

She
wanted to open her mouth and say something to salvage the situation but the
tingling in her lips and tongue had become partial numbness now and speaking
was difficult. Still, after swallowing a few times, she was able to interject
between the angry insults Thrace
and B’Rugh were trading.

“So
you’re saying, B’Rugh,” she said, being careful not to slur her words. “That
your only interest here is preserving the deal. That you only offer yourself as
my temporary mate in order to conclude our transact…” She swallowed, her tongue
feeling thick. “Transaction? Correct?”

“Of
course.” B’Rugh nodded stiffly. “Though I admit to finding you most desirable,
if you had come with a mate to effect the transaction, none of this would be
necessary.”

“Good,
then all our problems are solved.” Thrace leaned forward and glared at
the Lud’om. “Because
I’m
her mate.”

Chapter
Eight