Torch (12 page)

“What are you doing?”

“I have my royal healers on standby. These paramedics will transfer you to my private ship.”

“I’m not going with you.”

“Yes, you are, or I will give the order for my guy to finish the job he started.”

“Security won’t let you remove me.”

“Actually, the Isian Council has petitioned the GCFA to release you from your contract because you are obligated to return to our home world and fulfill your obligations.”

“They can’t do that!”

“They have. The GCFA lawyers are fighting it, but by the time anything can be done, you will be my mate on the Isle of Isia.”

“Please, Ishop, I don’t love you. Let me go.”

“What does love have to do with this? I need an heir, or I can never be king. Stupid ancient rules won’t let me.
So what will it be, my dear? Cooperate and come with me willingly, or be responsible for the death of the Voltan halfsie.”

“Fine.”

“Why was the video feed blurry?” Zen asked.

“Not sure.” Trig scratched his head.

Torch sighed. “He used his Isian abilities to freeze the camera, but must not have realized the recording device for sound was located separately. Can we use this to get her back? It was clear she didn’t want to leave with him.”

Trig frowned. “We’ll try to file a complaint with the Isian Council. It could be argued that this video recorded someone else pretending to be Ishop. Unless Isis testifies that she was taken against her will, it might be hard to prove.”

“I’m going to have to go after her,” Torch said. Things were said between them that needed to be corrected. He didn’t want her to think that he had no feelings for her. Because the moment he heard she was gone, he realized he was deeply in love with her. No, it was even before that.

Maybe the first time he made love to her he felt such strong feelings then, but he had not defined it. When he thought he could lose her to another male, he had to face the facts he was completely in love with her. Torch was going to do everything he could to get her back.

“Let me make a few calls and see if I can get a ship for you. Until then, you stay put until the healers release you.” Zen walked out into the hallway.

*****

Isis hurt all over. She tried to pull at the neutralizing collar that Ishop had put on her, but it wouldn’t budge. The collar was used mostly by law enforcement and it neutralized a criminal halfsie or alien abilities, rendering them powerless. There were slavers out there that also sold the collars at black market. Which is probably where Ishop got his. She hated being powerless and restrained. But even more than that, she hated being watched.

“Don’t struggle, you will only hurt yourself,” Ishop said from his bed. He was sitting on the bed, naked, watching her with hooded eyes. Clovis was on her knees in front of him, sucking his cock in and out of her mouth.

Isis shivered and turned away. She didn’t want to see them like that. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go back to the GCFA ship, back to Torch. She was so worried that Torch might not make it. Ishop would not let her check on his status. All he told her was that he called his hired gunman back from the job.

She would give anything to see Torch one more time. To touch him, kiss him, to make love to him once more. She wanted to tell him about her Mating mark, tell him that she was in love with him. She never got the chance and probably never would. She turned her back on Ishop and touched her Mating mark, which was hidden beneath the clothes that Ishop ordered her to put on.

If Ishop knew about her mark, he would hit the roof. Ishop would have a hard time explaining why she had a Mating mark while Ishop did not. The fact that hers was activated after being with Torch meant that she could never activate Ishop’s Mating mark. But he didn’t really care about being true mates. All Ishop wanted was to breed her. Which he could do with or without a Mating mark.

“Look at me!” Ishop yelled at Isis.

Isis shook her head. She heard Clovis growl as he shoved her away and stormed over to her. He grabbed her arm, turning her to look at him.

“I said to look at me! You will learn to pleasure me. Clovis is teaching you what I like. You will watch and then later, I will have you demonstrate the lessons you have learned. If you do not, I will punish you.” Ishop slapped her face.

Isis smiled at him and sent her knee into his dangling shriveling cock. He fell to his knees clutching himself. “Bitch!” He crawled his way back toward the bed and reached for something on the nightstand.

Isis’s smirk at his pain was short lived. She received shock waves through her collar that traveled through her whole body and brought her to her knees. Ishop activated the punishment program on her collar. It was sending those painful spurts of shockwaves through her body at regular intervals. It would also drain her body, slowly killing her.

“How do you like that you halfsie whore?” Clovis asked with glee as she helped Ishop back to the bed. “I warned you that Prince Ishop would not tolerate your behavior.” She turned her attention back to Ishop. “We should just kill her.”

Ishop wiped tears from his eyes. “No, not until she has successfully bred with me. The Council will need proof that she carries my heir before they will declare me king.”

“Will you breed with her before you get to Isia?” Clovis hated the idea of sharing Ishop. It wasn’t that she loved him, but she didn’t like to share. All she really wanted was Ishop’s power, and the only way to share in that was to be his courtesan.

Ishop glared at Isis. “Her parents put in a stipulation that only a sanctioned union witnessed by the Council and most of Isia will be accepted. If I breed her before the union, it won’t be accepted and I will lose my chance at being king.”

Clovis glared at Isis. “What do you want to do with her until then?”

“She will need to be kept hidden from council’s view until the union ceremony. She might garner sympathy from someone on the Council and they frown on the use of collars for non-criminals. Once the day arrives for the union, she will be so weakened by the collar she will not be able to fight it. Then I will breed her and lock her away until the heir is born.” Ishop had thought of everything. He had been planning for this day since before they were promised to one another.

“And I will remain by your side through it all, my king.” Clovis patted his shoulder, knowing he loved it when she referred to him as king.

“Yes, of course. You will be the king’s number one courtesan,” he said it as if it was the greatest honor to bestow.

Clovis squeezed his now erect cock. “Have the guards come and remove her, take her to the holding cell until we reach Isia. I do not like to look upon her face.”

Ishop looked over at Isis and loved her humiliated look, as she lay there unable to move. “Not yet, I want her to watch as you pleasure me. So she knows how a true female should treat her king.” He laid on his back and put his arms behind his head. Clovis climbed to straddle him and without any preamble impaled herself on him.

Isis wanted to throw up. But she couldn’t move away from the position she found herself in. At least she had some time. Because she knew without a doubt if she didn’t escape, Ishop would rape her repeatedly until he got her pregnant. She would never allow him to touch her willingly. She wouldn’t let him touch her ever. She would rather die than have him touch her like that. She closed her eyes and tried to shut off her hearing. She concentrated on thinking about Torch, about the sweet moments when they laid next to each other. Thoughts of him would help her get through this. Her last thought before she fell unconscious from the pain was,
I love you, Torch.

Chapter Sixteen

Torch stood by the entrance to the hospital. Zen was next to him. They were waiting for a shuttle to come and take Torch and a GCFA representative to a spaceship that would fly them to the Isle of Isia.

So far Ishop was hours ahead of them. But Zen said he found a ship that was much faster and would reach Isia not soon after of Ishop’s ship. The GCFA representative was going because he had contacts with the Council on the Isle of Isia and were already attempting to negotiate with Isia. The shuttle pulled up and Nigel got out.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Torch glared at both Nigel and Zen.

“He’s your best bet of getting Isis back,” Zen told him.

Torch turned warily at Nigel. “Why would you help me? You must still hold a grudge about me taking Isis from you.”

Nigel straightened his dark suit. “First off, I am not helping you, I am helping Isis. Secondly, you didn’t take her from me, I recognized her attraction to you and stepped back so she could find happiness. I have yet to see her happy with you so I question that step now.”

Torch went to hit the uptight suit but Zen stopped him. “You both need to put away your dicks! This is about Isis, getting her free so she can make a choice.”

Torch nodded and turned to Zen who wouldn’t be able to leave. “Thanks.”

Zen patted him on the shoulder. “That’s what friends are for. Now go get your female.”

Torch got into the shuttle next to Nigel. “What do you know about the Isian Council?” Nigel asked him.

“Not much. The only Isian I have known is Isis. Their planet is cold. They have tattoos that appear naturally.”

“Yes, their Life markings. They appear at each stage of a person’s life. Birth, Puberty, Adulthood, Mating, Breeding, and Death.”

“Mating?” Torch stiffened in his seat.

“Yes. It doesn’t usually happen but if an Isian finds their true mate, a Mating mark will appear above their heart,” Nigel told him.

“Does both mates have the markings?” Torch opened his shirt to check his chest.

“If they are both Isian, then yes. They would activate each other's marks. Why?” Nigel asked.

“Does the Council recognize the Mating mark?” Torch was feeling anxious.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait until we reach Isia to ask our Isian representative. Why do you ask?”

“Because, I think Isis has a Mating mark,” Torch said.

Nigel sat up straight. “She didn’t have one the last time I saw her. When did it appear?”

Torch growled. “You checked out her chest?”

“I’m a male, of course I checked out her chest. Often. The GCFA costumes leave little to the imagination. But get back to the question. When did she develop the mark?”

“I think it was right after the first time we had sex,” Torch told him.

“Was it over the heart? What did it look like?” Nigel began typing something on his phone.

“Yes, right over her heart. Two interconnecting circles.”

“Is this it?” Nigel showed an image on his phone. It had two interconnecting circles.

“Yes, that’s it. Does everyone on Isia get the same mark?” Torch touched the picture on Nigel’s phone.

“According to this. Every Isian mark has different colors based on their family lineage and some are larger or smaller. What color was Isis’s?”

“Silver and blue, I think. What does this mean for us?”

“Let me call the rep from Isia and tell him this news. It may help stall the union until we get there,” Nigel told him.

Torch looked out the window. He touched his own heart with his hand. He wished he was Isian, then he would probably have a matching Mating mark. Why didn’t Isis tell him about the mark? Did she not trust him? Was she embarrassed about not being mated to another Isian? They would definitely have a lot to work through when he finally caught up with her. A lot.

*****

Isis sat in the small holding cell on the ship. She was chained to the wall and she could barely lift her head. The collar sent pain shockwaves if she moved so she stayed still. They hadn't fed her anything either. They wanted her weak, so when they arrived she couldn’t fight or protest the union.

She wasn’t going to let them tear her down. They might be hurting her physically, but mentally, she was stronger than that. She would keep herself sane. Then she would tell the Council where they could shove their fucking union. Right up Ishop’s ass.

What kept her focused was Torch. Thinking about him, remembering back to the first moment she met him. He had told her, “Hey, baby, let’s go melt the sheets shall we?” His cocky swagger, the way he smiled and winked at the female fans to get them fanning themselves.

However, there was so much more to Torch than what he presented to the world. The way he was always so gentle and sweet to his niece, Angel. How he helped his friends out without seeming like he was doing it because he didn’t want them to thank him. A tear trailed down her cheek as she remembered how he would look at the picture on his table of his dead brother. It was clear he loved his brother and missed him. But even more than that, was the way he was with her.

It wasn’t just their physical relationship, which was hot. He looked at Isis and knew exactly who she was. He showed her that he knew her when they went on their first date. He touched her heart with his gentleness. Torch looked at her and saw right to her soul.

She replayed in her mind every moment they shared together. Like watching a movie. She could hear his voice calling her name. His laughter when someone told a bad joke. The taste of him, she could still taste him on her lips, feel his hands on her body. She could feel his lips as he nibbled her neck.