Trading Teon (The Beast Masters Series) (2 page)

“Garon
thinks perhaps it might be.”

Jaston’s
jaw set. He nodded and stepped away.

Lorne knew
the warrior would show no signs of hope. He knew Jaston was too seasoned to
ever let on to his true feelings. All the men were desperate for more women to
arrive. This wasn’t news. It was fact. None would risk getting their hopes up.
Not yet.

The ship
thundered and then sputtered to a stop as it landed. Teon pushed at the rusted
walls of her cell, frantically looking around, wondering when the slave traders
would come for her. She was no fool. She knew what they were. They weren’t true
Galactic Guards. They may have the badge and weapons, but under it all they
were slave traders, pure and simple. Her hands, long since bruised and cut from
the conditions of her cell, bled more as they scraped over the rough walls. She
whimpered, the bite of pain a harsh reminder of her living conditions.

At least
she was clean finally and out of the rags they’d been keeping her in. The
traders had forced all the women into one large bathing chamber where they set
about decontaminating them.

Her lips
curled.

They
wanted their goods clean and presentable. She’d been wrongfully accused of a
crime, whisked away on a ship to be sent to a correctional facility in the far
reaches of space, and then, before she reached her destination, her holders
made a stop, selling her and so many of the other woman to the slave traders
for nearly nothing.

Teon
lowered her gaze. She could cry. The tears were there, ready and willing to
fall but they’d do nothing. She knew. She’d shed enough already to no avail.
The clothing she was in barely qualified, and by her people’s standards she was
nearly naked. She was a lady. Not some street walker. Even the harlots who
worked in the pleasing dens on her world dressed in more material than the
slave traders had her in. The material was sheer, allowing others to see her
nipples and her sex. They’d shaved the hair from her pussy, leaving only a
strip of it down the center. They’d cleaned the hair from her legs and armpits
as well.

One of the
traders appeared. His head, very fish-like, was totally lacking in hair. They
always wore masks of sorts unless they had tiny metal clips over the tiny holes
where a nose should be. His eyes were slits and often his cheeks puffed out,
reminding her of puffer fishes of old from Earth. He and the others like him
sickened her. It wasn’t their appearance. She was used to non-humanoids. It was
their mentality that revolted her. The fact they made a living in the most
deplorable way—by slave trading.

“Come,” he
said, the word drawn out in something of a hiss as he waved an electric prod at
her. She’d been poked with it and shocked more times than she could count. As
far as they were concerned, she had a bad attitude and she knew they’d be
looking to unload her cheaply. That worried her. She wasn’t a prize in their
eyes, and that meant she very well could end up in the hands of even worse
universe trolls.

She followed
him as he led her down the long, dark corridor. She spotted several other
female prisoners and their gazes met. The women looked terrified. She was too,
but only to a point. Life on the prison planets was no life at all. She’d heard
the horror stories. She’d seen the transmission sent out when the prison
planets culled their populations—often allowing races who fed upon humanoids to
come and “enjoy the buffet”. Even being sold into the sex-slave industry was an
end more desirable than a prison planet. Everyone knew that.

She
shuddered.

The trader
shoved Teon out the exit-bay door and she stumbled. He caught her by the upper
arm, his grip iron-clad, sending pain radiating through her. She knew better
than to whimper or show any more signs of weakness. They’d exploit it.

The other
women, from all over the universe, were led out as well. The traders gathered
in a group, leaving the women on their own. Teon was sure some of the women
considered running, the hint of freedom too much to resist after being held
captive for so long, but with the electronic shackles they wore, they wouldn’t
get far before enough energy was charged through them to stop their hearts for
good. She’d heard tales of limbs being blasted off during escape attempts. She
wasn’t sure how much of that was true or simply tales spun to strike fear in
the galaxy, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She liked her limbs attached as
they were and would certainly prefer her heart continue to beat.

Teon’s
breath caught as she stared around at the sights presented to her. The planet
was unlike any she’d seen before. She’d been off-Earth a number of times but
none of the planets she’d visited were as visually stunning as the one she now
stood upon. The trees were massive with blue leaves so dark they were nearly
black in places, and oddly colored yellow tips. Everything seemed bigger here.
More grand in every way, including color.

Sensing
the flight risk of the others, Teon motioned for the women to come closer to
her. They did. “If you run, they’ll send bolts of charge through your shackles.
It will kill you.”

They
shared a somber look and then nodded. The ones eyeing outer areas stopped and
focused on her. She knew then their likelihood of running had just slimmed.
Good. They didn’t need to lose any women because of fear or stupidity. She
pressed a comforting smile to her face. “I’m Teon.”

Many of
them relaxed somewhat.

She looked
them over for signs of injuries. Some had bruises. Most looked underfed and
scared. Life hadn’t been kind to any of them. The galaxy wasn’t exactly fair on
women. Far from it. While she’d been privileged, she’d been educated—too
educated for her own good some had said. She knew how harsh planets on the
outer quadrants were. She knew even on her home world, where the elite reigned
supreme, women lacked the same power men held. She sighed. Life was more than
likely only going to get worse for the women who had become her forced
traveling companions, and soon.

This is
better than the alternative
, she reminded herself.

It was
strange to have actual ground beneath her feet again. She’d spent months aboard
a starship, locked away, unable to even see out a window. It had been all too
easy to lose track of days, weeks and months. Had she not been sneaky and tried
to learn some of her captors’ native language—which was based loosely off one
of the many she’d been taught by high-priced tutors growing up—she’d more than
likely still not know how long she’d been held prisoner. It wasn’t as if the
men holding her did anything on a regular basis. Even meals were scattered, few
and far between.

Rusted
metal walls had been her only view, and company aboard the ship didn’t exist.
The other female inmates who were in transit to the nearest Galactic
Corrections Facility were kept locked away from her, their company coming only
in the form of their voices through the walls. Voices that had become a
lifeline of sorts to her. Friends without faces. Friends learned by listening
to them describe themselves, their wants, their desires, their fears.
 
She wondered which woman was which as she
looked them over. It would take them speaking to know, for she only knew them
from the sounds of their voices.

She wasn’t
sure what each woman’s crime was, but she suspected that, like her, they were
bogus charges. She was “guilty” of turning down a prominent council member from
Earth, her home planet. Her stepmother had wanted more credits in her account,
and the way she got them was by bargaining sex with Earth figureheads. And while
her stepmother had normally been the one to pay what was due, she was ageing
and the men wanted someone younger. When the price for her stepmother’s actions
had come due, she offered up Teon. The council member agreed to the change of
terms, but Teon hadn’t. She hated her stepmother, hated everything the woman
stood for and everything she did. When Teon refused the council member, he’d
framed her for crimes she’d never committed,—saying she’d solicited sex from
him and that he’d then caught her orally pleasing two other men for coinage.
Lies.

Here she
was, officially a criminal and on her way to life on a barren planet.

She was
now a commodity to be traded to the highest bidder. Her first clue she was to
be auctioned as a sex slave came when her captors had robots enter her chamber,
bathing her, shaving her body hair clean away and then styling her hair in a
strange fashion. When she’d protested, two of the guards reacted. She was no
match for them physically, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying. Now her
face and her body bore the bruises to prove as much.

She yanked
at her hair, pulling it free from the fancy twists and braids they’d styled it
into. Her wrists were still bound but she had enough movement to get the job
done. Her long, brown hair fell free and she shook her head, using it to cover
the bruises on the side of her face. As much as she hated the idea of being for
sale, she hated the notion that the next stop was either the prison planet or
death, because she didn’t think the traders would want to answer for their
actions should Galactic Guards happen upon them. The traders would probably put
the remaining women out the airlock in deep space. She wouldn’t put it past
them.

Teon
needed to catch the eye of one of the men currently gathering near the ship.
Most were shirtless, showing off impressive upper bodies. Many had scars
marring their tawny flesh. Almost all had hair to at least their shoulders. And
every one of them oozed dominance. She wasn’t used to warrior-grade men. Earth
had been overrun by bureaucrats years ago, men who didn’t lift a finger let
alone have a muscle to flex.

She’d
blinked in surprise when the men first approached. Many of the other female
prisoners had gasped audibly. The warriors were intimidating, yet something
deep inside told her they were better than the alternatives. Prison camps and
death held little offer of hope. At least this planet did.

Her sex
moistened as her gaze swept over two of the men closest to her. One had hair as
dark as night. The other was his opposite with blond, straight hair and
slightly softer features. Both were close in height, nearly seven feet tall.
Her gaze locked with the dark-haired one. She froze. It was as though he were
looking through her. Her pulse quickened and she had the urge to run again.

Predator.

The word
played in her mind again and again. He was dangerous yet alluring all in one. A
mystery for sure. One she wanted to go to her knees before. The action felt
right, like she should be offering total surrender. She held her ground but her
knees wobbled. They wanted to bend to him. All of her wanted to submit to him.

Teon had a
fairly good idea of which planet they were on. She’d managed to sneak a glimpse
at the star charts before exiting the craft. Ralen, a planet on the edge of the
Union’s territory, known for supplying armies and private security with able
soldiers. It would make sense, especially seeing the sheer size of the men
before her. She’d had a run-in once with a male from Ralen. He too was tall, muscular
and screamed alpha male without saying a single word. They exuded dominance,
and the very idea of that turned her on. She knew she shouldn’t be. Now was a
time for fear and worry for her future, but damned stars nation if her pussy
didn’t cream with each glimpse she stole of the sexy men before her.

She’d
heard stories about the Ralen men being able to shift into various animals.
She’d never seen it done but the source had been trustworthy. She bit her lower
lip. If they could become animals…

She stopped
her thought process. It would do her no good to start dreaming of being ridden
by a beast man. Oh, but her body ached all the same.

Sara, a
woman she’d befriended as best she could while aboard the ship, whimpered and
moved closer to her. Teon touched the woman’s arm. “It’s okay. They won’t hurt
us,” she whispered.

“But
they’re…they’re huge,” returned Sara, her deep red hair blowing in the breeze,
resembling fire.

“They
don’t hurt women.” Teon remembered as much from her dealings with the Ralenium
male. For all his chauvinistic outlook, he’d been outraged at the treatment of
a council member’s wife. “It’s against everything they stand for. They are
fiercely protective of their women.”

Sara
relaxed somewhat but remained close to Teon. When one of the warrior males took
a keen interest in Sara, she dug her fingernails into Teon’s arm. Teon patted
the woman’s wrist gently and Sara eased her death grip. Half-moon circles
remained on Teon’s arm, proof as to how scared Sara was with their situation.

“I promise,
they won’t do anything you don’t want them to do,” Teon stated. As the words
left her lips, her nipples hardened. She wanted so many bad things. Things that
shouldn’t even register on her radar with what she’d endured over the past
months. Still, her body demanded attention and it seemed to want it from these
men.

Two in
particular.

The
raven-haired man spoke with the blond one. Each man sported markings on their
arms and across their chests. They were similar to the branding some of the
sectors of Earth used to identify the lower lifes, but these held beauty to
them. She wasn’t sure of their meaning, but knew the markings did, in fact,
have reason to be there. It was hard to pull her gaze from their markings, from
their toned, muscled bodies.