Deceived

by Evangeline Anderson

  “Sure they do,” Dark told her softly. “I dreamed of you, before I came here. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now I know I was supposed to find you. Supposed to take you away from that fucking Gorn and this horrible place and bring you home safely.”

  “Really?” Anna bit her lip. “I…I dreamed of you, too. So many times!”

  “The Goddess meant for us to be together,” Dark told her softly. “She set us apart for each other and once we get out of here, we’ll be together forever—if you still want to, after…” He cleared his throat. “After all this is over.”

  “Of course I want to! Oh, Dark…” She kissed him happily and snuggled close, feeling like her heart was bursting with love. Who cared if he wasn’t real? This love felt real and that was enough for her, Anna told herself.

  “Mmm, love holding you naked in my arms,” Dark murmured. “If you’re not careful, I’ll be wanting to heal you all over again.”

  “You know,” Anna remarked, smiling, “Any other guy who could give a girl instant orgasms just by biting her might have slacked off on his, uh, oral technique, if you know what I mean. But you seem to have worked on yours. I mean, not that anyone has ever, uh, tasted me before but you seem to be really good at it.”

  “That’s because I fucking love it,” Dark growled. “Come on, baby, why don’t you let me prove it again? And I’ll bite you too, if you want—just let me taste you first.”

  Anna couldn’t say no to such a delicious offer and, as Dark spread her legs to go down on her a second time, she thought she had never felt so happy…

  “So, I want you to stay out of sight as much as possible,” Dark said, drawing her out of her reverie and back to the present where they were standing together in the kitchen, waiting for Gorn to come home. “I’ll meet him at the door with the ‘special’ drink and lead him to the table to start serving Last Meal immediately.”

  “He always insists that I have dinner with him,” Anna objected. “He’ll think something is wrong if I don’t show.”

  “Well…” Dark frowned. “We don’t know how long it will take for the sleeping medication to take effect but hopefully not long. I guess it will probably be all right for you to sit at the table with him. But if he tries anything—anything at all—”

  “I’ll call for you,” Anna promised and she really meant it this time. They had a plan to get away and she had faith that Dark could save her, even thought he was a Replicant.

  “All right.” He nodded, apparently satisfied. “The minute he nods off, I’ll get the key from around his neck, unlock the trophy room, switch the crystals, and the two of us will be out of here in his ship before he wakes up.”

  “Where will we go?” Anna asked. “Will you take me back to the mining colony?”

  “Well, the Mother Ship will be folding space for us so we have to go there first,” Dark told her. “But you can call your parents from there and let them know you’re okay.”

  “And I’ll tell them we’re staying together, too,” Anna told him. She knew she might get some odd looks from her family when she announced she wanted to spend the rest of her life with a Replicant, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to be with Dark forever.

  “That sounds perfect to me.” Dark smiled, but she thought she detected a hint of worry in his sharp features.

  “Hey—is everything okay?” she asked, touching his arm. “You…you do want to stay together, don’t you? That’s all we’ve been talking about all week.”

  “Of course, I do, baby.” He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. When he drew back, the look in his bronze eyes was intense. “That’s all I want—for us to be together,” he murmured. “I love you, Anna. When all this is over, please believe that and hold onto it. I love you.”

  “Wow…” She let out a shaky little laugh, surprised and a little concerned at his intensity. He must think I’ll change my mind about being with a Replicant once I get back to my parents and my normal life again, she thought.

  Wanting to reassure him, she cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes. “I love you too, Dark,” she told him. “So much that nothing—nothing—could ever make me stop loving you.”

  “Nothing? Do you swear that?” he asked.

  “I swear it,” Anna said. “Dark, what is this about? Are you worried about something? About our plan?”

  He shook his head. “No, I think the plan is pretty airtight—barring any unforeseen complications. It’s just, well…there’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve been trying to tell you for a while now but—”

  Just then the front door of the house opened with a booming thud.

  “Pretty boy!” roared a familiar voice. “Where’s my dinner? I’m fucking hungry!”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Of all the bad, fucking timing! Dark thought, as he hurried out to the front of the house, holding a tray with the doctored drink on it. He had been just about to tell Anna the truth about himself and after the way things had been going in the kitchen, he was almost certain she would forgive him for his deception.

  I love you, he had imagined telling her. Not because I’m programmed to—because of who you are. Because you’re beautiful and brave and resilient and intelligent and amazing. I love you for yourself, Anna—and I hope you can feel the same for me.

  He’d been working up to telling her the entire week they’d spent alone together. It had been blissful with no Gorn to bother them. Dark had cooked every delicacy in his considerable repertoire for her and they had slept in each other’s arms every night after he tasted her and bit her and gave her multiple orgasms—both with his tongue and his fangs.

  It had been too blissful, Dark admitted to himself. He should have come out and told her everything early on, but he hadn’t wanted to interrupt their bliss and risk losing her. So every day he had put it off, and every day it got a little harder to admit the truth. And now his admission that he wasn’t a Replicant but a real male—with real male equipment—would have to wait until the ride home

  He just hoped that Anna had meant it when she said she nothing could ever make her stop loving him—not even the fact that he’d basically been lying to her from the minute they first met.

  “I want dinner!” Gorn was bellowing as Dark came up to him. The huge Trollox had just come in the front door and thrown off his traveling cloak—which was an ugly mustard yellow and dark purple plaid—and he was stomping around, looking both angry and hungry.

  Hangry—that’s what Anna called that emotion, Dark thought, frowning. I’ll need to feed him quickly to keep him quiescent.

  Come to think of it though, the fact that the big Trollox had an empty stomach might work to their advantage. Hopefully it would make the sleeping drug Dark had laced his drink with act even faster.

  “Hello, Master—welcome home,” he said evenly, as he came up to Gorn. What he wanted to do was slit the big bastard’s throat and take him apart piece by piece for the way he had hurt Anna. But he knew he couldn’t do that, despite how much he hungered for revenge. The High Council didn’t want a blood feud with the Trollox people so no matter what else happened, Gorn had to live.

  “Hello, pretty boy!” Gorn’s left head roared as he looked down at Dark. “You seem to have survived your time in the punishment box all right.”

  “I managed,” Dark said evenly. “Though I have no wish to repeat the experience. Here you are, Master.”

  He handed the fizzing drink with its many rainbow liquors layered in shimmering splendor in the clear crystal glass. It was a gorgeous drink, if he said so himself—and hopefully tempting enough that Gorn would drink it without comment.

  The left head seemed ready enough to do just that but as Gorn swept the offered glass up off the tray with his left hand, the right head squinted suspiciously.

  “What’s this?” it hissed, frowning at the many-layered drink. “What have you brought us, pretty boy?”

  “It’s a specialty drink I learned to make
for my last Mistress—a pangalactic gargleblaster,” Dark said blandly. “I thought it would be a good start to your Last Meal, which is ready in the kitchen.”

  “Let’s see, then.” The left head raised the glass to its mouth and drank about half of the potent drink in one gulp. Then it lowered the glass, smacking its rubbery lips together and nodding. “That’s proper, that is!” it roared. “Nothing like a good drink to start the night right, eh, pretty boy?”

  “Right, Master.” Dark nodded stolidly while inwardly wishing that the big bastard would choke on it.

  “Let me try it,” the right head said, reaching for the glass with the right hand. “You’ve already drunk half—let me have the rest.”

  “No!” The left head pulled the glass away. “It’s too good to share—you don’t deserve it!”

  “I do! You never share!” The right head snatched with the right hand, managing to grab the left wrist and hand, which was still holding the drink.

  “Stop it! Fucking stop!” the left head roared and a power struggle ensued as the right hand tried to wrestle the crystal glass and the rest of the drink away from the left hand.

  It was clear the left head—and the left side—of Gorn’s body was stronger, Dark thought, watching in alarm. But not by much.

  “Master, please!” he shouted, hoping to get things under control. “I can make you another drink! Please, you don’t have to—”

  But just at that moment, the claws of the right hand managed to hook the glass out of the left hand.

  “Ah-ha!” the right head shouted triumphantly. It raised the half-full glass to its lips and was about to drink when the left hand slapped the drink away.

  Dark watched in dismay as the crystal glass went flying and shattered on the faux-marble steps of the entryway, spilling the remains of the rainbow-colored pangalactic gargleblaster (and the rest of the sleeping potion) all over the floor.

  “Now look what you’ve done!” the right head hissed. “All I wanted was to taste it! Why are you always so greedy?”

  “If I can’t have it all, you can’t have any,” the left head roared.

  Which wasn’t at all logical, but totally in keeping with Gorn’s personal philosophy, Dark thought. Now what in the Seven Hells was he supposed to do, he wondered? The big bastard had only drunk half of the sleeping potion. Would it still be effective? Would he and Anna still be able to carry out their plan?

  “Master, please come to the table,” he urged Gorn. “I can make a new drink for you—two new drinks,” he added, seeing the sour look on the right head’s face. “And you can enjoy the excellent dinner I have prepared. You’ll feel better after you eat.”

  The left head seemed inclined to roar and rant and the right head was sulking, but at last he got the huge Trollox to come to the dining table.

  But as soon as Gorn was seated, he looked around, frowning.

  “Where’s the girlie?” the left head demanded. “Where’s my breeder? She must eat Trollox food for dinner so she can be sure to have a strong heir for me. Going to breed her tonight right after I eat!”

  Dark gritted his teeth and wanted to kill the cruel, abusive bastard all over again. He thought of making an excuse to keep Anna away from the table, but in the mood Gorn was in now, it might only enrage the big Trollox.

  “I’ll go look for her as soon as I make you two new drinks,” he told Gorn. Maybe if he poured enough strong alcohol into the Trollox, on top of the sleeping potion he had already consumed, it would help make the big bastard sleepy.

  “All right, but hurry, pretty boy!” Gorn roared. “She must eat with me!”

  Dark went back into the kitchen, simmering with anger. He could feel the Rage threatening to take over his emotions but he did his best to hold it back. He had to keep a cool head to get through this and going into a berserker fury wasn’t going to help him complete his mission.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Anna asked, the minute he came through the swinging metal door. “I heard him out there—did he attack you?”

  “No but the heads started fighting and he spilled the fucking drink,” Dark growled. “Only half of the potion got into him.”

  “Oh, no!” She put a hand to her mouth. “Do you think it’ll still work?”

  “I don’t know. I hope so.” Dark went to the side bar and started mixing two truly huge drinks as he spoke. “I’m hoping if I pour enough alcohol into him, it’ll help the potion he did drink work better. There’s something else though.” He looked up at her. “He’s asking for you. I’ll try to put him off as long as possible but—”

  “No.” Anna lifted her chin. “No, I’ll go out to him,” she said calmly.

  Dark frowned. “You don’t know the mood he’s in! I don’t want you anywhere near him when he’s like this.”

  “I’ve seen him in every mood he has,” Anna assured him. “I’ll be okay—he never bothers me at dinner. All he wants is to see me sitting there, obeying his orders. That’s the only thing that will calm him down.”

  “I still don’t like it.” Dark shook his head. “After what he did to you—how he hurt you—”

  “You healed me, remember?” She cupped his cheek in her small, soft hand. “Please don’t worry, Dark. I promise if he gets out of hand I’ll call you. Everything is going to be all right and we’re still going to get that crystal and get out of here. You’ll see.”

  Her calm and courage amazed him. Leaning down, he gave her a swift kiss.

  “Every time I think I know you, you surprise me by being even braver and more wonderful than ever, baby,” he told her. “You’re right—we’ll get through this. I’m going to give him these new drinks…” He held up the two monstrous rainbow-hued, fizzing drinks. “And then go ‘looking’ for you. You slip into the other room and come out to him after he’s drunk at least half of them—that should put him under the table.” I hope, he added mentally.

  Anna nodded. “You got it.”

  “I love you,” Dark told her and gave her another kiss. Then he went back through the swinging metal door, drinks in hands, hoping and praying that they would still be able to follow through on the plan.

  * * * * *

  “Where is she? Where’s my breeder?”

  “Here I am, Master.” Heart in her mouth, Anna came quickly into the dining room and took her accustomed spot at the far end of the dining table from her captor. Gorn had a rainbow-hued drink in each fist and both heads were looking slightly woozy—though from the alcohol or the half-potion he had ingested, Anna didn’t know.

  I do know that slightly woozy isn’t going to cut it, though, she thought uneasily. Not if we want to get the key from around the left head’s neck and get out of here without a major problem.

  Gorn saw her and the left head roared, “Come here—come sit with me, girlie. Tonight we’re celebrating your first breeding! Right after dinner, I’ll fill you to overflowing with my seed. Why—you might have my heir planted in your belly by morning!”

  The thought of one of the monstrous Trollox heirs inside her made Anna more nauseous than the Trollox food fumes drifting from the kitchen. And there was no way she wanted to come even a step closer to Gorn.

  But she knew the belligerent look on the left head’s face—if she didn’t do as he asked at once, there was going to be hell to pay. Quickly, she got up and went to sit at his side.

  “Yes, Master. How was your trip?” she asked, trying to look interested while staying out of his reach.

  “A very good trip indeed, girlie!” the left head exclaimed. “I’ve made some new drewgs, so I have! And they gave me some tips and pointers on how to plant an heir, so they did.”

  Anna felt her gorge rise and did her best to swallow it down.

  “Oh, really?” she managed weakly. “That’s…that’s nice.”

  “Yes, it fucking is!” the left head roared while the right head concentrated on drinking the massive drink Dark had made it. “Almost forgot,” the left head continued. “I got some sweeti
es for you on my travels, so I did!”

  Fumbling at his side, he unhooked a small cloth bag from his belt and held it out to her.

  Anna took it unwillingly and poured the contents of the bag out onto her dinner plate. A number of small, wrinkled things that looked a little bit like dried apricots fell out and rolled across the fine china.

  “There you go!” Gorn said triumphantly. “See? I didn’t forget my girlie. Well—go on! Eat up!”

  Anna looked at the dried apricot-things uncertainly. This wasn’t unusual, actually. Gorn often got her “sweeties” when he went on a trip. Often the alien treats were the only decent thing she had to eat, since Trollox food was so foul, and she consumed them gratefully.

  She’d been eating just fine since Dark had come and she had no wish to taste the strange dried fruits—if that was what they were—at all. But she knew if she refused she would arouse the right head’s suspicion and the left head’s rage. So she popped one in her mouth, hoping it wouldn’t taste too bad.

  To her surprise, it was absolutely delicious.

  “Mmm!” she exclaimed involuntarily, as she chewed. “Tastes like…peaches and strawberries and mangos.” And there was even a bit of salty, savory flavor too—like buttered popcorn, she thought.

  “Don’t know what that shit is but I’m glad you like them, girlie,” Gorn growled. “One of my new drewgs said they’d be good for you. Said all breeders love ‘em. They’re Kindred sweeties, they are. Well—go on and eat the rest!”

  “Thank you, Master.” Anna nodded submissively and popped another of the dried fruits into her mouth. And then another and another. She thought it was the first time he’d ever brought her anything truly good to eat and she was glad she didn’t have to choke down the strange “sweeties” and pretend to like them, as she often had in the past.

  By the time Dark had come out to serve the first course, she’d eaten all the dried fruits and was listening demurely while Gorn went on and on about his trip and all his new drewgs. Dark served her a tiny portion of the foul-smelling first course and gave her a look, as though to ask if she was all right. Anna gave him a tiny nod, indicating that she was okay and he nodded in return and went back to the kitchen.