“Hello there, girly,” he said, grinning his snaggletoothed, lipless grin at her. “So this is where you’ve been hiding.”
Seventy-Two
Penny’s heart felt like it was going to burst with fear.
Oh God! she thought, her brain working like a hamster on a wheel—running like crazy but going nowhere. Oh no! Oh God! OhGodohGodohGod!
“Get up and get out of there.” Skrug brandished his huge cleaver, the blade of which was still smeared with blood from whatever—or whoever—he’d been chopping up before the Public Breeding had begun. “Get out here, girly,” he snarled at Penny. “We got unfinished business to attend to.”
The words in Penny’s brain had changed. Have to get away! they insisted. Have to get away, have to get away, have to get away!
Yes, but how?
She had no weapons and she couldn’t reach anything but the crumpled loaf of bread she’d been carrying for her last customer—that was hardly going to be of any help. There was nothing in the mixing bowl with her but about six inches of the dark blue svetty flour which she was crouching in.
The flour! whispered the little voice in her brain. The flour, Penny—use it!
“Get out here now and give me what I want and I might not tell your supervisor that you was hiding and trying to avoid the Public Breeding,” Skrug commanded, giving her a cruel smile.
“What…what do you want me to do?” Penny remained crouched in the bowl but she gripped a handful of the coarse, grainy flour in each fist.
“Get out here and bend over this table.” Skrug clanged the blade of his cleaver against the metal worktable, drawing sparks. “I’m gonna breed you right proper, girly. Gonna shove my thick cock in that tight little snatch of yours and there’s not a damn thing your mate can do to stop me!”
His mention of V’rex made Penny wish for the big Hybrid with all her heart. But V’rex wasn’t here and even if he could get away from work, the greenhouse was across the Compound from the Marketplace. There was no way he could get to her in time.
She was on her own and she had two choices—submit or fight.
I won’t submit! She gripped her fistfuls of flour tighter. I’d rather die! If that big bastard is going to rape me, he’s going to have to work for it!
“Get out here, I said!” Skrug clanged the blade of his cleaver on the table again, impatiently. “Hurry up! I don’t got all day!”
“Put down the cleaver first,” Penny said and was surprised at how steady her voice sounded. “Put it down or I’m not coming out.”
“I could just cut you up right where you are,” Skrug pointed out, sending a chill through her. He frowned. “But it’s no fun fuckin’ a corpse.”
God, he sounds like he’s speaking from experience!
Penny felt sick, but she held her ground.
“Put it down and I’ll let you…let you breed me,” she said, her stomach fisting in revulsion at the thought. “But I’m not coming out while you’re holding that thing. It’s dangerous.”
For some reason this seemed to tickle Skrug’s funny bone, because he threw back his head and guffawed.
“Dangerous, right—so it is, girly!” he gasped, holding his stomach as he laughed. “All right then—scared of a little blade, are you? Well, then I’ll set it down as long as you behave.”
And he finally put the cleaver down on the table. Regrettably, he put it on the far end, where Penny couldn’t reach it, but at least the bloody blade was out of his hand.
“All right now…” He beckoned her with one clawed finger. “Come on out, just like you promised.”
“All right—don’t rush me.” Penny stood slowly, still gripping her handfuls of flour. She was waiting…waiting for the right moment…
It came when Skrug leaned over to shove his face into hers.
“Hurry up, girly!” he growled. “A Public Breeding don’t last all fuckin’ d—”
Penny raised her arms and flung both fistfuls of the dark blue flour in his face. She was aiming for his yellow, slitted eyes and judging from the howl he let out and the way he clawed at them, she had succeeded.
“Ow, you little bitch!” Skrug screamed as Penny scrambled out of the huge mixing bowl and started to run.
But a big, clawed hand caught the back of her toga and twisted in the fabric, stopping her forward momentum and yanking her up short.
“Oh no you don’t, you little cunt,” Skrug growled hoarsely. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere until I breed you!”
Penny tried to yank free, but to no avail. Using her toga, Skrug was pulling her in like she was a fish and he was an angler determined to have his prize. Looking over her shoulder, she saw he still had one meaty fist rubbing his reddened eyes, but the flour clearly hadn’t slowed him down much.
Desperately, she looked for a weapon. There was the cleaver but it was out of reach, on the other end of the table. There were sacks of flour, but they were too big and heavy to be used.
Then her eyes lit on the wooden mixing paddle that went with the bowl—the one as big as a boat oar. It was just within her reach.
Acting on instinct, Penny grabbed it with both hands and turned to swing it at Skrug’s head.
The big scaly hand tightened on her toga but for once Skrug’s strength worked against him. Penny leaned hard against the straining fabric and used the momentum of her whole body as she swung the wooden mixing paddle as hard as she could.
It connected with the side of Skrug’s head with a flat smack and she felt the shock of the blow reverberate up both of her arms.
“Ow! Cunt!” Skrug bellowed and finally let go of her toga. But he also reached out and grabbed the paddle with the hand that hadn’t gone to his head and Penny suddenly found herself in a tug-of-war over the wooden weapon with a much stronger opponent.
Part of her wanted to let the mixing paddle go, but if she did, she would be weaponless. And she still couldn’t go out into the Marketplace—though it felt like a hundred years had passed since Skrug had first entered the bakery looking for her, it had actually only been a few minutes and the Public Breeding was still going on.
So Penny tried to keep hold of the paddle…and that was her mistake.
For a moment, it almost seemed like she was winning. She gripped the handle with both hands, so tightly she could feel wooden splinters digging sharply into her palms. Then Skrug gave a tremendous yank that brought both the paddle and Penny flying into his arms.
With a snarl of triumph, he yanked the paddle out of her hands and threw it across the bakery, where it clanged against the butter chiller. Then he gripped her by the arm and spun her around so that she was facing the metal table.
He shoved Penny against the edge of the table so hard it knocked the wind out of her.
“Oof!” she gasped as the metal edge bit into the soft skin at her waist. But the next thing she felt was worse—much worse than the pain.
Because Skrug had lifted the skirt of her toga and something blunt and slimy was pressing against her inner thighs, trying to find its way inside her.
Seventy-Three
The Marketplace was a fucking mess. Literally—there were people fucking everywhere.
V dodged around them, keeping his eyes open as he searched the crowd of writhing bodies, praying that none of them was Penelope. As far as he could tell, none of them was. But then, where was she?
The bakery! She must be hiding inside—at least V prayed she was. If not, he didn’t know where else to look.
Threading his way through the fucking couples—and several threesomes—he ran towards Penelope’s work. He felt a mounting sense of urgency now—a feeling that something bad was happening to his mate—a feeling that if he didn’t hurry it would be too late…too late…
As he burst through the bakery door, he saw that his intuition hadn’t played him false. Bent over a metal worktable with tears in her eyes was the woman he loved and behind her, attempting to shove his dick in, was that big blue bastard, Skrug.
&nb
sp; V felt the Rage rise in him again and this time he didn’t even try to fight it. He let it come, like a red wave washing over him, filling him with fury, and he welcomed it in all its savage glory.
“SKRUG!” His voice echoed like a deep, tolling bell in the cavernous bakery. “Skrug, you fucker—you’re fucking DEAD!”
Skrug’s head yanked up as though pulled by a string and the leering, horny grin fell off his face to be replaced by an angry scowl.
“You!” he spat, not letting go of Penelope. “You think you can stop me now? I’m almost in—your mate is mine!”
V didn’t answer with his voice—he let his fists do the talking this time.
His first blow was an uppercut which caught the scaly blue alien under his lantern jaw and knocked him back, away from Penelope. Before he could recover, V rushed forward and grabbed him by the throat. Using the momentum of his charge, he took the fucker down to the ground, banging the back of his head as hard as he could against the stone floor.
And then he straddled the other male’s chest and began to pound.
Seventy-Four
Penny leaned back against the table, her breath tearing in her throat, her chest heaving with pent-up sobs. So many emotions she couldn’t even name them all were pouring through her. Pain, shame, relief, horror, disgust, fury…
Almost! He was almost in me! That son of a bitch! That son of a bitch!
It was fury that won. V’rex had that asshole, Skrug, down on the floor and seemed to be intent on beating him to death but Penny didn’t care. She was glad. Every meaty thump of the huge Hybrid’s fist against her would-be rapist’s skull, was music to her ears.
But it wasn’t enough—not nearly enough.
Looking around, her eyes fell on the bloody cleaver which was still at the other end of the long silver table. Penny grabbed for it.
Snatching it up, she ran to where V’rex had the other male down on the floor, flat on his back, and looked for a good target. She saw it when the big blue body jerked and Skrug’s long, snake-dick flopped between his knees.
That thing was almost in me! He almost got it in me!
Penny’s eyes narrowed in rage and she raised the cleaver high. With a shriek as high and angry as a war cry, she brought it down, chopping the “head” off the “snake” with a single blow.
Though Skrug had been in the process of trying to defend himself from V’rex’s merciless blows, he suddenly stiffened and let out a howl like a wounded dog.
“My dick!” he shrieked, fishtailing under V’rex like a man being electrocuted. “My dick, my dick, MY DICK!”
V’rex seemed to lose some of his all-encompassing fury for he turned in surprise to see Penny holding the bloody cleaver.
“Sweetheart?” he asked in a low, hoarse voice. “What—?”
“Hold him,” Penny commanded. She was looking at what remained of the blue alien’s equipment—it was still quite long, even as it flopped and sprayed purple blood across the stone floor. “Hold him, I’m not done yet.”
And then she chopped again. And again and again and again…
Seventy-Five
“Penelope, stop! Stop!” someone was urging her. “Stop it now, he’s dead—he’s gone. You got him!” the familiar voice exclaimed and then someone was carefully prying the bloody cleaver out of her hand.
“What?” Penny turned to see V’rex kneeling on the floor beside her—the floor which was thick with Skrug’s sticky purple blood.
“You got him,” the big Hybrid repeated. “He bled out a minute ago. Come on—we have to go!”
“Go?” Penny asked uncertainly, as he grabbed her hand and dragged her to her feet. “Where are we going?”
“Out of here.” V’rex’s face was grim. “There’s no way in all the Seven Hells they’ll let us live after they see this mess.” He nodded at Skrug’s dead body, lying stretched on the bakery floor.
It occurred to Penny that he wasn’t the first dead body she’d seen that day—he wasn’t even the second or the tenth.
But he is the first dead body that you actually killed yourself, a little voice in her head pointed out. You killed him, Penny—you killed him!
But she didn’t have time to wallow in guilt. V’rex was pulling her along, weaving through the crowd of breeders who were still fucking on every available surface in the Marketplace, including right over the fresh-baked loaves waiting to be taken home and eaten. Ugh!
V’rex guided her quickly and purposefully through the busy area. Thankfully everyone was so involved with the Public Breeding that they didn’t seem to notice she and the big Hybrid were defecting.
Penny’s head still felt muddled from the craziness in the bakery. She followed V’rex blindly, not even stopping to question where they were going until suddenly she saw they were standing to one side of the main gate.
“Okay, first things first,” V’rex muttered and Penny saw that he was studying a small white rectangle that appeared to have multiple buttons on it.
“What’s that?” she asked. “Is that it? Is that the Master Remote? You got it?”
“I got it,” V’rex confirmed. “Now let’s see if I can figure out how to use it. Maybe this is it.”
He pressed a button, seemingly at random, and gasped with pain. The remote fell in the dust beside him as he dropped to his knees, reaching for the white pain square attached to the side of his neck.
“Oh no!” Penny exclaimed. Reaching down, she snatched up the remote and pointed at him as she pressed a button. Nothing seemed to happen so she pressed another and another.
Suddenly, the atmosphere dome above their heads fizzled and went off. The temperature shot up twenty degrees at least and Penny began to sweat. But V’rex was still on the ground, clutching at the pain square on his neck.
“Stop it,” she muttered in frustration as she mashed the buttons and pointed the Master Remote at the big Hybrid. “Stop hurting him—leave him alone!”
The glowing green force field of the main gate suddenly flickered and went out and then, finally, V’rex stopped writhing in pain.
He lay panting in the dust for a moment, as though trying to catch his breath. At last his eyes rolled up to meet Penny’s.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” His deep voice was hoarse. “That was…pretty bad.”
Sitting up with an effort, he plucked the pain square from the side of his neck and flicked it away, into the bushes by the side of the road. Then he looked up at the clear sky and frowned.
“Hey—what happened to the atmosphere dome?”
“I…I think I might have turned it off,” Penny admitted “And, well, I don’t know which button to push to turn it back on.”
“Well, I was hoping to sneak out of here while everyone was busy fucking but I think they’re going to notice this,” V’rex remarked.
“I’m really sorry—” Penny began but he shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Here, let me see that for a minute.” He held out his hand and Penny handed him the Master Remote. “Let’s see if we can’t give them something else to think about,” V’rex muttered.
He cleared his throat and then pressed a button on the side of the Master Remote. Then he began speaking in a very passable imitation of the Glorious Leader.
“Ah, my children,” he said. “Perhaps you have noticed that our atmosphere dome has had a temporary malfunction which, unfortunately, raises the temperature somewhat in our lovely Compound. To combat the heat, I am hereby moving the Public Breeding from the Marketplace to my own mansion. And this includes not just those of you who are already breeding, but everyone in the Compound—I even want my NeverBreeders to come and watch. All of you please come directly into the house and make yourselves at home. Feel free to use any of my bedrooms, my couches, chairs and tables—just breed all over the place and have a lovely time, my children, by order of the Shining Star.”
Penny was giggling helplessly when V finished and shoved the Master Remote back into his pocket.
>
“There, that oughta keep ‘em busy for a while,” he said, grinning at her. “Hope the GL likes having an orgy in his house.”
“In every possible area and on every possible surface!” Penny added, giggling again. “What a mess! Oh, V’rex—you’re too much!”
“What I want to be right now is free of this place,” he growled, reaching for her hand again. “Come on—it’s time we got out of here.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.” Penny nodded. “Let’s go before somebody realizes what’s happening.”
“Hey, what are you breeders doing? Stay away from the gate!” a high, androgynous voice shouted.
Penny looked up to see two NeverBreeder guards headed towards them, weapons drawn.
“Looks like we’re too late for that,” V’rex said grimly. “Come on.”
And he took her hand and dragged her through the gate and down the road away from the Compound.
Seventy-Six
V was wondering what kind of weapons the little bastards had when a bolt of red energy shot over his shoulder and let him know. Blasters, and they appeared to be set to kill. If only there had been some twists or turns, they might have dodged the blasts. But the road through the Deadly Jungle stretched straight ahead of them with no curves in sight.
Blasts of red light were shooting all around them and Penelope gasped as one of them grazed her shoulder. It was only a matter of time before the NeverBreeders scored a direct hit—they couldn’t stay on the road.
Though V would have preferred to sting Penny ahead of time and give her some immunity to the poisons of the jungle plants, there was no time now. He pulled her towards the side of the road and then they crashed through the thick underbrush and into the Deadly Jungle.
A few blasts of light followed them and then V heard what he’d hoped to avoid—crashing behind them that meant the NeverBreeders had followed them into the forest. Either they were immune to the poisons of the plants or they were so dedicated to keeping their “Glorious Leader” happy, they were willing to die for him. Either way, it was bad news.
Stolen: Brides of the Kindred 25 Page 35
