by Raven Dark
“Daz. Damka.” Yes. Good.
God, I wanted so badly to tell him that if he expected me to call him or any of them Master, he could go fuck himself, and so could the other two. I would have, except I didn’t have a death wish.
Okay, so they probably wouldn’t kill me. They’d gone through too much trouble to get me from Earth to do that. But I wasn’t looking for a repeat of last night, and neither was my ass.
It’s just a word. You’ll find a way out of this, but you have to be smart. I dropped my shoulders. “Thank you…Master.”
Fuck, a small part of me died inside at even saying the word.
Putting out the fire and covering it with dirt, Malek looked over his shoulder, watching our exchange. When I’d all but choked on the word master, his eyes gleamed.
It was lucky there was nothing sharp or heavy on hand, or I’d have thrown it at Malek’s head.
Z’pheer cradled my cheeks with his warm hands and pressed his lips to my forehead. He said something that might have been “You’re welcome.” Then he picked up the red dress and my poncho from the floor, tossing them to me.
“Apt salak, nayna.” He pulled me to my feet and nodded to the clothes.
On his way out of the cave, Malek stopped Z’pheer with a hand on his arm. He jerked his chin at the entrance and said something in a low, furious voice. Whatever it was, it oozed urgency. I caught the words Cael Raul.
Z’pheer shrugged his shoulders and replied, clapped Malek on the shoulder in a You’ll manage sort of way and left. Malek growled under his breath.
Damn it, Z’pheer needed to fix my fucking translator. I hoped the hell he hadn’t given me some sort of order a minute ago, because if he had, I couldn’t have guessed what it was.
I yanked the red dress over my head and started doing up the first tie. The top ones were difficult, positioned up high on my side, just under my arm pit.
“Shit.”
“Nayna.”
I looked up at Malek who waved me over to the fire as he sat on one of the rocks there.
Crap, what did he want? I vividly remembered the all-too-easy way he and Z’pheer had controlled me, making me come over and over. The way he’d enjoyed every inch of me. The idea of him touching me again made me want to bolt.
I dragged myself over to the fire, taking my poncho with me.
As soon as I was within reach, he put his finger inside the metal loop at the front of the collar around my neck and tugged me forward until I stood between his knees.
Even being this close to him almost took my breath away. He was so beautiful, darkly so. It hurt to look at him when I knew the damage he was capable of. His scent was all male and immediately made me want to lean in and smell him. With those almost black eyes and raven hair, he made me think of a vampire warrior, drawing his prey to him before the feast.
Malek rumbled a question. He ran his hand slowly over my ass, and his lips turned up when I winced. The playfulness in his eyes, the mocking in his tone, and the way he’d felt up my cheeks had me thinking he’d asked how my ass was.
“How can you even ask me that?”
He chuckled softly and patted one butt cheek, as if to say I’d brought it on myself. Then he did up each of the ties on my slave’s garb.
When he stood, he seemed to loom over me. Unwilling to show him any fear, I forced myself not to step back.
He murmured softly, tracing the line of my mouth, his gaze fixated hungrily on it. The pupils in his eyes obliterated the purple. I shivered. He was probably thinking of last night, remembering me sucking him off.
For a second, I was afraid he was going to push me to my knees then and there. Instead, he took a packet of dried fruit out of one of the bags and handed it to me, taking another for himself. Then he lifted the rock from the end of the leash and clipped the end to his bracelet.
“I don’t suppose I could have a bath?”
He raised a brow.
“Uh…cama mai. A bath.”
Saying nothing, he wound the leash around his fist and started for the cave entrance.
Damn it. It shouldn’t have surprised me he wouldn’t let me bathe. These barbarians had probably only allowed that yesterday for their own benefit.
“I smell like sex,” I mumbled, tugging on the leash. My cheeks heated with shame, especially when I knew damn well it wasn’t an entirely unpleasant scent.
He shrugged, running his thumb pointedly over my lips again. The lips that had been around his cock only hours ago. The pleasure he took in knowing I had to live with the intoxicating scent of him on my skin was plain as the nose on his gorgeous face.
I stiffened in reflex at his touch, and his eyes sparkled.
He headed for the entrance to the cavern and tugged on the leash again, a wordless command to follow him.
Ugh. The last thing I wanted was to spend the day with the reminder of last night lingering, but cleanliness wasn’t worth whatever he’d do if I pressed.
I pictured Earth in my mind, letting the image of home keep me going and give me hope.
The situation was temporary. I wouldn’t let myself think any different.
I ripped open my fruit pack and followed him out of the cave.
With two suns in the sky already baking the landscape in heat, it was too hard to tell what time of day it was, but a few minutes from the cave, my clothes were already sticking to my back.
Near a long golden stream that wound its way between two cliffs, Z’pheer and Raul were saddling up the three grazing hepta, while Tarku drank from the river.
To say that seeing anyone, man or animal, drinking from that golden water was discombobulating would have been a gross understatement. I would have thought it unsafe to drink, but if it was, Raul likely wouldn’t have allowed it.
As soon as we reached the bottom of the ravine, Raul patted his mount’s fur, looking over at me. If the situation were different, the playful look in his eyes would have made my heart flutter. As it was, it made my blood boil.
Son of a bitch. Would he expect a repeat of the previous evening tonight? Every night?
My stomach clenched with dread, and I focused on Malek, following him toward his hepta.
Raul strode over, stopped Malek and said something with a nod toward me. Malek unwound the slack of the leash from his wrist, allowing me to remain with Raul while he saddled up his mount.
The giant alien cupped my chin. The heat and firmness of his hand sent my mind reeling over all he’d done to me since we’d left the ship, and I flinched before I could stop it. He filled that single act, holding my jaw between his thumb and fingers, with such…ownership, it drove home the helplessness of my situation all over again.
“Ra Vahashatai,” Laced with mocking, his deep voice made my blood quiver, however much I wanted to be repulsed by him.
My brain latched onto the last word he’d said. Today wasn’t the first time he’d used it. Vahashatai. Z’pheer and Malek had said it too, but something about the way Raul used the word made me think it was a pet name. I just bet it was an insulting one.
“Het hak dayna ca’vik, Vahashatai?” His eyes trapped mine, pools of gold fire that sparkled with victory.
Fuck, he was gloating over last night. Over what he’d done to me, or had he been more aware of what his men had done than he’d let on? Or was it both?
The heady scent of him, carried on the warm jungle breeze, made my head feel light. Letting my hatred burn away his effect on me, I forced myself to keep my eyes on his.
“I don’t understand,” I muttered. Some stubborn part of me wouldn’t let me add the word master.
I caught his sardonic smile before he leaned in, sliding one huge hand over my hip, the other gliding to the back of my nape. I stiffened, and his fingers tightened, holding me in place. His massive chest expanded on a deep inhale, his nose in my hair.
Whatever this man wanted, he took it as a given that I’d accept it without question. He was so damn arrogant, I’d have torn a strip off him
if thought he wouldn’t make me pay for it.
“Raul, what is the point in asking me questions you know I can’t answer?”
He shrugged and gave my ass an affectionate pat. When I winced and twisted away from the sting, his teeth flashed. He turned me around and pushed me lightly toward Malek.
A silent command to ride with Malek before he went over to Tarku and put on his collar.
I had a feeling I wasn’t meant to understand the question he’d asked. And I didn’t like the idea of riding with Malek any better than him.
As soon as I was within reach, Malek hooked my collar with his finger and pulled me toward him. Without a word, he took the muzzle out of the pack that hung from his mount and buckled it around my head too quickly for me to do more than roll my eyes.
Malek grabbed my wrists, slapping on the cuffs from his belt. It took all I had not to yank my hands free. It would have done no good.
He gave the leash a playful tug and touched my nose with his finger. As if to say, Be a good little slave.
If not for the muzzle, I’d have considered spitting in his face.
By the way the corners of his lips turned up, he knew I wanted to lash out at him. He lifted me onto the back of his hepta with frightening ease.
I tugged awkwardly on the front of the muzzle, hating the feel of the rubbery piece in my mouth. Did every slave walk around with these retched things all the time? Gwen hadn’t had one, but that didn’t mean anything. She could have taken hers off once her master was killed in the Rith attack.
Masters—plural, I corrected myself darkly, watching the men finish getting ready to leave. Did every slave here have more than one?
I could feel my mind going down a rabbit hole of questions, most of which there was no way to answer at this point. I shut them down and focused on the here and now.
While Z’pheer filled the canteen from the river, and Raul slid his axe onto his back, Malek clicked on his laser sword. It buzzed and glowed. He nodded with satisfaction, sheathed the weapon on his back, and mounted up behind me.
When everyone was ready to go, he gave my hip a pat and clucked the hepta into motion. At the head of the procession, Raul made a clicking noise at Tarku and the dog trotted merrily alongside his master.
We rode through the jungle, the dense underbrush keeping us at a slow, plodding pace. Thankfully, the thick canopy overhead blocked most of the blazing sunlight.
We might have been picking our way slowly along the paths, yet I could feel the tension in the men. They said little, and when they did speak, it was in low, urgent voices. All three of them were watchful, constantly scanning the path and the thick underbrush.
They were keeping an eye out for the Rith.
Yesterday’s attack loomed vividly in my mind. Fear crawled under my skin, a constant tension that kept my senses on high alert and my heart beating a little too fast. I pressed closer to Malek, trying to look everywhere at once.
I’d always been an independent person, preferring to rely only on myself, to the point where it had annoyed Sauders and the other staff at Xandar. Much as it pissed me off to have to rely on my three captors, I had zero desire to encounter those ugly fuckers again, and if the Rith found us, I wouldn’t have stood a chance without these barbarians.
A twig snapped to the right of the path, and I jumped, looking frantically through the trees.
Malek murmured something reassuring in my ear, massaging my hip. I could hear the amusement in his tone and wondered if he was telling me I startled too easily and that the men would protect me.
They’d protect the small and fragile female in their midst. Annoyance pricked at me, especially when the other two looked back at me with laughter in their eyes.
I saw no sign of the Rith, but the men never let their guards down once. It bothered me to realize how difficult it was not to feel safe with them.
Well, safer.
Once in a while, I noticed that the men would look over the ground, careful where their mounts stepped, as if they were expecting one of them to step on a landmine. What were they watching out for on the ground? I shivered, hoping they weren’t expecting some kind of explosive to go off.
What must have been a few hours after leaving the cave, the men passed around packets of dried fruit and the canteen, and Malek took off my muzzle long enough for me to eat. No one dismounted, and the hepta never stopped moving, except when the men had to relieve themselves. Unlike Z’pheer had done the previous day, Malek didn’t allow me any privacy, instead expecting me to squat right in front of them.
Perhaps he was just impatient to get moving again, or he wanted to keep everyone close together in case of danger. I wouldn’t argue that safety was more important than what they seemed to see as my pesky female—or human?—modesty, but I couldn’t help feeling Malek wasn’t being cautious. He was just being a dick. He waited impatiently, watching my every move while I did my business, and then relieved himself.
Imprisoned in Malek’s steely arms once again, with my back against his muscled chest, I tried to shut out the worries over the day ahead. The notion of spending any more time with my captors was bad enough, but I’d have at least felt a little safer if I’d known where we were going or what we might be facing when we got there.
Not much, but a little.
Unfortunately, anytime I asked, which I could only do when Malek took that stupid muzzle off, I received either a patronizing pat on the head from Z’pheer, a smirk from Malek as if he liked to keep me guessing, and a scowl from Raul.
I didn’t know which was worse—that Z’pheer seemed to think it was beneath them to explain anything to me, that Malek enjoyed making me squirm, or that Raul looked like he wanted to shut me up every time I spoke.
Hours passed, and the temperature gradually lowered until the jungle turned pleasantly cool. When the canopy opened up revealing the sky, I could tell the suns were getting lower. The urgency from the men intensified. We moved at a quicker pace, their eyes increasingly watchful.
The men didn’t want to be caught in the jungle at night. Were they simply aware of their own limitations in the dark, or were the Rith more of a threat at night? Could they see better at night, like jungle cats?
Whatever the case, it was a relief when the trees thinned out and the sand of the beach glinted between the leaves, like fresh snow under the fading sun. The sparkling gold water lapped gently at the sand, a soft, peaceful sound.
When we drew near the edge of the forest, Malek called out an order and everyone stopped. He dismounted and helped me down. I looked up at him nervously until he strode over to Z’pheer, and the older warrior lifted me up onto his mount.
Some of the tension leeched out of me, now that I wasn’t with Malek. He’d hardly did anything threatening on the way here, but everything about the man screamed predatory intensity.
Malek stalked over to his hepta, his bare back rippling, shoulders tense. He tied the animal to a tree. Drawing his laser sword, he stalked to the jungle’s edge. The blade switched on, glowing blue. Malek headed out onto the beach, looking in every direction for danger.
Raul shook his head in apparent irritation with Malek, watching the man stalk the beach, but remained silent on his mount beside Z’pheer. Tarku stayed close at his side.
When Malek returned, his blade was shut off. He sheathed it and stopped beside Raul’s mount, speaking quietly to him.
Raul kicked his mount into motion, gesturing for the others to follow and making that clicking sound at Tarku, who kept pace with him. I could feel the annoyance in Raul, reminding me of a stallion being constantly held back.
Malek grumbled under his breath as he untied his hepta and mounted up, catching up to Raul and sticking by his side, still tense with watchfulness while Z’pheer followed after.
A revelation tickled the back of my mind as I watched Malek’s odd behavior with Raul. I’d have voiced it if not for the damn muzzle.
Instead, I glanced around, noting the same shacks we’d sto
pped at yesterday, including the stable where the men had taken the hepta from. The area looked just as deserted as it had then.
This was where we’d landed yesterday. I couldn’t see the ship, but I knew it was there, hidden by its invisibility shield or whatever it was.
A flicker of hope burned in my chest. We were back at the ship. Would these men take me home now?
I knew damn well they wouldn’t. They hadn’t come halfway across the universe to kidnap me from Earth for a single night of debauchery, only to drop me off now. Z’pheer wouldn’t have bothered to teach me to call him and the others master if they didn’t intend to keep me as their slave for a long while.
Or forever.
A few paces ahead of me and Z’pheer, Raul dismounted and pointed that same metal device he’d used yesterday at the empty space in front of him.
A blurry outline of the ship began to appear, rippling until the dull grey hull of the saucer-shaped craft was completely visible.
As Z’pheer drew his mount alongside Raul and Malek, Raul pressed a few more buttons on his hand-held device. The door to the ship’s front hatch slid open, and the ramp extended toward the ground with a soft hum.
Malek nodded to the craft and said something to Raul while Z’pheer dismounted and lifted me down. He unclipped my leash, and Raul took the end of it before his two men started back to the stable with all three mounts.
Raul spoke to Tarku, urging him up the ramp. He said nothing to me, only wound the leash around his wrist and tugged me along with no more than an amused glance.
My fists clenched with indignation. The man paid more attention to his dog than he did to me.
Inside the ship, Raul keyed in the code to close the hatch. It slid shut. He unwound my leash and picked up a strange, prickly, rubbery looking ball, tossing it at Tarku. The ball bounced across the metal floor and Tarku took off after it.
I tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the muzzle.
He grinned and unfurled my leash, touching me under the chin. “Taruk, nayna.”
Ignoring my glare, he crossed the room to the bridge and dropped heavily into one of the chairs. He ran his palms down his face and leaned back, looking suddenly beat.
