Captured: The Xandari Chronicles (Book One) (Dark Sci-Fi Romance)

by Raven Dark

  “Yes.”

  “Blackwell too?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  He glanced out at the mineshaft as if thinking how much to tell me. “The Order procures women from planets in dozens of galaxies,” he said at last. “Agencies on worlds that are enlisted as part of the Order’s trade exist on every planet, arranging to give a certain number of females to the Order, who then give the women as…gifts, in payment for the protection the men provide this world.”

  I wrapped my arms around myself, looking at the cave ceiling, revulsion twisting in my gut. I dropped my arms and focused on Raul. “In exchange for what? What do the worlds they enlist get out of it?”

  “It depends on the world.” He nodded to my bowl. “Finish your meal, nayna.”

  I ignored his command. “How does the Order pay them? I’m eager to see what price they put on a woman’s freedom.”

  He sighed. “Some worlds are given cures for diseases that threaten their population. Others are given drugs that cure infertility. In the case of Earth, the Order pays your humans money. A lot of it.”

  I stared. “Money? Of all the things you people could have given us to save the fucking planet, and humans are selling us for a quick buck?”

  My stomach roiled. Suddenly I was kind of ashamed to be human. “Sauders,” I snarled. “When I get back home, I’ll kill him. Him, Shelly, and the rest of his asshat staff.”

  Raul shook his head. “Do not place all the blame on the Home, Vahashatai. The home where you lived, and Blackwell’s club, are part of an Earth-based agency that ensures the women of your world are provided in secret, without the knowledge of your authorities or government. The Xandar Home for Girls is only one of many such organizations on Earth alone.”

  I stared. “It’s an intergalactic slave ring.” And he was talking about the whole thing as if his government had arranged a fucking bake sale. “That’s disgusting, Raul.”

  Raul’s eyes twinkled as if my outrage delighted him.

  I couldn’t believe this. The staff at the mansion had made it sound like they were helping me. Getting me off the street and offering me a chance to have all my dreams come true. Instead, they’d sold me to an alien race.

  My father had been right. It had seemed too good to be true, and it was. I felt suddenly gullible, played for a fool. How many other girls had fallen into the same fucking trap?

  “How can your people do that?” I snapped. “Kidnap people from other worlds and hand them over like hundred-dollar bills?”

  “The Order does what it has to keep the world running as it should. Men devote everything they have to the cause. We deserve what is ours.”

  “Wow. You aren’t entitled at all, are you?”

  He lifted his shoulders. “How else should I be?”

  “Seriously?”

  He stood slowly and took a single step so that he towered over me, a mountain of physical power and strength. The scent of him assaulted my senses. I inhaled, breathing him in before I’d realized it.

  “I am an Atan within the Order,” he said simply. “My men are the best the Order has. Nearly every day, I have danced with death to keep the people of this world safe. You saw for yourself, we were almost taken by the Rith twice. And I will still gladly lay down my life every day until I die. So will Malek. So will Z’pheer.” He reached up and traced my cheek, my lips, my jawline like I was made from the finest porcelain. “Should we not expect that such a sacrifice should come with all the pleasures the universe has to offer?”

  Well, fuck, I could see this conversation wasn’t going to get anywhere productive. He really thought this was how things were supposed to be. Worse still, he almost made it sound natural.

  Acceptable.

  It had to be his scent. It was messing with my head. I pushed his hand away and stepped back toward the wall behind me.

  “You’re good, I’ll give you that.”

  “Oh, trust me. I know how good I am.” Raul stalked forward, closing in, a huge predator intent on claiming what was his. My skin heated, my body calling out to him. My sex aching with the need to be claimed. The sore, scratchy feeling between my legs should have been enough to put me off, but I had a bad feeling this man knew how to make me forget about the pain and work me up until I was as desperate and as ready for him as I had been last night. Until I begged him to take me.

  He put his hands on the wall to either side of my head, caging me. With nowhere to go, I turned my face away.

  Malek and Z’pheer slept soundly, and I prayed they wouldn’t wake up, or else I’d probably wind up having to deal with them as well as Raul.

  “Look at me, nayna.”

  The last thing I wanted was a reminder of what I was to him. That word suddenly stung like a knife, but something held me back from telling him not to use it.

  He slid his fingers almost gently around my jaw, turning my face up to his. “For all your outrage and your anger, can you look me in the eye and tell me that it doesn’t make you feel good to know what you are?”

  “You think I should feel good at the idea of being owned like a fancy pair of shoes?”

  His mouth tightened. “You were chosen, Vahashatai. Out of millions upon millions of females in this universe, thousands on your world alone, you were chosen to please three of the most powerful men of my planet. My men take one look at you, and it makes them as hard as Boruskian steel. One look at you, and I want to eat you alive. Does every woman not dream of such a thing?”

  Oh, for God’s sake, I hated him. I hated him because, somehow, he managed to make it sound like an honor to be owned by him and his men. I hated him because he was right.

  I could feel my body humming with a deep awareness of him. My sex clenched with longing.

  I tried to rip my face away, but he tightened his grip, pinning my head to the wall. He pressed himself against me, and the heat of him nearly sent my knees to the ground. He leaned in, running his nose along the inside of my neck. A deep, hungry rumble left him.

  “I can smell your arousal, nayna.”

  “You can not.” As if my pussy wasn’t already getting soaked. God, I was pathetic.

  He pressed harder into me, his huge cock jabbing at my stomach. “Yes, I can. You need me right now, the way a starving man needs food.”

  “I do not!” Damn him, my nipples were hard again, my whole core aching to the point of pain. If I squeezed my thighs together…

  “Stop lying to me. Your cunt is so wet, if I took you right now, you would come with one stroke. Is that not so, nayna?”

  Damn him. My body was practically shivering with need. If my skin got any hotter, I was sure I would pass out.

  I glared at him, the only defiance I could offer now. “Don’t call me that. I’m a human being, and my name is Danika.”

  Raul slipped his hand around my throat.

  The first inklings of panic rose up. Would he strangle me? Cut off my air like he had last night?

  His eyes trapped mine. “I will call you whatever I desire, nayna. Your name isn’t Dan-ikka anymore. It is whatever we say it is.”

  I could suddenly feel my identity, the person I was, everything that made me who I was, being stripped away. I clenched my jaw. “You’re a fucking asshole, Raul.”

  His grip tightened, his eyes blazing. Weirdly, his anger turned me the hell on.

  “This obstinance of yours is irritating. Do you want me to hit you?”

  “Go ahead, Raul. If it’ll make you feel better, slap me.”

  Jesus, what the hell was the matter with me? I did want him to hit me. Why in hell did I want that?

  Why?

  He didn’t, instead he lowered his hand, and I was almost disappointed. It took a moment to realize why. It was easier to deal with him when he was mean, when he made me mad. When he behaved like a kidnapper. God, I hoped that’s all it was.

  Raul’s mouth quirked, and I could see him taking in my expression. I probably looked like I was on the verge of orgas
m face.

  Great. He knew. Knew things about me I didn’t even know about myself. Sick, twisted things I wasn’t ready to deal with at all.

  He slid his fingers into my hair, fisting it and pulling my head back. Not brutal, but just enough to make me wince at the sting and cause my pussy to slick. He put his mouth close to my ear.

  “You are the most beautiful creature when you are angry, nayna. Someday we will play the game you are asking for.”

  “What game is that, Raul?” I panted. I was grinding into him, for fuck’s sake.

  “The game where you deliberately try to infuriate your V’ir until he belts you right across that beautiful face. And then fucks you like a savage, reminding you of your place.”

  I panted so hard I was hyperventilating, half panic, half need, with just the faintest hint of excitement.

  The man could have killed me without even trying, sent my brains splattering across the cave wall, and I was turned on?

  Oh yes. Yes, I was. I didn’t want him to break anything, and I certainly didn’t have a death wish, but some part of my stupid fucking body fed off the fear. It clamored for him to assert his dominance over me in every twisted way he could think of.

  Shoot me now.

  But still, he didn’t hit me.

  “Why….?”

  I wasn’t asking for him to. I wasn’t, damn it. It was just that… his holding back pissed me the hell off and scared the shit out of me.

  He loosened his grip on my hair, laying his palm almost gently on my face. I tensed, every muscle coiling. Blood rushed to my head. My chest was heaving against his.

  “Why did I not hit you?” He moved his palm from my cheek to my shoulder. “Believe me, nayna, I would give you everything you want. Everything you want and more. I would hurt you just to hear you scream. And then I would pin you to this wall and fuck you until you came like an Andarian whore.”

  Oh, God. How in the hell did he make hurting me sound as hot as the thought of his cock sliding in and out of me? How was it that, when he said the word whore like that, in a voice growled with hunger, it had me ready to bend over right there and spread my legs for him until he made me come apart like shattered glass?

  I almost came from his words alone.

  “Now that we both know what you want…” He drew slowly back and traced my trembling lips with his fingers. “I can promise you, my men and I will oblige you at every opportunity.”

  “Don’t. You. Dare.”

  He touched me under the chin. “Oh, yes. I will rule you with an iron fist, Vahashatai. My men will gladly do the same.” He dropped his hand. “Now, get back to bed and into Malek’s arms where you belong. You have an early start today, and I will not accept fatigue as an excuse for neglecting your duties.”

  Raul returned to his bed. Without another word, he laid down beside Tarku, gave his dog a few pats, and closed his eyes. I swore I saw the hint of a satisfied smile on his face.

  Trembling, I collapsed to the cavern floor and closed my eyes, trying desperately to get my breathing under control.

  What the hell had I gotten myself into just now?

  He’d talked about ruling me with an iron fist, and my whole body had hummed like a fucking tuning fork.

  These men were turning me into one sick, sick girl. Yes, sir.

  17

  Little Flower

  Someone was tickling my shoulder.

  I opened my eyes and rolled over, expecting to see Malek, since he was the one I’d been sleeping with last night. Instead, Z’pheer looked down at me with one of his charismatic smiles, tickling my bare shoulder playfully with his finger.

  “Up you get, nayna.” He stood from the blankets and held out his hand for me to take.

  I sat up and looked around but didn’t see Malek or Raul. Their voices drifted from outside the cave.

  Damn. After the things Raul had said to me last night, I wouldn’t have complained if he’d dropped off a cliff to his death. Malek too, for that matter.

  On the bright side, as depressed and hopeless as I’d felt last night, this morning I felt much different.

  Maybe having gotten a good night’s sleep had put things into perspective in my head. Or maybe the promises Raul had made last night, those threats, had renewed my determination to return to my old life. I wouldn’t let myself be consumed by whatever fucked up fuckery these men were turning me into. Today, I was determined to find a way home before I completely lost my damn mind.

  Ignoring Z’pheer’s offered hand, I stood, found that stupid red slave’s dress and snatched it off the floor.

  Z’pheer dropped his hand, his eyes twinkling. “You won’t need that.”

  I rolled my eyes and dropped the material, assuming he was saying this because the men intended to have me make today’s lag of the trip in the nude.

  “Raul said we were getting an early start today. Are we leaving soon?”

  It was unsettling that the darkness down here never changed, making it impossible to tell what time of day it was.

  “Not for a while yet. You have chores to do.” He crossed the cavern and took down the leash from its hook, clipping it to his bracelet.

  “Chores? Great. I suppose I have to cook for you now.”

  He chuckled. “Come. I’ll take you for a bath before you get to work.”

  I looked at him with genuine curiosity. “A bath? Down here? How?”

  “I’ll show you.” He wound the slack of the leash around his fist until less than two feet of rope stretched between us. He held out his hand once more.

  I sighed and put my palm in his.

  Z’pheer grabbed his pack with the toiletries in it, then led me to a large pool that stood a little way down one of the shafts. He lit two torches mounted on the walls, illuminating the otherwise darkened space with a warm glow that made me feel like I’d suddenly traveled back in time about a thousand years. Surrounded by a waist-high stone ledge, with steps leading into it, the pool was about the size of a large Jacuzzi. The water gleamed like molten gold, just like any other body of water I’d seen on this world.

  “Wow. This place has all the comforts of home, huh?”

  Z’pheer stripped off his pants and boots and walked with me down a set of paved steps into the cool water. I shivered as it lapped against my skin, waist deep.

  “The men who used to work these mines often lived down here for months at a time, going so deep that it took too long to get back up to the surface,” he said. “Pools like this were made to allow them to bathe without having to go back up.”

  “Huh. A regular miner’s Hotel Ritz.”

  He gave me a curious look. I shrugged dismissively, gazing around the pool.

  “By the way, since I’m human, are there diseases or whatever that I can get from the water here? Or the air?”

  Z’pheer poured shampoo on his head and handed it to me. “Prior to your being brought onto the ship, you were vaccinated against all Xandari illnesses. I’m sure you recall the regular checkups the Home would have given you?”

  I soaped up my hair and scrubbed. “Yeah, I remember having lots of checkups.”

  “The vaccinations the Home gave you during those checkups were against diseases from our world, not just yours.”

  My breath caught. It was a good thing Z’pheer had dunked under, otherwise I’d have strangled him. By the time he’d come up again, I’d at least stamped out the urge to kill him.

  “Wait a minute,” I gritted out. “The Home staff pumped me full of alien vaccines? Without my permission?” My fists clenched. “Which means they knew all along I’d end up in the hands of aliens.”

  “Hey.” He cupped my chin, his voice gentle. “Nayna, calm yourself. We did these things to protect you. Nothing you were given will harm you.”

  I took a deep breath. His calm gaze was much too soothing for my liking.

  This new information just added more bullshit to the Home’s sick scheme, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. My breathi
ng leveled of its own accord, and I dropped my shoulders. How did he do that? He made it so hard to be mad at him.

  I dunked under. I came up with my teeth chattering.

  Z’pheer waded close to me and rubbed my shoulders.

  “Tak.” I chattered the Xandari word for cold.

  He grinned proudly and rubbed some more.

  “So, what wonderful chores do you guys plan on making me do today?”

  “Cooking and washing mostly.” He soaped his gorgeously ripped body down and then let me do the same.

  “Figures. Well, just so you know, I don’t make the world’s best snake stew.”

  He laughed, a rich, deep sound. “Here, turn around. Let me wash your back.”

  Oh, God, yes. I could still feel the stickiness from last night’s gangbang caked on my skin. The memory made my cheeks heat with a mix of shame and arousal. I turned my back to him, glad of a chance to hide my flush.

  “Seriously, I don’t know how to cook anything you guys will be able to catch down here. Actually, I can’t cook at all. I burn water.” That thought gave me pleasure. These barbarians would have to fend for themselves unless they wanted to eat everything well done.

  “I will show you.” He scrubbed my back and then my ass. His palms roamed over both cheeks, and then slid around to my pussy, soaping and stroking at the same time.

  My knees weakened, and I leaned into his warmth before I’d thought about it. My pussy was already getting slick. Stupid pussy—it would betray me every time.

  “I will show you many things, nayna.” Z’pheer kissed his way along my shoulder, stroking my pussy faster, avoiding the sore spots as usual.

  Fuck, Raul had left me so needy, I was already primed for this warrior.

  “Haven’t you had enough, old man?” I hated that my voice shook, and not from the cold. That I wanted his hands away from me only so that he couldn’t rev me up any further than he already had.

  He chuckled into my hair and then spun me around into his arms, imprisoning me in them. “Never.” His mouth captured mine.

  Instant heat.