She let the guards drag her by the chain attached to the collar. The shackles on her ankles didn’t allow her to keep up with their pace. It didn’t matter to them if she went to Alharad on her hands and knees or on her butt. Either way, she would go to him.
Up the stairs and through the halls they led her. Everyone they passed avoided her as if she were a pariah. No one met her gaze. Some even went so far as to press against the walls as she went by. She knew the passersby were most likely scared of the Quold guards who escorted her. But she also guessed her appearance and smell were partly to blame.
How long had she been imprisoned this time? She had no way of telling.
The smell of flowered perfume permeated her nose as they entered Alharad’s dining chamber. This was where he did most of his business. The morbidly obese motherfucker seemed to always be eating. The thought of the brothel and slave owner dousing himself in perfume every morning almost gave her cause to laugh again.
Almost.
If it wasn’t for the little African-American boy pressed tightly to his side.
Her stare shifted from Maximillion to Alharad.
Shit.
Alharad’s eyes twinkled knowingly. A slow smile graced his portly face, revealing four rows of sharp, tiny teeth. She straightened her neck and shoulders but inwardly cringed.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he hissed. The malicious smile sent chills down her spine. “This will work out nicely.”
Ally snarled low and deep. She didn’t know what he meant by that, but it didn’t sound good. “What the hell is on your fat little mind?”
“Come now, think about it. I know you’re smarter than that. I think our relationship has grown.”
Does he want me to fuck him? Never!
“You’ll have to kill me first,” she promised in a threatening tone. “I told you then and I’m telling you now. I’ll never fuck you.”
Alharad’s laughter echoed throughout the room. She lifted her head and stretched her neck from side to side. Chained or not, he wouldn’t take her easily.
Watching her, he laughed even harder. The sound seemed to bounce off the mirrors that cluttered the walls. “I don’t need you to fuck me. I have other willing slaves. Plus, I don’t like to fight for my pussy. It takes too much work.” He shuddered.
He was right. Not everyone, male or female, hated living in a brothel. Some of the aliens had even come here willingly, making this their permanent home. Others who had been sold into slavery like her seemed to be complacent about their predicament. Alharad most likely had whores vying for his attention every day.
“Good. Go and get one of them,” she said, even though it probably would cost her another trip to the prison.
He chuckled, sending his girth rippling in pounds and pounds of extra flesh. “In due time. But right now we have a little matter to discuss. You won’t behave. It is very disconcerting for me.”
She flicked her hand. “Not my problem. I never promised I would be your whoring bitch. Take it up with the fool who sold me to you.” Oh yeah, she couldn’t hold back. She was definitely in for another ass kicking.
He stroked Maximillion’s head. “Oh, I think I can change your mind.”
She snorted, but her attention focused on the way he ran his hands across Maximillion’s short, curly afro. “Keep telling yourself that, Jabba the Hutt.”
“I believe I’ve found a way to make you come to your senses,” he said matter-of-factly.
No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t pull her gaze away. The bangles around his fat wrists made a high-pitched clanging noise. The boy—no more than eight—cringed with every stroke. She could see his little body shivering from where she stood. Goose bumps erupted across his skin. His pleading eyes were fixed on hers.
Ally’s back straightened. What is this fucker up to?
Alharad squinted as he watched her. “There’s another human female here.” He shook his head nonchalantly. “I can’t remember her name. She used to cry all the time, the customers complained about her relentlessly. I really wasn’t getting a return on my investment and when she began trying to take her own life, well, I knew I had to come up with a plan. She was much like you in some regards.”
Ally kept her eyes on him, trying to follow why he was telling her this story and how it related to her.
“She became pregnant and gave birth to an awful thing,” he continued. “As is customary, Sagnior here was going to throw it in the trash, but I instructed him not to. It was a gamble, I assure you, but I wanted to find out what would happen if I let the slave keep the baby.”
“You’re a monster.” She curled her lip in disgust. A memory of Adrienne’s baby flashed through her mind.
He stared at her with an evil glint in his eyes. “No, I’m all about business. You humans can be more trouble than you’re worth. You see, that female, she does any and everything that I ask of her now, all because of a sentimental attachment to her child. We struck a deal. I let her keep the thing and in return, she’s compliant. That got me wondering. Could I strike the same deal with you?”
Ally cracked a sinister smile. “Too late for any of that. My woman parts were removed a long time ago.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” he said, undeterred. “When I discovered that, I thought I’d I have to cut my losses and dispose of you. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out you do have a weakness—and it’s for my very own pet. Should I go so far as to assume that you have an…attachment to him?”
Ally inhaled a sharp breath. She could lie to Alharad and let them lead her back to the dungeon or kill her, but…
Max.
She’d warned him to stop coming. She hadn’t wanted him to get in trouble. But never in a million years did she think the soft spot in her heart for the little boy would be used against her.
Her heart melted as a small whimpering sound came from Max’s lips. She didn’t have a choice but to watch as fat tears rolled down his ebony cheeks.
She glared at Alharad, hating him with every ounce of her being. “What do you want from me?”
“No killing the customers. No fighting the guards. No trying to end your life. What I want from you, Ally, is full compliance.”
Full compliance?
She almost laughed. She hadn’t given anyone her full compliance since the Loconuist had invaded Earth. The docile, shy woman was long gone. She didn’t think she had a compliant bone in her body.
“Let’s say I slip up and accidently snap Sagnior’s neck. What would happen then? You’ll throw me back in the dungeon?”
Alharad laughed and clapped his hands. “Now what kind of deal would that be? You seem to prefer the dungeon rather than your room. No. You see, I need more assurance that you’ll behave.”
Alharad’s meaty hand rested once again on Max’s head, and he resumed stroking him. Max let out another sob. Ally’s heart seemed to lurch in her chest. If they were alone, she would have given him some words of encouragement. She’d told him time and time again to stop visiting her. Why hadn’t he listened?
“You will be all right, my pet. Ally will save you,” Alharad assured him.
Ally swung her gaze to Alharad. She hated the way he said her name, as if he had an inside joke and wouldn’t let her in on it. “What do you want from me? All I can give you is my word. I’ll try not to harm anyone and in return he stays safe.”
“Your word? Well, that isn’t good enough. I’ll strike the same deal with you that I did with the other human. But in your case, if you behave, I won’t make my pet here work the brothel.”
Her mouth fell open in shock. She knew Alharad was cruel, but this? Without a second thought, she lunged at him, seeing red. She wanted his neck in her grasp.
Before she could take two steps, her chains were yanked back.
Alharad opened his mouth, feigning shock. “Feisty,” he said. Then he turned to the guards. “See? I told you she cared about something other than herself, didn’t I?”
A chuckle cam
e from one guard and a grunt from the other.
“You can’t do that,” she ground out.
Alharad straightened and the smile dropped from his lips. “I can and I will. I’ve been thinking about how much money I’m losing because of you. You occupy space in my brothel. You take up a room, air, guards and food. Every evening that you aren’t in rotation with the others, you put me deeper in the hole.” He shifted his massive girth. “I’m all about business. And right now my investment is bleeding me dry. I had hoped you would come to your senses on your own and we could move past this unfortunate turn in our friendship.” His hand cut through the air, causing the bangles to jingle again. “But it seems you are unable to see reason.”
“What the fuck does this have to do with Max?”
He tilted his head to the side. “How precious. You even named him.”
“I’ll kill you if you harm him,” she snarled. One of the guards yanked on the chain attached to her collar, making her stumble back and choke.
He ignored her coughing. “Don’t give idle threats. It’s so unbecoming.”
She wanted to end him, choke him and gouge his eyes out, and not necessarily in that order.
“If you don’t behave I’ll have to end your life.” He shrugged. “You don’t seem to mind dying, but let me tell you what will happen after you die. My little pet here will take over your duties.”
Ally inhaled sharply. He can’t be for real. Maximillion let out another sniffle, his body racked with shudders.
“So, Ally, since you have a death wish and refuse to perform your duties—properly—if we can’t strike a deal, I will have no other choice but to have my pet take your place. I admit that I’ll miss his bubbly personality. I assume that will be the first thing to go.” Alharad shrugged. “It must be expected.”
She tried to step forward but the guards wouldn’t let her budge. “You can’t do that. He’s just a child,” she begged.
“Customers ask about him all the time, but I’ve always shooed them away. I think he’ll help triple my profits in the first week, while your body is rotting in the bottom of the trash.”
“You’re sick,” she yelled, straining against the chains. “He’s a baby. How could you even think of such a thing?”
The guards yanked and pulled her back, keeping her from Alharad. If only she could get her hands around his throat.
“Oh, that part wasn’t my idea. I would have loved to come up with it, but it was Sagnior’s.” He nodded his head toward the guard holding her chain.
The guard to her right chuckled. Sagnior. She would kill him the first chance she got.
Shit. But according to Alharad, slitting Sagnior’s throat was now out of the question. “Send me to the healing tank and I’ll get back to work tonight,” she said quickly.
“I could do that, but there’s the matter of you and my customers.”
“What about your customers?” She’d do anything they wanted if he would leave the child alone.
“You keep killing them.”
Oh yeah, that.
She straightened. This couldn’t happen. She had to stop it. “I’ll take your deal. No killing, no maiming, no nothing. I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Just as I expected. Didn’t I tell you she would save you?” he asked Maximillion, who was looking so sick she was sure he would vomit any minute.
“I’ll do anything, just as long as you don’t make him work the rooms.” She shifted her gaze to the little boy. His poor body shook with fear. He’d only been trying to help her. And because of his small acts of kindness, she’d do everything in her power to make sure he didn’t end up like her. She would whore. She did it almost every day. But what she wanted—no, needed to do was take care of that innocent little boy.
“If you keep your end of our deal, I won’t have any reason to make my pet work in the brothel.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So we do have a deal then?”
He nodded. “We do.”
Before he could send her away, she said, “But I want the exact same one you struck with the other.”
He frowned, clearly confused. “I already said you’ll get the same deal.”
“Good. After I return from the healing tank, I’ll expect Max to be in my room with all of his belongings.”
He chuckled. “You are in no position to negotiate.”
“I’m not negotiating. If she got to keep her baby, then I want to keep Max. A deal’s a deal. Give him to me.”
He choked and sputtered. “Give him to you?”
“He can still work for you during the day, but before dinner, he is to come home with me.” She stared at him hard. She couldn’t back down. Keeping Max with her was the only way she could guarantee that Alharad didn’t have a change of heart later.
The room was silent.
She waited, holding her breath. For the first time in a very long time, she wished for something other than death.
“Deal,” he said.
She let out a breath.
What kind of hell did I just submit to?
Chapter Four
Taken: Six Earth Years
“Honey. Do you remember what I told you?”
Ally watched intently as Max shifted his dark-brown eyes to the side, not wanting to meet her stare.
She put a hand on her hip. How many times had they gone over this? “Max, stay in this room until I come back. No matter what, don’t come out to look for me, okay?”
He frowned. His displeasure was written across his face. “But Ally, I told Yoshi I would visit with her later.”
Ally laced her fingers through his curly afro and lowered to one knee so she was at his eye level. “No ‘buts’, mister. Don’t leave this room. It’s not safe for you out there alone. Got it?”
He looked away briefly. “All right,” he finally said reluctantly, slumping in defeat.
Ally blew out a breath. Max had continued to work for Alharad for a little while, but the brothel owner soon got tired of not having a “pet” to attend to him day and night, and had given Max to her completely. Ally had been ecstatic at first—until she learned that Alharad had replaced Max with a twelve-year-old little girl, Yoshioka.
Ally knew it was only a matter of time before he tired of the poor child and made her work the brothel.
And she still didn’t trust the fat fucker not to renege and take Max away from her. Whenever they passed him in the halls, Alharad’s eyes lingered too long on Max. And he seemed to be asking about him a lot lately. “How is my pet doing? Does he miss me?”
It was safer for Max to stay away from him entirely, especially when she wasn’t around.
Max let his head hang low. He and Yoshi had become fast friends, and when she was able to get away from Alharad, she and Max spent a lot of time playing games. Yoshi probably depended on Max’s companionship just as much as he depended on hers.
“If I run into her, I’ll tell her that you can’t make it.” She straightened and slipped on the sandals she would wear for the night. The purple flats didn’t match the gold semi-see-through outfit she’d chosen but they were the only shoes she had that were halfway decent.
Without hesitation, Max dropped to his knees in front of her and began to lace the strings that would loop around her ankles and all the way up to her knees. “She gets scared at night all by herself. Do you think you could stay with her for a little while?”
Ally took the laces out of his hands and shooed him away. His job of being a servant had been ingrained in him since he’d been two. No matter how many times she told him, Max knew no different. He wasn’t a servant anymore. He was just a little boy whose caretaker happened to be a slave and brothel whore.
“I doubt if I’ll have time for an extended visit.” She sat in an old chair and began lacing up her sandals. “But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell her to come here if she can.”
“Yes!” Max said, clapping his hands. “She can tell me stories about Earth.” He ran to his little box tha
t held objects that passed as toys in a brothel.
“Don’t get so excited yet,” she said, interrupting the beginnings of his happy dance. “If I run into Alharad or the guards, I won’t be able to go to her.”
With that, his face fell. He closed the lid on his box and slumped. A little part of her wanted to feel bad, but she couldn’t. Taking care of Max had made her more compliant than she’d ever wanted to be. If Alharad got wind that she was letting Yoshioka hang around, there would be no telling what other bargains he’d feel the need to strike. She just couldn’t afford it.
After being separated from Eva, she had taken care of herself and herself only—and she hadn’t been doing a very good job at that. After taking Max under her wing, she’d begun to worry all the time—about his safety and hers. What would happen to him if something happened to her? There wasn’t a soul in the brothel she trusted to care for him. It was every slave for him- or herself.
Someone else could take Yoshioka under their wing.
She finished with her laces and looked up to find him giving her the saddest pout she’d ever seen.
“Max, don’t be upset.”
“But I am.”
She sighed and curled her hair behind her ears then motioned for him. “Come here.”
He shuffled his bare feet across the cold floor, slowly making his way to her. Their room was just big enough to hold a bed, dresser, wardrobe and vanity table. He made the last few steps painfully slowly. She grabbed the front of his pajamas and pulled him closer, where he scrambled onto her lap and buried his head on her chest.
“Honey, when you get older, you’ll understand. I can’t explain it right now.”
“I understand,” he said with a sniffle. “You don’t want to have to take care of another kid.”
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