by E J Darling
Breaking Bonds
An Alien Romance Adventure
E.J. Darling
Contents
Other books by this Author
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
About the Author
Breaking Bonds: An Alien Romance Adventure by E.J. Darling
Copyright © September 2020
Cover Art: Cover of Darkness
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author.
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.
Created with Vellum
Other books by this Author
Bestian Creek Pack:
Claimed by Honor
Engulfed in Fire
Bitten by Nick
Cherished by Derek
Flying with Aquila
Holiday Standalone:
When the Winter Winds Blow
One
Maevelin Roan stepped off Trident and onto the dark red sand of the slave trading planet she’d been forced to come to. Sapili Prime wasn’t a shitty, run down planet like it should be, like the desert climate made it appear. It was rich in its own resources, and the Siipi people made a killing selling it. Unfortunately, those rich and plentiful resources were slaves… just like her.
She reached down, kept the gleaming golden bars embedded in her wrist concealed, and pet the sleek black hair of her companion. He comforted her, kept her from talking herself into turning around, and stepping right back on the ship. “Come on, Säiph. Let’s get this over with. Quick and painless right?”
She didn’t want to be here, but she wasn’t given a choice. Slaves rarely were. Zekekiel Vint, her master, had given her the order and more credits towards her savings. More than she could pass up. Nearly enough to buy her freedom and end her bondage.
A crowd began to form near the rear of a Class-4 vessel. What could be so interesting about the cargo of a rundown Class-4 that provoked so many eyes? She didn’t get much interaction with such a variety of species at home, and it wouldn’t hurt to look around a bit, something she never did. Säiph naturally pushed her away from the mob, and she wanted to follow his lead. Never being on the planet’s surface before, Maeve didn’t know her way around the port, but she was curious, and there was some time to kill before the auction began.
Normally, she was a get-the-job-done-as-quickly-as-possible-and-move-on type of person, but the knowledge she’d soon be free of bondage had set in. She wanted to know more about Vora Galaxy, more than what she only ever saw in paperwork and documents.
Giving into curiosity, Maeve joined the group of onlookers, and Säiph led her to the front, an easy thing to do when you looked like you could rip the throat out of anyone who opposed you. There were ten males in the group of captives, in varying degrees of filth and health. Some looked nearly dead, standing only on determination and defiance.
One, though, stood out. He appeared strong, even in his state of misery, his body roped with muscle. Powerful thighs tensed as he shifted his weight from side to side. His uncovered torso flexed tight with each strained breath he took, as if a rib or two had been broken on his journey there. His long black hair covered his face in what were once intricate braids. They fell to his waist in a knotted mess. He was a walking wet dream, even in his current condition, for any female who desired such attention from males.
His wrists and ankles were bound with chains while the others had nothing but an equalizer to their backs to keep them from running. What have you done to warrant the need for shackles?
But none of that was what drew in the various species of females in droves. It wasn’t what he looked like, though that was part of it. It was what he was. Rarity in its purest form. Possibly even extinct in every scientific way imaginable. He was sinfully gorgeous, his deep skin tone kissed by the stars themselves. A god among species… once.
A Turnish, hailing from the once seemingly resolute Turnix Beta, a planet destroyed by invaders. In her experience, a Turnish male had never been something a female could just ignore. She’d seen the phenomenon on her own planet. Tallek females, beautiful in every sense of the word, and fair skinned, threw themselves at a Turnish with just a look in their direction.
Turnix Beta used to send delegates to negotiate treaties, or whatever political end they needed met, and their military enforcers accompanying them never had an empty bed. Some stayed at her master’s estate when they came to a political summit of some kind, and she wouldn’t lie to herself, she wished they’d looked at her, even if it were just to be used once and then discarded. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad. Thinking about them, hearing them with other females as their cries of passion filled the hallways, had driven her crazy at times. And, even as filthy and broken as this one looked, the females were still coming in droves.
Maeve doubted it was his fall from grace they came to see. No one was laughing at him, pointing in jest. It was merely to be able to lay their eyes upon one again, and Maeve did the same. But fall from grace he had, and she couldn’t stand there and be a witness to it, not after seeing them in all their glory. Dignity intact. That sole male, none of his kind around him, made her heart hurt just a bit more for him. No one on that planet, the next, or the entire universe would be able to make him whole again. His entire life had been flipped on its head and everyone he loved was probably dead. She didn’t wish to stare at anyone for that reason. Pity could do terrible things.
One of the crew members from the Class-4, his equalizer aimed at the ready, was bleeding from his face and had eyes of pure hatred for the Turnish. The male’s knuckles were red. She could only assume he’d earned the shackling. One of the crew members mumbled something she couldn’t hear over the helpless sounds of the females around her, and the Turnish laughed, deep, velvety. It made their moaning gasps even louder as they openly lusted after him.
Maeve felt that betraying clench in her lower belly, only that time it went lower and felt deeper than ever before. It was sickening she could still respond in a way to someone in such a dire situation. It was evil and sick to look at someone in his condition and be aroused, but her body didn’t seem to care.
Another crew member came and beat the defenseless Turnish with the solid back end of his weapon, and the male f
ell into the sand with a thud. He rolled on his back, looking up to the hot Light Star, his face finally free of his long hair, and coughed.
He was even more beautiful than she thought. His straight nose, strong jaw that clenched as he winced in pain, and that full bottom lip she wished so desperately to suck on. Get a hold of yourself, Maevelin. This is the worst day of his life and all you can think about is what he could do to you with those massive hands and... Walk away Maevelin. He isn’t for you. No one is for you.
A god chained like an animal. It was too much even for her, even for someone who could just as quickly turn off any form of emotion to get through the moment. She wanted to turn away and forget it all, to do what she came to, and leave.
She starved for home and the comfort of her own bed. Maeve wanted to get it over with now more than ever. “Come on, Säiph. We don’t need to watch this anymore.”
Her destination wasn’t far from the docking ports, but it was a major auction day, so the paths were clotted with the wealthy, the scum, and everything in between. Eventually, after squishing through the crowds in the overbearing heat, she made it to the main stretch, Slave Row.
The metal cages went on for as far as the eye could see, and Maeve swallowed hard at that daunting sight. It was going to be one of the most difficult tasks Zekekiel asked of her. Find me a female, Maevelin. It’s imperative. She didn’t know why, nor would she ask. She was a good little slave who did what she was told.
Zekekiel was… different. There hadn’t been a single normal thing about her life since she’d come to live with him. He brought tutors into the home and spent money training her to know her alien history, the history of the galaxy. She could read and write fluently in twelve alien languages, could understand five more if spoken to her. Maeve had never understood why someone like Zeke would spend that much time and money on a slave, but he had… then he footed her the bill as if she’d asked to be educated to such a degree. But oh, she loved it. Loved knowing what was going on around her, the languages spoken, the irritation on faces when they realized she wasn’t just another stupid slave. Zeke had given her an armor no one could ever take away from her and she would never hate him for that.
Every bit of money he spent on her he’d tallied up and added to her slave debt. She was still two thousand credits away from freedom, but if she kept doing as she was told and running small tasks, then bigger tasks, she’d make up the difference in no time. Then, she didn’t know what she’d do or where she’d go, but she wouldn’t be a slave.
Maeve walked along the wide strip of passing aliens and beasts. The left side was female, while the right were all males. She looked into every cage. The females ranged from healthy, robust warriors, to sick and lame girls. Some had clothing, some didn’t need clothing, and the ones that were unlucky enough to be out right gorgeous from head to toe, wore nothing but their flesh.
Slavers knew what they were doing and what would sell. Sex always sold, and females always took the brunt of it. Males were bought for hard labor and often didn’t live a year after being sold for nearly nothing. Why buy a male who could overpower you, when you could buy a female to do your bidding and had a hole to shove a shaft in when you felt like it. The whole thing was disgusting to her, but she had to do it. When she was free, she’d never have to deal with it ever again.
“I need a tall, compatible female, Säiph. Tall and compatible is all Zeke said.” She thanked her education on alien species once again and went to the next cage. Her eyes went up the long slender neck of a Loriat. “Too tall.” Next. “Too,” she paused and looked at the odd-looking alien that she guessed was female. It was small, green, and reminded her of a slug but didn’t have a mouth that she could see, “not compatible.”
The next twenty cages held the same incompatible females as the last ten, and they held the same as the previous five. Maeve was starting to believe she’d never find anything even remotely compatible. Until, finally, as hope was almost out, the next cage held a fine boned female. She was attractive and just a little taller than Maeve. And to top it all off, she looked to be a half breed of the Tallek. Zeke was going to be satisfied. “Perfect. What is your name?”
The woman looked at her and attempted a smile. “Keeli.”
“That’s a beautiful name. You relax now. You’re going to be okay.” The woman nodded and took a deep breath. Without knowing Zeke’s full intentions, Maeve was all but spouting lies for comfort only. In the long run, though, she’d be fine in his care.
Säiph whined beside her. “Yeah, I want to leave, too.” She looked down and noticed he hadn’t been looking at the half Tallek female. His gaze was locked across the thinning crowd to her worst nightmare. The deep red skin and sharp mangled teeth gave them away. They could cover themselves in as much clothing and armor as they wanted, but the Sca-riin were never going to fit in anywhere. Their thick arms dragged along the ground as they walked, and everyone moved out of their way as they studied the wares. They called themselves miners, but what they really did was buy male slaves to work the mines on Barnik. Apparently, precious jewels were more important than lives there. Hell, that was the truth of it on many planets.
Säiph growled and took off in their direction.
“No!” He’d done it to them before, she should’ve been more cautious with a restraint. “Säiph, come back here!”
By the time she caught up to him, it was too late. He had the arm of the largest Sca-riin in his massive jaws, drawing blood with his maw of razor sharp teeth. She gave a sharp whistle to halt him, and Säiph finally let go. The alien’s eyes turned vicious, dark, and the coarse red hair that covered his body stood on end. Säiph was in front of her in an instant, holding them back, and Maeve had never been more grateful and angry at him in all their time together. Even if there was nothing he could do for her except get them both killed.
One thick, muscle packed arm reared back. The Sca-riin roared before slamming his massive fist down. She dodged it, taking advantage of her smaller size, and rolled on the sand to her feet. She spun, but the alien’s arm was drawn back again, his face more twisted than before. By the time she found her footing, there wasn’t time to dodge the impact. Maeve closed her eyes, not wanting to see the fist that would end her life, but something else happened entirely.
Two
She cracked her eyes open. Confusion laced the Sca-riin’s ugly face. There was a dark arm wrapped around the crook of his elbow, coming from the cage behind him. Maeve was in shock, her body refused to move. Whoever they were quite literally saved her life from a rampaging alien.
The Sca-riin gripped her savior’s arm and pried it off as the male moaned in pain. The red alien spoke, and Maeve deciphered the language in her head automatically. “You’re mine now. You die in my mines.”
Fuck. A stranger had gotten himself killed, and for what? Another slave, that’s what. She was hardly worth that. The universe was a shitty place and more than ever she wanted to turn tail and run back to Trident.
A Siipi guard arrived, after the altercation drew a crowd, and asked what the problem was. As Maeve tried to explain what happened, he grabbed her wrist and scanned the bars with a portable pad. She knew her details would pop up, and when they did, he was satisfied with the events without even knowing what happened. Once the name Vint popped up, the Siipi guard sent the Sca-riin away. After several threats of kicking them out of the auction for two cycles, they finally moved along and left Maeve there, her mind reeling.
“You’re going to get me killed, Säiph.” Her hand clenched and unclenched as she tried to get over the adrenaline rush of almost dying in a crowd of slave owners. “Then who the hell is going to feed you? You wouldn’t even make it off this damn planet without getting put into a cage yourself.” Säiph whined again and rubbed himself against her leg.
The Siipi could and would use her protector in any way they saw fit. To guard, to kill, or to fight. She didn’t like any of those options. The only reason fortune favored her right now,
if that was even the word, was because she belonged to Zekekiel Vint. She didn’t fully understand why that was the case, but she figured it was a power move of epic proportions and didn’t care one way or the other about it. As long as her life had a tiny bit of meaning, even if it was only by proxy, she was okay with that.
“I think he did alright.” A strange calm voice came from the cages. The language was her own, Tallekian, and Maeve gave her attention to the male who just saved her from being minced under a Sca-riin fist.
“You speak Tallekian?” She moved closer to the cage bars. Säiph instantly protested, pulling at her cloak, but she brushed him off.
“I speak many languages.” The rich toned male spoke in what she concluded was the dead language of Kartum, one she could only speak in part. He was intriguing, and his rich baritone was sexy as hell. But of course, it would be. Wouldn’t it? A sexy voice to go along with the god among species.
Maeve studied her rare Turnish further. He’d been through hell and it showed. He wore a pair of thin black pants that were too short for his long muscular legs, and his tight torso was on full display. Maeve swallowed hard again and tried to keep her eyes locked on his stark gray irises, which were now staring back at her. He was beautiful, in a half beaten up and bloodied sort of way.
