by S. L. Hadley
Copyright 2017 by S. L. Hadley
All Rights Reserved.
Do not reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document electronically or in printed format. Unauthorized storage or recording of this publication is prohibited except by written permission of the publisher and/or copyright holder.
Harem Ship Saga
The Complete Bundle
By S. L. Hadley
Want to receive a FREE, steamy story too HOT for Amazon?
Click here to subscribe!
Contents:
Volume One: Bound and Begging
Volume Two: Hard Penance
Volume Three: A Team Effort
Volume Four: Clinging Caress
Volume Five: Alien Gladiator
Volume Six: Stolen Lover
Volume Seven: Shared Bliss
Volume Eight: Total Surrender
Volume Nine: Punished Deep
Volume Ten: Checkmate
Volume Eleven: Dire Consequences
Volume Twelve: Final Climax
Extras
Bound and Begging
Harem Ship Saga
Volume One
By S. L. Hadley
Want to receive a FREE, steamy story too HOT for Amazon?
Click here to subscribe!
As she stepped through the door, Capt. Kitty Black was reminded once again why the seedy auction house was simultaneously her favorite—and least favorite—place on this or any other world. The air was rank with glasseye smoke, cheap cologne, and the scent of unwashed bodies. Men filled the air with boisterous, drunken conversation; conversation that only halfway faded as she passed.
She found a table near the block, but far enough to the side that she could lean her chair back against the wall and observe her rival bidders before the evening began. A few of those seated nearby cast suspicious glances in her direction, as though worried she was an undercover authority of some kind.
Kitty ignored them. She didn’t have time for fools. After all, if the Navy was looking to round up smugglers and slave traders, they certainly would have picked a less conspicuous observer.
Plus, no law-woman would be caught dead wearing the sort of outfit she’d chosen. Despite the laspistol at her hip, a low-cut, leather corset hardly screamed authority. At least, not in a place like this.
Of course, the same couldn’t be said for other circumstances.
“Well, hello, beautiful!” called a voice to Kitty’s left.
And, so it began. There was always one.
Lazily, Kitty turned to stare at the man, doing her best to look half as bored as she actually was. The man sat at a table a few feet away, though he’d turned to straddle his chair in reverse. He leered, flashing a hint of his glasseye stained teeth. To his rear, the three other members of his group gazed at her with only slightly less interested expressions.
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing here all alone?” the man said.
Rolling her eyes, Kitty turned and studied the block. She didn’t bother replying. The man obviously didn’t recognize her; he’d used the same line last time she’d been to Asimov Five-Three.
This time, however, the man didn’t give up. He stood, dragging his chair with him, and settled uncomfortably close to Kitty.
“I asked you a question, beautiful.” There was a bit of a growl to the man’s words as he said them. Almost involuntarily, Kitty’s hand inched lower, toward her laspistol.
“And I gave you an answer,” she said evenly. “And, for the record, you already called me that.”
The man blinked in confusion, mouth ajar. Kitty sighed.
“Beautiful,” she explained. “If you’re going to flatter a woman, you’ve got to be creative. How else is she going to ignore your breath?”
The man bristled, standing. His eyes burned with anger as he loomed over her, smile giving way to a sneer.
“Quite a mouth on you,” he growled. “How’s—”
“See?” Kitty interrupted, smiling pleasantly. “That’s better. You learn fast.”
The man paused, sneer faltering. He obviously knew he was being insulted, but being cut off seemed to have frozen his wit. Good lord, had he actually rehearsed this?
In the span of a heartbeat, Kitty palmed her laspistol and laid it across her lap toward the man’s groin. At once, her pleasant smile vanished and she glared at the man, steely-eyed.
“Now,” she continued. “Why don’t you sit your ass back down? Unless you want to learn how to piss with a funnel.”
Eyes going wide, the man backed away. He even forgot his chair. Upon remembering it, he glanced once toward Kitty, and then quickly stole one from a nearby table.
Grinning, Kitty propped her legs up on the one he’d left behind. From the corner of her eye, she watched the men begin to whisper. Fortunately, whatever they were planning was interrupted by the dimming of the auction house’s lights. Conversation faded, then silenced entirely as the lights came back on and a man stepped out through a side door.
As soon as she spotted him, Kitty relaxed and slid her weapon back into its holster. Carl DeWitt had been the chief underworld auctioneer on Five-Three since she’d entered the business. She’d even worked for him a time or two, entering ghost bids in exchange for waiving the house’s premium. If he was here, his reputation alone would be enough to keep her safe.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” DeWitt said. Wearing an almost imperceptible smile, he nodded in Kitty’s direction. “And ladies. On behalf of our gracious host, I’d like to welcome you to tonight’s auction. I trust you all know the rules by this point.”
There were a few laughs from those in the crowd. Not only had the policies been explained by the specialist at the door, but they were displayed on an enormous screen directly behind the block—aptly labeled The Rules.
“In that case,” DeWitt continued. “We’ll begin with our first item.”
At DeWitt’s signal, a pair of men was led out through the same door he had passed through moments earlier. The pair looked to be twins, though it was difficult to tell beneath the heavy blindfolds and noise dampeners that covered the upper half of their faces. They were quite pleasingly shirtless, clad only in ragged, tight fitting trousers, and their wrists were tied in crude, plasteel cuffs. As they stumbled up to the block, one made a rude gesture in the crowd’s direction, earning laughs.
“These two fine men,” DeWitt announced, “came to us from Asimov Penal Colony. A gift, so to speak. Apparently, they’ve quite a knack for picking locks and hacking security terminals. They’ve been paroled, on condition that they’re taken off-world. And, yes, we will verify that condition. Now, let’s start the bidding at, say, one hundred apiece? Do I hear two hundred for the set?”
Kitty sat quietly, chewing her lip and eyeing the men as the bidding began. On one hand, the very idea of twin brothers made her shiver with delight. It opened up all sorts of… delightful opportunities. But, on the other, the two sounded as if they were natural escapees. That wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted aboard the Feronia.
So, rather than join the bidding, Kitty settled back to watch. It was easy enough to judge the crowd. The only sort who would bid on such a pair were those who had use of their particular skills. Kitty identified them quickly, made mental note, and turned her attention elsewhere.
It took quite a while for the first round to conclude. And, judging by the authentic smile on DeWitt’s face, he was quite satisfied with the 4500-credit result. No sooner had the twins been led off stage then he gestured for the next.
The moment the man walked through the door, Kitty knew he was the o
ne. His torso rippled with lean muscles, arms covered in tattoos, and his head crowned with a long, black ponytail that hung past his shoulders. To say nothing of the bulge that hung inside his trousers.
Kitty’s mouth began to water and she resisted the urge to sit up straighter.
“This man,” DeWitt said, “is a man.”
After a moment of hesitation, a handful of laughs spread through the crowd. DeWitt grinned, looking as close as he could in Kitty’s direction without looking at her. Not that she would have noticed; her attention was fixated on the object up for bid.
“Afraid that’s all I’ve got,” DeWitt said. “We don’t know much about him. Don’t know where he’s from or what he’s been doing on Five-Three. Bastard won’t even tell us his name. But, if you’re looking for some cheap manual labor, well… just look at him! Now, do I hear one hundred?”
Kitty allowed two or three bids before clearing her throat. It was clear that there were several interested parties and she needed to make a statement of her own.
“Two thousand,” Kitty declared, nearly doubling the previous bid.
Those seated near her looked over in surprise. As did DeWitt, though the man simply grinned.
“I think the young lady is a tad more interested than you, sir,” he teased with a theatrical glance toward the previous bidder. “Twenty-two-hundred, perhaps?”
The outbid man glanced in Kitty’s direction, then grumbled and shook his head. DeWitt smiled back, then shrugged and peered about.
“Anyone?” he called. “Twenty-two? No? Then, sold to Miss Black.”
Unable to bite back her grin any longer, Kitty stood. She’d gotten what she’d come for. And, from the look of him, she’d be coming for a long time yet. Even the glares from the table of the man she’d insulted earlier failed to dampen her good mood.
Just as she started to make her way through the crowd, a chorus of cheers made her pause, and then turn.
A young woman, clad only in skimpy undergarments and struggling valiantly against a pair of burly handlers reluctantly made her way onto the block. The woman’s sides were bruised and her wrists appeared raw where she’d fought against her cuffs. Many in the audience jeered and catcalled, none louder than the brute from before.
Folding her arms, Kitty waited.
“Now, this is a real treat,” DeWitt called out over the voices of the rabble. “Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, this here is a prize. A veteran of the Planetary Defense Forces, top of her class at the Naval Flight Academy… why, she’s all but a war hero!”
The crowd’s jeering grew even louder. If there was one thing this crowd loved to hate, it was anyone who represented Five-Three’s governing authorities. No matter where she ended up, Kitty knew the woman would be dead within a month. Or, if not, she’d wish she was.
Up on stage, DeWitt continued talking up his wares. The crowd’s energy seemed to have electrified him and he was all but shouting.
“Now, you’re probably asking yourself what such a noble figure is doing here among us lowly types! Well, that’s a long story. But, let’s just say that this ambitious minx figured she’d take an… unorthodox approach with regard to earning a promotion.”
More jeering ensued.
“I’ll bet you find a use for those skills!”
The crowd’s enthusiasm turned Kitty’s stomach and she turned to leave. There was no stopping this sort of thing. And, if she’d learned anything over the last five years, it was that sometimes you had to ignore personal feelings and not get involved.
Atop the auction block, the woman cried out in pain. Kitty gritted her teeth, trying to force herself to keep going. Her legs did not want to obey.
Don’t stop. Don’t look back. Keep walking.
“Two thousand!” called a familiar voice.
Kitty turned around. The man from earlier stood, transfixed, and apparently so eager that he’d decided not to wait for DeWitt to ask for bids. A few others followed his example, shouting out bids that were soon lost in the cacophony of voices.
From the stage, DeWitt held up his hands and called for order. Slowly, the crowd obeyed.
“Calm down, you eager bastards!” he laughed. “She’s not going anywhere! Now, I heard two thousand. Do I hear three?”
Kitty stood, silent and shaking with anger. Almost without meaning to, she caught herself reaching for her laspistol and had to fold her arms to keep from drawing it. Shifting her weight from one foot to another, she waited.
More than a dozen different parties shouted out bids, each seemingly desperate to show up the others. Every so often, cheers and groans intermingled as a bidder dropped out. Before long, the selection was narrowed down to two: the object of Kitty’s loathing and a tall, gangly man who practically stank of a brothel.
“Thirty-five thousand!” Kitty’s man shouted, accentuating his bid with a fist to the table. He glared at his rival as if daring him to counter.
The tall man fidgeted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He eyed the woman on the block, whispered to a man seated beside him, and then slowly shook his head.
“Forty thousand,” Kitty called, a split-second after the men started to cheer. Immediately, every head in the room spun to stare at her. The man from earlier turned so fast that he even managed to knock over his chair. He seemed to be having bad luck with those lately.
“Bullshit!” he shouted. “Ain’t no way she’s got that kind of money!”
Kitty stepped forward, not even looking at the man as she eyed DeWitt. For a second, the auctioneer seemed to be speechless. Then he offered a small, deferential nod and shrugged.
“Sold to Miss Black for forty thousand,” he announced, earning a chorus of groans and protests from the crowd.
Kitty stood silently for a moment, basking in the furious glares and muttered curses. She waited until the woman had been led back through the door. Then, with an identical nod to DeWitt, she turned to leave.
***
“You look upset.”
Kitty hid her smile behind her tumbler as she sipped at the alcohol inside. Across the table, Carl DeWitt was eyeing his own drink as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Not upset,” he said, sighing. “Just… disappointed. You know your father wouldn’t have approved.”
“Of which one?”
“Either,” he said. “Both. It’s not very dignified.”
“Dad’s dead,” she pointed out. “And I can’t believe you’re complaining about this! I mean, forty thousand credits—”
“Is a great sum of money just to spite some drunken fool,” DeWitt finished for her. He ran a finger idly around the lip of his glass. “I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life, Kitty—”
“Then don’t.”
“—but I promised Devon I would look after you. Just… be careful. That’s all I’m saying.”
He looked up, flashing a gentle, paternal smile. Something about it made Kitty feel almost like a child again and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
“I will,” she promised. “Always am.”
“Never doubted,” DeWitt said, as he finished his drink and rose from his seat. “May want to get back to your ship, though. My men should be delivering your goods. Separately, of course.”
Grinning, Kitty lifted her drink in a playful toast.
“You think of everything, Uncle DeWitt.”
***
The Feronia was far from the most beautiful ship in the sector. Truth be told, she was downright ugly, even for a cargo trawler. But, as far as Kitty’s purposes went, she was perfect. The pockmarked hull and outdated sub-light engines didn’t matter nearly as much as the double-wide storage hold and top-of-the-line sensor arrays.
True to DeWitt’s word, several handlers from the auction house milled about outside the ship, leaning against landing struts and talking. Crude and ruthless as they no doubt were, even they had the good sense not to let themselves onboard without her permission.
“Glad you fellas coul
d make it,” Kitty called as she approached. She eyed the large, sealed shipping crates that sat just outside the cargo hold doors and nodded toward them. “That what I think it is?”
One of the men nodded, stepping closer. The rest continued to lounge, chatting.
“Sure is,” the man said. “Took care of the other business you requested as well. Mister DeWitt said to inform you it’s on the house.”
“Appreciate it,” Kitty said, handing the man a fifty-credit chit. Free or not, there were certain formalities that accompanied such favors.
“Where do you want them?”
Kitty thought about it for a moment, clicking her tongue.
“Put the man in secure holding for now. The girl can go in the spare officer’s cabin. Don’t bother unpacking them. I’ll handle that in orbit.”
The man nodded then whistled to get the attention of his fellow handlers. The men responded lazily, but promptly. Kitty watched them for a moment, and then turned her attention to the Feronia. She’d been putting off an external inspection for ages. The last thing she wanted was to blow her money on toys, just to have the ship give out from under her.
She was just wrapping things up when the same man approached to let her know the cargo was loaded and to wish her a safe flight. If he was at all surprised to see Kitty clutching a handful of wires and circuit boards he didn’t show it. She thanked him and watched with one eye as the rest of the men departed.
The second they were gone, Kitty hastily sealed the open panel and practically sprinted aboard. Her heart was pounding and the fluttering in her stomach left her feeling more wired than a Stimm-addict. Thank God the sensation hadn’t faded over the years. The anticipation of meeting her new human cattle was always one of the best parts of the whole experience.
Sealing the cargo bay door behind her, she fidgeted. Who to meet first? Either choice presented interesting possibilities. Eventually, chewing her lip, Kitty made up her mind and headed for the officer’s cabin.
