Dark Paradise

by Cassidy Hunter

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  “No one,” Elder said, politely. “We belong to—”

  But his words had angered the housekeeper, who backhanded Elder across his face. Elder stumbled backward but did not fall, and Cin grabbed his arm, unable to stop herself from glaring her hatred at the housekeeper.

  She was tempted to loose Saint and Satan and let them tear into the hateful men. If she had been less unsure of the outcome she would have, but Elder’s words kept her in check. She would die before she’d let these monsters take control of her knives.

  Housekeeping laughed, their rumbles of amusement sounding like distant thunder. Cin clenched her teeth, letting her anger fight with her fear. Better pissed than terrified.

  In an instant, the lead housekeeper’s gaze turned to her.

  Elder slipped his hand over her arm and squeezed in warning. Hard.

  She swallowed and dropped her gaze from the housekeeper’s bottomless black stare. But she had his attention, and he wasn’t ready to ignore her.

  Shit.

  Elder stepped slightly in front of her. “Sir. Tell us what you need and we will accommodate you. We do not have the virus. Our—”

  The housekeeper used the same eerie speed Cin had seen in Mach and grabbed Elder by the throat. He lifted him to his toes, but Elder never made a sound.

  Cin could feel Elder’s helpless rage. He dropped his short sword and grabbed the housekeeper’s arm.

  Cin bent down, scooped the weapon up and with a scream, lifted it into the air. She would take the fucking housekeeper’s arm off.

  Then Mach stepped into the clearing, his fury a thing alive. “Stop.”

  It was as though the world froze for an instant. No one moved. No air stirred; even the fire seemed to stop flickering.

  Mach strode to the lead housekeeper. He had no weapons out, but he didn’t need them to show his threat. “They’re mine,” he said, his teeth clenched.

  One of the housekeepers behind the lead spit into the dirt. “Sum-lac.”

  Cin didn’t have to know their language to know what the housekeeper meant. His contempt for the half Mehnarthi, half human was obvious. Didn’t matter on which moon you were born—someone was always going to think they were better than you.

  A long, slow rumble began deep in Mach’s lungs, and the man who’d insulted him stepped forward, thumping his chest. In one smooth move, he pulled a long, evil, serrated sword from a scabbard on his side.

  Mach grinned, and the sight of it chilled her to the bone. There was enough Mehnarthi inside him to make him one scary son of a bitch. Even the housekeeper hesitated for a second, halting as he looked into Mach’s face.

  “Min ect sul,” Mach murmured. “Min ect sul.” From his hip holsters he pulled two of his own weapons, short double-edged swords with curved tips. The swords were called cranks, and she had no idea where the name had come from. They flowed like silver water in his grip, ever changing, ever moving. They fascinated her, but not as much as their master.

  The Mehnarthi leader lost interest in Elder and opened his hand, releasing the human.

  Mach didn’t look around, but Cin knew he was aware Elder had been freed. Elder rubbed his throat with one hand and took Cin’s arm with the other. He pulled her, slowly, very slowly, back a few steps.

  Breathless, she turned to him. “What do we—”

  He put a finger to her lips. “Wait.”

  The leader seemed disinclined to allow his men to face down Mach. His dark gaze considering, he watched Mach for a long moment before turning to his man. “No.” The housekeeper must have known better than to argue, because he sheathed his sword and contented himself with glaring at the half Mehnarthi he’d insulted.

  “Mach Koffka,” the leader said. “Min sine brod.”

  Mach raised his chin, thumped his chest once, and put away his weapons.

  Cin began to breathe again. Elder gave a long, slow blink and let out a pent-up breath. “We’re okay.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Quiet,” Elder snapped. “Your female voice will—”

  But once again, the leader pinned her with a cold black stare. “Trace-lac min.”

  Elder stiffened beside her, but she only stared at the leader blankly. “What—”

  “Come kneel,” the Mehnarthi housekeeper said, his voice clipped, impatient, and completely uncompromising.

  “I don’t think so,” she replied.

  Elder groaned as Mach strode toward them. “Trust him, Cin. Do everything he commands of you.”

  She knew he was speaking of Mach, not the housekeeper. She took a deep breath, and then Mach grabbed her upper arm and began hauling her toward the Mehnarthi.

  Chapter Seven

  “Mach,” she whispered.

  “Quiet, slave,” he said, his voice loud.

  Slave? If she escaped this situation, she was going to send Satan right to this one’s black heart. “I’m not your sl—”

  He stopped walking and shook her so hard her teeth snapped together. “Quiet!” Deep in his eyes lurked a warning, and she was not so stupid as to ignore it.

  “You’d better have a plan,” she muttered.

  He planted her before the housekeeper, but his hand never left her arm. “Mine,” he said, his voice proud.

  The leader thumped his chest, a particular Mehnarthi habit she was beginning to hate. Fucking apes.

  “Danix,” the housekeeper said, as if that should mean something to her.

  She glanced at Mach. “What?”

  “His name,” Mach said.

  “Oh. Hey. Pleased to meet you.” Were they friends now? From the corner of her eye she saw Elder cover his face and shake his head.

  Mach squeezed her arm. “Quiet, slave. Kneel.”

  “What?”

  He forced her to her knees but followed her down, his lips near her ear. “Act to live.” His whisper was harsh, and she got it.

  She’d play along because to do otherwise would mean something too awful to contemplate. She nodded, and remembering Elder’s admonishments from earlier, lowered her gaze to the ground.

  “My slave.” Mach straightened up and placed his warm hand on her head. “My slave.”

  They talked, mainly in their own language, and she didn’t even try to understand. Still, each time she stole a quick look at Danix, it was to find his gaze glued to her, and she couldn’t mistake the lust in his eyes.

  At long last, Mach pulled her to her feet. Housekeeping began to break up, but to her dismay, they didn’t go far. Mach led her to Elder, who stood in the same spot she’d left him in, waiting for them.

  “I heard,” he said.

  Mach sighed. “They will leave us soon.”

  “Soon,” said Cin. “Soon like in a few minutes?”

  “Maybe days,” Mach replied. His voice was gruff, but it didn’t hide his worry.

  “What the fuck for? What do they want?”

  Elder stared at Mach for a long moment, then looked at her. “Danix desires you, Cin.”

  She shuddered, and sat down on her haunches before the quickly dying fire, suddenly chilled. “What’s to keep him from taking me?”

  “Mach has claimed you. Their code prevents a Mehnarthi from taking another Mehnarthi’s property.”

  It was almost laughable that those brutish creatures had a code of honor. “Well, then, I’m okay. Right?”

  “Not exactly. Danix will travel to the post with us. He’ll watch you. He’s not completely convinced you belong to Mach. And…” He hesitated, his gaze going back to Mach, who stood staring into the fire, his face closed and proud. “Because Mach is half human, they aren’t as apt to adhere quite so stringently to their own rules.”

  “Shit,” she whispered. “What can we do?”

  “Show that you belong to Mach,” Elder said. “It’s simple really. If it works, it does. If not…”

  “Then Danix will take me.” He can try, the bastard.

  Mach turned from the
fire, and when he thumped his chest this time, it didn’t piss her off. It brought tears to her eyes.

  “Never,” he said. His voice was fierce, promise in his eyes. He reached a hand to her hair and gently lifted a strand. “Never.”

  She swallowed over the sudden lump in her throat and did what she always did when she was uncomfortable. She glared.

  Mach only grinned and tugged her hair gently. “We should eat.”

  He added more brush and dry sticks to the fire, then pointed to the game he’d thrown to the ground. He’d brought it back from his foray into the forest before his confrontation with the Mehnarthi leader.

  Three rabbits, one for each of them. She still wasn’t good at skinning and preparing small animals to cook but was better at it than when she’d first arrived. On Ripindal, a person would adapt and learn—or die.

  Her stomach growled, and she found her skinning knife and went to work. Despite the nearby threat, she was starving. But then, no matter what else was going on, when she had a chance to eat, she ate.

  And even with housekeeping surrounding their small camp, watching their every movement, she felt safer than she’d felt since she’d arrived on Ripindal.

  And that was because of Mach and Elder.

  The Mehnarthi sat around their fires and cooked their dinners, maintaining enough distance so that Cin could almost pretend they weren’t even there. If only they’d not been prone to yelling and laughing and quarreling in that loathsome language of theirs.

  Elder had told her that come morning, many of this band of housekeeping would go on to wherever Danix sent them, but he would retain a few to secure Mach should it come to that. Obviously he didn’t find Elder and Cin threats, but with Mach, he would show caution. And he was right to.

  She had a feeling her men were silently laughing at her as she devoured the singed meat, but she didn’t care. She tore into it with gusto, grease on her chin and water in her hand, and it was the best meal she’d had in many, many months.

  The scent of roasted meat surrounded them, and the blazing fire kept the shadows and fire-fearful creatures at bay. The men sat on either side of her, their hearty appetites and warm conversation keeping her entertained.

  Secure at last, she began to let her defenses weaken and prayed silently that it would last. She realized she hadn’t thought about paradise for most of the evening.

  A month after she’d arrived, she’d made a promise to herself that if she hadn’t bought her reward and her entrance into the Gamlogi’s perfect world in two years, she’d end her life.

  She smiled and let that promise float away. Who knew, after all, if the stories were true? Maybe they were just empty promises given to the hapless miners to keep them hunting. After all, if there was nothing but endless mining, year after year, on this hellish moon, most of the humans would have been likely to jump off a cliff. But no, she didn’t really believe that. There was a paradise, and she was going there.

  She would do her part to supply the Gamlogi with their precious treasure, and in return, they would take her into paradise.

  “Cin,” Mach said, his voice deep yet soft in the night.

  She looked at him, her breath held. “Yes?”

  “Undress.”

  She frowned and glanced toward the scattered housekeepers. “Pardon?”

  “You’re his slave, honey. His submissive lover. You will do as he commands of you.” Elder glanced at the housekeepers as well. “Danix watches.”

  “No shit. I’m not getting naked in front of those animals.”

  Mach narrowed his eyes and stood. He towered over her, his hands clenching. Fully clothed and armed, he was an intimidating man. But he would be intimidating nude.

  She looked up at him, shaking her head. “No. I will not.”

  “I will force you.”

  She had no doubt. She started to argue, but Elder put a hand on her arm.

  “Give me a second with her, Mach.”

  Mach continued staring at her for a long moment, and it took every bit of courage she possessed to return his stare without flinching. Damn him.

  At last he stomped off, his hulking shadow disappearing beyond the firelight.

  “Can you believe—”

  Elder grabbed her and forced her to the ground, his hard body heavy on hers. His glare was no less fierce than Mach’s, and it took her breath away.

  “Shut your fucking mouth, you little idiot.”

  She could feel herself paling, which only pissed her off more. “Fuck you!”

  He lowered his mouth to her ear. “Do you want Danix to take you? Is that it?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Be quiet.”

  “I—”

  “You want Mach to fuck you. You want me to fuck you. The only difference between tonight and last night is that now you will fuck before housekeeping. And I don’t care if they want to eat your fucking pussy, if it will save Mach’s life. And yours, you fluffy little bitch.”

  Full of righteous anger and hurt feelings, she merely stared up into his face. Elder pretended to be all sweet and pretty, but he was as full of meanness as any of the housekeepers. “You’re a…” She couldn’t think of any words quite insulting enough, so said nothing. It was not that she was afraid of him and his anger. Definitely not.

  “You will do everything he tells you to do. Say it.”

  She remained stubbornly silent.

  “You will fucking say it, or I’ll haul your ass over to Danix right now and let him have you with my blessing. You will not put us all at risk because of your prissiness.”

  Her mouth fell open. Prissiness? “Because I don’t want to fuck like an animal before a bunch of slobbering men, you think I’m prissy?” She bucked beneath him, angrier now than when he’d called her a “fluffy little bitch.” “Get off me!”

  He sighed, and his warm breath feathered her temple, stirring her hair. He shook his head and she stilled, realizing he was more than scared. He was desperate.

  She peered into his eyes. She didn’t know if he would have forced her, if he would have taken her to Danix or if he would have just given up. But she didn’t like the tired, flinching look in his eyes.

  She sniffed and glared over his shoulder. “What, then?”

  “If Danix takes you, he will have me as well.”

  “Why?” she whispered.

  “Because I also belong to Mach.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Mach will not let Danix take you, not without a fight. But as strong as Mach is, he is outnumbered by an entire band of housekeepers who are as bad as he is. They will win. Mach will die. And Danix will take both of us.”

  “You wouldn’t fight?”

  “Of course I’d fight! But before I’d get much of a chance, or you either, for that matter, housekeeping would restrain me. And you.” His dark eyes glittered. “How would you like being tied up by a band of Mehnarthi housekeepers?”

  As he spoke, he rubbed his pelvis against hers, and she couldn’t help her immediate reaction to him. Her breath came faster as he rocked against her, his hard body almost painful against her.

  She shifted, opening her legs to his weight. She’d already forgotten what he’d just asked her.

  “Will you play your part, Cin?”

  Heat seared her pussy, and her clit began to throb. “Yes.”

  “Thank you. Now tell him.”

  Mach was returning. She nearly groaned aloud with desire. She wanted him. She wanted them both.

  He loomed suddenly, a dark shadow over Elder’s shoulder, and immediately her mind relaxed. Her body, though, her body tensed, her breath coming quicker, her heart beating faster.

  She took the plunge.

  “Master,” she said and reached her hand toward him.

  She could feel his shock. It radiated from him in waves. His big body froze behind them, his muscled arms bulging as he clenched his fists.

  Elder waited, unmoving.

  Mach finally moved, le
aning forward and putting a big hand on Elder’s shoulder. He said nothing, but Elder slid off her as though he had. He went into the bigger man’s arms, and as she watched them stand chest to chest in a tight embrace, Cin felt a spark of jealousy.

  She wanted to belong with them, to them. She wanted to be needed, loved, and desired that way. She climbed to her feet, but stood alone and silent, unsure.

  Mach kissed Elder’s forehead, then murmured something to him she couldn’t hear. At last he looked at her. “Come.”

  She took his outstretched hand and let him pull her into their embrace. For long moments they held one another, each taking and giving what the others wanted, which right then was simply a sense of acceptance, of togetherness.

  After a while he pulled away and stared down at her and repeated his earlier command. “Undress.”

  And this time she didn’t argue. She stood, and with their stares upon her, began peeling her clothes from her body.

  At last she was naked before him, before Elder, and before housekeeping, waiting for his next command. Elder knelt upon the ground, watching her, and Mach stood a few feet from them both, his outline dark against the fire.

  The silence was heavy, with only the crackle of the fire, the far-off howl of an animal, and the occasional buzz of a nightfly to lighten the air. Even the Mehnarthi quieted.

  Her heartbeat was slow but thudded with hard, dizzying beats.

  Someone had once told her, back in the time before, that once you stepped over a certain line, you could never go back. That’s how she felt now.

  She was stepping over a line.

  And she wasn’t going back.

  “Can you get pregnant, Cin?” Elder’s voice was too practical, too cool, and for a moment she refused to speak.

  Then she shook her head. “I already had a child.” How difficult it was to speak of her past life. She’d worked hard to bury the pain of losing Alana, but Elder was forcing her to remember.

  He nodded in understanding. “So you were sterilized.”

  “Yes.” In her former world, a woman was allowed one child, and then she was sterilized. She would have no more children.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  A sharp pain bit into her belly, and she bent double, crying out. “Can’t you leave me alone? Can’t you stop talking?”