Heavenly Claimed Boxed Set

by Bertina Mars

  “Right,” he said. “Please, could you straighten your leg and I’ll take off the wrapping.”

  She did as she was instructed and his long fingers began untying the blood soaked material round her wound. The throbbing pain was counteracted by his soft touch. “Vron,” she repeated this time. “You have a second name, Vron?”

  “We don’t have second names the way you have in Earth culture. I am named after my tribe which is called the Yu Shaj.”

  Though she already hated this planet with vengeance, they sure did have pretty sounding and exotic names. “I see, and what’s the name of this place?”

  “Raja-kell, but didn’t the slavers tell you that?”

  “I know the name of your world, but what is the name of that city out there?” Maya elucidated.

  She had figured that if she couldn’t physically escape then she might find some kind of deep space communication device somewhere in this creepy joint. If she could make contact with a passing ship or nearby friendly outpost or planet she’d need to know where she was for a potential rescue party.

  “The city is called Blood-ui-Krarn, the Throne of the Blood God,” Vron explained, pausing in his unwrapping of the makeshift bandage.

  At the mention of the giant head suspended above them she went cold all over.

  “The Blood God, that . . . thing floating above the palace, you worship it?”

  “The Blood God is the heart of Raja-kell,” Vron responded flatly. “He guides all our destinies.”

  “But it’s not a real god?” Maya asked edgily. “It can’t be . . . can it?”

  “It is not advisable to discuss what the Blood God is or isn’t,” Vron said in a voice of thunder.

  “To do so, earns instant death on this world and I have already only just managed to save your life once today. I doubt I’ll have the good fortune to do it a second time.”

  Maya fell into a sullen silence, knowing this line of questioning was getting her nowhere.

  Vron continued removing the material from around her bare leg and she winced as he pulled it from the crusty mess of dried blood. As soon as it was off, he opened a jar from his medical kit and smeared his fingers into the pale blue goo inside it.

  He smeared it into the wound and the fresh blood coming out of it was absorbed by the strange substance. A cool sensation ran up her leg and the pain quickly dissipated.

  “What is that stuff?” she asked.

  “It is the sap from the ayuliop plant,” Vron said rubbing the sap in circles round the puncture the bayonet had made. It seemed to knit the skin together in seconds.

  Maya felt herself relaxing and Vron’s slow almost sensual motions and the gentle touch of his long fingers began to cause a tingling heat to gather between her legs.

  “The ayuliop has immense healing properties,” Vron went on in his deep voice, its rich timbre only heightening the arousal she was starting to feel. “The wound will quickly cover over and only leave a faint scar.”

  Maya nodded and swallowed hard. “So,” she said, desperately trying to focus her thoughts on something other than her libido, “what do you do around here? I’m guessing you’re something pretty important if you are hanging around with that Prince Consort guy?”

  “I am the Chief of Security,” Vron replied without any real enthusiasm. “My main duty is to make sure the Prince Consort is not assassinated, so I suppose that constitutes as important.”

  “Yeah, that’s a lot of responsibility. Does that mean you’re one of these Blood Sharks? Like those guys outside? What does that mean exactly?”

  “The Blood Shark Society is the political and military elite of Raja-kell. It maintains order and enforces the Imperial Laws and defends the people from enemies, helping them in their time of need. You are correct in assuming I am a member of this august body.”

  “You don’t sound very happy about it,” Maya observed. She was getting the impression that he was very much an outsider in this society and she could relate to that. On Earth she was rootless and without purpose. Maybe they were both lost souls?

  Vron didn’t answer. He continued applying the sap, and Maya found her cheeks begin to blush at his feather-light touch. She tried to clamp down on the wild feelings he was stirring up in her.

  “You’re not like them,” she said at length. “You don’t act the way they do. I get the feeling you don’t approve of the way they act either.”

  “I am a Blood Shark,” Vron said firmly.

  “My loyalty is to the Society and the Blood God’s chosen elect, the Prince Consort. It doesn’t matter if I approve of them or not.”

  He kept his voice controlled but Maya could literally taste the seething anger struggling to break free. She shivered at its intensity and her pussy thrummed with wet heat.

  Goddammit! What is this guy doing to me?

  “Does it matter if those other women approve of them or not?” she retorted, turning her desire into anger. “You remember them? Those other unfortunate innocents from Earth that just got auctioned off earlier? How are they going to be treated?”

  Vron’s body stiffened. “You shouldn’t think about them any more,” he said warningly. “There is nothing you can do for them now.”

  “What about Tia? That poor kid who the Prince Consort bought? Do I just forget about her? How can I? She’s absolutely terrified!”

  Vron looked up at her, his silver eyes burning brightly. The fire in his gaze stole her breath away.

  “You are to forget her,” he ordered in a voice that brooked no argument. “You must look after yourself now. That is the only way you will survive on Raja-kell. It is the only way any of us survive on Raja-kell. If your friend is lucky he’ll forget he bought her in a couple of days’ time.”

  Maya stared into the deep mercury pools of his eyes, unable to form an argument. He was like a deadly serpent and if she kept provoking him further he was liable to lash out and bite her.

  She dipped her eyes and he lowered his head. An electrifying silence filled the air and he continued to tend to her wound. After he had smeared on the ayuliop sap, he got to his feet and went over to a basin and poured out a small bowl of warm water.

  Coming back with a patch of wadding he retuned to his kneeling position between Maya’s legs and started very tenderly to wipe away the dried blood that now crusted her lower leg and foot.

  As his gentle attentions returned to her body, the fireworks between her legs went off with a bang. She could no longer resist the primal urges that were governing her. Her lips parted and her chest flushed with heat.

  With his hard, powerful body so close to her, she trembled like a leaf, desperate for him to touch her more intimately. She couldn’t believe this was happening or how easily she had lost control over her emotions.

  Usually, she had enough discipline to not fall for anyone as easily as this, but Vron had destroyed all her defences without even knowing it.

  He seemed oblivious as he slowly cleaned her skin. He kept his gaze on her leg and carefully removed every inch of blood. She watched him with a fiery intensity and let out a sharp breath.

  Without meaning to, she widened her legs a little, desperate for him to explore her further. His face remained impassive, but she seemed to sense a stirring inside him too.

  With almost imperceptible motions, he brought the wadding higher up her leg, and then abruptly he dropped it on the floor. She stared at him, surrendering to feral heat. Keeping his eyes downcast, he slowly moved his hand upwards until it reached her inner thigh. It stayed there, a hot, irresistible power on her bare skin, sending spikes of pleasure upwards between her legs.

  Maya let out a small moan, no longer able to pretend that nothing was going on here. She longed to reach under her flimsy skirt and tease the swelling bulb of her clit, hungry now for climax, but she kept both her hands on the bed, balling the weave mat in her fists.

  She wanted him to slip his hand under her skirt, to sink his fingers into her wet heat and bring her to a shatte
ring climax. She wanted him to dominate her, to make her his and take her body and soul. At that dizzying, fragile moment, he could do whatever he wanted with her.

  Vron did not move a single muscle though. He kept his hand on her thigh, and slowly squeezed the flesh beneath his fingers. His breathing was ragged and his mouth was a firm line.

  His arm was tensed and with excruciating slowness, he began to move upwards. Maya bit her lip and felt the tension building. The pressure of pleasure was becoming unbearable, and she quivered under his touch. She started panting hard and her back arched as an intense climax ran through her.

  She reached out with her hand and grabbed one of Vron’s broad shoulders. If she hadn’t reached for his solid support, she would not have been able to stop herself from falling off the bed. For dizzying moments, she was lost in sensation before she slowly drifted back down to the ground.

  As her breathing became more regulated, Vron abruptly took his hand away from her hot skin. The absence of him was like an aching pain and she looked at him questioningly. The sexual tension had been released, but she wanted more, wanted him to go further.

  Instead, he got to his feet and without looking at her, practically lurched towards the door. He straightened, presenting his firm back to her. “I will arrange for the House Matron to bring you food and sugar wine,” he said in a cold voice. “Then you should rest. I will see you again after my duties are over for the day.”

  Maya cleared her throat, unable to say anything. She watched him with a lingering heat, but a surge of embarrassment hit her like a tidal wave. She had surrendered herself to him in the most intimate way possible and he had gruffly rejected her.

  The wet heat in her pussy faded and a cold anger reached up into her belly. She was just about to vent her frustrations at him when he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Maya stared at the space where Vron had been standing unable to process what had just happened. The turmoil of all that she’d been through and then her sudden sexual release engulfed her, and she could no longer keep things together. Curling up into a defensive ball on the bed, she burst into tears.

  Chapter 4: A Vision And An Escape

  As purpled night settled over the palace, the Prince Consort sprawled naked on his huge, silk covered bed, lost in the vision trance brought on by imbibing the dream juice.

  The juice was made from the mind mushrooms that grew in the hallowed caverns beneath the palace, and was the most certain way to connect with the supreme intellect of the Blood God. Through the dream juice, the Consort could divine the will of the great potentate.

  As he drifted away into the swirling vortex of his mind, he felt himself leaving his physical body. His sleepy eyes gazed down on the richly furnished bedroom, now looking like it had been ransacked with its furniture thrown around and its decorations vandalised, thanks to his own brutish handiwork.

  Lying at the foot of the bed was the Earth girl he’d bought this morning, Toa, or Tera or something equally mundane, it didn’t really matter.

  He watched her for a moment, listening to her shallow breathing and giggled to himself. She had proven good company as he played with her. The bonus had been that she was an equally willing participant in the act.

  But she wasn’t important any more. Nothing was important now. Not this world or its contemptible people. He was walking in the higher realms, communing with the Blood God, as was his right.

  The scene of carnage shimmered and disappeared, and he found himself floating over an immense plain of red crystal. He was travelling across the dimension of his master now, heading to the great astral domain of the ancient spirits.

  He moved with a freedom he never experienced on Raja-kell, and luxuriated in his power. He was supreme here and sat upon the right hand side of the Blood God. Not bad for a lowly farmer’s son from the outer districts. Back then, nobody gave him the time of day, but now he was the most feared man on the planet.

  Grinning to himself, he soared higher and came at last to a colossal pyramid of glowing jade stone. The top of the pyramid folded open like a flower and a magnificent throne of shining gold emerged from its depths.

  The Prince Consort drifted down to it and sat upon its dark red cushions. The thrill of absolute power radiated through every cell of his spirit form and from his great seat he could look out upon the universe.

  From here, he could see the past, the present and more importantly, the future. From here, he could learn the secrets that would ensure he retained his mastery over Raja-kell.

  As he stared at the weaving fabric of the cosmos though, a dark shape began moving towards him. He frowned and unease crept into his mood of bliss. As the dark shape drew closer, it gradually became clearer to see and a golden light radiated from its body. The Prince Consort rose to his feet and pointed a scrawny arm at the apparition.

  “You have no place here!” he called out across the gulf of time and space. “Begone!”

  The golden thing paused and seemed to be scrutinizing him, and then a deep mocking laughter issued from its unseen mouth. It filled his skull making him cringe in pain. He clutched his head and doubled over.

  “No! Stop that!” he screamed. “I am the master here! Leave me alone!”

  Rallying his strength, he lashed out with his one hand and a host of glistening blood coloured snakes erupted from his bony fingers. Releasing a sibilant battle cry, the snakes advanced on the golden creature.

  The laughter stopped, bringing him a sudden blessed relief. He glared at the intruder and smiled as the first of the snakes rushed to sink their venomous fangs into the golden being. The entity responded by drawing a huge broadsword from its golden depths. The sword blazed with raw, untrammelled power and the being started to slash and hack through the serpent hordes with graceful ease.

  The Prince Consort retreated behind the throne, gripped with fear. “You cannot do this!” he screamed. “This is my domain!”

  As the last of the snakes disintegrated beneath the power of the sword, the being strode across the swirling galaxies toward the pyramid. As it got closer he could now see that it was humanoid in shape and glad in magnificent golden armour.

  Its head was concealed by a ruby crusted helm crafted into the shape of a grinning shark, and the eyes of the shark head blazed with vengeful light.

  The Prince Consort screamed to the Blood God to protect him, but the Great One did not answer. He was alone and defenceless against this golden warrior. The entity set foot upon the pyramid and cracks appeared in its smooth surface. The whole edifice shuddered beneath the Prince Consort’s feet and he fell to his knees.

  Alone and vulnerable, he sobbed in terror and stared up helplessly as the golden being now towered over him. It paused and looked down at him and very slowly it pulled back its visor.

  The Prince Consort gasped as he looked up into the scintillating blue eyes and cherubic face of an Earth woman, a woman who he’d seen somewhere before.

  “Please!” he moaned. “Spare me!”

  The woman smiled pitilessly and raised her sword. The Prince Consort screamed as she drove the blade straight through his heart.

  *

  Back on the material realm, the Prince Consort woke up still screaming. He sat up in terror, drenched in sweat and his own piss, clutching at his chest and only calming down when he realised he wasn’t injured. He was still alive and safe, and he had suddenly just remembered where he’d seen the golden armoured woman before.

  *

  Standing at the edge of the courtyard where the obscene slave auction had taken place that day, Vron stared morosely out at the night wrapped jungle. It had been several hours since he had bought Maya and the intense encounter in his quarters, and his mind had been churning over and over the implications of his actions.

  The feel of her soft skin still made his body tingle, and he had to fight the wild urge to go back to his quarters and take her for his own. He knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her. The way she had reacted l
eft that beyond a shadow of a doubt. He had never encountered such wild passion since . . .

  He closed his eyes, fighting against the emotional pain. He had not encountered such passion since Seema. Seema, wonderful perfect Seema. She had been his world and the only woman he had truly loved.

  How could he feel like this for anyone else? How could he feel like this for an Earth woman? It just wasn’t possible.

  He opened his eyes and stared up morosely at the night sky, as if he would find answers from the heavens. Shards of pitiless starlight glimmered in the ink black swathe and the icy pearl of the North Moon shone fat and full, as indifferent to his plight as the grim-faced Blood God.

  His gaze lingered on the white surface of the moon, its colour the match of Maya’s milk white thighs. How he ached to touch her again, to run his hands along the curves of her voluptuous body and pressed his mouth against her sweet lips.

  He longed for her arms to wrap round him, to heal all the pain and torment he had been suffering. He wanted to lose himself in her, and forget the endless hell that was his life.

  But it wasn’t meant to be, he realised. She might have feelings for him and he certainly had feelings for her, but any kind of relationship would not survive on Raja-kell.

  He could protect her from the amorous advances of the other Blood Sharks, that was true enough, but he could not defend her from the baleful, all-pervading power of the Blood God. Over time, its eternal presence would grind her down and make her as hollow and bitter as it had made him.

  Even worse, it could warp her until she was bloodthirsty and mad, like it had done to the Prince Consort and many of the Blood Sharks. It was a fate he could not inflict on his worse enemy, let alone a woman who made him feel like he was alive again.

  Now when he looked up at the North Moon, it was no longer beautiful and seductive. It was hard and cruel like Raja-kell itself. Long ago another warrior race, very similar in outlook to his people, inhabited that bleak, frozen orb.