She gasped and squeezed his hands, the tension overwhelming. Emotions inundated her mind while sensations vibrated through her body. Her back arched and her inner muscles clamped down around his cock as if she’d never let him go. His next thrust sent her over the edge, shattering reality into rippling waves of euphoria.
He cried out, violently shaking as his control finally snapped. Thrusting his entire length deep inside her, he came with a muffled shout. Pulse after heated pulse shuddered through him and radiated into her. They clung to each other, unable to speak or even think as they rode out the storm together.
Long moments later, he rolled to his side, taking her with him. He brushed the hair back from her damp face as tenderness warmed his gaze. “I know that wasn’t as interactive as you wanted, but I was honestly afraid I’d hurt you if you challenged me.”
She shook her head, more than content with the outcome. “You’d never hurt me. I don’t think you’re capable of it.” She silenced his objection with her fingers on his lips. “I didn’t say you weren’t capable of violence. I’m well aware of how aggressive you can be. I said you would never hurt me.”
“Not intentionally,” he agreed. “But you’re more than half human. I wasn’t willing to take the chance.”
She pressed a light kiss to his lips then smiled. “It feels good to be protected, just remember you promised I could do whatever I wanted with you as soon as you catch your breath.”
He laughed and shifted his hips, letting her feel how quickly he was recovering. “Bring it on, baby. Bring it on.”
Chapter Ten
Prickly sensations crawled up the back of Chandar’s skull then branched out like ribbons of fire. She moaned and tossed her head, but her movements were restricted. Something restrained her wrists and ankles. She tensed then stilled, trying to remember where she was and why she was bound. She carefully opened her eyes, trying to peer through her lashes without letting the doctor know she was awake.
Doctor? What doctor? Was she ill—or deranged? They tied up lunatics not medical patients.
No! She wasn’t mad. She was a captive.
She’d been a captive her entire life.
Digging her fingernails into her palms, she used the pain to force a moment of clarity.
Escape. The concept screamed through her spirit, sharpening her senses and focusing her mind. It wasn’t a new goal, but it had never been more important than now. She was in danger as she had never been in danger before.
But she was so weak, and so tired of fighting. Wouldn’t it be easier just to let go?
Something stubborn and hard surged within her hopelessness. If you give up, they win. They cannot be allowed to win. You’re stronger than this. Now stop sulking. The voice was female, but it wasn’t hers. The tone held conviction and command, two qualities Chandar had long since abandoned. She tried to summon an image to go with the voice, but pain rushed in and scattered her thoughts.
Where was she? There was no hope of escape unless she figured out her situation.
She blinked, trying to see through the shadows. She was on a bed or treatment table. The cuffs binding her wrists were wide yet padded. She was thrilled to find she was fully clothed and her body was arranged modestly. Thank the gods this wasn’t sexual.
Images flashed through her mind, like random stills from scattered vidfiles. Hurtful hands tore at her cloths. Then pain, so much pain. Faces contorted with lust as bodies strained above her. Hitting, pinching, laughing. Always laughing, yet they were deaf to her screams.
She closed her eyes, but the specters followed her into the darkness, twisting one scene into the next and the next. Revulsion surged, burning away the past until all that remained was ash. It swirled around her, filling her nose and mouth. She coughed and spit, barely able to breathe.
The door on her right opened and the past horror blended with the present. She commanded her muscles to relax and her features to go blank.
“Will she tolerate another dose?”
Her fists clenched tighter until fire spread across her palms. Akim. Her tormentor, her captor, her enemy.
“I’m not sure.” That voice belonged to the doctor. She didn’t waste energy trying to retrieve his image. His face was irrelevant. He was irrelevant. “I’ve already given her more than I’ve ever used before. This woman is incredibly strong and stubborn. I’ve never encountered someone with this much fight and I’ve done this procedure countless times on war-hardened soldiers.”
“Why isn’t she conscious? I need to determine what she remembers.” Akim moved closer to the bed. His scent reached her nose and Chandar fought back a gag. Evil had such a distinct stench and it permeated each molecule of Akim’s body. “If she remembers anything, you must continue. There is no other choice.”
“I really don’t think there’s a reason. I wasn’t able to wipe her memory clean, but only fragments and flashes remain. Without context they’re meaningless.”
Akim was staring at her. She could feel his vile gaze on her face. She wanted to scream, needed to scream more than anything she could remember, but she held perfectly still and endured. As she always endured.
“I’ll allow her to sleep until morning,” Akim decided. “Then you will awaken her so she can be interrogated.”
“Understood.”
She heard their footsteps as they crossed the small room and then the subtle swoosh of the door. Then silence, blessed silence. She was finally alone.
But she wasn’t alone. She was never truly alone. It was the secret that kept her going. She could reach out at any time and touch the minds of those with whom she shared blood ties. She immersed herself in their lives, combating her own misery with their happiness, escaping her trials just long enough to muster her defenses once again. Her family was unaware of her visitations, of course, because she carefully shielded herself each time their minds merged.
Well, the time for protecting them was over. If the doctor gave her another dose of his corrosive chemical, she would lose herself completely. She could buy some time by playing the part Akim needed her to play. But her nemesis was cunning and cruel. It wouldn’t take him long to see through her pretense. Which left her with no choice but escape and she couldn’t accomplish that goal alone.
She cleared her mind, forcing her chaotic thoughts to still. For just a moment she hung in tranquil silence, savoring the velvety nothingness. Then she gathered all her fear, years of fury and desperation and used them to propel her signal across the vastness of space. She allowed her mind to scream, though her voice remained silent. She screamed with all the anguish of her tortured life and then she screamed again and again. When the cosmos vibrated with her fury and fear, she projected the only two words that mattered into the minds of her family. Help me!
* * * * *
A shrill scream jarred Raina awake. She sprang up in Kotto’s bed but he was already across the room pulling on his uniform bottoms. Damn the man moved fast, or was he already awake? She rushed into the bathroom, but couldn’t bring herself to don her filthy cloths, so she grabbed his bathrobe off the hook by the door and hurried after her mate.
By the time she reached the corridor a small crowd had gathered outside Bandar and Ashley’s cabin. “Is she all right?” The screamer had definitely been female.
Raylon looked at her and nodded. Kotto was nowhere in sight, but she heard his voice inside the cabin. “Chandar sent out a psychic call for help. She’s in trouble,” Raylon told her. Someone inside the cabin said something and Raylon motioned her forward. “They need you inside.”
Raina hurried into the cabin and her heart lurched at the scene. Bandar sat on the floor with Ashley more or less on his lap. She wore what looked like one of Bandar’s shirts and she sobbed against his bare chest. Her entire body shook with the force of her emotions.
Bandar motioned her closer as Kotto explained telepathically. She’s locked in some sort of trance. See if she’ll respond to your voice. She’ll accept Bandar’s touch, but mal
e voices upset her.
Happy to help, Raina knelt beside them and carefully touched Ashley’s shoulder. “Ash, it’s Raina. Come back to us, sweetheart. We need to know you’re okay.”
“Raina,” she made a mournful sound and twisted away from Bandar so she could hug her friend. “How has she survived… I can’t get the images… It’s worse than we ever imagined!” Then she was sobbing so hard her broken words became unintelligible. She shook her head then fisted the front of Raina’s robe as she cried on her shoulder.
Is she talking about Chandar? Raina asked.
Neither of the men spoke aloud, but she could only hear Kotto. I think so.
Well, she’s not in a trance. This is psychological trauma. I think Chandar sent more than just a cry for help.
Irron touched Raina’s shoulder, obviously having been warned not to speak. He held out an injector.
Ask him what’s in that. She looked at Kotto expectantly.
It’s a mild sedative. Her blood pressure is dangerously high. She needs to calm down. Kotto was obviously passing on the doctor’s words.
She rubbed her hand up and down Ashley’s arm, moving the shirt sleeve out of the way in the process. The doctor smoothly used the injector then immediately stepped back.
It took a few minutes to work, but Ashley finally calmed enough to want Bandar again. Raina knew that was an improvement.
“Are you back?” Bandar asked softly when Ashley looked into his eyes.
“Yeah.” She shuddered then looked around, likely seeing her audience for the first time. “We have to get her out of there, and we have to do it now.”
“We all agree,” Bandar assured her, “but did she tell you where she is?”
Ashley shook her head and wiped the last of her tears with the loose sleeve.
“I might be able to help with that.”
“How the fuck did you get on this ship?”
The second voice had been Raylon, but Raina didn’t recognize the first.
A man stepped into the open doorway, but came no farther. Like most Rodytes, he had wavy dark hair and blue rings in his dark eyes. He wasn’t as tall as Bandar or as intimidating as Raylon, so why were the others even listening to him?
“Letos,” Bandar sneered. “Uninvited as usual.”
This was Letos? The technomage? She looked at him with new interest, but her original assessment remained. He looked like any other Rodyte. Handsome by human standards, but nothing special on Rodymia.
He rolled open his fingers with a dramatic flourish. A small black box rested on the center of his palm.
“What’s that?” Bandar still sounded annoyed by the other man’s appearance.
“It’s a simple receiver, but it happens to be tuned to the frequency Akim uses when he contacts Quinton.”
Kotto snatched the device off Letos’s hand and looked at it more closely. “If this thing is legit, why haven’t you given it to us before now?”
“I just received the frequency.”
“From whom?” Raylon demanded.
Raylon moved up behind Letos, but the technomage didn’t even bother to turn his head. His gaze focused on Ashley. “The frequency is legitimate, but I’m not allowed to reveal the source. Suffice it to say, the provider has a vested interest in this rescue.”
“Pyre,” Kotto snapped, clearly upset by the possibility.
Bandar eased Ashley off his lap and stood. All he wore was the skin-toned undergarments all Rodytes favored, so Raina quickly looked away. Even on a spaceship it was rude to ogle your best friend’s mate. “You expect us to trust anything that comes from that bitch?”
“Did she feel it too?” Kotto’s question didn’t make sense to Raina, but Letos seemed to understand.
“Pyre said she sent the burst across a familial strand. That’s why everyone received it.”
Familial strand? They had to be talking about Chandar. Kotto was her uncle and Pyre was her mother, but why did Ashley receive an SOS sent out to Chandar’s family?
“I don’t care if they are related,” Bandar persisted. “I don’t trust Pyre Sterling.”
“I have more reason to mistrust her than anyone, but the ugly truth is we have no choice.” Kotto faced Letos as he went on. “You said receiver. There is no way this thing will reveal our location?” He held up the mystery device.
“It will pick up Akim’s signal when and if he contacts Quinton. Unfortunately, that’s the best we can do.”
“No it’s not,” Raina dared. “If we know the frequency they use, we can send a message that seems to be from Quinton and requires an immediate response.”
Letos looked directly at her for the first time and Raina took an automatic step backward. The power he wielded and the knowledge he held shimmered in his gaze. She’d been wrong. There was nothing ordinary about this man. “Very good, little lab rat.” Somehow he made it sound like an endearment. “At least someone is still using their brain.”
“Sending a message is no problem,” Raylon predicted, “But the response will need to be intercepted at this point not just monitored. If Akim realizes Quinton didn’t send the message, he’ll know we’re on to him.”
“A surprise attack is definitely our best option,” Bandar added. “However, we’ll be able to track the ship as soon as they activate the frequency regardless of what happens after. First and foremost, we have to make that bastard activate the frequency.”
“Let’s get started,” Kotto suggested. “Gods know I’m not going back to sleep after this.”
“I’m with you,” Raylon said, most of the resentment gone from his voice. “But you might want to finish getting dressed.”
Apparently past conflicts were unimportant when faced with a common enemy.
Raina hesitated a moment longer. She reached over and took Ashley’s hand. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. Whatever Irron gave me is making me nauseous. If I stop fighting it, I’m sure I’ll fall asleep.”
“Which is exactly what you need right now.” Bandar swept her up in his arms and gently placed her in their well-rumpled bed. At least they hadn’t been naked when this crisis began. Raina allowed her gaze to sweep the length of Bandar’s body before she guiltily looked away. Damn these Rodytes were well made.
“I’m going…somewhere else.” Bandar chuckled then waved as she hurried from the room.
* * * * *
Seven hours later Kotto paced the conference room as Sental and Fintor, the ship’s communications expert, argued about the best way to intercept the return message when and if Akim activated the private frequency. They had yet to send the message, because the techies were still fighting about how to accomplish the desired outcome.
“They have three more minutes and then I’m bashing their heads together,” Raylon grumbled as he joined Kotto on the far side of the room.
Raylon’s threat so closely mirrored Kotto’s thoughts that it allowed him to relax, or at least begin to relax. “Make a decision, gentlemen. Every moment you waste is a moment Chandar is in peril.”
Sental stood and ambled toward them, leaving a red-faced Fintor alone at the table. It didn’t matter how hectic the situation became or how frantic everyone around him was, Sental remained cool and composed. “We have two possible options. One is more efficient, but has a higher probability of being detected. The second is less elegant, but there’s no way that bastard will realize what we’ve done.”
“Sneaky yet ugly works for me,” Kotto told him. “A surprise attack is our only real option.”
Sental shot Fintor a triumphant smile. Not surprisingly, the more complicated route had been proposed by Sental. “It shouldn’t take long to set up. I’ll notify you when it’s ready.”
“Com me. I’m not sure where I’ll be.”
Raylon chuckled as Sental hustled into the adjoining command center. “I know where I’d be.”
“Exactly where I’d like to be, but we’re in the middle of a crisis.”
&n
bsp; Raylon tilted his head and glared. At least he’d been doing less of that over the past few hours. “I’m well aware of our situation.”
“I wasn’t inferring you weren’t. I was explaining why I’m not with Raina. She’s a constant temptation.”
“Undoubtedly.”
Pep talks weren’t his strong suit, especially when the person who needed encouraging had recently punched him in the face. Still, Kotto felt like he needed to say something. “According to Irron, every battle born male is likely compatible with more than one female. This isn’t the end.”
Raylon’s eyebrows arched, nearly touching his hairline. “Do I look like I’ve given up? It’s been forty-nine years since I lost my mate. I can survive a little while longer.”
Kotto had no idea what to say to that so he was relieved when Bandar pinged him. This is Kotto. Go ahead.
Is the planning session finished?
More or less.
We have visitors.
Bandar had accessed a private link, so Kotto forwarded the exchange to Raylon rather than taking time to explain the situation. There hasn’t been an alarm, so I’m presuming they’re friendly.
Bandar chuckled. Their friendliness is debatable. Come down to the concourse and decide for yourself.
The ship was still docked inside Lunar 9, so whoever their visitors were knew about the outpost and possessed the skill needed to navigate the challenging entrance. More than a little curious, Kotto left the conference room with Raylon on his heels.
“Was another ship expected?” Raylon asked as they reached one of the utility ladders. They were often faster than competing with elevator traffic.
“No one’s on the schedule, but General Nox warned me that the situation was fluid.”
Forsaken Page 21
