by Marie Harte
“After that, what then?” Gren asked in a flat tone of voice.
Rorn wanted to see passion, rage, the unnatural fierceness for which the mercenary was famous. And he wanted it turned on Temis. “I want you to fuck her,” Rorn ordered in precise words. His eyes narrowed at Gren’s surprise. “Hard. Take her violently. Be as rough as you like, but don’t leave any lasting scars.”
He turned to the vidscreen, but Gren stopped him.
“I’ll do it, but not for an electronic audience. A recording of such an event would be disastrous in the wrong hands. Besides, if I’m reading you correctly, you plan on keeping Temis for yourself. Once I’m through with her, you’ll have her for as long as you want her. That’s got to be worth more than vidscreen memories.” Gren’s eyes narrowed with what looked like displeasure.
Finally, a small sign of emotion.
Unfortunately, the man’s next words made Rorn long for a sharp blade with which to remove Gren’s tongue.
“Or is it me you wished to remember without my clothes?”
Nothing would mar this day. Rorn would skewer Gren, after witnessing his ultimate fantasy. “Of course not. It’s the woman I lust for.” You imbecile. “I’ll disconnect the vidscreen. Now stop talking and start fucking. And like I said, take her hard. Make her fight you. Make her scream. Because when she opens that mouth wide, I’m coming in.”
* * * *
“Are you ready for this?” Gren toyed with the back of Temis’ top. “It’ll just be for a minute before I end his miserable life.”
“No. You can’t,” she answered quickly. “Sernal wants him alive.”
“I’m getting tired of waiting.” Rorn stared suspiciously, and Gren knew he needed to act. Fine. He’d let Rorn have a taste of his fantasy, just enough to let down his guard.
Already the peacemaker looked on edge, his face flushed and his breath coming in pants. Rorn inched his hand towards his cock, as if waiting for just the right moment to touch himself.
Right before he tries shoving his dick into my woman’s mouth, I’ll break it off. Right the fuck off.
“Perhaps you would rather be the one to rape her? She’s hot as hell. Was a virgin before I broke her. Her ass is still prime though. Thought that might drive up the price.” Gren sensed Temis’ incredulity but ignored her.
“I’ll get to her soon enough. What’s really the problem here?” Rorn asked softly, the cold businessman back in charge. He glanced behind him at the curtained entrance, as if gauging how fast reinforcements might arrive.
Gren forced a smirk. “My mistake. If you want me to fuck her again, it’s really no problem. Though I can’t promise rape. She’s hot under that icy exterior, and she likes it big.” He gave Rorn’s crotch a dubious look, pleased when the man’s eyes blazed. Satisfied for the moment, he turned to Temis. “Temis, disrobe, slowly.”
He studied Rorn watching Temis, knowing the moment she discarded her top because Rorn’s mouth gaped. His hand moved lower, so that he now cupped his pitifully small arousal.
Gren couldn’t help a glance at Temis and strove to remain distanced from the situation. Her breasts were full, the nipples hard. It was all he could do not to bend down and suck the ripe fruits until she came.
She flushed, caught in the fantasy he sent her. Rorn’s breathing grew raspier. He stroked himself through his trousers, not even trying to hide his desire. At Gren’s mental urging, Temis ran her hands over her breasts and belly. She toyed with her bottoms, allowing small glimpses of her pussy before she slid the bottoms down her long legs.
Rorn stared unblinkingly at Temis, almost where Gren wanted him.
“Dance around him, tease him. Keep distracting the hell out of him so I can break his neck.”
“No!” She gyrated, making him want to fuck her regardless of Rorn’s filthy presence. “Don’t worry, Gren, he’ll pay for his crimes. Now watch and learn,” she mocked, getting into the spirit of her role. “This is just for you.”
Like an exotic pleasurer, she danced around Rorn, swaying towards him and backing away when he would have reached for her. She teased him, giving Gren the time and room to manoeuvre around the bastard.
Rorn reached a hand inside his trousers and jerked himself harder and faster. Hell, Gren could feel his own desire growing as Temis flaunted a body made for sex. A man would have to be a eunuch not to respond.
“I want you to fuck her,” Rorn said on a strangled breath and peeled the front of his trousers apart. The tip of his cock was wet. “Do it now. Make her scream for mercy.”
“Scream for mercy, I like that,” Gren growled. In a flash, he lashed out at the back of Rorn’s neck in an exact blow meant to incapacitate but not kill.
Rorn collapsed without a word, hitting the ground with a soft thump, cushioned by the many pillows surrounding them.
“Now start moaning,” Gren told her as he tied and gagged the corrupt peacemaker, burying him under several furs. “And I need you to come. This is going to take a lot of energy.”
“Moaning?” Temis whispered and hugged her chest. “I’m supposed to be getting raped, not to mention I’m freezing. I can’t just come on command, you know.”
He narrowed his gaze and directed a burst of energy to her core.
She cried out and sagged to the ground, on her knees and arching back, her breasts thrust into the air while he mentally stimulated her.
Had they the time and the right location, he wouldn’t have hesitated to join her. But right now he needed to reach out to the others.
He continued her pleasure, adding a few grunts of his own should Rorn’s guards be listening. And while he continued the farce of lovemaking, he mentally connected with the women caged in the large tent.
Except for some heavy fondling and probing, humiliating but not physically harmful, the women had yet to be sold. He ignored their distress, a difficult but not impossible job, and decided to make a full, mental circle around the private auction. Nero had guided them into the blue room before he’d had a chance to survey the area.
He paused her bliss to inject the order. “Temis, listen to me. I have to make sure the others are here. Keep up the pretence until I return. Use Rorn’s phaser if you need protection.”
Breathing heavily, she glared at him from under a wealth of golden hair, his fantasy made flesh. “I told you I can defend myself. When this is over, we’re going to have a long talk about taking advantage…” She stopped arguing as the next burst of pleasure spiralled through her.
He left her with a quick kiss, absorbing a large amount of sexual energy from her satisfied body. “Stay safe, sura. I need to focus on the others now. But call if you need me.”
He hated having to leave her, but he needed to secure the others before letting Rafe and their backup know where to land. Of the four extraction points he’d already mapped, the eastern side seemed most convenient.
After reconnecting with those he’d already seen, he learned the location of the remaining Mardu women. Unfortunately, he needed to move sooner than later. Despite the fact that none of the missing women had been harmed, he could feel their unease, their degradation pulsing like a disease. The negative energy generated under these tents over the years lingered, making him almost sick.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside the curtains and surprised the two guards waiting outside.
Gren held up his hands. “I was ordered out.”
Temis moaned loudly and he grinned. “Rorn wants to test the merchandise himself. He’s to remain undisturbed until he calls for anyone. Otherwise, he’ll be very displeased.”
The guards looked nervous and nodded their understanding.
Gren walked away without looking back. He really wanted to smash someone, to release the tension building inside him. Temis remained all alone in that room without a stitch of clothing next to an unconscious bastard.
“I put the rags back on. I can moan fully clothed you know.” The anger in her thoughts relieved him. The stubborn woman was just
fine.
Content Temis had everything under control, he made mental contact with the last five women on his list. He didn’t note any additions save the fifteen reported missing from Mardu and breathed easier when he saw the limited number of buyers gathered in the smaller tent.
Sending a quick digital message to Rafe, he relayed information about the eastern extraction point. It was furthest away from this mess. The message sent, he studied the rest of those he’d have to deal with.
He noted some disreputable leaders of organised crime on planet Melan, a few Afleran traitors, and a legendary smuggler and cutthroat from Ragga named Abjon. He would definitely be the one to watch. The dozen or so other participants didn’t look worthy of Gren’s concern.
A crowd gathered around the centre stage of the private auction, where the bidding was to begin. Gren counted six guards stationed around the perimeter of the area, plus the two in front of Rorn’s room, and wished he’d brought his sword. Unfortunately, he’d earlier relinquished two throwaway blades to Rorn’s men without a qualm.
Gren didn’t need a weapon to hinder the guards. He had two hands aching for the challenge. The energy Temis had given him had yet to dissipate, and the build-up was just what he needed to debilitate Rorn’s men.
He glanced at the centre stage again and did a double-take. He felt for the women, but he couldn’t have asked for a better distraction.
Two of the slaves had disrobed and were touching each other at the behest of Nero, another minor obstacle Gren would soon overcome.
Moans and groans of approval from the small crowd grew louder, just enough that several of the guards’ attention wandered.
Gren knocked unconscious the two guards furthest from the stage and quickly took their weapons. He left them slumped against one another and walked quickly to the next nearest pair, who happened to be guarding Rorn’s private room, where Temis remained. With a well-aimed phaser, Gren zapped them both, then fired upon two more, eliminating them as a threat.
Finally noticing his actions, the crowd around the stage shouted for help and drew the remaining security.
Moving in a blur, Gren rolled to avoid a blast from Nero’s laser and cut the man down with a blast to his throat. Then he aimed several pulses at the remaining guards and came to his feet, knowing it wouldn’t be long before the outer guards checked on the commotion.
“What are you doing?” Abjon snarled and surprised Gren with a mighty punch to his abdomen.
Lifted violently from the ground, Gren gasped and landed hard on his back. He rolled to avoid Abjon’s follow-through stomp to the throat. He’d lost his phasers upon landing and now had to deal with a Ragga with death on the brain. Just perfect. What else could go wrong?
* * * *
“Like I’m going to moan in here all day while he has all the fun,” Temis growled, waiting a few moments after Gren made contact with the women before leaving the tent.
She wore only her slave garments and hoped to use the lack of material to her advantage. Instead of distracting Rorn’s guards with her beauty, she found them passed out on the ground.
A look around her showed Gren silently creeping around, disabling security while the crowd was distracted by… She blushed bright red seeing the women so engaged on stage.
With no time for nonsense, she ignored the women groping each other and neared a smaller group of women, naked and caged on the side of the stage, obscured by a curtained partition unseen by the spectators.
“Gren, I need your help here,” she communicated at the same time she felt extreme pain in her stomach. When she gasped and hunched over from the hurt, it vanished.
The crowd quieted as someone grunted, then they shouted encouragement to ‘Abjon’. From her vantage she saw the back of a large man, most likely a Ragga with his height and brawn, standing over someone.
With a knot in her belly, she knew that someone to be Gren.
“Temis, the women are now awake and ready to move. They’ll follow you without a problem. The cage is unlocked, so go. Take them through the house to the eastern extraction point.”
The Ragga lifted Gren and threw him like a sack of noeir. She flinched when he made contact with the unforgiving ground.
“And hurry up!” He sounded pained as he stood. “You’re distracting me when I’m supposed to be distracting all of them.” Gren growled something insulting at the Ragga, who gave a bloodcurdling war cry before lunging at him.
The crowd roared its approval of the fight, and the betting began in earnest.
Convincing herself he could take care of himself, Temis opened the cage and urged the women to hurry, glad most of the attention had shifted to the fight. With the cage half hidden by an overhanging curtain, only a few guards would be able to see their escape.
The two that did immediately tried to stop her.
“I don’t have time for this.” She struck at the nearest fool too busy staring at her chest to appreciate his danger. Before his partner could call for help, she took him down as well. Now it was only a matter of time before someone checked up on their caged ‘stock’.
“Come on, ladies. We need to move.”
Apparently, Gren’s compulsion made them follow her orders to the letter, for they moved quickly and without question.
Gren thudded once more against the ground, and the crowd went wild. She used the opportunity to dart through a side door into the house. One by one, the women with her followed suit. As soon as they shut the door behind the final woman, shouting and phaser fire ensued.
A brawl or had their absence been noted?
The group raced behind her to one of the four extraction points she’d memorised before entering the estate. To her relieved surprise, they passed startled servants but no security.
When she reached the easternmost window she found it open and shivered at the cold breeze infiltrating the house.
The others shivered as well, and she hurried to close it.
Standing in the hallway in plain sight unnerved her, but there was nothing she could do. Rafe was supposed to—“Shit!”
“Sorry,” Rafe said after appearing out of nowhere. A dozen more guards showed with him. Seeing her in next to nothing, he had the gall to whistle before handing her a green jumper that she hastily donned. He turned to his men. “Take them back.”
A dozen men grabbed hold of twelve women and vanished.
“Be right back.” Rafe adjusted the teleporter on his wrist and reached for two women.
“Rafe?”
“The ship’s near or I’d never attempt two at once. And don’t worry. We’re cloaked.”
“Good. For a minute there I thought you were going insane.” Temis couldn’t help a satisfied sigh. Finally, she had real clothes again.
Rafe disappeared and reappeared moments later with two dozen more men. Three escorted the remaining females offworld while the others waited on Rafe.
“We have to go back in for Gren.”
“Squad one, go outside and shake them up. Try to secure as many of Rorn’s security as you can. I want every fucking peacemaker involved in this taken down.”
“Aye, Sir.” Half the men left, armed with grenades, phasers and tactical webs designed to stall criminals on the run.
“The rest of you, this way.” Rafe turned to Temis. “Lead on.”
The floor echoed ominously as they raced back outside into the smaller of the two heated slave tents.
“Where did everyone go?” Rafe asked, puzzled.
The crowd had disappeared, as had the disabled guards. Feeling hollow in her gut, Temis raced to Rorn’s private room.
Rorn had also disappeared.
“Damn it.”
Gren was nowhere to be seen when she and the others swept through the smaller tent into the main area. There, she spied Sernal and his men arresting the masses trying to escape.
“Oh hell. He wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near here,” Rafe muttered.
Sernal caught his eye and his glare s
aid volumes. Rafe was in some serious trouble. Which meant she was in some serious trouble.
“Fan the perimeter,” Sernal yelled.
While they secured the area, Temis searched for Gren.
“Gren? Where are you?” Her question met with silence. Not good.
Sernal joined them, holding an injured, smaller man by the neck. The same man Gren had shoved aside when he’d tried to molest Temis. Lead Sernal shook the little drun. “Tell them what you told me.”
“Uh, sure thing Lead. Right before you guys showed up this monster Ragga burst through the tent there.” He pointed to the large hole in the fabric separating the tents. “The big bastard threw Gren, that mercenary piece of shit, around like he was a doll.” The man cradled his wrist. “Then Gren hurt the Ragga.”
“And what else?” Sernal shook the little man, his scowl a thing of beauty. The promise of danger impressed Temis. A promise of retribution.
“Th-then Lord Fenhal followed looking angrier than I’ve ever seen him. The three of them disappeared into the house through that doorway.” He pointed at a faraway door of shattered glass. “Then you assholes showed up and ruined everything.”
Sernal shoved him towards one of his men. “Secure this offal with the rest.” He turned to Temis, his golden eyes blazing. “Why didn’t you wait for permission before joining this insane plan? Disobeying direct orders and listening to a mercenary on the run from your fellow peacemakers? What the hell were you thinking?”
Gren must have been rubbing off on her. Before meeting him, she would have accepted Sernal’s thunderous anger. Instead she shot back, “I would have waited, but the mercenary you chose decided to do things his way.”
She glared at her boss, worried and angry that Sernal wasted time lecturing her while they could have been looking for Gren.
He stared back at her, nonplussed.
Rafe chuckled. “I told you, brother. He’s gotten to her.” He held his hands up in mock surrender when she said a few choice words. “Why don’t we find Gren and then you can interrogate him yourself?” Rafe suggested.
