Charged: An Otherwordly Reverse Harem (The Otherworlds Series Book 1)

by Gillian Zane

  45

  Bitches Should Get Stitches

  “Wake up, Bobbie.” Lagara’s voice had Bobbie sitting up in bed and groggily wiping at her face. There had been drool. She grimaced.

  “Did we go through the wormhole yet?” she asked because she couldn’t think of anything else of importance to say.

  “We aren’t going through the wormhole. I need you to get up, and get ready. You’re not going to like what’s about to happen, but you have to go along with it if you want to get back to Thames alive and in once piece.”

  “Hold up, what are you talking about, no wormhole? Where the hell are we then?”

  “We’re about to set down in Lividiania, and the Emperor’s Consort sent me to get you ready.” Lagara looked at her with pity. Bobbie did not like that look.

  “Ready for what? What the hell is going on, Lagara?”

  “Hush. Stop the yelling, Bobbie,” she said like a teacher would scold a child. “You need to get quiet and listen to what I have to tell you. We don’t have much time and she expects you to be presented in a certain fashion.” Lagara grabbed Bobbie’s arm and tried to tug her out of the bed. When Bobbie refused to move, Lagara’s face went from pitying to pissed. “I mean it, Bobbie, if you don’t cooperate Tormi will kill you and send you back in pieces to Roc. She’ll start a war to get what she wants. Do not tempt fate.”

  “What is it that she wants?”

  “Her brother’s throne secure,” Lagara said.

  “What does that have to do with me?”

  “I don’t have time to answer your questions. Get up, or I’ll get one of the guards to help me.” Bobbie did as she was told and let Lagara lead her into the bathroom where she pushed her into the shower and told her to strip.

  “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping her?”

  “Why else? Politics.” Lagara cocked her head and did a very human eye roll.

  “That explains nothing,” Bobbie spat.

  “She’s got delicate information on me, and she holds it over my head every chance she can get. This is the last time. If I help her with this, we’ll be done.”

  “Sure, if you believe that I have some property to sell you,” Bobbie laughed.

  “What do you mean?” Lagara asked.

  “Nothing. What kind of information does she have on you?”

  “Like I would tell someone else so you can blackmail me as well,” the woman scoffed and keyed in the codes to scrub Bobbie from head to toe.

  “I’m not exactly the blackmailing type.”

  “People do bad things to protect the ones we love—it’s why I’m here, it’s why Tormi is here, it’s why Roc did what he did to get to your Earth.” She opened the door and yanked Bobbie out of the shower, not caring about her protests. Lagara began to wrap something around her. It looked like the white lacy underwear things that she had been wearing under her dresses, but there was a lot more of them.

  “Move.” Lagara swatted at her to turn. She placed one wrap around Bobbie’s back and they covered up her nipples, but little more, then she wrapped them across her body, and between her legs and along her thighs. Then Lagara shoved the hair machine on Bobbie’s head and punched in more codes. When she yanked it off, Bobbie’s hair was piled on top of her head, with ringlets trailing down around her ears. She glanced at herself in the mirror and nearly laughed. She looked like the chick from the Fifth Element.

  “Where’s my multipass?” Bobbie’s first inclination when she was under stress was to joke.

  “I don’t know. Do you need it? What does it look like?”

  “Never mind. Why do I look like this, Lagara?”

  “You are being given to the Emperor of Lividiania, Tormi’s brother.”

  “Like, as a slave?” Bobbie looked from the mirror to the Healer in horror.

  “More like for temporary usage.” Lagara did that infuriating head tilt.

  “What in the fuck are you talking about, Lagara?”

  “What the darling Healer is not telling you, is that I’m giving you as a present to my brother. If an Earthling can split Roc into four in just a few days, think of what she can do to my powerful brother,” Tormi spoke as she glided into the room. She inspected Bobbie like she was cattle, clucking her tongue and indicating that Bobbie needed to apply makeup with a spoiled flick of her wrists.

  Bobbie placed her face into the mask and held her breath. Things were now next level screwed. What did Tormi expect of her? That she would power-up her brother like she did with Roc?

  When Tormi pulled the mask away from Bobbie’s face, she was horrified to see the fear in her own eyes. She was being given to another man for him to use her, and from the way she was dressed, there was no sugarcoating what Tormi expected.

  “What does that mean, Tormi?” Bobbie refused to use the woman’s title—Consort or Lady or whatever it was supposed to be.

  “You’ll bed my brother a few times, he’ll split, and then I’ll take you back to Earth. Done deal. You can go about your life as an insignificant Earthling. Well, unless you get pregnant, then you can stick around and birth the child, then go back home.”

  “I’ll bed your brother? Are you out of your mind?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are! You want me to fuck your brother, just like that? Because you think it will split him. No way. Nope, I’m not going to do it.”

  “Oh, my dear, your consent is not needed.” Tormi moved with quick efficiency and grabbed on to Bobbie’s lace wristlets, a thin band protruded from the lace and she wrapped it around her own hand, tugging on Bobbie so she had to step forward. “All you have to do is lay there, and what did you call it? Insert slot A into tab B?”

  “There is no way you can get away with this. When Roc finds out, he’ll do anything to get me back.” Bobbie tried to free her wrist but it was held tight.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, my dear. Roc thinks you’re going to Earth, right now he’s headed straight for a wormhole. He’ll enter lightspeed and won’t be able to communicate with anyone until right before he enters the wormhole. That means I have at least four days to do with you as I please, or should I say, as my brother pleases.” She tittered out a laugh and patted Bobbie’s cheek.

  “You’re talking about rape, Tormi. Rape!”

  “I’m talking about getting my brother the power he needs to secure the throne, in any way possible. You’ll live through this, you’ll go on. If my brother doesn’t secure the throne, he will not live, and neither will I. We all have to make our sacrifices, girl.” Tormi plucked at a stray piece of material from Bobbie’s shoulder.

  “Is that why you were in Polari?”

  “I was there on a last-ditch effort to get support for my brother. Kravitz will not back him if he doesn’t split.”

  “And you really think sleeping with me will make him split?” Bobbie asked, trying to play to Tormi’s logical brain.

  “Doesn’t hurt to try,” she tittered. “Come on, Lagara, I need you on the bridge.”

  Both females left Bobbie alone. She slapped at the door as it closed behind them, but nothing moved, nothing clicked into place. The comm panels didn’t work, Bobbie’s own cuff didn’t activate. They had her shut down.

  Bobbie had been kidnapped again. But this time, she was pretty sure there wouldn’t be four handsome aliens as her door prize.

  46

  The Emperor Wears Stupid Clothes

  All four of the men piled into one of Roc’s bigger star class transports. They didn’t need to discuss it, they knew what they wanted. Bobbie. They would live anywhere, give up everything, all to be with her. Tam began the calculations to take them off planet and headed in the direction of Earth. They were in the wrong rotation to get a perfect take-off, but if they waited a sun length it would be just right.

  They got into a heated argument about the pros and cons of waiting, and it was finally decided that they would wait, because if they launched now they would have to circumnavigate the p
lanet to get on the correct path, and that would take much longer, putting them behind Bobbie by at least five sun lengths.

  They sat in silence, watching the clock. It was going to be a long week, which was the amount of travel time it would take to get them to Earth using this particular transport. They wished they had a smaller one. The smaller ships went faster, but they needed to use this one because of its cargo capacity. They needed a ship that was fully stocked with medical equipment and provisions they would need to live on Earth and still have the luxuries of home. Roc, Tam, Von, and Finn were willing to give up their planet and their throne for the woman they loved, but they were going to be logical about it. They weren’t willing to let Bobbie live out a normal human lifespan and they definitely wanted to be able to contact Polaridis if they needed to. They would miss their father, Nasha, and maybe even Mea, but they were doing what needed to be done.

  A sensor beeped alerting Roc that there was someone on the launch pad. This was highly unusual since his engines were engaged and foot traffic was forbidden on the platform during a countdown. People were killed, if they weren’t careful, by a launching ship. He called up the viewing screen and cursed under his breath at what he saw. Mea and her brother were running across the red grass platform, her arms were over her head and she was waving them back and forth to get his attention.

  The two bounded across the grass in a frenetic and jittery manner, then began to pound on the hull where the latch was located.

  “Should I let them in?” Tam asked.

  “I’ll do it.” Von got up and went to the door, opening it and extracting the stairs.

  Mea and her brother came barreling into the bridge, feet flapping and dyed hair flying. The female stumbled and bent over at the waist, taking great gulps of air as if she had run from a great distance.

  “I don’t think they took Bobbie back to Earth,” she managed to gasp out.

  “Bobbie’s not going to Earth,” Nasha said at the same time. He wasn’t as winded as his sister, being in much better fitness than the female.

  “What do you mean?” Finn asked, unhooking himself from the control seat and handing Mea an oxygen mask so she could stop hiccupping all over his floor.

  “We watched their launch. It was quick, they didn’t wait for rotational optimization and they also did not exit the atmosphere. They went west,” Nasha said.

  “They were up to something. I could tell by that fake witch’s smile,” Mea said, somewhat calmed down.

  “Where did they go if they didn’t go to Earth?”

  “That I don’t know. All I know is that they didn’t leave the planet.” Nasha tilted his head in ignorance.

  “Call up the transport logs, find out where she went,” Roc said to Tam, who had pulled up the network display and began typing on it before Roc had even spoken.

  “This says all of the Consort’s transports are still docked.” Tam turned around in his seat, looking at Nasha for guidance.

  “It was one of Tormi’s transports, the big gold one she drags around the realm as a status symbol. The one that was supposed to be broken down in Polari,” Nasha added.

  “It says it’s still docked in the staff platform for routine maintenance.” Tam was squinting at the screen in front of him.

  “Is there any unusual activity from the staff’s platform? Anything that doesn’t look right?”

  “There was a trade vessel that left, headed to Balavanta,” Tam said.

  “What time?” Finn asked.

  “No, that couldn’t be right, that was this morning.”

  “This, this has to be it,” Tam pointed to a log entry.

  “A diplomat transport from Polari, star class, parked on the visitor platform? That isn’t right.”

  “They would dock there?” Nasha asked.

  “Usually, unless they had high status, then the Emperor would allow docking at his personal platform,” Von said.

  “Where is it headed, back to Polari?” Roc asked.

  “No, that’s why it has to be this one. It’s headed to Lividiania.”

  “Why would she take Bobbie to Lividiania?” Roc asked the group.

  “I don’t know, but it looks like things just got a lot more complicated,” Nasha interjected. “I think it’s time you talk to your father.”

  “I don’t know what you expect me to do with her, sister.” The small Emperor in the oversized clothes sat on his elaborate throne and stared down at Bobbie like she was a bug. She tried not to fidget, but she was doing a poor job of it, she felt so exposed.

  “She’s an Earthling, and from what I’ve seen, if you bed her it increases your power. You’ll split and your throne will be secure.” This was the first time Bobbie had seen the woman deferential and not acting haughty.

  “I don’t want to bed an Earthling, I don’t want to bed anyone, Tormi,” the Emperor practically whined.

  “The House is at this minute debating whether to depose you or not, brother. I have tried to get the other Emperors to back you, but they refuse. All of them see your inability to split as a weakness. This is a way to keep your throne. You will be powerful, then I can come home and rule by your side. You won’t have to take a life-mate. If you split you’ll have the power and influence to hold this realm alone. It’s what we dreamed of, Storma,” Tormi was practically on her knees in front of her brother.

  “You were supposed to get pregnant by your all-powerful first Emperor and secure an heir and a trade deal that would bring about more influence, not this half-cocked idea,” the Emperor sneered and threw the chalice he had been drinking across the room. Bobbie didn’t know if he was aiming for his sister, but it glanced off her shoulder and spilled a red drink all over her peach dress.

  “Savage,” Bobbie whispered then clapped a hand over her mouth, but it didn’t matter, no one was paying attention to her.

  “Why did you do that?” Tormi wailed.

  “Why did you do this?” her brother wailed back, flailing in Bobbie’s direction. “I’m not going to rut on an Earthling. I can’t believe you did this, Tormi!”

  “Take her back to the Emperor’s chambers! Get them out of here,” Tormi screamed. “Her too!” She pointed her finger at the Healer, and two guards appeared from the shadows of the room and grabbed ahold of the women. Bobbie tried to free herself but their grip was iron strong and they dragged her from the large room with little effort.

  They dragged Bobbie down hallway after hallway into a dimly lit room with a monstrous bed in the center of it. The silica walls were covered in lush looking carpets to cover up the glossy and modern interior walls. The two guards pushed Lagara and Bobbie into the room and slammed the door shut. Bobbie managed to gain her footing, but Lagara fell to her knees. She looked up at Bobbie with a sense of hopelessness.

  “Didn’t go as you planned, did it?” Bobbie rubbed it in, she rubbed it in hard.

  “It will, just wait.”

  “I think you’re a little delusional.” Bobbie began checking out the room, trying to find something she could use as a weapon.

  “No, it will, you’ll just have to be with him a few times, and then they’ll send you back to Thames before Roc returns. They don’t want to start a war over this, that’s why they’re doing it while he is in route to Earth.”

  “You are talking about letting him rape me a few times, you do understand that, right?” Bobbie didn’t want to scream, but the last part of her statement came out a little high-pitched. The Healer winced.

  “It’s better than being dead.” That head tilt of a shrug and Bobbie did something she hadn’t attempted since college. She drew back and punched the Healer right in the nose. It hurt her hand. She yelped as the pain exploded in her hand, but knew she had done well when she heard the satisfying crunch. The Healer fell back to her knees, a small spray of blood flying across the rich looking carpets on the wall nearest them. It hadn’t been a hard punch, Bobbie wasn’t used to throwing a good one, but taking back a little power felt good. The Healer
glared at her through her fingers that held her nose, and Bobbie smirked, the throb of her hand worth it.

  A chime sounded and Lagara looked at her wrist in surprise.

  “Who is that? Is that a call?” Bobbie asked eagerly as she saw the color drain out of Lagara’s face. Everything about her was pale, except the blood splatters from her nose. The call screen flashed into existence over Lagara’s wrist and the Emperor’s face glared at her.

  “Where are you, Lagara?”

  “I took a leave of absence, Your Highness,” Lagara sputtered. “I filed the paperwork with Chi.”

  “I did not ask you that, Healer, I asked you where you were and who is that with you?”

  “It’s me, Your Highness.” Bobbie bent over Lagara’s wrist and gave a little wave.

  “Is that my son’s Charge Mate? What is she doing there?” the Emperor bellowed, and the sound of his voice seemed to make the entire room vibrate.

  When Lagara didn’t answer, Bobbie answered for her.

  “Your darling wife and this bitch Healer took me hostage and are going to—oopmf-” The Healer managed to get an elbow into Bobbie’s stomach and she doubled over in pain.

  “I can’t talk now, Your Highness, I’ll be back at my station in three days.”

  “If you break this contact, Lagara, I will place an order of treason on your profile. You will tell me where you are, you will tell me where my Consort is, and why you took my son’s Charge Mate without her consent.”

  “I’m in Lividiania, sir!” Bobbie called over the Healer’s shoulder.

  “She blackmailed me, sir, I had no choice.” Tears streamed down the Healer’s face and mixed with the blood from her swollen nose. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but Bobbie felt no pity. She deserved it. She deserved everything that would happen to her from this exchange.

  “What has my Consort done?” The Emperor’s voice was low this time, concerned, and if Bobbie wasn’t mistaken, hurt.

  “She thinks if your son’s Charge Mate split him into four, she’ll be able to split her brother as well.” There was a roar in the background, and Bobbie felt her heart speed up. It was Roc. He was there; he wasn’t headed to Earth.