No Mercy

by McCormick, Jenna

  Water dripped from her tight breasts until she crossed her arms over them, her body language completely closed down. “You don’t have to justify yourself to me. I don’t own you.”

  How to make her understand? His culture was so different from hers and she’d been brutalized because of it.

  “There’s something I need to tell you about before you see it for yourself. Every year there’s a tournament that pits men against one another. We call it the ranking. The winner is considered the most dominant male and has his pick of all the highborn females to claim as his own. It’s how our society is structured.”

  Gia’s eyebrows drew down. “Okay. What’s that got to do with me? Or your relationship with Duffy, for that matter?”

  “The ranking provides structure, keeps order. If a man doesn’t like his supervision he can challenge him publicly, try to win himself a higher spot in the societal hierarchy. As captain of my vessel and as Xander’s son, I’ve always been ranked at the top of the pack. The challenges have been few because of my reputation. It’s a good thing, because any man I rank I’d have to kill. Duffy was the only one I’ve ever ranked, years ago.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “I’m still missing something.”

  “I fucked him. That’s how we show our dominance; we fuck the lower-ranked men. I couldn’t come, of course. He submitted to me willingly, no wrestling, no force, even though he’s a damn fine fighter with a dominant streak of his own. He wanted to be my second, and having him as such was good for me. He took on any challengers so I didn’t have to.”

  Her lips parted, forming a small “o.” He pushed on, the need to confess everything to her damn near overpowering him.

  “We went on like that for decades. Duffy wanted more though, more than I could give him. He was either gonna challenge me or leave, and without his loyalty my crew would fall apart. I knew what he wanted and, because of my condition, couldn’t deliver. So I gave him the fantasy to keep him by my side longer.”

  “It was a lousy thing to do, Zan. Manipulating another person like that, using his own feelings against him to get what you wanted.”

  He knew. “There’s more.”

  “I don’t know if I can take much more.”

  “You have to.”

  “Why?”

  He sucked in a shuddering breath. She would hate this part, probably hate him for his role in it. “Because you’re going to be in this year’s mix of eligible females. And I have to win you in a ranking ceremony or someone else can claim you.”

  Gia’s head was swimming, and she stumbled back out of Zan’s hold until her back hit the cool wall. The goose bumps on her skin had nothing to do with the water from the shower. Never mind the way he’d played Duffy like a freaking violin. Had her lover really just told her that he was going to have to fuck—and consequently kill—a bunch of men to keep someone else from screwing her? The man who’d knelt before her and begged her forgiveness had vanished. Gia was glad for it too, because the sight unearthed things better left buried. She remembered her mother’s boyfriend, the one who used to get drunk and knock her around and then plead with her to give him another shot. And her mother, weak-willed fool that she was, agreed. That choice earned her bruises, fractures, and eventually her daughter. Because he was the man reeking of cheap whisky and sour sweat who’d snuck into Gia’s room when she was sixteen. He was the one who’d stuffed a rag in her mouth, lifted her nightgown, and . . .

  No! Her brain shrieked and closed down the flood of memories before they completely paralyzed her. Between the attack the day before and Zan’s actions, all of her own darkness was churning beneath the surface, a tide of rage and madness ready to suck her down with the undertow if she let her guard down for another minute. If she stopped fighting she might never surface again.

  “Goddamn it, I’m not someone’s lost luggage. There will be no claiming me by you or anyone else!”

  Zan remained on his knees, kept his distance. He should have looked ridiculous, fully clothed and soaked through, but instead he radiated power, control. “If there were another way, believe me I’d take it. No man deserves to die because I lose control of my seed. If Xander’s feeling the bloodlust, he might kill them anyway. My father’s a sadistic bastard who likes to watch his minions fuck each other over in every way imaginable.”

  “How many?” Gia asked, her voice hollow.

  “How many what?”

  “Men do you have to . . . ?” She swallowed, unable to finish. It was one thing to imagine seeing him with another man in the heat of passion, but to imagine him brutalizing other men, maybe even killing them for her sake, made her feel sick.

  “As many as want to challenge me. I’ve been gone for a long while, and the young bucks will be itching to try to best me. It ain’t rape, not really, because they know what they’re in for by challenging me and could avoid it if they were of a mind to, so stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  Anger shone in those golden eyes. “Like I disgust you. If you’d rather be picked like a wildflower by whatever man wins the ranking, I’ll stand aside. Is that what you want?”

  “No.” Closing her eyes, Gia schooled her features. He was offering to be her champion and risk exposing his secret to protect her. “I’m sorry. We need to work together, not fight. What do you need me to do to help?”

  A shuffling sound, and she opened her eyes to see him rising up to tower over her. Extending a hand he pulled her to her feet and brushed his lips over hers. “Rest up. I’ll have one of the maids come by later with a tray and to help you prepare.”

  “Prepare for what?”

  “To be fucked senseless. If I stand any chance of controlling my seed during the ranking, I need to come as much as possible between now and then.”

  “You don’t need me for that,” she whispered, fighting down the surge of lust that rose up inside her.

  “I want you. Not my fucking hand or some device. I want to be inside your sweet, hot pussy, to be reminded why I’m bothering with this.”

  “Why are you bothering? Because I have your memories?” she asked.

  Slowly he shook his head. “No. Because you’re with me and I look out for what’s mine.” He stepped out of the shower and left the bathroom.

  Damn him, he didn’t hear a word she said! She didn’t belong to him, and just because she chose to share her body with him, was stuck with him for the duration of this nightmare, didn’t mean he was allowed to brand his name on her ass. Property of Zan in his fucked-up dreams! As soon as she thought she had the chance Gia would hightail it out of his line of sight, find another man, and screw him until she couldn’t even remember the golden-eyed space pirate or the way he consumed her with those eyes.

  Even as she tried to work up indignation at his claim, to remember how manipulative he really was, a small corner of her mind leaped for joy at his declaration. She decided to lock that piece in the closet until it came to its senses.

  Mechanically, Gia finished her shower. Wrapping a towel around herself, she moved into the other room. The bed was more of an oversized pillow covered in piles of blankets. Again, there were no suitable clothes, so she just dried herself and climbed beneath the covers. Exhaustion swept over her and she drifted off to sleep.

  The clink of metal startled her and she sat up. The room was dark, but someone had lit some candles that flickered and cast shadows on the walls. Movement drew her gaze, and a small, curvy woman bowed at the end of the bed. “I am Shalla, sent here to serve you.”

  “Gia. Nice to meet you, Shalla.” The scent of roasting meat made her mouth water and her stomach rumble. Gia nodded to the tray in the woman’s hands. “Is that for me?”

  “Yes. My lord ordered you a veritable feast.”

  It took every effort not to snatch the tray from the woman and dig in. “I don’t have any clothes.”

  “I will avert my eyes if you wish.” Shalla smiled.

  Taking the topmost blanket, Gia w
rapped it around herself before getting out of bed and moving to sit at the small oblong table. She wasn’t about to eat naked with anyone but Zan. Imagining him equally naked and feeding her little bits of whatever smelled so delectable made her pulse pound. Despite everything she still wanted him, more than she had ever wanted anything in her life. That thought unsettled her, but she reasoned that he was her only true ally, so of course she was attached to him. Shalla stood by her side staring off into space. “Aren’t you having any?”

  The woman shook her head, and Gia shrugged it off. Lifting the cover she groaned as she saw roasted meat, mounds of potatoes and corn, diced sweet fruit, and some sort of pudding. “Damn, this is all for me?”

  Shalla nodded. “My lord ordered the cook to prepare food native to your planet. I hope it is all to your liking.”

  For such an irreverent bastard, Zan could be downright thoughtful. The meal was excellent. Gia enjoyed every bite but found her appetite had diminished due to her recent lack of food. Still she did her best and told Shalla to leave the pudding and fruit for later.

  “I shall draw your bath,” Shalla murmured when Gia indicated she was done.

  “That’s okay, I’m used to taking care of bathing myself.”

  “Then you are ready for me to pleasure you?”

  Gia tapped the translator implant behind her ear, sure the thing had malfunctioned. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that last question?”

  “I was sent here to see to your needs and prepare you for his cock.”

  Gia’s eyebrows hit her hairline. It wasn’t a technological malfunction. The woman really had offered to pleasure her. What, the lazy bastard couldn’t be bothered to turn her on himself, now? She shook her head even as her nipples tightened under the blanket she wore. “I don’t think—”

  Shalla’s eyes turned pleading. “I was ordered to, my lady Gia. I will be beaten if I disobey.”

  “I won’t tell. You shouldn’t be forced to touch someone against your will.”

  The other woman’s eyes dilated. “You are beautiful. Touching you would not be against my will. I would enjoy bringing you pleasure.”

  It had been a long time since she’d felt another woman’s touch. Perhaps Zan had thought she’d want gentleness after the violence of the day. It would be just like him to send Shalla as an apology.

  “Well, I guess we wouldn’t want to disappoint Zan, now would we.” She let the other woman lead her to the bed.

  15

  “Zan! Come forth, there’s something I wish you to see.” Xander’s lips were turned up in a cruel twist.

  Zan had been subtly scouting the compound since he left Gia. His father had chosen his stronghold well, placing it in an area almost impossible for his enemies to reach. Other than the small village oasis outside the fortified walls, the desert sands stretched for leagues in every direction. Only a party privy to hyperspeed technology would survive the journey. And in the Hosta System, Xander controlled all the technology.

  Plastering a vaguely amused smile on his face, Zan strolled into his father’s throne room. Though the temperatures out in the desert were well past the century mark at this time of day, the moisture collectors set up around the perimeter of the compound created a bubble of cool air, a pocket of heaven inside the deepest pit of hell. His boots clicked on the stone floor as he approached his father’s side. Xander clicked off the view screen he’d been studying and he smiled up at his only son. “I plan to throw a feast in honor of your homecoming. All the lords and commanders will attend. Bring your woman tomorrow night so I can become better acquainted with her.”

  The words were innocuous enough, but Zan read the tones beneath them. His father wanted Gia, almost as much as he wanted to punish Zan’s disobedience. “I have plans for her before the ranking.”

  Xander’s eyes turned knowing. “As well you should. Such a marvelous bit of technology, that personal health shield of hers. What galaxy is she from?”

  “The Milky Way. Thousands of light years from here.” For that Zan was relieved. He had a fondness for Earth and all its color and would hate to see his father’s influence on the soft inhabitants. The people of Hosta had been struggling to survive under Xander’s iron rule for centuries, while humans took liberty as a right. Most would break before they bowed.

  His father called to one of the serving wenches, a little wisp of a thing clad in a transparent veil-like dress that exposed her to Xander’s greedy gaze. “Ah, but a ship that could produce wormholes would bring it under my reach.” He stroked the woman’s ass through the sheer cloth.

  Zan tried not to look into her frightened face. Gaining Xander’s sexual interest drastically reduced a woman’s life span. Chances were his father would take her under him the moment Zan left the room, then kill her to heighten his climax. Zan had learned better than to become attached.

  “Too bad I lost the ship in that card game.” Zan wandered over to Xander’s personal banquet and plucked a piece of fruit from the bowl. Xander demanded that all the food be prepared and tasted in front of him, to minimize the chance of poisoning.

  “Yes, it is. That prototype was very valuable to me.” The woman let out a squeak as Xander’s knuckles turned white where they dug into her flesh. “What did you say the name was of this man whom you bet against?”

  “Finn.” Zan named one of the interstellar traders who’d swindled his crew a few decades back. The likelihood of Xander finding the sneaky little weasel was small, since Zan hadn’t seen him since. Even if his father did manage to drag Finn out of whatever slimy rock he’d crawled beneath, the shyster deserved a little torture for his cheating ways. Biting into the fruit, he pretended to enjoy the imported snack from the farming colony on the third moon, when truth was he couldn’t taste a thing. Every cell in his body was anxious to get back to Gia, to feel her warmth, her softness, and make sure she was safe.

  Xander studied him closely, probing his façade for any incongruity. “You should be punished for your flippant attitude.”

  Zan raised a brow. “Isn’t that why you ordered the ranking? To punish me?”

  Slowly Xander shook his head. “You disappoint me, son. The ranking is to show your power against our enemies. United, none will challenge us. That whore of yours was affecting your mind, coming between us. I want to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself.”

  Forcing himself not to react to the burning anger zipping through his veins whenever he remembered Isabella’s death he asked, “What was her name again?”

  Xander’s eyes narrowed, and for a heartbeat Zan worried he’d overplayed his hand. But then his father shoved the serving wench aside and beckoned Zan to take her place by his side. “I don’t think I ever bothered to learn it.”

  One day soon, Zan would carve it into the bastard’s forehead. “No matter, the past is done. I’m more interested in my current conquest.”

  His father’s smiled darkly. “Speaking of which . . .” Flicking on the monitor he turned his full attention back to the view screen. “I sent your little concubine some dinner.”

  Zan stopped breathing as he saw Gia’s naked body twined with another woman’s on the bed in his room. Two sets of feminine hands explore the expanses of smooth, bare skin. The other female, a local girl by the dark color of her skin, moaned as Gia bent her head to suck on one tight nipple. His cock hardened even as rage made the blood pound in his veins.

  “Aesthetically exquisite, are they not?” Xander’s focus was on him.

  “The sight of two women together always revs me up.” Except when one of them was his woman.

  “I thought Shalla would be doing all the work, but your little foreigner does like variety. Look at the way she’s spreading Shalla’s legs apart to get to her cunt in a rush. She almost fucks like a man. I am totally intrigued.”

  He couldn’t answer. If Gia had been seeking a way to punish him, she couldn’t have found a better one. Her sensual movements as she writhed against the other woman might stir his blood, but the
fact that she was taking pleasure without him, almost as thought to forgo his touch, had him seeing red.

  “Why don’t you join them?” Xander asked.

  Swallowing slowly, Zan turned to face his father. Gia had no idea she was being watched, considered as a sexual plaything by a true sadist. Shalla was a test, and from the interest Xander expressed, Gia had exceeded his expectations. His eyes focused on the girl huddled on the floor, shaking from fear. Her gaze met his and he saw knowledge there. She knew her time was almost up. If Gia didn’t keep up the ruse with her germ shield, she’d be next.

  “Excellent suggestion.” He bowed and forced himself to swagger out of the room and down the hall.

  All he’d wanted was to have her to himself, to hold her tenderly and love her for a few hours. And then she’d seduced another person into his bed while he was out. She may have passed his father’s test, but she’d failed his. Did his avenging angel want to die?

  Zan moved faster, his mind whirling with all the ways he could punish her.

  Gia slipped two fingers inside Shalla’s wet passage, rubbing her clit quickly with her thumb and pumped her while watching the other woman’s face. Shalla’s lips were parted as she gasped for breath, her eyes closed in bliss. This kind of play was exactly what Gia needed. She grinned when she thought about Zan coming back, seeing the two of them. All men fantasized about being the filling in a two-woman sandwich. She could take his cock into her mouth while Shalla concentrated on his other hot spots and then . . .

  Shalla let out a low moan as her channel clenched around Gia’s thrusting fingers. Her orgasm was short but intense, wetness soaking her pussy and the hand that played there. Gia nuzzled her full breasts while she waited for the other woman to recover. Dark eyes filled with gratitude opened and a hand stroked her head. “There’s something very relaxing about being with one of your own gender.”

  Gia nodded. “I always thought so. For years, I only took women as lovers.”