Kidnapped: An Erotic Novelette [Dangerous Pleasures #1]

by Terri Pray

  "You really don't understand just how much trouble you're in, do you?” He stood up and once again she found herself looking up at him. “There's no one here to help you. You're in enemy hands and might want to think things through before you start jumping me."

  "If you think I'm afraid of you..."

  He moved towards her before she had the chance to stop him and planted the flat of his hand between her breasts then pushed. With a yelp she tumbled back onto the pad of furs, her legs splayed to the extent of the chain.

  "You should be afraid of me.” He glowered. “And of every man here. Not one of us cares the lease bit about what you want, or any other woman might think they have the right to demand from us. We're fed up of your kind trying to push us around."

  "My kind?"

  "Yes, women. You've got the majority of the human race wrapped around your fingers. Taking that bull shit about men being shown their rightful place in life, how we need to remember that we once brutalized you and so we cannot be trusted in any position of authority. Because of that you've taken every chance possible to abuse men, treat them like shit and now you expect us to just bow down and take it."

  "You're insane.” She muttered and edged back a little on the furs. “I didn't make all of this happen."

  "But you and yours continue it."

  "We don't have any—look what is the point of this? I can't hurt you and grabbing me isn't going to help you or your friends out."

  Aaron tensed, his hands clenched into fists and for a moment he didn't move. He took a deep breath and a step back from her. “Now be quiet for a minute."

  Was he trying to calm down? Or had he just realized just how much trouble he was in?

  "Aaron, all you have to do is return me back to the town and all of this can be over with. I just report that I fell after drinking too much. No one will think twice about another naval drunk.” If she could get him to see sense then maybe they'd all come out of this without a scratch.

  "It's already too late for that."

  "No it's not, if you listen to me then I can help you."

  "You might want to take her up on that.” A second male voice, one she struggled to recall and finally placed as the one who had attempted to calm things down in town. “Things could become a tad uncomfortable when they start looking for her."

  "And we're ready for that, we've been ready for the past year but you've all been waiting for the right moment to strike. It's never going to be the right moment if we just try and sit here on our asses."

  The other man walked fully into the room. Older than Aaron but just as strong from the way his muscles played beneath the shirt. His gaze narrowed on her then moved back to Aaron. Light blue eyes, pale blond hair, and just like the man who had grabbed her he had to be several inches taller than any man she had laid eyes on before.

  "So that's why you grabbed her. Not to get laid? But to start a fight. Are you out of your damn mind?"

  "No, not at all.” Aaron stood up and looked back at the new comer. The tension had vanished from his shoulders, a calm smile replacing the tightly pressed lips. “Daniel, if we sit around waiting for the perfect moment to strike, to show these women that we aren't children any more, that we have the right to be treated as men and not slaves then we will be waiting until we're old men. We have to start showing them that we were in charge for a reason. And if that means starting small by grabbing a few women here and there then so be it."

  Shannon tried not to move as they spoke.

  Where they insane? Two men, how many more? Twenty, thirty? Fifty? It wouldn't be enough to take on the government. They could be armed to the teeth and it still wouldn't help. Between the planetary forces, the navy and the system forces that would be called in to help they'd be crushed within a matter of a day, two at the most.

  "You're insane. You've just forced the hand of every man and woman on the planet because you couldn't wait just a little longer."

  "No, because I want to get this done before I turn into a grandfather.” Aaron reached down and grabbed Shannon by the hair. Where had the warning been? No flash of anger, no growl, nothing that laid hint of what he had been planning to do. “This little thing can be the start of the new way. This planet has been ready for a change since before we were born and I intend to show the rest of the men here just how it can be done. How a woman in the hands of a man who hasn't been brainwashed will react."

  Shannon tried not to cry out as he pulled her up to her feet. Strands of hair splintered and broke in his tight grasp and she felt tears stinging in her eyes.

  "You're hurting her, Aaron.” The newcomer warned. “Not a wise idea. If she is returned to them unharmed then we stand a chance of coming out of this in one piece."

  "Yes, I am and she'll think this is mild by the time I'm through with her.” Aaron tightened his grip for a moment, then relaxed. “There are a lot of things this woman and her friends have to learn. This isn't a game, not any more. We've spent too many generations sitting back and letting them run us ragged. It's time we put a stop to this."

  "Goddess, what are you going to do to her?"

  "I don't know. Maybe, turn her into the exact willing little slave her kind have managed to turn most of the men of our species into. It would be a fitting punishment wouldn't it?"

  Daniel blanched. “I don't think that's possible."

  "It is, don't you remember the stories? How they used to be submissive to us? How we were waited on hand and foot?"

  "They were stories. Nothing but fairy tales. We all know that. There's no way we could have just let them take over. They have always been in charge."

  "No they were far more than that. We ruled, we have the right to rule again. You don't understand this do you? If we show them just how strong we truly are they will want to be at our feet again. It's our duty to reclaim our place at the head of the food chain."

  Her stomach twisted into a dozen knots.

  "Kneel bitch. Kneel and show us both where a woman belongs. Come on you know how to kneel, I bet you've ordered a dozen men to their knees in just that past couple of weeks, so you've no excuse."

  Shannon looked up at Aaron, then over to Daniel. “He's insane. Daniel, you seem to understand what's going on here, tell him to let me go."

  Daniel shook his head. “You're on your own with this, at least until the council decides otherwise. I'm sorry. I'm not willing to step in the middle of this. Not without the blessing of the council."

  Council?

  "They'll see things my way, Daniel. You're in a minority now. Too many of the younger men have read through the old books, seen the entertainments that haven't been adapted, they know how things used to be for our people and they want that back again.” Aaron turned away from his companion and glared down at Shannon. “And you, woman have one last chance. Obey me or I will find a way to punish you."

  Heat flushed through the man's cheeks, a fire burned in his dark eyes, a hunger that she had seen only once before.

  Oh, goddess. The holo program. He looks just like the man in the holo.

  Had she been that close to how things had really been. How they could be again.

  No, this was nuts. The man didn't really know what he wanted, or how things could be. He was just pissed off at the women, at the power her gender had been blessed with.

  "I'm not going to watch this, Aaron. I'll come back later and let you know when the council is calling the next session, they'll want to see you and the woman we both know that, but I'll not stand here and watch you hurt her."

  "Get out then.” Aaron growled, shaking Shannon by the hair. “If you don't have the stomach for it then get the hell out of my sight!"

  Daniel looked back at Shannon then shook his head before he left the room, closing the door tight behind him.

  "Your friend is right, you've no idea the amount of trouble you could be starting here.” Shannon tried to keep the fear from taking control of her voice but the grip hadn't eased not even when Daniel had left the ro
om. “I can't break free, not with the chains on my ankles so why don't we try and talk about this, like adults?"

  "Bloody cheeky bitch. Do you think we're just a bunch of children?” He colored deeply until his entire face had turned bright red.

  "Well—I mean it's well known that many men can't take care of themselves too well and they need the guidance—of course I haven't had much experience and I wouldn't—I mean. Goddess I don't know what I mean."

  He didn't speak, not for a good few minutes then finally let go of her hair and stalked back towards the chair. “Women."

  She sat down on the furs, and tried to straight the chain so it wouldn't dig into her legs quite as much. “Is that the only insult you can come up with?"

  Had he been drinking?

  She took a deep breath but couldn't smell anything in the air that hinted at drink, or anything else that would cause a man to act this way.

  "I don't think anything else is needed do you?” A slight smile chased the darkness away from his gaze. “Anything else would be redundant."

  She rubbed at her ankle, then tried to comb her fingers through her hair. “So you grabbed me so you could start a war? Don't you think there would be a better way of doing that? One that wouldn't have you all instantly hunted down like animals."

  He was insane. Taking a woman from the street just to start a fight? What sort of lunatic would take a risk like that? It hadn't been thought through and from what little she now knew it was obvious he hadn't even discussed it with the other men he was teamed up with. That wouldn't make him popular if Daniel's reaction had been anything to go by.

  "Yes and no. That uniform was the final turning point for me. You'll work well enough to trigger the fight and I can enjoy a little extra time with you as well. Ah, of course, you think I was bluffing about my plans for you, don't you?"

  "I'm not sure.” She tried to smile but failed. “I don't know you well enough to make that judgment call."

  "If you're trying to play smart with me all you're going to do is piss me off.” Aaron frowned, his gaze narrowed on her ankles. “Maybe I should unlock those chains and start showing you just how I expect a woman to behave? But you wouldn't know how to react to a real man, would you? I could rip your clothing off you right here, right now and show you but you'd be a piece of ice beneath me."

  "You've no idea just what I'd be like!"

  "Well now, is that an invitation to find out?” His dark gaze narrowed on her face, a hunger burning within them that left her stomach knotted.

  This was all a bit over the top even for a holographic entertainment program. Had men really become that bad?

  THE END

  Book Two—Retribution—coming soon.

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