Savage Desire (The Infinite City Book 4)

by Tiffany Roberts

  Yuri brushed a fingertip over the cut. It was sore, but not painful. She probably wouldn’t have felt it at all a few hours from now. “Um…I think they might’ve removed my ID chip.”

  Fire flashed in Thargen’s yellow eyes. “Magama’s flailing teats, these fuckers are—” His mouth curled into a brief grimace, and he grunted, letting out a little hiss through his teeth before he seemed to compose himself. “Feels like a tralix stomped on my head.”

  Yuri could relate; her head was pounding. At least the light was dim, if not enough so to mask everyone’s nakedness.

  As though of their own accord, Yuri’s eyes dipped again, running over the expanse of Thargen’s chest and his rippling abs. It wasn’t like she could help it—Thargen was just so…big. Her gaze moved lower still to his pierced cock. Big everywhere. He commanded her attention, and she was helpless but to obey.

  “You want cock, ji’tas?” Iljibi asked.

  The cren’s words were enough to snap Yuri out of her trance. Thargen’s body was a good distraction from the current situation, but it wasn’t enough to make her forget she was naked in a cage. She turned her head to look at the cren.

  Iljibi had eased closer to the wall separating their cells. Fortunately, the bars were too closely spaced for him to fit an arm through, but he’d apparently found good use for the hand that wasn’t clasping the bars—it was pumping his erect shaft. She looked away quickly, grateful that the shadows had spared her the details.

  “That vorgal don’t deserve a taste of terran slit. Iljibi can feed you, terran. Come closer and open that mouth.”

  Thargen was suddenly up, and before Yuri could react, he lunged at the cren. His body struck the bars heavily, and he slammed his head against them, making the metal resonate with a deep clang.

  Yuri gasped.

  Iljibi started and fell back onto his ass, kicking himself away from the bars.

  Thargen snickered. The muscles of his arms, shoulders, and back bulged. “Stick it through, cren. Don’t be a fucking coward.”

  The cren laughed; the sound was tinged with nervousness despite the bars between him and Thargen. “What you gonna do? You don’t got a collar, but you’re trussed up better than any of us.”

  The air in the cage seemed hotter than before, as though Thargen were somehow putting out far more heat. She recalled how hot his skin had been after the bar fight; he’d only begun to cool while she was tending his wounds.

  Thargen grunted so deeply it seemed to make the bars vibrate. “Don’t need hands to deal with the likes of you, you skeks-spawned shit stain.”

  “We in cages. Nothing you can do.”

  In a low, low voice, Thargen said, “We’re in cages now. You don’t wanna be on my bad side when we get out.” He stepped back from the bars and turned to face Yuri. His legs bent as though he were about to sit, but he paused, and his eyes widened as he raked his gaze over her.

  Before her eyes—literally, as her head was nearly level with his crotch—his cock pulsed and swelled…and the distance between the rungs of his metal-studded ladder increased along with it.

  Oh yeah, definitely a grower.

  And as his erection angled upward, she saw he had those same piercings on the underside, as well.

  She’d never thought anything about body piercings on a guy before, but seeing them on Thargen…she liked them. She really liked them.

  Her sex clenched, and her nipples hardened to achy little points, making her especially glad that she’d covered her chest. She knew this wasn’t the time or place, but that didn’t stop her body’s natural reaction to his.

  His cock wasn’t too different from a human’s with the exception of the thicker bulges on the sides of his shaft and a collection of little nodules on the underside of the head. His heavy scrotum seemed little affected by the cold.

  Yuri dragged her eyes up to find him still staring at her body.

  “You’re naked,” he said.

  Fresh heat suffused her. She cleared her throat. “Uh, so are you.”

  “Yeah, but I’d already noticed that.”

  “How are you not freaking out right now?”

  He shrugged, and without looking away from her, carefully lowered himself into a sitting position, belying the deadly speed with which he’d charged the cren not a minute before. Once he was down, he stretched his legs out, placing them to either side of her.

  Not going to look again.

  “It won’t do any good,” he said. “Not yet.”

  She crossed her ankles and hugged her legs tighter to her chest. “So…we just wait?”

  “Yup. It’ll give my head a chance to stop spinning.”

  Yuri quirked a brow. “I’m sure headbutting the bars didn’t help.”

  “Nah, that has nothing to do with it. I have a naturally hard head.” His gaze drifted up toward the ceiling, and he nodded to himself. “It’s probably that void venom you served me. Hit harder than that onigox could. And maybe whatever shit they darted us with, too.”

  The dart. How had she forgotten about that? She and Thargen had left Starlight Trance through the loading dock, and they’d been talking as he walked her home. Then she’d felt a wasp sting her backside—only it hadn’t been a wasp, but some kind of tranquilizer dart. Even now, her ass felt bruised, though the coolness of the floor had dulled the soreness.

  “Doesn’t mean much, but I’m sorry, Yuri.”

  Yuri frowned. “Why? This isn’t your fault.”

  “Said I’d get you home. Unless you wanna pretend we’re taking the long way, I fucked up pretty bad.”

  “Thargen, I don’t blame you for this. And they darted you, too, right? What could you have done?”

  He made a sound that was half-grunt, half-laugh. “They did. Four or five times, I think. And hit me with a bunch of stun batons. Hard to count…memory is pretty fuzzy, and I was pretty focused on punching everything within arm’s reach.”

  It was no wonder he was covered in bruises. Having seen him in action, Yuri could only imagine how much damage he’d inflicted before their assailants had finally brought him down. And despite having done everything he could, Thargen was blaming himself for not protecting her. That made her chest ache.

  Yuri shifted a little closer to him, her movement restricted by her unwillingness to expose herself to any onlookers—particularly Iljibi, whose gaze she could feel upon her like it were a physical, stomach-souring touch. “Thargen, you don’t need to apologize. Maybe…maybe it’s because of me that you’re here.”

  He laughed, and that laughter was so genuine and good-humored that it caught Yuri completely off guard. “We haven’t known each other long, but come on, Yuri. If it weren’t this, you know I would’ve found some other kinda trouble before the night was through. If you wanna say this isn’t my fault, it definitely isn’t yours.”

  Thargen pressed his heels against the floor and bent his legs, dragging himself closer to her. The more his body blocked her view of the other cells and filled her awareness, the better she felt.

  He tilted his chin down, and his intense golden eyes held hers. “I’m gonna get you out of this,” he rumbled, voice low—these words were just for her. “I’ll get you home.”

  “As long as you’re safe, too,” she whispered.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve been through much worse than this.”

  She wanted to say more—wanted him to say more—but a mechanical whir called her attention toward the far end of the room before anymore words could be spoken.

  Thargen climbed onto his feet and turned to face the sound, his movements allowing Yuri a glimpse of the open door at the end of the walkway.

  A tall borian with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long, silver hair stepped through the open doorway. He was dressed in a coat that looked like black leather, snug gray pants, and tall boots. The door slid shut with a metallic bang a few seconds after he’d crossed the threshold.

  Many of the caged aliens recoiled from the walkway as he strode past,
retreating into the meager solace of the shadows gathered at the rears of the cages.

  The borian ignored everything until he reached Yuri and Thargen’s cage, where he stopped and turned to face them. He had those chiseled, elfin features common to his race, accented by thick, sharply angled brows and a mean slant to his mouth.

  “Good. You’re both awake. That means I won’t have to repeat any of this,” the borian said.

  “Might as well just open the cage now,” Thargen replied. “It’ll save you a lot of trouble later.”

  The borian’s hard expression didn’t change. “You have a lot of fight in you, vorgal. I respect that. Hell, I would’ve tried recruiting you if you hadn’t kicked the shit out of three of my people. I’m sure you understand that I couldn’t just let that go. Especially not when there was a terran involved.”

  His eyes—the cool, pale gray of bare tristeel—shifted fully to Yuri. She cringed away from his stare, moving farther back in the cell until her back was against the solid wall.

  Thargen stepped in front of her, blocking the borian from her view. “You don’t get to talk to her.”

  “After last night’s display, I know you have a thick skull,” the borian said, “so let me explain this simply. You’re both slaves now. We had this shipment ready to go to a buyer on Caldorius, and you nearly caused us a delay in our departure. Vrykhan does not like to wait for his goods, and my boss doesn’t want trouble with that tretin. You fucked with us at the wrong time. So now I’m making an example of you and getting paid for the trouble you caused. Your little terran ji’tas will fetch prime credits on the market, even if we don’t offer her as a sex-slave, and you…a half mad vanguard should get some good bids on the arena scene.”

  Thargen’s hands curled into fists, and the muscles and tendons of his arms bulged. Once again, the air around him warmed.

  “Any other night, I would’ve had my people beat you to a pulp and move on,” the borian continued. “We’re smugglers, not slavers. Consider yourselves special for having pissed me off just enough to make me dip my toes in flesh wrangling.”

  Thargen shook his head and chuckled. “You have a name? I wanna know what to call you when I tell my friends about how fucking stupid you were.”

  “Taeraal,” the borian replied evenly. “That’s the name you can curse every time they’re about to throw you in the fighting pit. The name she can spit right before her new owner plunges into her tight little slit.”

  “I’m not always good with names, Taeraal, but I’ll remember yours,” Thargen said. “I’ll be sure to tell you mine right before I spill the last few drops of your blood on the ground.”

  “You don’t seem to understand your situation, vorgal. That’s not how this ends for you. We’ll touch down on Caldorius in a week, and I’ll be gone within a day of offloading you—a fuck of a lot richer and with a couple fewer headaches. For you, though…well, that’s just the start of your suffering.”

  “I understand fine. You’re a talker. You talk shit and have your people back it up.” Thargen leaned toward the front of the cell. “When I talk shit, I back it up. I’m going to kill you, Taeraal, before this is all done. It’s just gonna be you and me, and no one will back up your talking. And my only regret when I’m done is that I won’t be able to kill you a second time.”

  Taeraal uttered a brief, humorless laugh. “And I don’t need to kill you, vorgal, or the terran. Because what you’re going to face is so much worse. Now settle in and get comfortable. You have a long ride ahead.”

  The borian’s boots clomped on the floor, and he crossed into Yuri’s view as he strode to the door, opened it, and went through, all without a backward glance. The door clanged shut behind him.

  That sound echoed with a dreadful finality.

  This is real. Oh God, this is real.

  Some part of Yuri had held out hope that this was some fucked up dream, a nightmare, an alcohol-induced hallucination. That it was anything but reality. This was so far removed from the virtual games she’d played back home. She couldn’t just shut this off, reload a previous save, or start a new game. This was real, and it was everything her parents had warned her and Takashi about when the siblings had announced their decision to immigrate to Arthos.

  Yuri’s throat tightened, and her breaths came short and quick, each more of a struggle than the last. Pain seized her chest. She shifted a hand to cover her heart, which pounded rapidly beneath her palm. Uncomfortable heat was spreading just beneath the surface of her skin, contrasted by a chill so deep that it set her to trembling. Her vision narrowed, dimming, as her head swam. It felt like the room were spinning around her.

  She turned her body so she was perpendicular to the wall, leaned her shoulder and forehead against it, and closed her eyes.

  “Yuri,” Thargen said gently, his voice breaking through the ringing in her ears.

  She opened her eyes to find him kneeling beside her, torso leaning close.

  “Breathe, Yuri. Deep breaths,” he said, holding her gaze. “In and out.”

  Yuri took in a long, shaky inhalation through her nose and slowly released it through her mouth.

  “That’s it, terran. Keep breathing.”

  She obeyed without looking away from his golden eyes. Gradually, the tightness in her chest eased and the heat under her skin faded.

  “I will get you out of this, zoani,” Thargen said in that low, just-for-her voice. “Remember? I still owe you a slice of cake.”

  Unbidden, a small laugh escaped her, pushing away her lingering panic. She blinked, and tears fell down her cheeks. “I hope it’s chocolate.”

  “Anything you want. Even if I have to take you to Earth to get it.” His lips quirked in a smile that had no business being as charming as it was. “Fair warning, they may not let me onto your planet if you don’t vouch for me very thoroughly.”

  Yuri laughed again as she reached up and wiped her cheeks. “I would. And that means something, since my sister, Kaiya, works for the Ministry of Interplanetary relations. I’ll even buy you a few rounds when we get there.”

  “You talking ammunition or drinks?”

  She smiled. “Which would you cause the least amount of trouble with?”

  Thargen grinned around his tusks. “Doesn’t matter. We’re bound to have an interesting time either way.”

  Yuri was simultaneously amused and horrified by his nonchalant attitude. How could he be so calm? How could he so easily act like everything would work out fine? But oddly enough…she did find comfort in his demeanor, in his confidence, no matter how crazy it should’ve seemed.

  The tension seeped out of her body, and the last of that heat vanished, leaving only cold in its wake. Shivering, she squeezed her legs tighter against her chest, but the chill would not diminish.

  Wordlessly—and more than a bit awkwardly—Thargen walked forward on his knees until he was at her back. With a series of soft grunts, he shifted a foot forward, gently nudging her hip away from the wall to slide his left leg alongside her. He moved his other leg into position on her opposite side, leaving his knee bent to create a little wall between her and the cold, bleak little world she was currently trapped in. Heat radiated from his body. She longed for more of it, and he obliged a moment later by scooting forward until he was snug against her back—including his thick, pulsing shaft.

  “Lean against me, zoani,” he said. Though his voice was soft, she felt it rumbling in his chest. “I have plenty of warmth to spare.”

  Yuri looked at him over her shoulder. His eyes were even more heated than his skin, and even though those golden, predatory orbs were the sort of thing you were supposed to run from in the middle of the night, there was a gentleness in them that made her feel safe.

  She turned her body again, this time to face the wall, and shifted her weight onto her hip so she could lay against his chest. She kept her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around her. His skin was as hot as a furnace, and she soaked up as much of that heat as she could—
while trying hard to ignore that club of a cock jutting against her side. She rubbed her cheek against his pec and closed her eyes. His heart pounded beneath her ear, strong and steady.

  Think of the positive, Yuri. This situation may be shit, but you have your very own sexy orc right here letting you cuddle him like he’s a big ole teddy bear. It could be much, much worse.

  She sighed contently and murmured, “This is nice.”

  “Wish I could put my arms around you,” he rumbled.

  “Me too.”

  Five

  Thargen tipped his head against the wall, closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath through his nostrils. The air had that stale, recycled taste typical on many spaceships—but it was sweeter than any he’d ever breathed thanks to Yuri’s fragrance permeating it.

  They’d sat like this for a long while, with his shoulder on the wall and Yuri tucked against his chest. He had no way of knowing how much time had passed. Hours, most likely, though it could’ve been days for all he knew. The multitude of aches in his body flared and faded with no discernable pattern. Most of them were from the street fight, and would be healed soon enough, but the worst by far was the discomfort in his shoulders, caused by the unnatural position in which his arms were restrained.

  And as far as he’d seen, he was the only one in any of the cages with manacles on. Everyone else—except Yuri—had metal slave collars around their necks. His restraints made sense; though his memory of the capture was hazy, he knew he’d inflicted heavy damage on his attackers. They feared him.

  What he didn’t understand was why he and Yuri hadn’t been fitted with those collars. As far as he was aware, slavers and slave owners used those things pretty often to keep their slaves in line.