Uncharted

by Evangeline Anderson

  “Well, we can’t do anything about it now,” Elaina pointed out practically. “We need to find out more about where the silver sphere and the little healer are. And in order to do that, we need to get an invitation to Krumf’s Private Baths.”

  “You said we have to do something to catch his attention, right?” Terex frowned. “But what?”

  “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.” She yawned. “God, suddenly I’m so sleepy.”

  “Then you should rest. We both should.” Terex cupped her soft cheek in his palm. “Thank you, Elaina.”

  “You’re welcome. But what are you thanking me for?”

  “For listening to my story without judging me…without hating me as I hate myself,” he said seriously.

  “You need to stop with the self hate,” Elaina told him. “I can tell by talking to you how much you loved your wife. The two of you had something special—just because it didn’t fall inside the Kindred society’s norms doesn’t make it bad or evil.”

  He sighed. “I wish I could believe that.”

  “You should,” Elaina told him earnestly. “And while you’re at it, forgive yourself for what we’ve done here and what we’re going to have to keep doing until we get out of here. Remember, the priestess said you would have to embrace it.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” Terex said honestly. “But I suppose I should try to obey at least one of her commandments—she also told us to reveal our true selves and I didn’t do that.”

  Elaina yawned again. “About that—we’re not worried about the real Master Valdor coming back, are we?”

  “After all this time? Probably not.” Terex shook his head dismissively. “My belief is that he died somewhere in the far distant reaches of space, or perhaps he simply got lost in the Blind. At any rate, even adding in the possibility of time travel, the chances of him suddenly coming back now are, I would judge, slim to none.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Elaina sighed and snuggled into her pillow. “Because that would be super awkward.”

  “To say nothing of incredibly dangerous,” Terex remarked dryly. He settled beside her, propping the ridiculously rich gold brocade pillow beneath his head. But though he tried to relax, sleep eluded him.

  Finally, he realized what the problem was—he hadn’t slept in the same bed with anyone since Solange had passed to the other side.

  “Are you okay?” Elaina asked him softly. “You seem kind of restless over there.”

  “I am,” Terex admitted. “I haven’t slept with anyone since my mate died. It feels strange to sleep with a female…”

  “Do you want me to find someplace else to sleep?” she asked.

  “Gods, no! I don’t want to drive you out of bed.” He frowned. “And you didn’t let me finish. I was going to say it feels strange to sleep with a female but to be so far away from her. To not…” He cleared his throat. “To not hold her in my arms.”

  “Would you like to hold me?” she murmured, scooting closer to him. “Because if you want to…I don’t mind.”

  “I would love to.” Terex reached for her and she flowed to him as smooth and easily as water flows downhill. He tucked her much smaller body against his own, noticing that the top of her head fit perfectly under his chin. A warm feeling of contentment suffused him as he felt her snuggle against him.

  “Mmm…this is nice.” Elaina’s soft voice drifted up as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I haven’t slept with anyone in a long time either. It feels…right.”

  It felt right to Terex too—so right that he had to remind himself it was only temporary. We’re here on a mission, he reminded himself. And once we get what we need and leave this place, I still have to find Two’s scion and kill the son of a bitch.

  It startled him to realize that he hadn’t thought of his mission of vengeance in quite some time. It had occupied his thoughts completely after his last encounter with the Dark Kindred on the Mother Ship. The thought of vengeance and death had filled him like dark, muddy water, to the exclusion of everything else.

  Then Elaina had come into his life—had forced her way through the door he’d thought was barred and locked and welded shut. She’d let the light in and drained some of the fetid swamp of self loathing inside him.

  A question floated up inside him…

  Do I still long for death?

  He was surprised to find that he wasn’t sure anymore if bloody vengeance and a swift and honorable death were what he truly craved. The small female in his arms was warm and soft and tempting…though tempting him towards what, Terex couldn’t exactly say.

  Maybe after this is over we could build some kind of a life together, he thought. She hadn’t turned away from him when he’d revealed his past and she seemed as attracted to him as he was to her. Could it be possible that he could bond her to him and have the happiness he’d enjoyed with Solange?

  You don’t deserve happiness, whispered the hissing voice of guilt in his brain. Not after the things you did to Solange…the things you’re doing to Elaina now.

  Terex tried to push the voice away but he was only partially successful. Even as he drifted off to sleep with Elaina in his arms, his thoughts and dreams were troubled.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Oh, I’m so glad to see you again! Did you enjoy the banquet last night?” Jessa spoke freely instead of using the hand slang since they were in a room filled with women. An antechamber on the outer edges of the vast Royal Baths, which appeared to take up most of one entire wing of the palace.

  All around them women were laughing and taking off their clothing, getting ready to go into the main bathing area. Their voices echoed off the white and gray stone walls and bathing attendants, also women, moved among them, gathering and storing valuables in little bins labeled with the owner’s name and handing out “bathing garments” to each one.

  “Uh, yes. The banquet was…fun.” Elaina tried to smile. She noticed that the one item none of the women were removing was their collars. Damn, she’d hoped to have some time out of the solid gold ring around her neck. She’d gotten used to wearing it by now but she still didn’t like it much.

  “It’s always so exciting to come to the palace.” Jessa dropped her voice. “My favorite is when they give us the yummy silver syrup though—it makes me feel all tingly.”

  “It…uh, gave me the tingles too,” Elaina confessed, remembering the burning lust she’d experienced and the way Terex had helped her control it. To be honest, she was still feeling extremely hot and bothered this morning. Maybe sleeping in the big Kindred’s arms had something to do with that, she thought as she pulled the skimpy pale yellow silk outfit she’d been wearing over her head. Her eye was itching again too—she had no idea what that meant. When she got home, she fully intended to go to an ophthalmologist and get it checked out…

  “Elaina—are your nipples darker than they were before?” Jessa’s voice broke into her train of thought and Elaina saw that her friend was frowning as she surveyed her bared breasts. “And your pussy looks darker too. It’s such a deep pink it’s almost rose.”

  “I’m fine—I feel fine.” Elaina looked down at herself uneasily. Why were her nipples and outer pussy lips so dark? And why did she feel the same, urgent need she’d felt the night before when Terex had needed to “help” her?

  “You’re sure you don’t have the Need?” Jessa hissed in her ear. “Because if you think you do, you ought to get checked out.”

  “I’m sure I don’t,” Elaina said with more firmness than she felt.

  She couldn’t help remembering what Zerana had told her the night before—that the Need could be passed through touching or tears. She hadn’t touched the bare skin of any of the Needy Ones they’d met on the streets of the city yesterday but the woman she tried to help had been weeping copiously…

  No, don’t be ridiculous, she told herself. You’re fine—it’s just the after effects of that damn syrup.

  “I’m fine,” she said again. “I just h
ad…a reaction to the lanthum syrup. I’m human you know—not Nixian. It, uh, did this to me.” She gestured at herself.

  “All right.” Jessa still looked doubtful. “But you’d better put on your bathing garments and don’t let anyone important see you nude until that reaction goes away. Otherwise they might want to sequester you with the women of the Need Harem.”

  She nodded at the other half of the room, which was bisected by a curving, white, latticework of stone that went from the ceiling to the floor. Through the carved stonework, Elaina could see another group of women. They were all beautiful and young but there was a sadness on all their faces and they spoke little as they, too, changed for the Baths. Presumably they would be kept away from the general population and were only there to service Krumf.

  So sad! Elaina thought and caught a glimpse of long, black hair and big, dark eyes through the latticework—Zerana! Her friend from the night before looked up and saw Elaina watching her. She nodded slowly and then turned away.

  “Here—put this on.” A female attendant was suddenly there, thrusting a thin white garment into her hands. “Hurry, girls—your masters are waiting,” she called.

  Hastily, Elaina pulled the thin garment over her head. It was like a short, white slip made of the thinnest cloth imaginable. To her surprise, it didn’t have any slits for her nipples and pussy and thought it was short—it fell only to her upper thighs—at least everything was covered.

  “Wow—this is actually good,” Elaina murmured, smoothing the thin white slip-type garment down. She was glad to have something on that covered her private areas, even if the material was kind of thin.

  “There—I’ve got mine on. Are you ready to go?” Jessa asked.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Elaina cast a sidelong glance at her friend, who was wearing a white slip identical to her own. “Um, Jessa, has your master ever been invited to the Private Royal Baths?”

  “You mean has he been extended an invitation by his Supreme Excellency? Yes, of course.” Jessa preened importantly. “It’s very exclusive, you know. Not everyone can get in—only the ones the Supreme Leader deems worthy.”

  “Yes, but how do you get, uh, deemed worthy?” Elaina asked. “I mean, I heard you had to put on some kind of show or display to catch his Supreme Excellency’s eye.”

  “You do.” Jessa nodded.

  “But what kind of a show?” Elaina insisted.

  Her friend only giggled. “You’ll see. But whatever you do, just be certain you don’t speak, except to whisper in your master’s ear. The Bathing Chamber is considered a public space like the market because males and females mingle together, so speaking out isn’t allowed.”

  “All right,” Elaina said dryly. “My lips are sealed.”

  “Good. Come on—it’s time to go in.”

  She took Elaina by the arm and led her through the throng of women, all dressed in plain white slips, to the door that led into the main bathing area.

  The double doors opened wide, revealing a large, echoing chamber of black and white marble with hot-tub-type pools scattered around as well as wooden benches for sitting and lying.

  There were already plenty of masters milling around, clearly waiting for their slaves. Elaina had time to wonder where Terex was and what he would be wearing and then a jet of what felt like warm water mixed with some kind of slippery lubricant shot her right in the chest.

  “What the—” She looked down at herself in shock and saw a huge wet patch spreading over the front of her thin white bathing garment. The water-mixture not only soaked the flimsy cloth, it made it mold to every curve, hugging her breasts and displaying her nipples and pussy so that it looked like she was in some kind of wet T-shirt contest.

  “Hurry up and turn around,” a burly female attendant who had been standing just outside the double doors hissed at her in a low voice. “I need to do your ass before you can go in.”

  She was holding something in her hands that looked, at first glance, to be something like the Super Soaker 2000 water gun Elaina’s nephew had gotten for his eighth birthday when he was younger. Only instead of being brightly colored plastic, this was made of some black and silver metal and looked like it meant business.

  “But I—” Before she could protest further, the woman laid one meaty hand on her shoulder and spun her around. Another blast of warm, slippery liquid plastered the back of the bathing garment to her ass and then Elaina was given a rude shove to get her out of the way so other slaves could get the same treatment.

  Looking up, she saw the masters had crowded to the front of the bathing area, watching avidly as each woman got sprayed in turn. The whole thing was beginning to feel like a sex show she’d been thrust into without her knowledge or consent—which pretty much described her entire experience on this awful planet.

  This is humiliating! Elaina thought as what felt like hundreds of pairs of male eyes crawled over her body. She tried to tug the wet (and now cold) fabric away from her breasts but it clung to her like plastic wrap, refusing to be dislodged for long. The chilly material made her nipples peak embarrassingly and she felt like everyone was looking at her because of her “exotic” skin color. The other slaves’ bodies were much less visible beneath the wet, white slips because of their ghostly white pallor.

  Jessa had already been called away by the Ambassador so Elaina was on her own, feeling naked and vulnerable. Slowly, she turned in a circle, searching the crowd and trying not to make eye-contact with anyone.

  Where is Terex? She looked around for him, wishing he would show up and claim her. Despite his old guilt at the previous D/s relationship he’d apparently been in with his wife before she died, he didn’t seem to have any trouble making it known that she was his. Elaina wished he would do exactly that right now. There were new males in this crowd in the big Bathing Room—faces she hadn’t seen at the banquet the night before—and she could hear them talking about her.

  There were three in particular—one tall and thin with a narrow face, another short and squat with a beefy physique, and a third wispy little guy who wasn’t much taller than Elaina herself. All three had the triple ringed eyes and pale skin of the Nixians. They were bare-chested and wearing rolled-up trousers made of the same thin white material as her shift. At their crotches, Elaina saw three very distinct bulges. They stared at her avidly and spoke openly, as though she either couldn’t hear them or couldn’t understand what they were saying.

  “That coloring! So different. I like how tan she is.”

  “Look at her tits! The nipples are so dark!”

  “Her cunt is juicy too—a little slave slut like that just needs to be fucked.”

  Crap! Folding her arms over her thrusting breasts, Elaina edged to the side, trying to get away from the three Nixian males. They were looking at her like she was a piece of meat and they were a hungry group of hyenas. To her dismay, they followed her.

  “Hello, little slave—where are you going?” the tallest one asked. He had green and brown and yellow eyes that were filled with hungry lust.

  “Yes, who do you belong to? Or are you one of the complimentary slaves his Supreme Excellency provides?” the beefy one asked.

  “No—she’s not. She’s collared, see?” the wispy guy said, frowning.

  “Doesn’t matter. You know the law—if her master isn’t here to claim her, she’s fair game.” The first male made a grab for her but Elaina danced away, evading his touch.

  “Come on now, little female, don’t be shy.” The beefy one reached for her and managed to snag the wet fabric of her bathing garment.

  Elaina tried to pull away but couldn’t—though it was thin, the material didn’t rip and the male holding her was horribly strong.

  “Come on now, baby,” he murmured, reeling her in. “Let me taste those sweet lips before you wrap them around my cock.”

  “Don’t! Don’t touch me!” The words broke from her lips, ringing in the echoing stone bathing chamber. Too late, she realized hers was the
only female voice in the room. It rose high above the low muttering grumble of the male tones all around, causing heads to turn and people to stare at her with shock and disapproval.

  “She spoke to me!” the male holding her exclaimed, looking at his two friends. “Did you hear that? This little slave-slut actually had the nerve to speak to me in public without my permission!”

  “Not only that—she’s trying to deny you. To deny all of us,” pointed out the tall one.

  “She can’t do that.” The third one laughed trollishly. “Well, she can try but it won’t do any good.”

  “You little slut.” The beefy male gripped her by her long hair and pulled her head back, glaring down into her face. “How dare you try to deny us?”

  “Better fuck her hard—teach her a lesson,” snarled his tall, narrow-faced friend.

  Elaina felt a rush of anger and fear flooding her. People were just standing around watching the scene unfold and no one was doing a thing to stop it. Was she really about to be raped by these three assholes just because they felt like having her?

  Not if I can help it!

  “I’ll teach you a lesson!” she gasped and hiked her knee as hard as she could into the crotch of the male who was holding her.

  Her shot went home, probably because he hadn’t been trying to protect himself. He clearly hadn’t expected any kind of resistance at all—the idea that a mere female “slave” might fight back didn’t even enter his mind until Elaina lashed out.

  “Ungh!” He made a choked gagging sound and let go of Elaina, grabbing for his wounded balls instead.

  The other two males just stood there for a moment, looking shocked. It seemed to Elaina they were staring at her like she had assaulted them. And in fact, the other people in the crowded Bathing Room chamber were looking at her the same way—like she’d done something horribly wrong—committed some unforgivable act and they couldn’t believe they’d witnessed it.