But Dree thought she saw a small kindling of fear in those dark eyes.
Borna licked her lips, ignoring the warrior’s question, and stepped forward. “I can see nothing has changed among my people. You have nothing better to do than come after me? Don’t you have a castle to pillage, or something?”
“At least you don’t deny your Bortan heritage.” The Bortan looked over Borna at the men standing close by and then reached for Borna. “Her mouth is not the only thing that is trouble. I assure you, she is a known thief.”
“No,” Dree cried out, when the Bortan took Borna by the arm and led her to the carrier.
The guard nearest stepped forward keeping her from running after Borna. She turned on him. “She followed me here. She saved my life. You can’t let them just take her.”
“Be grateful they were only after her, and not you.” The guard gestured for her to walk toward the home. “We’ll be happy to help you get back to wherever you were going.”
“I was going to the castle.” Dree pointed at the departing carrier. The gods only knew what was in store for Borna. “I wanted to find my people. Borna tried to get me away from the Bortan when they would have seized me there. She saved my ass and this is how we reward her?”
She stopped talking, her breathing coming almost in gasps making it hard to form words. Turning away from the warriors she looked at the glider Borna had flown. If only she were better at driving one of those things.
Frustration soared through her, the intense feeling of being alone hitting her hard. Always there had been others to lean on, others to fight for, others to turn to. But now Dree realized she was on her own. No one would help her. No one would go after Borna. First there had been the few of them left from Poltar, now Borna. She couldn’t let all of them die simply because of her inabilities. Borna had tried to teach her to be strong, to fight for herself.
Tears welled in her eyes and she swiped at them angrily. There was no time for self-pity. There wasn’t time for anything but action.
“We have a transmission from Kopah-Torl.” One of the guards behind her spoke, but Dree didn’t bother to turn around.
“Let them know that Borna has been taken by the Bortan.” She waved her hand in the air and then strolled over to the glider. She needed to gather the nerve to climb back on that thing.
“We can’t let you leave.” The tall warrior who had spoken to the Bortan stepped closer to her.
She turned to face him. “Am I a prisoner here?”
Her heart pounded with her newfound nerve. Just a week ago she wouldn’t have been able to speak to someone in authority like this.
His expression was relaxed when he shook his head. “The kingdom isn’t safe right now. There are looters everywhere, not to mention the Bortan.”
“I have nothing worth stealing.” She clasped her hands together in front of her to keep them from shaking visibly. The man’s size alone blocked most of the suns’ rays from her. He had to be larger even than Marc Torin.
“Are you Dree of Torl?” The other guard approached them, the wires from a communication device hanging from his ear down the front of his chest.
When she nodded, he gestured back toward the house. “The transmission is for you.”
For a moment she couldn’t catch her breath. He had already mentioned the transmission came from Kopah-Torl and Marc was there. Was he seeking her out? For a moment she thought she wouldn’t be able to move. Charges of nervous energy rushed through her with enough intensity she feared she would make a fool out of herself, babbling like a fool while asking who it was.
“Okay,” she managed to stutter, putting a foot forward to walk to the house.
She ended up hurrying, reality slowly gripping her that her time was limited. Borna needed her. No matter how desperately she wanted to see Marc, to touch him, hear his voice, his life wasn’t at stake. Borna’s was.
Dree took the seat as instructed and adjusted the microphone to her mouth after the guard clasped it over her head. One piece pressed against her ear and the other against her lips. She stared at the monitor while the guard pushed a button.
“Okay. The transmission’s open,” he told her, and walked over toward the door.
She noticed he didn’t leave though. Her attention quickly focused to the screen. The lump in her throat quickly settled to her stomach when Marla’s pretty face appeared before her.
“Thank God you are safe,” her previous mistress said with a heavy sigh.
Dree couldn’t ignore the well of disappointment that it wasn’t Marc Torin who had wanted to speak to her. She straightened, accepting the fact that he had bigger matters to tend to other than her. Once again she told herself that she was on her own.
“The Bortans took Borna.” She spoke quickly, at the same time trying to figure out some way to go after her friend.
Dree took pause with that realization. Borna terrified her, yet she just thought of her as a friend.
Marla frowned at the news, glancing to the side. Dree guessed Trev stood nearby. She didn’t want to talk to him, not after last night. Humiliation rushed through her.
“She was told to go get you and bring you back here.” Marla ran her hand over her white hair, her pale gray eyes staring straight at her. “Why did you run, Dree? Was it because of last night?”
Dree straightened. “I’m no longer a sex slave. You yourself freed me.”
Marla nodded, her voice becoming quiet. “I know that, Dree. You could have said no.”
And that was just it. She doubted she would ever be able to tell her previous mistress no. “It’s hard to change overnight. But I realized that after agreeing to fuck Trev for you that I had made a mistake. And I couldn’t tell you that.”
Marla licked her lips, glancing down for a moment before adjusting in her chair. Dree didn’t want to think that she might have just hurt her feelings. But somehow it felt good to be honest. Strength seemed to ripple through her at her acknowledgment.
“What happened, happened,” she said. “I hope that Trev enjoyed himself, but I won’t deny that today I am driven with guilt for what I’ve done.”
It surprised her when Marla smiled. “Who have you fallen in love with, Dree?”
Dree looked at the screen, shocked. Heat rushed through her, her cheeks suddenly burning with embarrassment. “Fallen in love?” She barely was able to choke out the words. “Why would you say that?”
“If you feel guilty then it’s because you are worried how someone might react to the knowledge of what you have done.”
Dree would die if she found out Marc Torin was anywhere nearby to hear what Marla said. She glanced around the room, the guard at the door watching her with a serious expression. She swore there was a twinkle in his eye though. Returning her attention to the monitor, she readjusted her mouthpiece, and looked into the eyes of her former mistress.
“I feel guilty because I have praised myself for being independent, making it to your farm on my own, and then collapsing the first time I had the opportunity to say no to having sex with a man that I didn’t want.” Her words were cross. She knew they were.
Marla’s expression grew serious, her smile fading fast. “I think you are more independent than you may have realized.”
She had hurt Marla. And if ever the opportunity arose, she would make it up to her. But right now, she needed to get past her regression the night before, and move forward.
“Mistress.” It was still so hard for her to call her by her first name. “Marla,” she corrected herself, and took a deep breath. “What do you know about Borna? Is she a…a thief?”
Marla shook her head. “Borna has a colorful past. She has shared bits and pieces of it with me in confidence. But as long as she has been with us she has worked hard and shown her trustworthiness. I would defend her credibility.”
That was good enough for Dree. “The Bortan took her, accusing her of thievery. And these men here won’t do anything about it. I need to go after her.”
“You ca
n’t rescue her from the Bortan.” Marla spoke the simple truth, as much as she hated hearing it.
“And I swear to all of the gods that I will whip your ass if you so much as try.” Marc Torin’s voice boomed throughout the room.
Dree about jumped out of her seat, her heart exploding in her chest while the communication wires tangled around her face. She turned quickly, struggling to stand, but then having to sit down when the wires strained against her.
“What is it?” she heard Marla ask in her ear.
Dree didn’t turn around to face the monitor though. She couldn’t look away from the tall man who entered the room and didn’t stop until he stood over her. Soft brown curls drifted around Marc’s face while he looked down at her. His blue eyes burned with a passion that matched the heat she felt inside of her. His broad shoulders, covered by the long traveling cape he wore, blocked her view of anyone else.
She let her gaze travel down his body, the flushed heat she’d experienced moments before smoldering into something much more sensual. Her fingers itched to reach out and touch him. More than anything she wanted to stand, and then collapse against that hard body. But she couldn’t move, could barely breathe. Suddenly everything around her was Marc Torin. He stood over her, so powerful, so dominating, and she was barely able to manage a thought.
“Dree. Tell me you are okay.” The concern in Marla’s voice helped shake the spell Marc suddenly had over her.
Dree turned slowly away from the massive man who stood way too close to her for her to think straight. Her pussy began pulsating with demanding need while she worked to gather her thoughts.
“I’m fine,” she managed to say. “I’ll stay in touch with you. I promise.”
“Borna has a way of getting herself out of strange predicaments,” Marla added quickly. “Contact me soon.”
Dree nodded and then pulled the headset from her head. Marc reached over her and pushed a button, causing the screen to go blank.
“I ought to bend you over my knee right now for taking off on me like you did,” he whispered, turning to look her in the face before he straightened.
When he did, he pulled Dree up with him. “Leave us,” he told the guards, not bothering to look behind him.
Dree couldn’t see who else was in the room, but she heard the door close, and knew suddenly she was alone with Marc Torin.
“You left me,” she started to say, but her words were devoured by his mouth.
Marc crushed her to him, his powerful arms wrapping around her, stealing her breath, and nearly lifting her from the ground. His lips burned against hers, moist heat rushing through her brain, attacking her senses.
Dree clung to him, holding on to his cloak while she leaned back, arching into him and deepening their kiss. Never had she experienced such power, such raw and untamed domination from just a kiss. Marc commanded her senses, and took from her without questions. His demands were clear, his intentions driven with an intensity that would not be denied.
Everything inside her burned alive while his tongue dove deep inside her mouth, claiming her, fucking her just as his cock would her pussy. Her breasts smashed against his rock-hard chest while her cunt grew wet, the pulsating turning into a fierce throbbing as the ache in her grew, bordering on pain.
Her lips tingled when he pulled away. Her eyes fluttered open, as she took a minute to focus. His face was so close to hers, looking down at her with orbs so blue she wanted to drown in them.
“You left me, my dear,” he whispered, adjusting her in his arms and rubbing his gloved fingers across her cheek. “It will not happen again.”
Marc offered her no time to respond. He took her with a savage kiss, branding her, restating his claim.
Something about the smoothness of his gloves, trailing paths across her skin, sent chills through her body. Anticipation ran through her, pain throbbing from deep inside her, wanting nothing more than to beg him to fuck her.
And his words. What did he mean by them? What she wouldn’t give for hours with this man. Just the two of them. She wanted to know his thoughts, what made him tick, and every inch of his body. Yes. The desire to devour everything he could give her almost consumed her.
Taking a step backward, the chair behind her pressing against the back of her legs, she instantly mourned his body no longer being pressed against hers. But she had to clear her head of him—just for a minute. He took her hair in his gloved hand, twisting it, pulling it until she was forced to look up at him.
“Borna needs help.” She said the first thing that came to mind, knowing her words confused him by his expression.
The lust-filled cloud lifted from those incredible blue eyes while slight lines of confusion creased his forehead. “And who is this Borna?”
“She worked at Kopah-Torl and came after me when I left there. The Bortan took her right before you got here.” Before he could speak, tell her there was nothing she could do about it, she pulled away from him, putting the chair between him. He had to see how important this was. “Marc. She worked with me, tried to teach me to fight, to shoot, to defend myself. I owe her my help. The Bortan will kill her.”
Something darkened in his expression. She sensed disapproval and straightened, willing herself to be strong in front of this powerful man. His devastating good looks almost brought her to her knees, but she wouldn’t be controlled by her body. Lust for him would only keep her where she’d been for years. And if all he wanted from her was her body, it would be best to know that now. Because she had a mind too, one she planned to use.
Marc turned, opening the door. “Where did the Bortan take the woman who was here?” he asked, his voice calm.
She heard instant movement, shuffling coming from the outer room, although she couldn’t see past his massive frame.
Minutes passed and Dree didn’t dare think about what their response might be. Images of them torturing Borna slowly while she screamed for mercy, or of her fighting with everything she had until she took her last breath, plagued her to the point where she could barely move.
“We’ve a position on the carrier that left here,” one of the men beyond Marc finally spoke up. “It’s parked on one of the roads not too far from here.”
Dree took a step toward Marc. “Why would it just be parked?”
He didn’t turn around to acknowledge her. “Have someone check it out.”
Dree touched the long cloak that covered his backside, feeling the warmth from him travel through her fingers. Marc turned slowly, looking down at her, his expression soft, but guarded.
“And this is what you did while at this farm? You learned to fight?” he asked her, but she knew he wanted every detail.
Her heart constricted, worry cloaking her as to how he would react from the knowledge that she’d surrendered to her old mistress, obliged when asked for the sexual favor.
The room they were in suddenly seemed too small, his presence too overwhelming. She didn’t know his temper, but wasn’t ready to find out under such close quarters. “They took me in as a servant,” she told him, not able to look up at his face. She focused on the edge of his collar, the soft chest hair that peeked out over the material taunting her. “Borna worked with me in the evenings.”
He didn’t say anything. Guilt swam around her. Never before had having sex with another man affected her like this. She didn’t want to hurt Marc, or let him see her weakness when it came to her previous mistress. She wanted to be strong, and more than anything, she wanted him to see her that way.
The outer door to the house opened, shuffling behind him a welcome distraction.
“We’ve got an occurrence.” Trent Dar spoke from behind them.
Her breath got caught in her throat. The Gren was the last person she’d expected to ever hear again. But thank the gods he was alive.
Oh shit.
She had run from Marc for nothing. Well, it would be the last time.
Chapter Fifteen
Something had happened to Dree while she w
as at Kopah-Torl. Marc knew she held back information from him and had a feeling it wasn’t pleasant. For the moment, he would be satisfied knowing she was safe, and back by his side. He didn’t have time to focus on why that mattered so much to him. But something about this small woman with the shiny white hair and touching gray eyes reached a part of him he hadn’t even known he had.
He walked into the main room of the house they had taken over as a small headquarters on the outskirts of the kingdom.
“Fill me in,” he told the Gren, aware that Dree moved alongside him.
“A small troop of Bortan has landed in a shuttle just north of Torin.” Trent Dar shoved his long cloak over his shoulders, moving over to the cooler where he helped himself to a drink. “The ships are barely in the outer atmosphere so the only conclusion at the moment is that somehow they have another vessel that we haven’t tracked.”
He didn’t have to say a word to his man at the communication board. Marc looked down at the monitor in front of his officer, while the screen showing the orbiting satellites appeared.
“We’ve got a hold on three ships,” the officer told him.
Marc saw the small bleeps that showed him that the ships were indeed moving close to being in orbit. Anger brewed through him. He would not lose Benox because King Sorale was fool enough to invite these surgically altered assholes to his planet.
“We need to secure the kingdom,” Trent said. The Gren stood looking outside the window by the door. “It’s time to take this place down.”
“Agreed.” Marc looked down at Dree, who seemed focused on the monitor showing the satellites and incoming ships. Things would get ugly and he needed to find a place where she would be secure and protected. “Bring in another ten thousand men. Find the King and bring him to me. Do whatever it takes to bring the kingdom under my control.”
Dree glanced his way, her gray eyes deep with worry. He looked forward to the day when he could spend his time leisurely learning every inch of her. The soft silky feel of her hair, the smooth texture of her unmarked skin, her curves, soft breasts, and her sweet erotic taste—all of it. He wanted to know her better than he knew himself.
Sex Slaves 2: Waiting For Yesterday Page 16
