“It’s good to have you back, Gurruulat.”
Chapter 10
Dee didn’t expect clothes, but being marched through the ship wearing only Deep Voice’s blood wasn’t a pleasant experience. Not only was she disgusted by the lingering taste in her mouth, which clung to her tongue no matter how many times she’d tried to scrape it along her teeth, but her neck and jaw itched as the blood dried. Those delightful sensations took a backseat to her more acute discomfort, however.
The corridors quickly crowded with hungry-eyed Pirates angling for a peek at the naked human woman. The commander’s naked human. The news of her discovery must have spread like wildfire, because the eager voyeurs numbered in the hundreds. If their lustful gazes were anything to go on, they’d missed having scores of slaves to abuse and rape at will, and they relished the opportunity to focus their perverted attention on her.
The disconnect between Pirates and Peacekeepers had never been more obvious.
After experiencing love and trust with Tugarth, she was even more disgusted by the males who leered at her. She’d hoped to never be at the mercy of these brutes again, but at least she’d gotten the chance to fall in love before being subjected to their brutality a second time. That was a singular bright spot she kept anchored in her mind, and it helped her to ignore the crass commentary on her body and completely block out the vulgar suggestions of how Kinnip should use her various ‘holes’.
In his own way, Kinnip shielded her from the worst outcome. Like always, he allowed the other males to look at her, but none of them dared to touch. He seemed oblivious to the excited catcalls and anatomically impossible ideas, like all of them fucking her at once, and never faltered in his casual, strolling pace.
Dee kept silent as she was steered toward the medical ward. Nothing good could come of sneering at her captors, and she was banking on their ignorance that she could understand their language. Hopefully she’d pick up valuable information, summon hivemind, and help the Peacekeepers destroy every jerkface on the Pirate’s ship.
She’d salute the burning husk of their vessel—with a smile—and never mourn a single one.
“Lapro!” Kinnip yelled, startling Dee out of her macabre fantasy. He raised an eyebrow at her, indicating that he’d seen her skittishness, but didn’t have time to comment. Lapro—an Abbaleer she assumed was their Medik—walked out of a nearby room.
“How can I help you?” He glanced at Kinnip and then at Dee, but he didn’t leer at her bare body like the other Pirates. In fact, he seemed to be cataloguing her injuries. “I’m assuming the Medbed. I was able to get one powered-up, but it’s not functioning at a hundred percent yet.” Only then did she notice the grease on the Medik’s hands.
“Damn Tugarth,” Kinnip hissed under his breath.
Dee froze for a second, stunned, before a sense of loss swept through her. Tugarth, her heart cried, I miss you. And then she remembered she couldn’t afford for them to know she spoke their language. Lapro sent her an odd look as she schooled her features into a blank mask.
“Will it heal her?” Kinnip asked, oblivious to her distress.
Lapro angled his head and squinted at her body. “Looks like deep muscle bruising near her ribs, which may mean there are cracks beneath. Those are the priority, since humans can die from a punctured lung, but it’ll be fifty-fifty on whether or not the Medbed can handle them. The numerous surface abrasions, on the other hand, will be easy…but the blood? Is her mouth bleeding?” He walked forward with a frown, as if he’d pry open her lips to examine her injury.
“Don’t touch,” Kinnip snarled, his calm demeanor vanishing in an instant. “You know better.”
Lapro raised both hands and took a step back. “The working Medbed is in here. Bring her along.”
Dee obediently walked forward when Kinnip nudged her, doing her best to pretend she couldn’t understand what they were saying. She stood silently as Lapro prepped the Medbed—mostly by clearing off tools that her fingers itched to grab.
Even in Kinnip’s callous care, she wanted to tinker. She craved the quiet headspace found only when she fiddled with gadgets.
“Okay, get her to lay down.” Lapro moved away from the tubular bed.
Dee stood there, her blank mask in place, and wondered what Kinnip would do. Point? Shove? Shout? She wouldn’t make him angry by defying him, but she had to wait for nonverbal commands or he’d know something had changed.
Of course, he took the matter completely out of her hands when he swooped her up into his arms, much like when he’d saved her from the swarm on Paradise. Just like then, she clung to him in surprise; she noticed, however, that this time he rumbled in pleasure at her touch.
He laid her down, his hands lingering on her sides, just beneath her breasts, in a distinctly sexual manner. Dee blushed and turned her head so she wouldn’t have to see lust on his face for the first time; he’d never before acted aware of her gender. Ever. The sudden change was frightening, not only because she was already terrified of him, but because he was the one buffer between Dee and the horde of horny aliens who would line up to rape her.
One wrong move and Kinnip could decide to withdraw his limited, wretched protection.
Thankfully, Kinnip withdrew his hand and lowered the lid without continuing to feel her up. Dee felt panic rise as she was enclosed, and she brought up both hands to push to lid away—if the Medbed was broken, or even malfunctioning, it could do more harm than good. Tugarth’s invention was supposed to be a surgical bed, and it could probably cut her in half if even a handful of wires were crossed.
“Keep her still!” Lapro shouted. “She’s panicking!”
The lid went up and she rolled off the Medbed and right into Kinnip’s waiting arms. She was shaking with fear and adrenaline, and he held her close until she was a bit calmer. Being in his arms that way felt familiar, which disturbed her. She stayed quietly against him, not moving away or attempting to cuddle closer, and he petted her hair a couple of times before grunting and holding her out at arm’s length. Her smell hadn’t faded judging the look of disgust on his face.
“I’m going to put her in the cleaner,” he yelled to Lapro. The other Abbaleer wasn’t in the room, so she assumed he was in the medical lab where the medbed scans were uploaded for Mediks.
“Fine,” Lapro yelled back.
Why weren’t they using the intercom? she wondered.
The en-suite bathroom was familiar to Dee because it was identical to the one on the Peacekeeper ship. She let Kinnip steer her to the wind tunnel and allowed him to key in the highest setting. She’d be squeaky clean once it finished sanitizing her.
From Kinnip’s confused and slightly nauseous expression, cleanliness hadn’t solved her odiferous problem. Thank all the stars in all the universe. He grumbled under his breath and then dragged her back to the Medbed.
She didn’t trust Lapro’s maintenance, but she didn’t fight against being put back in the coffin-like tube. She’d had time to reason out the possible outcomes. A, she’d be healed. B, nothing would happen. C, she die painfully. None of those options were reason enough to risk an immediate beating and possible punishment at the hands of hundreds of greedy Pirates.
Kinnip petted her hair, as if rewarding her for obeying, and then closed the lid. Panic rose up again, but this time Dee just closed her eyes and clenched her fists. It didn’t matter what happened. It didn’t matter what happened. It didn’t matter…
The mantra calmed her. She repeated it until she settled into a trance and her fear faded away. She felt free, floating serenely. It was a trick she’d learned as child, a way to escape loneliness. Thank all her lucky stars it worked now that she was an adult, in far more convoluted situations. Eventually the mantra was just a mental image that scrolled across her mind’s eye, allowing her to truly settle into deep relaxation.
And then a sharp pinch at the back of her arm brought back to the point of panic. At her squeal in surprise, and Kinnip shouted for answers from Lapro.
“What happened!” he roared. “Did it malfunction?”
“It’s just the blood sample,” the Medik said, bustling into the room and then helping Kinnip raise the Medbed lid. Wisely, the other male didn’t attempt to assist her off the machine.
“She looks better,” Kinnip muttered, raking her body with his dark gaze. “What did the scans show?”
“I brought them for you to see,” Lapro hedged. He handed over a tablet and then stood silently, giving the Pirate commander time to read through her medical information.
“How…?” Kinnip’s hand clenched on the tablet until the screen cracked. He tossed it aside and then glared at Dee. She took a step back, instincts screaming that she was once again prey faced with a predator, but he didn’t attack her. Instead, he turned to Lapro. “You said the Medbed wasn’t at a hundred percent. Could it be a mistake?”
“No.” He glanced at Dee, his nose wrinkling slightly. “It also explains the smell.”
Kinnip’s jaw clenched. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, as if thinking through all his options. Obviously he and the Medik knew she was lifebonded, but clearly he wasn’t happy for her. In fact, he seemed well beyond pissed.
“Would a contender be able to cover it, like on the Abbaleer homeworld?” he asked.
Lapro shrugged. “I’m not sure—she’s human. We didn’t even know this was an option.”
Kinnip growled. “It shouldn’t be possible. We’ve never come across a compatible species before—and to think, they were in our grasp…” His body swelled, muscles bulging, and the thin black veins beneath his pale skin pulsed and darkened like a creepy spider web; something had triggered his bloodlust.
“It’s incredible,” the Medik marveled. He looked at Dee, but again, didn’t leer. Instead, it seemed he wanted to share his excitement. The smile on his face announced he thought this was the best discovery since sliced bread. Or whatever the alien equivalent was of that great culinary development.
Dee didn’t smile back at him, even though he had a charming set of dimples. Hands down, Lapro was the most confusing Pirate she’d ever met, and she couldn’t risk engaging with him in the event that his good cheer was just an act.
“It’s not just incredible—it’s a secret,” Kinnip contradicted. “No one else can know. I’d hate to kill our only Medik, but I’d rip your heart out myself if you betray me. Am I clear?”
Lapro nodded. “You have my word.” He retrieved the tablet and studied the cracked screen. “But that wasn’t the only interesting bit of information on the scan,” he muttered, frowning over the broken device.
Kinnip glowered. “What else?”
“She had the beginnings of an aneurism, a fatal one, which the Medbed successfully removed. She also had microscopic scarring along several arteries…” Lapro gave up on the tablet, tossing it onto the Medbed so he could use his hands. He was an animated speaker; oddly enough, the Pirate’s gesticulations reminded Dee of old Earthen movies about organized crime families and their insular, but distinctive, sub-Italian culture. Which is probably why she almost didn’t hear him say, “…should be monitored, probably daily. It’s highly likely she’ll need continuous treatment until we figure out why she’s prone to this condition.”
“Fine. I’ll bring her back tomorrow. Work on that damn thing,” he nodded at the Medbed. “We’ve got a line of warriors waiting to use it.”
Lapro nodded but didn’t say anything. His gaze returned to Dee, and she could swear pity filled his black eyes. He watched silently as Kinnip grabbed her arm and dragged her away, but she felt his concern as if he’d screamed it…and part of her believed it was sincere.
She walked alongside Kinnip for a while, ignoring the males still lined up for a peek at her, and kept her gaze lowered. Only when they stopped in front of the on-ship teleporter did she look up.
“I have a surprise for you,” Kinnip said conversationally, as if he knew she could understand. He smiled at her with tenderness even while retaining a tight hold of her upper arm.
For obvious reasons, she didn’t respond.
In a lot of ways, knowing what Kinnip was saying only made him creepier. Before, when she’d been a confused slave he kept chained in his room, he’d been terrifying and mysterious—mostly because they were alien to each other, and to each other’s cultures. She tried to rationalize his brutal behavior, to humanize him. On the darkest days of her captivity, her mind had hung on to the memory of him scooping her into his arms and saving her from being eaten alive; a small part of her always rallied with something akin to affection. In those moments, she teetered on the edge of thinking him a savior.
She was never able to commit to that mindset, though. Being hit and yelled at and emotionally abused were beyond her ability to forgive. That character trait kept her sane. She might’ve always been an introverted, awkward woman, but she’d never been a pushover.
However, she’d also never been able to truly hate him, either. She feared him, disliked him, and never wanted to see him again, but there was a bond…
Stockholm syndrome, perhaps.
Or just plain stupidity.
Whatever the reason, she had learned to distance herself from what Kinnip did to her. She felt removed, like she’d stepped out of her body and watched the ugliness from a safe distance away.
Just then, with him smiling down at her, she had a bad feeling that her days of distancing herself were over. He pulled her into the teleporter and she closed her eyes as the tingle of technology went to work.
In the next breath, she was stepping forward—with the same momentum as when she’d stepped on the teleporter—and found herself on Flight Control.
Every male’s gaze swung toward her, even the swollen, bloodshot gaze of Brandon Sergmont.
Chapter 11
Dee gasped and bolted toward her leader and friend, but Kinnip’s grip on her arm kept her anchored to his side. Tears poured down her cheeks at the massive bruising to Brandon’s face—she wouldn’t have recognized him but for the neatly trimmed dark hair and pale blue of his eyes beneath the swelling. His clothes covered him from neck to toe, hiding any other injuries, but she knew there had to be more evidence of torture beneath the wrinkled, torn garments.
And there was no doubt in Dee’s mind that Brandon had been tortured.
But why? Never before had the Pirates tortured the male humans; for the most part, they used them as laborers for backbreaking jobs. It was something all the men had felt guilty about when comparing their experience with the darker aspects of being a female slave.
“Surprise!” Kinnip joked, obviously amused by her distress. “I thought you’d be happy to see another human.”
She didn’t respond, or even look at Kinnip; she only had eyes for Brandon.
“The great news is, you won’t be without human companionship for long, even after this one curls up and dies.” He walked her forward until they were standing just inches away from where her friend was kneeling. Brandon had been forced into the submissive pose and then cuffed around the neck, wrists, and waist. A single chain was taut between his neck and waist, purposefully shortened to keep him hunched and defenseless.
Brandon stared at Dee, his eyes unwavering despite their circumstances. Even chained and kneeling, he was her leader. In no way had her respect diminished, and she hoped he could see that.
“Sadly, he hasn’t been very useful.” Kinnip released Dee’s arm and moved in a circle around his prisoner. The Pirates lurking around Flight Control tensed, obviously ready for anything, but their eyes stayed glued to Dee. “Pain hasn’t been an effective motivator…but perhaps your pain, my Gurruulat, will convince him to talk.”
Dee kept her gaze steady on Brandon as she shook her head. No. Her pain, no matter what Kinnip did—or allowed others to do—wasn’t worth millions of lives. The mission came first.
Her brave leader understood, a single tear leaking down his ravaged face.
“And why not—what’s the quaint human saying?
—‘kill two birds with one stone’?” He barked a hard, ruthless laugh, as if the thought of literally killing birds…or anything with a pulse…was amusing. Not hilarious or anything so obviously psychotic, just quietly amusing.
“I do have to get rid of that smell.” Kinnip walked back to her, seeming to forget their audience as he cupped her face and tilted her head so she looked up into his eyes. “You let someone steal from me, Gurruulat. You let someone defile something precious I’d been saving.”
Dee had no idea what he was talking about…unless…no. He couldn’t possibly be talking about her virginity?
Her confusion must have been apparent, because his expression softened. “Females of your species are so vulnerable. It would be sad, if not for how delightful you are to own.” His thumb brushed lightly over her lips in a lover’s caress that alarmed her. “But it means that I’ll have to take special care to protect you from now on, to make sure no other male touches what is mine.”
Their audience shifted restlessly, apparently not thrilled with Kinnip’s plan.
“Another male put his scent on you, Gurruulat.” His hands clenched around her face, digging in to her cheeks and jaw with bruising force. “You let him have you,” he growled. Jealousy ignited his anger, making his black eyes burn like coals…but then he seemed to take a deep breath. He stared at her for a long moment, gaze roving her face possessively, and then blew out a gusty sigh.
“No,” he murmured. “My sweet Gurruulat wouldn’t do that to me—you almost ripped out a throat earlier while protecting what’s mine.” His smile was fond as he referenced Deep Voice’s bloody demise. “You fought the Peacekeeper, too, didn’t you? I bet they wanted you because you’re mine. You were forced, weren’t you? And too weak to fight him off.”
There was no way to answer him, even if she hadn’t been pretending ignorance. She wouldn’t be able to move her jaw for a month if he didn’t loosen his grip—he was close to breaking it. She focused on that, on the pain, rather than his words. There was no escape from whatever was about to happen; all she could do was survive. That meant letting his words roll off her back and enduring whatever he had planned with the knowledge that she was loved—that Tugarth held her heart safe for her even as Kinnip held her body captive.
Deegan's Rescue: Survivors of Paradise Book 2 Page 13
