Kaal pulled his cock out, still hard, and rubbed it against my stinging ass. The jeers and taunts of the crowd intensified. He dug his fingers into my cheeks, spread me apart, and pressed the head against my tight sphincter.
“No, please no, you’re so big! You’ll hurt me!”
My protest was met with a roar of approval from the spectators.
“Shhh. I have to do this,” Kaal murmured, “or Starn will let Rigo have you.” He reached between my legs with one hand, stroked my clit. “I am your master,” he declared, his voice raised loud enough to carry over the din. “You belong to me. Now beg me to fuck your ass.”
When I didn’t immediately respond, he gave me a stern smack. “Beg me!”
My pussy was still spasming from the vicious climax, my swollen clit throbbing as he stroked and squeezed it. His palm reignited the fire on my ass and suddenly I was back in Rigo’s lab, feeling the wild sensation of a long black nozzle invading my tight rear passage. Awakening a dark desperate hunger I’d never felt before.
“Gods, yes!” I screamed. “Please fuck me, Master. Fuck my ass!”
The crowd erupted with a roar so loud it shook the wooden platform. All I felt was my lover’s cock. Probing, stretching, invading me. I panicked, but instead of stopping, he dipped it into my dripping wet pussy, then went back, pushing past my virgin hole until the head slipped through the tight sphincter. Rubbing my clit the whole time.
No. It was too thick. Too hard. I tried to squirm away but his arm was around my waist, gripping me like a vise. Holding me still while he teased my swollen clit with the fingers of his other hand.
“You know you want this. You want to feel me inside your ass. Fucking you deep and hard. Open for your master,” he growled. “Now.”
I squirmed again. His cock slid in a little farther. Pain and pressure eased, and I instinctively rocked my hips back.
It was all he’d been waiting for. Kaal started riding me, grunting and swearing all the while. “Yeah, whore. That’s it. Take my cock up your ass. Take it all!”
He’d been masterful with me. Demanding obedience. And I discovered I loved it. But he’d never acted this way before. Treating me rough and dirty. Afterwards, I realized he’d done it for the crowd. Putting on a good show. But at the time, his filthy words woke the brazen slut in me. “Gods, you’re so big!” I screamed. “Yes, give it to me, Master. Fuck my ass. Fuck it hard!”
Once I let go, the orgasm swept me away. I was frantic, drowning in lust. I shoved my hips back, taking him in deep, screaming all the while. Kaal slammed into me and exploded, his cock pulsing. With every hot spurt of cum, I clenched around him, setting off a fresh wave of convulsions inside my pussy and ass.
I sagged over the bench, shuddering. Kaal pulled out and gave my sore bottom one last stern whack before turning to the crowd and displaying his cock, still dripping with cum. They roared their approval.
Starn couldn’t bear to be upstaged. He strode to the center of the platform. “Untie her,” he ordered the guards.
They released my bonds but after all I’d been through I didn’t have the energy to get up. He motioned to his men and they lifted me off the bench and turned me around to face the crowd, holding me upright with my hair hanging down over my face in limp strands. Head bowed in exhaustion, drenched in sweat, cum trickling down my thighs.
“Here she is. Your great rebel leader,” he taunted. “Meet prisoner Z9371.”
The roar of the spectators dimmed and I heard Andreu’s voice inside my head.
“You’re Aria DiMello, daughter of Gaius DiMello, commander of the Insurrection. Your ancestors were scholars, artists, powerful leaders—and among them were the most ruthless bitches and bastards ever born. Are you going to let this miserable piece of scum take you down? As long as your heart is beating, you fight!”
My beloved Andreu.
He was right. I was no quitter.
I dug deep. Summoned strength I never knew I had. I’d beat the odds. I’d survive this place. Somehow, some day, I’d escape from Zibaru—and lead the revolution.
Stark naked, thoroughly fucked, ass glowing red, I raised my tear-streaked face and surveyed the crowd. Then I pulled free from the guards, threw my shoulders back, and raised my fist in the air.
“To the Insurrection!”
Chapter Fourteen
Kaal
I scooped her up just before her legs gave out from under her. The guards stepped back. They didn’t try to stop me when I carried her down the stairs cradled in my arms and headed into the throng of prisoners surrounding the platform.
I had no idea where I was going. I just knew I had to get her somewhere private. Somewhere safe where she could recover from the intense punishment I’d doled out as well as the harsh fucking I’d subjected her to. It had torn my heart out to do it, but I knew if I hadn’t, she might well have died at Rigo’s hand.
The crowd was still hooting and shouting and I wasn’t sure how I’d battle my way through with Ree in my arms. I ended up surrounded by a group of shapeless forms wearing long gray cloaks with the hoods pulled up. In the dim light, their faces were in the shadows. To my surprise they parted to let me pass.
One of them drew near me. “We are comrades of Gaius,” he muttered, low enough so that no one would overhear. “Come with us.”
They closed ranks around me, shielding me from the rest of the mob, and led me through a maze of narrow passages that twisted and turned until I was lost deep in the warren of shanties. When they stopped, one of them pulled aside a wooden pallet leaning against a pile of rubble. It hid the doorway to a single room with three rough walls of stacked rock. The fourth was made of stone cut and fit with such precision I guessed it was part of the barrier surrounding the prison. Above my head, barely high enough for me to stand upright, was a ceiling cobbled together from scraps of wood and metal. The faceless figure nearest me stepped aside and motioned for me to enter the room.
I had no other options, so I carried Ree in.
The one who’d spoken followed me. My other attendants silently drifted away into the darkness, leaving two standing guard outside. They covered the doorway again, blocking out what little light came from the blood-red flames in the fissures pockmarking the surface of the asteroid.
My companion moved a stone in one of the walls, allowing a sliver of light to enter, then pulled off his hood. It revealed a bald head with a few wisps of gray hair around the edges and a face lined with a roadmap of wrinkles that told of a life filled with toil and strife.
He pointed to a dingy pile of rags in the corner. “Lay her there.”
Half-conscious, exhausted, and in pain, Ree barely stirred when I deposited her gently on her side. I knelt beside her, stroking her brow, while the old man bustled around us. He handed me a bowl of pasty gruel and a tin mug filled with brown-tinged liquid.
“It’s Zibaru whiskey—our own blend. Tastes like mule piss but it’ll take the edge off after a rough day.”
I managed to get a few spoonfuls of the gruel down Ree’s throat along with half the mug of rotgut liquor before she fell into a restless sleep. The old man refilled the cup and bowl, then settled across from me on the floor with his back against the stone wall.
“Eat up,” he urged. “Around here you never know when your next meal is coming.”
I dug in. Hungry and thirsty as I was, I’d never had a better feast.
He watched in silence till I was about halfway through, then gestured to Ree.
“I remember the first time I heard her father speak,” he said. “The great Gaius DiMello. I was living on Syparia at the time, one of the outer colonies in Vector Four. He came to our outpost after the Federation attacked it. They’d left us in ruins—all because we’d come up short for the Levy.”
He went on, his gravelly voice painting a picture of desolation and despair. “It was the third year of drought and after the harvest we had barely enough to see our families through the fallow season. We sent the Federation
half of everything we grew that year, but it wasn’t good enough for them. They wanted to teach the other colonies a lesson. Make an example of Syparia. So they burned our fields, slaughtered most of the village. Left the rest of us to bury our dead and then starve.”
He bowed his head, as if in memory of his fallen countrymen, and went on.
“That’s when Gaius appeared. He and his men showed up in a battered starship held together by rust and spit. They didn’t have much but what they had they shared with us.”
The old man lifted his head and met my eyes. His voice got stronger. “Gaius gave us something far more valuable than barrels of grain. He gave us hope. When his ship left, I was on it. So was my wife. Federation troops had murdered our only son. There was nothing left for us on Syparia. I’m an old man now but back then I still had fire in my belly and power in my punch. I fought by Gaius’s side in many battles. My wife was too weak for combat, so she helped care for the troops. Cooked for us, nursed the fallen.”
Engrossed in the story, I sat my empty cup and bowl aside and leaned forward. “How did you end up here?”
“I was captured in a battle. One of ours, a bastard named Nye, turned on us. Contacted the Federation and gave them the coordinates of our base camp. Gaius was on a rescue mission to another world that had been attacked, otherwise he’d have been captured too.”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. “Nye fought for the rebels?”
“Nye?” The old man gave a rheumy cough and spit on the ground. “That’s what I think of him. Nye fought for Nye. He’d have sold his mother to a whorehouse to gain power and wealth.” He chuckled, a thin dry sound that ended in another hacking cough. “Matter of fact, I think he did. I swear I fucked his ma once, after my Elise passed on. There was one whore on Girra Sola looked a lot like him. Skinny old broad with a nose so sharp it dug into my balls when I upended her to suck my dick.”
He chortled again, delighted with his own wit, then stuck out a hand. “I’m Harald, by the way. And you be...?”
I shook his hand. “Kaal.”
He gave me a once-over. “Yer not a human, though you could pass for one.”
“You’re right. I’m from Rylos.”
He shook his head. “No matter. We’re all brothers under the skin. Even the big blue beasts that tried to take you down. Every last being on Zibaru is just struggling to survive. You can’t blame any of ‘em. When Starn gives an order, they follow it—or they become the quarry in his next game. Except for the shapeshifters,” he added. “Steer clear of them demons. Vicious wild things, that’s what they are. There’s not a spark of sentient being in any of ‘em.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
I sat in silence for a moment, taking in his story. Other than Ree and her bodyguards, he was the first participant in the Insurrection I’d met. I wondered if the others had similar tales to tell.
“So you left your world to fight for the Cause.”
“Aye. I take it you never knew Gaius?”
I shook my head.
“He was a true leader. A brave warrior and a fine man. The finest I’ve ever known.”
“Who were the men that surrounded us on the way here?”
“More rebels. That’s the dirty secret Starn and Nye are keeping. Zibaru wasn’t built just to house dangerous criminals sentenced to rot in prison. There’s a passel of us rebels here. Some captured in battle. Others seized for the crime of daring to speak out against the Federation. They say we’re being held here to await trial, but the trials never happen. They dump us in this hellhole and forget about us.”
He rose and rummaged through a small stack of garments near Ree’s feet. Came back clutching another gray hooded cloak, one that was carefully folded. “This belonged to my Elise. It’s all I have left of her.”
I started to protest but he cut me off. “She’d have wanted your woman to have it.” He bent and spread the cloak gently over Ree’s sleeping form. “This one is a lot like her father,” he declared. “The harder Starn tries to break her, the stronger she’ll get.”
Harald stood up with a groan, massaging the small of his back, and glanced around the shanty. “It’s not much but you’re welcome to stay here. Both of you. I can bunk with Eldon.”
“Thank you. I’m grateful for your help.”
“Sleep now,” he said. “We’ll stand guard. You need your rest. The condemned will come after you soon. They’ll all be hungering to take you down and get a piece of your woman.”
He headed for the door, then turned back. “I hope he was right.”
“Who?”
“Starn. He said you fight like ten warriors.” The old man laid a hand gently on my shoulder, like a blessing. “May the gods be with you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ree
I woke to his scent.
Male sweat, under-laid with the aromas of raw sex. I could smell his cum where it had dried on my body, and the unmistakable odor of my own arousal wafted up from his hand cupping my bare breast as he slept.
I remembered the fingers of that hand deep inside my pussy yesterday, making sure I was wet before he rammed his cock into me in front of the other prisoners. Fucked me long and hard, then used my slick fluids to coat his thick cock before he worked it into my ass. He needn’t have worried. My juices had started flowing with his first harsh whack on my bottom. And they did so again as I replayed the scene in my mind.
How had this happened? How had I, a strong independent woman, turned into a subservient slut, pussy creaming at the memory of being tied up, spanked hard, and then fucked in front of a lecherous crowd of spectators? The very thought filled Aria DiMello with shame.
But Kaal had stripped away all my pretenses. From the first time he bared my bottom, every stinging whack he’d delivered rocketed straight to my core. Awakened Ree, the primal female who wanted, needed, a strong dominant male to free her from the boundaries modern civilization had placed on her. Allowed her to stop thinking, weighing, judging—and simply feel. Feel the scorching heat of every whack, the searing pain. The shocking thrill when pain morphed into pleasure.
Aria and all her shame disappeared at that moment. I became insatiable. I wanted more. More stern punishment, then his hard cock rammed into my pussy, my ass. Shoved down my throat to suck until he exploded. I wanted to be drenched in his cum. Marked by his scent and taste.
I could explain away my response with clinical terms the way I always did. Once the pain of a spanking escalated to a certain level, my body automatically produced endorphins to override it. I became intoxicated by them. Addicted to the high.
But knowing why it happened didn’t take away the craving. The raging fever every time I felt his touch or caught his scent. This primitive alien from another world brought out the dirty wicked slut in me—and I loved it.
Kaal stirred and his hand tightened on my breast. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
“See for yourself.”
I moved his hand down, slid it between my dripping wet folds.
“Mmmm.” His cock, nestled against my ass, stiffened. “You feel empty. Hot and wet—but empty.”
“You’re right. I feel empty... Master. Will you fill me?”
He crooked a hand under my knee and pulled my leg up to rest on his, then slid into me from behind with one deep thrust. There was no civilized discussion, no prolonged teasing and tempting. It was elemental. Raw. I felt the first wave of my climax building and clenched around him, reveling in the way my body responded to his mastery.
He fucked me hard and fast, then came with a groan torn from deep in his chest, as though yesterday’s event had been nothing more than foreplay. His cry triggered my own, and I came again, shuddering in his arms.
* * *
We did talk, later, while we ate another serving of lukewarm gruel. “It was kind of the old man to give up his hut for us,” I said, trying not to grimace when I got a look at the filthy rags I’d slept on. “Maybe I can return the favor
and clean the place up before we leave.”
“We won’t be going anywhere for a while,” Kaal replied. “There’s no place I can take you in Zibaru that’s safer than where we are. We have guards outside right now. They’ve been there all night while we slept.”
“Guards? You mean Starn’s men?”
“Starn doesn’t know where you are. We’re deep inside the warren of shanties the convicts have built. It would be dangerous for him—or any of his men—to venture too far in, even with the wands. Everyone here is serving a life sentence. Putting a prisoner to death for killing the warden or one of his guards would be a mercy.”
“Then who’s guarding us?”
“Men who were loyal to your father. That’s Starn’s dirty secret. Zibaru doesn’t just house hardened criminals and convicted murderers. The Federation has been sending captured rebels here. Locking them up where they can’t continue causing trouble. Nye lied when he said you’d be kept here until you went on trial. There’s never going to be a trial. Not for you. Not for any of them. The Federation doesn’t dare allow you to speak the truth about how they really rule the colonies in a public forum. The wealthy citizens in the capital might not enjoy their feasts as much if they knew others were starving so they could live in luxury.”
“There’s a band of rebels in Zibaru? Kaal, that’s good news! We can join together and find a way out of here.”
“It won’t be that easy. Commander Nye was once allied with the rebels. He betrayed Harald and many of the others long ago in exchange for a position of authority in the Federation. There may be other traitors hidden among the prisoners. Men who would carry the information of a planned escape to Starn in exchange for a reward. Whiskey, extra rations—anything would better the misery of a life spent in this hellhole.”
Prisoner Page 7
