Torment

by Tana Stone

  T’Kar tried not to let his father’s disdainful tone affect him. “Why would they risk so much for one female? They have all the others. An entire female crew.”

  “A crew of six females.” His father frowned, clearly disapproving. “Who has ever heard of an all-female crew with a spaceship? No wonder they crashed on our planet. They are lucky they didn’t die. And did you see? Some of the females looked as wild as the Dothveks.”

  T’Kar had seen more of the female crew members than his father even knew, but he couldn’t admit that without his father discovering that he’d helped one of them escape from Crestek captivity. “The females are not like us.”

  The Crestek chancellor leaned back in his high-backed chair. “You are correct about that. They seem to be impulsive creatures who have not been properly protected or taught their place. I trust you will remedy that with your new mate.”

  T’Kar flinched at the word ‘mate.’ He hardly knew the creature with the flame-colored hair and the brightly colored clothes. He couldn’t imagine binding himself to a complete stranger, much less one who was being forced into the arrangement.

  “I need more time to help the female adjust to her situation,” he said, leveling his voice in order to placate his father. “There is much to teach her of our ways.”

  His father steepled his fingers, tapping them against each other. “You will have plenty time for that after the bonding ceremony. And after you consummate the union.”

  T’Kar’s mouth went dry. “You cannot expect her to want to— “

  “Want?” His father pushed his chair back so abruptly it almost tipped backward. “Why do you think I care about what an off world female wants?”

  T’Kar stepped back as his father stood, his wrinkled hands braced on the table. Even though he was considerably larger than his aging father, the Crestek still had the ability to make him feel like a small boy cowering under his tirades of criticism.

  “You are a high-born Crestek. You are destined to serve after me. You will be even more powerful than I am.” He slammed one palm on the table. “Unless you insist on giving this offworld female power over you. Who is the male? You or her?”

  T’Kar’s face burned, and he clenched his fists. “I am.”

  His father straightened, giving him a triumphant smile. “You are. You are my son. The only son of the Crestek chancellor. The heir apparent to the ruling class of our people.”

  T’Kar swallowed, tasting bile as he listened to the words he’d heard over and over for his entire life. He might be all the things his father claimed, but he didn’t want any of them. He never had. He didn’t hunger for power or crave domination. He didn’t want what his father did, and he knew he’d never measured up to his impossible standards. Despite knowing that he would never be his father and never wished to be, he hated himself for it. Even now, the shame of failure was bitter in his throat.

  His father tilted his head at him. “Is it a problem with the female? Do you not find her appealing?”

  T’Kar thought about the small creature he’d left in his suite, her long hair spilling over her shoulders and her skin an impossibly pale shade. There was no denying that she looked different from Cresteks, who had gold skin, ridges sweeping out from their spines, and peaked ears. Not to mention the fact that she was significantly smaller than any Crestek female. He would be lying if he said he didn’t find her intriguing. “There is no problem. She is acceptable.”

  His father nodded, his lips a thin line. “Of course, I would never mate you to an offworlder if things were not so dire with our females. At least this way, you will have the only claim on her.” He wrinkled his nose. “Our females have gotten too powerful because of their scarcity. Each female has so many partners, we hardly know which male is fathering which child.”

  T’Kar knew his father spoke the truth. After a virus wiped out most of their females, the remaining ones had become in high demand, and monogamy had all but vanished. Couples still bonded, but it was widely known that each female could have her pick of extra partners.

  Despite being considered one of the most eligible and attractive males, T’Kar had avoided forming attachments to any females. The thought of taking another male’s mate to his bed made his stomach turn. He knew this practice would never be accepted by the Dothvek clan, another reason he was so fascinated by the sand warriors.

  Oddly, he felt more of a connection to the barbarians his father feared than to his own kind. It was why he was a part of the secret Crestek separatist movement that sought to become more like they had been before their people broke off from the Dothveks and left the sands. It was why he secretly studied the Dothveks and tried to emulate them. And he knew the sand barbarians would never force a female. Not when they worshipped goddesses and revered their priestesses.

  “I need more time to prepare her,” T’Kar said, trying another tact. “She is not presentable for a bonding ceremony, unless you wish others to see me take a dirty female as a mate?”

  This gave his father pause. “No, that would not do. Since she is an offworlder, she must appear pristine.” He pursed his lips. “We do not want my rivals to say the female is not worthy.”

  “Agreed.” T’Kar hoped this would buy him some time. He wasn’t sure what he hoped would happen. Maybe he did want the Dothveks to attack and rescue the female. Maybe he wanted to leave with them. All he knew was that he could not let his father dictate the most intimate parts of his life.

  The Crestek chancellor lifted a goblet from the table and took a long drink, setting it back down with a thunk and staring at his son. “Do not think I do not know your game.”

  “My game?” T’Kar’s pulse quickened. Had his father heard about his separatist group? Had he gotten a glimpse of the tribal markings he hid underneath his cloak?

  “Your desire to make a love match. Don’t you think I’ve noticed how you’ve turned down every mated female who’s sniffed around you?”

  T’Kar did not reply. His father was wrong. He was not waiting for a love match. He did not believe in love any more than he believed the Dothveks were violent brutes. But he also did not believe in deceiving others. The more he had developed his empathic abilities, the clearer he’d read the feelings of those around him, and the easier it had been for him to realize that no one cared for him. Not in the way he wanted them to. His father cared for him only as a means to consolidate his own power. The Crestek females only cared for how well he could pleasure them. Even the human who waited in his suite only agreed to marry him to save her friend.

  “You are incorrect, father,” T’Kar said. “I do not believe in love matches.”

  His father studied his face for a moment before slapping him on the shoulder. “Good. Then you will take the offworlder as a mate as soon as she is made presentable.”

  T’Kar gave his father a curt bow, swallowing his anger as he left to return to the mate who did not want him.

  To be continued…

  To order TRIBUTE, turn the page!

  Also by Tana Stone

  The Tribute Brides of the Drexian Warriors Series:

  TAMED

  SEIZED

  EXPOSED

  RANSOMED

  FORBIDDEN

  BOUND

  JINGLED (A Holiday Novella)

  CRAVED

  STOLEN

  The Barbarians of the Sand Planet Series:

  BOUNTY

  CAPTIVE

  TORMENT

  TRIBUTE

  SAVAGE

  *TAMED, SEIZED, & EXPOSED are now available as audiobooks!

  TAMED on AUDIBLE

  SEIZED on AUDIBLE

  EXPOSED on AUDIBLE

  Preview of TAMED: Tribute Brides of the Drexian Warriors #1

  Chapter One

  Dorn strode across the deck of his ship’s bridge, his heavy boots echoing off the steel floor, and scanned the large window that doubled as a view screen. The enemy was in retreat—that was clear from the distant explosions lighting
up the inky blackness. He balled his hands into large fists, pleased that his fleet had once again kept the Kronock from getting close to the solar system his people had vowed to protect. As a Drexian warrior, known for battle skill and fearlessness, it was more than his duty. It was his life’s mission.

  “Report,” he said to his number two in command.

  “Inferno Force has repelled them again. Minor damage to our ship’s hull, but nothing slipped past our blockade.”

  Dorn grunted in response, breathing in the faint smoky smell from the hit they’d taken. He knew as long as he led the fleet, nothing would get through. Although they were far from the eight-planet system containing Earth, he and his warriors put their lives at risk each day to keep the viscous Kronock from invading the technologically outmatched planet.

  “Rerouting power back from shields to environmental controls,” one of his officers said, intently focused on the computer screen.

  A steamy bridge was a small price to pay for stronger shields, but he’d welcome some fresh airflow. Dorn swiped a hand across his sweaty brow as he took in the thousands of stars laid out in front of him.

  Even though the Drexians had been defending Earth for over thirty years, almost no one on the blue planet was aware they even existed. That was part of the deal. The heads of government with whom they’d made first contact had insisted that discretion be the cornerstone of the arrangement. They’d thought telling humans about the existence of aliens—one warmongering species intent on invasion and one warrior race determined to stop the other—would create chaos and mass hysteria. So a secret agreement was forged that only a handful of Earthlings knew about.

  “They don’t even think life exists outside their world,” Dorn said under his breath, lost in thought. “Arrogant fools.”

  “Come again, Commander?” the nearest deck officer asked, swiveling around in his chair and away from the monitor in front of him.

  Dorn cleared his throat. “Nothing. Just glad the Kronock are on the run again. Good work, warriors.”

  “Yes, sir.” The officer nodded and spun back around.

  Dorn cast his eyes across the bridge at the Drexians all busy with their assigned tasks. Each wore dark uniform pants, and sleeveless shirts that pulled tight across their arms, exposing myriad tattoos and scars. Their faces were intense and focused on the battle, glowing with a sheen of sweat. The Drexians who signed up to serve in the Inferno Force and defend against the Kronock on the border of enemy territory—called the outskirts—were rougher than your average soldier.

  Being so far away from the rest of the fleet, however, their rules were more relaxed. Dorn cultivated a fight hard, play hard mentality among his crew, and he lived it himself. Disagreements were settled with hand-to-hand combat, and he’d tasted blood—courtesy of his crewmates—more than once. He knew the Drexian High Command would not be pleased to see a bridge full of soldiers not in full uniform, but when he looked at the battle-scarred warriors, Dorn’s chest swelled with pride. His eyes flicked to his own intricate, black tattoos stretching down one bicep--stylized swirls and a shield marking him as Inferno Force. He and his warriors would never let the Kronock through.

  Pride morphed into anger as the thought of his enemy took hold. Violent and concerned only with exploiting other species, the gray-scaled warmongers wanted nothing more than to enslave and destroy. Even though they were technologically superior to humans, Kronock weaponry still hadn’t been able to defeat the sheer firepower and sophisticated tech of the Drexian forces, which was why his people chased the monsters all over the galaxy to prevent them from invading weaker planets. It was how they’d discovered Earth in the first place. He knew many felt it had been a lucky day for both races.

  Dorn spun on his heel and walked to the illuminated star chart that took up one wall of the bridge and traced the history of the war. He dragged a callused finger from the blue dot that represented the Drexian home world across light years to the small solar system so valuable to his people. He tapped the map, and his finger made the screen shimmer with ripples of color.

  The small, blue planet looked tiny and insignificant, thought Dorn. In many ways it was. The planet was overpopulated, and was systematically destroying its own ecosystem, yet they had not achieved light speed, jump capability, or the ability to establish colonies off world. Normally, a planet such as that would not warrant a steady and devoted defense. In the past, the Drexians had relocated alien species that had been targeted by the Kronock, or had assimilated them into their society.

  But Earth was different. Earth females were compatible with Drexian males. Some of them, at least. About half of the female population, according to Drexian scientists. This was why his fleet fought for them. This was why the human governments made the deal—the deal that traded protection of Earth for females.

  Dorn turned from the star chart and watched his warriors move with practiced efficiency on the bridge. If there had been no deal, his crew would not be where it was. Not that Dorn minded fighting. None of them did, but sometimes he wondered if it would ever end.

  After the initial Kronock incursion of the eight-planet solar system—when they’d reached within firing range of Earth before the Drexians had intervened and beaten them back—the enemy had sent a steady stream of ships to their border, but Dorn thought it was more to make sure the Drexians were still holding their blockade in place, than an actual attempt at invasion. The defense forces protecting Earth hadn’t come face-to-face with a Kronock in over thirty years, and although Dorn’s stomach turned at the thought of the huge scaly creatures with elongated, hairless heads his warrior father had told tales about, he couldn’t help feeling that he was fighting a faceless enemy.

  Keep on coming, he thought to himself as he watched his ship target a retreating Kronock ship and fire. Faceless or not, we’ll beat you every time.

  “The last Kronock ship has been pushed back, sir,” his second in command said, looking over his shoulder from where he leaned against a low console.

  “Are all our fighter pilots back?” Dorn asked.

  His second glanced down at the console. “Last one just reported in. No losses.”

  He let out a breath, relieved that his team had suffered no casualties. He couldn’t afford to lose any warriors. Correction, the Drexian race couldn’t afford to lose any warriors.

  As the last of the Kronock ships disappeared from view, Dorn’s shoulders relaxed and he rubbed a hand across his jaw, feeling the day’s worth of stubble he preferred. He had no problem defending Earth; battling the Kronock was in his blood and made him feel alive. However, he had no need or desire for an Earthling mate. Or a mate at all. His fellow Drexians could claim his share of the bounty for him.

  “Fall back to our defensive orbit,” he said, dragging a hand through the dark hair he’d let grow out and fall around his ears.

  It wasn’t that he found the Earth females repulsive. Aside from being small enough for him to break in two, they resembled Drexians in many ways. Bipedal mammals, they only lacked a foot or two in height, nodes along their spines, and a third breast, but he’d heard his Drexian brethren say that what the breasts lacked in quantity they made up for in softness. He’d often imagined what these famously soft breasts felt like, and even now his cock strained against his leg at the thought, and the hard nodes along his spine heated.

  “Commander, you have an incoming transmission,” his communications officer said, looking up from the blinking control panel.

  “Transmit,” Dorn said, glad for the interruption that had taken his mind off the Earth women and their curious breasts he’d never see.

  The officer tilted his head. “It’s on a secure line. From High Command.”

  Dorn sighed. “I’ll take it in my strategy room.”

  He walked off the bridge and into an adjoining room where star charts and battle plans were strewn across a large, round table. Despite their technological sophistication, Dorn preferred mapping his strategy on paper. Draw
ing lines and charting intercept points helped him think clearly.

  He took a seat across from the single display screen and tapped a button by the chair to start the transmission. The screen crackled to life, and a familiar face looked at him from across the galaxy. With bronze skin and vivid green eyes almost identical to his own, the man in the High Command uniform on the monitor grinned when he saw him. If Dorn’s hair had been a lighter shade of brown and cut short, and one of his arms not covered with a dark swirl of tattoos, it might have been difficult to tell the two apart.

  Dorn shook his head and tried not to smile himself. “I should have known it would be you. Nothing better to do than bother me in the middle of a battle?”

  “Is that any way to greet your older brother?” The Drexian gave him a half grin. “Besides, I know you won your battle, and the Kronock are in full retreat.”

  Leave it to Kax to monitor his fleet. Once an older brother, always an older brother. Despite his twinge of annoyance, Dorn was glad to see his brother on screen. The two had always been close, and being so far from him was his one regret about commanding his battleship on the outskirts. Since Kax had left military intelligence and taken their father’s seat at High Command, he rarely ventured to the edge of the defensive blockade anymore.

  “You manage to get your information quickly,” Dorn said, pushing a long sweaty strand of hair off his forehead. “We only just repelled the last of the ships.”

  Kax’s smile faltered, and he took a breath. “Then now is the perfect time.”

  Dorn sat forward, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. He knew his brother’s tell. Kax nervously rubbed his hands together, and an alarm bell sounded in the deep recesses of Dorn’s brain. “The perfect time for what?”

  “You’re being recalled to High Command,” his brother continued. “Well, more specifically, to the Boat.”

  The Boat? Dorn’s mouth went dry. Why was he needed there? The massive space station—officially dubbed the Love Boat and called the Boat for short—had been built to accommodate and orient the Earth brides who were taken from the planet. It sat behind one of the moons of Saturn, hidden from view and space probes, not that those were as much of an issue since humans had stopped focusing resources on space exploration.