Now the old, age-worn lounges were all that was left, the walls and floors stripped bare of everything else. The environmental systems kept dust away, but the room still echoed of neglect. Hanna had not used it before or since the first week of Najir’s residence in her home, all those years ago.
The room had darkened considerably as the light from the other room was cut off from them. Najir felt Hanna touch him through the material of his shirt, her fingertips stroking over his pectoral muscle as she sidled up close to him. His heartbeat jumped up in speed as her lush figure snuggled up along his side and her mouth reached to brush his neck.
“Weren’t you holding a thought for me?” she asked, her whisper sultry sweet against his skin.
Najir smiled into the dimness above her head.
“Tart,” he taunted her. “You’re just horny because you got a good feel of that impressive cock of his.”
“So?” she asked, shamelessly shrugging a shoulder. “Are you telling me you didn’t get hard just watching me stroke that impressive cock?”
She had him there, and she knew it. Unlike Vejhon, Najir knew her intimate touch had been meant as a lesson and not a violation. Watching her bestow her caresses had triggered a flurry of sensory memory and longing. Hanna followed up her speculation with a foray of fingertips down along the front of his pants, easily encountering his quickly developing erection. She chuckled wickedly when he snapped his tongue at her in a silent scold for her audacious manipulations.
“You are shameless and insatiable,” he accused in a growl against her ear that sent shivers of delight down her body.
“And horny,” she reminded him huskily. “My pussy is soaked just from the feel of him.”
“Not because he came so hard for you?”
“No!” She jerked back harshly, seeking his dark eyes with an expression of disbelief. “Do you honestly think I would get any pleasure from degrading another human being like that?”
“No. Of course not,” he soothed her gently, his fingers reaching to smooth the creases of fury from her forehead. “I don’t know why I said that.”
“And he didn’t come for me,” she continued bitterly. “He ejaculated because a drug forced it on him. It could’ve been anyone in that room.”
“Shh, I know. I know,” he said, his regret and sorrow radiating through the gentle touch of his hands. “I’m sorry, Hanna. It just touched so close to my memories. I must have gone through every single emotion he was feeling, right along with him. It was like stepping back in time and…I-I’m still not thinking clearly.”
“I knew you shouldn’t watch,” she whispered painfully, turning away from him to press her forehead against the cold stone they could no longer see through. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into it.”
“Because you didn’t want to do it alone, Hanna. You borrowed from me to make your point, bringing him in to that experience you and I shared so long ago. It was key in bringing us together, and it is crucial to keeping all of us safe. Now, he will forever be part of a terrible knowledge, but he will need it if he is to join us on our journey into the future. I don’t think I would ever have trusted him otherwise.”
“Neither would I, Najir.” She picked up the tail of her hair, toying with the end of it in a familiar nervous habit she had. She brushed the thick bottom of it back and forth over her palm a dozen times or more as she thought. “I feel evil,” she confessed suddenly.
“No! Never!”
“Well, selfish then! To do this just because we need him so badly…”
“Stop!” he commanded her harshly. “That is not the reason why and you need to remember that. At least, not the only reason why. Yes, he is perfect for us. The first in a decade to come along who could come this much closer to perfect. But you were right when you told him what would have become of him had you not intervened.”
“Had you not,” she corrected.
“Had we not, then,” he acquiesced. “Had we not intervened he would be in Majum’s household this very instant, Hanna, being mauled and raped and worse.”
“So much worse,” she murmured.
“Yes. This is all a means to an end. Remember that. You have never quailed when handling unpleasant tasks before, so why this time?”
She turned to look up into his eyes, her hands reaching to grasp his wide shoulders. “Because I see so much of you in him. I saw your pain and fury from that night all over again.”
“And you will show him the way away from it just as you did me, my Lady,” he whispered softly to her as he brought his lips to her soft cheek. “You will show him how easy it is to love you. You will teach him all the reasons why you’ve earned my undying loyalty and commitment. And one day, I have no doubt, you will even make him come for you, harder and with far more pleasure than any stimulant ever could manage.”
That made her chuckle softly, her body relaxing as his hands gathered her against him. She felt his large palms sliding down her back and cupping over her bottom briefly as he hugged her tightly to his huge frame. The embrace brought her pelvis to pelvis with him, reminding her instantly of the uncomfortable dissatisfaction of both their unfulfilled bodies. She had been running on an excited high ever since Najir had hurried in and told her of his discovery. She had turned him away then, knowing she would need that frustrated energy to take her through the next few hours…including the interlude she had just left. But as much as she would love to avail herself of Najir’s sexual prowess, she knew that this part of their relationship had drawn to a definitive close the moment he had bought Vejhon for her…and he knew it, too.
“So tell me, my Lady,” he murmured softly into her ear. “What is your next move with our new companion?” Najir continued to cuddle her close, already knowing that, while sex must no longer be a part of their life together, they both refused to change their other intimacies in any other way.
“Mmm…to let him get used to his new limited freedom for a while. Let him digest and deduct from what he has seen and learned.”
“Let him get comfortable before dropping the next bomb on him?”
“No. Not too comfortable.” She hesitated a moment. “I think I will send you in to him as well.”
That made Najir go still for several long beats. “Really?” he questioned her. “You think that’s wise?”
“Are you questioning your Master, you naughty slave?” she asked, her pretty blue eyes sparkling with the tease. “I think I shall have to punish you for that.”
“Mmm, promises promises,” he taunted her. Tempted her. “I only meant…” Najir broke off. “He resents me. He holds me in contempt for what he perceives as my relinquishing all of my independence to you. He sees his nightmare version of his future when he looks at me.”
“Ahh, but you and I know better,” she observed.
“We definitely do. But it will take a lot of time before he comes to understand that.”
“Trust me, dearest.” She hugged him with all of her strength.
“Always, my Lady,” he breathed. “Always.”
5
Vejhon staggered to his feet entirely on principle.
He fell back against the wall that had just spit him out and continued to gasp for breath. His body still quaked with shock and exhaustion, so he gave himself the luxury of a minute to pull himself together.
He had to admit…he had no idea what to think or what to feel. He’d run through every extreme emotion there was in the past hour or so, not to mention being on a nonstop high of hatred and wrath whenever he’d been given the luxury of consciousness these past months. His body felt as though it had been pushed through every military endurance test of his lifetime, except it was as though he’d tackled them back to back to back. He looked down at his wrists first. Oddly enough, he hadn’t seen them bare in months, so there was something extremely surreal about the absence of the imprisoning cuffs. He also hadn’t realized he’d developed both scars and callouses on both of them. Probably his ankles as well. The thig
h, chest, and biceps restraints had been used much less frequently once he’d been submerged in stasis, so the damage from them was minimal.
At the moment, however, each of those contact points were bleeding, except there had been no biceps restraints in place here. No doubt so that blue-skinned bitch could collar his arm as if he were a prized pet.
Vejhon reached for the band and examined it, tugging at it even though he already knew it was anchored firmly in place. If there was a trick to it, he’d have to figure it out later. Right then, he needed to wrap his head around a few other things first.
For example, why had he been set free? The room was loaded with windows along one side, some of the glass appearing to be plate. Granted, it was likely to be “unbreakable,” but in his experience, if it had a seam, it had a weakness. Fortified by this prospect, Vejhon tried a few steps across the room. Again, that surreal sensation. Like stepping on solid land after sailing or riding space, it felt queer to move his weight forward without having it instantly restrained.
He made his way to the first window, laying a hand on the smooth surface and looking out at the planet that was trying to claim him. What he saw was a vast sweep of well-tended grounds that led to a fortified wall. Sentries walked the top of the wall and along the lawns, and were stationed at the one gate he could see. Vejhon’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure out if all of that was to keep people in, keep people out, or both. For the time being, he voted on both. After all, it was a slave-driven economy from what he had gathered, and you couldn’t have your assets escaping.
He also could see that House Drakoulous was situated high enough on a hill to afford a spectacular view of the enormous and densely populated city all around it. From what he could see, there were a few big houses up high like this and the size and manner of housing decreased the lower into the city you went.
It never ceased to amaze him how standard things could be from culture to culture, even with vast amounts of stars and black space lying between them. Vejhon had actually never traveled away from Wite until the wars. Into those years he had been forced to concentrate a good deal of experience in xenoculture. It hadn’t been so hard once he had figured out the constants. Most cultures had a class or caste system, most had an economy, and many were populated by humanoids. Upright walking bipedals were a recurring theme no matter how strange the stage.
Though he had to admit, this was the first time he’d been to a culture where everyone was blue. Most of the guards were blue skinned, and from what he could see of the pedestrians walking the city pathways, his captor had been telling the truth when she’d warned him how easily he would stand out.
As Vejhon ran his hand over the glass of the window, inspecting it for a weakness, he tried not to think about Hanna Drakoulous. The things she had said and the things she had done only jumbled up his brain and his emotions, and he needed to focus on basic survival at the moment. Beauty, lust, and treachery could wait for a while.
There was no actual window, he quickly realized. All of the “windows” were made of stone. It was a fascinating piece of engineering and clearly of optical technology. What better way to see the world outside, yet maintain total privacy? Perhaps cameras outside of the windows reflected back the view, because as he moved from window to window the vista was flawless in depth and perspective. He’d never seen anything like it.
Vejhon’s travels along the wall of windows had brought him to the section of the room dedicated to grooming and bathing. The deep oval tub suddenly looked appealing, his wrist and ankle joints whining for some heat and clean water to ease their woes. After all, it had been next to forever since he’d bathed; since he’d done much of anything really. Eat. Sleep a real sleep. See the out-of-doors. Be in the out-of-doors. And since he doubted that last one was going to occur anytime soon, maybe he was best off taking advantage of the opportunity to rest and gather his strength and wits. Gods knew he had to figure out what kind of game it was that Hanna was trying to play on him. Then he had to figure out how to suffocate the life out of the manipulative piece of xenotrash. Once he covered all of that, he’d haul ass off of this planet as fast as possible.
He walked toward the tub, examining it in order to figure out how it worked. Wite had used ultraviolet cleansing technology for a while now, but he’d experienced the luxury of water baths before. Vejhon took a step down to get a better look and instantly the sound of sliding stone sounded as two portals opened in the far side of the tub and water surged out of them at incredible speed. Before he knew it, the tub was full and hot and he was experiencing the first act of civilization he’d been allowed since this had all started. The simplistic right to take a bath. It galled him that he recalled Hanna ordering him to do exactly that before she had left, but not enough to be stubborn about it.
In truth, the woman was right about one thing: he wasn’t the man he had been when he’d last had a foot on Wite. Nothing would change the fact that at heart he was a soldier…and a stone-cold killer when he had to be, but that man would never have paused to bathe and think before all of this. The diehard soldier would have been throwing himself around like a trapped animal trying to escape.
But if he’d learned anything from this experience, it was that anyone could be brought down in value to absolute nothingness, and it was humbling to know he wasn’t as invincible as he’d always thought he was. So now he would think. Rest, build strength, bide time and information, and work it all out right. It had to be right. He’d never make it out of the city alive if it wasn’t, never mind off the planet. The truth was he knew next to nothing about where he was and how things worked. It was vital he learned, even if it meant playing nice with his enemy for a while.
The very idea of cozying up to the woman who had violated and humiliated him left a taste like acid in his mouth and sparked his banked anger. He rubbed his temple as pain lanced through his head in response. He forced himself to resist the urge to spend time wishing seven kinds of death on her. It would be a waste of time and energy, and it certainly wouldn’t make him feel any better about what had happened. He focused instead on washing away all remaining evidence of her crime against him, as well as the haunting echo of her touch on his flesh.
Female Masters of High Houses wear these everywhere. They never go anywhere without them.
That is what she had said about that thrice-damned ring she’d used.
Except…she hadn’t been wearing it. Not when she had arrived and not when she had left. Still, if this was her playroom, why would she need to wear it anywhere else? It made sense that she could keep it here to be used only with her latest toys.
Vejhon exited the bath feeling a bit more grounded and truly refreshed. The aches in his muscles had been eased away by the heat of the water and his wounds were cleansed. He found some medic patches on the countertop with the towels. He dried himself and tended his wounds. Best of all, the towel became the first thing like clothing he had worn in a hell of a long time.
He ignored the bed for the moment, deciding to explore everything more thoroughly. The room wasn’t obviously bugged or monitored from what he could find, but he didn’t take it for granted. There was technology here that he’d never seen before and anything was possible. He peeked in the small cabinets and drawers of the furnishings scattered about, and then made his way to the large wardrobe near her chest of jewelry and trickery. Honestly, between the rack of hooks and that chest of subversive baubles, he was expecting the worst when he found the doors to the wardrobe unlocked and pulled them open.
What he found was clothing. A lot of it. Rich fabrics, top to bottom, inside and out, everything he could need and amazingly all in his size. Clearly, Hanna had gone to great trouble to be prepared for him. Vejhon shut the doors and turned his back on the finery. Oh, he’d need it eventually if he was going to get out of there, but at the moment he didn’t feel like dressing up for the bitch like some pretty, well-behaved doll.
Like Najir. The clothes were similar to what he’d s
een on the other slave.
Man. Other man. Vejhon was no slave and refused to refer to himself that way. She said it was inevitable and that he’d have to accept it? Well, fine. Let the inevitable find him. He wasn’t going to make it easy. So he decided to head over to the bed and, after pulling everything back and inspecting it sternly, he chose to lie down. Or to be more honest, his body decided for him. Between his draining ordeal and the drawing heat of his bath, he was asleep before his head hit the pillows.
“Good morning, Master Drakoulous.”
Hanna drew to a halt and turned with perfect poise and posture to face her greeter. She felt Najir come to a stop behind her, the tension rippling through his body a force of energy she could almost taste. However, she trusted Najir not to show any outward signs of his hostile emotions as the Baron of Majum House approached them.
“Good morning, Baron,” she returned, smiling pleasantly as she exchanged politeness with the enemy of her House. The Feuds were ended, and she would obey the law, but she knew Majum would not. The man had murdered her parents and countless others. He had a taste for it and a talent for it and people like that didn’t just stop. Neither did they let go of lifelong grudges and feelings of vendetta.
“How do you find your new toy, my dear? I must say, I hope he was worth the bid. As envious as I am, no mere flesh is worth such a price.” The Baron walked up so that he was close enough for her senses to absorb the smaller details about him. It might not deceive her, but it always amazed her that such handsomeness and appearance of refinement could be grown over so foul a soil.