Battling Rapture (4 page)

“I see it on the scanner. There is an enormous amount of traffic
surrounding the site,” Rhine responded.

His brow was furrowed and his lips were so tight she decided
a crowded hyper-jump port was undesirable.

“I can’t get a lock on the spacecraft identification codes.
They could be anyone,” Sir Gunter said.

“Reversing course. We need to find another port,” Rhine
said.

“We are being pursued,” Sir Olaf said.

Their voices were so steady, she almost second-guessed her
assumption that they were in trouble. She wasn’t stupid. She understood space
was a dangerous place. If they had reversed course and were being pursued, it
was serious. She stood.

“Can’t you make this thing go any faster?” She was holding
the back of his chair.

He spared her a look which would have made her smirk if she
weren’t focused on coaxing him to go more swiftly.

“They have Gesturian fighters.”

She had no idea who said the words. She was fascinated by
the sleekly sharp-angled ships that appeared to zoom past them and begin to
travel in front of them. They sparkled as if they were chrome.

“The
Alta
is fast, but we can’t outrun Gesturian
fighters,” Sir Olaf said.

“We’re being hailed,” Sir Gunter added.

Niki’s focus snapped back to Rhine. He unclenched his fist.
It was the only sign he might be angry.

“On screen,” Rhine said.

The first thing she noticed was the creature’s muzzle. The
rest of its face was humanoid except for the short hair that covered it. The
hair or fur was the length and texture of a German shepherd. The ears stood
straight up the same as a dog on alert and it had a thick mane of black hair
that hung in coarse waves from a high forehead. It wore a tight black uniform
with various gold and silver medals. The hands were the same as human fingers
except covered in fur, and oh yeah, tipped with black claws.

Her normal adrenaline-enhanced bravado was failing her. Her
heart pounded and she gripped the back of Rhine’s chair so tightly she thought
her fingers might break.

“Captain Rhine, your presence and the presence of your crew
is requested by Bute Chaeen in the fortress.”

She was fascinated with how the sharp teeth in the alien’s
mouth appeared and disappeared as he talked.

“I am travelling on Tribe Huntu business. My cousin is
expecting us,” Rhine said.

“Bute Chaeen insists I do not return without you. He has
sent an honor guard of twelve ships to make sure you reach Tuetvon safely,” the
furry alien said.

Yeah, their escorts were closer to prison guards. That
wasn’t a friendly invitation. Twelve ships against one were pretty terrible
odds.

The screen went completely blank for a moment.

“Make sure the feed is cut,” Rhine said.

“We’re clear.”

“What in the hell was that?” Niki asked.

“Who. He is a Contu. They are bipedal beast men with
hypersenses and form-shifting powers. They are closely related to the Nestvur,”
Rhine said.

Anger flared hot in her stomach. Her fear retreated. The
Nestvur were an enemy she could get behind killing.

“I take it we have no choice but to go to this Tuetvon.”
These hairy beasts were standing between her and Camryn. What was the good
captain going to do about it? “Do they all look that way?”

“He was in a semi-shift. Most of the time they are just
really hairy men,” Edela Bronwyn said.

“Only ten seconds of the distress signal was allowed to go
through. It has been blocked,” Olaf said quietly.

“Damn,” Rhine said.

They were screwed.

Rhine looked at Niki and Bronwyn and almost howled as if he
were a Contu in battle. He was going into a brutal, conniving and extremely
sexually charged environment with a Huntu edela and a level one exotic. He
should have just tied a hunk of raw meat around his neck.

He knew Bronwyn would do what he asked, but Niki was more
unpredictable. She had only shown fear for a moment before her usual anger had
consumed her. If she was as unpredictable as her sister, and quick tempered as
well, she and Bronwyn could end up the property of Bute Chaeen and the rest of
them could end up dead.

They needed to be alive and get a message to Venn.

“Bronwyn, you show them all the hauteur of the Huntu’s
number-one edela. Never let one of them touch you without reminding them of
your rank, status and the wrath of your brother.” He knew this was a role she’d
been taught to play since infancy.

“I understand, Rhine.” She was more subdued than he could
ever remember seeing her.

He turned to his new slave. Bute Chaeen would definitely
want her. Rage welled to the surface in him and he quickly took control of the
emotion. His cousins shifted uneasily.

“Niki, you are my slave on Tuetvon. You must do as I say
quickly and without question.”

“Why?” She shifted and he controlled the urge to inhale
deeply of her scent.

“The Contu will not accept you are off-limits if you aren’t
openly and aggressively possessed and guarded by an owner. Bute Chaeen will
take offense that I do not give you to him in tribute.”

“Give me to him. There will be no giving. Once I finish
neutering him, I will be back for you.” She almost snarled it at him.

He resisted the urge to hold his balls. “You must act the
part. We can’t give him a reason to take you and Bronwyn and kill the rest of
us. There are too many of them and no one knows where we are.”

“We are cleared for landing,” Olaf said.

Rhine turned away from her distrustful eyes. He needed to
focus on landing the ship. Bute Chaeen wanted something. Rhine guessed it was
the
trilliu
, a rare mineral the Huntu had acquired in the twelve
thousandth galaxy. It could be made into clean fuel for space transport. The
Huntu currently had a monopoly on the substance. They had refused to sell to
Bute Chaeen. Maybe he wanted to renegotiate.

They landed smoothly. He pushed a button on the captain
chair controls and turned to Niki. He stood. He observed her tense body and
intense expression. She gazed back at him. Hostile was too mild for this woman.

“What?” she asked.

His next move wasn’t going to make her any more docile.
Before he could think too much about it, he snatched her from her seat and
cradled her in his arms. He ran his hands over her back as he made sure to
slide her along his front.

“What the hell are you doing? There isn’t time for you to
feel me up, you perv.”

She pushed against his chest. Her struggles to free herself
helped accomplish his goal and enflame his senses at the same time. Her full
breasts pressed and jiggled against him as he clutched her ample ass. It was
enough to make him forget his true purpose.

He caught her wrist before her palm connected with his nose.

He spun her away quickly. “I needed my scent to be fresh on
you.”

She watched him through slit lids. He forced his eyes from
her heaving breasts and focused on what was important. Her wide leg stance and
fisted hands. He knew how fast she was. She wasn’t as quick as him, but she
could do a lot of damage if he happened to be distracted, which he was. He
sidestepped her first pass, moving away from the fist that almost struck his
jaw. His right hand deflected her side kick and he used his left hand to grab
her arm and jerk her around so that her back was flush against his front.

He crushed both her arms to her sides and jerked her away
from anything she could gain leverage from with her feet. He couldn’t resist
pressing his face to the crook of her neck and inhaling. Somehow their little
sparring session was arousing him more than it angered him. He jerked his face
back quickly as she turned her head to bite him.

“Calm down. You will be among strong hypersensitives who
won’t believe I own a level one exotic and haven’t touched her.”

“Warn me next time, asshole. I don’t like surprises and I
definitely don’t want to be manhandled.”

He leaned close to her ear and spoke softly. “You lie.” Her
nipples were hard against his arms and the sweet spice of her pussy clouded his
judgment. His cock pressed against her back. Her struggles stroked him nicely.
“You call me Sir in alien company.”

“Would you two stop the foreplay? We’re really in trouble
here,” Bronwyn said.

“What do you know about foreplay, little one?” Rhine asked.

“Nothing, and I won’t ever know anything because she’s going
to get you killed and me passed around as though I’m a five-credit whore,”
Bronwyn snarled.

Niki calmed instantly. She turned her face to Bronwyn. “It
is important that I do this?”

“Yes. We have to buy time. We need my brother to look for us
or time to get a message to him.” Bronwyn’s features softened for a moment. “I
know Earth women find it hard to follow orders, but…”

“I understand,” Niki said.

He released her slowly. She stepped away from him.

“They’ve signaled for us to disembark. I’ve set the ship to
stun anyone attempting to board the
Alta
without our life signs,” Tor
said.

“Grab your emergency bags. Bronwyn, add clothes appropriate
for the edela to yours. Niki, get a few garments together.” He wouldn’t try to
pretend Bute Chaeen would let them go quickly.

Rhine glanced through the view screen at the wasteland that
was Tuetvon. The Contu had exploited their planet’s resources. The only thing
left of the once flourishing world was the decrepit shells of skyscrapers and
factories. Bute Chaeen held the last semi-fertile fields and farm animals. He
also owned land rich in mines. He controlled the planet’s only natural resources.

They exited the
Alta
to a fully armed guard. Bronwyn
descended the ship’s ramp on Tor’s arm. Rhine watched her performance. Her
posture was perfect and her head high. She looked down her nose at the Contu
guard in front of her, then straight ahead. She stared past the men with a
slight sneer on her face. Bronwyn at her haughty finest.

He braced himself and reached back for Niki. The moment she
stepped into the open, the Contu’s muzzles went up. They sniffed the air. One
stepped closer. Rhine brought his hand quickly to his blaster. Gunter moved
closer. The Contu stepped back.

They moved forward. Rhine looked up. Bute Chaeen controlled
his planet from this fortress. It soared into the gray sky. Clouds and smog
obscured the sun even though Rhine knew it was daytime on Tuetvon. Aircraft
patrolled the sky above the buildings and used spotlights to investigate the
darkest corners. Each splash of light against fortress walls showed them to be
the color of spilled blood.

For once, Niki gave off neither anger nor desire. She was
completely blank. He wished her scent was blank. Her voice would be pleasing to
the Contu as well. He’d reminded her to remain silent. She wasn’t covered
enough, but it couldn’t be helped. Bronwyn’s clothing would be too big for her,
so her arms remained bare and the upper swells of her breasts exposed. The
first dog to touch her would die.

She’s mine.
He controlled his breathing with effort.
He had to remain in control. He couldn’t afford to let misplaced possessiveness
interfere with his duty. As the highest-ranking Huntu present, he needed to get
them all out alive.

The fortress entryway was long and dark, lit sporadically
with artificial torches. Rhine studied the path they took. The corridor was
surprisingly empty, yet he could hear many voices ahead. They turned a corner,
and through a double archway, Rhine spied the great hall filled almost to
brimming with Contu men and women. Here and there he spied various other
aliens, mostly women. They each carried the slave brand.

In the center of the large room, in a chair which resembled
a red throne, sat Bute Chaeen. He was in his humanoid form. Quiet spread as
they were led deeper into the room. Many of the beast men were inhaling deeply.
The air was thick with lust and desire.

Bute Chaeen sat up from his lounging position. “She is the
exact color of Rhinonian
colbruna
. I love the decadent candy. And her
smell.” The shifter’s face changed from humanoid to beast, then back again.

Rage exploded within Rhine. No one would be allowed to touch
her. He would bathe in Bute Chaeen’s entrails first. “Mine.”

“Surely you would share with your host.” The shifter smiled,
but his eyes were hard.

“I don’t share.” Rhine would not back down.

Bute Chaeen stood and moved closer. He inhaled deeply. “You
haven’t even fucked her. If you need help breaking her, I have trained many
slaves.”

He forgot himself for a moment and repositioned to launch
himself at Bute Chaeen. Niki pressed her body to his back and side, managing to
leave his arm free. Heat spread through his body. It startled him that she
would touch him voluntarily and he calmed enough to gain control.

“You don’t train a level one as if she were a common slave,
Bute Chaeen.” He didn’t react as she pinched his back. “We have more pressing
matters. I have the Huntu edela with me and her brother is expecting her within
the week. Why have you…invited…us here?”

The shifter turned to Bronwyn. Concern and then calculation
crossed his features. “My apologies, Edela, I did not realize you would be with
the males of your tribe. I do have business with them, and when it is completed
to my satisfaction, you may be returned to your brother.”

“I am not accustomed to so much mixed company, Bute Chaeen.
I will need to retire, and I am not allowed to go anywhere without the males of
my family.” She stared past his shoulder, head high.

The shifter regarded her for a moment. Rhine remained ready.

“The edela is tired. Do you have a suite large enough for us
all?” Rhine would speak for Bronwyn as the second-in-command of Tribe Huntu.

“I’m sure our host doesn’t mean to be inhospitable, cousin.”
The way Bronwyn said it left no doubt that she indeed believed that is exactly
what the shifter meant to do.