Chains of Desire (2 page)

Hanna swallowed and felt the pressure of the guard’s hand on
her throat. A chill ran through her body. She fought the panic that scrambled
inside her. She had to think. H
H
ad to stay
calm.

It went against everything inside her to accept any part of
this situation. Her mind told her to keep fighting, but instinct told her to
back off at this moment. She had to keep up her strength. Later she might have
a chance to escape. Get out of here and find the princess and the other women.

And then do what? Despair washed over her. They were on a
spaceship. Surrounded by guards with guns. How would they ever get back home
even if they did escape?

She stared into the guard’s dark eyes. His hand was still at
her throat but he didn’t have to squeeze. He’d made his point. She nodded and
he dropped his hand and stepped away.

“All right,” she said. “Unchain me and I’ll eat.” Whatever
was on that plate smelled delicious and her stomach was growling with hunger.
Her wrists were sore and her shoulders and hips ached from the humiliating
position she’d been put in. She couldn’t wait to get those heavy cuffs off and
her arms down.

He raised one eyebrow and she wasn’t surprised by his
skepticism. He crossed his muscled arms over his sculpted chest.

“I promise not to attack you,” she added.

He laughed, surprising her. It was a delicious laugh, deep
and full, and Hanna couldn’t help but wish they’d met some other place and time.
“It’s too late for that, Princess.”

“I can’t eat?” Now that she’d made up her mind to eat, she
was starving.

He took a step toward her. He was so tall and broad and dark
it felt as if his body cast a shadow over her. “You can eat. You will eat. But
only because I
want
you to eat.” She shivered at his words. “I’m going
to feed you.”

What? That was ridiculous. “I don’t want you to feed me.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want,” he said smoothly. “You
have to get that through that gorgeous head of yours.” He ran a calloused
finger down her cheek. “You’ll do what you’re told to do for the rest of your
life.”

A chill ran over her skin. This couldn’t be happening. She
stared at his handsome face and tried to reconcile the matter-of-fact tone of
his voice with his horrifying words.

He turned from her and speared something on the end of a
fork. Her stomach rolled. She’d lost her appetite. “I don’t want to eat
anything.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Oh you’re going to
eat. I want you to, remember?”

She shook her head slowly as he stepped in front of her. Her
heartbeat kicked up again when she saw the strong set of his jaw. He reached
out with his free hand and she jerked back, but he just brushed her wayward
curls out of her face.

“Being stubborn won’t help you,” he said.

Still, she refused to open her mouth when he raised the fork
holding some sort of fruit she didn’t recognize.

He leaned close and grabbed the back of her head, so she
couldn’t turn her face away. He rubbed the bite-sized piece of red fruit across
her closed lips. The sweet scent made her mouth water. Juice dribbled down her
chin and caught the tip of her breast. And regardless of her best intentions,
some of the succulent juice slid through her lips. The sweet flavor burst on
her tongue and her lips parted slightly when she gasped.

And the guard shoved the fruit into her mouth.

She should have spit it back into his face. She thought
about it for a split second. But her rumbling stomach and her needy tongue
overrode her brain. She bit into the morsel and almost sighed with delight as
the sugar hit her system.

“Another piece?”

Hanna gave him credit for not sporting a look of triumph.
Shame for giving in so quickly made her blush, but she knew she had to eat or
she’d be too weak to take advantage of any opportunity to escape that might
present itself. She nodded.

He released his grip on her hair and brought another piece
of fruit to her lips. She opened her mouth, but he paused before he placed it
on her tongue. Instead, he rubbed it along her lips again. More juice ran down
her chin and across her breasts before he slipped it past her lips. She barely
chewed that piece before she swallowed. “More.” His eyes flashed from her
demand and she quickly looked away. “Please.”

“Your stomach is empty. You must eat slowly. I don’t want
you getting sick on my watch.” He stepped a little closer to her as he speared
a piece of meat. As he turned, his chest brushed against the inside of the arm
that was stretched out in front of him. The heat from his body warmed her more
than the cooked meat that he fed her next. It was a little chewy, but the sauce
was tangy and delicious. Its sharp scent prickled her nostrils. She ran her
tongue along her lips to lick off some of the sauce that lingered there. The
guard quickly turned away and speared another piece of meat.

As he stood before her, she had a good chance to study him
as she chewed the food he slid past her lips. She could tell he was strong and
well-trained. His well-sculpted muscles bulged beneath his tight black shirt as
he moved. His skin was as dark and shiny as the hortnuts on Vanya. His eyes
were nearly black and while she studied them for warmth, she never saw any
signs.

His hand were wide, his fingers long and strong. Rough and
calloused. He wore a wide leather cuff on his left wrist. She knew he could
strangle her if he wanted, but he was almost gentle as he fed her. His musky
scent grew stronger than that of the food remaining on the plate.

Finally she was full and told him so. He must have been
pleased with the amount of food she’d eaten because he didn’t try to force her
to eat any more. He nodded and set the plate aside. He reached for the weapon
he’d propped by the door. Hanna realized she didn’t want him to leave. She
didn’t want to be all alone in this sterile room, even if her only choice for
company was a surly guard.

“How long will it take to get to Noria?” she asked. How long
would she be locked up in this room? How soon before she would be delivered to
the king of Noria?

Jarrod reluctantly turned around. “Another day and night.”
He’d hoped to get away where her scent wouldn’t call to him. Where her chained
body didn’t tempt him with dark desires he tried to forget. But one look at her
and he knew he couldn’t leave yet.

He’d never fed a woman in chains before and didn’t realize
what a mess he’d make.

Trails of sunberry juice ran across her luscious breasts.
Her nipples were nearly the same deep shade of pink as the juice. He knew he
should get a wet cloth to clean her, but his mouth watered with the need to
taste her. To find out if she was as sweet as his favorite fruit.

How would she react if he simply lowered her head and swept
his tongue along those full breasts? Hell, she was chained. A slave. He could
do anything he wanted and she couldn’t stop him. Arousal surged through him at
the thought. He’d lick the juice from her succulent skin. Pop that nipple into
his mouth and suck until he had his fill.

But she wasn’t
his
slave. King Barrus had offered a
small fortune to have her snatched and brought to him. No one would be allowed
to enjoy this slave without the king’s permission. She wasn’t worth getting his
throat slit.

He had to get out of here before he started thinking she
was. He’d be safer back on the other side of that solid door where he wouldn’t
be tempted by dark pink nipples, long, firm thighs and wide green eyes. His
cock wasn’t happy with the thought, aching with its displeasure, but for now
his brain had the final say.

He wet a cloth at the sink and slowly approached her. He
knew he should release her from her chains and let her take care of the cleanup
herself, but selfishly, he knew this might be his only chance to touch her.

“Stand still.”

Her breasts were as firm as he thought they would be. He
rubbed the cloth gently across her skin, wiping away the streaks of juice from
her pale skin. Stroke after stroke, he traced the contours of her flesh with
the soft cloth. Her nipples beaded beneath his touch and he couldn’t resist
roughly brushing over them with the edge of the cloth.

Her soft gasp made his already hard cock twitch. Her parted
lips were wet and shiny from the fruit he’d rubbed on them. What would they
taste like? What would those lips feel like rubbed against his skin? Going down
on his throbbing cock?

Her eyes were closed, her head dropped back, her back arched
so she pressed her breasts into his hand.

He kneaded the firm flesh of her breasts, not even
pretending any longer to be washing her. The cloth may still have been between
his skin and hers, but the fruit juice had long since disappeared. He was close
to dropping the cloth altogether. Why pretend? His cock was straining against
his trousers, beginning to talk louder than the voice in his brain telling him
to back off.

Back off? Why would he do that when he had access to this
perfect body, spread out for his enjoyment? And hell, she was enjoying it too.
If she was this responsive, she’d make a great sex slave. Why did the thought
make his stomach clench?

He tossed the cloth into the sink and turned back to her.
His cock urged him on.

Just then the door slid open and Leoh strode in. “Shift
change, Jarrod.” The brawny bald guard stopped and openly raked his gaze over
the princess. “She give you any trouble?”

“No trouble.” Jarrod ground his teeth and he glared at the
temptress strung out before him. What had he almost done? He’d almost forgotten
his plan. Almost messed up big time. “She just ate, so we can leave her alone
for a while. Contemplate her future.”

He grabbed his weapon and opened the door. Leoh went out
into the hallway ahead of him.

“Jarrod?” Her soft voice caught him at the door.

Shit, why didn’t Leoh keep his mouth shut? Now she knew his
name. Would he never get out of here?

He whirled around, pointing his weapon at her. “What?”

Her eyes grew wide, but it didn’t stop her from putting a
little pleading tone in her voice. “Can’t you let me down? My shoulders are
aching.”

“Get used to it,” he growled before he stepped out and let
the door close behind him.

When Hanna watched that solid black door slide closed, the
breath left her lungs with a whoosh. He’d left her. Alone. Still chained. And
aroused. She nearly screamed in frustration.

How could her body have betrayed her this way? She was in a
nightmare. Kidnapped. Chained to a wall on her way to a distant planet to
become some king’s sex slave. And yet the gaze, the scent, the touch of her
gruff captor had made her body come alive.

She wryly remembered her wishes as she’d danced on Vanya
yesterday. Or was it the day before? She’d lost track. Hadn’t she wished to see
other worlds, other people? Hadn’t she yearned to experience the touch of a
man, the arousal that his touch could ignite?

It appeared she’d gotten her wish. Only not in the way she’d
imagined.

But her imagination still ran wild as she leaned back
against the cold, hard wall. She’d never realized how exhilarating a man’s
touch would truly be. Jarrod’s touch. When he’d kneaded her breasts they seemed
to swell beneath his fingers, to fill his hands, to beg for him to squeeze them
harder, squeeze them more. And when he rubbed the cloth across her sensitive
nipples, she couldn’t help but respond. Sharp tingles of desire had shot
straight to the spot between her legs. Had she really arched her back, offering
herself to him? Had she really begged for more?

Her sex still throbbed between her thighs. Her legs were
stretched too far apart to be able to give herself any relief from the need
that didn’t go away, even when the man did. Now that his touch had awakened her
body, it refused to go back to sleep.

Hanna tried to wipe the man and his touch from her mind by
thinking of other matters. What had King Lars done when he found his daughter
and the rest of them missing? Would he have any idea what happened to them?
What of the princess and the other women? Were they nearby, perhaps held
prisoner in other rooms around her? Was what Jarrod told her true? Did some
planets really deal in sex?

Hanna had never felt so out of touch with the rest of the
universe as she did right now. She knew nothing of the cosmos, of the people on
distant planets and the things they did. The palace had been such an isolated
world, nothing should surprise her.

Even her erotic response to a guard on a slave ship.

* * * * *

Jarrod made himself stop at the food hall after he left the
princess’s room. He’d suffered too many hungry days and nights to ever pass up
a free meal. Not in the mood to be sociable, he sat over in a corner by
himself. The meat tasted like rancid yak leather and wasn’t much more tender.
It sank like a rock into the pit of his stomach, but he ate every bite before
going back to his room.

When he slammed open the door, his roommate, Micah, shot up
out of his bunk, his long blond hair sticking out at odd angles. “What the
hell?”

“Sorry.” Jarrod flipped on the bright overheads, even though
he knew his best friend had been sleeping. He propped up his weapon at the end
of his bunk and stripped off his shirt. He’d hit the shower before he went to
bed.

“Hey, I have to take the early shift,” Micah grumbled,
sinking back down onto the thin mattress. He rested his head in his hands. “I
could use a couple more hours.”

Jarrod paced the small room, images of the past days
bombarding him. Images of the princess in chains haunting him. “We should have
never signed on to a fucking slave ship.”

Micah looked up. “In case you forgot, we were only half a
step ahead of Gaylock. Better a guard on a slave ship than to have our own
asses chained in the hold.”

Jarrod shuddered at the thought of being captured again by
Gaylock. He’d die before he went back in the mines.

“And cheer up,” Micah went on. “With the payoff we’ll get
from this cargo, we can get the
Galaxy
out of the repair shop. We’ll be
setting up our trading post on Ceylon 7 before you know it.”

Jarrod scowled. “Looking over our shoulders for the rest of
our lives.”

Micah stretched back out on his bunk. “Nah. Gaylock’s lazy.
He’d never bother to look for us that far.”

“You hope.”

“I know.”

Jarrod sank down onto the bunk he hadn’t bothered to make
since they took off from Noria over a week ago. “Fucking slave ship.”

“Hey, if not them, it could have been us.”

Maybe it would have been better that way. “They have no idea
what’s in store for them.”

Micah frowned and stared at him for a moment. “Since when
did you get a conscience?”

Since a slender princess with wide green eyes looked to him
for help.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her standing there for
hours, naked and alone, her skin rubbed raw from the metal cuffs. He hadn’t
even gotten her anything to drink. She was probably thirsty.

“Fuck.” He climbed off the bunk instead of getting some
sleep like he should have. He grabbed a tube of Marvel Cream from his locker
and shut off the lights. “Get some sleep,” he called over his shoulder before
he shut the door behind him.

Leoh was dozing in front of the princess’s door, leaned up
against the doorjamb, his big bald head nearly resting on his shoulder. Jarrod
kicked Leoh’s boot with his own and the big guy jumped to attack mode before he
opened his eyes and saw Jarrod standing there.

“Hey! Shift change?” He rubbed his eyes with his stubby
fingers.

“Yeah. Go get some sleep.” Jarrod watched Leoh shuffle off
down the hall. He’d probably fall into his bunk and not even realize he got a
few extra hours of sleep tonight.

Jarrod wouldn’t get any sleep. He paced in front of the door
for a moment, the tube of cream in his hands. He didn’t have to go back through
that door. He’d be doing more than his job just standing guard outside. Yeah,
that’s what he’d do. Just stand out here until morning.

He turned and slapped his palm on the reader. The door slid
silently open. Jarrod stood in the doorway so the light from the hallway
illuminated the female body across the room. Somehow she’d managed to fall
asleep. She was leaning back against the wall, her chin resting on her chest,
her arms hanging heavily against the hard metal cuffs.

Good. He didn’t have to be here. He’d leave her to her
dreams. Her nightmare would start soon enough.

But before he could step back through the doorway, the
princess raised her head and opened her eyes. “Jarrod?” She stood up straight
and stepped away from the wall.

Resigned, he entered the room and the door slid shut behind
him. He set the cream down and turned on the overheads. She blinked against the
bright light. He crossed to the sink and filled a small glass with water. She
followed him with her gaze, then cocked her head when he stopped in front of
her with the glass.

“You came back to bring me water?” Amusement infiltrated her
sleepy tone.

He glared at her. “You want it or not?”

She stared at him for a long moment and his heartbeat kicked
up. She slowly nodded. He brought the glass to her lips and she drank eagerly,
not stopping until the water was gone.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

Her lips were wet and shiny again and Jarrod strode back
over to the sink, refilled the glass and drank, trying to slake his thirst. But
when the glass was empty and he turned around to face her, he was just as
thirsty as before he drank. Her spicy scent filled the room. His cock hardened
and he slowly walked back over in front of her. She appeared wide awake now,
her eyes clear, her naked breasts rising and falling with each deep breath.

“Where are the other women?” she asked. “Are they chained up
like this?”

He hardened himself against the worry in her voice. “They’re
no longer your concern.”

She leaned toward him, so close he could see the long lashes
that framed those eyes he would see in his sleep. “Are they all right? You can
tell me that.”

He took a step away when all he wanted was to move closer.
“I don’t have to tell you anything. Your only concern is to please your
Master.” He knew how she could please him. On her knees before him. Her hands
cuffed behind her back. Her mouth taking his cock deep. He shuddered as he
imagined plunging between her wet lips, holding her head steady to make sure
she took him all the way down her throat.

“Why me?”

Her words jarred him away from his forbidden thoughts.
“What?”

“Why does the king of Noria want me?”

Jarrod shrugged. “I don’t know, but if I had to guess, I’d say
your daddy the king got this other king angry and this was how he decided to
fight back.”

He could see a little spark of hope light up her eyes. He
knew he had to stomp that down right away. “Even if your father knows Barrus is
behind your disappearance, he’ll never be able to get you back.”

She lifted her chin in that stubborn way he couldn’t help
but admire. “Why not?”

“Think, Princess.” The crew had discussed this very thing
during their briefing before the mission. “Vanya doesn’t have the technology to
travel to Noria. We teleported in and out in seconds and were light-years away
a few minutes later. It would take Vanyan ships longer than your lifetime to
reach Noria.” Somehow he was within arm’s reach of her again. He brushed the
backs of his knuckles across her cheek. “Your father should have tried to keep
up with technology inside of hiding from it.”

“The king…my father wanted to keep Vanya safe by isolating
it. He thought we would avoid trouble that way.”

“It didn’t work, did it? Your father is helpless. As
helpless as you are.” And damn if her helplessness didn’t call to the dark need
within him. He shouldn’t be so aroused by the sight of her this way. He
shouldn’t crave for her to call
him
Master.

She shook her head sharply and swung against the chains. Her
hair fell into her face. “My father will come for me.”

“He has no way to rescue you. By cutting off Vanya from the
rest of the worlds, your father has ensured he has no allies to call upon who
might have faster ships or trained warriors.” Jarrod brushed her heavy curls
away from her face. “You must accept your fate. It is the only way to survive.”

Her eyes were shadowed now. His words had burned out the
hope that had started to kindle. He refused to feel guilty. She needed to know
the truth.

But perhaps he could give her another kind of hope.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he reached out to
test the weight of one of her fine breasts. She stared at him as it rested
heavy in his palm. He swept his thumb across the sunberry-red nipple and it
beaded tightly from his touch. “It is not a bad life, Princess. You will surely
receive your share of pleasure.”

“It will be no pleasure if I am chained and at my Master’s
mercy.”

“No?” There was no cloth as a barrier this time as Jarrod
kneaded the firm flesh of her breast. No excuse to touch her but his own raging
need. He told himself that he wasn’t really enjoying this slave without
permission. He wouldn’t take any pleasure from it. He was simply instructing
her. The king would thank him if he knew.

He pinched her nipple and rolled it with his fingers. She
gasped and arched into his grasp. She had a responsive body. That would help.
“This is not a pleasure? Or this?” He slid his other hand across her stomach
and down to the patch of curls between her thighs. The folds of her sex were
not too slick, but as he played with the sensitive flesh, her moisture flowed.
“Ah, but your body recognizes pleasure. In this life, Princess, you must learn
to take your pleasure where you can find it.”

“I can’t!” she cried, but she gasped when he plunged a
finger deep into her core.

“Yes, you can.” The chains rattled as he slid between her
and the wall. “I’ll show you.” He wrapped his arms around her, nestling her ass
against his throbbing cock. He reminded himself that this time was not for his
pleasure. All he wanted to do was give this new slave some hope for tomorrow.

She struggled briefly, but stilled as he began to stroke her
soft skin. He wrapped one arm around her waist and with the other he began to
explore her body. Her skin was softer than any he’d ever touched. The women
he’d taken pleasure with had lived lives as hard as he had. He’d never held a
soft, pampered, innocent woman in his arms before.

“You have a body made for pleasure,” he whispered, brushing
his face against her silky hair. He slid his hand along her abdomen, heading
again for that soft patch of curls. She moaned and leaned back, draping her
body over his. Her head dropped back, her long hair flowing over his shoulder
and brushing against his bare back. He’d never felt anything like it.

Hanna had never felt anything like Jarrod’s rough hands
caressing her skin. She knew she shouldn’t like what he was doing. Shouldn’t be
aching for more of this incredible friction that was sending waves of
sensations over her skin. She shouldn’t be wanting more.

But as soon as she awoke and saw him standing there in the
doorway, staring at her, she’d wanted him to touch her again. He wasn’t wearing
a shirt and she couldn’t help but admire his sculpted muscles.

The tattoo surprised her. It was all black and covered the
entire left side of his chest. It followed the curves of his chest, from his
broad shoulder down past his tight nipple. Thick black lines radiated out from
a center sunburst design to a circular border, with intricate designs between.

Some people on Vanya decorated their bodies in this way, but
Hanna had never seen a tattoo that actually enhanced someone’s body as this one
did. It made him look even stronger and sexier. If she ever got out of these
cuffs and chains, she hoped she’d get a chance to touch it.

But for now he stood behind her, where she couldn’t see him.
He held her tightly around the waist so she didn’t swing helplessly from her
chains. Her bare back pressed into his naked chest. His hard strong body held
her somewhat steady. And even though his fingers were calloused, he was gentle
as he swept his other hand across her abdomen. Hanna didn’t realize how hungry
she’d been to be touched. She hadn’t seen her family in years. She had her
chores around the palace and her duties to the princess. But no touching was
ever involved.