Chapter Six
“Wait a minute. The ship is the object you live in, not your name. I’m asking you your name. Not what objects you inhabit,” she said.
“My name is Ship. Cycles ago, I inhabited a small electrical toy vessel that Taio had as an infant. He named me Ship. I liked it and have used that name ever since.”
“Cycles?”
“Yes, you would recognize the meaning as year.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Two Sonis rotations.”
“Huh?”
“Days.”
“Oh. So, what was your name before Ship?” She relaxed back against the wall.
“My name was…”
A high-pitched squeak resonated throughout the room. Covering her ears with her hands did little to block out the shrieking noise.
“I am sorry if my name caused you pain. I will have to add that your ears are sensitive to high-pitched sounds to your information.”
“Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again.” As her hearing slowly came back, she opened and closed her mouth and rocked her head from side to side.
“I made a note of it. It will not happen again.”
“Taio, he was one of the men chasing me. Who is he?” Eva held up her hand. “And if you can’t answer without making that God-awful noise, then please don’t answer.”
“Taio is himself. He does not have an entity inside him.”
“Right,” she said sarcastically. “I was asking who he was, as in…never mind.”
Ship fell silent for a minute.
“I misunderstood your question. Taio Xochis is the first King of Sonis, first son of King Xochis of Drazlan and Prince of Drazlan. He is the owner of Sonis Mercenary and Sonis Gold.”
Okay, so she had been sold to some type of royalty. Royalty whom she had assaulted, can’t forget about that.
“Are you his sl… I mean, is he your mas…” She blew out a breath. “Do you belong to him?”
She had trouble trying to find the right words to ask. Somehow asking, “Are you a slave?” or “Are you owned by someone?” didn’t seem quite polite.
“No. I am my own. We are…friends is the word I believe your people would use.”
“So, did he buy me on that planet?”
“From what I was told, you were given to him by the Tresdonians.”
“I was given to him. As in free?”
What the hell?
She couldn’t believe it. It’s not that she wanted to be sold into slavery, but to be given away. Well, that brought back some bad memories. Damn Tresdonians.
“You proved to be more trouble than you were worth.” Ship laughed, a deep rumble that filled the room. Apparently he amused himself.
“That’s not very funny. No one had the right to give me away,” she said, her voice a low whisper.
Her parents had given her up for adoption when she was two years old. Who gives up a two-year-old? Of course, she didn’t want to be sold and bought by anyone, but at least it proved she was worth something. Free, well, that was just…nothing.
A soft clinking sound in the distance brought her out of her downward emotional spiral. She grew quiet and strained her ears. The noises trailed off down the hallway before finally dying down completely. Only then did she turn her attention back to the entity. He wasn’t an immediate threat.
She decided to take her chances and keep asking questions. This was more information than she’d gotten from anyone about anything in the past three years.
“Can you please tell me where I am? You told me I’m on some type of vessel, but I really want to know where I am.” More importantly, how far away was she from Earth?
“You are in the Delta System.”
“Umm…and that is where exactly?”
“The Delta System is ten light cycles away from the Zaronna System. Both are located in the Torus Galaxy.”
“Hmm…I need you to be a bit more specific. I need information I can use.”
“That was information you could use,” Ship said, sounding a bit offended. “We are on our way to the Zaronna System.”
“Why are we going there?”
“We are returning home. Your new home. The moon Sonis.”
She inhaled sharply as the information settled.
Her new home.
That’s what the entity had said.
She shook her head violently. “No. That’s not right. My home is on Earth. Can you turn the sh…vessel around and take me back to Earth? Please.” The plea tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it.
“Earth. It is the third planet from a sun located in what your species have named the Milky Way Galaxy. Earth was colonized by the Loconuist just over three Earth years ago. Since that time, three-fourths of Earth’s population has been sold into slavery throughout the Holantis Galaxy, Oli Galaxy, Zinarcarin Galaxy, Istenoru Galaxy, Qeiktig—”
“Stop!” she yelled. Not being able to take any more, she dropped her head into her hands. “Where did you get this information?” she asked in disbelief. He had to be wrong.
Those bastards sold three-fourths of Earth’s population? No, that couldn’t be true. He was making this up. This had to be a mistake.
All those people…
“When you were brought onboard, Taio had me check your origins. The Loconuist vessel gave me the information available on your kind.”
All of a sudden, the events from the past three years came crashing down on her. The alien invasion, her capture and being separated from people she had come to call friends.
Separated.
Alone.
Again.
Those three thoughts crushed down on her as heavy as a weight.
“I am sorry for your loss.” The sincerity in the entity’s voice made her believe he somehow understood all she had been through.
She buried her face in her hands and cried. For the first time, she cried for the loss of her planet, her world, her fellow humans and her best friend. The tears poured down her face and spilled on the floor. Her body shook and rocked with grief, the years of turmoil finally being released.
She wasn’t sure how long she cried, thankful the entity allowed her to wallow in her pain. Pulling herself together, she wiped her face on the large shirt and squared her shoulders.
“Did he purchase any others?” She was almost too afraid to ask, but afraid not to.
“No, you are the only one. He did purchase two other items from local merchants. Do you wish to know what they were?”
“No. Thank you,” she said halfheartedly. “Will I be the only human on Sonis?”
Ship paused. “I don’t understand. All the reports I received stated you were from Earth, not from human.”
“No. Yes. No. I mean, I am from Earth, but we are called humans. As in the human race.”
“I was not aware that other beings lived on Earth besides Earthlings. Well, not until before the Loconuist colonized Earth.”
“No, there wasn’t. I mean, are there any other Earthlings besides myself on the planet?”
Eva was beginning to understand she had to be more specific with her questions, because she was getting the urge to rip a control panel out of the wall just so she could have the sensation of strangling the entity with her bare hands.
“Sonis is not a planet. It is a moon. And no, you are the only one.”
A lump formed in her chest. She would live on a moon with aliens. Would they look the same as the men who chased her or the aliens in the crowd on that planet of hell? She shuddered at the thought.
She pushed the thought from her head. If Ship could find information on her, he could find Ally, right?
“How would I find a friend who was on that planet with me? Is there a way to find out who she was sold to?”
“That would be almost impossible. Slave trading is legal on Xenaris. The transaction does not require the name of the person being sold. All transactions are final. There is no return policy. Are you contemplating returning?”
“No. I wanted to know how to find my friend.” Her heart dropped to her stomach.
“Good. You are much safer here than you were on Xenaris. You required extensive repair. You required immediate help, even before I was able to find out anything regarding your genetic makeup. You were broken in many places. I hope I programmed the healing tank to put you back correctly.”
Eva jumped quickly to her feet and inspected herself. As Ship talked, an image of Frankenstein’s monster came to her mind. In her head was the voice of a mad scientist yelling, “It’s alive! It’s alive!”
“What is the name of the person you are looking for?” Ship asked, oblivious that Eva had her shirt over her head, making sure all her lady parts were in order.
“Allysan Miller. Hey! Where is my bellybutton?” She dug her finger in her stomach where her bellybutton had once been.
“What is a bellybutton?”
“It’s the indention of a hole that I had in the middle of my stomach. It’s from my umbilical cord.” She scratched at the skin in hopes it was still there, hidden underneath.
“Interesting that you would want a defect back,” Ship pondered.
She inspected her legs and knees, the childhood scars now erased. She wiggled her toes, all accounted for.
Oh my God! What if he closed up the “holes”, thinking they were defects?
Eva slid her hand between her legs, trying to inconspicuously check herself. Two holes, all in order. She blew out a breath.
“Taio is becoming very upset that I won’t tell him where you are hiding,” Ship finally said.
She put her shirt back down and looked up. “Is he still looking for me?”
“Yes. Taio, Rasha, Jor’Dan and Ankon were pursuing you when you fled the healing bay. Why did you run?”
“I had to get away. They were fighting over who was going to rape me first.”
“I assure you that was not the case.”
“Oh.” Honestly, she had forgotten about them for just a moment at least. “Has he been looking for me this entire time?”
“Yes.”
“Why haven’t you said anything to them? I mean, about where I am?”
“I thought you needed some time to calm down before you encountered them again. I told him you were frightened. I would guess they are all considerably larger than any of the males that would be found on your home planet,” he explained.
“Yes, well, they were kinda big. Giant, actually.” So far, the three males she came into contact with on the vessel had to be seven and a half feet tall or taller.
“Do you want him to come here to collect you?” Ship asked. Before she could reply, he added, “No, you most definitely would want to go to him.”
Eva thought about it for a few seconds before replying that she wanted to go to him. The thought of being hunted down made her want to throw up. At least she could go to him with her head held high and ready to face her future head on.
But angry was a mild understatement. When she finally reached the room where Taio and a handful of his men were, he looked beyond angry.
“He will not harm you,” Ship said to her softly. As she walked closer, Taio’s lavender eyes glared at her, a scowl on his face and arms crossed over his muscled chest.
“Tell that to him.” She nodded in his direction.
Chapter Seven
Taio kept his eyes on Eva as she ate. The dining hall was capable of holding thirty guards and was currently empty except for him, Eva and five others. Although nearly empty, he noticed she positioned herself as far away from him as she possibly could, as if she thought the distance would save her from him. Humph, not hardly. The only reason he let her keep her distance was because of Ship. Otherwise, he would have flung her across his shoulder and taken her to his bed three rotations ago, after her release from the healing tank.
Even though she sat at the table by herself, he could hear her talking. Eva had since exchanged the oversized shirt for a smaller skin suit.
The suit was his sister Saia’s from when she had traveled with him a few cycles back. It was obvious Eva had trimmed the bottom to accommodate her short stature. But otherwise the suit was tight in all the right places. Her breasts strained against the material as if they would explode out at any moment. The thought made his cock twitch with anticipation.
She wore her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun on the back of her head. He opened and closed his fingers, imagining them undoing the bun and running his fingers through each silky strand. He was sure it was just as soft as it looked.
Since she sat by herself, he could only guess she was in deep conversation with Ship. About what, he had no idea. He caught snippets of her words every now and then. Some words he understood, others he did not. Ship was in the process of updating the Universal Translator to accommodate the new language. Ship requested that Eva talk as much as possible so he could work out the nuances of the funny language from her home world.
As if sensing his stares, she glanced quickly in his direction. The words on her luscious lips trailed off mid-sentence. He should have turned his head, but didn’t. No need to, she would be his soon. He had claimed her. His crew had already been warned to stay away from the human female.
Blue eyes, the same color as Sonis’ Singha Ocean, blinked once, then twice, before turning away. Her small head shook, gesturing no, undoubtedly to Ship. He was sure he would hear about it later. Ship would not be pleased with him. He’d promised Ship he would stay away from her while she became acclimated to the new culture she would be thrust into.
“What are your plans for her when we reach Sonis?” Jor’Dan asked.
The younger guard sat down on the bench next to him and chewed on a piece of dried meat. Jor’Dan stood half a head shorter than him and his build wasn’t as thick as Taio and Rasha’s. Instead of pulling his long hair to the nape of his neck as most of the guards preferred, Jor’Dan displayed his freely. He still had a lot to learn. Even though the females seemed to prefer his hair wild, it was not advantageous for fighting.
“She will be mine.”
Jor’Dan nodded in response. “Since you have threatened death to anyone who approaches her, I already suspected that.”
Jor’Dan had been with him for over ten cycles, working his way from hired mercenary to royal guard. Next to Ship and Rasha, Jor’Dan could be counted as one of his most loyal friends.
“I will keep her with me for the time being. She has no family to protect her.”
“And you are keeping her only because she needs protection?”
“You were a witness to what happened to her on Xenaris. She was almost killed. She needs a protector.”
“By the way you are staring at her, I would gamble you have more than protection on your mind.”
“Once Ship has all the information he needs, I will claim her in every way.”
Jor’Dan looked over at Eva; Taio sensed his friend was trying to see her through his mentor’s eyes. “But she is so…small. If the rest of her race is as small as her, it would explain why they fell against the Loconuist.”
“Although small, she fought as a warrior.”
“What of finding a mate? Is that on hold for the time being?”
Taio shook his head. “I will continue my search for a mate. The people of Sonis are counting on me to provide a strong bonding contract. Until then, the human will make a nice concubine.”
Sonis had been given to him by his father for his twentieth birth cycle. At that time, Sonis had been inhabited by only a small group of settlers, those who could stand intense heat and constant dryness.
His father, the King of Drazlan, had been very pleased to get rid of the upkeep and responsibility of caring for it. But unbeknownst to the king, underneath the intense heat and dry sand lay one of the largest gold deposits in the galaxy. Now Sonis was its own very wealthy world.
“And you are sure she will be agreeable to such an arrangement?”
“Her agreement is not required. I own her.”
“Since when do we own slaves?”
Jor’Dan was right. His people had never had a history of slave trading, but the thought of giving up his new find clouded his judgment.
“I think you need to bed her. Get it over with and let her go,” Jor’Dan said.
Taio watched her intently from across the room. “I plan to.” But he did not have plans to let her go any time soon.
* * * * *
Eva pressed her face against the rectangular window in the training room, watching the lights of unknown origin whiz by. She was in one of the training rooms that Ship had sequestered for her. After lunch, she was feeling more than a little stir-crazy. She needed to work off some of the tension that coiled around her muscles. It took all her strength not to get up and leave the dining hall while Taio’s gaze bored through her back. Did he really have to keep sending those smoldering looks her way?
His lavender eyes locked on her whenever she entered a room. It was unnerving to be able to feel the heat from them surge through her, making her body feel on fire. The intensity of his gaze made her body respond in a way that she didn’t want it to. Every now and again, she wasn’t able to resist their pull and would return his stares, only to catch herself before quickly turning away.
No one would ever consider her to be a coward. But there was something about the way he looked at her that had her frightened. And that tattoo on his face. Sometimes it intrigued her and other times it made her scared. Who would allow such an intricate drawing to be completed? The pain alone would have been enough to deter any sane person from getting it, alien or not.
His body was a whole different story. It was downright criminal to have a body like his. The man had a body that would make a nun want to sin. He was tall, unbelievably so, but he was all rippling muscle.
This vessel was full of men and the only one who would give her a second glance was Taio. The thought should have given her some type of comfort. Instead of beating off twenty men, there was only one she would have to worry about. There was no mistaking his intentions. Every time he looked her way, it was as if he were willing her clothes to fall from her body. Her only counterattack so far was to stay away from him.
But she did have to agree with Ship, being under the care of Taio was for the best right now.
Learning about their culture had been a shock. Ship was very forthcoming with his information on Sonis, and especially how the males and females had traditional duties straight out of the eighteen hundreds. She was fed, the dining hall was open around the clock, which was a plus. Oftentimes she found herself standing in front of the computer, requesting the
buro
flank with
nitlick
soup after everyone else was fast asleep. These were the closest thing to Earth food she could find. They had the same taste as chicken and tomato soup.
She was finally clean. Although she would have loved to feel the caress of running water on her skin again, the ionized shower hit the spot. She had clothes, which, although they were tight, were at least clean. And most of all, she didn’t feel her safety was in any type of jeopardy, not at the moment. She wanted to find Ally, but she had to face the hard facts.
She was far away from home.
In an alien world.
No money whatsoever.
Nowhere to go.
And alone.
Ship promised to keep his channels open and alert her if he came across any leads on Ally. That gave Eva some type of hope. Ship explained that he would be able to find Ally a lot faster than she ever would. And for some reason, she trusted him. She hadn’t felt this way with anyone else she’d encountered so far.
Including Taio.
Finally, pulling herself away from the window, she pulled a training bag from the corner to start her workout. Hand-to-hand combat always made her feel primal, the main reason she loved it so much.
Within minutes, her training suit clung to her body, the lightweight material not constricting her movements at all. Perspiration covered her from head to toe, her once- tied-back hair hanging wet and loose around her. Her muscles thrived under the workout, coming alive once again.
Heavy breathing behind her caught her off guard. She flipped away, landing in a fighting stance facing the intruder.
Taio stood in the doorway, watching. He gave a curt nod her way, the acknowledgement doing nothing to make her feel relaxed.
“You have good skills, Eva.” He hooked his thumbs in the waist of his pants and leaned on the doorway. Her name never sounded better.
“Thank you.” She relaxed and straightened, her eyes still watching him. This was his first time speaking to her since their ill-fated first encounter.
She didn’t dare move closer, especially since she still didn’t know his intentions. She didn’t move away either, fearing he would view that as a sign of weakness. So she stood her ground, her body betraying her in the worst way. Her heart sped up a little and her breathing became more labored. Now she found her nipples hardening as her name rolled off his tongue.
I know trouble when I see it.
Eva willed her body to fight against whatever “mojo” he was throwing at her.
Taio walked into the room and took a sword off a rack on the wall. He began flexing it, testing its weight. The gesture caused his arm and chest muscles to ripple with each movement.
Jesus.
“Who taught you fighting moves?”
“My sensei, he lived back home.” Not a day went by that she didn’t think about the elderly Japanese man who referred to her as
kodomo
, or “little child”.
“Earth,” he said as a statement, rather than a question.
“Yes, Earth. Ann Arbor, Michigan, more specifically.”
She eyed the weapons on the wall. She was trained to use various fighting weapons—sais, kamas, knives, nunchakus, bo staffs and swords. She could show him a thing or two.
She walked over to the rack and took another sword off the wall.
Shit!
It weighed a ton! No wonder he smirked when she picked it up.
Even though she strained to hold it in both hands, she made sure not to let him know. She would give anything to smack that look right off his face. Instead, she concentrated hard on not dropping the sword. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She dared not try to maneuver it as he had.
“A male taught you?” He sounded surprised.
“Yes. Thirteen Earth years of training.” Taio laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “It’s not unusual on my planet,” she said. “A male can teach a female how to fight or even a female can teach a male.”
He laughed harder. “There could never be such a thing on my world.”
She turned her head away. “I earned a black belt, first Dan in Kyokushin Karate. On Earth I’m considered to be a great fighter.”
“Your people did not fare well in the war against the Loconuist. The fighting techniques of your species mean nothing to me.”
Ouch.
If the sword in her hands wasn’t so heavy, she would have swung it at him.
Asshole.
“We didn’t know how to fight them. We’d never encountered aliens before.”
“Then it is good that I will take care of you from now on.”
Her head snapped around. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”
“You were captured by the Loconuist and the Tresdonians almost killed you.”
She shrugged. “But they didn’t.”
He smirked. “Because I saved you.”
“Thanks, but I can take care of myself.”
“It doesn’t matter. You are my responsibility now. You are my slave.”
Her eyes, squinting and cold, fixed on his. “Ship told me those assholes on that planet gave me to you. I think you got cheated. I’m not a slave. Not yours or anyone else’s.”
“If this arrangement does not suit you, I could turn the vessel around and give you back to the Tresdonians.” He turned from her and put the heavy sword back on the wall rack.
Her heart began pounding in her chest. He wouldn’t…
“No. I’m not going back there.” She held her sword tightly in her grasp.
“Then you are my slave.” He stalked slowly toward her. His eyes locked on hers.
“No.” She backed away from him.
This cannot happen.
“You are mine.” He took another step toward her. “You will need to get used to the idea.”
“Never.”