Assigned a Mate (8 page)

“As is custom, and as my second-in-command has said, she has had her first fucking.” I tilted my head to Goran who sat off to the side and nodded his confirmation once again. “The act has been witnessed, recorded, and reported.” My hand fisted at my side and I wished for a blade to twist my fingers around. None of these men would see my mate’s personal pleasure. I would not share. Ever.

“We should have all been present.” Councilor Bertok spoke again. He was from the outer region, the wildlands he had mentioned, and I knew their customs regarding their mates was much more brute strength than gentle persuasion. While I knew the first fucking must be witnessed, it did not mean I enjoyed the idea of providing pompous
farks
like him with sensual entertainment at my mate’s expense. My life as leader was under constant scrutiny, but there would be one aspect that would remain private. Once back at the palace, my actions with my mate would be ours alone. Not even Goran would be in attendance. I would train her to my personal expectations, not to those of the entire council.

I did not respond to the comment, but said, “I have claimed her. She is marked by my seed and she bears my chain. There will be no further discussion.” I curled my fingers, beckoning Goran to join me. “If you look at the agenda for this session, we can start with the economic gains made in sector four.”

I turned my attention to the reason for this meeting. Continuing to talk about my mate only extended the time I would be kept away from her. Her life on Earth—or what she’d done to be banished—did not concern me. She was here with
me
now and I would not let her go.

* * *

“Look at the chain dangling between her legs. She hasn’t pleased him.” The woman’s shrill voice had me spinning around, the chain whipping against my thigh as I did so. I hissed out a breath and picked up the chain to hold it so it would stop stimulating the walls of my pussy. That didn’t work. I had only been carrying the spheres in my body for a few minutes and I was ready to weep and beg Tark for relief from the constant pleasure. It was a subtle hum, enough to constantly remind me of his control over me—and my orgasms—but not enough to bring me that sweet release.

They vibrated and pulsed similarly to the medical probe, although in a much more subtle way. By having to hold them inside, I had to clench my inner walls, which only added to the delicious torture.

Several women stood before me. They all wore an identical simple garment that looked like a sheer slip dress. I could see the outline of nipple rings through the thin material, but I couldn’t see that any of them had a chain strung between them, as I did.

The woman who’d spoken was beautiful, except for the sneer on her lips. Her dark hair flowed long down her back. She was tall and willowy with small breasts and a slim waist. She was everything I was not.

The skin on my bottom was sore and I wondered if they could see the marks Tark’s touch had left on me through the thin slip Goran had given me to wear. My complexion was pale enough that I couldn’t even hide a simple blush. A red bottom would be blatant. Their scrutiny was intense, eyeing me as if I’d come from a different planet—which I had.

“I am Kiri,” one of the women said as she stepped forward. She was shorter than the annoying one and while curiosity laced her expression, there was no malice. With a tilt of her head, she added, “The others are Lin, Vana, Ria, and Mara.”

I didn’t know who was who, so I nodded at all of them.

“We were working on our craft when you came in. Please, join us.”

The space was similar to Tark’s, with carpet covering the ground. Similar lights made the room have a soft yellow glow. The air was warm and the scent of almonds filled the air. I recognized the aroma from my dream at the processing center.

She turned, along with the others and settled at a table where they seemed to be carving small pieces of wood. There were several comfortable chairs, a low coffee table—God, did they have coffee here?—and another tall table against one wall that was laden with various platters of food and pitchers of various colored liquids. While I associated a harem as a type of prison, there were guards outside after all, the amenities matched that of Tark’s own tent.

The ladies settled in to their tasks, all except for the thin, beautiful one. She stared at me as if I’d been brought in with the trash.

“He will reject you,” she snapped.

“Mara, leave her be,” Kiri said.

Mara rolled her eyes at the other woman’s words, but only I could see the disgust and envy on her face. “I hear only convicts are sent from Earth. What was your crime?”

I had no friend in Mara, that much was obvious. Perhaps a little fear might go a long way instead, so I told her the truth. “Murder.”

The other women stopped their work and one hissed in pain. “Ah, I sliced my finger.”

She held her injured hand in her other one as the women circled to tend to her.

“I can help.” I attempted to step around Mara, my medical training urging my body forward before I stopped to consider.

Mara gave me a push on the shoulder. “Help? By killing her, too?”

I paused and watched as a small device was waved over the wound. A blue glow was emitted and, over the next few moments, the wound stopped bleeding and healed before my eyes.

While I was a doctor on Earth, it seemed that the medical advances on Trion were far superior. My scientific mind found it fascinating. “That is amazing. You are completely healed?”

The woman cleaned the blood from her hands with a damp cloth offered by one of the others, then held up the now healed finger. She smiled and nodded. There was so much to learn and I was eager to examine the healing tool.

Mara took my arm and walked me—none too gently—across the tent so that none of the others could hear her foul words. “He’s fucked all of us, you know.”

When I frowned, she smiled, then continued.

“You don’t know? Hmm. Tark fucks all the women. You are nothing special to him. He could call on any one of us to please him, anytime he wishes. His choice.”

She looked down at me, raking her eyes over my plump body with disdain.

“Then why was I sent here and matched to him?” I asked, tilting up my chin. I wouldn’t let her see that she’d upset me. The idea of Tark being with Mara, or any other woman—no,
all the other women
—made my belly churn.

“Because he needs an heir. Look at you. Overfed, ample hips, drooping bosom. You were made for birthing. Now I—” she tossed her hair back, “—was made for desire.”

The tent flap opened and one of the guards stuck his head in, looked around. “Mara, come at once. He wants you now.”

My mouth fell open and her eyes lit with triumph. She rolled back her shoulders and plucked at her nipples through her slip until they were tight points, the rings clearly defined. “See?” she called with a backward glance, then left, the tent flap closing with a slap behind her. I stood and stared after her, feeling hollowed out and empty, with two spheres inside my pussy and holding the attached chain in my hand like a dog holding its own leash. Even the vibrations that they emitted did nothing for me any longer.

I’d only been off-planet for perhaps an hour or two but I’d been fucked and found wanting by my own mate. Mara had stated Tark was only interested in me for breeding—why would he want curvy old me for anything else?—and he had called for her to slake his insatiable lust just minutes after he’d watched his seed slide down my thighs. I was just one of many in the harem. I wasn’t desirable, I was just the plump girl who could birth babies.

So, here I was, destined to be nothing more than a breeding machine, forever treated like a criminal? A murderer? I wasn’t much on Earth, but even there I was more than this. An innocent medical doctor with no love life? Yes. But I healed people, I didn’t kill them.

Now, here on this sandy planet, I was nothing but a baby factory. A biological machine. But me, the woman? The bride? The healer?
I
was worthless.

“Where do I sleep?” I asked Kiri. I could hear the dejection in my voice. She lifted her head and gave me a sympathetic smile.

“Through there.” She pointed to an opening in the tent I hadn’t noticed before. Ducking through, it was a secondary tent, the two connected.

Within were piles of soft woven blankets and furs on raised platforms, similar to beds. There was another table laden with a basket of breads and fruit and a drinking flask filled with a clear liquid that I assumed was water. One look at the food and my stomach rolled.

I found a small space where the blankets were folded and appeared unclaimed. I climbed up, pulled the warm covers over me, situated my new leash so the stimulation to my core might stop, and rolled onto my side to face the soft-sided wall.

I shifted carefully, afraid I’d catch the other chain and pull at my nipples, but once settled, I became attuned to other parts of my body. I was wet between my legs, Tark’s seed still seeped from me. I was sore inside, for while I never saw his cock, I knew it had been big. Too big for my barely used body, and now stuffed with metal balls he’d called stimspheres. Then there was my ass. I was sore there, too, for nothing had ever been placed inside, not even a tip of a finger. My bottom stung from his punishment, a glowing heat that hopefully would dissipate soon. My body was still soft and pliant from the orgasms Tark had wrung from me. The fact that I’d responded so readily only made my misery greater.

How could one man bring me both mind-blowing pleasure and heartbreaking disappointment? He’d called for Mara after he’d sent me off to the harem. A harem! God, I was just one of many for the man. He’d said I was his mate, that I belonged to him, but he
did not belong to me. Was that the custom here? How could any psychological profile or assessment have identified me as the type of woman who would be happy as one of many women in a single man’s bed? There had to be some kind of mistake.

Not that it mattered. I needed to keep my head about me. There was much I would be forced to endure over the next few weeks, but I also needed to remember that once the trial started, I would be transported back to testify, to return to my life on Earth. Tark would be on the other side of the galaxy. Mara, the bitch, would be on the other side of the galaxy. I just had to survive in the meantime. The prosecutor had said that the trial was scheduled to take place in three months, but the date was never guaranteed.

At least I couldn’t get pregnant before Earth’s criminal justice system sent for me. Thank God. What would happen if I got pregnant before I went home? What would I do with Tark’s child growing in my womb back on Earth? Thankfully, as part of the witness protection program, I had an implant that would prevent pregnancy. Someday, I’d have it removed. But not here. Not now. I wasn’t a baby machine.

I shuddered beneath the blankets. I was trapped here for a few weeks. Maybe three months. In the meantime, what would happen to me? I was weary, exhausted, and the spheres inside me continued to pulse. I reached between my legs to rub my clit. He’d said they would make me aroused, but not enough to come. Suddenly angry at my predicament, I wanted to test his word, to discover if his claims about the device were true. Besides, I wanted to relieve the ache between my thighs, to sink into mindless pleasure for the length of an orgasm. I circled my clit with the flats of my fingers. I was slick and wet. Tark’s seed was plentiful.

Pressing my heels into the bed, I shifted my hips. I knew just how to make myself come, I’d done it often enough. This time though, I thought about Tark, saw his face in my mind, pretended the vibrating spheres deep inside me were his cock. It was enough to make me gasp in pleasure, make my inner walls clench and squeeze. I worked my clit for several long minutes before I caught my breath and slumped, the spheres continuing to hum. But, as Tark had promised, the programming prevented me from reaching orgasm. I was sticky and sweaty, aroused and completely unfulfilled.

Unfortunately, the added stress of need on my body did nothing to help my weariness. Surely the ache in my chest had been caused by the transfer, and not by a sense of betrayal. I did not care about the man who had claimed me. Fucked me. Used me and abandoned me to these cackling women. The only punishment the gold spheres had provided was humiliation in front of Mara, and now, a deep and painful ache in my core, an ache that longed to be filled. An ache that reminded me that I was nothing to Tark but a machine he planned to use to produce heirs. And Mara? The vile woman was probably coming all over Tark’s cock right now, spread-eagled and tied to that small table, calling him master as he took her from behind.

The image hurt, and it shouldn’t have. Tark was nothing to me. I’d known him a couple of hours. I had to be reasonable. Logical. I tried to distract myself by concentrating on thoughts of home. Walks in the park. Coffee and chocolate. My warm bed in my nice, comfortable apartment.

I would be home soon enough. I just had to survive this until then, and remember that Tark wasn’t going to be mine. Not really. Not forever.

Sure, Mara was a bitch. Tark was deceiving. I didn’t know what to think anymore, nor did I care. I just wanted to escape the only way I could, so I gave in and let sleep take me.

Chapter Five

“She refuses,” Goran said, rising to his full height after coming into my tent.

I turned and my eyes widened. Had I heard him correctly? “Refuses?”

He seemed nervous as he nodded, for no one refused me. Until now.

“Did she give a reason for this disobedience?” I could hear the anger in my voice, but I was calm. Was it the Earth way to defy, or just Evelyn Day’s? Was this her attempt to reject me? Too late for that. She was mine. If she’d suffered a change of heart since her very satisfying fucking, then it was up to me to sway her. Perhaps my punishment had been too severe for her human mind? Was it her diminutive size? I needed to discover what Evelyn Day needed to be happy, and if her bliss would come through punishment or pleasure.