DangerouslyForever (4 page)

Ally’s back straightened.
What is this fucker up to?

Alharad squinted as he watched her. “There’s another human
female here.” He shook his head nonchalantly. “I can’t remember her name. She
used to cry all the time, the customers complained about her relentlessly. I
really wasn’t getting a return on my investment and when she began trying to
take her own life, well, I knew I had to come up with a plan. She was much like
you in some regards.”

Ally kept her eyes on him, trying to follow why he was
telling her this story and how it related to her.

“She became pregnant and gave birth to an awful thing,” he
continued. “As is customary, Sagnior here was going to throw it in the trash,
but I instructed him not to. It was a gamble, I assure you, but I wanted to find
out what would happen if I let the slave keep the baby.”

“You’re a monster.” She curled her lip in disgust. A memory
of Adrienne’s baby flashed through her mind.

He stared at her with an evil glint in his eyes. “No, I’m
all about business. You humans can be more trouble than you’re worth. You see,
that female, she does any and everything that I ask of her now, all because of
a sentimental attachment to her child. We struck a deal. I let her keep the
thing and in return, she’s compliant. That got me wondering. Could I strike the
same deal with you?”

Ally cracked a sinister smile. “Too late for any of that. My
woman parts were removed a long time ago.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” he said, undeterred. “When I discovered
that, I thought I’d I have to cut my losses and dispose of you. So you can
imagine my surprise when I found out you
do
have a weakness—and it’s for
my very own pet. Should I go so far as to assume that you have an…attachment to
him?”

Ally inhaled a sharp breath. She could lie to Alharad and
let them lead her back to the dungeon or kill her, but…

Max.

She’d warned him to stop coming. She hadn’t wanted him to
get in trouble. But never in a million years did she think the soft spot in her
heart for the little boy would be used against her.

Her heart melted as a small whimpering sound came from Max’s
lips. She didn’t have a choice but to watch as fat tears rolled down his ebony
cheeks.

She glared at Alharad, hating him with every ounce of her
being. “What do you want from me?”

“No killing the customers. No fighting the guards. No trying
to end your life. What I want from you, Ally, is full compliance.”

Full compliance?

She almost laughed. She hadn’t given anyone her full
compliance since the Loconuist had invaded Earth. The docile, shy woman was
long gone. She didn’t think she had a compliant bone in her body.

“Let’s say I slip up and accidently snap Sagnior’s neck.
What would happen then? You’ll throw me back in the dungeon?”

Alharad laughed and clapped his hands. “Now what kind of
deal would that be? You seem to prefer the dungeon rather than your room. No.
You see, I need more assurance that you’ll behave.”

Alharad’s meaty hand rested once again on Max’s head, and he
resumed stroking him. Max let out another sob. Ally’s heart seemed to lurch in
her chest. If they were alone, she would have given him some words of
encouragement. She’d told him time and time again to stop visiting her. Why
hadn’t he listened?

“You will be all right, my pet.
Ally
will save you,”
Alharad assured him.

Ally swung her gaze to Alharad. She hated the way he said
her name, as if he had an inside joke and wouldn’t let her in on it. “What do
you want from me? All I can give you is my word. I’ll try not to harm anyone
and in return he stays safe.”

“Your word? Well, that isn’t good enough. I’ll strike the
same deal with you that I did with the other human. But in
your
case, if
you behave, I won’t make my pet here work the brothel.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. She knew Alharad was cruel,
but this? Without a second thought, she lunged at him, seeing red. She wanted
his neck in her grasp.

Before she could take two steps, her chains were yanked
back.

Alharad opened his mouth, feigning shock. “Feisty,” he said.
Then he turned to the guards. “See? I told you she cared about something other
than herself, didn’t I?”

A chuckle came from one guard and a grunt from the other.

“You can’t do that,” she ground out.

Alharad straightened and the smile dropped from his lips. “I
can and I will. I’ve been thinking about how much money I’m losing because of you.
You occupy space in my brothel. You take up a room, air, guards and food. Every
evening that you aren’t in rotation with the others, you put me deeper in the
hole.” He shifted his massive girth. “I’m all about business. And right now my
investment is bleeding me dry. I had hoped you would come to your senses on
your own and we could move past this unfortunate turn in our friendship.” His
hand cut through the air, causing the bangles to jingle again. “But it seems
you are unable to see reason.”

“What the fuck does this have to do with Max?”

He tilted his head to the side. “How precious. You even
named him.”

“I’ll kill you if you harm him,” she snarled. One of the
guards yanked on the chain attached to her collar, making her stumble back and
choke.

He ignored her coughing. “Don’t give idle threats. It’s so
unbecoming.”

She wanted to end him, choke him and gouge his eyes out, and
not necessarily in that order.

“If you don’t behave I’ll have to end your life.” He
shrugged. “You don’t seem to mind dying, but let me tell you what will happen
after
you die. My little pet here will take over your duties.”

Ally inhaled sharply.
He can’t be for real.
Maximillion let out another sniffle, his body racked with shudders.

“So, Ally, since you have a death wish and refuse to perform
your duties—properly—if we can’t strike a deal, I will have no other choice but
to have my pet take your place. I admit that I’ll miss his bubbly personality.
I assume that will be the first thing to go.” Alharad shrugged. “It must be
expected.”

She tried to step forward but the guards wouldn’t let her
budge. “You can’t do that. He’s just a child,” she begged.

“Customers ask about him all the time, but I’ve always
shooed them away. I think he’ll help triple my profits in the first week, while
your body is rotting in the bottom of the trash.”

“You’re sick,” she yelled, straining against the chains.
“He’s a baby. How could you even think of such a thing?”

The guards yanked and pulled her back, keeping her from
Alharad. If only she could get her hands around his throat.

“Oh, that part wasn’t my idea. I would have loved to come up
with it, but it was Sagnior’s.” He nodded his head toward the guard holding her
chain.

The guard to her right chuckled.
Sagnior.
She would
kill him the first chance she got.

Shit. But according to Alharad, slitting Sagnior’s throat
was now out of the question. “Send me to the healing tank and I’ll get back to
work tonight,” she said quickly.

“I could do that, but there’s the matter of you and my
customers.”

“What
about
your customers?” She’d do anything they
wanted if he would leave the child alone.

“You keep killing them.”

Oh yeah, that.

She straightened. This couldn’t happen. She had to stop it.
“I’ll take your deal. No killing, no maiming, no nothing. I’ll do anything you
ask.”

“Just as I expected. Didn’t I tell you she would save you?”
he asked Maximillion, who was looking so sick she was sure he would vomit any
minute.

“I’ll do anything, just as long as you don’t make him work
the rooms.” She shifted her gaze to the little boy. His poor body shook with
fear. He’d only been trying to help her. And because of his small acts of
kindness, she’d do everything in her power to make sure he didn’t end up like
her. She would whore. She did it almost every day. But what she wanted—no,
needed
to do was take care of that innocent little boy.

“If you keep your end of our deal, I won’t have any reason
to make my pet work in the brothel.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So we
do
have a deal then?”

He nodded. “We do.”

Before he could send her away, she said, “But I want the
exact
same one you struck with the other.”

He frowned, clearly confused. “I already said you’ll get the
same deal.”

“Good. After I return from the healing tank, I’ll expect Max
to be in my room with all of his belongings.”

He chuckled. “You are in no position to negotiate.”

“I’m not negotiating. If she got to keep her baby, then I
want to keep Max. A deal’s a deal. Give him to me.”

He choked and sputtered. “Give him to you?”

“He can still work for you during the day, but before
dinner, he is to come home with me.” She stared at him hard. She couldn’t back
down. Keeping Max with her was the only way she could guarantee that Alharad didn’t
have a change of heart later.

The room was silent.

She waited, holding her breath. For the first time in a very
long time, she wished for something other than death.

“Deal,” he said.

She let out a breath.

What kind of hell did I just submit to?

Taken: Six Earth Years

“Honey. Do you remember what I told you?”

Ally watched intently as Max shifted his dark-brown eyes to
the side, not wanting to meet her stare.

She put a hand on her hip. How many times had they gone over
this? “Max, stay in this room until I come back. No matter what, don’t come out
to look for me, okay?”

He frowned. His displeasure was written across his face.
“But Ally, I told Yoshi I would visit with her later.”

Ally laced her fingers through his curly afro and lowered to
one knee so she was at his eye level. “No ‘buts’, mister. Don’t leave this
room. It’s not safe for you out there alone. Got it?”

He looked away briefly. “All right,” he finally said
reluctantly, slumping in defeat.

Ally blew out a breath. Max had continued to work for
Alharad for a little while, but the brothel owner soon got tired of not having
a “pet” to attend to him day and night, and had given Max to her completely.
Ally had been ecstatic at first—until she learned that Alharad had replaced Max
with a twelve-year-old little girl, Yoshioka.

Ally knew it was only a matter of time before he tired of
the poor child and made her work the brothel.

And she still didn’t trust the fat fucker not to renege and
take Max away from her. Whenever they passed him in the halls, Alharad’s eyes
lingered too long on Max. And he seemed to be asking about him a lot lately.
“How is my pet doing? Does he miss me?”

It was safer for Max to stay away from him entirely,
especially when she wasn’t around.

Max let his head hang low. He and Yoshi had become fast
friends, and when she was able to get away from Alharad, she and Max spent a
lot of time playing games. Yoshi probably depended on Max’s companionship just
as much as he depended on hers.

“If I run into her, I’ll tell her that you can’t make it.”
She straightened and slipped on the sandals she would wear for the night. The
purple flats didn’t match the gold semi-see-through outfit she’d chosen but
they were the only shoes she had that were halfway decent.

Without hesitation, Max dropped to his knees in front of her
and began to lace the strings that would loop around her ankles and all the way
up to her knees. “She gets scared at night all by herself. Do you think you
could stay with her for a little while?”

Ally took the laces out of his hands and shooed him away.
His job of being a servant had been ingrained in him since he’d been two. No
matter how many times she told him, Max knew no different. He wasn’t a servant
anymore. He was just a little boy whose caretaker happened to be a slave and
brothel whore.

“I doubt if I’ll have time for an extended visit.” She sat
in an old chair and began lacing up her sandals. “But I’ll tell you what. I’ll
tell her to come here if she can.”

“Yes!” Max said, clapping his hands. “She can tell me
stories about Earth.” He ran to his little box that held objects that passed as
toys in a brothel.

“Don’t get so excited yet,” she said, interrupting the
beginnings of his happy dance. “If I run into Alharad or the guards, I won’t be
able to go to her.”

With that, his face fell. He closed the lid on his box and
slumped. A little part of her wanted to feel bad, but she couldn’t. Taking care
of Max had made her more compliant than she’d ever wanted to be. If Alharad got
wind that she was letting Yoshioka hang around, there would be no telling what
other bargains he’d feel the need to strike. She just couldn’t afford it.

After being separated from Eva, she had taken care of
herself and herself only—and she hadn’t been doing a very good job at
that
.
After taking Max under her wing, she’d begun to worry all the time—about his
safety
and
hers. What would happen to him if something happened to
her
?
There wasn’t a soul in the brothel she trusted to care for him. It was every
slave for him- or herself.

Someone else could take Yoshioka under their wing.

She finished with her laces and looked up to find him giving
her the saddest pout she’d ever seen.

“Max, don’t be upset.”

“But I am.”

She sighed and curled her hair behind her ears then motioned
for him. “Come here.”

He shuffled his bare feet across the cold floor, slowly
making his way to her. Their room was just big enough to hold a bed, dresser,
wardrobe and vanity table. He made the last few steps painfully slowly. She
grabbed the front of his pajamas and pulled him closer, where he scrambled onto
her lap and buried his head on her chest.

“Honey, when you get older, you’ll understand. I can’t
explain it right now.”

“I understand,” he said with a sniffle. “You don’t want to
have to take care of another kid.”

Well, he made it sound so…wrong. “It’s not that simple. It’s
just…” How could she explain it to him?

“’Cause if you didn’t have to take care of me, then Master
wouldn’t be able to make you do all those nasty things you have to do every
night.”

She pulled away from him to meet his gaze. “Don’t you dare
call him
master
. He never was, nor will he ever be, your master. Do you
understand?”

He nodded.

“You may call him sir because he’s your elder. Or even Mr.
Nijiaira. But you don’t address anyone as master ever again.”

She’d been teaching him Earth customs and ways since he came
into her care. Master was not in his current vocabulary.

“Sorry. I forgot.”

She hugged him closer. “You’re Maximillion Miller, don’t
ever forget that.”

He grinned and chuckled. “I think I want to change my name
to Gazillion. You can call me Gazi for short. Gazi Miller,” he said with pride.

“I don’t think gazillion is even a true number. Who told you
about that anyway?”

“Yoshi. She said trillion is more than a million and
gazillion is more than both of those.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s just stick with Max.”
She placed a kiss on his forehead. “And just so you know, I do what I do
because I love you and it means you’ll be safe. If your mother were here, she
wouldn’t hesitate to do it, so I won’t either.”

She got up, letting him slide off her lap to his feet.

“Really?”

“Really. That’s what mothers are for,” she added.

“Mothers protect their babies,” he said firmly.

“And daddies too,” she confirmed.

There had been many nights when he’d cried for a mother and
father he no longer remembered. The only thing Ally could do was hold him and
promise that she would take over where his parents had left off. Assuring him
time and again that his parents had loved him; there had been no doubt in her
mind that they had. She told him they would have given him the world on a
silver platter if they’d been given a chance.

“Will I have a daddy one day too?”

All the air seemed to leave her lungs at once. Her heart
felt as if it splintered into a million pieces.

Jim would’ve made the perfect dad.

She tried to hide the assault of pain behind a smile. “Right
now the Miller family consists of me and you.”

Holding his hand, she led him to the small bed the two of
them shared. It wasn’t much but it meant something to Max. He couldn’t remember
having a bed before. Alharad had made him sleep on a blanket on the floor at
the foot of his bed.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled his box of toys
next to him. “Don’t forget to tell Yoshi to come visit.”

“I won’t. But if she comes, I want you two to keep it down.
The walls have ears,” she said, referring to the females who spied for Alharad,
doing anything to win his favor.

“We’ll be like itty-bitty
sokals
,” he said, speaking
in a high-pitched tone. He wiggled his fingers in front of his face, referring
to the animals that reminded her of mice, only smaller.

“Yuck. Remember, no leaving.”

“No leaving,” he repeated.

She pressed the handle of the knife she wasn’t supposed to
have into his little palm. He took it and slipped it under the blanket. When
she returned, she would take it from him and put it back in its hiding spot.
Hopefully he wouldn’t have to use it, but if any of the guards came for him, he
had strict instructions to stab them right in the eye and let her handle the
rest.

She quietly shut the door behind her. After leaving, she
made her way to the main slave quarters. She passed a few slaves on her way,
some human, more not. She ignored them just as they ignored her. Everyone had
their place in Alharad’s brothel and seemed not to welcome mixing. Alharad
didn’t try to encourage it either.

She slowed her pace as she approached the room Yoshioka
shared with a few of the other slaves…including one who used to be a
seamstress, and occasionally still plied her trade in the brothel.

Reaching down, Ally tore a little piece of her clothing,
causing a rip up the seam on the side of her leg. No one would question it.
Alharad invested in the cheapest clothing he could find. As far as he was
concerned, all of his slaves could walk around naked anyway. The only reason
they didn’t was because he thought the customers seemed to prefer the costumes.

Satisfied with her destruction, she rang the bell outside
Yoshi’s room and waited. After a few more minutes, she rang it again. Deciding
no one was there, she turned and was two steps away before the door slid open.

“Ally?” a small voice asked in surprise.

She turned around, but didn’t go back. She could tell why
Max was enthralled with her. Yoshi was a beautiful little Japanese girl. Her
straight black hair hung past her shoulders. Her dark eyes seemed much older
than her years and spoke volumes about what she’d witnessed. Although her frame
was wiry, she had small muscles from running through the compound, doing
Alharad’s bidding.

“Is anyone in your room with you?” Ally asked.

Yoshioka shook her head.

“Max won’t be able to visit.”

The little girl’s face dropped.

“But I told him that if you were free, you could visit with
him in our room.”

“I can?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes, but only if you are quiet and don’t let anyone see you
coming or going.”

“Let me get my toys first.” She started to turn away.

“No.” Ally put up her hand. “Wait until I leave. Then you
go, okay?”

Yoshi nodded. Ally left, walking down the hallway, this time
without passing anyone. Guilt tried to rear its ugly head but she buried it.
She couldn’t take in all the orphans. No matter how sorry she felt for them or
how cute they were. She just couldn’t.

Before entering the waiting room, where she would line up
with the rest of the whores to be picked for the evening, she grabbed the torn
ends of her skirt and tied them into a knot. She snorted. It’s not like any of
the brothel customers would notice anyway.

As she walked through the entryway, her senses heightened. The
room currently held only fifteen customers. Those were the early birds, as she
referred to them. They preferred to pick out their favorite whores before the
rest of the customers arrived. Luckily for her, she didn’t have any regulars.
She wasn’t anyone’s favorite. The thought almost made her laugh out loud.

She wasn’t anyone’s favorite because they came here to fuck,
not fight.

Yes, she upheld her end of the bargain. She fucked his
customers and hadn’t killed or maimed anyone. But she hadn’t promised she would
be nice to any of them. No, that would take another bargain.

Although she didn’t laugh, she smiled as she made her way to
the lounge area, where the rest of the whores were waiting to be picked. As the
hours passed, one by one they left and came back, while she didn’t move.

Until finally it was her turn.

A pale hand reached out for hers. She took it without
thinking twice. It was a Uurosolian. He would be able to handle her mood and
she would be able to handle his.

Perfect.