Rescuing Reya (The Beast Masters Series) (2 page)

“Enter.”

She eyed him cautiously. “Really?”

She couldn’t be sure but she thought he may have done his
version of a smile. “Yes.”

The idea of being clean put a spring in her step. She moved
as quickly as she could to the decontamination unit and stripped the rags she’d
been wearing from her body. The unit kicked on, cleaning away the grime and
filth of the past few months. Her long blonde hair fell freely over her
shoulders, clean once more. The unit kicked off and the door to it slid open.

Nude, she stood before the guard and lowered her gaze,
fearful of what would come next. The guard eased closer to her, holding
material in his hands. “Do not fear me.”

She looked up.

He held the material out for her. “This is for you. Dress in
it when I am done here with you. Someone should pay a good price for you. You
are—” He raked his gaze over her. “—most pleasing to look upon.”

She blushed and eased the material from his outstretched
hands.

“We are not compatible,” he said, his voice slightly garbled
because of the breathing apparatus.

Tipping her head, she stared at him, confused as to what he
meant.

“Sexually,” he supplied. “My species and yours, we are not
compatible. If we were, I would have purchased you for myself.”

“
Th
-thank you.” She bit her lower
lip. “I think.”

“Dress. We land soon. Soon you will be bought.”

She tensed.

He touched her cheek gently and then turned to a shelf near
her. He handed her a small vial. “Take this. It will help here and here.” He
boldly touched her upper chest and then reached around her touching the raw
skin on her upper back. “Your cough is worse. This will help. It will help your
back heal quickly as well. Slaves are not permitted to it under normal
circumstances. It is all I could steal from the supply room. I am sorry.”

She understood the risk he was taking to assist her and
appreciated it more than he’d ever know. She went to her tiptoes, totally
naked, holding material to her chest, and she planted a kiss upon his gilled
cheek. “Thank you.”

He caught her around the waist. “Take the vial.”

She swallowed what was in it and nearly gagged. She thought
he’d poisoned her but her airway began to ease nearly instantly. It wasn’t
perfect but it was much, much better.

The guard held her close. His body pressed to hers. “Your
hair is like the sun.”

She said nothing, wondering if he’d try to join with her
even though he’d said they weren’t compatible. He took hold of her shoulders
and pushed her out at arm’s length. He then looked her up and down, repeating
the steps. She realized he was curious. He touched one of her breasts lightly.
“These supply sustenance to your young?”

Reya
wanted to hate him because she hated the others of his kind on the ship, but
he’d always been different towards her. She nodded. “Yes. Once a woman of my
species births a child, our breasts produce sustenance for the child.
Here.
” She put her hand over his, keeping it on her breast.

He squeezed her nipple gently and a soft hiss of air slipped
from between her clenched teeth. He watched her and he touched her other breast
with his other hand. He squeezed it as well. “They are sensitive, like our
palusions
?”

She wasn’t sure what a
palusion
was so she said nothing.

He took her hand and brought it to his mid-torso. The guards
and other traders had only ever worn a jumpsuit, and she’d assumed beneath it
they were smooth and thin. When she felt the bumps there that were moving, she
had a quick image of snakes. She nearly jerked her hand away, but the look in
his eyes said her touch gave him pleasure, so she forced herself to stay put.

“My
palusions
,”
he said. “It is how we reproduce. My
palusions
join with another’s
palusions
and the exchange is
made. From there, the eggs implant in whichever of my kind has the best chance
of incubating them until it is time to lay them.”

Her eyes widened.

“Our species are very different,” he said.

She nodded and then paused. “You must be lonely without any
females of your kind onboard.”

He tipped his head. “We have no females. We do not require
them.”

She schooled her face.

He returned to touching her. “Seeing you makes my
palusions
active.”

Fear raced through her. “Are you going to lay eggs in me?”

He smiled, showing off jagged teeth. “No. That is not
possible.”

“Then what are you going to do to me?”

“Do I cause you pain?” he asked.

“No.”

“I wish to explore you. To know more about your kind,” he
stated. “I was once a scientist among my people before the wars ravaged my
planet and forced my people to the skies.” He caressed her nipple, making it
harden. “I am intrigued by you.”

“Why me?”

“I do not know.” He paused. “I wish to learn of how your
species reproduces. Will you show me?”

Reya’s
hands trembled. “What do you want to know?”

He glanced at the door and then back at her. “I want to see
where it is you join with a male of your kind. But first, you must be shaved
for the sale.”

Shaved
for the sale?

He led her to a table with stirrups on it. She didn’t fight
him. She’d be no match for him, and over the course of her time being held
captive she’d developed a certain level of trust in him. He eased her onto the
table and she held the material he’d given her close. He spread her legs and
then peered at her sex.

“Have you done this to all the women onboard?” She knew she
wasn’t the only woman. She’d managed conversations through the walls of her
cell and through the air vents. She also knew all the women being held were
human or humanoid.

He shook his head, his hand going to her inner thigh. “I am
not one who normally sees to the decontamination and cleansing of the females.
I have never had a desire to do so before now.”

She clutched the sides of the table as his hands caressed
her inner thighs. “W-why me?”

“You are small for your kind. Smaller than most.”

Yes, she was short, but she didn’t think she was that short
for a girl.

“And there is a certain vulnerability to you,” he confessed.
“Your lungs.”

Reya
sighed as she lay on her back on the exam table. She’d been cursed with less
than perfect lungs since birth and it had kept her from joining the Galactic
Guards or anything remotely interesting. Not that her parents would have
permitted such a thing back then. They’d believed she’d marry a rich and
powerful man and have many babies with him, securing her place of power. When
she’d been left shamed and dishonored at the altar, their hopes for her had
been dashed and they’d been quick to turn their backs on her.

They’d never loved her. She’d been a meal ticket to them.
Nothing more.

Tears threatened to fall. She steeled herself.

The alien guard continued to stroke her inner thighs. “Your
skin is pale.”

“Yes.”

The guard left her for a moment and returned with a handheld
hair-removal laser. He moved it over the full length of her legs and then stood
near her head. He motioned for her to lift her arms. She did. He moved it over
each of her armpits. “Males of this planet prefer their women shaven clean.” He
moved towards her pussy. “But some like a small bit of hair here.”

She gasped as he touched between her legs. “What planet am I
being taken to?”

“
Ralen
,” he replied, and fear shot
through her. She’d heard of the beast men who inhabited the planet
Ralen
. Heard of how they liked sex rough and kinky. How
they collared their women and claimed full ownership of them like barbarians.

“I don’t want to go there. Please can’t I be sold somewhere
else?”

The alien guard met her gaze. “You, they call
Reya
, yes?”

She was surprised he’d bothered to learn her name. “Yes.”

“I am Five.”

She blinked. His name was a number?

“Five, please can’t I be taken to another planet?”

“
Reya
,” he said softly, moving the
handheld hair-removing device between her legs. “This is the last stop. Those
who are not sold here will not be sold.” The emphasis he put on the last few
words scared her.

“We’ll be kept by all of you?”

“No,” he confessed. “We have no need of females of your kind
for ourselves. We cannot reproduce with you and almost all of my kind finds
your species revolting. I do not. And long ago there were others of my kind who
did not. It is said several species evolved from joining between humans and
Voxenites
.”

“But you said we couldn’t join,” she said.

“The
Voxenites
of old could. We
cannot. We can gain pleasure from one another but we cannot reproduce. Our
systems are not compatible in such a way.” He finished removing the hair on her
pussy and then set the device aside. “Your maidenhood is in place. We scanned
for virgins when we took all the women onboard. Virgins fetch a higher price.”

“I’ve done things with men. Things that cast shame on me
with my people.”

“But your virgin barrier was not breeched,” he stated
clearly.

“No.”

He ran his hand over the pad of her newly smoothed pussy.
Pleasure raced up her inner thighs. “Yet you are not totally naïve to the ways
of men and women of your kind?”

“No,” she said, gasping softly as he stroked her clit.

“You please my eyes and my senses,” he said, rubbing her
more. “I wish to touch you and bring you pleasure. If you tell me no, I will
return you to your cell at once.” He glanced at the door once more as if
worried they’d be caught.

She didn’t find the
Voxenites
species attractive, but there was a certain need there in his gaze. “But I
won’t bring as good a price if I’m not a virgin anymore.”

“I will not break your barrier.” He tweaked her clit just
right, causing cream to flood her cunt. “I will lay my
palusions
upon you and they will
give you pleasure without taking your virginity.”

Reya
lay there a moment and considered telling him no. The hunger and need in his
gaze stopped her. She nodded. He opened his jumpsuit front and his
palusions
spilled
out and over her exposed body. She had to stifle a scream of surprise. His
palusions
were
tentacles. A mass of them going everywhere on her body. Touching all her
intimate parts at once. The sensations they caused were overwhelming.

“Five,” she panted.

He jerked back from her fast and drew his
palusions
back
into himself. He closed his jumpsuit at once and stood perfectly still as the
door to the room opened. Two more guards entered. They cast a speculative look
in her direction, seeming unmoved by her state of undress and then focused on
him.

When they spoke it was in another language.

Five nodded and they left. He moved to her and helped her
sit up. “Dress quickly. We are nearing
Ralen’s
atmosphere.” He paused. “Thank you for allowing me to touch you.”

“You didn’t get to finish anything you started.” She was
almost upset by that fact. Her body was now in a state of need.

Five touched her cheek again. “If I were a human male, I
would select you. I would bond with you and I would sire my offspring upon
you.”

She didn’t say anything to that as she dressed in the sheer
material. It didn’t cover much. She coughed again, her chest beginning to burn
once more.

Five sighed. “I tried to steal more of the serum for you. I
am sorry.”

“Thank you for all you did for me.” She touched the electric
binds she wore. All prisoners had them on.

Five watched her and then lowered his lids. He touched the
binds on her wrists first, then the rest. “They are not active anymore. When we
get to the planet, if you are not sold, run,
Reya
.
Run hard and fast. Do not look back.”

She coughed again. “W-why?”

“Though I wish to believe otherwise, I do not think the
males there will purchase you because of your weak lungs,” he said, sounding
upset. “And if they do not take you, my people will kill you. They see you and
the rest of the women as disposable. So run when you get the chance.”

He helped to finish wrapping her in the sheer garment and
then surveyed her. “You are so pleasing to the eye. Be safe and be well,
Reya
. If I could rescue you from this fate, I would.”