“No. Of course not,” he soothed her gently, his fingers reaching to smooth the creases of fury from her forehead. “I don’t know why I said that.”
“And he didn’t come for me,” she continued bitterly. “He ejaculated because a drug forced it on him. It could’ve been anyone in that room.”
“Shh, I know. I know,” he said, his regret and sorrow radiating through the gentle touch of his hands. “I’m sorry, Hanna. It just touched so close to my memories. I must have gone through every single emotion he was feeling, right along with him. It was like stepping back in time and…I-I’m still not thinking clearly.”
“I knew you shouldn’t watch,” she whispered painfully, turning away from him to press her forehead against the cold stone they could no longer see through. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into it.”
“Because you didn’t want to do it alone, Hanna. You borrowed from me to make your point, bringing him in to that experience you and I shared so long ago. It was key in bringing us together, and it is crucial to keeping all of us safe. Now, he will forever be part of a terrible knowledge, but he will need it if he is to join us on our journey into the future. I don’t think I would ever have trusted him otherwise.”
“Neither would I, Najir.” She picked up the tail of her hair, toying with the end of it in a familiar nervous habit she had. She brushed the thick bottom of it back and forth over her palm a dozen times or more as she thought. “I feel evil,” she confessed suddenly.
“No! Never!”
“Well, selfish then! To do this just because we need him so badly…”
“Stop!” he commanded her harshly. “That is not the reason why and you need to remember that. At least, not the only reason why. Yes, he is perfect for us. The first in a decade to come along who could come this much closer to perfect. But you were right when you told him what would have become of him had you not intervened.”
“Had you not,” she corrected.
“Had we not, then,” he acquiesced. “Had we not intervened he would be in Majum’s household this very instant, Hanna, being mauled and raped and worse.”
“So much worse,” she murmured.
“Yes. This is all a means to an end. Remember that. You have never quailed when handling unpleasant tasks before, so why this time?”
She turned to look up into his eyes, her hands reaching to grasp his wide shoulders. “Because I see so much of you in him. I saw your pain and fury from that night all over again.”
“And you will show him the way away from it just as you did me, my Lady,” he whispered softly to her as he brought his lips to her soft cheek. “You will show him how easy it is to love you. You will teach him all the reasons why you’ve earned my undying loyalty and commitment. And one day, I have no doubt, you will even make him come for you, harder and with far more pleasure than any stimulant ever could manage.”
That made her chuckle softly, her body relaxing as his hands gathered her against him. She felt his large palms sliding down her back and cupping over her bottom briefly as he hugged her tightly to his huge frame. The embrace brought her pelvis to pelvis with him, reminding her instantly of the uncomfortable dissatisfaction of both their unfulfilled bodies. She had been running on an excited high ever since Najir had hurried in and told her of his discovery. She had turned him away then, knowing she would need that frustrated energy to take her through the next few hours…including the interlude she had just left. But as much as she would love to avail herself of Najir’s sexual prowess, she knew that this part of their relationship had drawn to a definitive close the moment he had bought Vejhon for her…and he knew it, too.
“So tell me, my Lady,” he murmured softly into her ear. “What is your next move with our new companion?” Najir continued to cuddle her close, already knowing that, while sex must no longer be a part of their life together, they both refused to change their other intimacies in any other way.
“Mmm…to let him get used to his new limited freedom for a while. Let him digest and deduct from what he has seen and learned.”
“Let him get comfortable before dropping the next bomb on him?”
“No. Not too comfortable.” She hesitated a moment. “I think I will send you in to him as well.”
That made Najir go still for several long beats. “Really?” he questioned her. “You think that’s wise?”
“Are you questioning your Master, you naughty slave?” she asked, her pretty blue eyes sparkling with the tease. “I think I shall have to punish you for that.”
“Mmm, promises promises,” he taunted her. Tempted her. “I only meant…” Najir broke off. “He resents me. He holds me in contempt for what he perceives as my relinquishing all of my independence to you. He sees his nightmare version of his future when he looks at me.”
“Ahh, but you and I know better,” she observed.
“We definitely do. But it will take a lot of time before he comes to understand that.”
“Trust me, dearest.” She hugged him with all of her strength.
“Always, my Lady,” he breathed. “Always.”
5
Vejhon staggered to his feet entirely on principle.
He fell back against the wall that had just spit him out and continued to gasp for breath. His body still quaked with shock and exhaustion, so he gave himself the luxury of a minute to pull himself together.
He had to admit…he had no idea what to think or what to feel. He’d run through every extreme emotion there was in the past hour or so, not to mention being on a nonstop high of hatred and wrath whenever he’d been given the luxury of consciousness these past months. His body felt as though it had been pushed through every military endurance test of his lifetime, except it was as though he’d tackled them back to back to back. He looked down at his wrists first. Oddly enough, he hadn’t seen them bare in months, so there was something extremely surreal about the absence of the imprisoning cuffs. He also hadn’t realized he’d developed both scars and callouses on both of them. Probably his ankles as well. The thigh, chest, and biceps restraints had been used much less frequently once he’d been submerged in stasis, so the damage from them was minimal.
At the moment, however, each of those contact points were bleeding, except there had been no biceps restraints in place here. No doubt so that blue-skinned bitch could collar his arm as if he were a prized pet.
Vejhon reached for the band and examined it, tugging at it even though he already knew it was anchored firmly in place. If there was a trick to it, he’d have to figure it out later. Right then, he needed to wrap his head around a few other things first.
For example, why had he been set free? The room was loaded with windows along one side, some of the glass appearing to be plate. Granted, it was likely to be “unbreakable,” but in his experience, if it had a seam, it had a weakness. Fortified by this prospect, Vejhon tried a few steps across the room. Again, that surreal sensation. Like stepping on solid land after sailing or riding space, it felt queer to move his weight forward without having it instantly restrained.
He made his way to the first window, laying a hand on the smooth surface and looking out at the planet that was trying to claim him. What he saw was a vast sweep of well-tended grounds that led to a fortified wall. Sentries walked the top of the wall and along the lawns, and were stationed at the one gate he could see. Vejhon’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure out if all of that was to keep people in, keep people out, or both. For the time being, he voted on both. After all, it was a slave-driven economy from what he had gathered, and you couldn’t have your assets escaping.
He also could see that House