His keen hearing picked up the approach of footsteps from somewhere outside of the room, but it wasn’t until then that he realized that while there were many windows, there were no obvious doors. Even the closet was more of a wardrobe, a large piece of furniture exclusive of the walls around it. But the footsteps gave him an idea of which direction to pay attention to. He tensed tighter and tighter, every muscle in his body winding up in preparation for…anything.
When the wall to his left gave off a soft pneumatic hiss, drew back an inch, and then slid open about four feet to the right, it revealed something a little different than he had been expecting, but no less contemptible.
A couple. One a male, a large fair-haired man built like a soldier…built like Vejhon himself. His skin was a smooth tan, dark enough to indicate a great deal of time spent out-of-doors, the tone just uneven enough to show that it wasn’t a racial coloration. His stride was confident, his eyes immediately fixing on Vejhon in watch of whatever potential threat he might pose. It was a look Vejhon was quite familiar with, having trained it into soldier after soldier over time. He couldn’t help but be a little impressed by that wariness. After all, here he was tethered hand and foot to a stone wall, naked and weaponless, where most people would dismiss him as non-threatening. But he could see quite clearly that this other warrior was taking nothing for granted and he wasn’t about to trust his captive in the slightest.
As for the woman…
She closed the door with a brisk wave of a hand over a hidden sensor and crossed over to him without any hesitation or fear. She made a subtle gesture and her giant companion stopped where he was, taking a watchful stance as she moved to stand before Vejhon at a minimum of arm’s length. Had his hands been free, he could have reached out and grabbed her around her delicate little neck.
After months of having strangers assess his flesh in a careless and dismissive manner, it was actually very noticeable a difference when he realized she looked nowhere but into his eyes. She was just a few inches shy of about six feet tall, he guessed, but since he was nearly seven feet tall himself it still made her seem small to him. She wore an arresting crimson-colored gown that was very close to being sheer as it clung to a noticeably generous shape. She was slender without being too slim, the fabric of her dress swaddling round hips and ass, and high, proud breasts that would easily fill a large man’s hands.
Perhaps he assessed her body first because of a subconscious need to bring her down to his level of exposure, but it didn’t take him long to become intrigued by the other things about her that were so markedly different. First, there was the long cord of her hair. It came over her shoulder and was banded with gemmed clasps once every six inches or so for nearly the entire length of her height. It was also the most amazingly pure black he had ever seen. Like a sleek Surrey eel, it caught light and gleamed, equal to the adornments that confined its length. The women of Vejhon’s homeworld, just like the men, were all fair. Blond to white, at most red to the lightest of browns. He had never seen a woman with black hair before.
Nor had he ever seen one with skin the color of the noonday sky. Her coloring was shades of sky and powder blue, a fascinating fairness of an entirely different sort. Her complexion was flawless, even luminescent if he had to give a descriptor, but it was most definitely blue. Soft, delicate shades that only darkened around the edges of her clothing, leading him to think her racial coloring deepened as it flowed over her breasts and other private areas. Her lips were dark, a mix between a deep violet and a midnight red, and he suspected a match to the large, dark nipples tipping her breasts, which he could see against the fabric of her dress.
Her eyes, which had never once moved from his as he had made his assessment of her, were dark and sultry, a blend between midnight blue and black. They were like the night sky on his homeworld. They were set in the face of a beautiful woman, framed by thick, boot-black lashes and delicate arching brows. Her cheekbones were an elegant, aristocratic sweep beneath otherwise soft curves of a lush and pretty face. She looked young, and had he been another type of man he might have believed her air of innocence, but he had lived through too much war to ever assume anyone was capable of innocence.
He flicked one more assessing glance over to the male standing guard behind her. The two were clearly not of the same race, probably not even similar species. Not that such couplings were unusual, what with space open to anyone and everyone who could afford to travel it, but it wasn’t lost on him that the other male could easily have come from his own homeworld.
Vejhon had too many questions and despised being in a position that afforded him little leverage in demanding answers. The realization was burning furiously in his eyes as he crashed gazes with the woman he could only assume considered herself his owner. The very idea made his hands curl into defiant fists, instigating a step forward from her wary and watchful bodyguard behind her. Again, a single soft gesture with her hand brought him to a halt. She hadn’t even turned to look at him, nor had she spoken a word. Her bodyguard simply resumed his watchful stance, the muscles in his body tensed tightly as he anticipated any possible trouble. The subtle communication made it very clear to Vejhon who was the dominant between them.
He suddenly wanted to laugh in her face. If she thought that she could get him to behave like a well-trained pet, like she had with this other male, she was going to be sorely surprised.
“Welcome to your new home,” she said at last, her voice a low, sultry rasp that caught him by surprise. It made her speech feel intimate and decadent; and while it suited the courtesan’s body she boasted, it was out of place coming from the back-drop of her angelic countenance. “I can only imagine what you are thinking and feeling after what was, no doubt, a long ordeal. I was promised you were not abused, and I hope that is the truth.”
“This entire atrocity has been an abuse, lady,” he snapped irritably.
“‘My Lady,’” she corrected him gently. “I know there is much for you to adjust to in the coming days, but it is important that you address me with respect. A slave can be put to death if he is observed being disrespectful of nobility, and whatever you may be feeling now, you do not strike me as the sort of man who would relish a death of that type of shame.”
Vejhon had been ready to shoot back one of his best barracks retorts, but now he hesitated. There was logic to her request. Logic that centered on the benefit to his life and safety, rather than her desire to have him kowtow to her. He narrowed his eyes on her, wondering if he was being artfully played.
“I am no slave,” he gritted out between tight teeth.
“Your present circumstances say otherwise,” she noted. “But I realize that you were slave to no one before you were brought to this part of the galaxy. You were, no doubt, a powerful and independent man where you come from.” She took a single step closer to him, bringing her close enough to elicit a sharply indrawn breath from her guardian. “However, on a planet full of people who look exactly like me, you will be known as nothing but a slave. You will stand out in every crowd, you will be coveted, and you will no doubt be captured or killed if you try to travel this world without the protection of the House that owns you.”
“No one owns me,” he hissed, outrage making him jerk at his manacles. To her credit, the serene beauty did not even flinch.
“Perhaps not your spirit,” she acquiesced softly, “but so long as you are on this world, I own you. Your body is my property and your fate is mine for the choosing. Believe me when I tell you, your circumstances could have been far more horrific than even your worst imaginings, and very almost were. One day, you will realize you owe Najir a great debt of thanks.”
Vejhon looked back at the big blond male when she nodded toward him