Chapter 3
Natalie and Tina stood outside the training studio. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
Tina glanced toward the door. “It’s part of the preparation schedule Commander Axilon laid out for me to get ready for the gathering. I better do it.”
“You only have to do it if you really want to,” Natalie told her.
“Will you stop saying that?” Tina shot back. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m doing it.”
“If you decide you can’t handle it,” Natalie told her, “you contact me. You can back out anytime you want to.”
“Yeah,” Tina replied. “You said that already. You said that about a thousand times.”
Natalie shook herself. “Sorry. Now don’t forget. You’ll be a lot stronger and faster and more responsive than you were before. You’ll be able to handle anything he throws at you. I was astonished the first time I trained with Kyan.”
“You told me all that before, too, Natalie,” Tina told her. “You don’t have to keep taking care of me all the time. I can take care of myself now.”
“I’m just still worried about you,” Natalie replied. “You haven’t set foot out of your quarters since you came on board, and now you want to take on a full training regime. It’s not normal to change your life so fast. You should take it one step at a time.”
Tina shook her head. “I was lost before, but now I know where I’m going and why. I can see my way now, so I better get busy preparing myself. Anything could happen at the gathering, and I won’t have Te taking care of me the way I did before.”
“No, you’ll have Arno instead,” Natalie replied.
Tina turned toward the door. “That’s right. I better go. I don’t want to be late.”
“You come and find me after you’re done,” Natalie told her. “I want to know how it went.”
Tina smiled over her shoulder. “Alright, I’ll find you.”
Tina took a step forward and the door slid back to reveal the studio inside. On the far side of the room, Arno stood with his feet planted wide. A thick staff hung from one hand and he regarded the two women with cool detachment. Natalie stiffened at the sight of him. He better take it easy on her friend, or she would take him to task herself. Tina could fall apart the first time he threw a punch at her.
Tina strode into the room, and Arno came to meet her. Tina seemed to have grown taller in the few seconds since she walked through that door. She wasn’t as tall as Arno, but her head came up to his chin. He swung his staff and stuck the point down onto the floor next to his feet.
He scanned Tina up and down. Then he bent over from the waist and bowed to her. His voice boomed through the room. “I see you.” Tina gave him a curt nod, but Natalie couldn’t see her face from behind. Then the door slid closed, and she lost sight of her friend.
Natalie walked away. She didn’t know where she would go. If Tina and Arno weren’t training in the studio right now, she would go there herself. Nothing calmed her down and refreshed her spirits like a hard workout. Maybe she should take a few laps around the Engineering Deck to work up a sweat. She should start her own training schedule to prepare for the mission to the Magellan home world. She’d been sitting behind a desk for months, and she needed to be in top shape to meet this new challenge.
She set off toward the lift, but when she turned the corner, she found Kyan coming the opposite direction. He smiled at her. “Hey! Where are you going?”
Natalie waved her hand over her shoulder. “I just left Tina in the training studio with Arno. I was thinking about taking a run around Engineering to work out the tension.”
He studied her. “What’s the matter? You’re not still worried about her, are you?”
Natalie glanced back the way she came. “Do you really think she can handle this? I would hate to see her get hurt after everything she’s been through.”
“She says she wants to do it,” Kyan replied. “She said she’s ready, so let her try it.”
Natalie shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“She’s just as ready as you were the first time you went back,” Kyan pointed out.
“But I had you to help me,” Natalie argued. “She doesn’t know anything about Arno. What if he triggers some traumatic reaction in her?”
“Then we’ll be no worse off than we were before,” he replied. “If she can prepare herself to go, so much the better. If she doesn’t, we’re back to where we started with one team going to the gathering.”
“You don’t have to sound so mercenary about it,” Natalie grumbled. “We’re talking about my friend’s life here. She’s not some piece of meat you can throw around.”
He regarded her from a distance. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Why don’t you come back to my quarters with me? You can have something to eat and relax. I’m sure Arno will take good care of your friend. You need something to take your mind off her for a while.”
Natalie softened. “Alright, I suppose I am wound pretty tight.”
They set off together for the crew quarters. On the way, Kyan took Natalie’s hand, and her anxiety started to fade. Kyan opened his door, and they stepped into the familiar compartment. Natalie sat down on the couch and stared out at the stars.
Was she turning into Tina? Why couldn’t she put Tina out of her mind, just for a little while? What was going on in the studio right now? Was Arno beating her friend to a pulp even before they left the ship?
Kyan set a glass of cold Andovan tea on the table in front of her, but she didn’t turn around until he sat down on the couch and took her hand again. “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”
“How much do you know about Arno?” she asked.
He cocked his head. “Do you mean besides what I know from serving with him on board this ship? I’ve fought side by side with him a hundred times, and he’s never let me down. He’s a man of honor, and you wouldn’t want anybody else by your side in times of danger. I can tell you that.”
“What’s he like around women?” she asked.
“You have nothing to worry about for your friend,” Kyan replied. “He would never harm her.”
“But he’ll have to harm her—or pretend to harm her—if he wants to make a good performance at the gathering,” Natalie pointed out.
“Did I harm you at the last gathering?” he asked. “I thought you enjoyed it.”
“That was different,” she replied. “You and I have a relationship outside the mission. Tina doesn’t have that connection with Arno.”
“Not yet,” he countered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. “You’re not suggesting they’ll develop feelings for each other. This is a dangerous mission, not some picnic.”
“I understand that,” he replied. “But the fact remains they’ll become intimate with each other in the course of their partnership. It could lead to a connection like ours, and then your friend will be in the same position you are. Would that be so bad?”
“I guess not,” she replied. “I’m just not used to thinking of her that way. She’s been unresponsive for months, and now she’s going forward faster than anyone else. I don’t want her rushing into danger.”
“Arno won’t let that happen,” he told her. “When they get down to Magellan, he’ll have complete control over her. She won’t be able to run off and get into trouble. She’ll be tied to him the whole time. If he decides she can’t handle it, he’ll get her out. He won’t risk himself or the mission, and he won’t let her put herself in danger, either.”
Natalie sighed. “I guess so.”
“You can trust him,” Kyan went on. “You can trust him as much as you trust me.”
Natalie snorted. “Well, maybe not that much.”
He drew closer and kissed her. “Now let’s stop talking about the mission.”
His warm lips sent a ripple of excitement through her. “We don’t have to talk about Tina and Arno anymore, but let’s keep talking about mission.”
He pulled back. “What do you want to talk about?”
Natalie blushed. Her body tingled for his touch, and she had to hold herself back from throwing herself at him. “Let’s talk about the other part of the mission, the part where you and I play master and slave. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it.”
His eyes widened. Then he set his face into a hard mask. “I know what you want. You want to talk about what I’m going to do to you down there.”
A flush of hot blood spread over Natalie’s cheeks, and her nostrils flared. She drew a ragged breath. “Tell me.”
He reared back so he towered over her. “You’ll be wearing your control collar, and I’ll lead you around on your leash. I’ll lock your hands behind your back with the electro-shackles, and you’ll walk two steps behind me. I’ll lead you through the gathering, and I’ll tie you to your stanchion in the arena.”
A soft mew escaped Natalie’s throat. “Will there be many other slaves there?”
He nodded. “Many, but you’ll be the only Earth female besides your three friends. You’ll be naked, so all the other representatives will be staring at you, judging you, and admiring my treasure.”
Natalie swallowed. “Yes. I’ll be your treasure.”
He gritted his teeth together. “They’ll be jealous, and they’ll call out their prices for you, but I won’t pay any attention to them. I’ll take you to your stanchion, and everyone in the stands will watch us together.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
“I’ll shackle you with your hands behind your back,” he went on, “and I’ll attach your leash to the beam. Then I’ll walk around behind you and run my hands down your bare hips to your ass.”
“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes.”
“I’ll pinch your ass,” he told her, “just to get you ready for me. You’ll stick your ass out toward me, and I’ll stroke you between your legs.”
Natalie’s mouth hung open, and she licked the saliva off her lips. How much more of this could she stand? She said she wanted to talk about the gathering, but now she didn’t want to hear any more. No more words. She wanted his hands on her right now.
“You’ll be dripping wet, and I’ll stir your sweet juices with my fingers. Then I’ll lick your juice off my hands.” He paused. “Are you wet right now, baby? Can you feel my fingers inside you right now?”
“Oh, God, yes!” she croaked. “Stick your fingers inside me now.”
He shook his head. “You wanted to know what we would do at the gathering, and I’m telling you. Sit in your wet juices until I tell you to come to me.”
“Oh, God!” she moaned.
“I’ll take out my stiff mark,” he told her, “and I’ll switch you across your sweet ass. You’ll scream for the crowd, and you’ll stick your ass out for me. You’ll scream and beg me to switch you again and again, and every time I do, the crowd will go wild and shout out higher and higher prices for you.”
“Will you sell me to the crowd, Master?” she asked. “Will you sell my body to the highest bidder?”
He put his head on one side. “Would you like that? Would you like to be my expensive little toy, and bend over for every hard cock that pays for it?”
“I’m your slave,” Natalie purred. “I’m yours to do with as you please. Sell me. Switch me. Pet me. Drill me. I’m yours, and I live to serve you.”
He sighed, and his jaw slackened just enough for him to kiss her again. “I know you’re my sweet little slave, and I’ll make you twist at the gathering. Don’t you worry; I’ll make you perform for the crowd in the arena like they’ve never seen a slave perform before.”
Natalie let out her breath, and to her relief, he gathered her in his arms. He pressed her against his chest, and she let her passionate hunger for him rage through her being. In a few seconds, he would take her and drive her into the atmosphere of fulfillment.
He devoured her lips, and his tongue licked the inside of her mouth. Natalie drank the intoxicating nectar of his saliva and reveled in his heat burning her skin. He pulled her up onto his lap, and her legs wound around his hips. His hands burrowed under her clothes and found her most sensitive places. He rolled her nipples between his fingers, and he cupped her buttocks in his big palms.
Natalie clung to his neck for protection from the crashing surf of her own desire. He would wash her away and obliterate her in an instant if he didn’t keep her anchored. Her flesh prickled at the touch of his skin, and every cell screamed for release in his embrace.
His fingers dove down into the waistband of her uniform and found the petaled cleft where her body opened up. He stirred her black cauldron and mixed up the vapors of her desire until she couldn’t stand the strain anymore. She rocked back and forth on his lap, and his own passion flared to life. He shoved his growing spike against her and growled into her mouth.
In a trice, he peeled away her clothes and exposed her to the ravages of his hands. He pushed open his own uniform, and his raging spear shot out at her. Natalie didn’t hesitate, but dove onto it with all her ravenous appetite. In an instant, their bodies joined in perfect union, and they rode together into the hazy dawn of space.
Two hours later, Natalie strolled back down the corridor to the lift and back along the hall toward the training studio. Kyan was right. A few hours’ break with him in his quarters erased her anxiety and set her mind at ease. It always did. She no longer worried about Tina and what might be happening to her in the studio with Arno.
Still, Natalie hesitated with her thumb poised over the door panel. What would she find in there? She pushed her thumb against the panel and the door slid open.
In the middle of the studio, Tina and Arno faced each other in full combat. They both wielded staffs and struck at each other with all their strength. Tina landed a blow on Arno’s lower leg and he struck back with a strike to her head. She brought her staff up in time to deflect that blow and catch him one more time on the ribs. He bellowed in fury and swung his staff twice as hard. It struck her on the shoulder, and she cried out in surprise.
But the very next moment, she launched herself at him with renewed energy. She rained endless blows on him, and most of them hit their targets. She moved too fast for him to react to them all. Natalie watched in shock. Could this be the same Tina she fretted and worried about? Could this be the same shrinking victim she saved from the gatherings? This was a hardened warrior who could take on any adversary and defeat him. The regeneration beds of the Toom had completely altered Tina’s genetic makeup.
Neither Tina nor Arno noticed Natalie enter the room. Tina advanced on Arno and knocked the staff out of his hand. She whirled her staff above her, and it whistled through the air toward his head. At the last second, she wrenched it upwards so it flew within inches of his domed skull. At the last second, she let the staff sail out of her hands. It clattered against the wall and rolled away.
Tina and Arno faced each other and panted for breath. Then Arno launched himself at Tina. The blue veins standing out in the creases of his rough skin turned from deep blue to glowing red. Tina must know what that meant. She'd been with enough Eqels at the gatherings to recognize the change when they became aroused
The color change gave Arno a demonic appearance. He bore down on Tina with single-minded ferocity. Nothing would stop him from seizing her with all his strength. He grabbed her around the ribs with his thick ropes of arms and clasped her against his chest. She gasped in surprise, but he didn’t crush her in his powerful grip. He enclosed her in his embrace and covered her mouth with his lips.
Tina never hesitated. She met his advance with equal passion, and her legs snaked around his waist. Her arms circled around his neck, and she threw herself into his kiss. Natalie froze in the doorway. Her own skin still hummed from her time with Kyan, but she shouldn’t be standing there watching Tina and Arno together. They’d been alone in the studio for hours. They must think they were still alone.
Arno growled between their locked lips and his muscles rippled under Tina’s weight. He carried her easily off the sparring mat to the edge of the room. He slammed her back against the wall and pinned her in place with his massive bulk. Tina gasped again when he knocked the breath out of her lungs, but she only devoured him with even more ravenous desire. She clawed his skin with her fingernails and clamped his pelvis between her legs.
Arno's skin smoldered hotter and brighter red with every passing minute. It burned Tina's skin, but she relished the pain of contact and clutched him against her as tightly as she could. Arno shoved his hips between her thighs, and with every thrust, she squealed with delight. He wedged his legs into the floor to hold her against the wall so he could tear at her clothes with his hands. Natalie couldn’t see anything behind Arno’s rippling back, but she didn’t need to see. The grunts and groans of ecstasy coming from Tina and Arno told her all she needed to know.
She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be watching this. Yet she couldn’t force herself to leave. She couldn’t uproot her feet from the floor, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away. This was Tina, her friend, the same woman Natalie worried would break down the first time Arno threw a punch at her. How wrong she was! Tina could handle anything, and she had something just as strong to ground her at the gathering as Natalie had with Kyan.
Tina’s voice rose higher and higher until she screeched in mad orgasmic delight. She sank her teeth into Arno’s neck and dug her heels into his buttocks. His skin glowed bright red with the fever of excitement, and his sweat evaporated off his skin and filled the studio with clouds of steam. He grabbed Tina around her thighs and pumped his hips between her legs until a wet sucking noise filled the room. He grunted louder and stronger until his cries joined with hers. Tina threw back her head in one last primal scream, and Natalie turned and fled.