Captain Keer was here to rescue her and once again he was seeing her at her worst.
Keer adjusted the pin-sized hidden recording device carefully concealed in his purple merchant robes as he observed the slave auction. Once they got out of here, he was going to use the vid evidence he collected to bring V to justice—even if he had to share the collar with another Intergal ship. But before he did that, he had to concentrate on rescuing his strong-willed sergeant.
Satisfied that he was recording everything, he allowed himself to look at her—really look at her—as he had not during her disastrous first inspection aboard the ship. She was beautiful, he admitted to himself, with her long blonde hair flung around her shoulders like a shawl and her full, perfect breasts pulled up by the position the slaver had her in. With her legs spread as she knelt upon the stained boards of the auction block, he could finally see the slippery pink inner folds of her cunt, although they were slightly obscured by the thin, silvery cord that encircled the ripe bud of her clit. What the hell was that anyway? He eyed the way it had been knotted across her body and tied around her nipples with some interest. Is it some kind of erotic prop, used to display slaves more effectively? he wondered. If that was the case it certainly was working. The silvery cord made a beautiful contrast against her pale skin and the deep pink of her pussy and nipples.
Despite the fact that the way she had been strung up and was being auctioned off was sick and wrong and against every principle Keer fought for and believed in, he could still feel his cock surging in his pants. Thankfully that part of his anatomy was hidden by the robe he wore. He was just another merchant here, out to buy a piece of prime female flesh, and Sergeant Tabitha Bryce certainly fell into that category.
He looked into her eyes briefly and saw the flash of recognition and shame in her face as she stared back at him, but thankfully she didn’t say a word. Good, he had come alone and the last thing he needed was for V to suspect he was anything but a merchant. Keer felt a certain reluctant admiration for the obvious presence of mind that kept her from crying out the moment he came into view. The girl had courage—even if she didn’t always display common sense. He had been watching her defiant display for some time before she saw him and the way she’d attempted to bite V’s fat fingers off even in her helpless position impressed him.
Not that courage would do her any good once he got her back to the ship. Some discipline was definitely in order. Bryce had endangered the entire mission with her arrogance and pride. Several very provocative images rose to his mind’s eye at the thought of disciplining his wayward sergeant and he banished them forcefully. He had to get her back to the ship before he could consider how to punish her.
Keer squared his shoulders and waded through the crowd to claim his new slave.
FOUR
“What was that? A new bid?” V scanned the crowd eagerly, his eyes coming to rest on Captain Keer’s granite features. “Did you make a bid, sir?”
“I said ten thousand credits—take it or leave it.” Keer folded his muscular arms over his massive chest and frowned. “I don’t have all day, slaver, but I do have a fancy for Old Earth flesh. Of course, I could buy it anywhere in the market but this is the only one I’ve seen with hair like golden silk.” He stepped forward casually and reached out to stroke Tabitha’s wild mane.
Tabitha trembled under his large, warm hand and tried not to look too eager to be sold. It was the first time he had touched her, she realized, even though he had had ample opportunity on the ship. His touch was gentle but impersonal, as though he didn’t want the slaver to realize that he had more than a passing interest in buying her.
“Ten thousand is a great deal, sir.” V smiled at him craftily. “And I will be happy to sell this fine female to you for such a sum. But do you not wish to verify her tightness before you pay?”
“I can verify that after I have her back home alone,” Keer said shortly. His large hand dropped from Tabitha’s hair to the side of her neck and then trailed slowly down to cup her right breast. “I can see already that her nipples are ripe and ready for sucking,” he continued as his large, blunt fingertips traced Tabitha’s tortured buds.
At his touch, the Drusinian love knots tightened, making her nipples even harder and Tabitha gasped and closed her eyes in humiliated pleasure. God, how could he do this to her? Of course, she realized that he was simply acting like a merchant about to buy a piece of goods, but still, to have him touching her after all this time, to actually have his hands on her, was almost too much. Had she secretly been wanting this all along? She didn’t know, but she did know that she didn’t want it like this. Not in public, with a crowd of strangers staring at them. But she was bound and helpless—there was nothing she could do but try to endure her captain’s touch and go along with the illusion he was building.