“You were once the property of the Interstellar Trading Fleet, but you are no longer. Now, you belong to the Black Ranger. Some of you we plan to sell. Some of you we may keep, but you, little female, have a different fate. I’m claiming you as mine,” Vane murmured. His voice was never very loud, but it was extremely powerful all the same.
“I’ll never be yours,” I retorted. I gritted my teeth and glared back at him. No one owned me and I most certainly wasn’t about to let him try.
He sauntered closer to the cage, keeping an arrogant eye on me as he did so. The more he stared at me, the more he smirked.
“Have you ever used a knife before, tiny human? Do you think you stand even the slightest chance against me when I’ve torn apart men at least twice your size right in front of you? You’re small. Weak. Your kind have no natural ways to defend yourself. The human species was meant to be subdued. The galaxies of space are an endless frontier of those that are far more powerful than you. It’s only a matter of time before humans are shown the true meaning of this. It’s only a matter of time before you learn this too,” Vane replied.
I scoffed in his direction. I wanted to be brave. I wanted to remain strong. Monica and Vicky whimpered behind me and Mari’s small hand settled on my lower back, reminding me just how much was at stake.
“You can’t do this,” I replied.
“I can and I will,” he responded coldly. He narrowed those golden eyes in my direction, and I pulled in a nervous breath. “The sooner you realize that it is no longer up to you, the easier it will be.”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
He grinned and I had to stop myself from trembling before him in fear. I couldn’t get the smell of urine and blood out of my nose and I found myself avoiding his gaze and looking at the dead bodies of the enforcers instead.
“Such a sassy little mouth on such a tiny little human,” he growled, his voice dropping several octaves. It sounded much darker and infinitely more dangerous than it had before. He reached for the bars of the cage and pulled backwards, tearing the metal door from its hinges in a feat of strength meant to scare me. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard, high-pitched and horrendous. Only it was that much louder.
It did make me afraid, but I didn’t let it show. I had to stay strong for the other Aberrants. I had to show them that it wasn’t over for us.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I lurched forward and swung the dagger straight toward his throat. He was prepared for my defiance though and ducked out of reach before reaching for my wrist and clamping his fingers down around it. His hand easily dwarfed my arm and he wrenched it backwards. I cried out in pain and tried to hold onto the dagger in my fingers, but it hurt a lot. I squeezed the handle tighter, but that only made the pain even worse.
“It’s been a long time since any woman has fought back against me. I’m going to enjoy teaching you a lesson that you’re never going to forget, little female,” he snarled, and I whimpered as the knife clattered to the floor at last. I watched with sorrow as he kicked the weapon away, ensuring that I wasn’t going to get my hands on it again. It skittered across the floor, well out of reach.
“What do you say, boys? Are you in the mood for a show?” he said, as he wound an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to his chest, effectively trapping me in his grasp while still holding my aching wrist captive.
/> His crew roared their approval and I found myself growing very nervous.
“You were very brave, little human, but now I’m going to show you what happens when someone defies me. I’m going to make an example of you and everyone here is going to watch as I break every last bit of rebellion from your beautiful little body. By the time I’m through with you, you’re going to wish you never opened your sassy little mouth in the first place,” he said softly in my ear, just loud enough for me to hear.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak either.
I was truly afraid now and there was nothing I could do to hide it. Mari had retreated into the back of the cage with Vicky and Monica. Her eyes met mine and she mouthed an apology in my direction. Vane slipped his fingers across the back of my scalp and fisted them tight, pulling my head back by my hair with ruthless cruelty. I cried out, pain radiating down my spine. I tried to bring my arm backwards to elbow him in the stomach and he easily maneuvered himself to avoid it.
“Let me go,” I snarled.
“I had a simple plan in mind to break you, little human, but now you’ve shown me that you need to be punished,” he growled, and I cried out as he wrenched me backwards by my hair even harder than before. He released my shoulders and pulled me up by his grip at the back of my head, forcing me to stand tall on the tips of my toes. He made it difficult to balance, which made it even harder to fight back. I wavered back and forth before I found my center, tightening my core and my legs so that I didn’t plummet straight to the floor. Next, he fingered the collar of my black t-shirt with his sharp, extended claws.
I stilled, trying to keep myself upright. I wanted to hurt him, but I also didn’t want to fall. I watched with horror as he slowly dragged a single claw down. He was going to tear it apart. I struggled a bit and almost lost my balance. His grip tightened in my hair and I cried out. I tensed and looked out at his men who were eagerly watching and waiting for what came next.
I would have flipped them off if I could have.
The room was silent as his claws tore through the cloth. His movements were slow and deliberate, making me very aware of the fact that he was shredding my shirt in half. By the time he made it down to the bottom hem, I was breathing hard with nervous anxiety. No one had ever seen me naked before and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for anyone to. To be honest, I didn’t know if I even had a choice right now. In a last-ditch attempt to stop what he was doing, I tried to grip the ruined fabric and pull it back together with my fingers, but he harshly swatted my hands away.
“Put your hands at your sides. Do that again and I’ll punish those pretty little palms just as hard as I plan to punish the rest of you,” he warned. I obeyed and let my arms fall away, letting go of my ruined shirt in the process.
“You’re a beast,” I whispered, feeling my anger, fear, and arousal combining into one confusing mixture of them all. My upper lip rolled and the men watching laughed at me.
“I know. And you’re about to find out what that means, little girl,” he threatened.
I was helpless as he shredded my shirt into nothing but a pile of haphazard threads. He destroyed my pants next with his claws, their serrated edges making quick work of the sturdy khaki fabric. I whimpered as they fell to the floor, feeling the chill of the room pass over the naked skin of my legs. I stood before him in my boots, panties, and bra, on display for everyone to see as he bared me. I screamed. I insulted him. I tried to kick him, and I almost stumbled in the process. Mercilessly, he wrenched me backwards by my hair back up to a standing position again, balanced precariously on my toes. With a cry of pain, I stood still. Agony radiated across the back of my scalp. It hurt but something strange happened next. He tugged harder and my eyes rolled back in my head. My eyelashes fluttered and a moan escaped my lips.
I realized that I was wet. That even though it hurt when he pulled my hair like that, it also turned me on. There was some sort of sick and twisted part of me that liked that kind of pain, that derived pleasure from being put on display like this. That liked being hurt like this.
Something was very wrong with me and I didn’t want to figure out what that was.
He reached for my bra next and I whimpered. With a single claw, he severed the connection between the two cups, and it fell open, revealing my very hard and very sensitive pinkened nipples to everyone watching. I could hardly breathe as he slipped the straps from my shoulders and the simple piece of cotton lingerie fell to the floor. I shivered, feeling my breasts bounce just a little now that they were no longer supported.