I had no one out here. And this human female Jirghogis held captive for Cerberus? She would be far from home. Without hope. Friends. Protection.
The thought would not stop playing in my mind.
What would the rest of her life be like on Rogue 5 in the most hellish of legions? Where she had no chance to escape. She’d be dead within the year… or wish to be.
“Fark.” I cursed at no one in particular as I made my way toward the center of the domed market. I had to see this human for myself. I needed to be able to sleep at night. And besides that, if Ivy ever found out I’d left an Earth Girl, as she called them, to Cerberus, she would flay me alive, and Zenos would hand her the knife.
I hurried now, the roar of voices coming from the central section growing louder with each step. Those I passed ignored me, in a hurry themselves to see the rare treasure rumored to be on display. No doubt everyone under the dome knew of her presence.
“Move,” I growled. I had to know.
A large space-dock worker stood, blocking my path. The male grumbled and moved aside to allow me to pass but not before glancing down at my leg where my ion blaster was strapped to my thigh.
“Good decision.” Shoving past him and into the gathered crowd, I saw Ulza, her height and color making her distinct.
Pushing closer, I avoided looking up onto the platform where I knew the female stood, the response from the crowd—and the loud crack of Jirghogis’ titan stick—all I needed to hear. Ulza hadn’t been lying. The others from Cerberus hadn’t been lying. There was a human female here who everyone wanted to lay eyes upon. Me? I did not want to look at her—not yet. Instead, I surveyed the crowd for threats. Weapons. Level of interest.
Many ogled the platform and the human female. Not many looked as if they would dare to defy Cerberus and try to take the female.
Regardless of what this female looked like or how broken she might be, I could not allow a brute from Cerberus legion to have her. I couldn’t let Ulza take her. She was my Hive Tech buyer, and she wasn’t going to be pleased. Fark, she was going to be beyond angry. She would hunt me down for crossing her.
Gods be damned. I was cursed. Fark. Cursed with a conscience I did not want. I should go buy my farking Spectra IV ion cannon and get out of the sector at high speed. But no. Apparently, I had not learned my lesson. But this time, it wouldn’t be my brother dying, it would me.
Like it should have been five years ago.
I risked looking up onto the platform, flicked my gaze past Jirghogis, and my heart stopped.
Rich brown hair kissed with streaks of gold hung past her shoulders. She wore plain brown pants and tunic, covering her skin from my sight, but the curves beneath the snug fabric were lush and full, and I ached to trace every contour. She wore a golden collar around her neck, the site making my cock tighten with the unwelcome thought that she should be wearing my collar around her neck. It should be my golden chain disappearing beneath her clothing. I would adorn her properly and dress her in the softest silks were she mine.
Which she was not and never would be. She was a prisoner waiting for transfer, if the manacle around her ankle was any indication. But it was her gaze that held me captive.
Blue-green eyes stared defiantly out over the crowd. She studied the room, her stare lingering on those I considered to be the most dangerous. I wondered how she knew, where she had learned to recognize and evaluate the most deadly criminals in the room?
She was a beauty beyond compare. The fire in her eyes forced a reluctant admiration to stir deep within me—where before there had been nothing but ash and sorrow, something new pulsed to life.
Hunger. Curiosity. A fierce need to protect.
Ulza moved forward, closer to the stage, and the female I was determined to save looked down her nose at her like a queen dismissing a rodent.
The blue barbarian growled. Ulza was here to deliver the human to Cerberus.
I discreetly did a weapons check. Ion blaster. Dagger. Second dagger. Poison powder. The urge to kill.
I had them all. No one was going to touch that female unless it was me.
And if she refused me?
Well, I would escort her back to her home planet...and do my damndest to seduce her every step of the way.
3
Zara, Sector Zero, Planet Occeron, Omega Dome
I looked out over the crowd that gathered at my feet, stared beyond the stage I’d been chained to like a pagan offering to the gods, and saw nothing familiar. Nothing clean. Nothing that gave me the slightest bit of hope.
I’d thought the desert tent planet was different, but this? This was where… Mad Max met the shady cantina in Star Wars. I felt like Princess Leia before Jabba the Hut, but instead of the gold bikini, I wore an ugly brown pair of pants and tunic that covered me from shoulders to knees. It effectively hid the line of the chain that dangled between my breasts, and the darker rose of my nipples. I was naked beneath. I’d never been modest, but I was grateful to be covered. It would appear that Bertok wasn’t selling me for sex.
Actually, it would appear that I wasn’t being sold at all.