He was wealthy, though, but he looked, smelled, and lived like he had just rolled out from under a disgusting Montaka beast. Luna’s mother may have been a prostitute, but she sure as hell would not become one.
It was becoming harder and harder to fend off the suggestive comments and advances she encountered daily at Tao but especially from Maximo. His obsession with her was growing frighteningly more aggressive as of late.
Straightening her shoulders to appear strong even if she didn’t particularly feel that way, she didn’t let Maximo’s stare intimidate her.
A scowl slowly crept across his face before he regained his composure and ushered everyone to work again. The hopeful thought that he might leave her alone for the rest of her shift was just that... hopeful.
He moved closer to her, but she turned her back on him and resumed cleaning the muck off the table. He grabbed her arm with bruising force, but as she did on every occasion, she didn’t show him weakness. This argument was going to be one of the worse ones, and she knew that with clarity.
Pulling her forcibly toward the back of the building, she was shoved into his grimy office. The door slammed shut with an audible force, and she tensed. Turning so she could see him, she watched as his face colored a bright shade of red.
The silence between them was deafening. This was the calm before the storm.
After several long, drawn out moments, he seemed to rein in his temper. “I know that look, Luna.”
When she didn’t respond, the shade of red that had covered his face just seconds before returned.
“The only reason you haven’t been raped or killed is because of me.” He slammed his meaty fist against his chest as he spat the last word out.
Maximo was right, to an extent. Over the years, he had grown alarmingly possessive of her, and that only made her fear increase. The only way he would accept her sleeping with someone else was if he made a profit from it.
Although she loathed him, she admitted that there had been several times he had saved her, so to speak. She refused to thank him or show him any kind of gratitude. The protection he offered her was because he thought to gain something from her.
She was, after all, to her knowledge, the only virgin left on the planet of red dust and, therefore, a prized possession by many. He kept an ever-watchful eye on her, and she knew that when she left Tao for home, he had his goons guard his “property”.
So far, she had steered clear of his offers to “entertain” the many clients that visited Tao, but Maximo wasn’t known for his patience and was becoming more unstable.
If she could have worked somewhere else, gone somewhere else, she would have done that in a heartbeat. This vile planet was nothing but rock with this shitty, little city right in the center.
Every other business was the same or even worse than what she was already subjected to.
“I could throw you outside right now, and you wouldn’t last ten minutes without my protection. Who do you think makes it possible for you to stay safe in that shithole you call home?” He slammed his fist against his chest again. “Me. They would eat you alive, pretty thing.” He chuckled humorlessly and took a step toward her.
Maximo’s strength may surpass hers, but Luna knew what she lacked in brawn she made up for in brain. “I’m not a whore, Maximo. I have told you time and time again that I will not degrade myself to be with these males and beasts you throw at me. You do not own me. No one does. I am my own person and make my own decisions. I can take care of myself.”
She was scared, of course, but once that fear was shown, then that was when her life ended. Strength, whether it be physical or mental, equaled power.
Sweat beaded along his wide forehead, and his laughter continued. He was a loathsome creature.
His species, known as the Blooka, were like humans in appearance, but they were known for their rage and nasty tempers, ones that rivaled the fierce and wild creatures that roamed the red mountains that surrounded them. With his thinning, greasy, black hair and beady dark eyes, he sickened her.
“You think you are better than the rest of us, princess? Hardly. You are the product of a prostitute’s one-night stand. You are the offspring of a human whore, the weakest species in three galaxies, and a male who paid to fuck her. You are no better than any of us, and I promise you, Luna, before you die, you will give me what I want.”
“I can leave, Maximo.”
Grinning mockingly, he advanced. “You think that, but how very wrong you are. You know as well as I that you have nowhere to go. You live in that dirty, little hovel you call home, eating the leftovers you take from the kitchen when you think no one is looking. I see all, princess. You can tell me how you will leave, but you and I both know you will die on this planet just like the rest of us.”
He was so close that she could smell the thick stench of liquor and dirty sweat that laced his body. Holding her ground, she refused to back down.
The truth may have come from his lips, but it didn’t mean she had to acknowledge that to him. He might know she took food from the kitchen, and in all rights, he could have her hands cut off for the act, but Luna knew Maximo wouldn’t, knew it would decrease her value.
“You’ve lasted long enough with your innocence intact, but know this, when those warriors come, you will give them what they want. Make no mistake about that, princess. You will make me a very wealthy man sooner than later.”
The way he dropped his gaze to her breasts and licked his lips caused bile to rise in her throat. “And after that time comes, I will make you my whore.” Snapping his attention back to her face, his expression hardened.
Although violence seethed right below the surface of his demeanor, Maximo hadn’t hit her, but the look he gave her said the urge to do just that rode him hard.
He turned away from her quickly and strode out of his office. The breath left her in a rush, and her legs threatened to give out. She refused to cry, refused to show any kind of emotion around these heathens.