Rescuing Reya (The Beast Masters Series) (3 page)

She nodded her thanks just as the ship pitched from left to
right. Five caught her and held her to him in a protective manner. The ship
jerked several more times before coming to a final stop.

Five released his tight hold on her. “Try to be bought, but
if it does not work, run.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

“I cannot protect you from my people. Be bought or run and
never look back.”

“Yes.”

He led her from the chamber and down a long corridor. Other
women were being led by guards as well. Their guards pushed and prodded them.
Her guard caressed her inner arm in a tender manner. Exit-bay doors opened at
the end of the corridor.

Smoke puffed up around them, causing
Reya
to launch into a coughing fit. Five rubbed her upper back gently but nothing
helped. She coughed and coughed until blood came up and then she coughed some
more. He eased her down the ramp and into the bright light of
Ralen’s
sun. She squinted and shielded her eyes a moment.

Five leaned in and whispered to her, “Your restraints are
inactive. They cannot harm you. Remember what I said? If it looks as though you
will not be purchased, run.”

“Yes.”

He pulled away from her and she mourned the loss of him. It
was absurd to miss a man who had a hand in holding her captive, but strangely
he’d been the nicer to her than anyone had in nearly a year.
Reya
continued to cough as she found herself being herded
into a large group with the other women.

Looking around, she found they were surrounded by warrior
males. Each looked fierce and virile. She’d never seen so much raw flesh in one
location and her pussy, already stimulated from Five’s touch, responded. It
clenched, wanting to sample from the buffet of males.

They’re
savages
, she reminded herself.

Some wore loincloths; others wore pants that were
leather-like. Some of them blatantly adjusted themselves at the sight of the
females.
Reya’s
eyes widened. They were more man than
she could handle. Much more.

Some of the males had symbols adorning their bodies, while
others lacked anything in the way of marks. It was an on odd combination and
she wondered about the
hows
and whys of it.

Another coughing fit seized her and a warrior broke ranks
and neared her. He lowered his head and dark brown hair spilled over his
shoulder. He was strikingly handsome. His silver gaze watched her closely.
Various braids adorned his hair and beads closed the ends of them. The
loincloth he wore left little to the imagination. His cock was as large as he
was and he was huge.

She gulped as he continued to rake his gaze over her. Her
body heated, wanting sexual stimulation. Five had left her in a heightened
state and she wanted something to ease the ache between her thighs. The man
before her was powerful and sexy. He’d do nicely if he wasn’t a damned
Ralenium
male, a beast.

Still, he was extremely handsome despite the large scar on
his upper right torso. He was battle worn, tried and true. The thought turned
her on even more. Men from Old World Section Seven weren’t exactly known for
their ability to hunt and gather. They were more trained in talk and lying.
She’d learned that firsthand.

The man jutted out his chin, chasing away another male who
had taken interest in her. She knew she had to be bought or she had to bolt.
Her choices were limited.
Reya
batted her lashes at
the silver-eyed male. He stiffened and then touched his clothed cock. He
inhaled.

“I am
Altan
and I can smell your
cunt,” he said loudly and in a deep voice. “You desire me.”

Heat stole over her cheeks and she wanted to tuck away from
the sight of the others. How could he possibly know her desires? Did she have
‘harlot’ written clearly across her brow? And why did she crave sex so much?
She was as depraved as Jonathon had labeled her back home. She shuddered at the
thought of him.

He’d been right. She was a sexual deviant. A woman with
desires that rivaled one who turned sex into profit. No wonder he’d run out on
her at the church, refusing to commit himself to her for a lifetime, forever shaming
her and marking her as an impure woman when he’d never actually put his cock
within her sex. His lies, his claims that he had been intimate with her, had
ruined her and her father had cast her out to the streets. A place that left
her at the hands of slave traders.

Altan
eased even closer to the point she could touch him if she wanted. Here, on this
undignified planet, she could be someone else. She could be as sexually free as
she desired, couldn’t she? She’d read somewhere they liked their females for
nothing more than sexual release. She could do that for him. She could learn to
please him, and in doing so save herself from the certain death Five had
assured her would come.

Five.

She glanced around for him but found he wasn’t with the
traders who were huddled in a group as a
Ralen
male
shouted at them. Five hadn’t come to see her off.

“You are small,”
Altan
said. “You
come only yea high.”

He motioned to his chest and she could have sworn he
grinned.

“I’m stronger than I look,” she said in a mousey voice that
lacked any true conviction on the matter. Each word she said held the urge to
cough. The urge to show how truly weak and broken she was.

Again, Jonathon had been right about her. He’d said her lung
ailment was unbecoming to a proper lady.

Damn him to hell.

Reya
gathered her nerve and touched the male on his chest. It was like touching a
hot rock. It did not budge. He was solid. Her pussy moistened even more at the
idea of the brute of a man ramming himself into her. He’d be a beast in bed,
she just sensed it. He’d claim her hard and fast and he’d fuck as wild as he
appeared. Her body burned for that type of claiming. She wanted a real man. One
who wouldn’t hint at his needs only to laugh and mock her later. But rather one
who would state clearly all his depraved desires and expect her to carry each
one out. She wanted that more than anything.

Altan
touched her shoulder lightly, moving her long hair back and from it. “Yes, you
appear quite strong. Battle ready, even,” he said with a glint of humor in his
silver gaze.

She found herself smiling back at him. “I’m a master with a
sword.”

His gaze raked over her slowly, and then the muscles in his
neck worked as he swallowed. “Of that I am quite sure.”

She realized then he’d taken her comment as a sexual
innuendo. It somehow made her feel powerful. As if she really did have a chance
of being purchased by him. “Sir, I have certain skills but not all. I’m a fast
learner. If you teach me what you want from me, I’ll pick it up fast. I
promise. And in case you’re wondering about my virtue…”

He bent and inhaled deeply near her hair. A deep, purr-like
sound emanated from him as his hands moved to her shoulders once more. He
yanked her against him. “I could smell of you all day. What scent do you wear?”

“Nothing,” she managed with a squeak. “The traders provided
no scents for us.”

“
Altan
, are you well?” another
male asked, concern in his voice. “Your Heat is near.”

Heat?

She didn’t dare question.

Altan
kept hold of her and nodded. “She quells it.”

The other male’s eyes widened. “No?”

“It is true,”
Altan
said.

The male nodded and walked away, seeming happy with their
exchange.
Reya
was merely confused. She wasn’t sure
what the Heat was, but it seemed like something that would be a cause for
worry.

Altan
stepped back from her. “You are agreeable to being mine?”

Before she could respond, her chest began to burn with the
need to cough, and she tried everything in her power to resist. She failed,
coughing hard into her hands. Coppery fluid filled her mouth and she knew she’d
coughed up more blood.

She tried to hide her hand, but
Altan
caught her wrist and gasped when he spotted the droplets of blood there. Fear
raced through her and Five’s words echoed in her mind. He wouldn’t want someone
defective. She was defective. Death was certain on the ship. The only thing
left to do was run.

Reya
bolted away from
Altan
and darted directly into a
wooded area. She wasn’t sure how she managed to run so fast and she didn’t
care. Adrenaline had kicked in as had the will to live. She ran and ran until
she could run no more and then she slowed. As she did her lungs burned more.
Heaving huge gasps, she staggered out of the edge of the woods and spotted a
large building of sorts. Disoriented from lack of oxygen, she twisted and then
collapsed.

Altan
of
Ralen
kept the scent of the tiny human female and
raced through the woods behind her. She was fast. Faster than many
Ralenium
males he knew, despite her ailment. His body tensed
at the thought of her bleeding. She was sick and required healers at once. For
a sick woman, albeit a beautiful one, she was speedy and elusive.
Altan
had just finished an off-world rotation during which
he and the men assigned to it with him had aided a sister planet in a mining
disaster recovery mission. Gases had built up in the mine, temporarily sending
the beast side of him—the one able to smell everything perfectly from a
distance—out of whack somewhat.

This wasn’t the first time
Ralenium
males had been exposed to the gases of the mines on
Tagun
,
so he knew his senses would be back to normal within a week to two weeks. Until
then, he wasn’t as sharp as he should be.

Case in point, a human female had given him the slip.

Altan
ran in the direction of his brother’s House of Pleasure.
Utan
had not arrived when the call went out for guards to gather at the landing
pads.
Utan
rarely did anymore. His focus was on his
House of Pleasure. It was large, a favorite among many warriors.

Ironically,
Utan
did not enjoy the
company of the women who worked for him. He chose not to partake in their
favors, which baffled
Altan
and the others. If
Altan
had a whorehouse, he’d fuck every one of them until
he could fuck no more. The Heat demanded he take the edge off sexually, so he
frequented houses of pleasure often. As did most men on the planet.

The absence of females left them little choice. It was find
a whore to soothe their needs or stand around praying a slave trading ship
would arrive stocked with women. Since ships were rare this far out, most just
settled for what they could—the whores.

Altan
went directly to the back entrance of his brother’s House of Pleasure. He
didn’t bother knocking. He knew the door opened to
Utan’s
personal study. He also knew the chances of him walking in on his brother
bedding a woman were slim.

Utan
was there at his desk, his ledgers before him. He lifted his head slightly.
“Good manners, brother. Mother taught us to knock.”

“Mother also taught us to seek out a woman and give her grandchildren.
Where are you on that lecture?”

Utan
dipped his pen into the inkwell and returned to his work. “What is it you want?
A woman for the night? Or two women for the night? I can only spare two. I have
only three rooms open.”

“Busy night.”

Utan
nodded.

“Then they have not heard that females have arrived,”
Altan
said, entering more and shutting the door behind him.

Utan
set his pen down. “No. When?”

“Only moments ago.
Garon
and the
others negotiate as we speak.”

“Then why are you here?”
Utan
asked. “I know how close to the Heat you are, brother. You should be there,
bartering for a woman to collar.”

His brother was right. He should be back at the landing
pads, trying to find a woman to collar and stave off his Heat. “A female ran
away.”

Utan’s
lips twitched. “And you believe she ran straight for a whorehouse?”

“I believe she knew not what she was running towards, only
that she was running,” he supplied. “And she is sick, brother. Gravely.”

Utan
stood quickly. “How so?”

“I know only that she coughed up blood.”

“The vessel, was it
Voxenites
?”
asked
Utan
.