Severed Read online

  He eyed our chosen female appreciatively and I couldn’t say that I blamed him. Denari females generally have pale, pearly gray skin which is considered quite beautiful. But I had never seen such an exotic skin tone as this female’s creamy light brown tint. Her large eyes were a liquid black fringed thickly with dark lashes and her hair was a profusion of black curls that framed her lovely face most attractively. As for her figure, it was exactly what I liked—full breasts with an ample ass and curving hips to match. She was, indeed, Goddess-damned gorgeous, as Drace had said.

  Well, at least we have the same taste in women, I thought dryly. It was one of the qualities psy-bonded mates were supposed to have since they both had to be passionately in love with the female they chose to join in their partnership, completing the Triumvirate Bond.

  Not that we wanted such a bond—the sooner I got free of my unintended bond-mate the better.

  “This female is a La-ti-zal,” Char’noth explained, breaking into my train of thought. “She is one of those blessed with special gifts from the Ancient Ones who sowed the seeds of life throughout the galaxy at the behest of the Goddess.”

  “How can you tell that?” Drace asked at the same time I said,

  “How can you make such a claim?”

  We both frowned at each other and I felt a surge of irritation going both ways through our link. It was aggravating in the extreme when we spoke the same thought at the same time and it happened more than I liked to admit.

  “Do you see her aura?” Char’noth gestured with two of his many clawed hands at the warm amber glow around our chosen female. “That radiance denotes one with special gifts. This female glows more brightly than any other in the Alien Mate Index.”

  “She does appear to have a strong aura,” I agreed grudgingly. “But what is her gift?” Those rare females who are blessed to be La-ti-zals often have one specific gift given by the Goddess of Mercy.

  “Right,” Drace put in. “Is she a Healer? An Opener? A Knower? What?”

  Char’noth’s long, wormy body made a rippling gesture which I recognized as a shrug.

  “That we do not know. We are working on a new device which will allow us to ascertain exactly what a particular La-ti-zal’s talent is but it is not yet perfected.”

  “So we’re supposed to pay through the nose just because she glows?” Drace grumbled. He looked down at Char’noth. “Look, we only need her for a minute. We just need a Pure One to touch both of us and dissolve our bond.”

  “My, ah, partner is correct,” I said, looking at Char’noth. “After this Earth female performs the same un-bonding service for us which we witnessed her enacting on the other two males she was dealing with, we will let her go. You can return her to her planet with no ill effects. Then you can…” I cleared my throat. “Can sell her contract again to another male.”

  My own words made me uncomfortable for some reason I couldn’t define. Maybe it was the idea of the little female being sold to some other Alien male. But then, that was the function of the AMI and it was the service Drace and I were buying from Char’noth and his fellow Commercians. Why should it bother me?

  Apparently it bothered Drace too. I felt his unease through our link.

  “I don’t like it,” he said abruptly. “I don’t want her getting sold after we leave to just any male who might use her and abuse her.”

  “We don’t even know her,” I pointed out, through I secretly agreed with him.

  “We know enough to know we’re both attracted to her,” he said. “Don’t lie, Lucian—she makes your cock hard. I can feel it through our bond.”

  “Is that a good enough reason to pay full price?” I asked coldly.

  “What—like you can’t afford it?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Thought you were some hot-shot litigator in your region.”

  “It’s not a matter of credit,” I said, frowning.

  “Well then what is it?” he demanded. “Look, I might not be as rich as you, but I’ve got credit. I’ll pay her entire price if I have to but I don’t want her being sold to another male once we let her go.”

  Deep down, I agreed with him—which was probably why I was resisting. Still, I couldn’t let him pay the female’s entire price.

  “We agreed to split the cost of this venture evenly,” I said. “You don’t need to take the whole expense on yourself.”

  “So you agree—we pay the whole amount and buy out her contract?” he asked.

  I sighed. “Getting unbonded from you is turning out to be as expensive as a Triumvirate Ceremony to a female from the Feather Clan. But fine—we’ll do it.”

  “Good.” Drace turned back to Char’noth. “You heard him. We’ll pay the full price but we want her sent back to Earth unharmed when we’re finished.”

  “And no other male is to buy, bother, or in any way molest her,” I put in. “Agreed?”

  The Commercian nodded.

  “Agreed. Though we do not usually allow humans to have knowledge of us, we have found that a single human who tries to report our existence is not believed by the rest. Therefore, I will affix it to the terms of your contract when we transport her up to the station.”

  “When will that be?” I was itching to get myself un-bonded from Drace and I could feel that he felt the same.

  “Soon, Gentlemen. Let us wait and watch a little longer. I prefer to pick the right moment to bring the female through.”

  I didn’t know what the “right moment” might be but now that the final dissolution of the accidental bond between myself and Drace was near, I found I could wait a little longer.

  “Very well,” I said. “As long as the process isn’t interminable.”

  “As long as you don’t take all night,” Drace said, echoing my thought.

  “Not much longer,” Char’noth promised. "She must be alone and in a private place. If too many Earthlings see her taken they will suspect our involvement in their lives and seek us out.”

  “That’s sensible,” I agreed.

  “With any luck she is heading for her domicile now,” the Commercian said, gesturing at the lightscreen where we could see our chosen female driving her strange little vehicle down a paved road filled with other such vehicles. “These Earthlings have many reflective surfaces in the places where they live—large, shiny, flat, glass panels which I believe they call ‘mirrors’. Human females use them to check their appearance often—they are ideal for transportation.”

  “Like a 2D viewer?” I asked.

  “Exactly.” Char’noth nodded, his eyestalks bobbing. “We have only to wait until she gets to her domicile. Once she is there, I will lure her to one of the mirrors by playing discordant tones to get her attention. When she steps in front of the mirror, I will transport her directly to the station.”

  “How does your transportation device work?” Drace looked interested. “Does it use a trans-dimentional portal or—”

  “I’m afraid that is proprietary information,” Char’noth said stiffly in his high, squeaky voice. “We Commercians are extremely protective of our technology.”

  “Naturally you are.” I frowned at Drace who shrugged.

  “What? I like to know how things work.”

  “It doesn’t matter how it works as long as it gets the female here to un-bond us,” I pointed out.

  “You’re not saying anything I’m not already thinking.” Drace glared at me. “Can’t happen soon enough for me.”

  “Gentlemen, please,” Char’noth waved several clawed hands for silence. “Look—she appears to be approaching her domicile. As soon as she is alone, I will lure the female to a mirror and transport her.”

  I closed my mouth on the angry words I’d been about to say. Soon the Earth female would be with us and the unbearable irritation of being bonded to an unsuitable mate would finally be ended.

  We all watched avidly as the female entered a large, rectangular building which appeared to house many smaller domiciles inside it. She walked down a long hallway, pas