Enslaved Read online

  Not to mention the way her nipples got so hard and her pussy got so hot and wet when he was pressed against her. If she’d done the little trick Needra had and raised up—even just a little—he was certain he might have slipped into her by accident. She was that wet—that ready to go.

  Unbidden, the idea of having her under him, spreading her legs for him, rose in Thrace’s mind. He could imagine her parting for him, reaching up to scratch his shoulders, to pull him in deeper…

  Fucking stop it! he told himself angrily. It doesn’t matter what kind of chemicals her body is putting out, if her mind isn’t on board, it’s not going to happen. It’s never going to happen. She’s one of the Unpenetrated, remember?

  Besides, why would you want to get involved? You’re just here to do the deal with the crystals, then you’re gone. Back to The Empress and finding Solar and getting on with your life. If you made love with Trin now you’d be sure to bond her to you and Havoc don’t bond!

  He glanced briefly at Trin who was walking beside him over the short, well trimmed back lawn. It was true that unprotected sex with her would almost certainly result in bonding. It didn’t always—Havoc were not nearly as easily bound to a chosen female as their Kindred cousins. Making love to her and filling her with his seed wouldn’t result in a permanent soul bond unless there was some deep emotional attachment between them in the first place.

  Watching her lovely face and the determined set of her slim shoulders, Thrace knew he couldn’t risk it. It wasn’t just that he desired her—he was beginning to have feelings for his mistress. Feelings that were completely irrelevant since she was never going to let herself care for him.

  Get over it, he told himself roughly. She’s never going to change her views on males—she’s a proud female and part of that pride is her dignity. It would never recover if she broke her beliefs for you. Anyway, why would you want her to? You don’t want to form a permanent bond with her any more than she wants one with you. Just do your job and serve her as best you can until this is over and you can get the fuck out!

  Thrace looked around him at the other mistresses and slaves walking over the dark lawn, trying to distract his mind from the turmoil inside him. To his left, Yorth was walking with Lady Needra. The two of them were holding hands, smiling at each other like lovers, which they surely were.

  Thrace reflected that no matter how hard dinner with Trin on his lap was, the meal had certainly been more difficult for Yorth. He couldn’t imagine the self-discipline it took to sit there while his lady settled herself on his shaft and wiggled her hips, riding him in that leisurely, casual manner while he wasn’t supposed to move a muscle. Still, it didn’t seem to bother Yorth—he was probably used to the little game he and his mistress played together. Thrace reflected with envy that they would almost certainly be playing other, even more erotic games in their sleeping chamber later.

  “Look, that must be it.” Trin’s soft voice drew his attention back from the other slave and mistress couple and he looked ahead to see a tall, silver filigree pyramid structure rising before them. It was set in the center of a circular, paved area which sparkled—doubtless made of the same semi-precious gemstones that lined the path which led to the front door of the estate.

  “Must be,” he said, nodding assent. “But what the hell is coming out the top of it?”

  The silver pyramid’s point was about the level of Thrace’s head and it was shaped like a narrow spout or funnel. From this small opening, large bubbles were drifting. At least, Thrace assumed they were bubbles—they certainly weren’t like any he had ever seen before.

  For one thing, weren’t bubbles supposed to be round? These weren’t. Or at least, not all of them were. In addition to a few floating spheres, there were also square, rectangular, and triangular bubbles. There were also a few which didn’t seem to stick to any shape at all but shifted constantly. But perhaps strangest of all, each and every bubble was filled with colored smoke. Pink, blue, purple, orange, scarlet, and even black smoke filled shapes drifted past him, wafted by the gentle breeze.

  “What the hell?” Thrace muttered, staring as the soft shapes drifted from the mouth of the tall silver pyramid.

  “Dream spheres—unfiltered dream gas,” Lady Needra said, in answer to his question. She and Yorth had stopped right at the edge of the round, gem-encrusted circular path that surrounded the fountain.

  “Unfiltered?” Trin asked, frowning. “I thought it had to be purified with Jaxite crystals before it was usable.”

  “Oh, that’s just how they do it in Opulex.” Needra shrugged. “That’s so they can use it for vicarious sensory play—you know, feeling like your acting out a book or vid or whatever entertainment medium you want to feel like you’re part of. But dream gas can be filtered through many different mediums to give different effects.”

  “And what effect does unfiltered dream gas have?” Thrace asked, adroitly avoiding a smoky pink sphere which came drifting in his direction.

  “It’s much more immediate and personal. But as to what it does, it depends on the vein you get—there are several underground which all converge at this fountain,” Needra explained. “Come on—try some!” Leaning forward, she inhaled a triangle shaped bubble filled with sunshine yellow gas and began giggling hysterically. “G-get one, Y-yorth,” she commanded her slave, barely able to get the words out.

  Yorth sucked in a pink cube and smiled blissfully. “Mmm, Mistress…” he murmured. “Delicious.”

  “My dears, are you enjoying yourselves?” Lady Tam-tam suddenly appeared beside them with Lord X in tow.

  “Lady Trin, it’s so lovely to see you again.” Lord X bent low over Trin’s hand in a courtly gesture that made the short hairs on the back of Thrace’s neck stand on end. He didn’t trust the bastard one bit—there was something wrong about him, Thrace just didn’t know what it was yet.

  He felt a growl building in his throat and had to suppress the urge to thrust Trin behind him to keep her safe. Only the fact that he knew she would hate such a proprietary and possessive act on his part stopped him.

  “It’s… nice to see you too. I—” But before she could say more, Trin accidentally inhaled a rectangular bubble filled with white smoke. Thrace stared at her in alarm as her eyes widened and she froze, her hand still caught in Lord X’s grip. “You…you’re…” She choked, a small plume of white smoke curling from her mouth. “I…I can’t…”

  “Trin—are you all right?” Thrace yanked her hand away from the other male and spun her around to face him. Taking her by the shoulders, he stared into her face anxiously. “What’s wrong? What is it?”

  “Thrace…” For a moment she relaxed and then her eyes got even wider. “Goddess…you don’t really feel that way, do you?”

  “Feel what way? What is she talking about?” Thrace looked at Lady Tam-tam, demanding an explanation.

  “Oh, she simply got a bit of truth gas, that’s all.” Lady Tam-tam waved airily. “We call it that because it sometimes reveals someone’s true emotions or intentions. But just as often it’s wrong and only produces a vivid hallucination. Don’t worry, my dear,” she added to Trin. “You’ll be over it in a minute.”

  Trin blinked and shook her head like a female coming out of a dream.

  “That was…unbelievably odd,” she said in a shaking voice.

  “Well, it’s not what I would pick for my first dream sphere experience,” Lady Tam-tam said. “In fact, I think it would be better for you and your love-slave to stick to the scarlet spheres. They’re much better.”

  “What do they do?” Thrace asked flatly. They were already in a precarious position—he didn’t want to make it worse by inhaling some strange gas that impaired his judgment.

  “Oh, don’t worry my dear—the effects are transitory,” Lady Tam-tam said, without answering his question. “Now go on, try some of the scarlet dream gas. I insist.” She nudged Trin gently toward a triangular bubble passing by which contained swirling scarlet gas.