Surrendered Read online

  “Sssee who?” The other male licked one yellow, slitted eyeball in a desultory manner.

  “Mistress Neh’sanna—the female who bought me!” Thorn exclaimed impatiently. “You sold me to her at the auction barely more than a standard week ago—surely you remember!”

  Greed’lik shrugged. “Perhapsss—all of you fleshers look the sssame to me.”

  Thorn tried to control his impatience.

  “She’s beautiful—tiny and curvy with long dark hair and big dark eyes? Did you see her or not, damn you?”

  “Oh her.” Greed’lik straightened up from his slouch. “Yess, she came thisss way.”

  “She did? Well, where did she go? Where is she now?” Thorn demanded.

  The Horvath shrugged again.

  “Don’t know. Wherever the three males who had her took her, I suppossse.”

  “What?” Thorn exploded. “You just stood there and let them take her?”

  “What elssse could I do?” Greed’lik demanded, sounding peevish. “There were three of them and only one of me. Alssso, they informed me they would kill me if I interfered. I prefer not to die—it isss a peculiarity of mine.”

  “Ha-fucking-ha,” Thorn growled. “We have to follow them before it’s too late! We have to try and find their trail.”

  “No need.” Greed’lik pushed away from the ship and pressed the opening mechanism, causing a set of steps to detach and descend from its silver side. “I heard their leader sssay where they were going. Berroff Prime—I believe it isss in the Xrandosss System.”

  “Berroff Prime?”

  Thorn felt his gut clench. It was a planet of barbarian space lords—a place where males reigned supreme as surely as females did on Yonnie Six. A savage land where females were trodden down like dirt beneath the males’ feet. Neh’sa had a strong will but she was tiny and delicate and the Berroffs were huge—bigger than Thorn. The Goddess alone knew what those filthy bastards would do to her.

  “Gods,” he groaned. “This is fucking terrible! We have to stop them before they take her there!”

  Greed’lik frowned. “You said nothing about pursssuing piratesss into dangerous territory when we made our deal. This will cossst extra.”

  “I don’t give a good Goddess damn what it costs—just get us in the fucking air and hail that ship before it’s too late!”

  The Horvath shrugged his scaly shoulders.

  “Asss you wish. Come.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Much to Thorn’s relief, the pirate ship was still in deep orbit around Yonnie Six. If the pirates had taken the nearest wormhole to Berroff Prime, it would have been too late to stop them. But as it was, he felt like he still had a chance—a slim chance but a chance nonetheless.

  “Hail them,” he told Greed’lik, who was piloting. “I want to talk to their leader face to face.”

  “Hold a moment.” The Horvath sounded bored but he worked efficiently. After a moment, the face of the male with the cybernetic eye-patch appeared on the viewscreen.

  “Who are you?” he growled at Thorn. “And what do you want with us?”

  “I want the female you just took from Yonnie Six.” Thorn saw no reason to delay. “She’s mine and I want her back—now.”

  “She’s not yours.” The pirate gave him a shrewd look. “She’s a Mistress of Yonnie Six. They do not allow themselves to be claimed by males.”

  “Nevertheless, I claim her,” Thorn said, frowning. “I’ll challenge you to any kind of physical duel or contest you want—or if you’re not feeling combative, I’m happy to pay for her.”

  “Sorry.” The pirate shook his head. “This little female is already bought and paid for.”

  “I’ll pay you double then—triple!” Thorn couldn’t help the desperation creeping into his voice. “Whatever you want but I have to have her!”

  For a moment the pirate captain looked tempted. Then he shook his head regretfully.

  “Wish I could help you, Brother. You look like you’ve got some Kindred or Havok blood in you and I hate to turn away kin. But this little female is a special delivery for the Supreme Krine of Berroff Prime who swears he must have a Yonnite Mistress this very night. He’ll have my head if I don’t bring her in—it’s not worth my life to hand her over to you.”

  “Gods!” Thorn felt like tearing his hair out by the roots. “They’re savage and ruthless in their treatment of females there. What does the fucking Krine want with her?”

  The pirate shrugged.

  “Don’t know. Look—if you want you can follow us there and challenge for her. The Berroffs might be barbarians but they always welcome fair conflict. Who knows, you might even win her back.”

  Thorn saw it was the best offer he was going to get. He couldn’t threaten to blow the pirate ship out of the sky because Neh’sa was on it. All he could do was follow them to Berroff Prime and pray the Krine was in the right mood to deal.

  “All right,” he said heavily. “Can I see her at least?”

  The captain jerked his head in affirmation and called to one of his subordinates.

  “Hey, Tharn—bring up the little female. She has a call.”

  In a moment, Neh’sa was standing before the viewscreen. The sight of her made Thorn’s heart squeeze in his chest. Her face was as pale as paper except for two spots of color burning high in her cheeks but she wasn’t crying or begging. She looked as composed as he had ever seen her, though her eyes were wide with fear.

  “Neh’sa,” he said. “Mistress, I—”

  “Don’t call me that.” Her voice was cold. “I was never your Mistress—not truly. I see that now.”

  “I had good reasons for doing what I did,” Thorn protested. “And none of that is important now—do you know where they’re taking you?”

  “Yes, I—yes,” she said and pressed her lips tightly together into a scarlet line. “But I don’t know why…why they want me.”

  “I don’t either but I’m coming after you to find out,” Thorn told her. “I’m going to try to get you out of there but I don’t know how long it will take. Now, listen to me, Neh’sa…” He leaned forward, looking into her eyes, wanting to make his point. “The Berroffs don’t have the best reputation when it comes to females. In fact, they pretty much treat females the way you Mistresses treat males on Yonnie Six.”

  Her eyes widened and for a moment Thorn was afraid she was going to cry. Instead, she simply nodded wordlessly.

  “You have to be careful,” Thorn told her. “Don’t make them angry—don’t try to fight. Let me do the fighting for you. Understand? You’re going to have to do what I did when I put myself up for sale at that damn auction—you’re going to have to submit. Can you do that for me, Neh’sa?”

  “I…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I…I suppose I can try.”

  “Do it,” Thorn told her earnestly. “Do whatever it takes to stay alive. I’m coming for you, Neh’sa—I swear I am!”

  He felt the fire rising inside him, the flames dancing in his eyes as he spoke. He wondered if she could see it over the viewscreen. For a long moment she was cold and silent. Then she spoke one word.

  “Hurry.”

  “I will—I am,” Thorn promised earnestly but before he could say more, the guards were hustling her away and the pirate captain took her place in the viewscreen.

  “Well, that was a touching exchange,” he said dryly. “Are you certain the lady wants you to rescue her?”

  “I’m sure of it,” Thorn said grimly. “No female wants to be stuck on Berroff Prime.”

  “Follow our wake then.” The pirate shrugged. “And may the Goddess of Fortune favor you.” He made as if to turn off the viewscreen but Thorn stopped him.

  “Wait! I have one request of you. Will you swear, on our shared blood that neither you nor any of your crew will harm or molest Mistress Neh’sanna while you have her in your custody?” he asked.

  “That’s an easy vow to take,” the pirate captain sa