Enslaved Read online

  She wanted to open her mouth and say something to salvage the situation but the tingling in her lips and tongue had become partial numbness now and speaking was difficult. Still, after swallowing a few times, she was able to interject between the angry insults Thrace and B’Rugh were trading.

  “So you’re saying, B’Rugh,” she said, being careful not to slur her words. “That your only interest here is preserving the deal. That you only offer yourself as my temporary mate in order to conclude our transact…” She swallowed, her tongue feeling thick. “Transaction? Correct?”

  “Of course.” B’Rugh nodded stiffly. “Though I admit to finding you most desirable, if you had come with a mate to effect the transaction, none of this would be necessary.”

  “Good, then all our problems are solved.” Thrace leaned forward and glared at the Lud’om. “Because I’m her mate.”

  Chapter Eight

  “I’m her mate,” Thrace growled again, wanting to get the point across. “And I’m here to ‘effect the transaction’ as you keep saying.”

  “What?” the Lud’om blustered, spraying bits of slime on the black grass table. “But Trin stated she had no mate!”

  “She never said that. She said she didn’t have one with her. But here I am.” Thrace grinned, really enjoying the look of fury on the lumpish, oozing face of his opponent. The look on Trin’s face was equally amusing. She looked like she wanted to say something but wasn’t quite sure how to say it.

  Or maybe she was just about to lose consciousness. The bastard with the steel teeth had put no less than three passion berries in her wine—enough for a person three times her size. Thrace only wished he’d been able to knock it from her hand before she took the first drink but he’d wanted to hang back in the shadows and hear what was going on. He’d told himself that he would just watch and listen—and if she wasn’t in trouble, he would simply go get The Empress out of dry dock and leave her alone forever.

  So much for that plan, he thought grimly, trying to keep an eye on B’Rugh and his weird second in command at the same time. The male with the steel teeth had sidled around behind his boss and was looking at both him and Trin as if they were interesting exhibits in a zoo. There was something not right about that son of a bitch…something not quite sane, Thrace thought.

  “But this is impossible,” B’Rugh blustered. “You cannot be Trin’s mate.”

  “I most certainly am. Aren’t I, baby?” He looked down at her, giving her an encouraging smile. Would she play along? She’d better if she wants to get out of here in one piece with that pretty pile of crystals!

  Trin was still looking up at him, probably wondering how he’d gotten loose in the first place and what he was doing here aboard the Demon’s Eye. But finally, she nodded in confirmation.

  “Yes, Thrace is my…mate.”

  “You told me that your people did not allow penetration by males!” B’Rugh accused her. “You sited it as your main objection to taking me as a temporary mate.”

  “I highly doubt that was her main objection,” Thrace said dryly. “But just to let you know, there are a hell of a lot more things you can do with a female besides just penetrate her. If you don’t know that by now, you’ve got less going for you than I thought. Now…” Reaching around Trin, he scooped up the handful of golden cred-chip coins and held them out across the table. “How about making that deal?”

  “I…I never…” B’Rugh tried to protest.

  “You said you wanted to do the deal and only Trin’s lack of a mate was stopping you,” Thrace reminded him steadily. “Yet when her mate shows up, you try to go back on your word?” He shook his head. “That doesn’t look too good, B’Rugh. Especially not to the Elders of your Tribe.”

  Though the Lud’om was a feared and hated criminal, Thrace knew that the crime lord would still be bound by the mores of his people. One of which dictated that a deal, once offered, must always be honored.

  B’Rugh seemed to know when he was beaten.

  “Very well,” he burbled brusquely. Scooping up the sack of crystals, he held them out to Thrace who took the sack and handed over the stack of coins.

  “Thank you.” He checked the crystals, nodded politely, and put a hand under Trin’s slim elbow to help her up. “Come on, baby—let’s go,” he muttered.

  Trin didn’t move.

  At first he thought she was resisting him—then he realized she was still under the effects of the drugged wine and probably about to pass out. He lifted her by main force and helped her stand. Her eyes were partially glazed as she nodded her goodbyes to B’Rugh and his strange second in command. Then Thrace hustled her out the triangular doorway as quickly as he could.

  It was time to get the hell out of here.

  * * * * *

  “Stay on your feet and don’t fall down,” the big Havoc muttered in her ear as he half carried, half dragged Trin down the wide metal walkway. “I can’t carry you yet—the bastards around here will see it as weakness and be on us like a pack of wild ferals.”

  “I’m…trying,” Trin slurred, stumbling along beside him. The tingling and numbness in her mouth had become an odd, lightheaded feeling that made her feel extremely weird and strangely relaxed at the same time.

  In danger—we just crossed the most notorious crime lord in the galaxy and we’re in terrible danger—screamed a little voice inside her head. But it seemed muffled and faint…unimportant even though Trin knew it was pretty damn serious.

  She was aware that the thugs who had watched her first passage down this corridor were back. Their eyes gleamed from the shadows and a couple of them looked like they would have liked to challenge Thrace. But since the Havoc was bigger than any of them and had a naked blaster in his hand, they hung back. Still, it was probably only a matter of time until one or several of them got over their uncertainty and stepped forward. Only—

  She stumbled and Thrace dragged her upright again, hooking one arm around her waist to keep her moving.

  “Almost there,” he muttered. “Almost to the exit airlock. Come on, baby—you can do it.”

  Trin wanted to object to the demeaning nickname but she couldn’t seem to form any words. What had Thrace said the man with the steel teeth had put into her drink? Passion berries? Trin had never heard of them but they must be incredibly strong. She’d taken the tiniest possible sip and she still felt close to passing out. Had B’Rugh’s second in command been trying to kill her? Or simply drug her so completely she couldn’t protest anything that was done to her? The thought made Trin shiver, even in her drugged haze.

  Suddenly, as if her thoughts had called him, the male with the steel teeth and rotting brain popped up right in front of them. Trin blinked at him owlishly. How did he move so fast?

  “What in the Seven Hells?” Apparently the male’s sudden appearance had surprised Thrace as well. He halted abruptly, keeping one arm firmly around Trin and pointed the blaster at the center of the other male’s narrow chest. “Get out of the way,” he growled.

  “In a moment,” the male said pleasantly. “I just had a quick question for you before you go, my good Havoc.”

  “I’m not your good anything,” Thrace snarled. “Now step out of the way or I’ll blast a hole in you big enough to walk through.”

  “My, my—such a violent temper!” The male with steel teeth shook his head and made a tsking sound. “But listen—you said that B’Rugh’s people tried to take over the mud flats on your planet—is that correct?”

  “They tried. Didn’t succeed,” Thrace snapped impatiently. “What of it?”

  “Well, it’s just that mud flats are a very unusual geographical feature.”

  “Not really.” Thrace frowned. “They’re what happen when the desert meets the sea. Most of my home planet, Xander Prime, is either huge oceans or barren deserts. Not the most hospitable place but it’s ours and we weren’t going to give it up to those Lud’om bastards.”

  “I see. Of course not.” B’Rugh’s second in comman