Divided Read online

  But Feels Pain was not often in a tranquil mood. On nights when he had been drinking—

  Truth shut off the memory abruptly. No good could come of bringing up that old pain. Just as no good could come of trying to change his beliefs now. He had been raised as a Rai’ku and he must adhere to the principles he had been taught from earliest childhood. Touching another male was wrong. Sharing a female was wrong. These were final and absolute truths—black and white with no gray area. None at all.

  Lifting his chin, Truth promised himself that he would stand firm. No more edging over the line or allowing Far to talk him into “bonding exercises.” No more being tempted into illicit contact with another male even if that male was his brother. His blood might be Kindred but he had been raised Rai’ku and he needed no one, not even his twin, to survive. He was strong and complete by himself.

  But if that was true then why did he feel so…lonely? So hollow inside? Why did it feel like a chasm had opened in his soul? A chasm that could only be filled by—

  Truth pushed the disturbing thoughts away and went to the exercise room provided in his small suite. A good vigorous session with the punching bag—an invention the Kindred had gotten from Earth which allowed a warrior to vent his frustration—would set his mind at ease.

  But though he worked the heavy bag until sweat dripped from his skin and his sides heaved for breath, the chasm of emptiness wouldn’t close and the disturbing feelings wouldn’t completely go away.

  Chapter Ten

  Donald K. Mahoney swung the large polycarbonate bag of pitch black dust over one shoulder and made his way through the disused back service corridors of the Kindred Mother Ship. It was amazing, really, that two tons of the shadow stone could be refined down to a mass that would fit in a bag—even a large bag like the one he was carrying. In fact, the bulging sides of the sack swung over his shoulder made him feel a little like Santa Claus—though he doubted the people he was bringing his dark present to would be excited to get it.

  “Christmas is coming early this year, boys and girls,” he croaked, imagining the look on the Kindreds’ handsome faces when the shadow dust rained down on them. He usually didn’t have much sense of humor, feeling jokes were a waste of time, but the mental picture made him laugh—a high pitched giggle that sounded more like a scream.

  Faster, urged the dark voice, which had been getting louder and louder lately. We are almost to our destination. Hurry!

  “Yes, all right. I’ll hurry,” Donald muttered. He broke into a shambling run, the huge bag swaying at his back. It was heavy but he could manage, though he had to grip it mostly with his left hand. Ever since he had been working with the shadow stone, refining it down to dust, the black spot that had begun as a small mole at the base of his right thumb had grown. In fact, it now covered his entire arm and tendrils of black were creeping up his neck and down along the right side of his narrow torso. He’d even torn the sleeve off his lab coat—now more black than white—because it irritated him when it rubbed the infected area.

  Donald’s nose itched and he raised the gnarled claw which had once been his right hand to scratch it. The scent of something rotten filled his nostrils, making them wrinkle involuntarily. As he lowered his hand, a small gobbet of flesh detached from the drooping mass of grayish black skin which still clung to the bones of his arm, sagging like dough clinging to a stick.

  Donald barely gave the small chunk of dirty gray flesh a glance. What did it matter if he was falling apart? As soon as he finished the job the dark voice had set for him, he would have Maggie back and everything would go back to normal.

  That’s right, soothed the dark voice. All back to normal. All shall be as it was. So hurry now—hurry!

  Donald redoubled his speed while reviewing the schematics of the Mother Ship in his head. He was aiming for the air ducts of the Unmated Males section and once he got there, nothing and no one would stop him from sending the shadow dust pouring down like a dark snowstorm onto the Kindreds’ unsuspecting heads.

  “Ready or not—here I come!” Donald called out and cackled madly. His voice bounced off the empty metal corridors, making shrill echoes that no one heard.

  But they would hear soon enough, oh yes, Donald promised himself as more gray chunks of flesh fell from his ruined right arm and pattered to the ground below him. They would hear and see but it would be too late. For the moment they breathed the black dust, they would be taken over.

  Taken over completely.

  At his back he heard a rushing sigh, like a hungry wind seeking to devour.

  My brethren, the dark voice whispered. They are ready. Ready to possess all those who have no bond to keep them out. Ready to live and breathe and feel a solid body around their spirit forms once more.

  “Take the Kindred—you can have them all,” Donald promised out loud. “As long as you leave me Maggie.”

  She shall be yours and the Kindred male she has mated will grovel at your feet before he dies, the dark voice whispered. Only hurry, Donald, hurry…your destiny awaits.

  “Yes, yes—my destiny,” Donald gabbled, shambling even faster. “I’m coming Maggie. Coming for you. And this time we’re going to be together forever!”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Mmm…Master. Must I truly be punished?” Maggie batted her eyelashes flirtatiously at her lover and soon to be husband, Kor.

  “I’m afraid so, Maggie. You’ve been a very…very naughty girl.”

  Maggie felt her heart start to race. She had never played games like this with Donald. He had been her fiancé for years but he’d never gotten her engine revving like Kor did—mainly because Kor was willing to experiment and play in the bedroom. Something that her ex hadn’t had any interest in.

  At the moment, Maggie was feeling plenty interested. She was kneeling in the middle of the large bed with her hands bound above her head with soft leather cuffs which were hooked to a chain anchored in the ceiling. It was the same way she’d been displayed when Kor had found her for sale at the Flesh Bazaar.

  Kor had tracked her and come to the huge slave trading outpost in disguise. Then he bought her, rescuing her from a life of slavery and certain misery. But not before he’d touched her, fingering her pussy and giving her one of the most intense orgasms of her life. Just remembering it made Maggie hot all over.

  She was wearing an outfit similar to the one she’d worn at the Flesh Bazaar too. It was really just two gauzy pink ruffles made of see-through lace that tied around her chest and hips. The top ruffle was barely long enough to reach her nipples—in fact, it didn’t quite cover them completely. The bottom curve of her areolas and her tight, pink points peeked out provocatively from under the ruffle’s satin-edged hem.

  The ruffle she wore around her hips was almost as revealing. It barely covered the very tops of her thighs and if she spread her legs or shifted her hips even slightly, it rode up, showing the smooth, naked mound of her pussy and exposing her pouting pussy lips.

  Maggie had just shaved herself completely bare before they started this naughty little game. She loved the outfit she was wearing, loved feeling so exposed and put on display for her master. It also made her feel sexy and naughty and hot to be tied up and helpless in the middle of his big bed.

  Kor was playing his part—the part of the stern Master—exceedingly well. He was bare chested, stalking around the bed wearing only his black leather flight trousers. The bulge in the tight material was clearly visible, making Maggie’s mouth water to suck his thick cock trapped just behind the black leather.

  Back when he had rescued her from the Bazaar, she had been implanted with a slut button—a mechanism that caused her to need sex constantly. Despite the fact that the implant had been removed, she found she still craved it—just not to the point of desperation and pain.

  Just being with Kor, it seemed, was as effective as any slut button and twice as pleasurable. She especially liked to suck her lover’s hard shaft and listen to his low, growling moans as she made him