Enslaved Read online

  “He didn’t do it for himself—he drugged her for the creature he was working for,” Stav said. “A Lud’om, I think. At least, he looked like one.”

  “What’s a Lud’om? No, never mind.” Charlie raised her hand to stop him answering. “First tell me if that poor girl is all right.”

  “I think she is.” Stav frowned. “Another male came in and stopped her from drinking too much of the drugged wine. She only took the first sip.”

  “Thank God!” Charlie nearly sagged with relief—she really felt for this unknown girl, whoever she was. “But…what will the first sip do to her? Will it hurt her?”

  “She’ll have some side effects but nothing that will kill her,” Stav assured her.

  “So who saved her? Another Lud…Ludo…whatever it was?”

  “No…he looked like a Kindred. But he spoke to Two of his home world on Xander Prime. So he must be Havoc.”

  “Really? Havoc?” Charlie was intrigued. When she and Stav had gone undercover at the couple’s resort, J’lorgon’s Mind, he had pretended to be a Havoc because they were genetic cousins to the Kindred. As far as she knew, the two kinds of males were almost exactly alike in every way except the Havoc didn’t call brides like the Kindred or bond with them. Though of course, for the purpose of their cover, they had pretended that Stav was one of the rare few who had, in fact, found a bride. Charlie, of course, had been that bride—a deception that had become a reality once they fell in love.

  “The Havoc seemed to be taking care of the girl fairly well.” Stav frowned. “But Two distracted him long enough for others to interfere. The last I saw, the two of them were surrounded.”

  “Oh, no!” Charlie put a hand to her mouth. “Do you think they’ll be okay? Can we help them?”

  “I don’t see how.” Stav shook his head. “Even if we could fold space to their exact spot, I have a feeling the fight is already over.” He sighed. “At least the Havoc male seemed to know what he was doing. And I could tell he would protect the female with his own life if necessary.”

  “Just like a Kindred would,” Charlie murmured. Though she had once considered the alien race her enemies, Stavros had changed her mind with his love and devotion as well as his willingness to sacrifice himself for others. He was truly noble—and that wasn’t a word she could apply to hardly anyone else she knew.

  “Just like a Kindred,” her lover agreed, smiling a little. “We love our females to distraction and we would die to keep them safe.”

  “I know you would, sweetheart.” Charlie stroked his hair again and leaned down to give him a lingering kiss. “So…they were a couple, then?”

  He frowned. “I don’t think so. Two said something else to him at the end…something about him being protective of her even though she didn’t allow him to penetrate her. Very strange.”

  “Well, aren’t there some cultures that don’t allow that?” Charlie asked. Her new friend Kat and several of the other Kindred wives had told her tales of Yonnie Six, the planet where the females were superior and the males were all sex slaves.

  Stav nodded. “That’s true. But until he said that, I assumed the girl was from Earth somehow. Now it’s clear she can’t be.”

  “Why would you assume that?” Charlie asked.

  “She has the same brown skin tones that Lauren and Becca have,” he explained. “It’s lovely but I thought it was only found on Earth.”

  “Hmmm, I don’t know.” Charlie frowned. “Well, whoever she is and wherever she’s from, I hope she’s okay. Although I think it’s kind of sad that he loves her enough to risk his life for her and she won’t let him…you know.”

  “Penetrate her?” Stav raised an eyebrow at her and bared his double set of fangs meaningfully. As a Blood Kindred, he looked a little like a vampire and like a vampire, he loved to bite. But the Blood Kindred didn’t really drink blood—they bit to inject their essence—the pale blue liquid secreted by their fangs. The essence helped bind their mates to them and it could also facilitate healing if a Blood Kindred’s bride was ill.

  It also caused multiple orgasms, as Charlie knew from delicious experience.

  Suddenly she felt the need to have Stavros in her—to feel both his fangs and his shaft deep inside her, filling her with himself in every possible way. But she felt a little awkward about asking. After all, he’d just endured a weird mental connection with the Dark Kindred who had almost killed him. It seemed like he needed comfort right now…not sex.

  She shifted uncertainly and felt the sharp stab of a muscle cramp in her inner thigh.

  “Ow!” she gasped, stepping back from Stav. “Damn it, that hurts!”

  “What? What’s wrong?” Stavros was instantly worried. He had spent most of his life feeling the pain of others and though being freed from that curse was a blessing for the most part, it still seemed to bother him when he couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong with Charlie the minute anything hurt her.

  “Oh, just my thigh.” She sighed and started to stretch it out. “I tried some new machine at the Exercise Arena today.” Which was what the Kindred called their on-ship gyms. “Must have pulled something because it hurts like H E double hockey sticks when I move a certain way.”

  “It hurts like what?” Stav looked more concerned than ever. “I have seen the Earth sport Hockey. Does it feel like someone is beating you with those curving sticks they use?”

  “No.” Charlie had to keep herself from laughing. “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s a nice way to say it hurts like hell—that’s all. It’s bound to get better after I stretch it out some.” She moved her leg again experimentally and winced. “But for now it’s still sore.”

  “Let me see,” Stavros said, motioning for her to sit on the bed beside him.

  “Why?” There’s nothing to see—I pulled a muscle, that’s all.”

  “Let me see anyway.” He frowned. “Remember, I have some training as a medic. What if it’s more serious than you know? It’s better that I examine you.”

  “Well…all right.” Charlie shrugged. “But I’m telling you, there’s nothing to see.”

  Despite feeling like it was no big deal, she couldn’t help the way her heart sped up when she settled on the bed and lifted the hem of her deep red nighty to let him look. The color was almost burgundy and it looked good with her blonde hair and pale skin. It also had a small pair of silky burgundy panties to go with it.

  “Hmm…” Stav slipped off the bed and knelt before her, insinuating his broad shoulder right between her thighs. It reminded Charlie of the way he liked to taste her and she could feel herself getting hot and bothered at the thought.

  Comfort, he needs comfort right now, she reminded herself. But when he ran his big, warm hands up and down her bare thighs, she had to bite her lip. God, that felt amazing. And when he leaned forward to get a closer look at her thigh, she could feel his hot breath blowing over the crotch of her panties, making her pussy feel wet and swollen.

  Then his big fingers brushed over the tender spot in her thigh and she gasped.

  “Hurts here?” He looked up at her questioningly.

  Charlie nodded. “That…that’s the spot,” she said rather breathlessly. “But I’ve tried massaging it and stretching it already—I think it’ll just have to wear itself out.”

  “Or I could bite you,” Stav murmured, stroking the sore spot on her thigh. “I know you’re tender, Falinda, so I promise I’ll be careful. You’ll barely feel it as I slide my fangs into your flesh.”

  His words made Charlie shiver with desire. She’d had a secret vampire fetish since she was a teenager and had read her first Anne Rice book. After that, she had devoured anything vampire related and the fact that her man had fangs was a huge turn on for her. Still, she tried to remind herself that he was only healing her, giving and receiving comfort, not looking for sex.

  “Sure,” she said, trying to smile. “As long as you’re gentle.”

  “You know I will be.” Bending over her, he kissed her h