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
crazy by swirling her tongue around his flaring crown.
“Please, Master, what are you going to do to me?” she begged, looking up at him with big, pleading eyes. “You…you’re not going to make me suck you? Are you?” she asked hopefully.
Kor laughed. “You’d like that too much, I think. No, to start with, I’m going to do this.”
He made some slack in the chain holding her arms so that he could pull her closer to the edge of the bed. Then he produced what looked like a piece of jewelry. Two small golden wire rings attached by a length of golden chain. The gold glittered in his big hand as he held the strangely delicate piece up so she could see it.
“What’s that?” Maggie stared at the jewelry curiously.
“Nipple rings. They hurt—not a lot but enough to remind you that you’re being punished.”
“Oh!” Maggie made a show of trying to shrink away until he looked at her sternly.
“Maggie, am I going to have to spank you?”
Maggie bit her lip. Lately during their love play she had found that she did love a good spanking. For now, however, she decided not to push Kor too far.
“No,” she whispered at last.
“All right then, come closer and push out your chest. Let me get to you.”
“Y-yes, Master,” Maggie faltered. Knee walking closer to the edge of the bed, she thrust out her chest, offering her bare breasts with their tight pink nipples barely covered by the pink lace ruffle.
“Very good, that’s a good girl,” Kor rumbled.
As always, the words of approval sent a shiver of pleasure through Maggie’s whole body. She pressed her breasts willingly into his big hands and held still while he wound the first thin gold hoop around her right nipple.
“Ooo!” she gasped as the golden wire tightened around her delicate point. “It feels like…like you're pinching me.” Indeed, the sharp little pain seemed to send sparks of pleasurable irritation coursing straight from her tender nipples to her bare pussy.
“That’s what it’s supposed to feel like,” Kor assured her. “The nipple rings make you more sensitive, more responsive to pain and pleasure. Here…” He fastened the other golden wire around her left nipple, making sure the golden chain that hung between them swung freely between her breasts. “How’s that?” he asked when he had it fixed to his satisfaction.
“I…I don’t know,” Maggie whispered, looking down at herself. She could see the fine golden chain swaying between her bare breasts and feel the nipple rings attached to either end of it squeezing her tender points tightly. It was a beautiful and erotic sight—and nothing she had ever expected to see herself wearing.
“You look fucking gorgeous,” Kor assured her in a hoarse voice. “Gods, I love the way those rings make your nipples so hard.”
Maggie bit her lip. “Th-thank you, Master. But…what is the chain for?”
“This.” Tangling the fine gold chain around one finger he tugged it firmly. The golden rings around her exposed nipples grew even tighter, making her feel as though cruel fingers were squeezing her sensitive nubs. The intense sensation causing her to gasp with mingled pain and pleasure.
“Oh!” Maggie moaned. “Oh, Master, that feels so…oh!”
“That’s right—it’s supposed to feel like that.” Kor gave her a dark smile. “Suppose to squeeze your plump little nipples and make your pussy nice and wet for me. So is it, Maggie? Is your hot little cunt all wet for your master?”
“I…I’m not sure, Master,” Maggie faltered softly. “I…the way you have my hands tied I can’t…can’t touch myself.”
“Maybe I should touch you then and find out. After all, you have to be nice and wet for me to fit your clit ring on.”
Maggie’s eyes flew wide. “Clit ring?”
Kor rumbled laughter. “Don’t worry, blondie—it’s not a piercing. Just a ring that fits around your clit and holds your pussy open for me. It matches your nipple rings.”
“I…I…” She couldn’t think what to say. It hadn’t occurred to her that he might do something like this. Though they had played slave and Master several times since she was finally released from the med unit, Kor had never brought anything like the nipple rings into play before—let alone anything more extreme. But tonight they seemed to be pressing their mutual boundaries.
“Hey…” He lifted her chin with his fingers, forcing her to look deep into his pale blue eyes. “You know I would never hurt you, right?” he murmured in her mind, using the mental link that all Kindred had with their mates. “Not in a way you didn’t want. Playing like this is one thing but I would never—”
Maggie nodded quickly. “I know,” she sent back softly. “I trust you completely, Kor—you know that.”
“Good.” He leaned down and kissed her lips gently. Then, holding her eyes with his he murmured aloud, “Trust me now and spread your legs for your master. Let me see if you’re wet enough for the clit ring.”
Maggie moaned and did as he said, spreading her legs wide so that the innocent pink ruffle rode up, showing her naked cunt beneath. She could feel her pussy lips spreading with the motion and she knew what Kor would find when he examined her—she was hot—so hot and so wet she could feel her own juices running down the insides of her thighs.
“Gods, blondie,” he muttered hoarsely, cupping her naked pussy in his big, warm hand. “You’re wet all right. The ring should work fine.”
“Will…will it hurt?” Maggie asked. “I mean, will it pinch like the nipple rings?”
“No, but it’s going to make you more sensitive. Look down. Watch me put it on you if you want to.”
Biting her lip, Maggie looked down. Kor had another golden contraption in his hand but this one looked like a round gold ring in the center of two thick wires. The wires were also gold and made the shape of a capital V with the ring at their apex.
“Just like this…” Kor knelt on the floor before her, a look of intense concentration on his face. “It’s a special alloy—adheres to your flesh because it’s attracted to your pussy honey. And you do have plenty of honey.” He stroked one long finger from the bottom of her spread pussy to the top, dragging his fingertip lightly over her swollen clit and making Maggie gasp.
“Master, please.”
She didn’t know what she was begging for but Kor seemed to and he was obviously determined to give it to her.
“Here we go, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Just hold still…”
Gently he spread her cunt lips wide and pressed the golden V shaped wire contraption to her open pussy. Maggie moaned a little as the cold metal met her heated flesh but despite the discomfort she held still like an obedient slave girl. To her wonder, the golden device stayed in place though there was seemingly nothing to hold it there and the result was a deeply erotic sight.
The gold ring at the apex of the V encircled her swollen clit, pressing firmly against her in a way that seemed to make the little bud swell even more. The arms of the V pressed against her pussy lips, holding them open to be certain she was completely exposed. It made Maggie feel incredibly vulnerable…and incredibly hot.
“Gods, sweetheart—look at you all open and wet and hot for me. Your sweet little pussy on display with your clit all exposed. Damn.”
Kor’s deep voice was hoarse with lust and his warm, spicy, masculine scent seemed to surround her, making her want him even more.
Maggie felt a surge of lust that nearly overcame her completely. Here she was, hands chained above her head with both her nipples and her pussy on display for her master. God, had she thought she was exposed back at the Flesh Bazaar when he’d rescued her? Now this was exposure. Full exposure. She didn’t know when she’d ever felt so hot or so helpless before. The gold ring encircling her clit seemed to draw attention to it, framing her little pink pearl like a priceless work of art. And just as Kor had promised, she was definitely more sensitive now.
As if reading her mind, Kor proved her sensitivity by pursing his lips and blowing lightly against he
r spread pussy.
Maggie jumped and wiggled but couldn’t break free of the cuffs that kept her hands above her head.
“Master, please!” she begged. “What…why are you doing this?”
Kor looked up, his eyes blazing.
“I told you, you need to be punished,” he growled. “Besides, it makes me fucking hot to see you all spread out like this with your nipples and clit put on display.”
Maggie cast down her eyes demurely.
“If it pleases my master to see me displayed in such a manner, then I am pleased as well,” she murmured.
“Pleases me so much I want to fuck you right now,” Kor said. “But not yet—we’re not done with your punishment.”
“We’re not? But what…what else are you going to do?” Maggie looked down at the tight golden loops around her nipples and the chain swaying between them. Then lower still to the golden ring encircling her throbbing clit. What more could he do?
“Going to taste you, of course.” Kor gave her mostly naked body a lustful look. “Be a good little slave girl and hold still while I suck those stiff little nipples.”
He was on his feet again and bending her back before Maggie could protest. Not that she really wanted to. It was fun to pretend to struggle and beg him to stop but they both knew in reality that she needed this—needed to have his hands and mouth on her claiming her, making her his and bonding her to him all over again.
“Oh!” she moaned as his hot mouth descended, engulfing one tight, tortured nipple. The golden wire ring around it made her more sensitive than she could ever remember being and she couldn’t help gasping as he lashed her tender point with his tongue, teasing her mercilessly until she cried out and writhed in his grasp.
“Hold still!” Kor demanded, pulling back to give her a stern look. “It’s not too late to put you over my knee and spank you, sweetheart. And I’ll do just that if you don’t stop struggling.”