Shattered Stars (2 page)

“She is for the
purchasing fare tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir.”

Hannah held
still as he circled her before coming to a halt in front of
her.

“Is she in
heat?”

“No, sir. She
just completed her sensuality assessment.”

She could hear
him breathing deeply.

“What was her
score?”

“That is for
the sellers to disclose, sir.”

The dark
chuckle ran through the open area, and several of the closest folk
must have taken one look at what was detaining them and scuttled
away. She could see their feet walking, pausing and then moving
quickly away.

The skin of his
belly was blue, and there were a few markings peeping from the
richly embroidered vest. Whatever he was, he was scaring the hell
out of her guard. The hand on her wrist was icy.

“You are
dismissed, guardswoman. And you, miss, I will see you
tomorrow.”

She nodded.
“Yes, sir.”

He chuckled and
turned, his vest swirling wide. That is when she noticed what
appeared to be the lower portion of huge wings.

Hmrain. How had
the instructor known that there would be one at the bond
auction?

Hannah tried to
relax as she was massaged and her skin oiled. Her hair was already
in a lovely twist with long ringlets hanging down.

No one was
speaking to her, but when her shift was replaced with a long gown,
she took the hint. Her stupid reaction to the test had upgraded her
status to sexual servant.

The dress slid
up her body, and a wide, jewelled belt placed around her waist. The
shoulders had gauzy scarves floating when she moved her arms, and
the slippers she was wearing on her feet were better quality than
those she had come to the groomer’s with.

The soft-pink
dress was pretty and the same colour as her student smock. That was
where the similarity ended.

If she took a
deep breath, her nipples prodded the fabric in an obvious way, and
the chiffon-like stuff threatened to slide away and expose the
difference in her skin completely. It was a dress to move very
carefully in.

When she was
ready, they had her sit in a waiting room with two other nervous
human women and one nervous male.

None of them
spoke.

The display
showed the progression of the bond auction, and the classes of
bondservants were sold to their patrons.

A dark-red
woman of Ymilian extraction came to them and smiled. “Please come
with me.”

The man jumped
to his feet and followed the woman. Hannah and the others followed
more carefully; their gowns fluttered and flowed as they
walked.

When they
arrived at the auction, they were brought into a staging area and
arranged in some order that only the organizers were aware of.

She inhaled and
folded her hands, not thrilled at being left for last.

There was no
display or monitor to tell them what was going on. When the woman
appeared and gestured for the man to come with her, he followed
without hesitation.

One of the
women smiled, “Either she is his instructor or he is exceptionally
eager to please.”

They giggled
softly, and just when they thought they had been forgotten about,
the Ymilian came for the first of the women.

Hannah wanted
to pace, but she stood straight and waited. It was the hardest
thing she had ever done.

When the next
woman was taken, Hannah fought nausea. She was next. It might take
an hour, but she was next.

She stumbled
slightly as her handlers eased her onto the stage. With the
lighting system, they could see her, but she couldn’t see them.

Hannah looked
at the spot she had been directed to focus on and definitely didn’t
think about the fact that the lighting was rendering her clothing
invisible.

“Patrons,
please observe the intelligence and grace of this female. She has
an aptitude for language and can be flash-taught anything you wish.
Her manual dexterity is also of the highest sensitivity, as are her
mastery of etiquette and the running of a home.” The woman’s low
tones rippled out over the crowd.

“Now, for the
moment you have been wondering about. Hannah’s sensuality scores
are near three hundred.”

There was a
murmur that ran through the crowd, and she blushed.

“Impossible.
The others of her kind were nowhere near that.”

Hannah stood
silently as a wave of comments regarding that impossibility went
through the crowd.

“In
anticipation of such comments, I have arranged a
demonstration.”

Her attendant
from the previous day stepped onto the stage, and he smiled at her.
“Breathe, relax and focus.”

He took her
wrist again, and her world dissolved into a mass of writhing,
panting heat.

It was only a
minute, but when he released her, he licked her wrist as he had the
day before. She was shivering and still panting when he stepped
away from her.

Polite applause
broke out.

“Honoured
patrons, the bidding is open.”

Numbers started
flashing across the screen, and Hannah really wanted to run. The
time to labour-value calculation for a sexual bondservant was fifty
thousand credits to a year. The bidding was climbing up to three
million.

The board
suddenly went black. The Ymilian woman spoke suddenly. “No further
bids are accepted. Thank you all for coming to the first human bond
auction. I wish you satisfaction with the service you have
purchased from this exciting, new species.”

An attendant
led Hannah off the stage, and she fought the urge to faint. She had
just been sold for life, and she was too terrified to ask who had
bought her bond.

“Your patron has
ordered that you be delivered to his vessel.” The handler smiled
and put a cloak around Hannah’s shoulders.

“Do you know
where I am going?”

The handler
smiled vacantly and didn’t respond.

Hannah was led
out of the holding area and through to the departure lounge. She
was scanned out using the implant in her wrist. Staff from the
vessel she was going to board replaced the six guards that
surrounded her.

It was a little
peculiar to see someone sign for her as if she was a lost
wallet.

As she walked
surrounded by men whose skin was varying shades of green from mint
to pine—all wearing a black uniform with deep-blue piping—she
thought about the weird turn of going from technologically
advanced, to the dark ages and then back to mid-industrial before
entering a world with tech so advanced that humans had only
speculated on it.

The cloak
covered her from head to toe, but the guards around her didn’t look
interested in examining her. As long as she was the one that their
boss had ordered, they were happy.

There were more
than a few curious gazes directed toward them, but they walked to
their slip and ushered her into a ship that contained seating for
ten.

The guards told
her to strap in, so she did. In moments, she felt the pulse of the
engines, and they were exiting the inner ring and heading for the
outer gateways. If one of them had bought her, she was going to be
surprised. None of them appeared to have an interest in her.

It was a
mystery that wasn’t solved until half an hour later when the
shuttle she was on docked with its parent craft and she was
escorted out of the small vessel and into a ship that was nearly as
large as the station she had just been educated on.

The guards
walked with her until they had gone up several levels and reached a
large office. The darkest member of her escort knocked on the door.
“Sir? She has arrived.”

“Send her
in.”

She pressed her
palms to her belly under the cloak, and when one of the guards
opened the very wide doorway, she stepped through. The click behind
her caused her to tense.

“Come forward,
Hannah.”

She took a few
steps and paused. “Here, sir?”

“Come around
the desk, Hannah. You may have to look up to do it.” There was
amusement in his tone.

She moved
swiftly toward him and stood in front of the booted feet she
recognized from the day before. The vest wasn’t there now. She
could see his deep-blue skin tight over strangely configured muscle
and tattoos of elaborate design twisted from one side of his
pectorals to the other.

“Take off the
cloak.”

She reached up
and undid the clasp, shrugging the cloak loose and folding it
neatly over her arm.

Wide hands
removed it from her grip and tossed it aside. “Very nice. Now, turn
for me.”

Hannah slowly
turned until she was locking her gaze on his knees again.

“You are my
bondservant, Hannah. You can look at me if you like.”

“It is against
protocol.”

He laughed
deeply. “I am planning a number of things with you that go against
protocol. It is best that you get used to me quickly.”

She darted a
look to his face, and she froze. It was the face of an angel made
of blue skin with a pearlescent sheen. The wings were the wide
appendages of a demon, neatly folded behind him. He was beautiful,
and the smile on his lips said that he knew it.

His long, dark
hair was braided at the temples with tiny metal clasps working down
the length of the braids. It was the same metallic colour as his
irises. His vertical pupil was the same midnight as his hair.

“Sir, you are
Hmrain?”

“I am. Do you
understand your purpose here?”

She blushed and
looked down again.

“I asked you a
question, Hannah.”

“Yes, sir. I am
an intimate bondservant. I am here to serve your body.”

“Have you had
training in such things?” He was relentless.

“I have not. I
have some small experience with my own species but not since a year
before today.”

Something she
said had resonated with him. Her fixed view of his crotch showed a
growing interest.

“Come here,
Hannah.”

She swallowed
and stepped between his thighs, closer to whatever was going on
under the black fabric.

“Climb into my
lap, facing me.” He gave the command calmly, but her pulse was
anything but calm.

She could feel
the cream starting to seep from her again, and the urge to grind
her pussy against him was creeping up on her. Under normal
circumstances, she would ignore her sex drive, but now was not a
normal circumstance.

Hannah gauged
her options and lifted her skirt so she could place a knee on each
of his thighs. She perched on him, and her placement had her
breasts even with his mouth.

“You might want
to brace yourself.”

His muttered
words were all the warning she got before his mouth closed around
the tip of her right breast, drawing her nipple until she felt a
prickle of pain through the fabric.

She hissed and
clutched at his shoulders, fighting the reaction of her body to his
deliberate suction. Just when she was getting used to it, he
switched and drew her left nipple deeply into his mouth. Hannah bit
her lip and shivered, her fingers clawing lightly at his
shoulders.

When he pulled
back, she leaned in, and soon, she was keeping her breast in his
mouth as he sucked hard and bit gently.

She heard the
moan that came from her throat, and she shifted her hips, moving
closer to him.

He moved back
to her right nipple and the tissue that he had abraded earlier. She
was even more sensitive this time, and she breathed in gasping
shudders as he continued to suckle until a series of deep pulses
started in her pussy and left her fighting for air with her nipple
still between his teeth.

He released her
and looked up into her flushed face, his metallic eyes assessing
her with frightening focus.

She could see
him taking in her flushed and sweating skin, but the hand that
moved under her skirt found the complete story.

His slow smile
showed her a mouthful of white teeth with some very deadly looking
canines. “Take me inside you.”

She looked down
and carefully reached for the closure to his trousers. Her fingers
shook as she eased the fabric open. The erection that emerged at
her careful touch was thick, long and on scale with the rest of
him. The full enveloping of his cock was doubtful.

The awkward
moment where she was tugging her skirt out of the way was
embarrassing. She always strove to keep things as neat as possible.
Getting the fabric caught under her knees and tipping onto the desk
caused her tremendous shame.

He didn’t say
anything. When she had parted her legs and lodged him at the mouth
of her pussy, his gaze locked with hers again.

She had been
given an order, and her bond was to fulfill it. With slow
deliberation, she sank onto him, closing her eyes to focus on
staying relaxed.

“Open your
eyes.”

She obeyed and
stared at him as she lowered her hips, feeling him press inside and
stretch her until she was sure that something was going to
tear.

“Stop.”

She stared at
him, and her internal muscles throbbed around him. “Sir?”

“Stop. I am
hurting you.” He cocked his head.

“Not yet.”

“But you are
not comfortable.”

“As one of my
kind has said, sex should not be comfortable.”

He laughed, and
the motion moved him deeper inside her. “That is a wise statement,
but pleasure does not always require pain. Let yourself relax.”

“May I touch
you again?”

He smiled. “Of
course. You always have authorization to touch me unless otherwise
advised.”

She braced her
hands on his shoulders and concentrated on the heat coming off his
skin. She inhaled the musky and masculine scent coming off his
flesh. She sank further onto him with each deep breath.