Varpin shook his head. “I disagree. I think we’ve made a wise choice with this species,
and I bet we’ll see a lot more warriors commissioning them when they see the results. I
think we can both readily agree they are the most visually appealing species that has ever
been available to us.”
The rest of the quick shuttle was made in silence, with only the sound of Rue and Dawn
sobbing quietly. They docked with the warship, and the warriors finally resorted to
throwing the women over their shoulders to keep them from choking on their collars when
their feet would not move.
When Rue began thrashing to get away, Isari smashed his hand down on her bottom and she
yelped. She was petrified as the giant bounced her on his shoulder through the corridors
of the battleship. Rue tried to be quiet after his large hand smacked her bottom leaving
a heated, stinging print across both cheeks.
When the other warrior began leading Dawn down a separate hall, the terrified woman began
screaming. “Rue? Oh god, Rue?”
Rue began wailing. “No, put me down.” She began pounding her fists on the big man’s
back and yanking his swinging hair. His hand came down on her bottom again and she
shrieked.
“Be still,” Isari growled. “Now.” If Rue could have seen his face, she would have seen
that he was smiling. His feisty commission was going to be envied by the other warriors,
and Isari hoped some would see them while they made their way to his quarters.
Several of his comrades did take notice when their Commander strode through the hall with
the blonde furred commission pummeling his back. They looked at their sturdy, meek
Alidans of larger size, and questioned why the fun of training them had lost its allure so
quickly. The large species sat quietly on their haunches, numbed by their training
quickly, and remaining quiet and accommodating for decades.
Isari swiped his hand over the door lock and he tossed Rue onto the carpet. She
scrambled into a corner and crouched down with her hands wrapped around her folded legs.
The big man frightened her into quivering silence, while he sat in a chair and studied
her. The warrior was calculating whether or not to send her to the pets’ cages in the
bottom of the ship until they reached planet, after her marking.
Oh, my god. He’s huge. Rue studied the warrior, and despite her terror she felt a
shadow of desire building. This was a man she would not be able to control, and the
uneasy recognition of the man in her dream passed through her thoughts. He had black
cuffs with strange symbols embroidered into the leather, wrapped around his wrists and
massive upper arms. The expanse of chest visible from the opened vest looked smooth, and
her fingers rubbed together as she imagined what it would feel like to caress the bronze
skin.
“Come here, pet.” Isari pointed to the carpet in front of him. “I have to get those
security restraints returned to Harvesting.”
Rue was scared to death of the big man, but the thought of having the restrictive metal
bindings removed had her slowly crawling forward. There would be no way to escape with
them on. She trembled when she got near him, and she squeezed her eyes closed when he
reached out. She opened them again when she felt the first wrist cuff pop open, and she
watched him touch his thumb to the other one. It folded back on an invisible hinge.
Isari watched her wide brown eyes studying the simple device. It reminded him that the
species was extremely primitive, and that most of his technology would seem
incomprehensible to them. He took advantage of her distraction by handing her the collar
to study, and he was pleased that she had an inquisitive nature that was lacking from some
of the other species deemed suitable for warriors. Most of them were dully compliant and
mere receptacles for whatever warriors desired.
Isari and Varpin had both been extremely pleased with the reports on their pets from
Harvesting. Isari had no doubts that Ebby had personally handled their testing so he knew
that the results were accurate. Other than a short warning that the species did not have
tough skin or a thick bone structure, she sounded cautiously optimistic that the pets
would work out.
Rue held the collar that had altered her life. She still could not see how it had
latched because the two opened ends were smooth. She ran her fingers around the inside,
searching for the barbs that had shocked her. When she glanced up, the man was inches
from her neck with another collar. This one looked like it was made out of the same black
leather-like material of his pants. She drew back and he grabbed her hair. “Easy, pet,”
he said calmly.
Rue threw the metal collar at his head and scrambled back. “I’m not your fucking pet,”
she screamed. Getting to her feet, she bolted to the door and searched wildly for the
missing door handle. “Can’t you pricks put latches on shit?” she screamed. She saw a
flat pad on the side and began pounding it with her fist.
Isari was intrigued. The girl had figured out that the bio-tech pad would release the
door mechanism, but of course her biology was not imprinted into the security level
required to open it. He was encouraged that the species did, apparently, have the desire
to preserve itself, and it appeared they had at least a rudimentary ability at reasoning.
“The portal is not programmed to open for you.” The man rose, and Rue stopped her
pounding and searched the room frantically when he approached her with a collar in each
hand. “I think you can reason that I am much stronger than you and will have my way, but
I will let you choose. If I have to restrain you, I will put this collar back on you.”
The metal collar dissolved in his hand and Rue felt it circle her throat. An instant
later, it was back in his hand. “If you come to me, I’ll use this one.” He eyed the
leather. “It does not have the security features that are built into the Harvesting
collar, but those are not practical for your release on Lameria.”
Rue was slowly backing away, and she stopped when she noticed he had not moved. He sat
back in his chair and watched her make her decision. The metal collar would make it
impossible to escape; she knew that. The other one must not have any features other than
a way to secure her. It seemed like the better option, and she made her way cautiously
towards him. As she approached, it sank in that she was naked. How the hell did I forget
that? She glanced around the room, dashed towards the bed in the corner and grabbed the
light blanket.
When she first ran, Isari tensed, irritated that she chose the wrong logical deduction.
He almost laughed when he saw her wrapping the cloth around herself to approach him. “You
are cold and wish to be covered, pet? Well, perhaps that will be one of the first things
you earn.” He had no idea that it was her nudity she found discomforting, because most
pets preferred their own skin.
Rue clenched her teeth to keep from screaming at him again and risk the metal choker.
While she stood before him, he reached out and fixed the collar around her throat. The
material was soft, and she realized that this was another benefit of not having the other
choker reattached. She found herself distracted by the spicy scent of his skin. When she
had been tossed over his shoulder, she wondered if it was a musk that would transfer to
her body. It was pleasantly erotic and she inhaled deeply.
He picked up the matching wrist cuffs and, seeing no alternative, Rue held out her arms.
Screw you. You just keep thinking I’m too stupid to figure a way to get out of here.
Even as the thought passed through her mind, she felt uneasy. The more she studied the
man, the more captivatingly handsome she found him to be.
The girl seemed to accept the rationality of the less restrictive collars, and Isari was
becoming more optimistic about his choice. When he first saw the diminutive female, her
appearance seemed at odds with the Harvesting Procurement’s test results. Even with
Ebby’s report, it still seemed unbelievable that such a small species could contain his
size with only minimal discomfort to him… and minimal damage to her.
It had been his idea to try the ill fated Miptriks, and although both he and Varpin had
reservations about commissioning one of these new, delicate pets, he was becoming more
intrigued by the girl. Actually, very intrigued. Isari’s cock had not deflated since he
had seen her spread on the harvesting ship’s transport wall. He was confident with his
initial discovery that she had rudimentary reasoning, and Isari began to re-evaluate the
thought that the on-planet claiming would be depressingly quick.
Unique to Lamerian males, was the ingrained requirement from ancestral beginnings that a
mate had to be chased down and conquered. Once captured, she must be trained to
compatibility for her warrior. As there were no longer females born to their kind, the
imprinted behavior had been transferred to the claiming of their pets.
When the restraints were attached, he watched her expression while she studied them. He
saw anger in her eyes and something almost resembling pride… which was, of course,
impossible for a primitive species. The more he looked at the dark eyes, narrowing while
her finger traced the leather and frowning when she discovered the latches on these cuffs
were hidden for her safety as well, the more he decided she might actually work out. “You
are named Rue? It is what the other pet was calling you.”
Rue nodded. “I want to see Dawn,” she demanded nervously.
“The other pet,” Isari affirmed. “You must be marked before you travel through the
ship.”
Rue slowly backed away from him. “I don’t want to be marked,” she announced. She really
did not want whatever it was when she looked into the warrior’s eyes and she saw them
filling with obvious sexual heat. “Stay away from me,” she quivered.
Isari rose, and Rue continued backing up, clutching the blanket in a tight fist. The
warrior kept approaching and she kept on backing, turning her head and looking for a way
to escape. Her back pressed against the wall… no, a door… and the man reached around and
placed a big palm on a panel beside her head. The door behind her slid open and she fell
back into the new room, quickly turning around to see if there was an exit.
Rue’s mouth dropped open and her eyes filled with tears when she saw a strange assortment
of equipment that all promised pain. “No… oh god, no,” she moaned, and she tried to bolt
around him.
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