Chosen by the Governor (6 page)

Abby and Jean exchanged glances. “She’s new,” said Abby. “It might work. They don’t trust me anymore.”

“Trust you?” asked Freya.

Abby swallowed. “I used to be one of the League’s girls. Then I tipped off the Vendu about the bullying and the violence—they’d beaten up members of another gang and somebody died. I witnessed it and the League doesn’t like snitches. I’m keeping low. Otto looks after us in return for, you know, sex if that’s what he wants. Jean tried to get me the medicines, but they knew we’re friends. They got frisky with her and she ran off.”

Frisky? Freya could guess at the meaning of that. “I’m sorry. Let me try. I’m new. They won’t know the drugs are for you. Where do I go?”

Abby gave her directions and after the siren blared, signaling the end of the shift, she joined the throng heading home. Close to her building, she ducked down a shady lane. Following the twisting paths, she hunted for the two-story building that had been built under the shadows of a rock formation.

She knocked on the door.

A giant of a man opened it. “What do you want, pretty face?”

“Um, antibiotics? Medicine. I’ve vouchers.”

He waved her into the building. Low voices rippled around her, a few raised in laughter and occasionally there was a squawk. In the background, she heard grunting—the rhythmic sound of exertion. She kept her back to the door, just in case she needed to exit fast.

“It’ll cost you,” the man grinned. “Kiefer! I’ve got a customer for you,” he yelled indiscriminately.

An older man entered the room. His bald head was covered in tattoos and his bare arms rippled with leathery skin. “Who’s the cute girl?” he asked in heavily accented Vendian.

“New one. After antibiotics. What’s the rate?”

Kiefer rubbed his chin and flashed a smile. “Thirty vouchers.”

Freya swallowed down a nervous lump. That was far more than she’d anticipated. “I’ve only twenty.”

“Twenty, sure, plus I fuck you.”

She stepped backwards and shook her head. “Just vouchers.”

“You’re missing out,” Kiefer rubbed his groin. The bulge showed easily. “I’ll give you a special deal. Ten vouchers and a hard bum fuck. Or, twenty with your mouth on my cock.”

She guessed at the meaning of the last word as she didn’t recognize the Vendian slang. “Neither. I’ll give you twenty now and another ten later. You can give me half the medicine.”

Kiefer laughed—a horrible belly laugh. “Silly girl. You don’t get it. The only way you’ll get these drugs is if you take off your clothes and bend over. I’m not interested in vouchers. Everyone has vouchers. In here, it’s your holes I want.”

Her stomach churned, warning her that danger lurked too close. It wasn’t worth it, there had to be another way. She shrugged her shoulders, masking their trembles. “Forget it. I’ll do without them.”

He moved swiftly for his age, and before she knew it, he’d blocked her exit. “Forget it? How can I forget you? You’re in the right place and now that you’re here, I going to give you my half of the deal.”

She gritted her teeth and fisted her hands. The fear she felt had to be boxed away. She needed to focus on a different outcome. She’d been trained in unarmed combat. A just-in-case policy, since spies usually didn’t get embroiled in fights, but now she was about to find out if it would stand up to a beefy man with a mean look on his face. She raised her fists and prayed.

The door burst open behind him and he was knocked flying onto the floor. Through the doorway charged a dozen or so Vendu soldiers, their firearms in their hands and their faces covered with masks.

“Search the whole building,” ordered their leader.

Freya was bundled to one side and held against the wall. The frenzy of activity continued for several minutes, punctuated by shouts and the odd burst of gunfire. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it was about to erupt out of her chest.

The soldiers frog-marched a string of men and a few scantily clad women into a lineup and bound their wrists behind their backs before trooping them outside. Freya had been kept separate.

Through the door entered a man dressed entirely in black garb—Governor Marco. His presence heralded a huge wave of relief. She was safe.

“Well,” he snapped. “What have you found?” He directed his question at the lead soldier.

“Boxes of drugs. Obtained from the prisoner’s infirmary and kept here to be sold on the black market.”

“And?”

“A heap load of vouchers, some look counterfeit.”

“This racket has been going on too long, sergeant. It stops now. I want the League cleaned up. Starting here, today. You will instigate an investigation into how these stockpiles have built up. Where is the inventory in the infirmary? Who has control of it? Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.” The sergeant snapped his heels. “What about those outside?”

“Solitary confinement for now. The ringleaders will be publicly punished. I don’t care that my predecessor turned a blind eye to the worse excesses of the League; I’ve been brought in to clean up Tagra. The women, you can release them.”

“And this female, sir?” He pointed at the stunned Freya.

“Leave her to me.”

The sergeant saluted and went outside, barking orders at his men.

They were alone. Just Marco and the boxes of medication. She wanted to reach in and filch the antibiotics while she could. Instead, she stood against the wall while the governor paced up and down.

“Fresh off the transporter and within days you nearly get raped. Do you realize what a foolish thing you’ve just done?” Marco waved at the building. “This is a den of the worst kind. How did you get involved in a black market?”

She bit back a retort. “It was a gamble. But that’s what life is about sometimes.”

“Not for me. I take control of situations. I troubleshoot. I weed out the bad guys. That’s my background. This is how I found out you’re involved and in danger.”

Why was she important to him? They’d hardly spoken and his key introduction to her was witnessing her humiliating examination. “How did you know I was here?”

He halted his pacing and tapped his neck. “Remember?” Walking straight up to her, he rested his hands on either side of her head, trapping her in place. “I’ve only been here a few days also, but I can tell you, things are going to change. This is a penal colony. I won’t have anarchy.”

She stared up at him. He’d a commanding presence; not just the physical strength of his body, he exuded something else, something enticing. Was it the piercing gaze of his eyes, which pinned her down, the firm lines of his lips, or the thickened muscles of his neck that mesmerized her? A bead of sweat trickled down his brow. He’d burst into the building as if he had been running, appearing not just angry, but also excited and energized. It was a personal mission to rescue her, which meant he didn’t trust his men to do the job alone. The thought of him dashing out of his protective dome to find her, thrilled her. She licked her trembling lips. However, not everything he said made sense. “You said the prisoners police themselves.”

“Things are much worse than reported. The factions have overrun the police—they will be disbanded. Corruption is rife and there is no incentive to obey the rules. As of tonight, they’ll be stricter curfews and patrols by my men. Now, as for your gamble, that is something I won’t tolerate. I told you to be good. Have you been good?”

She’d been trying to help somebody, not stir up trouble. “I’ve been good. This is my way of being good. Getting medicine.”

He removed his arms and scanned her, his eyes blazing with concern. “You’re ill?”

She couldn’t fathom him. Why was he worried about her? She shook her head. “Not for me. Another woman.”

“Why didn’t she go to the infirmary?”

“They don’t go here because they’re afraid of those medics and their creepy ways.”

Marco sighed. “I shall ensure they stick to the protocols. I shall also request a female doctor be brought to Tagra. However, that doesn’t alter my decision.”

“Decision?”

“To punish you for willful violation of the being good request. Buying illegal drugs. Putting yourself in danger. Unnecessary danger. I think that’s plenty to be going on with. Now, you’ll come back to my office, bare your fine ass, and I will spank you until I’m satisfied that you won’t make that mistake again.”

She gaped. Her face must have turned crimson and she crushed her thighs together as she pictured him admiring her bare bottom. What was it about her sex and the way it responded to his demands? She was feeling hot and bothered, and it wasn’t due to the heat.

“You want to punish me? That’s your answer to this. To us?” she hissed.

“Yes, for now,” he softened his voice. “I don’t want to punish you, but I must for your sake. If you walk away from me, decide to live down here alone and vulnerable without my protection, then so be it. But if you come with me now, then I will make it my personal mission to look after you.” His nose brushed against her forehead and he sniffed, inhaling deeply.

“Why?” she whispered.

“Because I care what happens to you. I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t get involved with prisoners, but you’ve taken a part of me and while you have it, I shall keep you safe. I shall make you mine. Come with me, Freya.”

“And you’ll spank me?”

“Absolutely. But that’s the start of it, Freya, not the end.”

She pressed her clammy hands against the cool wall, trying to calm her thumping heartbeats. “I’ll go with you.”

Chapter Five

The alert had flashed up on Marco’s desk console. He’d asked for any unusual movements, any sign of Freya operating outside of her accommodation block or the laundry. The alarm had been raised when she’d headed toward a notorious League den. The sergeant had swiftly assembled his team and Marco had joined them in the speeder, which landed them a short distance away from the building.

They’d arrived in the nick of time. He’d no doubt the bald man intended to rape her. Her excuse was laudable, but flimsy. Trapping her gorgeous body against the wall, he held back from holding her tight in his arms. She was irresistible. Her fragrant smell remained divine and the fire that burnt in her eyes was intoxicating.

Marco flitted between annoyance at her stupidity and relief at her safety. His internal barometer of ethics battled against his natural desires as he remembered where he wanted to take her. While the limp form of the oaf who’d threatened her was dragged out of the room, Marco showed restraint. He possessed unassailable powers over all the inhabitants of Tagra and with it came the authority by which he could justifiably touch her. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t force her to come with him.

Don’t get involved
, he’d told himself countless times in the last few days. Although he’d been busy with assessing the dismal state of Tagra’s penal colony, and monitoring the processing of the new arrivals, he’d often paused in mid-thought or even midsentence during a briefing and thought of Freya. He pictured her lithe body, her bright eyes, full lips, and if he allowed himself to wandered further into his daydreams, her pinkened ass and the bare folds of her sex.

He’d ordered the release of the women in the den. They probably worked as prostitutes, voluntarily or not, and he had no reason to punish them. Prostitution technically wasn’t illegal, since there was no official currency to trade in goods or services. However, the prisoners had found numerous ways to barter and sex was the most powerful currency on Tagra. Not just for the prisoners, but the guards too.

When he’d explored the city, he’d located the official Volta—the pleasure facility that a penal or military colony provided for their soldiers. The female Vendu in charge of the Volta, whose name was Lalita, had given him a personal tour of the facilities. The rooms with their specialist furniture and equipment, the quarters where the jenjins slept and socialized, and in one corner of the exotic building, which was isolated by a thick wall, the punishment suite.

“We have strict rules, governor,” Lalita had said. “Protocols and rituals to ensure the jenjins are maintained in the perfect state of readiness. If they refuse to comply, we apply swift punishments on your behalf. Now, sir, we can provide you with a girl, or if you wish, you can select your own.”

“You carry out the discipline?” he’d asked as he swept his eyes around the room, taking in the varied implements, benches, and other devices. He’d swallowed hard, and his cock instinctively hardened in his pants as scenarios raced around in his head.

“We have highly trained disciplinarians—all females who specialize in extracting the best behavior and sexual ability from our jenjins. Vendu citizens, naturally. The servants are sourced from the stock of older prisoners or retirees—trusted ones who look after the girls for us. Spanking is our preferred punishment. Harmless if done correctly and effective.”

Marco eyed the rods hanging from the wall. “I’m fully versed with the techniques. Which is why I wish to do my own disciplining.”

Lalita smiled slowly. “Of course, governor. This room is free for you to use. Do you have someone in mind?”

Up in here, in the domed city, she’d be safe and in a strictly controlled environment. Whereas down there, he dreaded what might happen to her. “I’m working on it,” he’d replied.

What he should be doing was handing Freya over to the sergeant and focusing on the governance of his colony. There again, he argued, downtime was important and if she gave him what he needed, he would be energized and ready to deal with anything.

There in the gloomy den, when he asked her to come with him, she’d not hesitated, he noted. “Take me then, sir,” she’d said.

He eased away from her, stepping back and letting her move away from the wall. His heel caught the edge of a box—the medicines.

“What did your friend need?” he asked.

“Antibiotics.”

He rummaged in the box and located a vial. One dose would be sufficient. “Her name?”

Freya chewed her lip. “She won’t get into trouble?”

He shook his head and she provided him with the details of the sick woman. As they passed the sergeant, who was barking orders at the shackled prisoners, demanding they lie on the ground until a larger transporter arrived, Marco handed him the vial and instructed him where to find Abby.