The Barbarian's Captive (6 page)

Once dry, he’d pulled a long tunic over her head, cinching it at the waist with a too long leather belt that wrapped nearly twice around her. That was all he intended her to wear, evidently, leaving her fully bare underneath, and uncomfortably so. Because even though the long shirt hung to mid-thigh, if she sat, bent forward, or if a slight breeze happened by, anyone looking on would get an eyeful.

He then surprised her by brushing a gentle kiss and more indecipherable words against her forehead. She sensed affection, or perhaps merely possessiveness, because he turned again on a dime, becoming Mr. Domineering by pulling her along to a curtained off area of the tent. He gave her no more than a few seconds of privacy to see to her bodily functions, which wasn’t easy with him standing nearby, only the thin curtain between them.

After that, he led her out of the tent and returned her to her shipmates. The cage was gone, thankfully, although that didn’t mean they were left to mill about on their own. Instead, they were shackled at the ankle in a long line and he dropped to a knee and cuffed her right along with them. With a few brusque words and a brush of his hand along her chin, he left her there under guard, the first time he’d let her out of his sight since the moment she’d been captured.

Confused, Eva frowned after him as he strode across the camp. A million thoughts ran through her mind, and none of them were good. Was he done with her? He’d had his fun and that was that? Is that what she was, what they all were, sex toys to these barbarians to be used and set aside until the next time? If so, what was that probe all about? Some kind of STD test?

As a prisoner, she had expected to be regarded as such, but after his tender care last night, she hadn’t envisaged being treated like a tramp, dismissed with little thought after a wham-bam one-night stand, either. She fumed, eyeing him derisively as he moved amongst the group of other men.

“Eva!”

She jumped, turning toward the woman beside her. “What?” she snapped. Her curt reply was unusual for her, but after all that she’d been through, her nerves were frayed, her tolerance at an end.

It was Mailynn, the usually timid and extremely quiet microbiologist. “I called your name three times. Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry for being so short with you, Mai,” she grumbled. “I’m fine, other than being imprisoned by barbarians.”

“Were you able to find out what they plan to do with us?” This was asked by Brenna. Petite and round, appearing much younger than her twenty-eight years, she looked more like a college girl, instead of the chemist that she was. And as if she should be cramming for finals rather than on a strange jungle planet in a cage.

Eva cast her a disbelieving look. “How? I don’t understand a word they say.”

“It was worth asking.” Brenna’s shoulders slumped. “No one knows what’s going on. Aside from you and Lana, all of us slept in the cage.”

“Was anyone harmed?” Stepping forward, as much as the shackle would allow, she scanned everyone down the line.

“Surprisingly, no,” Mailynn replied.

“Speak for yourself,” Lana said, rubbing her posterior. “The beast turned me over his knee and spanked me — hard. And this morning, when I didn’t snap to attention at some order I didn’t understand, he did it again. Can you believe it?”

Eva gasped, her hands flying back to her own tenderized backside. Seven pairs of eyes shifted her way, following her motion.

“It happened to you too, didn’t it?” Brenna breathed in a shocked whisper.

With a faint nod, Eva bent her head.

“What else did he do to you?” Lana, her closest friend asked with concern.

“He restrained me, and…” She looked away.

“Oh, Eva,” Lana whispered, tears in her eyes. “Were you forced?”

“Yes. I mean, no... I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?” Brenna asked, her hands clutching her stomach, as though dreading the answer.

“He gave me something to drink—”

“You were drugged!” Thora, their senior biologist gasped, her vivid green eyes widening with horror, her face turning pale, accentuating the freckles across her cheeks. Her dark auburn head stood out amongst the other blondes, except Eryn, whose long wavy hair was a stunning gilded copper.

As she looked around, Eva realized they were all beautiful women, tempting like ripe fruit to their hulking jailors. Why couldn’t they have been plain, or ugly? Then maybe they wouldn’t have been so desirable as captives.

Eva shook her head. “I’m not sure about that either. He was very, um… persuasive.” Her face flamed at the weakness she revealed. How did she explain being seduced by an alien? “Except for the spankings, he was gentle.”

“
Spankings?
” Brenna whispered. “As in plural?”

She flushed even more fiercely. “Yes. I wasn’t very cooperative.”

“Of course not,” Lana grumbled. “Neither was I. He didn’t require cooperation, the big brute.”

“The probing was rather disturbing; don’t you think?”

Lana’s eyes shifted to Eva, round as moons. “What probing?”

“You mean he didn’t… The man who took you didn’t—?”

“No, he touched me — all over — and kissed me in more places than my mouth. But there was no probing, or, um, insertion of any kind.”

Eva swallowed, wondering why she had been the only ‘lucky’ one probed, tested, and so much more.

Eryn, the sole guard in the group who had been observing silently, finally spoke. “What did he probe you with — and where?”

If she got any more embarrassed, Eva felt sure her face would catch fire. It made her want to kick
Him
in the jaw all over again. She didn’t want to reveal more than she already had, but they deserved to know what might lay ahead. “It was some sort of digital wand, like a doctor might use. It had gauges as if he were measuring something. And it expanded, once inside, like he was testing to see if he would fit.”

They were all staring at her in collective horror.

Before she could answer more of their questions, a cheer went up from the other side of the clearing where most of the men had gathered. Eva clenched her jaw, seeing they had encircled the golden-eyed warrior, who was apparently sharing something of import with the rest of the men. From their effusive reactions and gestures, the men slapping each other on the back and eying the women, it was very good news. They were also grinning broadly, looking as elated as her captor had after looking at the display on the probe last night. Knowing what followed, she was getting a strange suspicion. The image of a high school locker room with the captain of the football team in the center of a huddle gleefully telling his buddies about scoring with the head cheerleader popped into her head.

Forget about the jaw. She wanted to kick him all right — about three feet lower.

Abruptly, the assembled men started to disperse. Singled out by
Him
, a few would incline their heads in response, then scurry off as if having received their marching orders.

The meaning of this coalesced in Eva’s mind. “I think he’s their leader,” she presumed aloud. “In fact, I’m positive. See how they bow and defer to him?”

“What? So, he’s the chief muckety-muck, and as such gets first dibs on pussy?”

“Eryn!” Lana protested. “Don’t be crude.”

“Why the hell not? Look around us?” Eryn threw her arms wide as she said this. “We’re stuck on a wilderness planet with a bunch of half-naked barbarians who can’t speak our language. Who gives a fuck if we’re crude? Besides, it makes me feel better to swear.”

Several of the crew nodded in agreement with the tall, lithe guard whose personality was as bold as her red hair.

Marta, the only physicist on their team, blinked up at her with her intelligent blue eyes, as she asked, “What are we going to do, Eva?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“You’re the senior officer since Rebecca isn’t here. She and the other three either made it back to the shuttle and are safe on board the Odyssey by now, or…”

“Don’t even think it,” Eva whispered, her eyes going to the woods beyond the camp.

Rebecca was a hardass; having made first officer at only twenty-three, she had to be. Of the four unaccounted for, Rebecca had the best chance of survival, but in a foreign environment — and outnumbered by a hostile enemy — the odds were against her. Eva shook her head, unable to bear the thought of having lost even one of their own, let alone four.

“They’re coming this way,” someone whispered.

Twisting around, Eva saw seven grinning males descending on the line of tethered women.

Chapter 4

L
ana’s male arrived first, releasing her ankle cuff with a press of his thumb and scooping her up in his arms. She squealed, pushing against his chest as he laughed, bent his head and hushed her shrieks with his mouth, lingering in what looked to Eva to be an extremely thorough and heated kiss. When he lifted his head, her friend looked rather dazed — and she’d gone quiet.

One by one, the other six men claimed the remaining women, until Eva stood all alone. Then she saw him, standing about twenty yards away, his golden eyes fixed upon her, an arresting smile on his oh-so-handsome face.

What on earth is going on?

Then he too approached, swiftly releasing her and scooping her up in his arms, thankfully not slung over his back this time. He joined the other seven couples and the rest of the camp, which consisted of four other warriors and two older, white haired, bearded men, though they were equally as tall and strongly resembled the dozen huge brutes. The next instant, a tingling sensation swept through her as they were engulfed in a brilliant flash of light followed by swirling darkness. When it dissipated, her head was spinning, but she stayed lucid enough to see they were in a large room, brightly lit, with glass observation windows, humming control panels, and a half dozen more barbarians, fully dressed and in uniform.

Eva blinked, taking it in for a moment, before turning her head and seeing Lana’s dumbfounded expression, as well as that of the other women. Maybe these barbarians weren’t as primitive as they’d first thought?

He carried her out of the control room and down a long hallway, the other men following single file behind
Him
, paired up with a woman in their arms, like a parade. With a whoosh of air, they entered a room that appeared to be some sort of medical facility. Rows of stretcher-like beds filled the space, large monitors on the wall above each one. Afraid they had more testing in mind, she began to struggle. He tightened his arms and growled a few words. She stilled, but as he neared the bed and went to place her upon it, she lost it. Not willing to be the subject of more alien experiments, she clutched at him, climbing up his chest, as if keeping herself off the bed would prevent them from doing whatever they had planned next for her.

With a show of agility and superior strength, Eva found herself back upon the bed, his face directly above hers. His hands on her wrists pinned her down as he issued a command in a stern tone. She stopped, lying stiff and tense beneath him as a man in a black and white tunic came to stand beside them. He had pure white hair, and like the rest of these aliens, he was handsome despite being older. His looks were deceiving though, for as he drew near, a closer look at him revealed smooth, wrinkle-free skin.

He began to converse with
Him
, while he continued to hold her in place. The next thing she knew, the white-haired man — whom she presumed to be a doctor or medical technician of some kind — placed a shield over her eyes, and everything went black. No more than a second passed before it was removed.

“Can you understand me now, sprite?” The low, rich rumble by her ear magically transformed into words she could understand. Her eyes shot to his face as he leaned over her, his arms braced on either side of her body as he watched her intently.

“I can. What did you—” She stopped, unsure if she was speaking his language now, or he hers.

“This is Jarlan,” he tilted his head to the white haired man beside him. “He inserted a translator. We can converse now.”

“Inserted?” Her hands, which were strangely free, flew to her head, feeling for a mark, an incision of some kind, or a microchip under her skin. Her brows knitted as she gaped up at him. “How? There wasn’t time. He put on those glasses things and the next second took them off, you couldn’t have—”

“Actually, it took longer than that,” Jarlan corrected. “About a tenth of a time cycle as our computers deciphered your language and entered it into our data banks. It just seemed much shorter for you.”

“A tenth of a what?” She turned to the older man. “Are you a doctor?”

“Those in my profession are known as healers. Some refer to me as a physic. In your world, yes, I would be a doctor.” He looked at
Him
. “She might experience some dizziness, though that could be from her first teleportation, as well. Either way, it should pass by morning. Contact me if it doesn’t or if her symptoms worsen.” The healer reached down and peeled an electrode from the side of her neck and nodded. “You can take her now, Max Kerr. Rest will do her well for the remainder of the day.”

She looked at her captor, now able to give him a name.

Max Kerr.

She frowned. He didn’t look like a Max.

He caught her hand and helped her to her feet, watching closely as she stood. The room tilted momentarily, then righted. She blinked and although she felt suddenly tired, the brief vertigo quickly passed.

“Dizzy?”

She shook her head, pulling on her hand, but he didn’t let go. “I’m fine,” she said, tugging to get free again. “I’d like some answers. I want to know—”

“I will answer your questions in due time. For now, you will do as Jarlan said and rest. Come along.” He turned, towing her along toward the door. She passed another bed, Eryn lying upon it. She was wearing the same visor like glasses and not moving, a tall half-naked barbarian looking on from her bedside. Eva dug in her heels, wanting to stay. Her resistance had no effect, however, as Max continued out the door and into a corridor.