Amy

AMY

I tried to keep up with the rapid fire changes unleashed upon me in the last few minutes.

One, the Volek who had abducted me turned out to not be a Volek at all, but a Vinduthi. A blood drinking, space fucking vampire.

Two, he delivered me from bondage only because I knew Mera. What his connection to her might be, I could not begin to guess.

And three, the station security forces had somehow found us despite all of the obstacles in their path.

"What in the hell are they even doing down here?" I sputtered. "In all of the time I've lived down here, I can count how many occasions I've seen station security in the Under on NO fingers."

"It is true they seldom come down here for official business," Razov said, toweling his face off with a piece of the Volek's tablecloth. "Which means that theymust be here on unofficial business."

"What?"

He crossed the room, sinuous and graceful as a cat. I couldn't believe I'd thought him repulsive before in his disguise. If I'd seen a more handsome man, I couldn't quite remember when.

"They aren't here to arrest us."

He opened the hatch and two burly uniformed guards shouldered their way inside.

"How long were you going to make us wait, Kwayd?" the one with the name badge reading Suggs thumped ‘Kwayd' on his chiseled chest. "And what's with your face?"

"Look, dumb ass." Suggs' partner, Welf, pointed at the discarded device on the table. "He's in disguise. Probably doesn't want anybody he knows to see him with us."

"I can't say I blame him." Suggs nodded. "Always was up for trying new tricks."

It was a stroke of luck. The cops thought that Razov was their illicit contact wearing a disguise. Razov rolled with it in a smooth way that told me he was either always nonplussed, a smooth and experienced criminal…or both.

Suggs sighed, and motioned toward the door.

"Would you hurry up, Kwayd? Get the merch and let's go."

Razov paused for just a second, a flat look crossing his face. The cops didn't seem to notice, but I did. From the look in Razov's eyes, he had no idea what they meant by ‘merch.'

He turned around and grabbed me by the hair while yanking a length of chain from the wall next to me. I yelped as he fastened it onto my collar and dragged me forward.

"Ready," he said.

I gasped in shock. Did he mean I was the merchandise?

Suggs looked at Razov like he was the dumbest thing in the galaxy.

"Who cares about the human toy? I said get the merchandise."

He sighed in exasperation when Razov didn't move.

"The Kandozian Nyborg? Snout Sauce? Sniffle Squeal? Pink Passion?"

"Oh, right," Razov said. "The drugs. Of course. Just a moment."

Shit. This couldn't be good.

This wasn't his apartment. It was clear Razov had no idea where the drugs were hidden.

And if he didn't find them quickly…

The cops narrowed their eyes in suspicion and I weighed my options. I could have wound up with the cops, but as an indenture, I would likely be put into a position where my former captors could get at me again.

If I stuck with the Vinduthi, however, I might stay alive long enough to figure out how to find Mera.

What we needed was a distraction. I decided to play the only card I had available to me at the moment.

I moved in front of Suggs, and bent over, putting my hands on my knees. It's a pose they taught me at the club. It emphasizes certain, ahem, attributes and the male gaze can't help but be drawn in regardless of species.

It also makes you look a bit smaller, less threatening. It puts customers off their guard and makes them open up their credit accounts for tips.

In this case, it made the cops forget about my Vinduthi ‘partner' as he went looking for the drugs.

"Won't you consider buying out my contract? He's a mean master, and his cock doesn't work. He never takes me to bed with him, at all."

"You're asking for it." I glanced over my shoulder to see Razov hard face, eyebrows raised slightly as if this was of no importance at all.

With confident strides he moved to a holoprojection of a dancing Volek woman, her moves somewhere between utterly obscene and fascinating.

"You're overestimating our pay grade." Suggs reached for me, tugging my hair. "Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this off hours. Speaking of which, Kwayd, chop chop. Speed it the fuck up."

"Here," Razov snapped, thrusting a parcel at them. "Here are your drugs."

The cop rolled his eyes. "Do I look like a delivery boy to you, Kwayd? You'll make the drop yourself, same as always."

"Right," Razov said. He grabbed my leash and jerked hard. I stumbled forward, glaring at him.

"You're bringing the slave?" Suggs asked.

"She can carry my bag."

Razov put the shoulder strap over my head, and it hit me how heavy the satchel really was. I gave him a hard glare.

"Have it your way, Kwayd. Just hurry up and let's get moving."

I fell into step behind the three aliens. The satchel was damn heavy, and every time I fell too far behind, that stupid leash jerked me.

Razov did not make it easy on me, not at all.

This might have been for show, but I'd get him for it later.

I was surprised when the cops led us out of the Under. Not that we were on the Promenade or the Metro, though. It was still definitely the ‘low rent' section of the station.

The environs were dark, cramped, and humid. Power outlets and water access were few and far between. Many of the apartments in that section shared toilet facilities with each other.

The cops led us down a narrow, meandering corridor. Naked wires stood in stark relief on the wall, some of them sparking with electrical charge. The Uune had obviously never intended anyone to set up settlements in this place, but someone had done so anyway.

We reached the end of the corridor, and then just like that we were in the Metro. I had to do a double take. I knew Thodos station featured many secret passages and little used corridors, but I had no idea the poorest and the richest sections could be so close to each other…and yet so far apart in all the ways that really mattered.

I couldn't help it. I gawked like a station newbie. I had never been to the Metro before, but I knew instantly that's where I was. Imagine a vast, deep canyon, like those cut by a river on Earth. Only the sheer walls aren't simple rock formations, but houses and shops and layer upon layer of structures, hundreds of feet high.

Circular hover cars were the only way to reach the higher levels, unless you wanted to risk the homemade rickshaw steps adhered to the walls by hope and cheap welds.

The cops took us toward one of the disc shaped vehicles. I had little recourse but to follow.

Our crooked police escort guided the car up toward the higher levels. Razov leaned forward and craned his neck to see above us and the motion made the leash jerk at my throat.

"Urk! Watch it!"

The cops looked shocked and I kicked myself.

Fortunately, the confusion on display in the men's eyes soon disappeared and they saw what they wanted to see.

"She's a foul mouthed one," Suggs snorted. "I'd discipline her, if I were you. That or gag her until she learns how to show proper respect."

"I haven't seen a human who didn't get herself in line after a spanking," his partner said.

Razov's eyes met my own. His teal tracery seemed a bit brighter than normal, but it could have been a trick of the light.

"You'd better do it," I whispered through clenched teeth. If he didn't, it would blow our cover for certain.

And I hated to admit it, but something deep in my belly grew a little warm at the thought of his strong hands on me.

Shock. It had to be shock. Too many things happening in one day.

But that was all the time I had to think about it.

My heart pounded as Razov dragged me across his lap, the tunic stretched tightly over my ass.

Anticipation and nervousness swirled within me at this new adventure into uncharted territory.

His broad hand caressed my hip for a moment, tracing slow circles, and I bit back a groan.

"You've been naughty again." His husky voice sent sparks through my body, and I nodded, too confused by my own reaction to speak.

The first slap startled me, the sharp crack of his palm on my flesh startling. A heated sting spread through my bottom, then transformed into a pulsing warmth that soaked through me.

A second and third time, until I squirmed against him, caught between pleasure and pain, the humiliation of being treated this way in front of Suggs and his partner only adding spice to the moment.

And then he stopped, and I scrambled away from him.

What the hell was I doing?

I angrily dragged myself out of his lap, forgetting in the heat of the moment to hide my anger and act subdued. I was mad as hell, but maybe I stoked the fires of my rage purposefully so I wouldn't have to examine the other effect the spanking had on me.

Part of me wanted to crawl back onto his lap for a completely different reason. I hated that part of me, but I had to acknowledge its existence.

You've got Stockholm syndrome or something, Amy. That, or some kind of weird gratitude because he saved you from the slavers. It's okay, just don't act on this feeling.

"Your slave's eyes grow small with cunning," Suggs said warily. "If I were you, Kwayd, I would keep a close watch on her."

"Yes, or you'll end up missing your cock." The pair of assholes laughed.

"Give me an hour with her, and I'll have her eating out of your hand."

Razov laughed, then turned to me, mischief dancing in his eyes. I glared back, thinking hard and knowing that he probably understood at least the gist of what I wanted to say.

Don't you fucking dare, you prick. I'm not even going to do that.

He snapped his fingers, then motioned toward me, holding his palm open face up. As the hovercar rose to the highest level at last, I was forced to keep up our cover.

That's all it was. Just pretending. Just for now.

"Please, sir," I said, dipping my mouth into his palm and kissing the warm flesh in the middle. "Feed Amelia, won't you?"

I poured it on thick, blinking my eyes prettily and acting like a total fool. The cops snickered, distracted by the display.

But Razov just kept staring at me, eyes blazing with heat.

Uh oh. What did I just start here?