Prize: A Rough Sci-Fi Romance Read online

“Don’t worry, Nina. We’ll get out of here. All of us. In one piece,” Mari said bravely. I turned my head and looked back at her, smiling back despite the feelings of helplessness coursing through me. I’d been brave for her before and now in my moment of weakness, she was being strong for me.

  The more I got to know the humans that had been exiled from Earth, the more I realized that we were different from those we had left behind. We were quoted as different, that we didn’t fit the predetermined molds that they’d determined for us. But they were wrong. We were more than just different, we were dangerous.

  “Yeah. We will,” I answered just as fiercely.

  Greyburne wouldn’t know what hit him.

  * * *

  We were left alone for a long time. Mari and the others entertained all of us with great tales of epic romances than spanned across the galaxies and across time. Despite my fear of what was to come, I could feel myself beginning to miss Vane’s quiet confidence and the way he owned a room. I missed his touch on my skin, the warmth of his arms surrounding my naked flesh and the strange things his soft words of encouragement seemed to do to my insides. He was cruel at times, his scalding palm quick to dole out punishment, but he was also kind. He’d never struck me out of anger. He’d never really caused me very real pain either and I knew that he’d never want to actually hurt me.

  I wanted to hear the sound of his voice bursting through the doorway of the dungeon. I wanted to see him again and most of all, I wanted him to hold me again. Ever since I’d been exiled from Earth, I hadn’t felt at home but now I realized that Vane had given me one. Naked and by his side.

  What I heard instead was the ominous squeal of an unoiled door hinge creaking open, announcing the entrance of someone from Greyburne’s crew coming inside. I turned my head toward the sound, seeing the scarred face of Greyburne himself striding purposely toward my cell. I struggled in my bonds even though I knew it was useless, knowing that I had to try one last time to escape before he got his hands on me.

  He’d already threatened me once with making me his, but I wasn’t his to take. I belonged to Vane and I wasn’t about to give myself to someone else.

  The rusty door to my cell screeched when he opened it with some sort of skeleton key that looked like it was several hundreds of years old.

  “When I discovered this place some time ago, I knew I’d find a use for it eventually,” Greyburne muttered as he stepped inside the cage with me. I furrowed my brow as I stared back at him. What the hell did that mean? I had assumed that he’d jetted off into space somewhere and we were on his ship, but maybe I’d been wrong.

  “Where are we?” I pressed.

  He chuckled, the expression on his face revealing how very proud of himself that he was. If anything, I’d play that overconfidence. I’d make him reveal too much and use it against him when the time was right. If I’d learned anything from getting kidnapped by two different notorious space pirates, it was that they followed no rules. They did whatever they had to do in order to get the job done, no matter what it took.

  “We never left Kraken Prime. I had my ship fly up high enough into the atmosphere to no longer be seen and we landed on the opposite side of the planet, in the middle of an old abandoned city that had been occupied several hundreds of years ago by who knows what. Right now, all of you are contained in one of the dungeons deep in the fortress meant to protect them from whatever monsters used to roam the lands of this forgotten little planet,” he answered.

  “Well, that explains the use of an actual key,” I replied haughtily. It also explained the wet smell of dirt too.

  “It’s rather a nice touch, I think. Makes me think of all the time that came before us, back when life was much simpler and no one traveled far from home,” he responded, his voice far away. Once again, he reminded me that there was a sliver of madness in his words.

  Unhinged. Insane. Completely and utterly mad.

  “What are you going to do with us?” I pressed next.

  “I think the better question would be what I’m going to do to you next and the answer to that one would be whatever I want,” he replied, and a rather sordid look came over his face. It left me feeling uneasy and left a rancid taste in the back of my mouth.

  “Don’t,” I growled, cold fury powering my courage. He had no right to take me and hold me prisoner. I’d die before I let him touch me.

  He stilled for a long moment, just staring at me. My uneasy feeling at being under his appraisal amplified and I started to panic. Bound as I was, there was no escape for me. He could have his way with me. He could torture me with the devices lashed to the walls. I couldn’t stop him even if I tried. If he wanted to rape me now, I wouldn’t have a choice but to take it.

  “You’re mine now, human,” he said finally, and a shiver raced down my spine. This time, his voice was laced with latent anger and I came to the conclusion that I would have to tread more carefully. There was no doubt in my mind that he would really hurt me if he wanted to and if I made him angry enough. He’d probably even kill me if he wanted to.

  Sure, I was angry too, but I had to be smart about it. I couldn’t just insult the bastard and work my way out of this.

  I watched silently as he reached for his belt, flipping his coat aside as he reached for what looked like a dagger. On the hilt was a jeweled design made of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. He took a step toward the side of the bed, taking a moment to study the nakedness of my body as he did so. I shivered with disgust, but the resulting grin on his face told me he took it as something else. Desire.

  He walked toward me with that knife and I stilled, but it didn’t matter. He took that heavy blade and traced the bare skin of my thigh, coming dangerously close to my pussy. I couldn’t move or fight back against him. I was left extremely vulnerable before him. All he had to do was flick his wrist just a little and he’d pierce my skin. This was dangerous and if he wasn’t careful, he’d kill me.

  He grew tired of tracing the dagger along my legs and dragged it across my torso until the sharp edge glanced against my nipples. I swallowed heavily, feeling an intense jolt of fear and adrenaline course through my body.

  Next, he continued upward and pressed the blade against my throat, staring into my eyes in a challenge I wasn’t ready to meet. Everything in his gaze demanded my submission, a firm reminder that he could end my life with just a simple twist of his wrist. He held my life in his hands, and he was making it known. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in my mind that he was capable of murder. I knew he wasn’t afraid to kill me. In fact, he’d probably even enjoy it.

  Killing me would probably make his dick fucking hard.

  I needed to figure out a way to distract him. I needed him to take the knife away from my exposed flesh. I scrambled and opened my lips, saying the first thing that came to my mind.

  “Why did you feel the need to take us? Why piss off Vane in your pursuit of money? He’s a brutal enemy to make over a profit. You might grow to regret your choice to take us. And then there’s me. You know he won’t rest until he finds me,” I pressed, trying to distract him from the fact that he was staring straight at my breasts right now. I tried not to squirm under his gaze even though a very intense feeling of disgust was rolling through me.

  He took a step back and I breathed a sigh of relief when the sharp edge of the knife pulled away from my skin.

  For a moment, he was silent and the only sound I could hear was a drop of water falling onto a stone surface on the other side of the room. Then he broke out in a raucous laughter that left me feeling even more uneasy than the whole exchange had made me already.

  “I take it Vane never mentioned me,” he began, and I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything at all. Instead, I just shook my head and pretended to be interested in what he had to say.

  “Vane wasn’t always a thug that soared across the stars stealing and selling cargo for his own profit. Once he served as a commander in the Intergalactic Brigade,” Greyburne began.
I’d heard of the brigade before. It was a coalition that spanned across several different plants within a number of various galaxies, a sort of alliance that functioned to keep the peace. They worked together to defend their people against anyone that may rise against them.

  “Didn’t know that, did you? Didn’t know your rough and dirty pirate was once a soldier boy, huh,” Greyburne pressed, his voice highly amused.

  “I didn’t,” I answered. I tried to keep any semblance of emotion from my words, but I couldn’t hide my curiosity.

  “Yes, he was once a high commander in the brigade. He was responsible for a number of ships that served in his quadrant and he wore that honor with pride, no matter how many planets he had to crush under the order of those above him,” he sneered.

  I could see a certain tenseness brewing underneath his skin. It felt like he would strike out at any moment and I waited anxiously, trying my best to lie there unassuming and nonthreatening as he continued to speak. I felt like I was within reach of a snake ready to bite at a moment’s notice should I make the wrong move.

  “A long time ago, he was given the order to attack a planet that went by the name of Myakka. According to the intel he received, the people of Myakka were amassing weapons of dark matter from all over the galaxy. It also suggested that they intended to attack the reigning members of the Brigade. The powers that be gave him instructions to follow and Vane arrived on the planet of Myakka intending to carry out those orders without delay,” he continued.

  “What happened next?” I pressed, now more interested than ever. Plus, Greyburne had turned away and was staring down the hall, which meant he was no longer staring at my nakedness. With that came a measure of relief.

  “When he landed on the surface though, he found something much different than reported. He found families suffering under starvation, too poor to afford the rising prices of bread and sustenance at the local market. He found a dictator that demanded tribute from his people far too often. He found a very rich class of the elite that ruled over the poor with an iron fist. There was nothing that spoke to the allegations against the people of Myakka, but he had orders to carry out and he was expected to do as he was bidden, so he did because he had to,” he said, an angry faraway look overtaking his features.

  “Did he kill everyone?” I asked, trying to keep my alarm at bay.

  “No. At least, he tried not to but sometimes things get out of hand when you enter into battle, don’t they? You can never really fully prepare for war,” he continued.

  “I would imagine,” I answered carefully.

  “The dictator wasn’t amassing weapons of dark matter. Instead, he’d been collecting something else, something designed to relieve him of the duty of looking after the poorest of the poor. He had come by an aerosolized virus that he’d been gathering over the years with the intention of using to its fullest potential once he deemed a portion of his populace no longer useful. He had it stored in the lower halls of his fortified castle.”

  “What does that have to do with Vane?” I pressed.

  “Vane attacked the castle and the surrounding area where the elite lived. He didn’t want to kill those that were suffering, but he didn’t count on the lower class rising up to protect the elite. He hadn’t known their fear. He hadn’t spent the time to realize that if they didn’t protect their ruling class, that they’d be as good as dead. They were left with no option but to fight. So, the men of the brigade were attacked by both the rich and the poor. They killed in mass and when the tides of war shifted in either direction, they acted. At one particularly concerning turn, Vane and his squadron turned their focus onto the castle, intending on taking out the dictator once and for all. Cutting the head off the snake, as it were.”

  I bit my lip. I had a bad feeling of where this story was heading, and I suddenly didn’t want to hear how it ended. Greyburne took a deep breath and he continued anyway, completely ignorant of my abrupt edginess.

  “Gunfire turned on the castle and the dictator finally got scared. He reacted. He released the entire horde of virus he had gathered and the high winds that day carried the dangerous little particles across the battlefields and into the sector where the poor lived. This virus was engineered to act quickly, to decimate a person’s immune system in minutes, leaving them in excruciating pain. In the end stages of the disease, they’d start bleeding from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Touching them would infect another. Breathing the air near them would spread the sickness. It was a biological weapon of war and one that was extremely effective,” he continued.

  “But Vane is still alive,” I answered, furrowing my brow. “He should be dead if what you’re telling me is true.”

  “Yes. He is, isn’t he? You see, the virus was developed many years before that battle and as such, a vaccine had been developed. The entire brigade had been inoculated against that virus and the dictator hadn’t known that. Every single person that rose to defend the rulers of Myakka that day died because they’d never received the vaccine and it didn’t stop there. The disease continued to spread, even as the battle was over in the days following that terrible massacre,” Greyburne said, his voice hinting at a sliver of sadness hidden far beneath his rough, scarred exterior.

  “What does that have to do with you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. I had the sudden suspicion that there was something more he had yet to tell me, something that would make him hold a grudge against Vane that originated on Myakka, many years ago.

  “You see, Myakka was once my home until the Red Sickness wiped out everyone that I ever held dear. My parents fought in that battle and died standing outside that very castle. My brothers died several days later and nothing I did could save them. My sisters bled out in their beds beside me, their cries of agony horrific as they succumbed to the virus that was set free because Vane had just blindly followed orders instead of thinking for himself,” he sneered.

  “But you’re still alive,” I pressed.

  “For some reason unknown to me, I survived. The virus didn’t affect me even though I touched the afflicted, even though I breathed the same air that they did. I was immune and I have no idea why. Weeks passed and the virus tore through the surrounding villages, long after Vane killed the dictator and completed his mission. He left, but the effects of what he had done were felt long after. Come to find out, the intel he’d gotten in the first place hadn’t even been true, but a rumor started by an enemy race that was interested in Myakka for the precious stone that formed far beneath the surface.” He paused and turned back to me.

  His eyes were dark, dangerous, and I felt incredibly unsafe, naked and bound to the bed before him. I wondered if he would hurt me or even kill me to get back at Vane for what had happened to him and his family.

  “Because of Vane, I lost everyone in my family. Because of him, I was forced to hunt and fend for myself. I saved every penny that I could get my hands on and bought myself passage off that disease-ravaged planet at the first chance I got. No one ever handed me anything. I had to work for every morsel of food on my plate and I’ve done it all to find Vane and ruin him. And now I have you in my clutches. His mate,” he grinned cruelly.

  I regretted my words immensely now. I wished that I never told him who I was because now he was going to use me to get back at Vane, the man I was just beginning to open my heart to. I missed him right now more than ever and I wished that he was here to rip the head off Greyburne’s massive body. I’d revel in watching him pop it like a fucking balloon.

  “How would it make Vane feel to know that I have had you, that I put my hands on your naked body and took you for myself? If I took my knife and cut that perfect human skin? If I scarred your pretty little face so that it looks like mine? Would he still want you then? Would he choose another instead of you?” he questioned, his voice rising as he lost himself in the fantasy of my horrific destruction.

  He was quickly falling into whatever madness tore at his senses. It was very clear now that there wasn’t someth
ing quite right with him. Maybe the virus that had destroyed Myakka had eaten away his brain. Maybe he’d been mad for a very long time. He stared at me with deranged excitement and I knew I had to do something before he decided to really hurt me. Before he slit my throat with the knife still dangling in his fingers.

  “He’d be angry at you, sure, but there’s something else that would hurt him far worse than any of that would,” I began, quickly forming a plan in my mind. I needed to devise a way to get my arms and legs free from the leather restraints and I could think of only one way to do that. I needed him not to kill or maim me. I needed to get out of this alive.

  “What would that be, human?” Greyburne asked, his eyebrow lifting with blatant curiosity. He grinned and the expression on his face left me feeling cold and anxious.

  “Any time Vane had wanted to fuck me, I’ve fought him,” I started.

  “And?” he pressed, impatience showing on his features.

  “If I chose you over him and offered myself to you willingly, he’d be pissed off at both of us. It would hurt him deeply if I took you as my mate, instead of him. He stole your family away from him, why don’t you take his woman as utterly and completely as you can in retaliation,” I explained, dragging my own eyes up and down his body.

  I pretended like I was interested in him because my life depended on it.

  “I like the way you think, human,” he answered, his grin growing to sickeningly wide proportions. He was buying it.

  Good.

  He placed a knee on the side of the bed and reached for me, dragging his thumb over my nipple and I was very careful not to reveal the rampant revulsion racing through me at his unwanted touch.

  “Release my legs. Let me wrap my legs around you,” I taunted, rolling my hips just a hair in order to tease him.

  A hungry look passed over his eyes.

  “I had planned to fuck your human cunt whether you wanted it or not, but your plan has merit. Knowing that Vane will find out that his mate practically threw herself on my dick, however, is far more tempting of a proposal,” he answered. He took a moment to place the jeweled dagger he’d been gripping like his life had depending on it by my waist, before he reached for the leather restraints that held me captive.