Shattered Stars Read online

  Hannah wants nothing more than to pay off her bond and live free, but her patron has other ideas and centuries to keep her. Body and soul.

  After a planet-killing asteroid, humanity has to huddle under shelters and live in the dimmest of places. A year of brutal survival and the breakdown of society leave Hannah less than hopeful of her prospects in the new world.

  A message in the darkness offers a lifeline to those who wish to leave Earth to be bonded servants to alien masters. For most, the price of their bond will be labour, but for Hannah, it turns into something else.

  With a stunningly high sensuality rating, she is a prime sexual bondservant and the bidding for her services ends with an amount that breaks records.

  Her patron is a male with wings who belongs to a species that does more than need sex; they consume it.

  Mero only needs to look at her, and he is hungrier than he has ever been.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2016 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-987969-17-7

  ©Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com

  Smashwords Edition

  Shattered Stars

  By

  Viola Grace

  Prologue

  They had called it a world killer, and they hadn’t been wrong.

  Hannah sat with her community around a fire and listened to the broadcast in the silence only broken with the crackle of the wood.

  “In the wake of the international disaster, humanity has been struggling to survive. Now, today, there is a new hope for a few.”

  Hannah looked around at those who had managed to get to the outpost that used to be a small town. The community hall was the best place to gather. It had the largest food stores for a hundred kilometres and was definitely a haven for those who still stumbled in from the cold.

  “Aliens have landed. That is right. Aliens. After our year of night, they have come and offered a portion of our population a home in the stars. Yes, I understand that it sounds unusual, but if you are willing to try, to take the burden off other survivors by removing yourself from the food chain, contact your local com officer and ask them to find the local meeting site. We understand that you don’t want to endanger your communities, but if you want to make the food go further, those of you who are able-bodied should apply now.”

  The nightly broadcast stopped as soon as it had started. The roar of conversation took over, but Hannah wasn’t having any of it.

  She looked to the far side of the fire where her mother and sisters were huddled next to the man who had taken them under his protection.

  One year of darkness had been all it took to unravel years of struggle to prove women’s equality. When it came to the bulk labour necessary to power the generators for heat and water, a man was needed.

  She got to her feet and walked over to the com officer who was standing near the exit. “Taylor.”

  “Yes, Hannah?”

  “Where do I need to go?” She looked him in the eye, and he sighed.

  “Damn, I thought we had something.” He stroked her cheek.

  She cocked her head and stared at him, not showing the disgust she felt, not showing anything at all.

  He shifted nervously and muttered coordinates.

  “Can I get rations for the journey?”

  “Yes, two days’ worth has been authorized.”

  “Good. Hand them over. I may as well leave now.”

  He frowned. “You will get it when you leave the settlement.”

  “Fine. Meet me out front in half an hour.”

  “There may be others.”

  She looked back at those who were muttering and discussing their lives and the likelihood of any chance of aliens. “Right. I am sure they are getting right on it.”

  She left him and headed to her quarters, grabbing the cold-weather gear that she would need to make it to the pick-up point. She put the clothing on and attached the straps she would need to carry the supplies inside the coat.

  When she was ready, she headed out to the outer gateway, through the maze of tunnels that connected all of the homes in the small, nameless town. She wouldn’t miss the stink of humanity jammed together. There were probably new stenches in her future.

  Taylor was at the gate as promised, but he didn’t have two days’ worth of rations. He only had one.

  “Where is the other one?”

  He shrugged and grinned smugly at her. “You are such a little thing that I am sure you can manage to live on the one ration pack for two days. You had better hit the target right on, though. You don’t have room for error.”

  She didn’t argue. “Where am I going?”

  He repeated the coordinates twice before she nodded in satisfaction.

  “One more thing.” She made a fist and punched him in the balls. When he was down, she kicked him in the face and felt his nose crunch.

  He spit blood and stared at her as he groaned.

  “If I hadn’t been half dead when you raped me, I would have killed you then. Now, you are just going to have to explain how a little girl beat your ass. By the way, we have witnesses. Explain it to them.” She wasn’t keeping her voice down.

  With a few sharp tugs on her clothing, she put the rations away. One final glance at what was left of the world she had known and she stepped out into the blowing wind and acidic sleet. Two days were all she could survive, but if she could make it through those two days, she had a chance.

  Chapter One

  Bondservant classes were nearly over. There was only one test left to be administered, and then, they would be sorted as to their likely occupation.

  Hannah had been imprinted with five languages and the household etiquette of twelve races. Her hair was clean and braided. The smock that she wore was for training only, but she was clean, fed and had survived the first three months off Earth without difficulty.

  Two of her living-pod mates had gone insane and had simply disappeared. Keeping her mind on her goal was the only way to move forward.

  “Hannah! Answer the question.” Her instructor was a hot lavender, and he had spines running down his arms.

  “I am sorry, instructor. I was distracted.”

  He nodded and made a note on what had to be her file. “What is the correct way to greet a Hmrain?”

  “Instructor, you do not greet a Hmrain; you allow them to acknowledge you or not. If they acknowledge you, you need to drop to the ground or avert your gaze if the first is not possible. If they do not acknowledge you, you do not acknowledge them. You simply step aside and allow them to enter your master’s or mistress’s home.”

  He frowned and nodded. “Correct. The final test for all of you is today, and tomorrow is the bond auction. Many representatives have come here to take one of the new species home with them. You are collectors’ items.”

  He lifted his head. “This is a reminder, ladies. Your bond price is determined by the profit over your training price. The base price for you is the cost of your education and upkeep. The more medical intervention you required, the higher your base price. You want a patron who will pay over the base price but not too much. The price they pay is what must be paid back to them in labour.”

  He went back and gave them the same speech he had when they had begun classes. “There are three major classes of bonds
ervants. The labourers, the domestics and the intimate servants. The labourers are the least expensive and soon gain their freedom. The domestics have an easier life, but they take slightly longer as they have more education. The intimate servants are not chosen by their education but by their sensuality level and their ability to attract their patron. They have the highest daily rate, but they also cost more than the other two classes of bondservant.”

  Hannah looked at some of the other women in her class, and she pressed the query button on her desk.

  “Yes, Hannah?”

  “What is a sensuality level?”

  “That is what we are testing today. Ladies, to your feet and follow the guards down the hall to the med centre. It has been arranged for your test today.”

  They got up as they had been trained to do and filed out row by row.

  She wasn’t next to any of the ladies of her sleeping pod, so she kept to herself. Tomorrow, they were going to be shattered and spread across the stars. Friendships could only start when they got where they were going.

  The guards were female and of the same spiked species as their instructor. They also didn’t enjoy small talk. Brrenal was not one of the languages that Hannah had been able to learn. It was not one that was available for flash loading. Hannah guessed that the Brrenal wanted to keep their secrets.

  The tang of medical reminded Hannah of getting her shots as a child. She felt the same kind of fear here.

  They were split up as they entered medical. Each one of them was given an attendant, and each attendant led them further and further into the sterile environment.

  Hannah followed the slender male with cream-yellow skin, and when he entered a cubicle, she followed him. Her mind chanted, Everything has a price.

  To her amused surprise, the cubicle was only had a reclining couch and a small chair next to it.

  Her attendant helped her settle in the chair, and when she was comfortable, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Relax, miss. Close your eyes and relax.”

  She jerked as she felt a prickle against her skin everywhere that they were in contact.

  There was something on his fingers. Something that pressed into her skin.

  Her eyes opened wide, and she stared into his swirling silver gaze. Her body fell away, and she was left in a place where her senses were all that mattered.

  She was panting, shivering and covered in a fine coating of sweat. Hannah’s senses focused, and her attendant was pressing his lips to her wrist, licking gently.

  She felt the slick cream between her thighs, and her blush fired up. She remembered heat, passion and the tiny bit of pain that brought it all together. It was the memory of the pain that sent her blood to her face.

  “I have your score, miss. It has been a pleasure.” He helped her to her feet.

  She followed him, her head down and the slick slide of her thighs betraying that something had actually happened. It hadn’t been her imagination.

  Her attendant spoke to the instructor, and Hannah was the focus of intense scrutiny.

  “Hannah, you are being rehoused.”

  Hannah looked at him, but he was motioning to one of the guards. She was hauled away before she had the chance to see if any of the other women were being treated the same way.

  The guard had a grip on her left wrist, and she walked Hanna away from the training centre toward the centre of the station. The light slippers that went with the smock let her record every sensation under her feet and the change in the rough decking to the smoother metalwork of the guest area.

  Asking where they were going wasn’t going to do any good, so she absorbed the details of where the guard was taking her.

  The arrivals’ hall was on her left, and it had a large number of beings milling around in it. A few looked at her with curiosity, but she quickly lowered her gaze. Don’t stare was one of the primary lessons.

  She was so busy not staring that she didn’t notice when a shadow crossed in front of her. The guard noticed. She jerked to a halt.

  Hannah looked down at large, booted feet that led up to snug black trousers and a floor-length, open vest hung from his shoulders.

  She didn’t look at his face. His collarbone was as far up as she was able to see comfortably.

  “What are you leading, guardswoman?” The low rumble was in Heniahk.

  “A bondservant is being sent for grooming, sir.”

  “She is for the purchasing fare tomorrow?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Hannah held still as he circled her before coming to a halt in front of her.

  “Is she in heat?”

  “No, sir. She just completed her sensuality assessment.”

  She could hear him breathing deeply.

  “What was her score?”

  “That is for the sellers to disclose, sir.”

  The dark chuckle ran through the open area, and several of the closest folk must have taken one look at what was detaining them and scuttled away. She could see their feet walking, pausing and then moving quickly away.

  The skin of his belly was blue, and there were a few markings peeping from the richly embroidered vest. Whatever he was, he was scaring the hell out of her guard. The hand on her wrist was icy.

  “You are dismissed, guardswoman. And you, miss, I will see you tomorrow.”

  She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  He chuckled and turned, his vest swirling wide. That is when she noticed what appeared to be the lower portion of huge wings.

  Hmrain. How had the instructor known that there would be one at the bond auction?

  Hannah tried to relax as she was massaged and her skin oiled. Her hair was already in a lovely twist with long ringlets hanging down.

  No one was speaking to her, but when her shift was replaced with a long gown, she took the hint. Her stupid reaction to the test had upgraded her status to sexual servant.

  The dress slid up her body, and a wide, jewelled belt placed around her waist. The shoulders had gauzy scarves floating when she moved her arms, and the slippers she was wearing on her feet were better quality than those she had come to the groomer’s with.

  The soft-pink dress was pretty and the same colour as her student smock. That was where the similarity ended.

  If she took a deep breath, her nipples prodded the fabric in an obvious way, and the chiffon-like stuff threatened to slide away and expose the difference in her skin completely. It was a dress to move very carefully in.

  When she was ready, they had her sit in a waiting room with two other nervous human women and one nervous male.

  None of them spoke.

  The display showed the progression of the bond auction, and the classes of bondservants were sold to their patrons.

  A dark-red woman of Ymilian extraction came to them and smiled. “Please come with me.”

  The man jumped to his feet and followed the woman. Hannah and the others followed more carefully; their gowns fluttered and flowed as they walked.

  When they arrived at the auction, they were brought into a staging area and arranged in some order that only the organizers were aware of.

  She inhaled and folded her hands, not thrilled at being left for last.

  There was no display or monitor to tell them what was going on. When the woman appeared and gestured for the man to come with her, he followed without hesitation.

  One of the women smiled, “Either she is his instructor or he is exceptionally eager to please.”

  They giggled softly, and just when they thought they had been forgotten about, the Ymilian came for the first of the women.

  Hannah wanted to pace, but she stood straight and waited. It was the hardest thing she had ever done.

  When the next woman was taken, Hannah fought nausea. She was next. It might take an hour, but she was next.

  She stumbled slightly as her handlers eased her onto the stage. With the lighting system, they could see her, but she couldn’t see them.

  Hannah looked at the spot she
had been directed to focus on and definitely didn’t think about the fact that the lighting was rendering her clothing invisible.

  “Patrons, please observe the intelligence and grace of this female. She has an aptitude for language and can be flash-taught anything you wish. Her manual dexterity is also of the highest sensitivity, as are her mastery of etiquette and the running of a home.” The woman’s low tones rippled out over the crowd.

  “Now, for the moment you have been wondering about. Hannah’s sensuality scores are near three hundred.”

  There was a murmur that ran through the crowd, and she blushed.

  “Impossible. The others of her kind were nowhere near that.”

  Hannah stood silently as a wave of comments regarding that impossibility went through the crowd.

  “In anticipation of such comments, I have arranged a demonstration.”

  Her attendant from the previous day stepped onto the stage, and he smiled at her. “Breathe, relax and focus.”

  He took her wrist again, and her world dissolved into a mass of writhing, panting heat.

  It was only a minute, but when he released her, he licked her wrist as he had the day before. She was shivering and still panting when he stepped away from her.

  Polite applause broke out.

  “Honoured patrons, the bidding is open.”

  Numbers started flashing across the screen, and Hannah really wanted to run. The time to labour-value calculation for a sexual bondservant was fifty thousand credits to a year. The bidding was climbing up to three million.

  The board suddenly went black. The Ymilian woman spoke suddenly. “No further bids are accepted. Thank you all for coming to the first human bond auction. I wish you satisfaction with the service you have purchased from this exciting, new species.”