Shattered Stars Read online

  Hannah was asking Ryno about his life before the ship, and she was leaning forward to listen. She might not have noticed that Ryno had switched languages three times, but she was laughing along and commenting, so she obviously understood more than was in her file. It was definitely something for him to keep in mind.

  As she laughed, her hair slid back and exposed the smooth curve of her neck. There was a small red scratch on her skin, and he was reminded of the attack on her earlier that day. She had stated that she wasn’t injured, but he now suspected that it wasn’t the case.

  He turned to Grem-sah. “Thank you for the dinner and the conversation.”

  He got to his feet, and Hannah’s head snapped toward him. She turned and smiled slightly at Ryno in farewell then got to her feet.

  He gathered her under his wing and walked her back to their quarters. He was going to examine every inch of her.

  Chapter Five

  There was a weird tension in him, so Hannah kept her comments to herself while they walked back to his quarters. Well, their quarters. Finding another place to sleep hadn’t been an option.

  When they were inside his quarters, he guided her to the centre of the room. “Remove your dress.”

  She paused, and then, her shoulders drooped. She had almost forgotten why she was with him.

  Hannah undid the laces in the centre of the bodice, and when she was confident she could get it up and over her head, she did.

  He stood in front of her, and his metallic eyes were furious. “You said you weren’t injured.”

  He eased her hair aside and looked at her neck.

  “It doesn’t hurt.” She shivered as he stroked the scratches left behind by the guy in the oxygen farm.

  He touched them, and she flinched.

  “They do not hurt?”

  “Fine, they hurt a little.”

  Mero lowered his head to her neck, and he licked the long stripes that he found on her skin.

  She shivered as heat replaced the prickles of pain as he continued to lick her. He lapped at her neck like he was cleaning her. Her toes curled at the interest that was flaring up at the stroke of his tongue.

  He whispered against her neck. “Did he hurt you anywhere else?”

  “He clawed at my thigh trying to get the skirt up.”

  Mero gripped her by the waist and carried her to the bed. He laid her back, and to her shock, he knelt on the floor and pried her legs apart.

  His hiss was deep. “He tore your skin.”

  “I thought as much.”

  “We are going to discuss this later. Your body is not your property while I own your bond.”

  He bent his head, and his tongue lashed out again, starting an inch above the knee and working upward.

  Whatever was in his saliva was helping with the burning pain of the scratches, so she didn’t complain.

  His tongue had the same twisting pattern as his cock, and she shivered as the wet, slick appendage moved closer to her sex.

  She held her breath while he covered each scrape and gouge in detail. She was aroused and panting when he lifted his head. She boosted herself up on her elbows and met his golden gaze.

  He licked his lips and smiled. “Would you like me to continue?”

  “Yes.”

  He sighed. “I would as well, but I would like to discuss the terms of your service in a little more detail. Mainly, your responsibilities.”

  She scooted into a better sitting position, but he remained on his knees. They were still face to face.

  “In your duties, you must be clean, well groomed and dressed appropriately for the events.”

  Hannah nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “In addition to that, you must continue to stimulate your mind and exercise your body. Stagnation causes dissatisfaction.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “If you suffer an injury, no matter how slight, you are to notify me immediately.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He gripped her thighs and held on. “I am going to reiterate because I don’t think you understand. I purchased the use of your body until the end of your bond. I cannot have my property being damaged. If I need to assign a guard to accompany you everywhere, I will.”

  “Yes, sir. Sir?”

  “Yes?” He raised his brows slightly.

  “What forms of exercise are acceptable?”

  He blinked. “Walking, swimming. That sort of thing. Why?”

  “I would like to be trained to defend myself, but the act of learning to fight would injure me, so it would contravene your orders.”

  Mero chuckled. “That it would. I will ask Grem-sah for a crewmember that you can fight with, providing that medical assist you with the bruising. “

  “You will?”

  He smiled. “It is a reasonable request. I can also provide you with non-projectile weaponry if you like. Training for that can be arranged as well.”

  “Like knives?”

  “Yes.” He got to his feet and walked over to the lounge area. He touched the surface of a table, and a small screen popped up.

  When the captain’s face appeared, Mero spoke rapidly in the language that he and the captain had spoken in during dinner.

  The entire exchange took less than three minutes. Hannah pulled her legs up with her feet to one side and leaned on one arm as she waited.

  She bit her lip before it was over and asked, “Sir?”

  “Yes, Hannah?”

  “Can the instructor be larger than I am and male? I have never been attacked by a female of my own size.”

  Mero blinked and turned back to the screen where the captain was smiling. “Is that possible?”

  “Yes. I will just have to adjust my selections. I will contact you tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Grem-sah.”

  Mero shut down the screen.

  He got to his feet and looked at her. “You are truly a lovely creature.”

  “I am the only one of my kind you have gotten close to. Of course I look exotic.”

  Mero walked over with long strides. “Do not contradict the compliment. I don’t make them often.”

  She blushed. “The only thing I am is taller than the average human female or even the males.”

  “So, when you spoke of being overpowered...” he waited for her response.

  “It was an administrator at the settlement my family and I went to. I was near starving, and he offered extra rations if I had sex with him. I said no, so he took what he was after and left me in the cold hall, bruised and bloody.”

  “Was he punished?”

  “No. He had a skill set that was not duplicated in the settlement, so I was advised to forget what had happened.”

  “Did you?”

  She shrugged. “Mostly. When I left, I gave him something to remember me by. A punch to the groin and a kick to the face.”

  He chuckled. “It seems you have defense handled.”

  “I didn’t know I was allowed to, and the guy in the oxygen factory was way larger than Taylor. Don’t pick a fight you can’t win.”

  “You are no longer on the education station. You are allowed to defend yourself. In defending yourself, you are defending my investment and that goes for any male or female of any species, even my own.”

  She blinked. That was news. “Very well.”

  He cleared his throat. “Just to make sure, know that I am the sole exception to that rule.”

  She laughed. “Exception understood.”

  She waited a moment and then asked him, “Sir?”

  “Yes, Hannah?”

  “How did you heal my leg?”

  “Regenerative properties. My body contains radiation with regenerative properties. It stimulated your cells into repair and replacement.”

  She shivered at the look he was giving to the juncture of her thighs.

  His tone shifted. “Stand up.”

  She moved to get off the bed, but he stopped her.

  “Stand up on the bed.”


  She stood on the yielding surface but had to widen her stance for balance.

  Mero extended his left wing, and it stroked the wall. A moment later, a panel came out, and one of the struts moved like a finger to enter a code.

  A set of loops descended from the ceiling.

  “Put your hands through the loops.”

  She reached up and settled the soft loops around her wrists. Hannah guessed at what was going to happen next, and when he lifted her legs and draped them over his shoulders, she gave herself a mental prize.

  His wings were silky and smooth with the resilience of thick leather. She rubbed the soles of her feet on his back while his proximity to her sex became unbearable.

  His breathing was soft against her skin, and when he was still a few inches away, he extended his tongue. Her body resisted him for a moment before he slid inside. A few slow strokes and then he leaned forward to devour her.

  She tensed and pulled herself up while trying to get away. The twisting tongue and pressure of his teeth spun her to a climax that had her clenching her thighs around his head and feeling the outline of his ears.

  She screamed and pulled on the straps, but he cupped her ass in both hands and held her to his mouth as he fed. He didn’t let her breathe. She was rocketed from one orgasm to the next, and still, he licked, sucked and twisted his exceptionally long tongue inside her.

  Her arms ached when Mero stopped. He lifted her away from the straps, prying her hands open. Her legs were still around his neck when he laid her on the sheets.

  He smiled and stroked her thighs. “You taste better than honey.”

  She blushed and focused on relaxing her legs. She had been locked by her body’s reaction to release, and it was taking a lot of effort to get herself back to normal.

  Hannah finally relaxed enough to unlock her ankles, and from there, she was able to move her legs off his shoulders.

  “Pity; I was rather enjoying the view.”

  He looked her over and frowned. “How easily do you bruise?”

  She blinked. “Normal for a human. I think that is just a bit of an abrasion from... well you know.”

  He took her right arm and pulled it over her breasts, looking at the red bands around her wrists.

  “We will simply have to do something else.” He laughed.

  “Sir?”

  “I thought you were to call me Mero.”

  “You seemed irritated before, so sir is more appropriate.” She twitched her lips.

  “What do you wish to know?”

  “What are you consuming?”

  “It is a combination of brainwaves and pheromones. I have a gland that processed the pheromones and a segment of my central cortex takes the brainwaves. It is transferred from the waves into radiation. Nothing is wasted.”

  “So, when you said you could consume pain, you would consume those same events and use them.”

  “Yes, but pain is fleeting. The body forgets pain as quickly as it can. There is no lingering effect. Having you with me is the equivalent of having a banquet when I touch your body and a snack when you are simply walking with me.”

  “The absorption is increased by proximity.”

  He smiled slowly. “Indeed. You are quite clever, Hannah.”

  He stripped out of his boots and trousers before returning his attention to her. It was hard to take the compliment when he was moving to cover her.

  “Proximity is definitely beneficial.” He nudged his cock between her folds and slid into her.

  She was shocked at how easily he went in when it had been such a struggle for her, but he was working with a lot more help from her body. He simply lowered his torso to hers and didn’t move an inch.

  She was pinned under him, and her inner muscles began clasping and releasing him. The rhythm that she took up grew faster and faster until an agonizing spasm ripped through her, and she fainted.

  Hannah woke in the shower as Mero held her up and cleansed her inner thighs. She spluttered and coughed, standing up under her own power with a tremendous ache between her thighs.

  “If you are awake, it is time for the sleep period. I have work to do, but you can rest.”

  He stroked her hair, telling her without words that their separation was not anything that she had done.

  She breathed easier and finished her shower, wrapping herself in a drying cloth before she towelled her hair dry. He wasn’t wrong. She was exhausted. The tension of the last few days combined with the sex had turned her normal, boring schedule upside-down. Her nerves were all jumbled.

  She put the drying cloths in the receptacle and returned to the bedroom.

  Mero was sitting in the lounge area, making notes and reading reports.

  Hannah accepted that she was probably a disruption to his schedule, and she crawled into bed, leaving his preferred spot open.

  She thought about what she had learned, and her mind turned it over and over until it made sense. She was gaining an understanding of the Hmrain. She just hadn’t counted on it being such a painful process.

  Chapter Six

  Mero was out of bed when Hannah woke up. It was only the dented pillow that showed her he had been there at all.

  The clothing at the foot of the bed was a bodysuit of a sort. It looked like spandex met a spider web in a rich blue.

  It took her five minutes to get it on properly, and Mero watched her the entire time.

  “If I have to get out of here in a hurry, we are screwed.” The blunt words came out of her mouth before she realized that they were disrespectful.

  “Why are you wincing?”

  “I am preparing to be ordered into a position to be whipped.” She opened her eyes.

  “I will not whip you. Come here.” He put his screens aside and beckoned her close.

  She walked to him and stood in front of him, her hands folded at her waist.

  He reached out and moved his fingers until she stepped into the vee of his legs. “Straddle my thigh.”

  She swung her right leg over his left and did as he asked.

  “Sit.”

  She sat.

  “Now, touch me as you rock yourself to completion.”

  Hannah blinked and placed her hand over the thick erection in his trousers. She rubbed him while she rocked her hips against his thigh, and in a few minutes, her tension snapped and she bucked against him with low moans marking each inner spasm.

  When the intensity of the inner flutters eased, she sighed and relaxed.

  “Good, Hannah. Now, your instructor is waiting outside, and he will take you to the entertainment complex where you will train. You have your charm?”

  She held up her wrist with the small stone.

  “Excellent. I will be involved in trade matters for the morning, but I have ordered you to have a massage here in our quarters after every fight session. We cannot have you tensing up at the wrong moment.”

  She licked her lips. “Shall I go then?”

  “Yes. I will see you for lunch.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She got off his lap and wobbled her way to the door. When she opened it, the guards were there, and across the hall, there was a Pliok with rich purple skin.

  He did not look impressed. “So, you are to be my student?”

  “I am.”

  “This is going to be quick. Come with me.”

  She walked with him through the halls and to the entertainment complex. The gym was a large space with plenty of sparring areas.

  When they faced off against one another, he asked, “What do you do when you are attacked?”

  “If I can, I run. If I can’t, I fight to disable.”

  He looked surprised. “Why is Lord Mero wanting you trained?”

  “I am at most risk from my own people. Intimate bondservants are not looked upon with respect.”

  “So, there has already been an attack.”

  “Yes. The man thought that since my body was paid for, he could take what he wanted. I have not been
out of my society long, so I was unsure how to respond.”

  “Ah, so that was the fuss that Lord Mero attended.”

  She nodded. “So, I would like to know what to do when I am attacked, step by step, please.”

  He nodded, rushed at her and caught her in his embrace. She pulled up her knee, elbowed him in the throat and bit at the arm he wrapped around her neck.

  One of her techniques made him drop her, and with the baseline drawn, the training began in earnest.

  Pressure points were discussed and pursued. She learned that no species liked getting its eyes gouged and the biting was definitely a plus.

  The hours flew by, but soon, her instructor was calling a halt and leading her back to her quarters. A young woman in a domestic shift was there, as was a wide table suitable for the massage.

  The young woman was human. This was not going to be fun.

  “Hello, I am Hannah.”

  “I am Lisa. I will be working on you today.”

  Hannah nodded. “Would you like me to undress here or in the bathroom?”

  “Wherever you are most comfortable, miss.”

  Hannah nodded. “I will be right back.”

  Inside the bathing room, she pried the suit off her body, and it fought her every inch of the way. When she had finally got her stiffening muscles to cooperate, she shoved the suit to the floor.

  She wrapped a drying cloth around her and returned to the main living area.

  The massage went fairly well for the first half until Lisa got to her bracelet. That seemed to trigger something in her.

  “These quarters are very large for just you.” The accusation was obvious, but she backed it up by saying, “We are all crammed into bunk rooms with eight people per room.”

  Hannah sighed as her relaxation went out the window. “These aren’t my quarters. I don’t have quarters. These are Lord Mero’s quarters.”

  Lisa paused. “Then, what are you doing here?”

  “I am his intimate bondservant. You know that last test that they give us?”

  Lisa made a sound of agreement. “Yes.”