Bonded
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Loose Id Titles by Jaymi Hanako
Jaymi Hanako
BONDED
Jaymi Hanako
www.loose-id.com
Bonded
Copyright © July 2014 by Jaymi Hanako
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eISBN 9781623003722
Editor: Heather Hollis
Cover Artist: Victoria Miller
Published in the United States of America
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This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Chapter One
The spicy musk in the air of the Lorus system intensified during this moon of the year and intoxicated all but the most hardened with thoughts of sex. The annual Festival of Fertility took place during this time, seducing many off-worlders into visiting the obscure planet.
Captain Jaren Caradoc wasn’t here for pleasure. He intended this trip to be quick, and he meant it to be his last, though it would cut off a profitable portion of his shipping business. He tucked the thick bundle of printed parchment, sealed with the judge’s wax mark, into his coat. “Can’t believe I needed to come in person to acquire this. It’s ridiculous.”
“Those papers are your freedom, Captain. Isn’t that worth a little inconvenience?”
He ignored the lawyer—the man had represented his ex-wife in the proceedings—and signaled across the street to his first mate.
Dev Geithin filled the doorway of the tavern. His giant stature made him ineligible for Alliance military service; no standard uniforms fit him. Fortunately, the military’s loss was Jaren’s gain. There was no better man, from any system, to have at his back in battle.
Jaren nearly laughed aloud. There were no battles now; the wars were over. Only the occasional pirate raids to worry about. Yet he remained on edge.
He touched the papers in his coat once more. This fight was done too. Or so he wanted to believe.
“You look like you need a drink, Captain. Strange. Thought you’d be celebrating instead.” Dev shrugged his massive shoulders. “Glad you got your business done. Crew’s getting restless since you confined them to the ship. Lots of talk about wanting to participate in the festival.”
“That’s the last thing we need.”
“I know, I know. You wanted to make this as short a trip as possible. Can’t do that if your men spend the next three days getting laid.” His friend gave him a significant look. “Could always let them learn from your experiences. Tell them how dangerous the women from this system can be.”
“Right. And never command their respect again.” The last crew had to be scrapped because they saw him as a fool, thanks to his ex-wife.
Not that he blamed them. He had played the fool, and it nearly cost him his ship and his life. He’d met “Lady” Ethlinda, bedded her, and married her, all in one night. Didn’t realize she was a sorceress—or to what extent she would use her magic to attain everything she wanted—until it was too late.
“I’ll tell them to prepare for liftoff. We can be gone as soon as we reach the ship.”
“Not yet. I’m afraid my business isn’t as finished as we would like it to be. I have to see someone about some…” He hesitated, the word he needed to say leaving a foul taste in his mouth with its meaning on this system. “Some property that belonged to Ethlinda.”
“Didn’t think you wanted anything of hers. Wasn’t that part of the deal, to get the divorce done quicker?”
Jaren glanced at the sky. The auction was scheduled to begin at sundown, and the sun already touched the far western horizon. Fortunately, the auction house was in the legal district, since this was a court-ordered liquidation of his ex-wife’s property. A prisoner forfeited all ownership rights, and now he had also signed away his claim to her estate. “Do you remember Ethlinda’s personal—” He broke off, not quite able to say that word either.
Fortunately, Dev knew him well enough to figure out the rest. “You mean the little girl who saved your life?”
“Not a girl. I think she was nineteen when all this went down.” Which would make her twenty-one now. Ten years younger than Jaren. “She also testified at Ethlinda’s criminal trial.”
“Took a lot of guts. Considering the witch owned her.” Literally. “She get her freedom in return?”
“The law doesn’t work that way, Dev. It considers her part of the estate.”
“Damned unfair, if you ask me.”
Jaren had always tried to keep an open mind about traditions. No one who depended on intersystem trade for a living could afford to condemn any planet’s endemic customs, no matter how offensive they were considered by their own.
Lorus was one of a small handful of known systems still practicing slavery—which was why they were denied membership in the Alliance. A few politicians postured about cutting them from all trade with the member systems until they ended the practice; Lorian leaders had made it clear they prized their ancient traditions far above any monetary profit.
“What are you planning, Captain?”
“I need the right to free her.” Unfortunately, there was only one way to do so. “Ever been to a slave auction?”
Dev grimaced. “Not an experience I ever planned to have.”
“Then I’ll go in without you.” He checked his finances on his handheld assistant. His final cargo load for the Lorus markets had produced a decent profit. The budget and payroll program on his ship’s mainframe network had already disbursed the crew’s shares. Including his. Jaren had only a vague idea of what it would cost to buy someone. He decided to use the newer funds first. He didn’t want to convert his Alliance credits to Lorus currency if he didn’t have to. Money-changing methods on this system were as old-fashioned and nearly as time-consuming as their divorce court. “I’ll call you when I have her.”
Dev nodded. “I’ll get the crew prepped to lea
ve.”
* * * *
The bed was a huge blur draped in white to symbolize her purity. Its stark expanse would be the perfect backdrop for the proof of her innocence, which the auction house would demand.
Taimi fidgeted.
If she could see, she would be pacing.
But she couldn’t see. The belladonna drops dilated her pupils to mimic one of the more subtle symptoms of desire but also overwhelmed her eyes with light—making them water and unable to focus.
She supposed it was necessary, especially in her case. Taimi didn’t think she could feel real desire for any man, except for—
No.
She would never see him again. But would she ever be able to stop thinking about him?
Unlikely.
Two years. Two whole years since she’d last seen him. From the beginning, he’d been out of her reach. Forbidden. But she had never stopped dreaming.
Captain Caradoc. The husband of her former mistress, Lady Ethlinda.
Their first meeting and every other moment together since was emblazoned into her memory. He’d been tall and muscular. Strikingly handsome, with chiseled features and beautifully expressive hazel eyes.
Lady Ethlinda had required Taimi’s presence at even the most intimate moments, even after her marriage. Taimi knew how the captain looked while eating and bathing…and while making love.
He was the reason she was here, her virginity auctioned away to the highest bidder. But she had no regrets.
No regrets at all.
She would have given up so much more to ensure he was alive. Safe. Free from her former mistress.
Fresh tears flowed down her face. An oversize light cauldron hung overhead, closer to the high ceiling than was done in most normal households. The faint smoke wafting out of its faceted crystal depths only aggravated the sensitized condition of her eyes. A house servant had climbed up to refresh the oil used to fuel the flames shortly after Taimi had been brought into the room.
The auction house wanted to ensure her new owner could get the best possible look at his new possession. Taimi's comfort—or lack of it—was irrelevant.
The door to her quarters opened.
“Hello, Taimi.”
The deep, familiar voice made her breath catch in her throat. She felt her heart skip a beat as she turned around.
Stupid belladonna drops. Everything in the room blended into an indistinct blur.
His voice turned soft and surprisingly hesitant. “It’s been nineteen months. I don’t expect you to remember me…”
Taimi almost laughed at the notion that she could ever forget him. “Captain Caradoc.” The next words tumbled out without thought. “I thought I was dreaming. I didn’t know you were real.”
“A dream?”
She touched the collar around her neck. Wrought to look like heavy gold jewelry, it contained several complex electronic codes, including an instant execution sequence if a slave tried to remove it without permission. “I never expected you. I thought you didn’t believe in all this.”
“I don’t. I came here to free you.”
“What?”
“Why so shocked? I owe you my life, Taimi. When I heard what they planned for you…” He began to pace the room, and his tone took on a wry edge. “Of course, I didn’t realize this was an auction for a sex slave.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I can’t take you out of here until we consummate this relationship. The auction house wants proof of your lost innocence here so I can’t claim you were anything else later.” By squinting, she could just barely see him rake his hand through his dark hair. “I suppose previous false claims prompted them to make a law about it.”
“Perhaps.”
He still kept his distance. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
She knew he wasn’t innocent. She had been forced to watch him couple with Lady Ethlinda, and her breath caught again at the particular memory: Captain Caradoc had been absolutely magnificent when naked and aroused.
Maybe he didn’t want her.
She looked nothing like her former mistress, and he’d clearly found that sort attractive. “Do you not desire me, Captain?”
“Of course I do.”
Heat flushed her face and pleasure spiked through her veins, despite the rather reluctant admission. “Then I do not see how this is a difficulty.”
“I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“Please don’t worry about that, Captain. I have long made peace with my fate and what is expected of me. Although”—she managed a smile but needed to swallow hard to moisten her suddenly dry throat before continuing—“my fate seems better than I deserve, now I know it is you who controls it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I desire you, Captain.” She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest. To shield her hard nipples, the most obvious sign of her desire for him. Acknowledging her attraction made her feel even more exposed than her lack of clothing did.
He hesitated, then crossed to her side with quick, decisive strides. Jaren reached out and traced the track of tears flowing from her drugged eyes, his touch surprisingly gentle for all the size of his hand. “You’re still crying.”
Taimi shook her head. “Belladonna eyedrops. It’s an old trick of the sex-slave trade, or so I was told. It dilates the pupils to mimic desire but also blurs my vision, and light is painful.” He slipped his fingers under her chin, tilting her head back. She partly closed her eyes to block out the increased brilliance. If only she could look at him… “That’s why I—”
“I see.” He dropped his hand and walked away. She heard the door open, and he called for a servant.
“They can’t hear you.”
“Why not?”
“They would have vacated the area, to give you some privacy to claim your purchase. Unless, of course, you requested otherwise.” The stone floor made it easy to track his movements by the changing sound of his footsteps. She opened her eyes and could just make out Jaren’s blurry form as he stood directly under the light cauldron.
“Maybe I could—”
“Please do not trouble yourself, Captain.”
“But you’re hurting.”
The worry in his deep voice made her wince. Taimi wished she had never mentioned such a minor discomfort, but she had not anticipated he would respond like this. No one had ever shown concern for her before. “It is of no consequence and will wear off soon.” She held out her hand. “Please.”
He returned to her side. “So you can’t see what I look like?”
“I still remember.”
He chuckled. “I could have changed since we last saw each other. Turned old and hideous.”
“I doubt that.” She reached up and touched his cheek. Felt the roughness of his whiskers against her palm, easily over a day’s growth. Surprising. The Captain Caradoc she remembered had always been carefully clean-shaven.
He covered her hand with his. “This still doesn’t feel right.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve never owned anyone before, for one thing. I don’t like it.”
Strange. Lorus marital laws granted him rights over Lady Ethlinda’s estate—including her slaves. “But you have.”
Perhaps he could read what she was thinking. “Not directly. Not like this.”
“This is the way the law works on Lorus, Captain,” she said gently. “You have the right to take your pleasure with my body. I accept that.”
“You should have more of a choice. Especially since it’s your first time.”
“It doesn’t matter. I would have chosen you if I could.” Desire strummed through her veins, giving her the strength she needed to be bold. “I have been taught how to please a man.” She let her fingers slide away from his face and slowly knelt before him, seeking the front of his trousers and the confirmation of his desire for her in the hard shape concealed beneath the cloth. A faint, musky scent reached her: the scen
t of his lust. Her body clenched and grew moist in response. “Let me give you pleasure, Captain…”
Chapter Two
“You don’t need to do this.” Jaren’s breath caught as Taimi slid her slender fingers down the fly of his trousers, tracing the outline of his swollen cock. She knelt before his feet, looking up at him with eyes that couldn’t see. Nearly pure black, with the irises reduced to the finest slivers.
“I wish to please you.” Her sweet voice sounded perfectly unruffled by the situation. Docile and accepting. Jaren had never felt the need to dominate the women who shared his bed, but her submissiveness touched something, some primitive part deep inside him, and increased his arousal to the point he felt his cock might burst from the internal pressure. “Order me to stop if you do not like what I do, and I shall obey.”
The words stuck in his throat.
He should not let her do this.
They had no choice. Not if he wanted to free her.
Taimi worked at the buttons of his trousers and released his cock. She traced the length and shape of him, using touch to examine him since she couldn’t use her eyes. “You’re very hard. And very large.”
He had no answer. He couldn’t think. He felt almost light-headed. All blood had rushed from his brain to flood his cock, causing it to further expand and throb. Jaren closed his eyes, breathing hard and fast.
She tightened her grip and pumped her hand along his length. Precum pearled on the head of his shaft, and she used it to add a certain slickness to the motion, the sensation becoming mind-blowingly intense.
It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman, and his body was taking full advantage of the opportunity. Jaren groaned. “Don’t stop. Keep going. Just. Like. That.”
She squeezed and released his cock as she moved along the length, like the way her pussy would pulse around him when he was inside her. Later.