“I’m already sorry,” Thrace snarled. “Sorry you’re too much of a coward to let me loose before you come at me. Come on, old man—give me a fair fight.”
“This is your last chance.” There was a note of warning in the gray haired master’s voice that sent a shiver down Trin’s spine. She wanted to tell Thrace that he ought to curb his tongue. He was tied up…helpless and wearing a pain collar. He shouldn’t provoke the male who held the remote.
“Your last chance,” the master repeated. “I’ve been waiting for you…waiting for months for you to develop the proper feelings of obedience and love towards me. Waiting to take you until you spoke your oath to me. But I swear to you, boy, tonight the waiting ends. Swear your oath to me and I will take you gently. Do not and I will take you just the same…but not nearly as tenderly as I had planned.”
“You think I fear you?” Thrace sneered. “I fear no male. I am Havoc!”
“It is not your fear that I seek—I want your love and loyalty. But if you will not give them freely, I will take them. Guards!”
Four huge, muscular males wearing gleaming gold armor came forward, carrying a large, X-shaped piece of equipment. They turned Thrace to face the X and untied his arms from behind his back. Then they bound them above his head instead, fastening his wrists with iron cuffs to either side of the X shaped device. They manacled his legs too, bracing them far apart at the bottom corners of the X—chaining him down so he couldn’t move.
Trin bit her lip as she watched. Though he struggled and fought will all his might, the young Thrace could not break free. He might have had a chance if he was the Thrace she knew now, the big, powerful male that had fought his way free of the Demon’s Eye with no more than a blaster and a bad attitude. But he was still young in this scene—he hadn’t reached his full growth and potential. Which made what happened next even harder to watch.
“Say it! Say the words!” The gray haired master stepped up behind him and pulled his purple robes to one side, revealing a surprisingly large shaft. Not as large as Thrace’s own but enough to cause serious damage, Trin was sure.
“Don’t!” she shouted. “Leave him alone, you bastard!” But neither the master or Thrace seemed to hear or see her. As before she was frozen in place, unable to help, unable to be anything but a silent, invisible observer.
The master grabbed Thrace’s lean hips and pressed forward, entering him. Violating him.
“I will belong to you body and soul—say it!” he snarled as he thrust in.
“Never!” Young Thrace’s face was a trembling mask of pain and hatred, his hands clenched into fists as he fought to keep the tears standing in his silver-blue eyes from falling.
“I will protect you with my life, shield you from harm in times of danger, and pleasure you in times of peace—say it!” The gray haired master thrust again. “To the last drop of my blood, I am yours. Say it, Gods damn you—Say It!”
Those words! Trin thought wonderingly. Those are the words he said to me when I put the pain collar on him. Is this how he knew them? Was he a slave after all? But how? And where?
“Say you love me! I’ll make you love me!” the master raved. Reaching around he grasped the other male’s shaft in his hand and began to pump it in time with his strokes. “You love it…you know you love it,” he hissed.
“Never.” The young Thrace’s eyes were closed now, his jaw clenched as silent tears rolled down his face. “I’d rather die. Never.”
Trin found that she was crying too.
“No—no leave him alone! Please, leave him alone! Stop!” She shouted until her throat was raw, screaming at the horrible sight going on before her, her hands clenched into fists and tears pouring down her cheeks. “Stop it! Stop it!”
“Stop what? Trin wake up—what’s going on?” The deep familiar voice in her ear seemed to pull her out of the nightmare she had somehow entered.
She opened her eyes to find she was curled against Thrace’s muscular side, her hands balled into fists and her breath coming in short, heaving gasps.
“Th-thrace? Is that you?” She reached up to touch his cheek.
“Yeah, baby, it’s me. What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?” He looked at her with obvious concern. “You were yelling for someone to stop doing something.”
“I…was?” Trin frowned, trying to recapture the details of the nightmare. Whatever it was, it had been bad—terrible. But now that she was awake it was gone except for a few wisps.
“Yeah, you were. And…you’re crying.” He cupped her face and rubbed his thumb gently over her cheek.
“I am?” Trin touched her fingers to her other cheek and they came away wet. What had she dreamed that affected her so deeply? It had to do with Thrace somehow…something bad happening to him. But what?
She couldn’t answer the question. The dream was gone. Not that she wanted it back if it was that upsetting.
“What were you dreaming? Do you remember?” Thrace asked softly. “I only ask because my people believe there can be significance in dreams.”
“I don’t know. It was so vivid but now it’s just…gone.” She shrugged and swiped at her eyes. “Silly, huh?”
“No. Nothing that upsets you that much is silly.” He frowned. “I had a bad dream too. Maybe it had something to do with the dream gas we inhaled.”
“Maybe.” Trin sighed uneasily. “Although I doubt it was the red gas and I didn’t breathe in any of the black nightmare gas like you did. Maybe it was the white…the one that’s supposed to show you the truth about people?”
“That’s right.” He frowned. “You know, I meant to but I never asked what you saw when you inhaled that. You touched Lord X and nearly jumped out of your skin.”
“Oh—that was so weird.” Trin shook her head. “And it didn’t make any sense. For a minute I thought I saw that male from the Demon’s Eye. You know—the one with the metal teeth?”
“B’Rugh’s second in command, you mean? But why would you see him when you touched a male from a completely different galaxy?”
Trin shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense. But then…” She motioned, indicating not just their room but all of Dreaming Hills. “None of this does.”
“No, it sure as hell doesn’t,” Thrace agreed in a low voice. “C’mere.” He pulled her close to his side again. Trin let herself settle against him, not even minding the fact that she was still naked. She was still too much upset by the dream, whatever it had been, to feel aroused anyway.
“Just a dream,” she murmured, feeling her heart begin to slow. “Just a really bad dream.”
“Whatever you were dreaming of, you don’t need to worry about it,” Thrace rumbled comfortingly. “I’ll protect you with my life, you know that.”
“I know,” Trin whispered. Something about his words seemed to jog her memory and for a moment she almost remembered what the terrible dream had been about. But then Thrace breathed deeply, jostling her against his side and the moment was gone.
She took a deep breath, inhaling his warm, spicy male scent and snuggled closer to him. His arms around her were so comforting and his body against hers felt so right. Though she knew it was weak and wrong to want the protection and comfort of a male, she couldn’t help it—Thrace made her feel good. Warm. Safe. Too safe to want to remember whatever the horrible dream had been.
“Go back to sleep, baby,” he murmured and placed a tender kiss on the top of her head. “It’s still a few hours until we have to get up.”
“Okay.” Trin yawned and let herself relax completely. Finally sleep took her again and this time there were no dreams.
* * * * *
Thrace held her close against him, wondering if she had dreamed the same thing he had somehow. He didn’t know how that was possible unless it was some kind of effect of the dream gas. All he knew was at the same time he’d been dreaming of his first violation at the hands of his old master, Trin had woken up screaming, “Leave him alone! Stop it!”