Joan and the Juggernaut (Alien Abduction #9) - Honey Phillips Page 0,2
rather than her.
She was sitting on the floor of her cage, trying to decide if she could use the pellets the same way she would use bread and make stuffing out of them, when both her guards came rushing by.
“I don’t like this,” one complained.
“Shut up, Muu. It’s perfectly legal to sell slaves for a work contract.”
“Legal slaves,” Muu said, glancing at her.
“What? You want to change the way we do business just because the new Emperor is besotted by a former slave? The new laws won’t last.” He nudged his companion. “These humans are going to make us a ton of credits. We should never have sold that first one so cheaply. Think how much profit we lost just because Captain Fabii thought he saw an Imperial Patrol ship.”
“Better not let him hear you say that, Asgii. You’re lucky he didn’t dock your share for damaging the other one.”
Asgii shrugged. “It was worth it.” He cast a dissatisfied glance in her direction. “This one never gave me a fucking excuse.”
They both stopped to look at her. She dropped her eyes, her face as impassive as she could make it.
“Maybe it’s not too late. Any hole is better than none, eh?” Asgii dropped his hand to his groin and began stroking a rapidly growing cock.
Muu shoved him. “Forget it. We have to get all of them unloaded. There isn’t time.”
“Doesn’t take me long.”
“No wonder you have to fuck a slave.”
Asgii snarled and shoved Muu back. Joan watched from under her lashes, hoping they would come to blows, but Muu threw up his hands and backed away.
“Forget it. Look, let’s just get the cargo unloaded. How about on our next trip, we pick up a human just for ourselves?”
“Captain wouldn’t like it.”
“If we do it right, he doesn’t need to know.”
Asgii laughed, and the sound sent an icy chill down Joan’s spine. “I like the way you think.”
They proceeded to describe what they planned to do to this theoretical slave in graphic detail as they began picking up cages with a long crane. She kept her eyes down and did her best to try and shut them out.
Maybe she had been a little too optimistic about her lack of worth as a sex slave.
Her cage had been next, and after a short, terrifying trip in a freezing transport, she ended up with the other slaves in the hangar. It was the first time she had realized that the ship carried more than just the animals surrounding her.
And now she was here, literally slaving away for Ukhaan. She hadn’t figured out how to escape yet. All she could do was keep her eyes and ears open and learn as much as she could. It had taken a long time, but she’d figured out how to get away from Kevin, she reminded herself firmly. Just because she was now on an inhospitable alien planet didn’t mean she had to give up hope. Put like that, it sounded impossible—so she decided she wouldn’t put it like that.
With a sigh, she did her best to push it out of her mind and go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Chapter Two
Once again, Joan stood silently by the wall, waiting for Ukhaan and his visitor to arrive. She gave the table a quick glance from under her lashes, checking to make sure that everything was perfect. Perhaps she should have double-wrapped the biscuits to make sure they stayed warm…
The door opened and she instinctively looked up. Her breath caught in her throat. The male accompanying Ukhaan was not another Zameetan as she had expected. Instead, a huge alien warrior stood in the opening. A head taller than Ukhaan, he showed no indication of Ukhaan’s devotion to food. Dark turquoise skin covered huge, well-defined muscles, clearly revealed by the tight, sleeveless tunic he wore. Short dark hair, almost black in the dim light, covered a well-shaped head with features very similar to that of a human man—a brutally attractive human man. But he was very clearly not human, and from the number of weapons fastened at his belt and the network of fine gold scars that covered his body, he was equally clearly a very dangerous male.
For a fraction of a second, their eyes met, his a dark, burning gold that went from distant to heated in that one brief interval before she looked away. Dammit, she knew better than to look directly at an alien male. They tended to interpret it as defiance