Origin Read Online Free Page A

He quickly did up the fasteners then slid his palm over mine, threading our fingers together. I didn’t think to pull back, to protest, only looked up at him in surprise because I could actually feel the anger coming off him. Why did they care what my life had been like? They didn’t know me. For a smart-talking big hunk of a man, Anders had a soft center. And apparently, he didn’t care who saw it. I squeezed his fingers, earning a look of surprise.
    Claybourne hadn’t let go of the first man, who was starting to turn purple. “You’re telling me this woman has been enslaved since she was a young girl and instead of letting her go home, you want to what? Put her in a cell to be questioned? No.” He turned and aimed a look that would have scared me if he’d used it when he’d first come into my owner’s room at the man who’d spoken. “You can question her over vids when she is safely on my ship. I’m taking her to Kithra, where her people will care for her.”
    The enforcer held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Just let him go before he suffocates.”
    Claybourne dropped the man, who fell to his knees coughing and choking. He came back and stopped in front of me. “You do want to go with us, right? Because it is your choice. Do you understand me? You will always have a choice.”
    I looked around at the enforcers in their white uniforms, at the gathering of paying clients lined up like a chain against the wall, at the younger slaves filing into the area from the lower floors. “Can you promise me the ones here like me will get to go home?” I stared at Claybourne but I asked the question of the enforcer.
    “I can. Families will be notified as soon as we have all their names.”
    “Some of them…might not remember.” I finally looked at him, watched his expression, hoping for a hint of compassion. I found it in the softening of his eyes as he met my gaze.
    “Do you remember your name?” he asked.
    “No. But I do remember that my family was on Kithra, so there is no one to contact for me anyway.” I took a deep breath, knowing I could be making the wrong decision, but also knowing I needed to be far, far away from this ship. Strange at it seemed, even to me, some part of me trusted Anders and Claybourne. “I will go with them.”
    Anders didn’t let me go as we left the ship and walked through the space station toward their vessel. I stood out in Anders’s big shirt with the skimpy lace bodysuit showing underneath. I still wore the dainty black lace slippers that matched the outfit and every so often, pieces of trash dug into the soft soles, hurting my feet. But I never winced, never made a sound. The pain didn’t compare with the fire of my inner thighs anyway.
    We stopped and I gazed in skepticism at the tiny ship that would be my home for the trip back. I knew it would take at least a month for us to reach the Kithran Sector. The ship was really small. It could have fit into a fourth of the lowest deck of the entertainment ship, but it was well cared for—shiny and clean.
    “Welcome to the Ultio Ultionis .”
    Claybourne waved his hand and the loud sound of hydraulics fought with the noise of the busy space station as the loading hatch came down. He stepped aboard and turned to hold his hand out to me. I glanced up at Anders, who smiled and lifted our linked hands before transferring my hold to his captain. But I wouldn’t move until I knew he was coming too. He seemed to understand, that crooked grin pulling his lips as he placed his hand gently on the small of my back. “I have to leave again. You need clothes, shoes and uh, other lady stuff. I’m sure there’s some kind of general store here.”
    Other lady stuff.
    I’d never owned anything, not even the makeup used to dress up my face for my owner’s guests. But I did have something. Something I decided to share with these men who were going out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I tugged Claybourne to a stop. Both men stood before