Taken by Space Pirates: A SciFi Alien Romance (Bound to the Alien Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

and broken in me. But I was bound and helpless. Her boot pressed against my head, smashing my face into the ground, and I realized she clutched a Cracdar Whip in her hand. My brother favored them as well.
     
    Her voice was raspy and broken. "On this ship, the crime of laying hands on the First Mate is 10 stripes laid down your back, as witnessed by the Captain." His eyes looked into mine. It didn't matter that I was a prisoner or that I'd been out of control of my actions. My captive bonds let go and I was stretched spread eagle. His eyes bored into mine, unblinking.
     
    She cracked the whip in the air, and then laid the first stripe down my back. I cried out, the pain was like nothing I'd ever felt. I'd never been beaten or handled harshly. Even in combat class, it was completely different. This wasn't a blocked blow. Each line she ripped into me hurt more than the one before, and easily sliced through the thin shipsuit.
     
    And he never looked away from me.
     
    I slipped further and further away from myself until I was nothing but vibrating pain. I could feel myself falling into darkness, and I rushed to embrace it. My mate was letting this happen; he was watching, and he felt nothing. All I wanted was to disappear. But just as my consciousness began to fade, the pain stopped. No more blows fell, cutting into me.
     
    I could feel blood flowing down my back. The agony of each breath sliced through me. The woman snatched me up by my hair and pulled my face into hers. She hissed as well as I had. "Whatever hold you have on him, I will destroy, stripe by stripe. Every day, I will find a reason to add to the lines down your back until you are nothing but scars and scales."
     
    I counted my breaths as my old teacher taught me. I couldn't let him touch me again, even if it killed me. The bond was getting harder to resist.
     
    I could tell he was coming closer to me, and I opened my eyes again. He reached down to me.
     
    "Do. Not. Touch. Me." He froze. Then moved towards me again. "No." I wanted to shout, to roll away from him. He watched this happen. The drive was strong in me still. Lust and hate dominated my thoughts. I did nothing to him, and he brought me here. "You did this. You brought me here. You put me in her path. One of us will end up dead. The blood is on your hands."
     
    He stepped back and said, "Blood dripping off your family's hands brought you here. You attacked my First Mate with no provocation. You are under ships rules."
     
    "I'm your prisoner. Rules are for people who consent. I'm your slave."
     
    My captive bonds suddenly released from the floor and I slowly rose to my feet. It took every bit of strength I have ever had, but I could not let him see my utter destruction. I stared him in the eyes, just like he did with every stripe she took out of my back. "Take me back to my cell now." He gestured at the coach. "Sit, let me put salve on that. You'll scar."
     
    "I would rather scar than let you touch me again. Take me to my cell. Now."
     
    "Don't be ridiculous, it will only take a moment."
     
    "If you touch me again, I will do to you what I did to her. Except you don't have anyone to save you. Now, take me to my cell."
     
    I was proud of myself. I forced my voice to stay even and calm. He couldn't know I would be totally unable to raise a hand against him, even to save my own life. The lines around his mouth grew hard and deep. Then he shrugged and the captive bands around my wrists snapped together.
     
    "I assume you'll watch every time she beats me. Do you get off on it?"
     
    He stepped towards me and I flinched. He stopped and growled in frustration. He pressed a button on his belt and a force beam ran from my wrists to his hand. He dragged me along, anger speeding his steps. Every step I took burned the lines in my back deeper. I could feel blood running down my sides and flanks. By the time we reached the cell, I was conscious only of putting one foot in front of the other.
     
     
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