Chapter One
Naked, she twisted and tugged against the chains holding her captive. King Fluut, the repugnant ruler of the Finn, had hung her on the wall across from his throne in the capital of the stolen planet Zandia. Yes, strapped her to the wall. Naked.
She didn’t think it was sexual for him, though. He didn’t look at her body with anything more than disgust. Feeling’s mutual, asshole. The nudity was some kind of degradation game.
She’d been a royal idiot coming to Zandia, but her home planet had been like a living, breathing entity, calling to her. After a lifetime of hunger and weakness, of going to sleep at night bone-tired, the promise of strength from Zandia’s crystals had sung to her.
That part had, at least been true. Even in her current, dire predicament, tiny bubbles of energy coursed through her body, enlivening parts she scarcely knew existed. The unfortunate side effect was an awakening at the notch between her legs. And the nudity did not help.
Her pussy warmed and moistened, clearly disconnected from her brain, which knew this situation was not the least bit sexy. Her clothes may be off, but it sure as hell wasn’t playtime. Why then, did her damn nipples stiffen every time a new male walked into the room?
The males were beastly. Literally. The Finn were a horrid, ugly species. Short, gray-skinned, with grotesque flat noses and vicious-looking teeth. The king was the worst of all, his pointy teeth half-rotten, face wrinkled and sagging.
No, her body definitely wasn’t interested in these males. But she did find herself imagining males of other species. Human. Zandian. Not that she’d ever seen a Zandian male. Hell, she hadn’t even known she was Zandian until last solar cycle.
A traveler at the bar where she’d served as a slave her entire life had mentioned it in passing, asking how she survived away from the crystals.
His words ignited her, like she’d been zapped by the fiercest electrical storm space had ever known. The hair on her head had stood up, blood heated and spun in her veins. She’d run after him, knowing she’d get a beating from her master, Thurn, when she returned, but not caring.
“What do you mean?” she’d asked. “What crystals?”
The customer, a rough-looking trader, had looked at her like she was the biggest idiot he’d ever seen. “You don’t know about the crystals?”
“What. Crystals? Please tell me what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve heard of Zandia, right?” His voice dripped with derision.
She’d flushed and shaken her head. “You said that’s where I’m from?”
“Yes. You’re a Zandian. Zandia is your home planet. The one your species came from? It’s made up of crystal—the crystal used to power laser weaponry. That’s why the Finn invaded and killed off most of your kind. Supposedly, the Zandians used the crystals for energy. They don’t require food or drink, just crystal. Something like that, anyway. That’s why the Finn killed them off.”
She’d gaped, trembling with the new knowledge, a million beliefs about her existence crashing around in her head until Thurn arrived and yanked her away with a bruising grip on her upper arm.
Take me there, she’d almost begged the stranger, but her good sense prevailed. She couldn’t show her hand to her master. Not until the right opportunity presented itself. And it had. She’d finally had the courage to steal from the till and escape, purchasing passage straight to Zandia.
Which she now saw had been as impulsive as it was stupid. Blame it on the crystals, which now had her body afire, lust pumping through her veins, feeding her like the oxygen. What would a Zandian male look like? Purplish skin like hers? How tall would he stand? What kind of cock?
Stars, was she thinking about cocks?
She shifted restlessly against the bonds that held her secure against the wall. The king usually ordered her taken down from the wall and sent to the dungeon for the night. She wasn’t given clothing and was paraded through the entire dungeon for every male in every cell to gawk at, but, thankfully, had a private cell.
She couldn’t wait to go there. Not just for the relief of being released from the dreadful position on the wall. But, for the first time in her life, she needed to touch herself. Down there. Desperately.
~.~
I’m coming for you, Talia.
Tomis slumped in his seat on the prison ship, attempting to look like nothing more than a two-bit smuggler. A ruffian, who’d made the mistake of attempting to buy Zandian crystal on the black market. His plan—a suicide mission at best—was to get into the Finnian prison below the capital of Zandia before getting himself killed.
If he made it that far, he planned to break out with the beautiful Talia, possibly the only female Zandian of breeding age in the galaxy, the daughter of Master Seke, his mentor.
The Stornigian sitting across from him stared openly. “You do know what they’ll do with you when you get to Finnian Outland, don’t you?”
Finnian Outland. That pissed him off. The planet’s name was Zandia, rightful home to the Zandians, ruled by Prince Zander, son of the dead King Zander. Zandia was his homeland—a crystal encrusted planet of great natural beauty and wealth.
He lifted his upper lip in a scowl and played stupid. “What?”
“The Finn exterminated your entire species. Systematically. As in, hunted down and killed every single living Zandian they could find. You think they’ll let you live three seconds on their planet?”