Saved by the Beast (Kindred Tales)

“Oof!” Bard exclaimed. “Rarev, you’ll have to cover me—I’ve got a handful here,” he told the other warrior as he somehow managed to re-holster his blaster and wrap both arms around the girl.

She was clinging to him like grim death, her eyes still wide and frightened.

“Not leave!” she managed at last, in broken Standard. “Not leave Makenna!”

“No, no—I’m not leaving you!” Bard exclaimed, holding her tighter. “But I’ve got to run now, so hold on tight!”

She nodded rapidly and he got the idea that she understood—at least a little—for her arms tightened around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder.

Her weight was negligible for Bard and he jogged easily over the rough road towards their shuttle. Behind him he could hear Rarev firing more blaster shots and was damn glad that he had the Monstrum Commander with him. He hoped at least some of those shots were finding their way home—neither the Trollox nor the Flesh Peddler deserved to live in his estimation. How in the Seven Hells could either of them live with themselves after treating this poor little female so harshly?

Speaking of the little female, she was still clinging to him, her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped round his waist. She kept her head down, her face buried in his shoulder as he ran.

Poor little female—been fucking traumatized, no doubt, Bard thought.

When they reached the shuttle he would put her down and try to find out where she had come from. Maybe she knew enough Standard to direct them back to her home planet. But for now, he just wanted to reach their ship in one piece.

He had no idea that his life had just changed completely.

2

Biter glared angrily down the road at the path the Kindred had taken. They had stolen his female! The vessel who was meant to bear his heir! And now, how was he ever to get another?

Scrimped and saved, he had, to buy the perfect one—a Florian girl who was just at the peak of her first ripening, so she would be sure to catch pregnant from the first time he shoved his shaft in her. Not that he meant to stop breeding her when her belly began to grow—that was half the fun of getting an heir, after all.

He’d even paid for the most expensive set of metal stretchers to open her pussy channel as wide as possible to receive him. She was still wearing one right now and who would it benefit? Why that fucking Kindred warrior who had stolen her right from under his nose—that was who, Biter thought bitterly. He’d be breeding her before the night was out! Shoving his cock where only Biter’s should go, to fill her belly with his filthy Kindred seed, no doubt!

Just the thought was enough to make him gnash his tusks in righteous fury. He’d been cheated, Gods damn it! And this fucking Flesh Peddler who had promised to take care of everything was probably to blame.

“You’re fucking dead,” he growled, yanking the skinny male up by his shirt collar and aiming his fist at the Peddler’s face. “Biter’s gonna knock your fucking head off for letting them take her!”

“No, no—wait!” the Peddler gasped, holding up his hands as though he could possibly block Biter’s blow. “It’s not my fault they took her, but I know how you can find her!”

Biter, who had been just about to strike, held back his blow.

“How?” he asked suspiciously. “How can Biter find her?”

“The chip! We implant a tracker chip into every girl we take into the Pleasure House!” the Peddler explained, nearly falling over himself to get the words out. “If you let me go, I can give you the transponder signal code, so you can track her. But you have to hurry, if they fold space and get back to the Mother Ship before you can catch up, you’ll never get her back! That place is a fucking fortress!”

Biter knew he was right about that, at least. The Kindred Mother Ship was one of the best defended ships in the galaxy. There was no way to breach it—at least not for someone who looked like him. The Trollox and the Kindred were natural enemies—mostly because the fucking Kindred were so soft-hearted towards females and refused to use them as they ought to be used—as vessels for breeding.

Restraining his urge to pound the Peddler’s face to bloody mush, he lowered his fist.

“All right,” he snarled. “Tell Biter the code. And be quick about it!”

He would find the girl before it was too late and take her back again. By tonight he’d be breeding her and planting his heir in her belly.

3

“There’s a Trollox ship close behind us—must have followed us through the fold.”

Rarev was frowning at the viewscreen which showed the dirty, black and green ship in the distance. He was piloting the shuttle they were in, since the girl had refused to loosen her death grip on Bard.