Stolen: Brides of the Kindred 25 Read online

  Colonel Sanders as a stand-up comedian, Penny thought. No, I don’t like it.

  “So if you’ll just return the marking pens to the guards, we can continue,” the Glorious leader said. And all of the males turned over the pens with their glowing-hot nibs to the guards.

  All except V’rex.

  “No,” he said, when the NeverBreeder guard tried to take his pen. He held it high over the guard’s head and then brought it down, presenting it to Penny instead.

  “What…?” She shook her head and looked up at him. “I don’t understand.”

  “Take it.” V’rex pressed it into her hand, being careful that she was only touching the cool part, not the glowing-hot writing tip.

  “Why?” Penny asked, though she took the pen.

  Apparently she wasn’t the only one with questions.

  “Excuse me.” The Glorious Leader was glaring at them. “Excuse me,” he said again, speaking to V’rex. “What do you think you’re doing? The marking part of the Unification Ceremony is over.”

  “No it’s fucking not,” V’rex growled. “I marked her, so I want her to mark me too.”

  Though he was speaking to the cult leader, his eyes were fixed on Penny’s and once again she found she couldn’t look away.

  “But that’s not part of the ceremony!” the Glorious Leader sputtered.

  “It’s part of my ceremony,” V’rex growled. “You made me mark her to prove I own her. Well if that’s true, then she owns me too, and I want her mark on me.” He shot a menacing look at the Glorious Leader. “I want her name on my chest to prove I’m hers the same way she’s mine.”

  Penny didn’t know what to say. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she found herself swallowing hard. Was the big Hybrid serious?

  Apparently he was, because he wasn’t budging.

  There was a moment of breathless silence which seemed to fill the entire Amphitheater as the onlookers, guards, and Penny herself all looked first at V’rex and then at the Glorious Leader to see what was going to happen.

  At first the cult leader looked angry. But then he threw up his hands and shook is head

  “Fine. But make it quick—we need to end this ceremony. There are people waiting to breed!”

  “You heard the man, sweetheart.” V’rex leaned towards Penny, presenting the smooth, flat, muscular planes of his bare chest. “Make it quick.”

  Penny blinked up at him, her own brief pain forgotten, though she could tell the place where he’d burned his initial into her was going to be throbbing for a while.

  “Really?” she whispered, searching his eyes with her own. Why was he doing this? Because he felt guilty?

  “Really.” He frowned at her. “Do it.”

  “Just my initial or…”

  “Your full name,” he insisted and nodded at his left pec. “Go on, sweetheart—sign there.”

  Not knowing what else to do, Penny lifted the pen and placed the burning nib against his dark tan skin.

  V’rex didn’t even flinch, though she knew it had to be hurting him. Mindful that he had made this quick for her, she signed quickly in the large, looping scrawl she used on legal documents.

  Penelope.

  The pen flowed with sickening ease over his flesh, leaving the glowing letters behind. She thought about writing her full name, but she didn’t want to be unnecessarily cruel. Penelope Amanda Wainright was a lot to burn into someone’s chest—even if he was standing there, bearing it stoically while she branded him.

  She finished and held the pen out to the guard as V’rex looked down at her name and nodded approvingly.

  “Good,” he rumbled and caught Penny’s eyes with his. “That’s good. It’s fair.”

  Penny didn’t think it was fair that either of them had had to burn the other, but then, not much about the Compound was what could be considered exactly equitable or just. They were at the mercy of a crazy cult leader and almost everyone here was hypnotized.

  She was seriously beginning to think that V’rex wasn’t one of their number. But if he wasn’t under the control of the hypno-beats, why had he been allowed to live? Maybe his impassive face was good enough to fool the Glorious Leader and the NeverBreeder guards.

  “And now,” the Glorious Leader said, breaking into her train of confused thought. “The point in the ceremony you’ve all been waiting for—your first Mandatory Breeding!”

  A cheer went up from the entire audience and the Glorious Leader beamed his bright, white, chicken-eating grin again.

  “Now, you males already know the rules,” he continued. “You know that the Watchers will be watching you to make certain you do your best to impregnate your new brides. Please be sure you do your Mandatory Breeding in your bedchamber so we can be certain everything goes to plan and all our new couples are well-suited to each other.” He raised both arms high in a kind of salute. “Now, go, my new Forever Mates. Go with the blessing of your Glorious Leader—be fruitful and multiply!”

  Penny couldn’t believe he was actually admitting he had bugged their houses! Of all the brass-balled nerve…she’d never seen anything like it. So the Glorious Leader and his NeverBreeder guards were actually going to be monitoring them to make sure the new Forever Mates actually did the deed?

  They’ll be watching, she thought, her stomach clenching into a fist. Watching to be sure he rapes me right.

  Looking up at the big Hybrid, taking in his strength and size, she couldn’t help the shadow of fear that passed over her face and settled in her heart like a black crow. Oh God, this was what she’d been dreading. And it was almost here.

  Suddenly her nerve broke.

  “I can’t,” she whispered, the words slipping from her mouth before she could stop them. “I can’t—I won’t!”

  She started to run but she didn’t even get two steps before V’rex caught her and swung her up into his arms. Carrying her like a little girl, he strode over the stone floor and mounted the many steps leading up to the exit of the Amphitheater with ease.

  “Oh yes you can, little girl,” he growled at Penny. “And you will—we both will. You’ll see.”

  Then he carried her away from the cheering crowd toward the little white houses where he would take her for the first time…and every day after that for the rest of their lives.

  Thirty-Four

  V hated that his curvy little bride feared him. Because of his half Kru’ell One heritage, he could feel every emotion she experienced as she experienced it. Partly because he was touching her through most of the ceremony and partly because he was just so damned attuned to her—like he’d never been with any other female.

  He felt her anger and hate directed at him when she’d first realized he was to be her Forever Mate, but that had changed to deep embarrassment while the two of them recited their “vows.”

  Her pink cheeks and stumbling words as she begged him to breed her were both adorable and arousing, as far as V was concerned. He could tell she wasn’t used to talking dirty. And he’d felt an unmistakable tendril of arousal from her as he had returned the favor with his own vows. She might not like him much, but her body undoubtedly reacted to his—there was no denying that, he thought.

  But her desire hadn’t lasted. It had turned to fear and pain when he’d had to mark her with his initial. He could still see the red lines of the capital V he’d burned unwillingly into her flesh just above her left breast. He would heal it as soon as he could but Gods, he’d hated marking her!

  You’re just like him, a little voice had whispered in his head when he saw the tears in her soft brown eyes and knew that he had been the one to put them there. Just like him when he hit her…when he made her cry…

  Maybe those bad old memories, which he’d pushed away almost as soon as they surfaced in his mind, were the reason V had turned the branding pen over to his new bride and insisted that she mark him too.

  He looked briefly down at his own left pec. Penelope. It was an unusual name but he liked it—liked seeing her h
andwriting on his body for some reason, though he couldn’t understand why.

  Penelope hadn’t been able to understand his actions either. He had felt her confusion as he told her to mark him, to prove that if she was his, he was also hers.

  But then confusion had turned to fear again and right now she was terrified.

  She thinks I’m going to rape her, V thought, looking down at her soft face, which was pale with dread. Her eyes were so big they seemed to have taken over her entire face and he could feel her trembling against him as he carried her over the neatly manicured paths towards the Love Hut which had been designated as theirs.

  He wanted to say something—wanted to let her know he wouldn’t hurt her, or reassure her some way. But he was grimly aware that the entire fucking Compound was bugged. The GL and his orange NeverBreeder mutants would be watching everything—probably listening too. They didn’t even try to hide it, either. The brazenness of their spying was somehow even more infuriating and it meant he didn’t dare to say anything out loud to the girl in his arms.

  He could only carry her into their new bedchamber and hope she understood…

  Thirty-Five

  Penny was trembling with fear as the big Hybrid carried her along like she weighed next to nothing—which she knew for a fact was not the case. He had carried her up all those steps at the Amphitheater without even losing his breath once and now he was striding along like it was nothing to carry a full-gown woman around in his arms for miles. She couldn’t get over how horribly strong he was.

  He’s so big—there’s no way I can fight him off, she thought desperately as he strode through the public park towards the rows and rows of little white houses. Oh God, I wonder how much it’s going to hurt? How rough is he going to be?

  She risked glancing up at him, but his face was impassive again—blank and emotionless. Was he really going to be able to do this to her with no shame at all? Was he going to enjoy hurting her? Raping her?

  He glanced down for a moment and their eyes locked again. Those pale gold depths were almost like mirrors—Penny could see her own fear reflected back at her.

  “Almost there, little girl,” he rumbled, as though she had asked him how much further they had to go.

  Penny couldn’t say anything—her throat was too dry and her lips didn’t seem to want to form words. She couldn’t believe she was in this position—couldn’t believe all her dreams of space exploration had somehow turned into this nightmare scenario where she was being carried by her soon-to-be rapist to the house where they were supposed to live together for the rest of their lives…

  V’rex came to the door of a white cottage with blue trim set at the very end of a long lane. Other, identical cottages, stretched out down the street but Penny wasn’t looking at any of them. She was wondering again if she could get free and run away if the huge Hybrid put her down to open the front door.

  But her half-formed plans were dashed when V’rex simply kicked the door open and carried her over the threshold, just as though she really was his new bride.

  The interior of the cottage was neat and cozy—Penny got a blurred impression of it as he carried her through it. But soon enough—too soon—they were in the bedroom.

  The bed was a large, square mattress covered in a dark blue coverlet that seemed to be made of some kind of dense, silky fur.

  V’rex put her down at last, in the middle of the mattress, and then immediately ripped off her top.

  Penny gasped. It hadn’t been much of a top and her breasts had been showing between the long, colorful grasses. But still! The violence of the act surprised and terrified her. She felt her heart pounding in her throat as she tried to cover herself with her arms.

  The big Hybrid paid no attention to her attempts at modesty. Instead, he ripped off her skirt as well, leaving her completely naked.

  “Hey!” Penny cried and tried to cover her crotch as well. Oh God this was horrible—even worse than she’d feared!

  The third thing V’rex did was to rip off his own Unification Ceremony clothing—the short grass skirt which had matched her own soon lay trampled on the floor.

  Now Penny could see exactly how big his equipment was and it was a terrifying sight.

  Oh my God, he’ll tear me apart with that thing! was her panicked thought as she eyed the long, thick shaft standing up rock-hard between his muscular thighs. There’s no way in hell it will all fit inside me!

  She tried to back away from him, her knees slipping on the silky fur of the coverlet, but the big Hybrid grabbed her by the arm and pulled her roughly towards him.

  Taking her in his arms, he pressed her down to the bed, covering her with his big, hard body. He spread her legs and she could feel the hot, hard length of his shaft branding her belly as he pressed full-length against her.

  His muscular body was heavy on hers and his scent was strong in the room—a dark, masculine spice that smelled like sex and violence. It filled her senses when she tried to breathe under his weight, and set every nerve ending on fire with terror.

  Penny opened her mouth to scream, and then she felt his hot breath against the side of her face. He growled one word in her ear.

  “Pretend!”

  And then he was thrusting against her.

  Thirty-Six

  V’rex hoped like the Seven Hells that she understood what he was trying to do. He didn’t want to hurt her—didn’t want to scare her—but this had to look real. If the fucking “Glorious Leader” watched the feed coming from their bedchamber and decided that V’rex wasn’t really breeding his new bride, there was going to be hell to pay and Penelope would probably get taken away from him and given to another male to be raped for real.

  So instead of entering her, he thrust against the silky skin of her belly, keeping his body as close to hers as possible, so the camera—which was visible as a little red dot in the center of the ceiling, right over the bed—couldn’t capture the fact that he wasn’t really inside her.

  But she wasn’t playing along. She was just lying there—frozen with fright. V frowned. This was no good—she had to move, had to moan, had to do something.

  He knew some females were quiet during sex—well, they were until he stung them and injected his lust honey, anyway—but most of them didn’t just lie there and take it. At least, they didn’t with him. Sex with V was a full-contact sport and he played it to win—even when he was just pretending.

  Besides, this had to look real.

  Making a decision, he pressed his mouth to the side of her vulnerable throat and allowed his tongue to lengthen and sharpen until it had become his stinger. Then, with a quick thrust, he stung her, injecting his lust-honey.

  The effects were immediate. Penelope, who had been frozen like a statue beneath him, suddenly stiffened and gasped. Then a moan was torn from her throat as the instant orgasm hit her. She began to thrash and buck her hips, exactly as though they were really fucking.

  V was pleased—this was what they needed to make their performance look real. Well this and one more thing.

  He was already close, from rubbing his shaft against the smooth top of her mound and the silky skin of her belly. Not to mention her sweet, feminine fragrance and the feel of her gorgeous, full curves against the hard planes of his own body. Being this close to the little human female after wanting her for so long was driving him crazy.

  He normally could have gone on and on, but he thought it was better not to draw this out. Besides, he was fucking horny from not being able to touch himself for a whole week.

  Pulling back a little, he aimed the head of his shaft at her open pussy and let himself come at last, letting jet after jet of his seed coat her inner folds and inner thighs. He groaned her name as he did it, just as though he was coming inside her—Claiming her as his own and bonding her to him.

  Gods, he loved the thought of that! He’d never wanted to bond a female before but this little human beneath him had done something to him—she’d gotten into his heart befor
e he even knew her though V didn’t know why.

  Still, he couldn’t bond an unwilling mate. He would have to hold off—have to wait and gain her trust. If that was even possible, considering what he was doing to her right now.

  When he was finally finished, he rolled off her and lay on his back beside her, making sure that her naked body was exposed to the camera above. He fucking hated the idea of the GL or his NeverBreeder guards looking at his female’s nude form, but it was necessary in this case.

  Once they saw what appeared to be V’s cum leaking from her apparently freshly-fucked pussy, it would put their doubts to rest and maybe those in authority at the Compound would leave him and Penelope alone for a while.

  After he rolled off her, Penelope lay there for a moment, looking stunned and shaken. Then she scrambled off the bed and ran for the door. Not the bedchamber door though—the fresher door, V saw with relief. Good, let her hide out in there for a little while and get herself together—then they could talk. V was pretty certain that the fresher was one of the few places in their little Love Hut that wasn’t bugged. At least, there was no glowing red light on the ceiling, which he was pretty sure was a camera or some other recording device.

  He sighed and sat up in bed, rubbing his face. What a long fucking day and it wasn’t even over yet. He still had to get his new bride to trust him and from the way she’d reacted to him at the ceremony, that was going to take some doing.

  Thirty-Seven

  Penny shut herself in the bathroom and looked for a way to lock the door. There was none. Okay, forget it—that wasn’t important right now. What was important was what had just happened.

  But her mind was in a whirl. What had just happened?

  She’d been so sure the big Hybrid was going to rape her. Kat and Commander Sylvan had warned her that V’rex’s Kru’ell One half ensured he was perfectly capable of taking a woman against her will.