Severed Read online

  He eyed our chosen female appreciatively and I couldn’t say that I blamed him. Denari females generally have pale, pearly gray skin which is considered quite beautiful. But I had never seen such an exotic skin tone as this female’s creamy light brown tint. Her large eyes were a liquid black fringed thickly with dark lashes and her hair was a profusion of black curls that framed her lovely face most attractively. As for her figure, it was exactly what I liked—full breasts with an ample ass and curving hips to match. She was, indeed, Goddess-damned gorgeous, as Drace had said.

  Well, at least we have the same taste in women, I thought dryly. It was one of the qualities psy-bonded mates were supposed to have since they both had to be passionately in love with the female they chose to join in their partnership, completing the Triumvirate Bond.

  Not that we wanted such a bond—the sooner I got free of my unintended bond-mate the better.

  “This female is a La-ti-zal,” Char’noth explained, breaking into my train of thought. “She is one of those blessed with special gifts from the Ancient Ones who sowed the seeds of life throughout the galaxy at the behest of the Goddess.”

  “How can you tell that?” Drace asked at the same time I said,

  “How can you make such a claim?”

  We both frowned at each other and I felt a surge of irritation going both ways through our link. It was aggravating in the extreme when we spoke the same thought at the same time and it happened more than I liked to admit.

  “Do you see her aura?” Char’noth gestured with two of his many clawed hands at the warm amber glow around our chosen female. “That radiance denotes one with special gifts. This female glows more brightly than any other in the Alien Mate Index.”

  “She does appear to have a strong aura,” I agreed grudgingly. “But what is her gift?” Those rare females who are blessed to be La-ti-zals often have one specific gift given by the Goddess of Mercy.

  “Right,” Drace put in. “Is she a Healer? An Opener? A Knower? What?”

  Char’noth’s long, wormy body made a rippling gesture which I recognized as a shrug.

  “That we do not know. We are working on a new device which will allow us to ascertain exactly what a particular La-ti-zal’s talent is but it is not yet perfected.”

  “So we’re supposed to pay through the nose just because she glows?” Drace grumbled. He looked down at Char’noth. “Look, we only need her for a minute. We just need a Pure One to touch both of us and dissolve our bond.”

  “My, ah, partner is correct,” I said, looking at Char’noth. “After this Earth female performs the same un-bonding service for us which we witnessed her enacting on the other two males she was dealing with, we will let her go. You can return her to her planet with no ill effects. Then you can…” I cleared my throat. “Can sell her contract again to another male.”

  My own words made me uncomfortable for some reason I couldn’t define. Maybe it was the idea of the little female being sold to some other Alien male. But then, that was the function of the AMI and it was the service Drace and I were buying from Char’noth and his fellow Commercians. Why should it bother me?

  Apparently it bothered Drace too. I felt his unease through our link.

  “I don’t like it,” he said abruptly. “I don’t want her getting sold after we leave to just any male who might use her and abuse her.”

  “We don’t even know her,” I pointed out, through I secretly agreed with him.

  “We know enough to know we’re both attracted to her,” he said. “Don’t lie, Lucian—she makes your cock hard. I can feel it through our bond.”

  “Is that a good enough reason to pay full price?” I asked coldly.

  “What—like you can’t afford it?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Thought you were some hot-shot litigator in your region.”

  “It’s not a matter of credit,” I said, frowning.

  “Well then what is it?” he demanded. “Look, I might not be as rich as you, but I’ve got credit. I’ll pay her entire price if I have to but I don’t want her being sold to another male once we let her go.”

  Deep down, I agreed with him—which was probably why I was resisting. Still, I couldn’t let him pay the female’s entire price.

  “We agreed to split the cost of this venture evenly,” I said. “You don’t need to take the whole expense on yourself.”

  “So you agree—we pay the whole amount and buy out her contract?” he asked.

  I sighed. “Getting unbonded from you is turning out to be as expensive as a Triumvirate Ceremony to a female from the Feather Clan. But fine—we’ll do it.”

  “Good.” Drace turned back to Char’noth. “You heard him. We’ll pay the full price but we want her sent back to Earth unharmed when we’re finished.”

  “And no other male is to buy, bother, or in any way molest her,” I put in. “Agreed?”

  The Commercian nodded.

  “Agreed. Though we do not usually allow humans to have knowledge of us, we have found that a single human who tries to report our existence is not believed by the rest. Therefore, I will affix it to the terms of your contract when we transport her up to the station.”

  “When will that be?” I was itching to get myself un-bonded from Drace and I could feel that he felt the same.

  “Soon, Gentlemen. Let us wait and watch a little longer. I prefer to pick the right moment to bring the female through.”

  I didn’t know what the “right moment” might be but now that the final dissolution of the accidental bond between myself and Drace was near, I found I could wait a little longer.

  “Very well,” I said. “As long as the process isn’t interminable.”

  “As long as you don’t take all night,” Drace said, echoing my thought.

  “Not much longer,” Char’noth promised. "She must be alone and in a private place. If too many Earthlings see her taken they will suspect our involvement in their lives and seek us out.”

  “That’s sensible,” I agreed.

  “With any luck she is heading for her domicile now,” the Commercian said, gesturing at the lightscreen where we could see our chosen female driving her strange little vehicle down a paved road filled with other such vehicles. “These Earthlings have many reflective surfaces in the places where they live—large, shiny, flat, glass panels which I believe they call ‘mirrors’. Human females use them to check their appearance often—they are ideal for transportation.”

  “Like a 2D viewer?” I asked.

  “Exactly.” Char’noth nodded, his eyestalks bobbing. “We have only to wait until she gets to her domicile. Once she is there, I will lure her to one of the mirrors by playing discordant tones to get her attention. When she steps in front of the mirror, I will transport her directly to the station.”

  “How does your transportation device work?” Drace looked interested. “Does it use a trans-dimentional portal or—”

  “I’m afraid that is proprietary information,” Char’noth said stiffly in his high, squeaky voice. “We Commercians are extremely protective of our technology.”

  “Naturally you are.” I frowned at Drace who shrugged.

  “What? I like to know how things work.”

  “It doesn’t matter how it works as long as it gets the female here to un-bond us,” I pointed out.

  “You’re not saying anything I’m not already thinking.” Drace glared at me. “Can’t happen soon enough for me.”

  “Gentlemen, please,” Char’noth waved several clawed hands for silence. “Look—she appears to be approaching her domicile. As soon as she is alone, I will lure the female to a mirror and transport her.”

  I closed my mouth on the angry words I’d been about to say. Soon the Earth female would be with us and the unbearable irritation of being bonded to an unsuitable mate would finally be ended.

  We all watched avidly as the female entered a large, rectangular building which appeared to house many smaller domiciles inside it. She walked down a long hallway, pas
sing several doors, until she came to her own. Using a small, flat piece of metal which I assumed was a primitive kind of key, she opened the lock.

  Soon she would be ours.

  Chapter Three

  Rylee

  I walked in to my apartment to find an unwelcome surprise.

  My ex, Phillip, was lounging on my sofa with a beer in one hand and a belligerent look on his face.

  Great, not this—not now. After the day I’d had, a confrontation with Phillip was the last thing I needed!

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, deciding to take the bull by the horns as my Aunt Celia would say. “You know you’re not supposed to be here. Did you forget something?”

  “Yeah, babe—I forgot you.” Standing, he put down the beer and swaggered over to me with a cocky grin on his face.

  When I first met Phillip about three years before, he’d had a bad-boy air that I had found irresistibly attractive. With his thick brownish-blonde hair tied back in a pony tail and his big brown eyes he was also easy on the eyes—or he had been before he started drinking too much and spending most of his paycheck on drugs and other women. Now he had a beer gut and a scraggly, patchy beard which made him look like a bum.

  I should have given him the heave-ho long before I actually did, but I hadn’t known how deep his problems went. The drinking part was obvious because Phillip was a mean drunk. Not that he hit me—I wouldn’t stand for that. No, he just got verbally abusive calling me a “bitch” and a “fat cunt” and screaming that I was ruining his life. Which was ridiculous because he was doing a damn fine job of ruining it himself—he didn’t need any help from me. Afterwards he would cry and apologize and swear never to drink again—which usually lasted about a month before he ‘went out with the guys’ and got blackout drunk once more.

  As for the drugs and the other women, I suspected both of them but I didn’t have actual proof until the day I walked into my bedroom and found Phillip in bed with a skanky waitress from one of the grungy bars he frequented. They were trying to have sex but both of them were high as a kite so they weren’t getting very far with it.

  The waitress had a blissed-out expression on her face and she was laying flat on her back while Phillip crouched over her, fumbling with his crotch.

  “Wow, babe, that’s so good,” she was moaning. “So good. Soooo goooood.”

  Phillip had his dick in his hand—as limp as a week-old stalk of celery—and was trying to aim for the hairy forest between her legs. Only he kept poking her belly-button instead.

  “How can it be good?” he asked peevishly. “I’m not even in yet. Why is your pussy so shallow? It’s like…only an inch deep.”

  “It’s good—it’s really good!” she insisted. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, babe. It’s awesome.”

  It was a ridiculous scene and I would have laughed out loud if I hadn’t felt so horribly betrayed. As it was I just stood there for a long moment, staring at them fumbling around in front of me before I swung into action.

  I kicked them both out, threw their clothes after them and slammed the door in their faces. Later, after Phillip was finally gone, I dragged all his things out to the curb and left them there for whoever wanted them. I even got the locks changed.

  As painful as the incident had been, I was glad it had happened. It had been a wakeup call for me—the boot in the ass I needed to get me moving. Up until I walked in on my ex and his hairy-waitress-whore, I’d been making excuses for him. But seeing them having sex in my bed—or trying to anyway—had snapped something inside me. The relationship which had started out sexy and daring and exciting had turned bad, I realized—had been bad for a while. That realization had enabled me to wake up, get out, and get on with my life.

  Of course, Phillip had called me on the phone and ranted and raved and begged and pleaded. He called me plenty of nasty names—not the least of which was the "N" word which he hadn’t previously dared to use, even when he was drunk—but I held my ground. I refused to talk to him, refused to see him, refused to even think about him if I could help it.

  Which was why it was so disconcerting to walk into my apartment and find him lounging on the couch like he still lived there.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, frowning. “How did you even get in?”

  He grinned, showing teeth which hadn’t been brushed in a while.

  “Called a locksmith and told him I locked myself out. He let me in—no problem.”

  “That’s illegal,” I said tightly. “They can’t just let you in because you claim to live here.”

  “Hey, my name’s still on the lease. This copy of it, anyway.” He waved a piece of paper in my face. “Had a copy in my email. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.”

  “Maybe because you knew I never wanted to see your sorry ass again?” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Seriously, Phillip—after the day I’ve had, I don’t need your shit right now.”

  “C’mon now, babe.” His voice took on a wheedling tone I used to think was cute. “Don’t be like that—I really miss you.”

  “Translation, you miss having a roof over your head. What happened, did that skanky waitress you were trying to screw kick you out?”

  His face went dark and his eyes narrowed for a moment but then he made a visible effort to smile genially.

  “She didn’t mean nothin’ to me—you know that. That was a mistake—I never woulda gone with her if I hadn’t been drunk.” He spread his hands. “But I’ve changed now—that’s all over with.”

  “Let me guess—you’re turning over a new leaf and you’re never going to drink again and now you want me back because we belong together forever,” I recited, giving him his old excuse almost word-for-word. I knew it by heart—I ought to, considering how many times I’d heard it.

  “Well…yeah.” Phillip stared at me earnestly. “I’m serious this time, babe—I even went to AA. Look, I got one of those chips they give you for attending the meetings.”

  He pulled a chip out of the pocket of his battered leather motorcycle jacket and held it out to me. I bent down and studied it briefly before looking back up at him.

  “How stupid do you think I am, Phillip? This is a poker chip. Real AA chips have a triangle with ‘Unity, Service, and Recovery’ printed on them. I know—my uncle was an alcoholic.”

  Which was probably the reason I’d been drawn to one myself, since my Uncle Carl had been the only man in my life. Well, until Aunt Celia kicked him out for being a drunk, that was.

  “They were out of that kind the night I went. That’s why they gave me this one.” Phillip scowled and shoved the poker chip back in his pocket.

  “Yeah, right. You just can’t stop lying, can you?” I shook my head. “Forget Alcoholics Anonymous—you need Liars Anonymous. Now get your lying, sorry ass out of my apartment before I call the police.”

  I held up my cell phone threateningly but Phillip darted forward and batted it out of my hand. It skittered into the corner of the living room and when I started to go after it, he blocked my path.

  “I don’t think so, babe,” he snarled. “You and I belong together—you just need a little encouragement to see it.”

  He made a grab for me but I darted away.

  “Get away from me!” I shouted, hoping the neighbors on either side of me would hear. “Leave me alone!”

  “I’m not leaving.” Phillip started advancing on me, arms outstretched to catch me. “We’re back together, Rylee—you just need to accept it.”

  “You can’t just say we’re back together and have it be true,” I argued, dismayed at the gleam in his bloodshot eyes. Was he on something? “I never want to see you again and that’s not going to change no matter how many excuses you give or how many fake poker chips you wave in my face.”

  “We’re back together,” Phillip repeated doggedly, as though he could make it true by saying it enough. “Things are gonna be just like they were—even better, babe—you’ll see.”


  “No! Now get out!” I shouted. If the neighbors could hear my shouting, nobody was doing anything about it. Was anyone hearing me at all?

  Phillip continued to advance and I kept backing away, afraid to turn my back on him. I wanted to run out of the apartment but he had gotten between me and the door.

  “We’re gonna be together, Rylee,” he snarled and reached in his pocket again. “One way or another we’re gonna be together because I can’t live without you.”

  “What are you talking about?” I demanded and was upset to hear how my voice was shaking. “What do you—”

  “I can’t live without you, babe,” Phillip repeated. “And you sure as hell can’t live without me.”

  Then he pulled something much bigger than a poker chip out of his pocket and pointed it at me.

  A gun.

  Chapter Four

  Drace

  “Get her out of there!” I bellowed at Char’noth. “Right fucking now!”

  “Drace is right—that’s some kind of weapon, you can tell by the way he’s holding it.” Lucian—the arrogant bastard—sounded like he was losing his cool for once. Not that I could enjoy his momentary meltdown—I was too busy having one of my own.

  My temporary bond-mate and I had been watching with increasing unease as the female we had picked out was menaced by an Earth male who had apparently been waiting in her domicile for her to come home. From the gist of their conversation I gathered that she had ended their relationship but he didn’t want it to stay ended. Though she repeatedly told him she wanted no part of his “sorry ass” as she put it, he wouldn’t leave and now it looked like she was in real danger.

  “Bring her through,” I told Char’noth. “Or send us down there to defend her.”

  I felt a surge from Lucian through our link.

  “Yes—send us!” he exclaimed, stepping forward. “We’ll kill that bastard who dares to threaten our female!”

  I nodded at him approvingly. For once we were in complete agreement. We might not see eye-to-eye on much else but at that moment we were ready to act as one to protect our chosen female—and pound the male who was menacing her into the ground.