Handling the Hybrid: A Kindred Tales Novel Read online

  “I want to get on with my life too.” She nodded decisively. “All right, Kindred—you have a deal. Whatever I do to you when Mistress Sinda comes to examine my progress and during the Test of Mastery, you can…can do to me as well. When we’re alone.”

  Her voice shook a little on the last words but she kept her chin high and held his gaze with hers in a way that Vrox respected.

  “All right…Mistress,” he emphasized. “And after you get your late relative’s inheritance, you’ll set me free with a hundred thousand credits and a promise to leave me the fuck alone afterwards.”

  Her brown eyes narrowed. “Deal.”

  “Clasp on it.” Vrox extended more of his arm through the hole, offering his hand and forearm for a warrior’s clasp.

  “Oh, um…” Tandy looked at the offered hand uncertainly and Vrox could see the fear far back in her big brown eyes.

  “Come on, little girl—I’m not going to hurt you. Not unless you hurt me first,” he murmured. “You have to trust me enough to clasp arms—if you don’t, how can you honor your part of the bargain and let me get my own back every night?”

  “You’re right.” Tentatively, she slid her soft, cool fingers up his forearm and reached as far as she could around his elbow—which wasn’t very far. In contrast, Vrox could have almost wrapped his long fingers around her arm twice. He settled for a firm, but not painful grip, letting her know he was giving this deal his all. He liked the contrast of their skin colors—his own dark tan against her creamy brown it was…erotic somehow and he could feel the pulse jumping nervously in her wrist. After a moment he withdrew—aware that one of her biggest fears was probably that he would grab her and yank her forward, forcing her to let him past the force field and out of her domicile.

  I suppose you could have done that—why didn’t you? whispered a practical little voice in his head. But Vrox knew why—it was because he was an honorable male. He had made a deal with the curvy little Mistress and he fully intended to see it through.

  “All right.” There was a look of relief on Tandy’s lovely face when their arms parted. “Then I guess we’re agreed—we start tomorrow.”

  “Oh no, little girl,” Vrox growled, frowning at her. “We start tonight.”

  “What? But I haven’t…haven’t done anything to you yet!” she protested, putting her hands on her hips.

  “You haven’t huh? What do you call using the pain cuffs on me in order to get me to follow you out of the damn Flesh Bazaar?” he demanded.

  Her face went suddenly pale.

  “But…but that was before the deal we made! It shouldn’t count.”

  “You brought me to my fucking knees, little girl,” Vrox pointed out, scowling at her. “It was Goddess-damned painful.”

  “And now you want to hurt me back? Is that right?” She lifted her chin and Vrox almost felt ashamed. But no—this was the deal they had made. Quid pro quo—tit for tat. She held his fucking life in her soft little hands—she had to know she couldn’t get away with anything.

  “I just want to give back to you what you gave to me—nothing more,” he said evenly. “I won’t hurt you any more than that—won’t try to get away and escape either. We have a deal and I’ll honor it,” he added, seeing her narrowed eyes and uncertain look. The Truth device, which he still wore, lit up green and beeped, proclaiming the sincerity of his words.

  “I…but I…” She bit her lip, looking at him uncertainly.

  “We can’t start this relationship on uneven footing, little girl,” he told her sternly. “You have to know—know in your fucking bones—that whatever you do to me, comes back to you.”

  “I understand that.” Tandy swallowed hard. “But I guess…guess I’m about to understand it better.” Her warm brown cheeks had lost a lot of color and her hands were shaking but she was doing as he asked, Vrox saw—she was opening the force field. She really was going to let him punish her the way she had punished him earlier with the pain cuffs.

  His opinion of her grew exponentially. For such a little thing, she had the courage of a vranna! He could break her in half with one hand and she knew that but they had made a deal and she was going to honor it.

  Goddess-damn it he admired her!

  But that didn’t change the fact that he had to give her back exactly what she’d given to him.

  Her time of reckoning had come.

  FIVE

  Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? demanded a little voice in the back of Tandy’s head as she opened the force field and stepped inside with the big Kindred. He can do more than hurt you—he can kill you and you’re putting yourself at his mercy! What is wrong with you?

  I’m not completely at his mercy, Tandy argued with the voice—which she was terribly afraid might be the voice of reason. I have the remote to the pain collar and cuffs in my possession and he can’t take it away from me because it’s keyed only to my touch. One jolt from it would kill him.

  So then why did she feel so nervous as the force field closed behind her and she found herself facing the big Kindred with nothing between them? She looked up at him…and up and up. Goddess, why did he have to be so tall? He had his hands on his hips and he was looking down at her appraisingly, as though thinking how to start her punishment.

  Tandy decided to make it easy for him.

  “Here,” she said, reaching for one of his pain cuffs. They were keyed to her fingerprint so only she was able to take them off. But before she could get the right unfastened from his thick wrist, the big Kindred drew back, frowning.

  “What do you think you’re doing, little girl?” he asked.

  “Well…putting on the pain cuffs so I can get shocked, like I shocked you,” Tandy said, frowning. “Unfortunately, you can’t handle the remote yourself—it’s keyed to me and if you try to touch it, the jolt you get from it could kill you,” she explained. “But I promise to give myself a good long zap—you can even count it out if you want—so I can get the full experience of what I did to you.”

  To her surprise, Vrox shook his head.

  “No, little girl—I don’t want you to do that. These damn pain cuffs are heavy duty and they’re set for a male my size—not a tiny little thing like you. You need to have pain because you gave me pain—but I don’t want you to have any permanent injury.”

  “Well that’s…chivalrous of you, I guess,” Tandy said blankly. “But how are you going to, uh, give me pain if not with the cuffs?”

  “Like this.”

  Before she could protest, he had swung her up and was carrying her under one muscular arm, over to the padded red bench in the center of the force field area she’d made for him.

  “Hey!” Tandy gasped. Her first panicked instinct was to shock him into submission but as she scrambled for the remote, the slippery little black box squirted out from between her fingers and fell to the floor with a muted clatter. “Oh, no!” she gasped. Without the means to control the pain cuffs and collar the huge Kindred wore, she was basically helpless in his arms and there was nothing she could do to stop him doing…whatever it was he had planned for her.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid! screamed the little voice in her head. This is what you get, Tandy! Now you’re going to die! He’s going to strangle you or rape you or some horrible combination of the two and when they find your body Deelee will be so happy and Remy’s going to die and it’s all because you were stupid enough to trust a slave!

  But when Vrox finally settled down on the padded bench, he didn’t wrap his long fingers around her throat or try to force her to the ground and spread her legs or any of the other horrible scenarios her terrified imagination kept showing her. Instead, to Tandy’s mingled relief and surprise, he simply sat her on his knee and put one big, warm hand on her back while the other rested firmly across her legs, keeping her in place.

  “What…what are you doing?” Her voice was breathless with fear but she couldn’t help it—he was so big. She felt almost like a child in his lap—a child waiting for a pu
nishment.

  “To start with, we’re just going to sit here for a minute,” Vrox rumbled. “You’re scared to death—I can hear your heart pounding ninety-to-nothing.”

  “You… you can hear my heart?”

  He nodded and rubbed her back soothingly.

  “Kindred have very keen senses. You need to calm down before we start.”

  “Be-before we start what?” Tandy whispered, her voice still coming out thin and uncertain despite the warm pressure of his hand on her back and shoulders.

  “Before I give a little back of what you gave to me,” he said firmly. “But first—relax, little girl. I told you I wasn’t going to try and escape or rape you or kill you and I meant it. We’ve got a deal and I’m going to honor it.”

  Actually, she realized belatedly, she hadn’t asked him if he planned to do any of those things. Which she really should have, back when he was wearing the Truth Detector device. Where was it now? Lying on the floor across the room beside the pain collar remote, she saw, biting her lip. Way out of reach—she would just have to trust the big Kindred was telling the truth. But he hadn’t hurt her so far, she thought as hope crept cautiously into her heart. So far he seemed content just to hold her on his lap and talk and rub her back.

  Slowly, bit by bit, she began to calm down and her breathing lost its nervous, gasping quality. She began to feel like she could get a deep breath again. Though she was still scared, she was no longer terrified.

  “That’s better,” Vrox rumbled. “See? Everything is gonna be okay, little girl. Everything is gonna be just fine.”

  Tandy reflected that she almost did feel like a little girl in the huge Kindred’s lap. She hadn’t felt this small or vulnerable since her own father had held her when she was a child.

  But I’m an adult now—all grown up and ready to be a Mistress, she reminded herself sternly. I can’t let myself forget that, no matter what he does to me.

  “All right now, are you ready?” Vrox asked, looking down at her.

  “Ready…ready for what?” she asked, hearing the nervous, breathless quality come back into her voice.

  “Ready for this, little girl,” he rumbled. His arm hand tightened around her and the world tilted. Suddenly she found that instead of sitting on his knee, she was turned over it, with her ass high in the air as she lay face down on his lap.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” she demanded angrily.

  “Giving you back some of what you gave to me.” His deep, rumbling voice was grim and to Tandy’s horror, she felt him pulling up her skirt to bare her ass. Since the typical Yonnie Six Mistress outfit she was wearing came with panties that were no more than a triangle of fabric to cover her pussy and some strings to hold them in place, her ass was completely exposed—completely vulnerable.

  “Stop it, Vrox!” she exclaimed, struggling to be free. “What do you think you’re doing?

  “This.” With one arm he held her firmly down in his lap and then she felt a stinging smack across her bare bottom.

  “Ouch!” Tandy gasped, writhing even harder in his lap, which did absolutely no good—he really had a firm grip on her. “How dare you?” she exclaimed. “I only hurt you—this…this is humiliating.”

  “You think it wasn’t humiliating for me when you brought me to my knees with these damn pain cuffs?” Vrox demanded. His big hand came down again. Smack! And again and again and again—smack, smack, smack! “You think I’m used to being sold like a fucking pet and told I have to call some female who just bought me ‘Mistress?’” Smack, smack, smack! “Think again, little girl—you absolutely deserve this and you’re gonna get it.” Smack, smack, smack, smack, smack…

  By this time Tandy had lost count of the number of times he had spanked her. Her ass felt like it was on fire and she was writhing helplessly on his lap, knowing it was useless to try and get away but unable to help trying anyway.

  “Stop it! Stop it!” she sobbed—because she was sobbing now. Though she didn’t want to show weakness in front of him, tears were stinging her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

  Part of it was the spanking he was giving her and the stinging pain he was inflicting, she thought. But part of it was the worry she’d been keeping bottled up inside—the fear that she wouldn’t get the money to her mother in time to save her brother. Not to mention the sorrow she felt for Aunt Zora’s death and the anxiety at suddenly being thrust into the position of a Mistress when she’d never really wanted it in the first place.

  She’d been happy to stay in the background and just be Aunt Zora’s companion but she had never really aspired to be her. Now it seemed like she had no choice but to live a life that felt unnatural and wrong to her…

  “Hey, little girl. Hey…it’s all right. It’s okay.”

  Suddenly the hard palm on her ass turned gentle and soothing and the big Kindred was lifting her and cradling her against him. For a moment, Tandy pressed her face to his broad chest and sobbed—she couldn’t help herself. It seemed like all the pain and fear and worry of the past few weeks ever since her aunt had died were coming down on her all at once. And for a moment, she forgot she was sitting in the lap of a male and a slave—a slave she had just allowed to punish her as though he owned her instead of the other way around. At that second all he was to her was a pair of comforting arms and a deep, soft voice telling her everything would be okay.

  Vrox continued to murmur soothing words and stroke her back and trembling shoulders as Tandy leaned against him.

  I ought to hate him, she thought in a hazy way. Look at what he did to me—humiliated me and spanked me so hard I bet I won’t be able to sit down for a week!

  But he was comforting her too—hugging her and holding her. How long had it been since she’d had a real hug, Tandy wondered? Not since she’d left home five cycles before. Her family had all been very tactile people—her mom hugging her practically every time she saw her.

  But Aunt Zora, while extremely kind, had been aloof with everyone. She didn’t even keep a personal bodyslave to meet her sexual needs, as most Yonnite Mistresses did. Though she wasn’t quite sure about it, Tandy thought her late aunt might have been asexual.

  At any rate, Zora hadn’t been the hugging type and since Tandy hadn’t met anyone she felt she could trust enough to be friendly with, she hadn’t had a hug in ages. Despite the way he’d spanked her, the big Kindred’s muscular arms felt good around her. Also, she realized, he smelled amazing.

  A dark, rich, musk like leather and spice rose from his skin, just a few shades lighter than her own. It filled her senses and added to the haze she found herself in.

  “All right, little girl?” he asked at last and Tandy looked up at him with wet eyes and saw that he was looking down at her with concern in his own mismatched eyes. The liquid gold and piercing blue of his irises was a strangely gorgeous combination and she found herself reaching up to cup his rough, bearded cheek before she recalled herself and pulled her hand away.

  “I…I’m fine,” she said, making an effort to sit up. Goddess, what was wrong with her? How could she let herself get so intimate with a complete stranger? How could she let him spank her and make her cry and then comfort her when she never should have done any of that?

  If Deelee saw me, she’d declare that I had failed the test right here and now, she thought apprehensively. The thought made her straighten up in his lap and take a deep breath.

  “Was I too hard on you?” Vrox rumbled. “I was trying to be fair but I might have gotten a little rough…”

  “No—no, I’m fine.” She sniffed and swiped at her eyes. Goddess, why couldn’t she get hold of herself? She needed to get going. “It was…fair, I suppose,” she said stiffly. “But I’d like you to let me go now, please.”

  “Sure, little girl.” He lifted her gently and placed her on her feet while he remained sitting on the bench. Tandy couldn’t help noticing that they were still nearly eye-to-eye. He was so big that even sitting while she was standing barely evened their hei
ght difference. “Now what?” he asked, eyeing her. “You wanna get the remote to my cuffs and collar and punish me back, little girl? You angry with me?”

  “Yes…no…I don’t know.” Tandy shook her head. She still wasn’t sure whether she ought to be angry with him for making her lose control or herself for losing it in front of him. She was trying to revert back to her stern Mistress persona but that was hard to do after she’d just let him spank her and then cried in his arms like a baby.

  She did know one thing though—she’d had enough of their tit for tat punishment for tonight.

  “No more punishments,” she said decisively. “It’s getting late. I’ll have your supper and some bedding brought in and we’ll start again tomorrow.”

  “We will, huh?” He lifted an eyebrow at her. “And what are we going to do?”

  “I believe that Mistress Sinda—who is the Judge of the Change—and my aunt Deelee, are going to come over and see if I’ve gotten you to start behaving yet.” She fixed him with a stern look. “Can I count on you to behave?”

  “As long as you know that whatever you do to me, I’m going to do back to you,” he said evenly. “Then I’ll behave just fine.”

  “You might have to kneel to me and call me Mistress,” Tandy warned. “Can you do that or will it hurt your male pride too much?”

  “Oh, I think I can manage,” Vrox rumbled, smiling a little. “But I don’t think we’d better start out like that. If you tell me ‘kneel’ and I kneel right away, your relative and the judge are going to be suspicious.” He sighed. “You’d probably better give me a few jolts with the pain collar first to make them think you’re hammering me into submission.”