The Game (6 page)

Back arching, her hips undulated to his rhythm, wanting his fingers to fuck her harder, faster. Her fists clenched in the fur, knuckles white with anticipation. She needed him to slide his hard erection into her warmth, fill her…complete her. A shaky breath and a gasp was the beginning of a climax she hadn’t experienced in years. Just as she reached for the apex, Seth plucked one nipple clamp off and then the other. Pain and pleasure imploded, intertwining into an overwhelming summit. A scream tore from the depths of her soul. She wanted to cry out from the numbing ache in her breasts and laugh at the overpowering emotion. Eyes closed, she savored the moment.

When her heavy lids finally opened, the nipple clamps were gone…and so was Seth.

Chastity went through a range of emotions. She hated him. She loved him. Yet one emotion was clear—she lusted after him with every beat of her heart. She wanted him in every way. Wanted to taste his essence, feel him slide deep into her wet core. But most of all she wanted him to kiss her like he had two years ago. Just a single, intimate kiss, a sharing of one personal moment before this all ended.
And
she wanted to slap the shit out of him. How dare he finger-fuck her and then leave without a word! The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. But anger wouldn’t get her anywhere. Talking wouldn’t get her anywhere. Seth wanted his revenge and he would continue until he got it. In other words, she was screwed. Feeling sorry for herself, she didn’t hear the transport door slide open. A young lady in a green and yellow uniform walked in. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail. She looked to be right out of high school. On her tray she carried a tall glass, its contents spilling over the sides, and a small jar.

“Miss Ambrose.” The girl knew her name.

31

Mackenzie McKade

When Chastity tried to rise, white-lightning stung through her nipples and breasts.

“
Eeoow
!”

“This drink should help the pain.” The girl pressed the tray toward Chastity. “And the cream will cool the fire.”

Now how did the girl know about the clamps? Embarrassment rolled across Chastity’s face like a red carpet. “What is it?”

“Blue Illusion. It’s an analgesic.”

Chastity felt like a disobedient child. “I don’t want it.”

The girl, whose name chip read Starlight, was focused on Chastity’s breasts.

“Pardon me, but by the looks of your swollen nipples you may want to indulge. We’re still ten hours from Zygoman.”

“Ten hours?”

Starlight nodded. “Can I get you anything? Would you like to watch cinema-max?

That new show, Voyeur II series, is on in fifteen minutes.”

No, but
hell
no
. “No thank you, I think I’ll take your suggestion and drink… What did you call it?”

“Blue Illusion. The cream is a special mixture of an analgesic and a coolant. You should feel the relief immediately. Would you like me to apply it?” The young girl seemed overly excited. Her brown eyes darkened, her tongue swept across her bottom lips.

What the hell. “Yes, please. But no cinema-max, I want to sleep.” The last thing she wanted to do was watch a replay of her earlier humiliation. Why? Because she was sure that more humiliation awaited her on the exotic planet of Zygoman.

The drink felt icy-cold going down and then instantly began to warm her body as the flavor shifted from fruity to minty. Sitting the glass back on the tray she watched Starlight as she dipped a finger into the cream, then approached and sat lightly on the edge of the lounge. When the girl’s finger touched Chastity’s nipple, she gasped at the instant icy relief penetrating through her swollen nub—and the strange erotic feeling it elicited.

The girl released a tight giggle. “I told you so.” She gently massaged the salve into Chastity’s skin, slipping beyond the edge of the material to stroke the fullness of her breast. “Miss Ambrose, you have a lovely figure. Maybe we could…” The aroused look on the girl’s face said that she had moved beyond helpful to hopeful. In the twenty-second century the sex act had taken on a more medicinal viewpoint. Attitudes had shifted, recommending the therapeutic benefits of stimulation and release. Studied and approved by the DNMA (Development of Natural Medicine Association), sexual assuagement was encouraged. Migraines were almost a thing of the past. Sex was prescribed as a stress-reliever, instead of mind-altering drugs. Fear of disease or unwanted pregnancy had nearly been conquered. 32

The Game

Now, if only they could give every woman the opportunity to carry a child in her womb. Even in this day and age a small minority of women were deprived of that blessed gift. The dream of a life growing inside Chastity, Seth’s child, was one that had shattered two years ago.

The thought was a downer, a depressant. “Starlight, thank you for the offer, but I just want to sleep.”
Sleep and forget.

“An orgasm on Blue Illusion can be very relaxing,” Starlight insisted as she applied cream on Chastity’s other nipple, her breathing becoming more pronounced. The firmness of her hand squeezing Chastity’s breast became uncomfortable.

“Thank you, but
no
,” Chastity said adamantly, pulling away. The crestfallen girl rose, picked up her tray, and without another word slipped through the door before it slid shut.

Relieved to be alone, Chastity snuggled up on the chaise, her fingers moving through the soft fur. The soothing purr sung low in her ears. Disheartened, she wondered if she could live through another day like this one. A deep yawn forced her mouth open, the air filling her lungs released on a sigh. Heavy eyelids drifted closed…

On the cold, gray moon Chastity watched the eight snow leopards guarding the forbidding
fortress. For miles and miles it was the same—huge mountains and flat plains of nothingness. A
natural satellite of Earth, the moon lacked an atmosphere. It had no weather, no clouds, no rain,
and no wind. Sound didn’t carry. There was no air to breathe.
Nothing.

However, this small section was shielded by a dome erected during the mid-twenty-first
century. Artificial light and air was provided. Food and water was transported. Its inhabitants
were those that no one cared about. Earth had exiled them to a vacuum of emptiness and left
them on this dismal place to die.

How Chastity had arrived on this barren satellite, she had no recollection. Still, something
about the imposing structure looked familiar. Each time a flicker of memory flashed in her hazy
mind it disappeared, elusive.

The sense of loss and pain swamped her. Someone she loved was inside. She was that
person’s only hope, only salvation…and she was failing.
A cry from inside set the cats to pacing. Agitated, they raised their heads and roared. Their
powerful paws rose, swiping the air. Chastity thought if she could only get closer she’d pet them,
make them purr like her chaise. They were beautiful animals, agile, graceful, and dangerous. She
couldn’t forget that fact.

Would they submit to her, as Seth wanted her to do for him?

Where did that thought come from?
Her thoughts and memories were scrambled,
seeping out through dark crevices.

Seth, hurt, angry. God, she’d made a mess of things.
33

Mackenzie McKade

A lunar wind created by the ventilators blew back her hair. A wisp of moon-dust stung her
eyes. Rubbing them, she tried to remember why she was here. What was she supposed to do?

Whatever the risk, she knew she had to get past the leopards and into the building.
As Chastity approached, the cats stooped low, bellies to the ground. They crawled toward
her. Sharp canines glistened in the artificial light. No purring emerged, just sorrowful, heart-
wrenching cries to match the weeping coming from within the fortress.
She wanted to take their pain away, wanted her pain to vanish.
Reaching out with her mind to calm the animals, the felines turned as a unit and lunged,
powerful jaws snapping. Stumbling, she fell over a cluster of basalt moon rocks, hitting the
ground hard. The gravelly minerals dug into her backside. Everything was a whirl of motion and
sounds. When her vision cleared she stared into eight pairs of menacing eyes, felt the cats’ hot
breath on her face, and smelled the rancid stench of decay and rotting meat.
She screamed.

In a chair across the room, Seth watched Chastity sleep. Restless, she moaned and cried out in pain. Her body arched and he held back the desire to comfort her.
Damn those nipple clamps
. Someone should’ve told him that they shouldn’t stay on longer than thirty minutes. From his pocket he extracted the menacing contraptions. They looked innocent enough, but then so did Chastity.

Had she ever loved him? Or had she just been one of the other astral-ball bunnies that hounded the players for their fame and fortune? Stardom and money hadn’t meant a lot to her back then, however, it sure seemed to now. Getting her face in front of a camera would help her modeling career…and the money? Hell, he had no idea what she had planned for the money, nor did he care.

Seth tossed the nipple clamps into the air and caught them in his palm. Had she enjoyed the pain? She was aroused. He had seen it in her eyes when he placed the first clip on her nipple. The cloudy look of desire had made him rock-hard. If he had tasted her then, sucked her nipple into erection, there would’ve been no chance in hell that he’d survive attaching the second one without a total meltdown. Another cry, her body squirmed. God, he wished she was squirming beneath
him
. Crying out in ecstasy.

Would she ask him to place the torturous things on her again? He smiled at the thought. How would she react to the things he would do to her over the course of the next couple of days? What about the things Voyeur II had planned? She certainly hadn’t found the whippings pleasurable. In fact, they did more to enrage than inflame. He watched her svelte body move—even in her tormented sleep she exuded a sensuality that drove him crazy. Monty had definitely thrown him into an absurd situation.

Yet the pinnacle of this crazy day was when he had finger-fucked her, removing the torturous devices from her nipples as she climaxed. He had stood just outside heaven’s 34

The Game

door. So friggin’ hot for her, his cock almost exploded in his pants. He’d barely escaped the room without embarrassing himself.

It had taken him fifteen minutes to regain his composure and move away from her door, when what he really wanted to do was return and bury his throbbing dick between her thighs.

Next time…if there was a next time, he would fuck her with his cock. Feel her warmth, wetness, her inner muscles contracting around him, pulling him deeper. And he would hold her close, just like the quiet times they had shared in the past.
No
! He shook his head adamantly, and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to stop thinking like that. He couldn’t allow her to screw with his mind. Pocketing the chain, he leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. She was beautiful. But then again, so was the deadly celestial spirit flower, commonly called the Death’s Angel on Baccarac, a nearby planet. Its scent, an intoxicating blend of sweet and tart, was a poisonous gas. Hidden beneath a soft layer of fleece were leaves as sharp as a razor and as lethal as rattlesnake venom.

Yeah, that was Chastity Ambrose. On the outside a delectable treat, on the inside destruction waiting to be released.

A sorrowful whimper surfaced from her full lips. She whispered his name between cries. He stood and then just as quickly sat back down. Confusion pulled at his mind. His first thought was to comfort her, but his conscience overrode the basic instinct to go to her. Chagrined, he acknowledged that even in her sleep this woman held power over him.

Her body sunk into the couch as though an invisible weight pushed her down. Immediately, she began to thrash against the constraint. A fist swung out as if she was fighting someone or something. Her face was twisted into a semblance of pain and fear as she clawed the air. Then her mouth parted and a strangled scream ripped from her throat.

Before he could lunge from the chair and reach out to her, she began to weep, big soul-wrenching tears. She cried as if her heart were breaking. Without a second thought, Seth gathered her up in his arms, settling her on his lap.

“Chastity, honey, are you okay? Wake up, baby.” But the drug she had taken refused to release its hold. Pressed taut against his chest she seemed to take some comfort as she again whispered his name and snuggled closer. In time, her sobs died. Still, the irregular sniffling that accompanied a crying spell shook her body with every breath she inhaled. Gently, he wiped her remaining tears away, pressing his lips to her forehead.

Confused and dismayed, he wondered how he could feel so much compassion toward this woman, a woman who felt so right in his arms—yet in the same breath loathe her, want to destroy her.

For almost an hour he held her, caressed her. Felt her skin against his, smelled the clean, sweet scent that was uniquely hers. And, he tasted her. Gently kissed her minty35

Mackenzie McKade

fresh lips, trailed the featherlight kisses he knew she liked along her jawline to the sensitive spot behind her ear, and onto the hollow of her neck. The soft mewing sounds she made as her back unconsciously arched into his touch was a kind of agony he had never anticipated. Even after all she’d done, he still wanted her. Seth eased her off his lap and back onto the chaise, stood and stretched. Her body, so close to his, had brought back old memories, old desires—ones that were best forgotten. What had he gotten himself into? Willpower flew out the window when it came to Chastity.

Control. He had to get his shit together. See this week through. And then get on with his life. He just had to remind himself that she had already proven untrustworthy. In fact, she had decimated him.