Free Merchandise by Angelique Voisen

owners.
    “Okay?” Gael
prodded, settling her in her pod.
    Farr was awake, too.
Did she wake him? She hadn’t planned on worrying him. J looked up at him,
afraid he was angry, but Farr only stroked the side of her cheek
absentmindedly.
    “It is done?” Farr
asked quietly.
    “Done,” Gael agreed.
    “How much will she
remember?” Farr asked, smiling down at her finally when she leaned into his
hand and kissed his fingers. J felt exhausted, although she wasn’t sure why.
    “She won’t remember
a thing.” Gael reached out, petting her hair. “Sleep, J.”
    “Okay,” J agreed,
curling her body while Farr lifted up the blanket to cover her.

Chapter Eight
     
    After being caged up for weeks like
an animal, Brale was filled with relief when he felt the
ship tremble and quake for a few seconds, and then its humming engines died
down.   They were on solid ground. Planet Hadar he guessed, from the way the crew was rejoicing and
the way the air in the cabin was changed, but where?
    The primary military base on the
capital perhaps, or a smaller base somewhere in the provinces? Farr must be a
heavyweight in the military to be able to acquire a second cruiser in the nick
of time and catch up to them, so Brale had to assume
the worst. He and Dyos needed to keep their minds sharp
for their escape, but his mate looked the worse for wear.   
    From his cell, Dyos’s eyes were narrowed to half-slits and his entire body was wound up tightly like
a coil. The last time Dyos had been on his homeworld , Planet Hadar had been
in the midst of a war. He had been a dispensable foot soldier in the frontline,
watching his brothers die senseless deaths as his military leaders struggled to
buy time against the invading Cobrini horde.
    Knowing Dyos was reliving dark memories and knowing he could do nothing about it, made Brale seethe with anger.
    “Get yourself together,” Brale whispered to himself.
    He couldn’t lose his nerve. Not
during this critical moment. The doors hissed open minutes later, revealing two Hadarians who were fully garbed in standard military
wear and armed to the teeth.
    “Get up, filth. It is time you meet
your rightful fate,” a guard sneered.
    Brale was
nudged to his feet, and he didn’t fight the shackles slapped to his wrists.
    “How are you boys treating our
little darling?” Brale drawled, trying to ignore the
sharp barrel of the plasma gun pointed to his back as they were marched out of
the cell.
    “Your foul mating mark has almost
faded, Cobrini ,” the warrior behind him said smugly.
“Once our priests have acknowledged and witnessed our mating, we will finally
be able to partake of her sweet flesh.”
    “Indeed?” Brale hoped he sounded disinterested enough.
    “Indeed, Cobrini scum. I myself cannot wait to hear the sound of her lovely cries or feast on
the sight of her body convulsing and shuddering as we take turns mounting her.”
    The Hadarian leaned close to whisper vehemently in his ear, “I understand Breeders have more
stamina compared to the average Terran female, so I
believe our rutting can last all night long. We’ll let her sleep during the
day, and repeat the entire night all over again until she is heavy with child.”
    It took all of Brale not to punch the warrior in the face. Just imagining J in the hands of Farr and
his crew made his stomach turn. Knowing J would be an eager and willing
participant with her memories altered made it all worse. Damn it all.
    “Well, I hope she bites your cock
off,” Brale added, tasting blood when the Hadarian mutely delivered a painful punch to his jaw.
    “That’s enough, Killian. We all
know the Cobrini are uncouth and uncivilized beasts,”
Farr said as they joined them by the entrance of the cruiser.
    Brale spotted J’s small frame sandwiched protectively between Farr and Gael’s bulky
bodies. The brief look of disinterest she gave them felt like someone had cut
open Brale and ripped out his insides. No tortured
confusion marred her