Free The Hard Way (Box Set) by Stephanie Burke Page A

into the room and I found myself pulled from my cage, hands still bound, and placed on the table.
    I tried to struggle free, but before I could even move, hands strapped both legs down to the table, and my arms above my head. I gasped as fingers peeled my eyelids back and a bright light shone in.
    “ Hey !” I protested, but the person spoke out loud to the room at large.
    “Brown eyes. This is a variant. Must be a genetic throw back.”
    “Throw back? Ouch !” A syringe plunged into my arm, drawing blood.
    “No phosphorescence in the skin. Plain brown. Possibly lacking in the mutated traits and heightened abilities?”
    “Are you sure that this is his mate?” This voice boomed from behind me. I twisted to get a good look, but I could only move a few inches. I saw the hem of another tunic. The voice spoke with authority.
    “The other would not lie. She wanted her mate back too badly. You know that the control alteration malfunctioned. Instead of making them easier to control, it made them more aggressive. The only good thing about that little mistake is that we can use it against them if we can catch one of a matched pair.”
    “What is going on?” I finally managed. What were they talking about? Mutations and alterations? Who were these people?
    “I suppose we should show the male that we have his mate. That may make him speak up about where he found the box and the words for the voice command.”
    Voice command?
    I struggled to look around, to see who these people were, but I had no luck. All my wiggling did was earn me extra-tight restraints and more attention.
    “Run the DNA tests,” the large voice mused. “That will show us where we stand. If this creature is a throw back, we may have a weapon against the fugitives.”
    Fugitives?
    “Ah, good! Bring him over.”
    Him? Then I felt his presence. They were bringing me my Lust!
    “Luster!” I gasped, sensing his presence ever stronger as he drew closer. They turned the table, and then I could see him. My Luster.
    He was strapped to a large, square frame on wheels, hanging from his arms, his hands encased in some material, his ankles lashed to the sides. He was completely naked and hung limply, but his eyes, when he raised his head, were full of defiance and anger.
    “Now, Luster, will you cooperate? We have your mate and you know that we take no pity on those who defy us.”
    “She is not my mate,” he said, his eyes warning me before he dropped his head again.
    At first my stomach plunged into my feet as I took in his words, then my mind began to work. Of course he would deny me. If he reacted in any way, it would prove that I was his mate and they would have power over us both.
    “Why do I not believe that?” the voice said.
    “Maybe because not only do you lack magic,” Luster sneered, “you lack eyesight as well. I have no mate. You knew that when you had my people imprisoned. The same holds true this day.”
    “Luster,” laughed the man. “You were always the clever one, more Thinker than the rest. But I believe science will prevail.”
    “Damn your science!” he snarled.
    “Very good, Luster. Damn us all. But I know something that you do not. When in the presence of your true mate, you will have an incredible urge to bond. All I have to do is leave you in the room and your body will tell me the truth.”
    Damn! That was why Glow had been sporting a very good hard-on when he’d returned from the shadows after warning Glimmer! His body hadn’t been reacting to the erotic things that Lust and I were doing. He had been in contact with his mate.
    As I stared wordlessly at Lust, I knew we were in deep trouble. There was no way to keep his body from reacting.
    “Put them in the cage.”
    “ No !” I screamed as I was wheeled into another room. I could hear the wheels of Luster’s frame following.
    One of the men released the bindings on my ankles, then the ones holding my wrists above my head. I heard Luster grunt and knew that they had