Free Pirate's Price by Aubrey Ross Page A

laughing.
    Music drew her attention to a large shop on
her left and her steps faltered. Not a shop, she realized, a bar. A
stage rested against the adjacent wall and a couple performed for
the sparse audience. They undulated and rubbed against each other,
their “dance” nothing more than a simulation of the sex act.
    She averted her gaze and stifled a gasp. The
alleyway on her right was peppered with couples, and nothing they
were doing was simulated. A blue-haired woman knelt before a burly
man, her head bobbing as she sucked his cock. The slender man being
fucked up the ass had blue tattoos running up both sides of his
body. He braced his hands against the wall as his lover -- client
-- thrust forcefully.
    “Are they…”
    “Prostitutes?” She nodded and he smiled.
“This is called Bidatta Nu or Scarlett Row. It runs through
the heart of the pleasure tier. This particular section caters to
the miners. No one plays games here. They want a quick fuck for a
reasonable price.”
    “They don’t even bother with a bed?”
    “There are rooms available, but they cost
more. Most don’t see the need.”
    Farther down the passageway, two men passed
a woman back and forth between them. One moved in her pussy, while
the other drilled her ass. Rana trembled. It was the
personification of her darkest fantasy. The woman was utterly
abandoned, her expression nothing short of rapturous.
    “If you like to watch, I can arrange
anything you want to observe.”
    Rana hadn’t noticed the man until he spoke.
He stood to one side of the alley, fully dressed and heavily
armed.
    “We’re just passing through,” Vik said.
    “Then carry on or make your selection. My
people don’t perform for free.”
    Rana tried to convince herself she found the
open display of sexuality appalling, but her body refused to
cooperate. Prostitutes lounged in the archway of every club they
passed, wearing little or nothing. They touched and encouraged
others to touch with seductive looks and provocative poses.
    “Have you ever --”
    “No past and no future,” he reminded
her.
    By the time they left the pleasure district,
Rana fidgeted and squirmed. Her pussy throbbed and the material of
the corset abraded her nipples. Vik hurried her toward an express
elevator at the far end of the tier.
    “I thought we couldn’t use the lifts.”
    “This one’s private; a direct line to our
destination.” An instant after the lift door closed, Vik pushed her
up against the wall and tugged one side of the corset down. She
rubbed her mound against his thigh as he firmly sucked her tender
peak.
    “Can you… stop the car?” She covered his
erection with her hand and squeezed. “I’ll go down on you.”
    He growled and kissed her furiously, both
hands on her ass. A synthesized bell interrupted their frantic
embrace. He quickly righted her corset and stepped back, allowing
her cloak to swirl closed around her.
    Breathless and wobbly, she followed him from
the lift. The corridor was wide and elegantly decorated. She could
have been in an office building or a posh hotel on her home
world.
    “You live on this level?”
    “Not exactly.” He didn’t explain as he led
her along. Her outfit had helped her blend in with the sordid
occupants on the lower tiers, but here she felt tawdry.
    She clasped the sides of her cloak together
and sped her steps. If he didn’t have quarters on this level, where
was he taking her?
    They turned off the main corridor and she
looked around. Though still well maintained and elegant, this area
felt less accessible, almost secret. “Where are we going?” she
tried again.
    “Right here.” He paused before an unmarked
door and pressed his hand against the scanner.
    “Member number seven twenty-nine accepted.
Welcome to the House of Bliss.”
    “House of Bliss?” The door slid open, but
Rana dug in her heels. “Is that what it sounds like? Did you bring
me to a brothel?”

Chapter Five
     
    It was all Vihlok could do not to