demons caught in the deep web of sleep, Kyele would appear and lay in bed beside her. Staring. Touching her hair.
She would be forever grateful for his midnight visits, though neither of them ever mentioned it. The vivid images of the past haunting Joni’s sleep fell to the wayside as if magically banished by Kyele’s presence in her bedroom. His arrival always disrupted the one nightmare she couldn’t fight by herself. The one that focused on her final sale to a research lab. A sale that almost broke her completely.
At the time Joni had thought being sold as a sex slave was the worst that could happen. Dr. Kirkem, the brilliant scientist at the labs, changed her mind. He did what none of Joni’s other owners could.
He gained her trust.
After being returned when her first owner, an elderly man interested in gardening, died, Joni locked every emotion tight. Her next three sales didn’t go well due to her refusal to submit to the sexual advances of her owners. When she arrived at the labs, Joni had expected more of the same. Instead the soft spoken doctor paid for Joni to be his special project.
He asked her to be his assistant. As always she planned her escape from the ebony skinned scientist with excruciating detail. This time if she failed, she would die trying.
But Dr. Kirkem talked to her. Nicely. Calmly. He didn’t tear at her clothes or finger her roughly like the others. Always wearing a charming smile, he fed her and gave her clean clothes, never once making any sexual overtures. He promised to help her. She just needed to help him. During those days Joni’s battered spirit wanted to believe in what he offered. She’d been desperate for a kind word. Desperate for hope.
The moment she acquiesced became the moment of her downfall. Kirkem got off on the psychological aspects of torture. He threw her in a different cell and the experiments began. Horrible, painful experiments.
He threatened.
He taunted.
He laughed.
Then waited until she recovered from the mental breakdowns to repeat the process all over again with increased frequency.
And all the while Joni plotted. Plotted to escape and one day pay him back for the ultimate betrayal.
For making her trust him.
The good doctor had recorded her during his scientific experiments and played the vids for Joni to watch as he bragged about his plans to kill her if she ever managed to escape. But Joni did escape when he released her restraints for another torture session.
Only she’d been caught by the horned bastards again. Marenians. She hated them with a passion. Then the Jutaks rescued her and the green-eyed soldier with the scarred face saved her in more ways than one.
He saved her from reliving the conclusion to the vicious nightmares which left Joni screaming—sometimes until her voice went hoarse. Now she woke from her terror filled dreams to Kyele threading strands of her red hair around his fingers the same way he did when he played with his knives. Her sleep dazed brain could just make out his whispered, “I’ve got you, little Earthling. I’ve got you.”
Joni shook away her thoughts with a toss of her hair. No way she’d tell Sylvie or anyone else the truth about all she’d suffered. “Like I said, he’s got appeal but I’m sticking to self-gratification for right now.”
Their gazes grew serious. Sylvie scooted closer, an arm curving about Joni’s shoulder. “We support whatever you decide. We’re goofing around about Kyele because it’s clear he likes what he sees in you.”
Clinging to humor like a shield, Joni gestured toward the skintight green dress that stopped at her mid-thigh and showed off her ample cleavage. “What’s not to like?”
Chapter 7
“Kyele, what’s your call?”
The question came from his team mate, Creed. It wasn’t Kyele’s first time leading a mission but it was his first as the official Team Leader for Team Two without Jaron along. Team Leader wasn’t a role he’d wanted but
She would be forever grateful for his midnight visits, though neither of them ever mentioned it. The vivid images of the past haunting Joni’s sleep fell to the wayside as if magically banished by Kyele’s presence in her bedroom. His arrival always disrupted the one nightmare she couldn’t fight by herself. The one that focused on her final sale to a research lab. A sale that almost broke her completely.
At the time Joni had thought being sold as a sex slave was the worst that could happen. Dr. Kirkem, the brilliant scientist at the labs, changed her mind. He did what none of Joni’s other owners could.
He gained her trust.
After being returned when her first owner, an elderly man interested in gardening, died, Joni locked every emotion tight. Her next three sales didn’t go well due to her refusal to submit to the sexual advances of her owners. When she arrived at the labs, Joni had expected more of the same. Instead the soft spoken doctor paid for Joni to be his special project.
He asked her to be his assistant. As always she planned her escape from the ebony skinned scientist with excruciating detail. This time if she failed, she would die trying.
But Dr. Kirkem talked to her. Nicely. Calmly. He didn’t tear at her clothes or finger her roughly like the others. Always wearing a charming smile, he fed her and gave her clean clothes, never once making any sexual overtures. He promised to help her. She just needed to help him. During those days Joni’s battered spirit wanted to believe in what he offered. She’d been desperate for a kind word. Desperate for hope.
The moment she acquiesced became the moment of her downfall. Kirkem got off on the psychological aspects of torture. He threw her in a different cell and the experiments began. Horrible, painful experiments.
He threatened.
He taunted.
He laughed.
Then waited until she recovered from the mental breakdowns to repeat the process all over again with increased frequency.
And all the while Joni plotted. Plotted to escape and one day pay him back for the ultimate betrayal.
For making her trust him.
The good doctor had recorded her during his scientific experiments and played the vids for Joni to watch as he bragged about his plans to kill her if she ever managed to escape. But Joni did escape when he released her restraints for another torture session.
Only she’d been caught by the horned bastards again. Marenians. She hated them with a passion. Then the Jutaks rescued her and the green-eyed soldier with the scarred face saved her in more ways than one.
He saved her from reliving the conclusion to the vicious nightmares which left Joni screaming—sometimes until her voice went hoarse. Now she woke from her terror filled dreams to Kyele threading strands of her red hair around his fingers the same way he did when he played with his knives. Her sleep dazed brain could just make out his whispered, “I’ve got you, little Earthling. I’ve got you.”
Joni shook away her thoughts with a toss of her hair. No way she’d tell Sylvie or anyone else the truth about all she’d suffered. “Like I said, he’s got appeal but I’m sticking to self-gratification for right now.”
Their gazes grew serious. Sylvie scooted closer, an arm curving about Joni’s shoulder. “We support whatever you decide. We’re goofing around about Kyele because it’s clear he likes what he sees in you.”
Clinging to humor like a shield, Joni gestured toward the skintight green dress that stopped at her mid-thigh and showed off her ample cleavage. “What’s not to like?”
Chapter 7
“Kyele, what’s your call?”
The question came from his team mate, Creed. It wasn’t Kyele’s first time leading a mission but it was his first as the official Team Leader for Team Two without Jaron along. Team Leader wasn’t a role he’d wanted but
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