Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

6. Aurora

6

AURORA

S lade’s ship was grander than anything I had ever seen. It had a sleek silver design and the interior was all butter-soft Frellian leather. It was also quite high off the ground. I was still looking for a way to get into it when he put his hands on my waist and boosted me up as though I weighed no more than a feather pillow.

“ Oh !” I gasped as he got me settled in the passenger seat.

“ Sorry , Princess —did I scare you?” he rumbled, raising an eyebrow as he strapped me in.

“ I’m not used to being grabbed and lifted like that!” I told him, trying to keep my dignity. Honestly , I couldn’t think of any human male I knew who could have done it— I’m not exactly light. “ I’m not used to being touched at all without my permission,” I added frostily.

“ Better get used to it.” His eyes were half-lidded as he spoke. “ Once we have our Binding Ceremony , you’ll be mine to touch if I want to. And I promise you, Princess — I want to.”

I bit my lip, feeling a shiver run through me. Goddess of Mercy , he was going to take me tonight— I was sure of it! Should I swallow one of the baby-stopper pills right now? Or at least as soon as I got someplace private? I wished I had thought of that sooner and asked Pansy about it. Would the pills still be effective if I took them at night instead of in the morning?

I had no idea and there was no way to find out.

“ Where are we going?” I asked, to cover my confusion as he fastened his own harness and started the ship.

“ Sin World of course.” He flashed me a dark grin. “ I promise not all of it is sinful, Princess . In fact, we’re stopping by a Holy House before we go on to our honeymoon.”

“ A Holy House ?” I said blankly. “ What for?”

“ For our Binding Ceremony , of course. Have you been through a Space Gate before?” he asked, before I could comment on the ceremony to come.

“ Uh , no,” I admitted. “ I’ve never been off of L’Crist .”

“ Such an innocent little bird,” he rumbled. “ You should know that it might make you feel a little funny but the feeling doesn’t last. As soon as we get through the gate, you’ll be fine.”

As he spoke, the ship rose into the air and then into the blackness of space. Not far from us, I saw the Space Gate he was talking about. It looked like a vast blue sphere revolving in the air before us. Around it was a golden halo of light that was so brilliant it was almost blinding.

“ This will take us right to Rigelis Nine ,” Slade rumbled and then we were flying right into the swirling blue sphere.

I felt my stomach rise and then drop—then, for a moment it almost felt like I was floating. The sensation reminded me of the coaster ride I’d gone on once when a traveling interstellar carnival had come to L’Crist .

But I barely had time to gasp before we were flying out of the sphere and a new sight appeared on the ship’s viewscreen. It was an enormous black planet that seemed to be shrouded in shadows. And yet its surface wasn’t black—it was covered in tiny specs of light like golden freckles on a dark face.

“ That’s Sin World ,” Slade told me as we flew closer. “ We’re headed for the night side right now because that’s where my family’s Holy House is located.”

“ It’s strange to think of a Brute Enforcer having a family Holy House ,” I remarked acidly. I wondered if my flippant words might make him angry— I barely cared. Or so I told myself.

But Slade didn’t get angry. He just shrugged, his impossibly broad shoulders rolling with the gesture under his expensive suit coat.

“ Why not? Just because I’m part of a Brutal Clan —one of the Four Families —doesn’t mean I have no morals.”

My temper abruptly snapped.

“ If you had morals, you wouldn’t be forcing me to marry you and bear your child!” I exclaimed, glaring at him.

And I wouldn’t be wondering how painful it will be when he takes me tonight, I added silently to myself.

The thought made me cold with fear. No matter what he said about not hurting or forcing me, I didn’t believe him for one minute. He was a Brute —the Head Enforcer of Clan Cruel . Of course he would take me roughly—of course he would hurt me. His nature was in his very name—not to mention the fact that he had both the eyes and the horns of a beast. How could I expect him to act like a human?

The answer was, I couldn’t and I didn’t.

Slade gave me a look from those glowing golden eyes.

“ Princess if you only knew how long I’ve been waiting for you—how I’ve restrained myself from taking you for so many fucking years you wouldn’t say that. I have morals… I’ve just come to the end of them. I can’t wait to have you any fucking longer.”

I stared at him, startled out of my fear. He’d been waiting for me for years? Wanting me for that long? I never would have guessed it from our previous interactions. It was true that he’d been the Cruel Clan Enforcer who visited our little planetoid and took our tribute for as long as I could remember, but I had never guessed that he had any feelings for me— I’d had no indication whatsoever. Well , except for that one staring contest we’d had when he caught me looking at his crotch…

Thinking of that made my eyes drift down to the lump in his expensive suit trousers as I wondered again just how big he was…and how much what happened to me tonight was going to hurt.

“ What are you thinking, Princess ?” His deep rumbling voice pulled me out of my worried thoughts and I looked up to see that he was watching me watch him.

I snapped my eyes back up, away from his crotch, and shook my head, my face hot with an embarrassed blush

“ Nothing . Nothing at all,” I said quickly.

“ Little liar,” he murmured. Reaching across to me, he brushed the backs of his fingers lightly across my burning cheek. But he said nothing else as he brought the ship into a closer orbit of Rigelis Nine .

Up close, the lights turned from specs into brightly lit buildings and neon holographic signs. There were skyscrapers soaring upwards, taller than anything we had on L’Crist , and multiple layers of traffic flying through the night sky. The lights looked like glowing lines of insects marching in orderly patterns.

I saw an enormous, three-dimensional ad for some kind of liquor, which was certainly something we didn’t have on L’Crist . Drinking any kind of alcoholic beverage was strictly for men and it wasn’t advertised at all. It was sold in taverns that admitted only males, so I had never tasted a drop.

But here on Sin World , alcohol was apparently rampant. The huge 3- D ad was a beautiful, exotic looking woman who was three stories tall. She was taking a sip of some bright pink drink served in a tall, fluted glass. Under her image, a slogan ran in a never-ending loop.

Kiss Liquor is delicious! When he asks what you want to drink, ask him for a Kiss !

Slade flew his ship right through the ad and for a moment the entire cockpit was flooded with bright pink light. I felt like we were directly inside the glass of Kiss Liquor but then we flew out again and he joined a traffic lane whizzing hundreds of feet above the ground below.

The traffic took us through a winding maze, flying all around the brilliantly lit city until we came to a darker part of the landscape. Slade exited the line of ships, flying cars, and hover-coaches and headed for a single building situated on a darkened street.

The building had a tall spire that reached for the sky on its roof but the rest of it wasn’t nearly as tall as the skyscrapers we had flown past. The bottom stories glowed softly in the darkness.

“ Well , here we are—the Clan Cruel Holy House .” Slade brought us in for an expert landing and we settled neatly on the ground. He turned to me and gave me that same, dark smile that seemed to promise all kinds of things—none of them reputable. “ Welcome , Princess ,” he rumbled, “to your Binding Ceremony .”