Page 12

CHAPTER 12

T he leash was a chain.

No way Rona could cut through that.

But the collar… the collar was fashioned from leather, supple and soft.

The harpy knife sliced right through it like butter.

She cut herself in the process, but that was unavoidable.

The wound was barely a scratch though, and the blade was so sharp, she didn’t even feel any pain.

The important thing was that she was free.

Zeth saw what she had done and made a grab for her, but his hand only caught her jacket, and she slipped out of it like a snake shedding its skin.

She ducked low and scrambled under the knifemonger’s table.

Before she was completely on the other side, Rona stood up violently, striking her back painfully against the table’s edge.

She had done it on purpose though, and it had the intended effect.

The table toppled over, spilling its contents in a shower of flashing steel.

“Oh my!” the knifemonger shouted.

“Oh my!”

He tried to grab Rona, so she served him a swift punch between the legs, and the man fell back with a high-pitched groan.

That was payback for the creepy way he had checked her out a minute ago.

He was lucky she’d used her empty hand.

Her right was still holding the harpy knife, and she could have unmanned him permanently if she’d wanted to.

But she wasn’t that mean.

She heard Murdok bellowing angrily behind her.

It was time to move.

Rona sprinted down the sidewalk, overturning vendors’ tables in her wake.

She knew she would never be able to outrun the Mercs in a fair footrace, but maybe she could use the environment to her advantage.

Once she’d gone about twenty yards, she ducked between two tables, moving back to the street side.

Customers were gathered there, mostly men, and mostly taller than Rona.

She dashed into the crowd and started weaving between the bodies.

“Hey! Hey! ”

People shouted angrily as Rona bumped and jostled her way through the crowd.

She paid them no mind.

It was only when she heard the louder cries coming from behind her that she began to get worried.

The Mercs were obviously shoving their way through the crowd, and they weren’t being polite about it either.

The crowd started to disperse in panic.

Shit!

Rona knew she needed to think fast. In a few more seconds, she was going to be totally exposed.

She needed a new hiding place.

Preferably one that wasn’t made up of people who were going to flee in terror at the sight of an angry mercenary.

She spied an alleyway off to one side.

If she could get in there without Murdok or Zeth seeing her, perhaps she would be able to slip away for good.

Rona darted for the alley.

It seemed to work. She could hear the Mercs raging behind her, but they were moving past the alley’s entrance.

If she could just get to the other end, she would be home free.

Find someplace to hide.

An abandoned building.

The sewer. Anything.

Rona’s heart was thudding hard in her chest as she raced down the alley.

Sweat was beading all over her skin.

It got into the cut on her neck, making it sting, but Rona ignored the pain and charged forward.

She risked a quick backward glance to make sure the Mercs weren’t following.

And slammed into something heavy.

She went tumbling to the ground, breathless and disoriented.

She heard a deep grunt that let her know the thing she had run into was a man.

A big one.

For a split second, Rona thought Murdok or Zeth had somehow gotten around in front of her.

Then she smelled the stench of the man’s B.O.

, and she knew he wasn’t one of the Mercs.

“Watch where yer goin’, cunt.”

Two hairy-knuckled hands grabbed Rona by the arms and hoisted her to her feet.

The man was big and fleshy, with a shaven head and a face that had seen better days.

His lips pulled back to reveal a smile that still had half its teeth.

“ Har! Thought you were a feller with that haircut. Yer a purdy little thing, ain’t ye?”

His eyes dipped to Rona’s chest.

“Let me go,” she hissed.

The man glanced in the direction Rona had just come from.

There was still a commotion going on at the end of the alleyway, but it suddenly seemed far away.

“You in some kinda trouble?” the man asked.

“No. Let me go.”

He turned and looked at her again.

His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her face.

Then they widened in recognition.

“Heyyy… I know you. Yer that Gideon girl. All grown up now, I see. Old Tulliver will be happy to see you again. I reckon he’ll pay a pretty p— agh! ”

Rona had had enough.

The mention of Tulliver’s name was the last straw.

She slashed upward with her knife, opening a deep gash on the man’s left arm.

His right hand still held her, but she was slippery with sweat, and was able to wrench herself free.

“Little bitch!” the man howled.

Rona started to run for the end of the alley, but before she made it two steps, her foot slipped on something wet, and she went down hard.

The man was on her in a flash.

The bastard could move surprisingly quickly for his size.

Rona tried to stab him, but he caught her wrist and squeezed.

Pain zapped along her nerves, and her fingers loosened their grip.

The knife dropped to the ground beside her.

“Murdok!” Rona shouted.

“Zeth!”

“Shaddup!”

The man clapped one hand over Rona’s mouth, silencing her.

Then, with his other hand, he pushed up the front of her tank top, exposing her breasts.

“Purdy,” the man said.

“Real purdy. Gunna have some fun with these before I take you to see Tulliver.”

His free hand cupped one of her breasts and squeezed hard.

Rona tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by the hand over her mouth.

Tears of rage filled her eyes and rolled down her temples.

The man lowered his face and licked one of her breasts.

Then he wrapped his lips around her nipple and started to suck.

“Hey asshole.”

At the sound of those words, the man released Rona’s nipple and sat upright, turning in the direction of the voice.

Before he could speak or react, a boot slammed into his face, sending him toppling backward, gurgling in agony.

Pebbles rained down on Rona’s exposed chest.

No, not pebbles.

Teeth.

Murdok fell upon the man with a snarl and began pummeling him with his fists.

Then he picked him up and started slamming his bald head against the wall.

Rona heard something break.

She was pretty sure it wasn’t the bricks.

When Murdok finally let go, the man slumped to the ground, motionless save for a single, twitching leg.

Before Rona even realized what she was doing, she was on her feet, kicking the shit out of the man’s ribs.

She’d been taught to never kick a man while he was down, but this seemed like a reasonable time to break that rule.

And hopefully break a few of the man’s ribs as well.

“Fuck you!” she snarled.

“And fuck Tulliver too! I shoulda killed that piece of shit when I had the chance!”

“Easy, little one. Easy.”

It was Zeth.

The young Merc took hold of Rona from behind and pulled her away from the fallen man.

“Let me go!” Rona yelled.

“He tried to hurt me.”

“I know,” Zeth said, his voice soft and soothing.

“But if you’re not careful, you’re going to end up hurting yourself. That guy’s a lump. You’re liable to twist an ankle kicking him like that.”

“Give ’er here,” Murdok growled.

The big, scarred mercenary took hold of Rona from the front and started to look her over.

His eyes stopped on her throat.

“You’re bleeding,” he said.

“It’s just a scratch. It happened when I cut my collar off.”

Murdok leaned in to get a better look at the cut.

Then he kissed it. Rona remembered her father used to do that when she was little and she would hurt herself.

Only, her father never kissed her the way Murdok was kissing her now.

It felt like the Merc was trying to give her a damn hickey, and when he finally pulled back, the skin around her cut was tingling.

Weird.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked.

If Rona hadn’t known any better, she would have said he actually sounded concerned.

She realized, with a twinge of surprise, that she also felt relieved to be in his company.

“I don’t know,” she answered.

“No, I don’t think so. Not really. I banged my butt when I fell. And he grabbed my boob and—”

Before Rona could react, Murdok lifted her shirt and examined her breasts, then her belly.

He forcibly turned her and examined her back in a similar fashion.

Then he turned her again so they were once more face to face.

He unbuckled her belt.

“Hey!” Rona gasped. “What are you doing?”

“I need to make sure you’re not hurt anywhere else,” he rumbled.

He unfastened her fly.

Rona tried to bat his hands away, but Zeth grabbed her wrists from behind and held them down by her sides.

“I’m not hurt!” Rona protested.

“I swear.”

“We still have to check,” Zeth said behind her.

“Sometimes when your adrenaline’s going, you don’t notice an injury.”

Murdok dragged her jeans down around her ankles.

She didn’t have any panties on underneath.

Her only pair had become Murdok’s keepsake.

She was completely exposed down there.

Rona glanced to one side.

A small crowd was gathering around the mouth of the alley to see what all the commotion was about.

“Please!” she hissed.

“I swear I’m not hurt.”

Murdok ignored her.

He carefully inspected both of her legs, then her bare bottom.

Once he was satisfied she was telling the truth, he stood up and towered in front of her, glaring.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Rona. A very, very bad girl.”

Her skin seemed to tighten all over her body, and the blood drained out of her face.

“I’m sorry I ran,” she stammered.

“I-I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Running is the least of your infractions,” Murdok said.

He swiped his fingertip through the trickle of blood running down from her neck and held it up in front of her.

“You injured yourself with a knife. Then you almost got yourself raped and kidnapped by that piece of shit.” He gestured toward the man, who was now lying motionless on the ground nearby.

“That behavior is unacceptable, woman. You’re gonna have to be punished.”

He nodded toward Zeth.

The young Merc was still holding Rona by the wrists.

He turned her around so she was facing the side of the alley.

“Hands on the wall,” he said.

“Wait! What’re you—”

“Hands on the wall,” Murdok growled.

He gave Rona a slight push.

With her jeans down around her ankles, she almost lost her balance, and she had to press her hands against the wall to keep herself from falling.

“Stop it!” she shouted.

“People are watching.”

“I don’t care,” Murdok said.

“You should have thought about that before you decided to act up in public. Zeth, hold her for me.”

The young Merc placed his hands on her back, keeping her bent over.

“Don’t move,” he told her.

“This will be much easier if you don’t resist.”

“If I don’t resist what?”

WAP!

The blow jolted Rona’s entire body.

It was such a shock, it took her a full two seconds to even realize where she’d been struck (her bottom), and by what (Murdock’s open hand).

By the time the reality of the situation had started to sink in, a second blow had landed, this time on her other cheek.

It was so sudden and unexpected, Rona could scarcely believe it was really happening.

But it was happening.

Murdok was spanking her, and he was doing it in public, with a crowd of people looking on.

Murdok smacked her bottom two more times, once on the left cheek, once on the right.

Her skin burned where his hand made contact.

She cried out in pain and shame.

And wetness trickled down her inner thigh.

No way, she thought.

No way. This can’t be happening.

But it was. Murdok was spanking her, and she was getting wet from it.

Her pussy was throbbing with arousal, the same way it had done yesterday when Murdok had searched her, when Aeron had rubbed himself against her, when Zeth had kissed her in bed.

Murdok smacked her twice more, and this time the cries that broke from Rona’s lips were not cries of pain.

Not entirely. Her face burned with shame.

Suddenly, a shadow fell across her vision.

A massive figure was standing beside her, blocking out the light coming from the end of the alley.

Even though Rona couldn’t see his face, she recognized his silhouette.

And she definitely recognized his voice.

“What’s this all about?” Aeron asked.

Murdok stopped spanking and grunted.

“The woman ran away from us, so I’m disciplining her.”

“How did she get away?” Aeron asked, then he lifted his hand.

“Nevermind. You can tell me about it later. If she needs to be punished, then we’ll punish her. But we’ll do it in private, where we can take our time with it and make sure the lesson sinks in. Now, get her clothes back on.”

“Aye, boss.”

Murdok knelt and pulled Rona’s jeans back up her legs.

Then he fastened her belt.

Aeron watched and waited.

Once she was dressed again, he reached into his vest and took out a sheaf of small parchments.

He pressed them into Rona’s hand.

“These are for you,” he said.

Rona looked at the parchments.

They were stock certificates for the Riadne Mining Company.

“You’re gonna want to hang on to those,” Aeron said.

“They’re gonna be worth a lot when this is all over.”