Price of Passion (3-in-1 Collection) Read online

  Price of Passion (3-in-1 Collection)

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Price of Passion

  By Aubrey Ross

  Smashwords Edition

  Price of Passion, Second Edition

  Copyright © 2013 Aubrey Ross.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Cover art by Dar Albert

  Other Smashwords books by Aubrey Ross:

  Station X (3-in-1 Collection)

  Writing as Cyndi Friberg:

  Taken by Storm (Beyond Ontariese 1)

  Operation Hydra (Beyond Ontariese 2)

  City of Tears (Beyond Ontariese 3)

  Crossfire (Beyond Ontariese 4)

  Consort (Beyond Ontariese 5)

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Price of Passage

  Aubrey Ross

  Moments after launching her ship into hyperdrive, smuggler captain Ivy Slane discovers an escaped sex slave hiding in one of the cargo bays. Kade is in the process of convincing her not to turn him in at the nearest starport when her ship is attacked by pirates.

  Seeing no alternative but death, Kade offers his services to Traborn Morel, commander of the pirate ship. Traborn isn’t opposed to the pleasure Kade can bring him, but he’s even more interested in teaching both his prisoners the true meaning of surrender.

  Prologue

  Tingles spread across Ivy Slane’s skin as Traborn Morel kissed his way up the back of her leg. She lay on her stomach, cheek resting on her forearm. The wall beside the bed reflected the tiny hotel room. She hated having to sneak away to be with him, but her stepbrother ran security for the space station and her stepfather was governor. With her mother’s “questionable” past, their family couldn’t afford any more scandal. And renegade Captain Morel was scandalous by anyone’s standards.

  She watched his muscles bunch and flex as he moved closer and closer to his target. “I know we’d both like nothing better, but we can’t hide in here forever.” Short dark curls capped his head and his skin appeared swarthy in contrast to her ivory complexion.

  He breathed against the back of her knee and Ivy smiled. Part tickle and part shiver, the sensation drove her crazy, and he knew it.

  “Your ship was ready yesterday.” She tried again.

  He brought his hand down on her bottom and Ivy gasped. The sting had been unexpected, but not unwelcome. She craned her neck and shot him a playful glare. Even her feigned hostility melted as she gazed into his night black eyes.

  “Pay attention.” His deep, commanding tone sent another wave of tingles across her skin.

  She turned her head back around and rested her forehead on her folded arms. He would leave eventually. He always did. For three years they’d indulged in these sporadic, and highly erotic, interludes. A few days here, a couple of weeks there. Through it all she’d convinced herself the casual nature of their affair was what kept it exciting. But lately her greedy heart longed for more.

  “Come with me.” He pressed his body against her back and whispered the temptation into her ear.

  “Not a chance.” There was no hesitation in Ivy’s response, but her pulse leapt and tension banded her chest.

  Marline, Ivy’s mother, had made the mistake of trusting a space tramp. She’d tossed caution to the wind and followed Iain Slane from spaceport to spaceport like an eager puppy. Six years of broken promises and long spans of loneliness had been her reward. Then Iain disappeared. Marline was never sure if one of his many enemies caught up to him or if his disappearance had been intentional. After waiting eleven months for her wayward husband, Marline purchased a divorce, packed up her four-year-old daughter, and set out to find a better life. “A better life” meant marrying Governor Hart, a man twice her age who could offer her the wealth and respectability Marline had abandoned when she jaunted off with Ivy’s father.

  There was no way Ivy would end up an embittered shell of a woman like her mother. Ivy would never depend on another for her happiness. She had plans for her life -- plans that didn’t include a space tramp, regardless of how charming and stimulating she found this one.

  “Then don’t spoil the time we have together.” He nipped her shoulder and trailed his fingers down her sides. “I’ve yet to sate my hunger for your delectable body.”

  “Not for lack of trying.”

  He smacked her bottom again and Ivy moaned. Heat sank into her flesh and triggered pulses deep in her core. She had never known pleasure like she’d shared with Traborn. Every kiss, every touch made her ravenous for more. She needed to end this soon, while she was still able.

  She wiggled, moving her legs farther apart in silent invitation. Never before had she been so eager for a man. Her senses instantly responded to his aggressive touch and his uninhibited pleasure increased her excitement. They indulged their darkest desires without hesitation or complication. This was purely physical. Why did she have to keep reminding herself of that fact?

  The mattress shifted as he crawled off the side of the bed. She lifted her head to see what he was doing. His movements were quick and agile. Hunger intensified his expression. She loved the way his hair curled around her fingers, when he allowed her to touch him. Far more often he preferred her bound, and she’d come to crave the security of those bonds.

  She’d been shocked the first time he suggested using restraints. Her lips curved in a secret smile. He’d suggested a lot of shocking things down through the years, and she’d accepted each one. Despite his fierce demeanor and need to dominate, he introduced each new stimulus slowly, never expecting more than she was willing to give. She’d learned to trust him with her pleasure, if not her heart.

  He released the cuffs from the compartment built into the headboard. They’d chosen this hotel for just such amenities. An intoxicating rush of excitement sped along her nerve endings as the cuffs snapped closed around her wrists. Her gaze moved over his rugged features, so handsome and savage with need. She licked her lips, wanting his taste in her mouth and his scent filling her nose.

  “Why are you being so stubborn?” He crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze boring into hers. “This is no casual affair. It hasn’t been for a very long time.”

  Quickly looking away, she reinforced her emotional barriers. They never spoke of love. Each time he ventured near the possibility, she changed the subject or asked him to leave. “We fuck whenever you’re in this sector,” she said. “It doesn’t get much more casual than that.”

  He grabbed her hair and guided her face back around. “You’re afraid of your feelings and I don’t understand why. You must kn
ow by now you can trust me.”

  “I trust you to satisfy my body. If you want more, you’re in the wrong room.”

  A slow, challenging smile parted his lips. “A year ago I might have believed that, but I’ve watched the emotions change in your eyes. You don’t want to, but you love me every bit as much as I love you.”

  “I love the way you make me feel. This is lust, nothing more.”

  “I’m not your father, Ivy. I won’t desert you.” She said nothing. His gaze was warm and tender, triggering feelings she wasn’t ready to feel. “I’ve been offered a position with the Sabrotine Federation. Their colonization project is massive and I’ll head the development of supply routes and trade agreements. I wasn’t asking you to live onboard my ship. The outposts are rustic, but we’ll have a house in the largest settlement.”

  “And how often will I be alone in that house while you are --”

  “I’ll be coordinating shipping runs, not commanding a ship. This is a planet bound position.”

  She tugged against his hold, but he wouldn’t release her hair. Stark desire burned in his eyes, yet the undercurrent of hope was far more intimidating. She knew how to deal with his passion, how to respond to his carnal demands. How could she protect herself from his affection?

  “I’ve decided to accept the position and I want you by my side.”

  Why would he give up the sky? How long could he resist the call of the stars? “I… can you really be happy in a house?”

  His grip loosened and he dragged his fingers through her hair, across her shoulder, and over the outer swell of her breast. “The transition will be a whole lot easier if you’re there with me. My last two runs were miserable.” He stroked her back and squeezed her ass, his middle finger easing between her cheeks to tease her tightly puckered hole. “You haunt my dreams and clutter my thoughts.”

  Biting down lightly on her bottom lip, she prepared for his sensual onslaught. They’d already made love tenderly, savoring each caress. She could sense his restlessness and knew what it meant. She was about to be overwhelmed by her Master.

  “On your knees.” His tone brooked no refusal.

  She hesitated, so he lifted her hips and she folded her legs beneath her. He moved her knees farther apart, opening her wide, revealing all her secrets. Turning her head to the side, she watched him in the mirror.

  He stood beside the bed, gently caressing her hips and her ass. Thick and fully erect, his shaft bobbed as he reached into the nightstand. His cock head was flushed nearly crimson and his balls had just started to draw up close to his body. As if he sensed her watching, he looked in the mirror and their gazes locked.

  “This is either the beginning of our life together or the end of our affair.” He traced her slit, circled her opening, then rubbed her clit. She started to speak, but he shook his head. “Tell me which when we’re finished.”

  Raising his hand to his mouth, he licked her cream off his fingers. Her core ached as she remembered the kisses and nips that had driven her wild before he took her the first time. He obviously had something else in mind.

  He retrieved a short-handled flogger from the nightstand. Anticipation thrummed through her body. He drew back his wrist and sent the thin leather strands dancing across her ass. Heat exploded and her nipples hardened, then her pussy clenched, empty and needful. Over and over he snapped her ass with the whip. Pleasure erupted inside the pain. She whimpered, unable to drag her gaze from the mirror.

  She writhed, yet moisture gathered on her folds and sensations cascaded through her body. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she could find pleasure in such an act. Somehow her body understood. Tingling heat sank into her flesh, making her inner muscles flutter. He changed angles and the strands kissed her pussy. She cried out, her clit throbbing as her body hovered on the brink of orgasm.

  He stopped.

  “Please,” she whimpered, grasping the cables securing her wrist cuffs to the wall.

  “Not yet.” Dropping the flogger to the floor, he crawled onto the bed and knelt between her legs. He pressed his palms against her burning ass, accenting the heat with just a hint of pressure.

  His gaze focused on her sex. She watched his face in the mirror. Hunger, demand, and determination vied for control of his expression. He moved one of his hands between her legs and circled her clit. With just a few gentle strokes he finished what the flogger had begun.

  Pleasure burst and her pussy rippled with release. He thrust his cock into her throbbing passage, prolonging the spasms. Her ass stung, but it only intensified the sensations. He possessed her, claimed her, and overwhelmed her. And she couldn’t get enough. He drove deep again and again. She welcomed his aggression, needing his ferocity.

  Another orgasm built, driven high by his ruthless penetration. She threw back her head and screamed, unable to suppress the sound. He pounded into her, hard and fast, his fingers digging into her hips.

  “What the fuck?” Traborn’s angry voice snapped her back to reality. He was dragged off the bed and wrestled to the floor while she jerked against the restraints and kicked uselessly.

  “Stop it!” The station guards ignored her and continued securing their prisoner. There wasn’t enough slack in the cables to reach the release. She shifted her weight to her butt and frantically reached for the trigger with her foot. Traborn fought like a madman until one of the guards stunned him with a pulse pistol. “Get out!” she shouted. “What has he done?”

  “Beyond raping and torturing you?” A familiar voice doused her senses with icy dread. “He’s a conman, a thief, and a pirate. You know Father won’t tolerate his kind on this station. We finally have the evidence we need to see Captain Morel jettisoned into space.”

  Anger receded and fear gripped her insides. Clayton ambled into the room as the guards dragged Traborn out. His leering gaze made her skin crawl. She lay on her side with her knees drawn up, unable to do more to hide her nudity.

  “He wasn’t raping me and you know it.” She’d been dodging Clayton’s groping hands and lustful intentions ever since her mother married his father. He repulsed her and she made no secret of her aversion.

  “He beat you and forced you to submit to perverse and degrading abuse. I’ve got the security feed to prove it. Your testimony won’t be necessary.”

  She clenched her fists so tightly her nails drew blood. “I’ll go public with this farce. I’ll create a scandal like you can’t imagine! Traborn is my lover. He forced nothing on me.”

  Clayton trailed his index finger along her side. “You willingly swallowed his cum and took his cock up your ass? No council is going to believe the governor’s daughter is capable of such depravity.”

  Knowing Clayton had access to the station’s surveillance, she usually met Traborn on his ship. This time the ship had undergone extensive repairs, so they’d had no choice but to check into this obscure hotel in the center of the pleasure district. She thought they had been so careful.

  Tears stung her eyes and bile burned the back of her throat. How long had Clayton been watching them? She’d done neither of the things he mentioned today, but they’d hardly left this room for the past week. Clayton could have hours of graphic images.

  “You were bound and helpless as he whipped you, then fucked you brutally. The sound fades in and out, but the images are quite clear.” He pushed his hand between her thighs and she went wild, kicking and screaming until her wrists burned and her shoulders twisted painfully. He trapped one of her legs against the bed with his knee and tucked the other under his arm, leaving one hand free to explore her pussy. “If I’d known force is what excites you, I’d have obliged you years ago.”

  She shrieked and bucked, tears streaming down her face. He reached for the front of his pants and the privacy panel slid open. Marline strode into the tiny room. Her gaze swept over Ivy with obvious disgust before she turned her face away.

  “Release her.” Marline’s tone was nearly as stiff as her posture. “Though I’m a
shamed to admit it at the moment, she is my daughter. She has already suffered one rape. I will not allow you to subject her to another.”

  Clayton shoved her away, his gaze promising retribution.

  Her mother’s hateful words meant nothing in the face of Traborn’s peril. “Traborn didn’t rape me!” She felt desperation welling up within her. Clayton had laid his trap masterfully. “You’ll never get away with this. I’ll --”

  “You’ll remain silent or I’ll have you transported to the nearest psychiatric facility and treated for these delusions,” her mother snapped. “That animal kept you imprisoned here for over a week, abusing you in ways no decent person wants to think about.”

  This couldn’t be happening. There had to be something she could do, someone who would listen to her.

  “I warned you,” her mother reminded her. “You’re the governor’s daughter. You’re expected to conduct yourself with --”

  “My father is dead and my personal life is no one’s business!”

  “I will not be mother to a whore! Traborn Morel is trash. I wouldn’t allow him to transport my cargo much less touch my daughter.”

  Ivy stared straight ahead, forcing calm past her emotional tumult. She could do nothing as long as she was bound to this bed. “Please release the cuffs. This is humiliating.”

  “You should be humiliated,” Clayton was quick to retort. “Your behavior has been deplorable.”

  Clenching her teeth until her jaw ached, Ivy fought back the stream of infuriated words. Clayton wouldn’t have found any of it deplorable if she’d been doing it with him!

  “Release her so she can shower. This entire room reeks of sex.”

  Clayton deactivated the restraints and Ivy snatched the sheet from the foot of the bed, wrapping it around her body with trembling hands.