Pharon's Demon Read Free Page B

kept her locked up long enough, the
homing device implanted under her skin would activate and send out
a distress beacon.
    Then all three of her brothers would come
flying to the rescue and she could kiss goodbye to any hope she had
of future independence.
    She eyed her captor. She’d enjoy kissing this
one more.
    The corridor’s walls were smooth hewn, with
strategically placed light spheres bobbing every twenty yards or
so. Dark green veining marked where the places where topaz shot
through the coarser, more common hardstone of Zeberget’s core.
Mining carts filled with debris trundled by on a regular basis.
Presumably, this meant predictable surface access as the carts must
go somewhere aboveground to unload their cargo. If she had to, she
could sneak a ride on one of them and avoid a three hundred yard
upward climb. Her arm muscles would thank her for that one.
    Mkhai looked down at her, clearly sensing her
curiosity and wanting to distract her. “Tell me your name,
captive.”
    How charmingly warrior-like. She resisted the
urge to kick his arrogance somewhere painful. Play along,
Bennu . Be sweet. Be sexy. He’ll take you where you need to
go.
    So, instead of explaining to him the current
state of women’s rights in their galaxy (highly advanced, unlike
some of the further galaxies where the males still regarded their
females as convenient chattel and proposed chattel-like
arrangements with them), she smiled coyly and said, “Bennu.”
    “Bennu,” he repeated thoughtfully. “An
interesting name for a female.”
    Like she cared if he approved or not.
    They emerged abruptly from the corridor onto
an overlook that dropped abruptly away at their feet. Hundreds of
yards below them. Pharon workers entered and exited the tunnel
points that honeycombed the enormous cavern. When Mkhai appeared, a
ripple of apprehension ran through the workers. Dark eyes flickered
nervously over him and then dropped away.
    Interesting. Her golden companion and his
brethren were clearly the hired muscle. And, boy, they made a
handsome addition to the mines. Since she hardly wanted to tip
Mkhai off to her interest in the access points and loads of raw
jewels headed aboveground, she settled for visually inspecting her
companion.
    Gorgeous.
    Her nipples tightened beneath his interested
gaze. Did he like that? Good.
    “Strip,” he commanded. He couldn’t be
serious. They were on a damn ledge. One misstep and they would both
plunge to their deaths. Apparently, he liked a little risk with his
sexplay. So did she, but this went beyond prudence.
    His hands patted over her curves, looking for
weapons.
    Let him look.
    He wouldn’t find anything that she couldn’t
do without.
    “Here’s the thing,” she said, trying for a
tone of camaraderie. “You’ve had your fun. Now untie me.” She
waggled her bound wrists for good measure.
    Mkhai simply stared back at her, raising a
brow. “I don’t think so. Let us explore this— fun .”
    He pulled out a long knife. “This comes off,
now.” He slid the fine edge of the blade underneath her collar and
tugged.
    “Look, buddy,” she said, “that knife isn’t
going to cut through this fabric.”
    He looked intrigued.
    “And I don’t need to waste a perfectly good
outfit, even if it does only come in standard issue black.”
    Time to compromise, she decided. After all,
it wasn’t as if a half-dozen of his best buddies hadn’t just seen
everything she had to offer and more. She pulled the neck and the
suit parted easily, the fabric sliding away from her body with a
welcome rush of cool air. Mkhai hadn’t been kidding about the
summertime heat; her blacksuit was set to automatically control her
body temperature and keep her cool, but even the suit was having a
hard time compensating for the temperatures.
    It was a relief to step out of the blacksuit
and kick it away. Dressed only in thigh high boots only, she turned
to face him.
     
    ***
     
    The little femi ’s face lit up with a
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