The Breaker's Concubine Read Free Page A

to bury him.
    Bolin slumped against the wall and clutched his head in his hands. “If the way that bitch
    looked at us is any indication, I think they plan to use us as studs. I’m not bonded. My soul isn’t
    spoken for.”
    Panic tried to worm its way into Devnar’s heart, and he turned Bolin’s words over in his
    thoughts. To bond to a mate was a commitment that blended the souls of those two people
    together. They would be able to feel each other’s emotions and sometimes thoughts. Their
    pleasure became your pleasure, their pain your pain. Once bonded, it was physically impossible
    to do anything that would hurt your bond mate. The thought of being forced to bond with
    someone he didn’t love at once terrified and enraged him. His thoughts flashed to his sister and
    how she had been forced to bond with her rapists when she had been captured by the rebels but
    still managed to hold on to her sanity. He could only hope he had half her courage.

    The Breaker’s Concubine
    9

    The sound of Ikel’s knuckles cracking as he ground his fists together was loud in the little
    room. “If I have to service the same person over and over again, I won’t be able to help bonding
    to them. I’ll even want to do a blood exchange, beg them to be mine.” Ikel looked up, and his
    voice cracked as he said, “With those hormones they’re using, there’s nothing that we can do to
    stop it. By the time a rescue comes, we won’t want to leave.”
    The hopelessness of Ikel’s words helped Devnar ground himself and turn his mind toward
    escape. “Do what you need to do to survive.”
    “What?” Ikel muttered a foul oath. “I’d rather cut my dick off than spend the rest of my
    life with a bitch like Lady Grenba.”
    “I’d sooner fuck a syphilitic warthog,” Bolin added.
    Grabbing Ikel’s biceps in a punishing grip, Devnar said in a low voice, “You will do what
    you need to do to live. Fight them, make them pay for every time they use you, but do anything
    to survive.” He released him and pressed their foreheads together, so close their breaths mingled.
    “And I promise you when we escape, we will kill any bitch—or bastard—that bonded you
    against your will.”
    Ikel shuddered and relaxed minutely, giving Devnar’s shoulder a squeeze. “Volun will let
    everyone know of our capture. It will only be a matter of time before they send Lord Adsel to
    rescue us.”
    Giving him a bland look, Devnar gripped his collar and tugged until it gave him a small
    shock. “Who do you think betrayed us?”
    Bolin stared at him and then slammed his fist into the wall. “That conniving, evil old
    bastard—”
    “We don’t know for sure.” Ikel paced the confined space, each man trying to work off the
    arousal of the chemical scent and the battle lust that demanded a release.
    “They were obviously waiting for us,” Devnar snarled in frustration. “Someone tampered
    with our suits, and the Kyrimians knew exactly what mixture of hormones to use to immobilize
    us. Someone with access to our raiding vessel and knowledge of our route. Someone who pushed
    us into raiding today.” The memory of Lord Adsel’s snide remarks at court about not having the
    balls to provide his people with what they needed set his teeth on edge. When Volun showed up

    10

    Ann Mayburn

    the next day saying he had received a tip about a Kyrimian ship loaded with zanthin, Devnar had
    leaped at the chance to prove Lord Adsel wrong and save his people.
    “Do you think Volun betrayed us?”
    Devnar rubbed his face. He wanted to believe his best friend had nothing to do with this,
    but right now anything was possible. “I-I don’t think he did. But we can’t rely on a rescue. We’ll
    have to work on freeing ourselves.”
    “It shouldn’t be too hard. Did you see those pretty-boy guards?” Ikel lifted his chin to an
    arrogant angle. “I’ve never heard of them engaging in open battle, always running back to the
    safety of their planet. They must