Kayla's Hunter (Spaceport 12)

Kayla's Hunter (Spaceport)
Second Edition
Anne Kane
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2020 Anne Kane

"Deploy the aft lazar array! Now!" Kayla jerked her body hard to the right, her neural implants signaling the ship to mimic her actions. She felt a grudging respect for the captain of the Intrepid as they narrowly avoided another volley from its photon cannons. This wasn't the first battle the two ships had engaged in, but if she didn't catch a lucky break soon, it might be the last.

"The primary engines are overheating! We need to shut them down before they blow." Aygar, her second-in-command threw her a panicked look as he diverted more coolant to the engines. "They've been at redline too long."

"If we drop to secondary engines, we might as well surrender now." Kayla tossed her head back to clear the unruly red tresses from her eyes. "We'll make a run for the asteroid field. If we can slip between the orbiting rubble, the Intrepid will have to break off. They can't maneuver that big mother of a ship in such close quarters."

Aygar nodded, his expression grim. He'd never let her down, and Kayla knew he'd do his best to hold the ship together until they reached safety.

For a while, it looked like they might just pull it off. Kayla dared to hope. The asteroid field loomed close. The Intrepid kept up a steady barrage of fire, but with her enhanced reactions, she managed to dodge the more lethal shots.

"There!" She maneuvered the ship between two chunks of space debris, a triumphant grin dying on her lips at the sudden silence. Shit! "Bring the secondary engines online. Now, damn it!"

"Aye, Captain."

Too late. The Intrepid's bulk swooped in to block their only escape route.

"Damn. Damn. Damn!" Kayla slammed her fist down on the weapons' console in front of her, gritting her teeth in frustration. Escape had been so close!

"Sorry, Captain. Those engines should have been replaced, or at least overhauled two standard years ago. I told you they were in rough shape." Aygar stared glumly at the massive warship on the forward display screen. "Now what are we going to do?"

Kayla closed her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. It wasn't his fault. She'd gambled on those engines and lost. "Now we hope Hunter's in a good mood."

* * *

"So nice of you to join me." He looked even more intimidating in person than he had in the video conference, if that was possible. Hunter loomed over her, his massive frame dwarfing her own generous proportions. Immense ropes of muscle strained against the tight material of his Alliance uniform, and those piercing blue eyes seemed to look right through her to her innermost secrets. Hunter was the type of male she'd been bred to crave, bred to satisfy in every conceivable way. Bred to fuck. An alpha-male cyborg. Kayla suppressed the shudder of pure lust that swept through her. Now was not the time to let her genetic programming overcome years of hard work.

She schooled her features to a bland calm. "You didn't leave me a whole lot of alternatives."

"No, I didn't, did I." The smile that curved his lips held no humor. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you." Taking a step forward, he grasped her wrists and slapped on a set of immobilizer cuffs. She could feel the effects immediately, draining her arms of their ability to move. At least he hadn't set the damn things to maximum. He turned to the man at his side. "Blake, take her down to my stateroom and set the cuffs to high. That should keep her out of trouble until I'm done with her crew. And the damned Alliance paperwork."

Blake looked up at his commanding officer. "Don't you need to log her as one of the prisoners?"

Hunter gave a negative movement of his head. "She and I have unfinished business. As far as the Alliance is concerned, the captain of the pirate ship Defiant didn't survive the attack."

"But..." Blake's voice trailed off as Hunter stared pointedly at him. "Okay then. Your stateroom it is." Taking her by the arm, Blake led Kayla out of the landing bay.

The walk to Hunter's stateroom was longer than she expected, down corridor after long corridor. The place was a maze of intersecting passages and zero G drop tubes. By the time Blake palmed the control panel to the captain's stateroom, she was sure she'd never be able to find her way back to the bridge.

"The captain is a good guy." Blake didn't sound very sure of the fact. "He must have a reason for keeping your presence a secret from the Alliance."

Yeah. Like he intended to punish her personally for all the time he'd spent chasing her around the galaxy. Every time she'd turned around, the Intrepid had been there, harassing her. Somewhere back in the last double moon phase, she'd started to wonder if it were personal. Still, the idea of being turned over to the Alliance didn't thrill her, so for now she'd play nice.

"Could you take these cuffs off? I hate the way they make my arms feel. I promise I'll stay here and wait for the captain." She tried out one of her most charming smiles. Sometimes her breeding paid off. "I'd never find my way around this ship anyways."

"Sorry. Captain ordered full immobilization, and he likes to be obeyed. You might want to find a comfortable spot before I set them."

"No!" Kayla took a step backward, a ball of dread coalescing in her belly. She knew her fear showed on her face, and she didn't care. "I promise I'll be good. Please, don't do that."

Blake had the grace to look upset, but he shook his head. "Captain's orders. No way I can ignore them and stay on this ship. If you lie down on the bed first, it won't be so bad."

Not so bad? Obviously, the SOB had never had immobilizer cuffs used on him! They literally froze the entire nervous system and left the victim unable to do so much as blink. The creche where she'd spent her first ten years had been fond of using them to discipline the girls when they didn't jump fast enough to obey orders. Sex slaves were expected to obey without hesitation, and they were all bred to be sex slaves. Submissive sex slaves.

Kayla had been a very stubborn child, and she'd spent more time in those cuffs than she cared to remember. So, she knew. They were bad, really bad.

But she wouldn't beg. She never begged. Taking a deep breath, she schooled her features to show no emotions as she sat down and let the chair mold itself to her shape. Satisfied with the fit, she held out her arms.

"I really am sorry." The discomfort on Blake's face afforded her a small amount of satisfaction. "Are you sure you don't want to lie on the bed? The captain could be awhile."

Not likely. The last thing she wanted was to have Hunter walk in and see her lying spread-eagled on his bed like some sort of pagan sacrifice...