Stained

Stained
Saloni Quinby
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2011 Saloni Quinby

"To show my appreciation for rescuing my daughter, I offer you an additional payment worth far more than the fee we agreed upon," said Lord Don.

Max's first instinct upon meeting Don was to leave the nobleman's house without looking back. Max had long ago learned not to judge people by their appearance, but Don was an exception. From his beady eyes to his long, pointed toenails visible in the traditional sandals worn by Bled aristocrats, his looks accurately reflected his repulsive nature.

Why then had Max agreed to locate and rescue Don's daughter from kidnappers? He needed the money to make repairs on his favorite ship that had been all but destroyed during a recent case. Unless he took the job Don offered, he'd have to wait months to fix the ship.

Known for his discretion as well as his excellent success rate in retrieving victims alive, Max had come highly recommended and Don hadn't quibbled over the fee he demanded. True to his contract, Max recovered the girl before news of her kidnapping leaked to the press.

"That isn't necessary," Max said, eager to leave Don's enormous tomblike home. Like most Bleds, he lived beneath the planet's surface.

"I insist," Lord Don said, his flat nose twitching. He motioned with his clawed hand for Max to follow him deeper into the building and down a series of dim, mazelike corridors until he reached a tall red door protected by two powerfully muscled guards. They rivaled Max's height of six feet four inches and each outweighed him by at least forty pounds. Fortunately Max had inherited the strength of his Higoth ancestors. No matter what their size, few could outfight Max. The son of a Higoth fighting master and a human soldier, Max looked like his mother's people but had inherited his father's strength. From childhood his father had trained him in Higoth martial arts and during his service in Earth's world army, he had learned to use a variety of weapons.

Over the past ten years he'd made a name for himself as a planetary private investigator, or PI, licensed on dozens of planets throughout several galaxies. Max glanced at the guards who, at a motion from Don, moved aside. The red door opened automatically and the Bled Lord stepped through, followed by Max.

Cages lined both sides of a wide corridor, but beyond the bars, instead of basic cells, the captives lounged in richly decorated rooms. Each had a spacious bed draped in satin sheets. Plush carpets covered the floors and the walls were made of black and gray marble. All the inhabitants, both male and female, wore loincloths with gold chains threaded through delicate hoops piercing their nipples. Some ate while others read or watched entertainment monitors. In one particularly spacious cell, a group of mixed species males and females exercised on state-of-the art equipment to tone their muscles and work their cardiovascular systems.

"Look around," Don said. "Select any Lust Steed you want and he or she will be yours."

"Slaves?" Max said, with a curl of his lip. He had rescued Don's daughter from kidnappers, but the man had the balls to keep slaves. He's heard about Bled social classes, but it was hard to believe that in a world as advanced as Bledu, such thinly masked slavery existed.

"Of course not." Don sniffed. "We don't keep slaves on Bledu. They are Lust Steeds."

"Then why the cells?"

"Lust Steeds are born to their station. Most are given to bouts of passion. Sometimes they satisfy it with fucking. Other times with violence. The cages keep them under control, for their good and ours."

"But they're not all Bled. I see other species. How can another species be subject to your social order?

"Every Lust Steed here is of our blood. Sometimes aliens use our Lust Steeds and the mixed species you see are a result of that. Unfortunate, but it does happen. Now as you can see I have many gorgeous Lust Steeds in my stable. Choose."

"I'm human and Higoth, neither of which use Lust Steeds. The fee we agreed upon is sufficient."

Don's gaze raked him from head to toe and back again. "I've known enough humans and Higoths to realize you would make excellent use of a Lust Steed. Your refusal is insulting, yet your choice. Follow me and I'll show you out."

Instead of turning back, Don continued through the "stable," adamant that Max see the full selection of Lust Steeds before leaving his home.

They continued down another series of corridors and the cells or stalls as Don called them, became less elaborate. Lust Steeds dressed from head to foot in tight leather stood chained to walls, only their glittering eyes visible beneath snug black hoods.

"Welcome to the training halls," Don said. "These are advanced students undergoing deep meditation."

From behind closed doors, Max heard hisses and smacks -- no doubt the sound of whips flying through the air and landing on flesh. He'd been to his share of sex stations throughout several galaxies and while species looked different, many shared similar desires and mating rituals.

Max enjoyed a good fuck, but he'd never been into humiliation and slavery repulsed him. Regardless of what the Bleds believed, these Lust Steeds were slaves.

"If you don't mind, I'm on a tight schedule," Max said curtly. "I'm meeting a new client."

He couldn't take much more of this disgusting little mole's pride in using and abusing people. If he didn't get off this planet soon, he might end up arrested for thrashing Don within an inch of his life. He hated to think of the penalty for attacking a Bled nobleman. With Max's past record of leaving the military to be a PI, he doubted Earth authorities would jump to his defense.

Don curled his lip again. "Of course. This way."

They had nearly reached another red door guarded by two more enormous guards when Max stopped and stared in disbelief. In a long, narrow room, several naked Lust Steeds lined up facing a marble wall. Behind each, stood other Lust Steeds, dressed in black leather pants and boots, their torsos bare. Each carried a red flogger that they struck rhythmically against their assigned partner. One naked Lust Steed stood out, not only because he was exquisitely beautiful and the only one manacled, shackled and chained to the wall, but because Max knew him.

* * *

Ashton's fists clenched and his teeth gritted with pain and anger as the flogger lashed his back over and over. The strips of leather sometimes wrapped around his lean sides and struck his chest. Other times they stung his bare ass. Instinctively he squeezed his ass cheeks until the muscles ached.

He could scarcely believe he'd been taken from the shelter where he worked on Asteroid Thirty-Six, one of the most infamous stations in the solar system. The shelter helped outcast youths who migrated to seedy places like Asteroid Thirty-Six. Ashton knew all too well the circumstances that could drive people to sell themselves, steal or worse. As a boy he'd seen and done almost everything, until a planetary private investigator had questioned him about the death of a local girl. She'd overdosed, plain and simple. After the interrogation, Ashton hadn't expected to see the investigator again, but to his surprise the man had offered to help Ashton get off the streets.

Ashton had been eighteen at the time, still picking pockets to survive in an Earth ghetto, like he had since age thirteen when his mother had died. Ashton had never known his father and his mother hadn't spoken about him. That's why it had come as a terrible shock when Bled soldiers doing a routine check on Asteroid Thirty-Six had scanned him and discovered he was a hybrid classified as a Lust Steed. They'd taken him with no more explanation than that and a short time after his arrest, he'd been shipped to Lord Don's stable. For the past month he'd been bound, flogged, and tormented in countless ways. He'd spend days locked in a tiny, dark cell. Often he'd be tied spread eagle to a leather table and teased almost to the point of orgasm. The trainers knew how to keep him in a state of sexual torment for hours on end.

The flogger cut particularly hard into his flesh and Ashton gasped, arching his back as far as the chains allowed.

"Cease!" called a screechy voice Ashton recognized as Lord Don's. Fresh hatred washed over him and a shiver ran down his spine. The bastard continued, "He's still in chains, Bryce?"

"Yes, my lord," replied Ashton's trainer. "He's stubborn."

"Too stubborn. I want him ridden today. If he bucks, that's all well and good. A spirited steed might be an interesting addition to our stable."

"What's going on?" asked a deep, almost raspy voice that sent another shiver down Ashton's spine -- this time one of pure excitement. His heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be, could it?

Straining against the bonds, he glanced over his shoulder and drew a sharp breath. It was! If he lived to be a hundred years old, Ashton would never forget the man who had saved his life in so many ways -- the handsome, powerful PI named Max.

But what was he doing here?