Mozok leaned his head back and growled, which did not disturb Voso in the least. Mozok valued Voso’s directness and willingness to tell him the truth: it was part of their pact as Trothkiik. Mozok’s growl was more for himself than for Voso.
“And you?” Mozok said, looking at the ceiling, where the aquariums on the walls extended to join together, though no fish ever passed over his head. “I detect a disturbing affection for the Human from you as well.”
Voso nodded, and the two looked at each other.
“It is a problem,” Mozok told him, “only if we allow ourselves to be overcome. We must not engage in all of the traditional trials of Trothplight.”
Voso was looking at him silently and did not respond for several moments.
“Speak your mind, Voso, that is why you are here,” Mozok said bitterly.
“It will be a difficult task,” Voso began. “I am uncertain… if I shall manage it.”
Mozok snapped his eyes to his trusted companion and duty-bound friend. “You are uncertain?” he said in a low voice.
Voso shook his head. “I cannot explain myself. I apologize deeply. But I cannot move forward in any capacity, if it is your absolute wish that we force her to break her Trothplight. I fear I may become mated to her.”
Like the Draquun, the Herstrakaa were mated for life, and the deciding factor for them was similar to that of the Draquun, though no knot formed, and they often played a secondary role when paired with a Draquun troth or trothka, or a mixed race.
Mozok stood up and walked to look at the aquarium, as though it was a window.
“It does not matter,” he said stonily. He turned back to Voso. “You will do no such thing. You, like me, will continue to do everything that the laws allow to this frail Human creature, and we will be successful in forcing her to end her Trothplight. You must control yourself.”
Voso looked at his hands and said nothing.
“I will not be beaten by some pathetic Human,” Mozok hissed.
Voso did not answer.
And that, to Mozok, seemed like a very bad omen.
CHAPTER11
Mina fell into a deep sleep despite her desires and confusion, but her dreams were all sexual—scenarios that would have made her blush in real life. They were the sort of dreams in which sexual encounters promised, but never delivered, release.
She was woken by a slowly increasing light and a change of temperature in the room, and then, to her utter surprise, the smell of fresh coffee, as if she had been sleeping in a luxury resort on Earth.
The first day began and proceeded as many others would, until she lost count of them. Food was served to her by an anodyne servant that she rarely saw, and then Voso appeared to ask her how she had slept and to ensure that she bathed and removed the chastity cloth from her body. His fingers moved along the zipper of the material, sending shivers racing along Mina’s spine from her tailbone to her neck. Clothing was laid out for her, and Voso retrieved her from her chambers to take her to one of the various chambers in the vast fortress.
The first day, she was not taken to the chamber of punishment right away, but rather, to a chamber that Voso was unable to translate.
“It looks pretty much like the punishment chamber,” she had commented dryly, earning herself a punishment for speaking without permission.
“It is a chamber of trials,” Mozok had assured her, appearing from nowhere.
Trials, Mina thought, her breath shuddering in her chest, along with the cool arousal that was becoming more familiar to her. The trials would almost certainly be sexual, and if what she had experienced so far was any indication of their nature, they would require submission from her—submission on a level she had never dared to undertake in her previous relationships.
But was that because she had never wanted it? Or because none of her lovers had ever asked it of her?
Because none of them would dare? She could hardly imagine any of the men she had ever “dated” being as commanding, demanding, physically imposing, and…
She stopped her thoughts about Mozok and Voso in their tracks. She needed to watch out for Stockholm syndrome, she decided. This was a business deal. Her mind was playing strange tricks on her now—it could only get worse from here. She had to keep herself focused on what she wanted in the end, and that was to endure this Trothplight and win the contract.
And it was ridiculous to think about Voso and Mozok like… like that.
“I first wish to assure you,” Mozok said, approaching her, “that you shall not be harmed. This was the reason for the examination that we gave you. The limits of your trials were set based upon the biofeedback that we received from the examination.” He was standing very close to her, his muscled chest visible between the loose folds of his robe. He put a finger under her chin to lift it, but Mina forced herself to raise it herself, so he would know that she was not afraid to meet his gaze. His eyes looked deeply into hers as he spoke, and the power behind those orbs made her stomach flutter. “I was surprised and pleased to find that those limits are less restrictive than I expected. For a Human.”
He smiled and gestured toward a contraption that looked a great deal like the punishment chair, except that it was covered in rich, silky fabric, and the shackles were more comfortable looking, covered in soft material as they were.
