The Breaker's Concubine (4 page)

notion of fighting off an orgasm you were freely allowed and encouraged to have stunned her

almost as much as seeing the empress’s crest.

“No.” Pimina’s lips narrowed further, and Melania wondered if she had failed at getting

the prince to perform. He was of no use as a concubine if he refused to serve with all the skill

and finesse they would teach him. “His sexual profiles all came back strong, if not overly so.

And look at his testosterone levels.”

If she was reading his chart correctly, the lust he would give off would be amazing. Now

she could see why the empress was willing to make an exception for him. Melania practically

purred. Her race fed on the psychic energy given off by their partner during an orgasm. “Once

properly trained…” Her breath came out in a shudder. “He’ll be worth his weight in zanthin.”

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“Can you do it?” Pimina demanded and crossed her arms over her abundant chest. Taught

to notice every nuance of a person’s body language and appearance, Melania couldn’t help but

notice how Pimina’s hands trembled. For some reason, that sign of nerves from the normally

unflappable trainer bothered her more than anything else said here today.

She mustered her considerable inner strength and tried to reassure Pimina. “Of course.”

The slight dropping of Pimina’s shoulders sent a surge of pride through her at the trainer’s

trust in her abilities. Briefly closing her eyes, Melania focused herself on the off-worlder. If she

was going to succeed, she had to start viewing him and treating him as any other reluctant

novice.

Melania touched the window, flipping through the pages of his profile. He responded to

females and males but performed unwillingly every time. Stubborn and arrogant, his temper had

led to multiple punishments with the pain amplifier. He fought pleasure and did everything he

could not to orgasm. No wonder his trainers had such a problem with him; they would have no

idea how to handle someone who didn’t want to learn a concubine’s skills.

But breakers were trained to call forth passion from the shy or stubborn, and Melania was

one of the best.

A thrill of desire moved through her as she watched him pace. She ruthlessly suppressed it.

He was not meant for her, and she could not form an attachment to him. One of the reasons she

made such a good breaker was because she was able to focus solely on the novice, not on her

own needs and desires.

An elaborate tattoo sweeping over the broad muscles of his upper thigh caught her eye.

What a magnificent challenge he would present. The chance to use her skills on a novice who

might actually be used by the inner circle of the royal family made her mind race. Her shoulders

fell, and she took a deep breath to try and center her thoughts. This wasn’t about her needs; it

was about his. She lived to serve.

“You have one month to break him.” Pimina added this as if it was of no consequence.

“What?” Melania tore her eyes away from Devnar and stared at Pimina. “It takes months to

do a proper breaking. I—”

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“Don’t tell me my craft!” Pimina clenched her hands into fists. “Lady Grenba plans on

presenting him to the empress as a gift on her eighty-first birthday. The empress has been hinting

she’s looking for a new novice to replace her concubine who was assassinated. He won’t be the

only one presented to her, you can be sure of that.”

Melania rubbed her mouth with the back of her hand. “So the empress is finally ready to

break her mourning. Can we be sure he will be well received?”

“Lady Grenba wouldn’t risk the insult of giving her an unwanted gift. Or waste such a

valuable novice.” Pimina smoothed back a stray curl from Melania’s face. “He is a unique

present the lady went to great trouble to secure on the empress’s behalf. There have been rumors

the empress wants to open Kyrimia to off-worlders.”

Melania carefully sat in one of the comfortable cream chairs. If Pimina kept throwing

shocks at her like this, she might as well sit down before she fell down. “The regulators will

never allow that.” Looking at the man pacing on the other side of the glass, she repeated the first

rule of regulation. “Off-worlders are treacherous monsters that want to rape what is left of our

mother planet. They are forbidden.”

Pimina’s lips twitched with unsaid words before she blew out a breath. “Well, physically

he doesn’t appear monstrous. Besides, those decisions are the realm of royal politics and out of

our hands. The best we can do is deal with the problem or opportunity given to us.” She handed

Melania the control bracelet keyed to the prince’s collar and cuffs. “Lady Grenba mentioned the

empress is very much looking forward to meeting him and will be very disappointed if we don’t

succeed in making him into a presentable concubine.”

“So you’re saying if we don’t train him and word reaches the empress of our failure, we

should sell all of our possessions and start running.” Melania ran her suddenly slick hands down

the liquid black fabric of her breakers suit. No one denied the empress her desires and lived.

Pimina gave a rough laugh that held a ragged edge of fear. “If we fail, we won’t have to

worry about the empress. Lady Grenba has promised she’ll personally eliminate our entire

bloodline.”

Though she never knew her parents—they had abandoned her as soon as the flaw of her

different colored eyes became apparent—she still winced. “Anything else I need to know?” She

almost managed to keep the tremor out of her voice.

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Devnar turned his back to them, the angle and posture of his shoulders clearly displaying

his contempt. If she didn’t know better, she would think he could see and hear them.

“Be wary of him. Restrain him at all times. He snapped one of the trainer’s arms after she

tried to mount him.” Melania gaped at her, and Pimina quickly continued. “He was highly

drugged and unaware of what he did, but he didn’t regret it once he sobered up. So no drugs and

always restrain him.”

Melania stood and walked back over to the window, her gaze switching between the man

behind the glass and information on the screen. She tapped the open file on the window with a

long, purple-tinted nail and read the report about the assault. She hated to use restraints and

force, but the thought of broken bones didn’t appeal to her either. “Anything else I need to

know?” she said in a dry voice.

Pimina hesitated and evaluated Melania with all her attention. “If you succeed, and he is

chosen by the empress, you will be allowed to have your own concubine.”

The world flashed white before her eyes, and her heart gave a painful pound in her chest.

Next to her, Pimina muttered an oath and held her as she sagged. “My own?”

Pimina released her, then stepped back. Instead of meeting Melania’s look, Pimina kept

her gaze on the man on the other side of the viewing glass. “It has been decreed that whatever

trainer or breaker provides the empress with her next concubine will be allowed to have a

concubine of their own.”

With her palms against the glass, Melania stared at the man who was the key to all her

oldest dreams. A concubine of her own to love and cherish, someone to come home to, someone

to fill the cold void in her heart that yearned for a mate to call her own.

“Pay attention, Breaker.” Melania tried not to squirm underneath that hard gaze, but it

quickly brought her back to the time when she was trained by Pimina. “His people might attempt

a rescue since he is a prince. I doubt they would make it onto our planet, but you never know.

Make sure your stables are well guarded, and don’t lose your focus. If he escapes, Lady Grenba

will destroy you. Even I will not be able to save your life.” Her voice grew soft, and she gave

Melania a brief hug. “You’ll never have a chance like this again.”

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“As if spending the next five hundred years in a pain amplifier wasn’t enough motivation.”

Melania laughed and rubbed her hands together briskly to work away the residue of fear. His

race was a complete mystery to her, and she didn’t know how heightened his senses were. A

thrill washed through her as she realized she would be the first breaker to ever work with his

people. “When should I begin?”

“Now.” Pimina cupped her cheek and gave her a rare smile. “You have always been my

best breaker, Melania. I know your family curses those eyes that kept you out of service, but I do

not doubt for a minute you would have made a wonderful concubine.”

Melania blushed at the compliment. “Thank you.”

A ghost of apprehension swam through Pimina’s stern gaze. “Do not fail me.”

“I won’t.” She lifted her chin and strode toward the door leading to the room that held

Devnar. She prayed she would find the strength to break him and save herself.

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Chapter Three

The metal of the collar around Devnar’s neck vibrated a warning when his impatient

strides took him too close to the window overlooking the garden. He ground his teeth and backed

away from the murky patch of late-afternoon sunlight and turned his anger on the viewing

window. On the other side of the glass, he knew those bitches were watching him.

Baring his teeth in what could never be mistaken for a smile, he resumed his pacing. At

least a week had passed since his capture. Every day was worse than the one before. The

constant sexual assault on his senses was taking its toll, and he didn’t know how much longer he

could last.

He selected a piece of fruit from a silver bowl and took a viscous bite, wishing it was the

throat of his last trainer. That stupid bitch had learned the hard way not to push him too far. He

felt a brief pang of remorse at having hurt her, but it was quickly buried beneath his well-

cultivated rage. As long as he was angry, he could distance himself from bonding.

The fresh burst of sweet juice cleared his palette, and he found himself eating down to the

core out of habit. The decadence and luxury of this place further grated on his nerves. Everything

was about indulgence and pleasure here, and he fought from being seduced by it.

He tossed the remains of the core on the floor in a useless act of defiance and wished they

would hurry and do whatever they’d brought him here for. Bathed and oiled, he was told he was

going to meet his breaker, whatever the hell that was. The word itself was intimidating, but he

wasn’t going to let them scare him. Last time he had refused to perform, his captors had

threatened to send him to a breaker, and he had laughed in their faces. Their shock had added to

his enjoyment, and he’d told them all the foul things he planned on doing to this “breaker” before

they gagged him and sent him back to his cell.

The only joy he got out of his day was watching those bitches and bastards gnash their

teeth in frustration as his body denied their orders. Oh, they could make him fuck using the

The Breaker’s Concubine

21

aphrodisiac, but they couldn’t force him to come. It was steadily getting harder to resist. All that

sexual frustration was going to have to be released, either in passion or violence, like the

explosion of rage that had led to him hurting that trainer.

If only he could figure out what they wanted with him, aside from his cock. There had to

be some reason he was here besides being used as a stud. From what he had seen, there was no

lack of willing novices and concubines with perfect features and bodies eager to serve.

The door next to the viewing glass slid open, and he unconsciously assumed a fighting

stance. The breath left his lungs in a soft hiss at the sight of his new breaker. She was stunning.

Well, they were all stunning, but something about her called to him, and he hated her on sight for

making him feel this way.

Tiny and perfectly formed, her shiny nutmeg brown hair fell bone straight to the slightly

rounded curve of her bottom. Small breasts pressed against the black leather of her uniform, and

he noted an unfamiliar purple sheen to all that darkness. Following the line of her body, he was

captured by her gaze. One of her eyes was the clear blue of the summer sky on his planet, while

the other was as brown as dark chocolate.

Curiosity, fear, and heat flickered across her face, and he was glad to note that she was

easy to read. They stared at each other. Her expression settled on determination. The small lines

around her mouth deepened as she firmed her full lips and tightened her jaw.

Trying to get as much information on her as he could, he took in a deep breath of her scent.

Healthy female with a slight edge of fear. His protective instincts roared to life and demanded he

defend her from whatever made her afraid. Too bad it was probably him. He cursed his biology’s