Page 1 of Seduction

Prologue

It was Hell, straight from a canvas painted in the Middle Ages.

Grotesque figures danced naked around an enormous bonfire to the savage pounding of a hundred drums. Dozens of horned beasts in pens reared and pawed at the ground, driven mad by the sound. A row of bound and trussed virgins, both male and female, knelt on the platform, trembling, waiting to be tossed into the crowd like hunks of raw meat.

The drumbeats reached a deafening crescendo then ceased.

Balam strode to the front of the platform, dragging her by a rope around her neck tied to the hammered gold belt circling his waist. She had no choice but to crawl along at his heels, naked, or be strangled.

He wore only the gold belt, an animal skin slung around his hips, and a floor-length cloak of feathers. Huge feathers in shocking red and purple, iridescent blue and dazzling emerald green. Around his neck hung an elaborate necklace of gold links strung with fangs and claws and other severed bits of creatures, not all of them from the animal kingdom.

He lifted his arms. “My people! Lord Atun journeys tonight to the underworld. He will not go alone. These twenty-four slaves will accompany him, to see to his every need in the afterlife.”

He paused. “The slaves before you are untrained in the ways of satisfying a Tabun master. Tonight, I give them to you. Use them. Fill their holes. Teach them submission. Prepare them to serve their lord for all eternity.”

He yanked on the rope, pulling Selena upright. “This evil sorceress holds the power to breathe life back into Atun. But she has refused.”

His voice rose. “Witness the wrath of Lord Balam! I will impale this wicked creature before you, that all may watch her cry out in shame and agony as I plunge my mighty rod into her over and over without mercy.”

Balam swept aside the animal skin around his hips to reveal his penis. She gasped. He’d dyed it bright red. Whatever native plants he’d used made it swell even larger than it had when he’d stroked it in front of her earlier. A leather thong tied firmly around the base ensured his erection wouldn’t fail him in front of his subjects.

One of his servants carried a heavy wooden bench to the center of the platform. Two others grabbed her and bent her over it. They yanked her legs apart and tied her wrists and ankles to the legs of the bench with her naked bottom facing the crowd. If she turned her head to the side, she could see them by the light of the bonfire – and they would all witness her shame if she screamed as he impaled her or gave way to the tears threatening to stream down her face.

Selena squeezed her eyes shut. But not seeing the crowd didn’t change the fact that they could still see everything. Her bare breasts hanging down, the soft thatch of curls nestled between her legs. Balam’s massive erection. And it wouldn’t block out the sound when they cheered every stroke as he rammed it inside her.

She shuddered as Balam came closer, rubbed his engorged penis over her naked bottom. She felt his rough fingers dig into her cheeks, spread them apart.

The drumbeats started up again. Slow and heavy.

* * *

Star portals have existed since the dawn of time. Doorways between worlds in this galaxy and others.

On Earth, they can be found at the convergence of ley lines, those invisible electromagnetic paths crisscrossing the globe. Our ancestors discovered them thousands of years ago. Used them to travel to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Flourishing ancient civilizations didn’t die out, as we once believed. The people of Atlantis, the Sumerians, the Mayans – when tragedy struck their homelands, they simply migrated through the portals to places where fresh water flowed and crops grew abundantly.

Human beings descended from our common ancestors are alive today on a trio of planets thousands of light years away located in a cluster of seven stars. Islands of stability in the universe where vast quantities of natural resources and rare minerals abound.

Neodyma. Iridia. And the icy world farthest from the warmth of its twin suns Phalyx and Zalyx – Gadolinium.

Chapter One

Earth 2734 AD

Her hands shook as she stroked the cloth over his naked body. He stirred, and she stopped, studied his face to see if any trace of awareness had returned. But his eyes remained closed, his breathing slow and labored though his heart beat strong. As strong as the moment she’d laid eyes on him, nearly two months ago.

* * *

“We found this man lying on the floor in front of the star portal when we reported for work this morning. Thought he was dead at first, but then he groaned. I don’t mind telling you, it scared me half to death.” The young guard’s face looked as white as the uniform he wore.

“We brought him here as fast as we could. He’s in such bad shape we didn’t dare risk waiting for help to arrive. We don’t have equipment down there for medical emergencies. Never needed it before. Transport through the portal is the safest mode of travel there is.”

The two guards had burst into her lab, gasping for breath after running full tilt while lugging his huge body on a makeshift stretcher. Selena rushed to his side as the guard babbled nervously. “Is he gonna make it? He’s from Gadolinium – that’s the really cold planet, isn’t it? I guessed it from that fur cloak he’s wrapped in, even before we found the note. I’ve never seen anything like it. He looks like something out of one of the exhibits at the Museum of Planetary History.”

“Note? What note?”

The older guard handed over a scrap of paper smeared with dried blood. “He had this clutched in his hand when we found him. Had to pry it loose from his fingers.”

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