Hold

  Hold

  Claire Kent

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 by Claire Kent. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

  This book was originally published by Ellora’s Cave by the same title and the penname Zannie Adams. Copyright © 2007. It has since been expanded, revised, and reedited.

  Content editing for second edition: Kristin Anders, The Romantic Editor

  Proofreading for second edition: Vanessa Bridges, PREMA Romance

  Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Complicated

  About the Author

  One

  Find the strongest man there. Give yourself to him in return for protection. It’s the only way you’ll ever survive.

  The words kept ringing in Riana’s head. She knew they were intended as a kindness, and in her gut she knew they were true. But they made her want to scream anyway.

  Genus 6 was a prison planet.

  It wasn’t a penal colony. The Coalition had given up on those long ago, when too many exiles managed to escape and make it back to the civilized planets—sometimes even as far as Earth. So, instead of colonies, the Coalition had assigned otherwise uninhabitable planets as primitive and inescapable prisons. The surface of Genus 6 was covered by a volatile ocean that was poison to human life. The prison hold was built beneath that ocean. Even if a convict managed to get through the structural barriers and the guards, there was no way to survive the ocean.

  Genus 6 was hell, as far as Riana was concerned.

  There were any number of prison planets in the Coalition now, and Riana had never given them a second thought. She’d heard horror stories—as everyone had—about people unjustly incarcerated and permanently caged up like animals. Stories like that weren’t unusual. The Coalition Council, the ruling body of civilized space, made up of representatives from all the major planets, wasn’t known for using its authority in a fair or enlightened way.

  But it wasn’t something Riana had wasted any time or indignation on.

  Life sucked sometimes. The Coalition sucked most of the time. And there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it.

  So she minded her own business and flew her expeditions under the Coalition radar. Archeologists weren’t particularly valued at present—as they provided neither power nor money for those in authority. They were usually ignored, though.

  Which was the way Riana had always preferred it.

  She was on staff with an Earth university but hadn’t been on campus for nearly four years. She spent all her time at her digs—usually on obscure aging planets where civilization had died out centuries ago. She’d been orphaned as a child and raised by a grandmother who’d died ten years ago. She’d never had many friends. Her professional colleagues were all she needed for companionship.

  Mostly, she just wanted to be left alone to do her work.

  And she had been—for the eight years since she’d earned her degree. Until she’d happened to choose the wrong place to dig.

  All archeological digs had to be approved by the Coalition well in advance of the project. Riana had gone through all the necessary red tape and had received permission for her work on the Imperial Palace of Karna. And, if she’d assumed that permission had extended to the grounds surrounding the Palace, that had been her mistake.

  A mistake for which she would pay for the rest of her life.

  A life that might not last very long.

  There were no light sentences in the Coalition. All official crimes were treated the same—from trespassing to murder. If a crime wasn’t a threat to Coalition authority or resources, it was usually ignored. So Riana assumed there must have been some sort of covert Coalition headquarters elsewhere on Karna or her breaking of the rules and trespassing on the grounds would never have been prosecuted.

  It was prosecuted, though, and she was summarily convicted.

  Then she was sentenced to imprisonment on Genus 6, the closest prison planet to Karna.

  There were no specified terms on prison sentences for the Coalition. Those who went in never came out.

  One other prisoner had been transported to Genus 6 with her—a sleazy middle-aged man with thinning hair and a nauseating leer. The transport landed on water, since there was no other way of landing on Genus 6. The spacecraft must have been designed to be a submersible as well, since it then submerged to the prison structure beneath the ocean.

  After it had docked, she and the other prisoner were hauled into the main guard room. The room was foul—dirty and smelling strongly of stale sweat and faintly of urine. They were shackled in mechanized manacles while the paperwork was taken care of, and Riana shuddered with disgust at the stench and at the lewd suggestions her fellow prisoner kept muttering about how he was planning to take her when they were finally dumped into the main prison hold.

  She’d been in shock for the last two days—ever since she’d learned what her fate would be. The shock was a blessing, since it had kept her from fully processing what was going to happen to her here.

  There looked to be about a dozen guards in the room, but Riana’s attention was held by the man who appeared to be in charge. He introduced himself curtly to the transport officials as Davis and gave Riana and the other prisoner a cursory inspection.

  Davis must have been in his forties, with slightly graying dark hair, strong features, and sharp green eyes. He didn’t have the crude quality of the other guards, but he was all business, with no softness in his expression.

  He barely seemed to notice Riana, but some of the other guards did, ogling or making crass comments about her body.

  She wasn’t any sort of beauty queen or sex symbol. She had a pretty good body, dark curly hair, and blue-gray eyes. Nothing about her was particularly extraordinary, but she was a basically attractive female in a setting where that was clearly rare.

  Riana had never felt so objectified in her life, and the terror that had been held back by the shock of incomprehension was starting to take shape in her gut.

  This was real. She was really a prisoner, about to be thrown into a prison hold with a couple of hundred rough, violent criminals. With no mercy and no protection.

  She’d be lucky if she made it through the night.

  One of the guards, eyeing Riana offensively, said, “Maybe we should give her a test drive before we hand her down to the animals.”

  Davis stepped over and backhanded him across the jaw—the gesture more effective because of its perfect blandness. “That’s the way to lose your post. We aren’t responsible for what the prisoners do in the Hold, but we are responsible for what happens outside it.”

  The words weren’t much comfort to Riana, who was about to get thrown down into the Hold.

  “Don’t worry,” her sleazy fellow prisoner said. “I’ll take care of the test drive myself.”

  To Riana’s disappointment, Davis didn’t strike the sleaze. Instead, he calmly pushed her towards what appeared to be a small armored vehicle.

  It was then he leaned down to murmur in her ear the words that changed everything. “Find the strongest man there,” Davis said. “Give yourself to him in return for protection. It’s the only way you’ll ever survive.”

  The advice made sense. She’d never be able to protect herself. Not in a place like this. If she didn’t seek protection from someone who was strong enough to give it to her, she’d be literally ripped apart.

  But the alter
native was equally unappealing. Giving herself to one of the prisoners—becoming a kind of voluntary sex slave—sounded like it might be worse than death.

  She didn’t have time to dwell on the dilemma for very long. Once the sleaze was hauled into the vehicle as well, the door was closed, and Davis sat down at the controls.

  The vehicle was lowered into a cavernous room.

  The Hold.

  As soon as they touched down, Riana realized why the vehicle was so heavily armed. A single guard wouldn’t dare to enter the Hold without some serious defense.

  Prisons like this didn’t have individually assigned cells, and there was no separation of genders. It was a free-for-all. Mass chaos. A nightmare of violence and primitive power. Survival was based on physical prowess and strategic alliances. The weak and those without protection starved, or they were murdered, assaulted, or raped.

  That could very easily be her.

  “I’ll take you around the Hold so you can see the layout,” Davis explained, “before I let you out.”

  Again, Riana realized it was an unnecessary kindness—giving the new prisoners time to scope things out before they had to handle the initial arrival.

  As soon as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light of the Hold, Riana could see that the structure had once been set up more like a more traditional prison. There were rows of cells lining the walls on both sides—three levels of them. But few of them had doors or bars so they’d neither keep one in nor keep others out.

  Glancing into one of the open cells, Riana saw a naked man on his knees with another man’s cock in his mouth.

  She looked away immediately, feeling bile rise in her throat.

  What was going to happen to her here?

  “Food comes twice a day,” Davis explained disinterestedly. “It’s passed down through the chute, there.” He gestured toward the center of the back wall. “Obviously, it doesn’t make it around evenly.”

  Riana had no doubts about that. It wouldn’t be individually portioned, so the strongest would take what they wanted—leaving the rest to make do with what was left.

  Davis paused in front of a large cell—twice as big as the others. Looking in, Riana realized that was because the wall between two cells had been torn down to make one big one.

  “That’s Thorn. He’s someone to pay attention to.” Davis glanced back, giving Riana a significant look.

  Riana peered more closely and saw a handsome blond man stretched out on a bed. He was dressed in trousers and a t-shirt, and he appeared to be talking to someone. She noticed that there were three women in the large cell—all in various states of undress—and Riana realized why Davis had given her that look.

  This must be the alpha male of the Hold. He already had three women under his protection. He would be the obvious choice for Riana too.

  She couldn’t see the women very well. The one closest to her was wearing a tattered, revealing dress. She had probably been attractive at one time, but she now looked dirty, prematurely old, and used up.

  Riana experienced another surge of nausea and tried to fight back her rising panic.

  “Toilets,” Davis said, pointing to the right. A doorway—without a door—led into what must be the main bathrooms.

  Riana gasped as she saw a man getting beaten by two others just in front of it.

  There was no reason to be surprised, though. This was what happened on a prison planet.

  Davis appeared not to notice the fight and kept steering the vehicle around the perimeter of the Hold.

  They were nearing the end of the opposite side when Riana noticed a particular cell set off by itself.

  It was the same size as all the others, except this one had metal bars intact and a functional door. Looking through the wall of bars, she noticed a large man doing one-arm push-ups inside.

  He had olive skin, and his dark hair was shaved down close to the scalp. He was really big—tall, broad shoulders, muscular arms and legs—and he was wearing a worn, sleeveless t-shirt.

  Something about him fascinated Riana, and she stared as Davis explained something about a system of rewards for “good” behavior.

  The man finished his push-ups and stood up, coming over to the bars to stare out at the vehicle. His face wasn’t classically handsome, but the broad forehead, high cheekbones, and square jaw looked both powerful and compelling.

  “Who is that?” Riana asked.

  Davis glanced over at the man. “He’d never give his name. He’s been here for a year now. He’s a loner. Keeps to himself.”

  Riana stared more closely and realized the man must be able to lock himself in his cell—which had to be a real privilege in a place like this. She also noticed a doorway at the back of his cell and saw the edge of what looked like a primitive toilet inside.

  This man had the only cell with a private toilet in the entire Hold.

  That fact told Riana something she needed to know.

  “And that’s it,” Davis said, circling the vehicle back around to where they’d come in. “Time to disembark.”

  Which was a polite way of saying they were now going to be dumped into the Hold.

  Her mind suddenly became a frantic blur. Riana could barely breathe, much less follow distinct movements as the back door of the vehicle opened and deposited her and the sleaze on the hard, cold floor.

  The door immediately closed behind them, and then their manacles clattered to the floor as Davis released them remotely.

  Riana shook off her hands, restoring circulation. She was freed of the shackles.

  But now she was in more danger than ever before in her life.

  The circling vehicle had gained everyone’s attention, and already other prisoners—most of them hard-eyed and dirty, more like beasts than like men—were starting to approach.

  She was so focused on the impending danger and her rising terror that she failed to notice the sleaze who’d been dropped off with her.

  He made a quick grab for her breast—perhaps thinking he’d better grope while he could, before stronger competition approached.

  Riana reacted instinctively. She gave a hard sideways kick, landing it precisely on his groin. She wasn’t physically helpless. Her work required physical labor, and she had always been in good shape—her body long, slender, and fit. She also knew a few basic self-defense moves, as any independent woman did if she traveled alone on the outskirts of Coalition space.

  With a strangled grunt, the sleaze doubled over. She aimed another kick, this one at his face, which was easily accessible because he was leaning over.

  Her foot slammed into his mouth and jaw, knocking him backward. He gave an agonized howl.

  She wished she’d knocked a few teeth out, but her kick hadn’t been quite strong enough for that.

  Her easy victory over her fellow prisoner caused a murmur of responses through the Hold. There was also some derisive laughter—hopefully aimed at the sleaze—and a few appreciative whistles.

  She wasn’t fooled. She wasn’t going to get herself through this on her own. The guy she’d clobbered had been a scrawny coward. She wouldn’t have a chance against at least half the men she saw circling around her.

  “A cunt,” a nasal voice called out. “It’s about time we got a new one.”

  Riana willed herself not to be sick.

  She remembered Davis’s words.

  Find the strongest man here. She needed to find the strongest man here.

  The first man she saw distinctly was frightening. At least a foot taller than she was and made like a bull with an oversized chest and unpleasantly beefy arms. He had a long dark braid down his back, and his bare chest was covered with tattoos.

  He approached her, eyeing her up and down with an objectifying stare that made her feel like she was naked.

  “Thorn will want her,” someone said from the sidelines.

  The man turned his head with a sneer, as if defying anyone who would assert that Thorn had a stronger claim to her than him.


  “How are you with your mouth?” he asked. He turned back to pin her down with a merciless gaze.

  Riana swallowed hard. Her mouth was so dry she couldn’t speak, and her heart was hammering in her chest so painfully she thought it might explode.

  This man would eat her alive.

  There wasn’t any miraculous rescue in this place. No authority to keep any sort of order. Her only chance of survival was to be smarter than anyone else.

  And to ally herself with exactly the right man.

  That man—by all appearances—was approaching even now, swaggering with the kind of confident authority that showed his position in this primitive community.

  Thorn’s clothes were in better shape than anyone else’s. He also looked well-fed and rested, which wasn’t the case with at least half the people she could see from where she stood. He had a kind of entourage—some men who acted like bodyguards and the women Riana had noticed before.

  Riana had met his type before. Arrogant, entitled, confident of their own physical prowess. The kind of superficial alpha male you could find in every ship, bar, and gym in Coalition space.

  “Were you going to make a play for her, Asp?” Thorn asked, facing the other man with a manner bristling with testosterone.

  It was a silent battle—a wordless duel of power and intimidation.

  Riana looked on without breathing, wondering if Asp would back down or if they’d actually get in a fight over her.

  It wasn’t a romantic fantasy. It was more like ghastly horror. Both of these men would just use her until she was entirely used up.

  Thorn might not be as innately brutal as Asp seemed to be, but Thorn was utterly selfish—she could tell that from the first look—and he hadn’t become the alpha male around here by treating other people as human beings.

  Asp eventually backed down, muttering something under his breath as he slunk away in disgust.

  Riana was hardly relieved. At least a fight would have delayed the inevitable.

  But the inevitable was fast approaching. Thorn stepped closer to her, and his eyes crawled over her body from her shoulder-length curls to her sensible shoes.