"What is it? Implant bothering you again?"

"No...I just..." She sounded so hesitant that he turned his head toward her. The look on her face was one of longing and indecision.

"Yes?" Kor prompted a little more gently. "Go on, sweetheart. Something you need?"

"Not something I need, no. The implant isn't bothering me right now." She sighed. "It's just...I know you're mad at me but we're in a strange place and it's dark and I...I've gotten really used to sleeping close to you...touching you. Could you...would you mind if I just...just got...got a little closer? I don't need to but...but I want to," she ended in a whisper.

Kor's heart felt like she'd reached into his chest and squeezed his heart with her soft little hand. At once the dark voice that had been tormenting him vanished and he felt the hurt, angry barrier he'd been building between them start to melt.

"Of course you can get closer, blondie," he murmured. "C'mere." Reaching for her, he pulled her close, fitting her soft, curvy body against his side as he always did.

Maggie sighed in contentment and snuggled closer, resting her cheek on his chest. "Thank you, Kor." Her voice was soft and grateful. "I always feel so warm and comfortable with you. I don't know how I'm going to learn to sleep without you after...after all this is over."

Kor breathed in the warm, feminine scent of her hair and skin and felt her soft weight against him. I don't know how I'm going to learn to live without you, sweetheart. But he didn't say it aloud.

"You'll manage," he murmured instead. "Might as well get some sleep-tomorrow is a big day. Once the ship docks we'll go straight to the implant house that male told us about and get that thing taken out of you once and for all."

"Then I'll be free...I guess."

Kor was surprised at the sadness in her voice.

"Yeah, free at last. How come you don't sound happy about it?"

"I don't know. Of course I'm happy." She shifted against him. "It's just...I'll miss this. I'll miss you, Kor."

"I'll miss you too, blondie," he muttered, his voice suddenly thick. "You don't know how much."

"Kor-"

"We'd better get some sleep," he said firmly, shutting down the conversation. He didn't want to sit there and listen to her explain how she was sorry she couldn't stay with him but she loved her fiance. He just wanted to enjoy his last night with her, the last night he would have the right to hold her close, to breathe in the scent of her hair and pretend she was his.

"Good night, Kor," she whispered at last.

"Night, Maggie." He dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head and stared up at the gla.s.s ceiling, wishing he never had to let her go.

Chapter Twenty-nine.

Hargous, the asteroid where the implant house was located, was the largest one of the cl.u.s.ter that made up the Dragon's Mouth. Consequently, the junket docked there first. Apparently implants were even more popular than body modifications, though Maggie was sure you couldn't tell it from watching some of the slaves on the large asteroid. She saw plenty of female slaves with three, four, and even more b.r.e.a.s.t.s. One even had a double row of b.r.e.a.s.t.s, almost like the utters of a cow.

But it wasn't just b.r.e.a.s.t.s-some of the women had been modified to look almost like animals. Maggie saw one with pointed ears like a cat and a long swishing tail to match. Her eyes were huge too and she had a long set of whiskers that twitched as she sniffed the air. Honestly, Maggie wasn't sure which kind of body modification was the worst-each slave she saw seemed more bizarrely modified than the next. And all of them shuffled along behind their masters, pa.s.sing silently through the crowded streets.

Of course, maybe the streets just looked crowded because they were all located underground. Maggie hadn't wanted to go at first when they disembarked from the large junket. The covered, atmosphere-sealed walkway that extended from the big ship had led straight down into what looked like a black mining pit. Maggie-who had been claustrophobic since she was little and her big brother had locked her in a closet-hadn't liked the look of it at all.

Finally Kor had coaxed her down, promising to keep an arm around her the entire time, but she still had a horrible, tight feeling in the pit of her stomach as they walked through the dimly lit tunnels carved into the solid rock of the huge asteroid.

Or maybe that tight feeling is unfinished business, whispered a little voice in her head. Maybe it's because you're starting to care for him and you can't admit it.

Maybe the voice was right, Maggie acknowledged miserably. She knew it was stupid to let herself fall for the big warrior, but she couldn't seem to help it. She tried to keep Donald in mind and the promise she had made to him, but her fiance just seemed so far away...so distant and unreal. And Kor was right here beside her-warm and caring, watching over her.

Maggie loved the sensation of being so thoroughly guarded. The hard wall of muscle that was Kor's chest was at her back, shielding her from harm. His hand was on her shoulder, guiding her through the maze of corridors and his intense eyes watched her every step lest she trip in her high black boots. He was there for her-present and protective in a way she could never remember Donald-who was constantly preoccupied with his work- ever being.

Watch it, Maggie! You're getting in pretty deep here. The little voice in her head was absolutely right but somehow Maggie just couldn't help herself...her emotions were overcoming her good sense.

It's just the implant, she told herself desperately. Except, she wasn't exactly sure of that anymore. It was true the implant made her crave Kor's touch but could it really make her fall in love with him? Could it really- "Well, here we are. The House of Denethor."

Kor's deep voice behind her snapped Maggie out of her thoughts. Looking up, she saw a discretely lit sign that advertised "Implants for the Discriminating Gentlemale."

"Looks like a reputable place, at least," Kor muttered, staring at the sign. "Better than those hack and slash implant places we pa.s.sed on the way in."

"I suppose so." Maggie nodded. Honestly, she'd been too busy looking at the bizarrely modified slaves and thinking about her increasingly complicated feelings to take notice of the different shops they'd pa.s.sed.

"Well, let's go." Kor held open the door for her and they stepped inside the small, dimly lit shop.

"Yes?" A little, wrinkled gnome of a man who was probably shorter than Maggie was sitting on a high stool at a work station at the back of the shop. He had dark blue skin and a shock of bright pink hair like a swirl of cotton candy. Other than his skin and hair color, though, Maggie thought he looked remarkably human.

The shop itself appeared to be completely bare except for a few gla.s.s or crystal cases set up around the perimeter which housed small, blinking jewels attached to long, thin, trailing feathers. "Can I help you?" the little man asked, frowning.

"Yes." Kor stepped forward, leading Maggie by the hand. "Are you Hobbs?"

"I am." The little man frowned. "State your business, please."

Kor gestured at Maggie. "I need an implant removed."

"From her?" The grizzled little man frowned down at Maggie from his perch behind the work station. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong-I want it removed and I believe it originated here." Kor frowned impatiently. "Can you take it out?"

"Let me have a look at it. Come closer, youngling." The little old man beckoned to her and Maggie stepped forward. She was wearing her leather slave girl outfit again and she was even more aware than usual that her nipples and p.u.s.s.y were on display. The little old man didn't seem to even notice her near nakedness, however-he focused solely on her naval where the ruby implant blinked slowly.

"Well?" Kor asked after a long moment. "Is it one of yours?"

"Yes indeed. The Denari Eroticus-our top of the line model," the little man muttered. "In fact, this one looks a lot like a model I shipped off to the Yonnie system-Yonnie Six, I believe it was."

"That's it, then," Kor said, nodding. "That's where she was implanted."

"And the implantation seems to have taken hold well," the little man muttered, continuing to stare at Maggie's belly b.u.t.ton. "The host is healthy. Let me just..." He hopped down from his perch and came over to them, reaching out a hand to Maggie.

Only his hand wasn't just a hand, she saw with sudden horror. The fingers and thumb were hideously elongated and tapered to long, thin filaments at the end. They waved like incredibly thin needles as he moved his fingers and they were getting closer and closer to her unprotected midriff.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed and took a step back before he could touch her.

"Hold still, girl-hold still," the little man said testily. "Haven't you ever seen finger mods before?"

"No." Maggie shook her head. "And I don't want to, either. Those look sharp."

The little man blew out a breath in frustration. "They are sharp, my girl. So sharp you won't even feel them. I had them grown especially so that I could work at nano-level. Now hold still-this won't hurt a bit."

Maggie bit her lip and forced herself to stand still as those long, thin needle fingers came at her again. As they got closer and closer, she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch.

"I warn you," Kor growled at the man. "If you hurt her-"

"She won't feel a thing. Now if I can just...there. There we are."

Maggie opened her eyes and saw to her surprise that the needle fingers were penetrating her skin, poking into the flesh of her abdomen all around the implant. Just as the man had said, it didn't hurt a bit. But it was very disconcerting to watch. She closed her eyes again and reached for Kor's hand.

"It's all right, blondie," he murmured, squeezing her fingers rea.s.suringly. "I've got you."

"Ah yes, here it is. Well everything appears to be in order," Maggie heard the little man say. "I can find nothing wrong-the organism is well seated within its host and the biological and mechanical components are synchronized and working together seamlessly. So what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem," Kor said, sounding dangerously impatient and p.i.s.sed off. "Is that we want the f.u.c.king thing out. Now can you do it or not?"

"Do it?" The little man stepped away and Maggie opened her eyes in time to see his long, thin fingers sliding out of her. They didn't leave so much as a pinp.r.i.c.k or a single drop of blood.

"Yes," Kor growled. "Can...you...take...it...out?"

"Of course, I can't do it," the little man said indignantly. "Didn't you hear me? The implant is locked within the host and it seems to be working beautifully. How could I possibly remove such perfection? It would be like spoiling a perfect work of art."

"f.u.c.k art," Kor stepped closer, glaring down at the little man. "Listen, you son of a b.i.t.c.h, this implant was put into my female without her knowledge or consent. Since then it has caused her unlimited problems and humiliation-it's making her life f.u.c.king miserable. So I don't care how 'beautiful' you think your d.a.m.n implant is, I want it out of her now!"

The last word was a full throated roar and Maggie saw his eyes begin to glow red in warning. Clearly he was just one step away from frying Hobbs the implant gnome where he stood.

"Kor..." she said, putting a hand on his arm quickly. "Please don't-please!"

"Sorry." He put a hand to his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "It just makes me so f.u.c.king angry. After everything you've gone through..."

"So she's not your slave at all?" the little man interrupted.

"No," Kor said shortly. His eyes were still glowing but a little less brightly now. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief, glad disaster had been averted.

"I was taken and implanted by a really terrible woman," she told Hobbs helpfully. "I never wanted this and I'm not a slave, although she tried to sell me as one. I'm just a girl from Earth who wants to go home but I can't. Not with this thing in me." She gestured at the blinking ruby implant. "Please, can't you help?"

"Hmm, well..." The little gnome man nodded. "Yes, that does put a different spin on things. Forgive me." He bowed stiffly to Kor. "I had no idea the female in question was your beloved."

"Well, she is," Kor said, not bothering to correct him. "And I care for her happiness deeply. No matter how beautifully your implant has taken root, it is making her life miserable. It has to come out."

"I see. Well, there's the problem." The little man nodded thoughtfully.

"What problem?" Kor asked flatly.

"Well, as you say, the implant has 'taken root'-literally, I'm afraid. Come here, let me show you." He led them to one of the clear crystal cases that held a blinking jewel attached to many long thin feather-like filaments. "This is a model of the same kind that is living inside you," he told Maggie. "The jewel is the mechanical part of the implant. But see these?" He pointed to the feather things. "They are the biological part-the creature's tentacles."

"Really?" Maggie felt sick when she considered that those long, thin feathery things might be inside her. "Where...where are they?" she made herself ask.

"Oh, why, everywhere." The little man moved his hands expressively. "Wrapped around your heart, your lungs, your liver...all your internal organs basically. Oh, and they've completely infiltrated your spinal chord and nervous system with many special tendrils reaching into your genital area."

"Oh my G.o.d!" Maggie could scarcely believe it. Of course, Kor had told her something similar when he'd warned only the maker of the implant could take it out but to hear the "expert" tell her that she was completely infiltrated by another organism-an alien parasite-was horrifying. She felt her stomach flutter sickly and wondered if she was going to throw up. Feels like I swallowed a bunch of feathers, she thought. Oh wait, basically I did. A jagged little laugh that sounded more like a sob escaped her.

"Maggie?" Kor had her by the shoulders and was looking at her anxiously. "Maggie, are you all right?"

"No." Maggie felt another sob trying to escape and swallowed it back down grimly. "No, apparently I'm not because I'm host to a freaking alien that's been growing inside me for months. It'll probably come bursting out of my sternum at any minute-"

"Don't be foolish," the little man said sternly. "Nothing of the kind is going to happen. My implants are perfectly well suited for life inside their hosts. There's no reason any of them would dislodge in that way."

His stern, no-nonsense tone made Maggie feel marginally better. She took a deep breath.

"But...what you're saying is that it's all over me. That it's in me for good and there's no getting rid of it, right?"

"I didn't say that either. Such an annoying female-are you certain you want the implant removed?" The little man looked at Kor.

"Very f.u.c.king certain," Kor growled. "And I think she has a right to be upset-she's been implanted with a biomechanical creature and it sounds like it can't come out."

"Oh, but it can come out." The little man nodded vigorously. "Indeed, it can."

"What? Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Kor demanded irritably. "Instead of scaring my female half to death with your d.a.m.n demonstrations?"

"I was coming to it," the little man exploded. "If only you'll let me talk. Gerran the Terrible's c.o.c.k, you people are impatient!"

Maggie was tempted to ask who Gerran the Terrible was and what his c.o.c.k had to do with anything but she was too eager to hear how the implant could be gotten out of her. Now that she knew what was really inside her body, she had a shivery, crawly sensation that wouldn't go away.

"Removing the implant is quite simple, really, as long as the girl's master is available," the little man said.

"I told you," Kor growled. "She's not really a slave!"

"Yes, I know that," the little man snapped. "I'm talking about the male who has been acting as her master while the implant was active. Who has been satisfying the s.e.xual urges caused by it?"

"Oh." Kor frowned. "Well, I have, actually."

"Good. Now we're getting somewhere." The little old man hobbled back to his work station and began working rapidly, his long, thin fingers moving so fast they seemed to be a blur. At last he pressed a final b.u.t.ton and a panel in the wall behind him slid open. "Ah, there we are," he muttered, hopping down from his perch again. He reached into the panel and extracted what looked like a test tube filled with some milky white liquid. It appeared to be steaming as the little man put some kind of a seal over it and handed the vial to Kor.

Kor took it from him and frowned. "What's this?"

"Tentacle solvent. Tailored specially to your beloved's implant." The little man sighed. "If you truly feel you must remove it then you'll need to drink all of that first."

"Uh, you mean I have to drink all of it, right?" Maggie had no idea what was in the test tube but if it would get rid of the awful blinking ruby in her belly b.u.t.ton as well as its disgusting feathery filaments apparently fastened around every organ and system in her body, she would gladly swallow it. In fact, she was reaching to take the tube from Kor already when the little man spoke again.

"It's not for you, girl. In order to activate it, your master must drink the solvent. It will become active in his sperm and once it enters your body it will dissolve the Denari Eroticus's tentacles, allowing the implant itself to fall out."

"So you mean when I swallow his, uh..." Maggie blushed. "His, you know..."

The little gnome man frowned. "Who said anything about swallowing? The acid in your saliva would kill the delicate solvent agents."

"Well then what...?" Kor began.