by Loki Renard
“Okay, sure, dude.”
She couldn’t imagine how they were going to go. There was nowhere to go. Just an incredible stillness all around, and a warmth radiating from above. It felt like the sun, but more personal.
When she looked up, she saw a light so bright and so warm that she couldn't help but look up at it. She felt completely safe, and utterly loved. She felt as though she knew the answer to every question she had ever asked, and many others besides.
The stranger’s arms wrapped around her, his wings extended and together they rose above the stalled streetscape, leaving it behind as if it were nothing more than a glitch in time.
2 A Pet Is For Life
“Dominax, what are you doing with that human?”
Darma was always asking difficult questions. It was almost as if his job was to spend all day thinking of difficult questions, and then ask them. As the younger brother of the king, Darma was what the humans would have called Dominax’s right hand man. He was also trouble of the kind Dominax liked to keep close out of necessity.
“She’s my new pet.”
“Ah,” Darma said. “Just a pet, then. Not a mate. Not a queen. Just a pet.”
“What are you getting at?”
Darma was grinning broadly. He was just trying to start something. As usual.
“I’m saying you’ve taken an alien of unknown temperament and you’ve decided to make her a pet because she has a compatible hole for your cock, just because King Archon has one?”
“Thank you for the summary,” Dominax growled. “Now please, leave us. If she wakes up she doesn’t need the two of us looming over her.”
“Right, because that could frighten her.”
“Exactly.”
“But being dragged to our planet, that’s going to be like a vacation for her.”
“Darma. Enough,” Dominax growled. “Get out of here.”
“Would be pleased to. Would be pleased to never be dragged along on any of these fuck hunting trips again, actually.”
So that’s what this was about. His younger brother was not on board his ship because Dominax needed his help. He was on board his ship because Dominax did not feel like leaving the rogue prince to roam their home world without supervision.
“Maybe you should start conducting yourself in a royal fashion,” Dominax suggested. “Maybe, instead of taking your band of winged bastards into the Golden City and terrorizing the locals, you could stay in the palace and learn to defend the planet.”
“It was one time, Dominax. One time. Bronco had just graduated the royal academy, and we were celebrating.”
“Yes. And you rode Bronco halfway across the city, as was reported by the lawmen who dragged you both back for lewd and lascivious behavior.”
“I’m a royal. I don’t have to hide my sexual proclivities. You certainly don’t. You’ve sky-fucked before.”
“I can’t be bothered explaining to you for the umpteenth time why there’s a difference between a king showing carnal connection with his pet, and a prince fucking a guard loud enough to wake the entire sky district twice in one night. We have had this argument many times,” Dominax sighed. “And I really don’t care to have it now. I have something more interesting to attend to.”
“She’s passed out,” Darma shrugged. “Maybe I could get a royal pardon?”
“You are not getting a royal pardon,” Dominax growled. “You are going to serve your time on this ship, as I decreed at the time. The last thing I need is the citizenry seeing me favor my brother who uses the city skies as a backdrop for his lechery.”
“Ah. Because it is important that the king upholds the law.”
“Exactly.”
Someone with sense would have known to leave Dominax alone when he was in his ship's royal chamber with a carnal amusement, but Darma hadn’t developed that level of sensitivity, or sense, yet. Dominax was starting to think that he was never going to, either.
“But you, as king of Homeworld, abducted a human from Earth, stopped time, and interfered in the chain of cause and effect for an unknown number of future humans, very possibly in the tens of thousands… simply because you wanted to.”
“I like this human.”
“You don’t know this human. She’s just a naked blonde girl.”
“We talked.”
“For all of five minutes. I’ve been punished and separated from Bronco for a far lesser offense than what you did on Earth today. You’re a hypocrite, Dominax.”
“Not a hypocrite. A king.”
That was the real crux of the matter. Dominax was king of all he surveyed, and that included the delicate human passed out on the floor at his feet. She was blissfully unaware of the fraternal argument taking place above her, and he was glad for that.
“Dominax…”
“We are done talking about this, Darma.”
Darma narrowed his eyes. In appearance, he was the exact opposite of Dominax. He had pale eyes which could glow with fierce emotion, and dark hair the color of ravens. His wings were similarly colored, black and deep. There was no doubting his royal blood. It was written in every line of his body, and in the imperious temperament which made him a constant source of concern for those who attempted to rein him in.
Dominax was ten years older, and those ten years came not only with more experience, wisdom, and knowledge, but the crown of Homeworld besides. Fortunately, Darma was not like some brothers who would engage in murderous activity to claim the throne for themselves. Darma was more interested in dominating his way through the royal guard, using the strongest and most impressive soldiers for his carnal amusement.
“This is a bad idea,” Darma said, pointing to the insensate human.
“This is my problem. Go and amuse yourself elsewhere.”
“Fine,” Darma sighed. “But I warned you. Humans aren’t pets.”
With that, he walked away. Dominax disagreed. He didn’t see why humans couldn’t be pets. King Archon had taken one as a lover and he seemed to enjoy her immensely. Dominax found humans intriguing because they were so similar to his own species.
In Darma’s absence, Dominax was once again free to return to staring at the beauty of his human pet. She was yet to return to consciousness after their journey to the ship. Or rather, awareness. It wasn’t that she was asleep so much as it was she was so overloaded with intense happiness, she couldn’t recognize reality anymore.
He had heard that the transport beams had this effect on humans. In fact, it was recommended not to use them, but what choice had he had? He couldn’t very well have landed the ship in the middle of the city, and he was certainly not going to risk losing this human. She was very beautiful, with golden hair and blue eyes and a sort of perpetually winsome expression which he found very appealing.
He crouched next to her and wrapped a collar around her neck. Best to do this while she was asleep and couldn’t protest the installation of his primary apparatus of control. It was light enough that it shouldn’t bother her, but made out of a fine metal fabric which would act as a means of physical control. A small dome on the front of it allowed a leash to be attached. He would do that later, after she had woken up. It was important that a pet learned how to carry their own leash, or they ended up getting tangled in everything.
“I have come a very long way for you, pet,” he said softly to his sleeping human. “I will cherish you in every way. You will never want for a thing in life. That, I promise you.”
She was unaware of what he was saying, but that didn’t matter. Even if she was deeply asleep, Dominax was certain that his intention would be made clear through the vibration of his words. Humans were sensitive that way. Actually, they were sensitive in almost every way. He would have to be very careful with this one.
Darma was technically right. He couldn’t just take a human. There were consequences for removing less advanced species from their planet. A human did not belong in the greater time stream. Dominax comforted his conscience by telling himself
that King Archon had a human, and whatever King Archon had done, Dominax was not going to restrict himself from doing.
The truth, which he would never admit, was that he hadn’t actually planned to take anybody. He’d gone to Earth just to look, but the second he saw this one, he had known he had to have her. There had been something in her gaze which set her apart from the other humans. Most of them barely glanced at him, and those that did look, stared with barely veiled hostility. One of them had asked, rather aggressively, what Dominax thought he was looking at. None of them had endeared themselves to him. But this human. This Katie. She had stood out among thousands.
“Hnngghh…” She stirred and made a non-verbal sound.
“Shhh,” he soothed her. “We’re almost home.”
His words were true enough. They were only a matter of minutes from Homeworld, Dominax’s little corner of supreme control in the midst of a universe too strange to ever truly be ruled by anything sentient. Creation was a beautiful madness, and beings like Dominax were tasked with the responsibility of bringing enough order to small parts of it to allow intelligent creatures to live out a life which vaguely approximated something that made sense.
As they slipped into orbit, his new pet started to stir. The transport daze was wearing off, and soon she would be completely conscious and aware of what was happening to her. He expected her to panic, probably to emit those sharp, shrill sounds humans liked to make when they were surprised, excited, happy, or, well, as far as he could tell, pretty much any time they felt anything at all.
He liked watching her wake up, the fluttering of her pretty lashes revealing that brilliant blue. She had the most amazing eyes. They were very unlike his own which were just one thick slash of black. The human gaze showed so much more emotion.
She looked at him, and he saw her confusion. It was obvious she had no recollection of events leading up to their departure from Earth, at least, not immediately upon waking.
“Where am I? What happened? Why do you have wings? Why are you red? What’s happening?”
He didn’t bother to answer any of her questions directly.
“Hello, pet. I am Dominax. You are safe.”
He spoke gently and calmly so as not to panic her. It would not do to have his pet getting overly excited.
“Where am I?”
“You are in orbit around what will become your new home. In a few minutes, we will be descending, so we need to get you into a chair, strapped in securely. Atmospheric re-entry is still bumpy, even with our superior technology.”
“What the…”
She looked down, noticed she was naked, and proceeded to panic.
“Where the fuck are my clothes!?” She screamed the question at him like an accusation.
“All your clothing was dissolved in the transportation beam. Every bit of Earthly filth was removed from you.”
“Transportation beam?”
“I removed you from planet Earth while you were on your way to work. I believe it had something of a temporary amnesia effect on you. You agreed to it at the time, believe it or not.”
“I agreed to be stripped naked and wake up in some weirdo’s basement? What the fuck is up with your eyes? And your wings? And your…” In the course of flailing her hands about the place, she brought them close to her face, and then stopped, and sniffed.
“I think this is the first time in two years my fingers haven’t smelled like two servings of french fries.”
That seemed to please her, but her nudity did not. On the contrary, Dominax enjoyed her nakedness. He very much liked the way that her body was soft and curvy. For reasons best known to herself, she had chosen to adorn her body in several places with indelible ink. It was an unnecessary gilding of the human lily, for her flesh itself was art. She possessed an incredible beauty which evolution did not bother to bestow on every species. A lot of life was more or less ugly, especially life on planet Earth. He had seen some creature which was mostly legs, crawling around the place looking as if it owned it. There was nothing even remotely attractive about most life on the planet. But humanity, that was something entirely different.
Her breasts were tipped with pink nipples, and the golden cascade of hair which covered her head was repeated in theme between her thighs, curling around a deliciously tempting slit. He could not see that part of her at this precise moment because she had moved up into a kneeling position in an attempt to regain some modesty.
“Up, pet. We need to fasten the belts which hold us to our seats, and ensure that the food trays are in their upright and locked position.”
“There’s food?”
“There was food. You slept through most of it. Don’t worry, there will be more once we reach the surface.”
What the literal fuck was happening?
Katie tried to remember what had led to this. She’d woken up in some weird places in her time, but usually there was a frat guy somewhere in the vicinity. On this occasion, there was no frat boy. There was a massive, incredible beast of a not-quite man with coal black eyes, bright red skin, and a pair of wings which, even tucked away behind his shoulders, looked impressive.
She was naked. Entirely fucking naked. Except for one thing around her neck which wasn’t hers. She knew what her clothes looked like.
“What is this thing around my neck?”
“You would call it a collar. It is a sign that you belong to the royal house, and that you are not to be touched by any other than me. I believe you humans have a similar custom where you leash your fingers.”
“You mean wedding rings?”
“Yes.”
“That's not the same.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She didn’t have an answer for that. She wished she did, but…
“Because this is what we do to animals. Not people!”
“That’s hardly my concern, is it? You are in my kingdom now, pet. And you must follow our customs, otherwise there will be much confusion and probably, pain.”
“Why would there be pain?”
“Because I will punish you if you disobey me.”
Well then. That answered that. She’d apparently agreed to run off with a mad, winged alien who now thought he could treat her like an animal. Her mother had warned her that she’d end up in trouble. Katie never imagined she would be so right.
“Do not worry, pet. You will find yourself well cared for with me. There is no need to work another day in your life. No cooking for ungrateful strangers who bestow pennies upon you in return for your labor. Instead, you will have access to all the riches my kingdom has to offer.”
That sounded like a good deal. And it certainly brightened her mood. She fingered the collar nervously, and looked up at him. “Can we take this off…”
“No,” he said firmly. “It stays on.”
She decided wearing a collar for all the riches of an alien kingdom still wasn’t a bad deal.
“So if I’m your… pet, or whatever.” She blushed just saying the word. “Then do you have a girlfriend, or a wife, or a queen, or something?”
He smiled. It was a very handsome expression when merged with his pre-existing handsome face, and she felt fluttering in her tummy.
“I do not,” he said. “I have never been interested in a female mate who believes she shares power. She does not. She cannot. There is only one king on this planet. This is why I prefer to have a pet.”
So her alien captor was some kind of sexist. Not a great trait, but she supposed not all alien societies had undergone gender revolutions.
“So… being a pet means, also…” She didn’t want to ask. It felt too presumptuous. But it seemed as if there might be some chance of romance. She did not know how to feel about that. Or rather, she did know, but was embarrassed by it.
Every day she’d gone to work, stood over the fryer, felt her pores clog a little more, and wished for someone to rescue her from the mundane work-a-day life she was l
eading. She’d usually imagined a billionaire stopping for a burger, sweeping her off her feet and taking her somewhere like Tuscany, but this was good too.
“It means you are mine in every way. It means I will protect you, provide for you, and procreate with you.”
“You want a baby? With me?”
“Of course.”
He was not shy about his intentions, or afraid of commitment, apparently. Those were both very attractive traits. But it was also a lot.
“I… I’m nineteen. That’s… I wasn’t going to have a baby yet. I was going to finish college.”
“You were not going to college.”
“No. I was going to my job that I use to pay for college.”
“College being…”
“School. I was going to learn how to be a lawyer. I was pretty close to dropping out anyway. I guess that doesn't matter anymore. They’re going to think I was abducted.”
“They’ll probably think you perished in the explosion which was caused by the time fracture.”
“What’s a time fracture?”
“It’s what happens when an alien from the past reaches into a human feature to claim his pet, but the tender structure of reality in your world cannot compensate.”
His words were confusing. Everything was confusing.
Dominax made it simple by pressing his lips to hers.
His kiss was deliciously dominant. He held onto her collar and pulled her mouth up to his, claiming her mouth with insistence. She felt herself relax into it, her entire body softening as he caressed her mouth and found her tongue with his own.
“You are safe with me, pet,” he told her when he broke the kiss. “I chose you, out of all others…”
“Who happened to be on the street at the time,” she interjected.
“Quiet,” he insisted. “I chose you alone among billions.”
“There are much more beautiful women on the planet.”
“I do not believe that is true. You belong to me. I knew from the moment our eyes met. The way you looked at me, such desperation…”
“I was not desperate! I was just really not looking forward to going to work.”