He should’ve leashed her, tied her. Morning would do for that. He’d wake if she tried to escape the bed. Besides...bruises. She’d surely be covered in those.
He yawned and finally found true sleep with his nose above her hair.
Her smell and feel woke his cock before it did him. His biceps tensed and his arm formed a bar over her torso. Took a while before his brain figured out what to do. He rolled off the bed and went off to piss and when he came back he kneeled on the floor by her side of the bed, resting his chin on his arm, and studied her a while as she slept.
Today he must talk to the deckers and the Followers of the Prophet...non-existent though he might be. He had to convince them or let her be sent away.
As if he would.
He woke her, saying, “Now will you tell me what your lie was?”
It was a mild question, for him, but for once he was in a strangely quiet mood.
If she refused him again, he should question the mechling.
Gio stirred and opened her eyes.
Chapter 21
The speculation in Ryke’s eyes scared her, more than he had ever before. Though Gio wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was the unknown? He’d done such bad things to her.
“After what you did, you expect me to tell you things?”
“I was nice. Our agreement stands. Tell me you hated what I did to you. I could see this much – you came and you enjoyed it.”
Orgasms didn’t make what he’d done nice. Tying her with the cords, teasing her. Even the wrist lying before her on the quilt had a blue-red line of bruising. Sleepily, she studied that, while floundering for a reply and wondering if she bore other bruises, such as around her breasts.
The thought jarred her back to last night, the scene burning into her mind’s eye. Being tied so she couldn’t move at all, even her head, and with her mouth silenced. Degrading, shocking, humiliating. He’d manipulated her as he wanted to, and yet it’d taken her to such heights of arousal.
And when he teased her? Fuck.
She felt her body stirring, the tingle of desire, and she frowned. She couldn’t tell him she hated it all, because... Because? It’d blown her mind. Just a little. Or a lot. And there she’d just lied to herself. Could you fear something and love it at the same time? It should be impossible.
She was stuck, had been frowning at him for ages. “I... I’m not sure nice is the right description.”
He smiled. Infuriating. A smile that said, I see what you did there.
“Anyway. The lie you thought you saw? That was probably this other thing that I felt. The problem you Mekkers have that I will have a more solid feel for once I see more of this place...” She rolled her eyes upward to indicate the Underdeck. “Understand?”
A twitch at one eye said maybe he saw through this new lie. Tensing, she waited.
“Perhaps it was. Tell me that then.”
“I need more time.”
Deflection achieved successfully. It wasn’t quite a lie. Small clues had wandered to her. The view she’d caught through the rare windows up above. The situation here. It bothered her. Though really, she owed the Mekkers zero.
“Very well. Tonight. You will tell me then. Now we need to dress and go out to see the Underdeckers. Be on your best behavior. Find something that suits a slave that isn’t supposed to be here.”
“Huh. Where?” She pushed herself onto her elbows.
Motes of dust floated through the light flowing from distant overhead panels. The ceilings in the king’s residence were twice as high as most places in the landship and the ever-present rumble of engines was quieter than ever.
“There’s an entire room of women’s clothing next door that seems to be of a quality similar to what is here.”
His gaze lowered. He was looking at her breasts. The quilt had slipped away.
Let him. Not as if any of her was new. Except...she glanced down. Bruises for sure. She blushed hot but sat up then wriggled to the end of the bed. Her feet hit the floor, and at the same instant Ryke climbed to his feet, and she realized he too was utterly naked. The man was beautiful. He was also the spawn of the devil, though they didn’t seem to believe in Hell here on Aerthe.
Probably because the Mekkers did fine being evil all by themselves.
No one else could’ve convinced her being made to climax while tied within a web of deviously vicious cords was nice. Evil incarnate was a little extreme a description but it’d do.
“I’ll go find some clothes.” She made for the door. Ryke nodded, his smile reduced to a straight line with wickedness banking up in his eyes.
She walked faster. The no fucking was almost getting to be something she regretted. If that even made sense. He’d made her climax last night but she also remembered when he’d fucked her. Better – far, far better. Her reasons for saying no were becoming less and less logical.
Why not just let him? The answer came to her. Because he’d take too much. And she really thought that little agreement would hold him back if he wanted to sweep it aside?
It was a point she didn’t want to think about presently.
Her hope of finding a portal mage and getting them to help her take humans back to Earth was wearing thin and looking stupider by the day. It’d been born of desperation. If there’d been one there must be more. Except, what if there wasn’t? A headache loomed and she shoved away her morbid thoughts.
The clothes she found were of a quality any Earth designer would covet.
Gio smoothed her hands over the cloth covering her legs. The pants were silver-gray and fitted her as if she’d been born in them. The light tunic top fell halfway down her thighs. It was white and textured with a pattern of tiny, silvery flowers against a background of fine scarlet tracery. The bandeau top beneath was textured similarly but purest white. No panties but no one could tell. A pair of red-and-gray shoes completed the ensemble. This outfit made her want to dance. If only she wasn’t bruised at wrists and ankles.
If only this world wasn’t so...so full of things that should not exist.
If only...
She lifted the front of the top, gathering it until she could see where purple circled each breast above the cloth of the bandeau bra. This wasn’t pretty yet it enticed her to look. Dissecting her reasons why she wished to look was going to take days. Madness. How did you psychoanalyze yourself?
She was stranded on an unknown sea, and from what Ryke had done last night, after he freed her, maybe he was there with her. She yanked down the top and marched out to join him.
He appraised her garments then nodded. “Too much on your legs but it will do.”
Too much? The pants stuck to her like indecent glue.
They had a breakfast of bread and fruit and some sort of butter-like spread that’d been delivered to their door. It was a luxury her taste buds orgasmed over then screamed at her to do again. She found herself staring at the bun she’d bitten, at the part missing where she’d severed it with teeth, staring in wonder as if it were the apple of Eden.
Outside, when he pulled back the door...outside was a crowd that extended into the artificial farmland and seemingly to the edges and beyond. A milling crowd and so many of those faces were looking at her.
“Oh my god,” she said softly.
“Gods,” Ryke corrected, his hand at her back urging her forward into the open. “We acknowledge several here, but I doubt any of them are listening.”
Chapter 22
“Is this everyone in the Underdeck?” Gio asked, distracting herself from the crowd’s probing eyes.
The murmurs reaching her would override soft speech so she’d spoken quite loudly. Then everyone quietened suddenly, startling her.
“This is only a few hundred of the deckers. People who had time to spare from their work and the representatives of groups. Some of them have radical ideas, so don’t be surprised at anything they say.”
What radical might be to a decker such as Ryke she wasn’t sure. What surprised her more was
that he cared enough to tell her anything.
Then she looked higher, drawn by movement. Squinting past the layer of suspended lights, she found the distant ceiling wasn’t simply patched metal, it was an upside-down suburb. What had before seemed holes were windows and hatchways. What had seemed flat, up there in the gloom, beyond the lights, was an irregular landscape of small houses. People sat on balconies, or swung their legs off them as they peered down. This was a beehive of people, plastered to the ceiling, in home-made apartments – like London bridge in medieval times, they’d used a pre-existing structure and made it their own.
There’d not been people visible before and so she’d missed it.
“Does everyone live there?” She jerked her chin. “And...why?”
“Most. It’s the farthest from the sea they could get.” He lowered his brow and studied the immense shaft opposite the king’s residence that was a bookend to the farm area. “Some live in those. The shafts connect to the upper landship but they also hold hundreds of deckers.”
These people, men and women, had the blue on their skin. Crawling blue tendrils showed on those at the front – either the marks moved or they faded and brightened. She hadn’t seen extreme changes like this on Ryke.
Ryke wore dark brown pants and a brown shirt with random, burnished gold patches. The shirt fastenings were toggles. His boots were the ones he’d worn down here. She recalled them on the ladder above her – distinctive black heavy things with metal clips. She half-expected him to kick someone to death with them.
The man had abandoned wearing the hood, so obviously he’d used it above to conceal his marks. It was a window into his psychology. Was it from shame of the blue marks or a need to remain anonymous or both? Or some reason that escaped her?
Badh sidled through a gap in the crowd and strolled to Ryke. Though his head was shaved like his brother’s, his dark hair and unhurried manner were a contrast to Ryke who, in every way – manner, appearance, moves – seemed the embodiment of a weapon. They nodded at each other and Badh gave her a short nod of acknowledgement.
Which was almost a gift – she’d been seen as a person.
“Ryke. Sorry about the numbers, though maybe that’s best.”
“They’ll tell friends of friends, yes. So I should make this a good speech?”
“Yes.” He turned to the crowd and they quieted as he raised his arms. “Morning, deckers! I present to you my brother, Ryke, who you all know of, if not personally. He lives above most of the year, visits us yearly, and some of you see him as something special.” He eyed a group she thought disliked her, from the way they’d stared and muttered earlier. “But this time, there are new problems. You will listen? Yes?”
Yes came back, echoing into a minor roar.
Relegated to a decoration, or worse, Gio waited, anxious and a little in awe. This Underdeck population hung on Badh’s words. He was like a minor king.
That her neck felt naked was odd, and she had to repress the urge to put a hand up to touch the scar the doctor had left.
“There’s information, things, I have to tell you after, though I will take you to the bow first,” Badh said in an aside as he looked out over the crowd. “Remember this, if anyone lets slip what’s been going on down here. I did mean to inform you.”
What she’d already surmised, was that what he referred to? Was it real then? If so, how could she use it to her advantage? The Mekkers were in trouble. She clenched her hands into fists, quelling her excitement. First, make sure of the facts.
If the landship was going slower... Why?
But Ryke was talking and this talk might end with her dead or sent above. She examined him, from boots upward. In her bones, she didn’t believe she would be killed, not anymore, and her certainty was rooted in him. He was determined to keep her.
Whether as some sort of sex toy, or a mascot, or an information base he wanted to fuck...any of those were good, weren’t they? Being his and being in the Underdeck must be better than being with whoever had chased them down here?
It was, it was.
“Thank you all for coming! I know you don’t have time to be idling. My problem is simple, but first I will tell you who I am. This is the reason why I live above. You know me as Ryke. I am the brother to Badh, your Overmekker. I am also the King’s Own Lawgiver. The rumors of years gone by are true. The king employs me to do things no one else can do. I am a secret, though perhaps no longer?” He laughed depreciatingly and the crowd laughed with him.
“Because you are deckers and know what duty is important, I ask that you not in any way spread this fact to those above. Whether due to some incident where an Above comes here or communicates with you in the course of your work, or due to military service...”
An Above? First time she’d heard that label. Decker, yes. But to call those in the upper part of the landship by a different name too said the people here saw themselves as very different.
Make a note of that.
Tensions, there were potential tensions within the ship.
“And so here is what I really need to ask of you. I am on a mission from the king concerning this female.” He extended his hand in Gio’s direction. “She is of course a human and a slave. I need your dispensation, your permission to keep her here. It is the safest place simply because of where we are and who you are. Without this, my duty to the king is hindered.”
His voice rose in volume. “Do I have your permission?”
The people all seemed to talk at once. They turned to each other and talked, or to Ryke and Badh. A few scowled at her.
Badh stepped forward. “I ask that you raise your arms if you give permission. Because of who you are, we will consider this a valid vote for the whole Underdeck. Do you say yes?”
A sea of arms rose.
“Down.” After the arms were lowered, Badh added, “And those who say no?”
Only a few arms could be seen above the heads.
“Then permission has been given! Thank you!”
A few cheered. Most simply talked again, louder. Some of those who seemed annoyed or angry at her began to come forward, surging past the limit of the main crowd until Badh intercepted them. They pointed toward her, some gesturing wildly, until he settled them down.
She wondered why these were more hostile than others.
However, it was done. Relief seeped through Gio – a little toxic with these weird ones who seemed to hate her, but this was better than before. She was going to be allowed here and this seemed a good place to search for some morsel of freedom, for a way to go home.
Dreams. She couldn’t bear to part with that one yet.
The grass underfoot bent beneath her shoes same as grass had back home. Smelled like grass too.
“You can stay.” Ryke wrapped his hand about her upper arm and squeezed. “Now I will have the leisure to find out what you know. I expect you to tell me tonight.”
Her heart pitter-patted and she searched his face. He wished to hear about what he thought was her lie. Then Badh returned and leaned in.
“I have a hopper coming. I’m taking us all on a trip to the bow. You want her to come?” He winked at Gio.
“I do, but for reasons to do with why I brought her here. Over the next few days, I mean to let her be near every single person who lives in the Underdeck.”
“Well. I think that can be arranged. Though within only a few days seems a stretch. But come. It’s here.”
The people dispersed through pathways in the crop, leaving the stalks swaying but undamaged. Fat green pods hung from most of the stalks near her and a haze made the air seem thicker in the distance, as if seeds, water droplets, or perhaps pollen, fogged the air.
She followed Badh and Ryke to an open vehicle and sat next to Ryke, facing forward. Badh sat opposite them, the shift of his weight making the hopper rock.
The strange background thoughts of mechlings sifted to her from the farmland once again, making her wonder what was out there. One in particular see
med as colorful and strong of aura as an orange placed among rocks.
This three-wheeled hopper had no roof and its hull was a faded gray with the paint peeling away in layers. The brown seat upholstery was cracked. It took off with a throaty stutter once they were seated, forging past the crowd and headed toward what must be the bow. A few hoppers joined them, aiming in the same direction. As they passed the big circular gaps in the farmland floor, she saw blue sparks floating upward. Slowly those faded and vanished.
Delinquent energy from the sea below, she guessed. The name was odd – to call it an Engine Sea, as if you could set a boat on it and travel somewhere. This was the first time since almost forever that she’d felt relaxed enough to think of frivolities. The hopper rocked a little, reminding her of cars and trains on Earth.
On solid land, this might have been a farm if not for the lights and the strange birds. If not for the distant overhead ceiling or the wide shafts leading upward. Or the weird people with blue squiggles on their bodies. Or the sound of waves sizzling and washing up below. Or the throbbing of engines and the lack of sky.
It gave her much to contemplate and to weep over. The longing for home hit her unexpectedly, and she pressed finger and thumb to the bridge of her nose to lessen the strain of a headache.
Ryke rearranged the position of his arm, stretching it along the seat behind her. When his large hand grasped then began to massage her opposite shoulder, she nearly glowered at him but stopped. Instead she met his brooding smile with a tweak of her brow.
“Thoughts?” he asked.
“I have none.”
“Hmmm.”
Crops gave way to more crops, then to a shaft wall that had the entrance to several square tunnels in it that were large enough for the hopper. Birds flitted through. Tiny blue ones went by so fast she couldn’t see if they had teeth. To either side of the tunnel were doors and more doors with faded, chunky red numbers on them. Mekker numbers, and Mekker letters too, on some.
“So. She goes where you go?” Badh had his arms splayed across the back of his seat and a smile spread over his face as he studied her. It was as if all the family happiness had gone into him.
Branded Possession (The Machinery of Desire Book 3) Page 14