by Roxie Ray
It wasn’t a perfect setup for transporting our female guests, but most shuttles like this weren’t. The bigger ships—the ones that had been fitted to test and prepare breeding slaves before we’d stumbled upon the human race—were all busy fighting Rutharians across the galaxies and rescuing the remaining human women that had been abducted from Earth over the course of the last two decades. As for Bessie, she wasn’t used to having members of the fairer sex aboard. The showers were outfitted under the assumption that Bessie would be flying with an all-male crew. It meant I’d have to be careful until we got to Lunaria, seeing as I didn’t particularly want to startle any of our surrogates-to-be by walking in on them while they were scrubbing up.
But as I unfastened my belt and dropped my trousers, it quickly became apparent that I’d need to be careful in more ways than one.
My cock sprung out like a wraith-snake from its hunting hole. Long, thick and stiff as the dagger I kept on my belt—it was a wonder I hadn’t spent the last few hours lightheaded. It’d been that way, on and off, ever since I met Eve in the flesh.
I took it in my fist as I turned on the shower. Hot water, searing and healing, shot down on my sore muscles and trickled down my back. I let out a low moan as I felt my body loosen up beneath the water. After all day in the pilot’s seat, I supposed my cock wasn’t the only thing that was stiff.
If I was being honest with myself, I’d stroked my cock to the thought of Eve all the way to the meet-up with the slave transport today. There was no real reason that had to change now that I’d met her in person. If anything, she was more gorgeous than I’d imagined. More exquisite. More perfect in every way—
But still very much not mine. Never could be, and judging by how she’d responded to me back in her room earlier, never would be. There’d been no swooning, no begging for my big strong arms around her tiny body. If anything, she’d been positively cagey around me, and as much as I wanted to see those thick, pretty lips of hers wrapped around the tip of my dick, I wasn’t the kind of man to make advances where they obviously weren’t wanted.
For a moment there, when I turned her face up toward mine, I thought maybe I’d seen something in her eyes…
But no. It had been a bad idea from a start, and it was an even worse idea to keep letting that bad idea bounce around in my mind.
I snarled in frustration, let go of my cock and set about washing my hair. My thoughts might have been as dirty as the bottom of a soldier’s rucksack, but at least the rest of me could go to sleep clean.
Including my conscience.
No more jerking off to pretty, auburn-haired Earth females who weren’t ever going to be mine.
I wrapped a towel around my hips, nice and tight, and tossed my clothes into the laundry articulator. It’d have them clean come morning.
At least none of the humans would have to walk in on me scrubbing my socks in the sink.
The lights were low in the hall to the crew’s quarters. It looked like everyone else had called it a night. The ship was on its own timer to keep our sleep cycles in check—out here in open space, it was pretty much always night otherwise.
I paused at Eve’s door before I went to my own, wondering if it would be all right to knock. Not to bother her or to try my luck again. Just, I thought it might be nice to wish her sweet dreams.
“Hey there, handsome.” I turned to see Marisa standing outside her own door in the hall. She was dressed in the nightclothes that had been prepared for her, a short white shift that clung to her curves and left her tanned thighs and shoulders bare.
I made a point of looking away.
Whatever Eve had against Marisa had already encouraged me to use caution around her. And more importantly, I recalled the warning Leonix, our commander, had given us all before we left Lunaria to take on this mission.
First, we needed to take care to ensure that all of our guests were here willingly.
Second…we needed to make sure that no one among them was actually here under false pretenses. Not a surrogate at all, but an agent that Earth’s government had sent to keep watch over the other females. A plant. A mole.
Some kind of spy.
“Did you need something?” I asked. Best to deal with her quickly. This mission felt like trouble enough already. I didn’t need an extra helping of worry on my plate.
“I most certainly do.” She moved toward me, slow and sultry. “You’re Gallix, aren’t you? The pilot.”
“Whatever you need, I’ll go and grab it for you quick.” I feigned a yawn. “But after that, I really oughta be getting to bed.”
“What if what I need is you…in my bed?” She batted her lashes at me, and I had to try hard not to laugh.
To be fair, it was a pretty solid line.
“Not interested.” I pointed her back toward her room. “Only way this night is going to end is with you in your bed, me in mine.”
“There aren’t many women on your planet, are there, Gallix?” She moved closer still and reached out for my towel.
I caught her hand before she could give it a yank. Last thing I wanted right now was to be caught out here in the hall with some wanton human, wearing nothing but my pride.
“I make do. As should you.” I spun her around by her wrist and gave her a little push toward her room. “Have a good night.”
“I think I’d like to make do with—”
“Goodnight, Marisa.” With another little push and a pout from Marisa’s lips, she was on her way.
I glanced back at Eve’s door, then shook my head and started for mine. Eve had chosen her path here. She’d said so herself. Who was I to say she was lying?
Who was I to try to change her mind?
I was just about to slip into my room, throw myself down on my bed and have a nice, long night full of wet dreams about the pretty female across the hall when I heard the door open behind me and a small, silky smooth voice call out my name.
“Gallix,” Eve said. “I, um…I heard you and Marisa out here in the hall, so I thought—”
“You’d apologize for eavesdropping?” I smirked as I turned to face her and tugged my towel a little tighter around my hips.
“No… I mean, I wasn’t trying to, it’s just—”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “No harm done.”
“Why did you turn her down?” The words burst from her mouth like a shot from my blaster. She clapped her hand over her lips as soon as she said it, cheeks flushed and eyes wide.
“Do I really have to explain it to you?” I couldn’t help but laugh. She was cute when she blushed. A fair sight cuter than Pax when his cheeks went red, that was for sure.
“Maybe. Like Marisa said, there aren’t many women on your planet, so…”
Her voice trailed off, and I smiled at her for a moment, just taking in her presence. The way her auburn hair hung around her face, framing her cheeks like a sea of fire. The hesitation on her lips. The curiosity in her eyes.
“I’m an honest soldier, Eve,” I told her. “Did it ever occur to you that I might be interested in someone else?”
“Oh. I mean, I’m sure you are, of course.” Eve was the bright pink of a Paranthian’s backside now. Even her freckles seemed to blush. “Honestly, I sort of wondered how the men on your planet got along, but…that makes sense. I’m so sorry. Of course.”
I raised an eyebrow. Her question had been sweet enough at first, but she was making about as much sense as a deal with a specter now. “Eve, what in nine moons are you talking about?”
“I mean—I’m so sorry. You and Ronan… It’s my fault, really. You’re both so masculine-looking, but naturally—”
I stared at her for a moment longer, then let out a laugh loud enough that I was in danger of waking up the entire ship with it.
“Okay. First off, no. Second off…” Oh, hell. This was a bad idea. Bad as bad could be. But it had been a long day already, and it was shaping up into a long night.
I needed a drink. If my guess was right
, so did she.
“Come on in.” I cocked my head toward my bedroom door, bidding her to follow. “If I have to explain that to you, I’m not doing it without something hard and strong in my hand.”
“You mean—” Now, Eve’s cheeks were as red as a Gramarkian’s backside.
“No.” I threw my head back and groaned. “Not my dick, Eve. A drink. I need a drink. And I make a point of not drinking alone.”
“I’m not sure I should…” Eve tiptoed into the room slowly. By the time she was inside, I’d already poured her a glass of Jeorkanian baiju from the decanter at my desk.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I said as I pressed it into her hand. “But it’s good stuff. Would be a shame to just stand there and hold it, don’t you think?”
“Well…a little can’t hurt, I guess.” Eve sipped at her drink, swallowed, then sputtered. “Oh. Okay. Or…maybe it can.”
“It’s strong stuff. You’ve never drank before?”
“Never.” Eve shook her head and eyed the glass warily. “All alcohol was contraband in Sector Five.”
“Well, you’ll be with cub soon enough.” I shrugged as I took a gulp from my own glass. “Enjoy it while you can, if you can, my pa always said. Your first might be your last.”
“I guess you’re right.” Eve sniffed at the liquor, then recoiled, which made me laugh.
She had no right to be this cute. No right at all.
“Now. Ronan and I—we’re not mates, which shouldn’t even need to be said, if you ask me.” I raised my glass to her, then took another sip. “There aren’t many females on Lunaria, no, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other females in the galaxies. Which is what I’m interested in. Females. Nothing against those who feel otherwise, but… you get the idea.”
“Then why did you turn down Marisa?”
“What makes you think I would want her to begin with?”
“Well…she’s beautiful, for one. She’s has a pretty face, and her hair is long and sleek. It doesn’t go all frizzy and wild like mine.”
“Takes more than a pretty face to, ah…engage my thrusters, so to speak,” I said with a laugh. “As for frizzy and wild… your hair is lovely, Eve. I like frizzy and wild just fine.”
“She has curves, Gallix.” Eve glanced down at her own body and shrank back a little. Just about broke my heart. “She’s…she’s womanly. I thought, after they took Lily away…maybe your people don’t like their women so…well, so skinny. Stick thin.”
“You’re comparing yourself to her,” I pointed out. “Why?”
“I’m not comparing myself to her,” Eve insisted. “I’m just trying to figure out—”
“Are you asking for your people, or for yourself?” I raised my brows as I posed the question she’d asked me earlier back at her.
Eve blinked at me for a moment, then let out a breath and laughed as well.
“It’s…okay. It’s silly.” She took another sip of her baiju. For courage, maybe. Maybe she was just getting accustomed to the taste. “Or, at least, I hope it is.”
“What’s silly?”
“This. This whole thing.” Eve gestured all around her with her glass. “I mean…breeding slaves? And you all expect us to believe that those words just mean something different for you than they do for us?”
“You’ve lost me again, bright eyes.” I sat down on my bed, careful to keep my towel well-positioned over my more intimate bits. “What are you talking about?”
“Marisa told us. We know.” Eve furrowed her brow. She was trying to look angry, I could tell, but if anything, she just looked hurt. “It’s why it was so important that Ora and I are virgins. Don’t try to pretend that this is just some surrogacy program when it’s so obviously not.”
I blinked a couple of times, taking this new information in. Doing so required me to drain all the booze left in my glass.
“I’m not sure why it’s important to anyone that you’re a virgin, Eve,” I said slowly. Don’t think about offering to change that, I had to tell myself in between sentences. Not the important factor right now. “But as far as the surrogacy thing goes…what else would you be here for?”
“Your people wanted slaves. Breeding slaves. That implies that you’re taking us to Lunaria so your so-called high lords can breed us, Gallix.” Eve pointed at me with her glass. Already, she was looking a little tipsy. I guessed the baiju was stronger than I thought. “So, admit it. Tell me I’m right. And don’t lie.”
“Eve…maybe you oughta sit down.” I patted the bed next to me and scooted over to make room. “I think that drink is hitting you a little harder than you’re realizing and… look, I’m not lying to you. I’ve never known virginity to be a requirement for breeding contracts. I’ve got no idea what that’s about.”
“You don’t?” Eve glanced down at the bed like it was made of shoggoth traps.
“Honest,” I assured her, patting the bed again. “But if that’s true…I think you need to come and sit down so we can figure this out together. Okay?”
“Okay.” Eve moved to the bed tentatively. When she sat down, she landed a little closer to me than I’d expected.
Not that I was complaining. But it was a bit of a surprise to feel her bare knee brushing against the towel over my thigh.
“Now. I’m going to be honest with you, but you need to me honest with me in return. Got that?” I didn’t like the sound of this at all—but where Eve’s virginity revelation had stirred up a whole world of new worries for me, a little honesty could at least put a few of the old ones to bed in return.
“I…I can do that.” Eve nodded, then passed me her glass. “Maybe you should take my drink, though. You’re right… I’m feeling a little dizzy right now.”
“Noted.”
My fingers brushed against hers as I slipped the glass from her hand. Just that one point of contact was enough. Electricity ripped through my skin and shot through my whole nervous system. In the aftermath, I was feeling a little dizzy myself.
Just, not because of my drink.
“I’m not delivering you to Lunaria to be accosted by some high lord,” I told her honestly. “The contract that brought you here was signed under laws set in place by the Galactic Slave Trade Commission. They ensure that all breeding agreements are, ah…non-sexual. And just as important, that they’re entirely willing.”
“Galactic Slave Trade…” Eve scoffed. “That doesn’t sound like a group of people who are very worried about willingness.”
I clenched my jaw. She was half-right about that. The commission did their best, but some cases slipped through the cracks. When my former commander, General Kloran, bought the contract of Bria, the first human we ever came across, we discovered that she’d never signed a contract at all.
But that had turned out for the best in the end. Now, Bria was Kloran’s wife. They had one cub together already, and another that was due any day now. Two of the first Lunarian-human hybrids. With their conception, Kloran and Bria had forever entangled the fates of Lunaria and humankind.
“Willing is the most important thing I can imagine right now, Eve.” I hesitated for a moment, then set our glasses aside and laid a hand on her knee, leaning in. “If you were coerced into this contract—if you’re even the slightest bit unwilling—you’ve gotta tell me. I understand your government isn’t always, ah…the most interested in whether people want things or not.”
“I…” Eve looked like she was about to say something, then thought better of it. Dammit. “I signed the contract. I agreed, Gallix. It’s done. And anyway, that’s not what we’re talking about right now.”
“It’s not just about agreeing and writing your name down, Eve.” I squeezed her hand. I was doing everything just short of begging her to make me believe that this was all her choice. That her words were true. “If they threatened you…if they’ve got something against you—it doesn’t matter to me. I’m not going to hurt you for telling me the truth. But I do need the truth.”
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“I know you’re not going to hurt me.” She stared down at her knees. They were bony—well-shaped, but thin enough that it sent a pang of sorrow through my chest just to look at them. “But you’ll send me back. You won’t let me stay.”
And there it was. Not in language as plain as I would’ve liked, but an admission just the same.
“I’m not sending you anywhere,” I told her. “You’re staying right here. With me. Okay?”
“I thought we weren’t lying to each other, Gallix.”
“We’re not.” I took her face in the palm of my hand and turned it toward me. “Look into my eyes, Eve. What color are they?”
She looked at me curiously. “Gray. But…they were purple before. Why are they gray?”
“Because my heart’s aching for you, Eve. That’s the color of sadness.” I ran my thumb over her cheekbone, and she flinched for a moment. But before I could take my hand away, she closed her eyes and leaned into my touch.
“You don’t need to feel sorry for me,” she whispered.
“I don’t feel sorry for you. But when someone hurts another person—an innocent person, who hasn’t done anything wrong—”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “I let them take Lily away. I didn’t tell you—didn’t want to—that I was afraid of what they’d do to me if I didn’t agree to sign their contract. And when I did sign…I let myself believe it. That I’d have a better life on Lunaria. A better life than I ever would have had where I came from. Gallix…even my birth was wrong. I’ve been doing things wrong since the day I was born.”
“Haven’t we both.” I smiled at her. “Sorry. A joke. But if you don’t want to go through with your contract now—”
“I don’t know.” She curled her fingers around my hand and moved it away from her face. “I don’t want to be some noble Lunarian’s sex slave, but… maybe it’s worth it, to have a better life than I would have on Earth. I’ve been thinking it over all night, trying to decide whether it’s true or not. Whether it matters. I’m not sure it does.”