Those thoughts made her feel like crying but, in the scheme of things, she thought that would probably be the most useless excuse for letting down her guard and making herself vulnerable—more vulnerable than she was already.
Chapter Four
Loren dawdled over her meal, not only because her thoughts were distracting her, but because she was wary of the food and because she hoped the men would tire of staring at her and she could put the tray back near the door for pickup without running the risk of being grabbed and slammed against the bars. Although she made it a point not to look directly at them, however, for fear she’d encourage them, she watched the opening out of the corner of her eye for an opportunity.
Not that any of them appeared to need any sort of encouragement from her! They didn’t seem nearly as interested in their own food as they were in amusing themselves by staring at the ‘treat’ Lecur had bought them.
Unfortunately, the Hirachi weren’t among those who clustered at her door or shuffled past, craning their necks to get a good look as they did. In point of fact, there wasn’t as much traffic period as there had been the night before. A group of red-skinned aliens elbowed their way to the door and held that position throughout most of her meal, ignoring the attempts of the others to dislodge them.
“You be my woman, little ting, I take care,” one of them called out to her. It was the tone that snagged her attention. Unlike the ‘offers’ the others—except for the Hirachi—had flung at her, it didn’t sound like a threat. It was said quietly, almost soothingly—for her, not for the entertainment of the others.
Her pulse leapt. Should she consider it, she wondered? She certainly needed someone and the Hirachi hadn’t exactly jumped at her offer.
It unnerved her so thoroughly when she finally flicked a look at the red-skinned aliens, though, that it wiped the thought completely from her mind. They didn’t just look more savage than the Hirachi, they looked like demons! She didn’t get more than a vague impression of the faces once she’d spied the horns curling on either side of their heads and caught the full impact of sunburn red skin and bodies so massively muscular and ropy they almost looked more as if they’d been peeled of flesh than that their skin was that color.
Feeling her eyes widen with horror, she glanced away quickly. “That’s … That’s … So kind of you to offer,” she managed faintly. “I already told Balen, though ….”
The comment—or her reaction—pissed them off. They pushed away from the bars abruptly and left. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. She needed allies! She wasn’t trying to make enemies.
And the worst of it was she didn’t know that any of the Hirachi would take her up on her offer!
She was still berating herself for her cowardice and lack of judgment when she caught a flash of yellow skin at the door. The Hirachi were the only aliens with that particular color. Relief immediately assailed her. One of them, at least, had come back. She had another chance. Maybe this time she wouldn’t screw it up!
She glanced that way as casually as she could although every muscle in her body had tensed. It made her belly flutter when she saw it was Dakaar. He smiled at her a little tentatively and she felt both better and worse—better than he still seemed inclined to smile at her and worse because she knew she must have really insulted him. “I thought you were angry with me,” she said questioningly.
His smile fell. He frowned and she wondered abruptly if her speech patterns sounded as choppy and hard to understand as theirs did to her. “I no angry. Thought you misunderstand.”
Loren slipped off the bed awkwardly, trying to balance the tray and hold on to her blanket at the same time. Unfortunately, she’d succeeded in getting up without exposing herself before it occurred to her that she’d missed an opportunity to try to seduce him with her feminine charms!
Damn it!
She considered ‘losing’ it when she knelt to set the tray down at the door, but discovered she simply couldn’t bring herself to do anything so blatant. When she straightened, she saw that the others had joined him. “I don’t think I did,” she said a little stiltedly, forcing herself to move a little closer. “You said that you would protect me—because it’s the way of your people to protect the weak. And I said that I would … take care of your needs the best I could.” A blush mounted her cheeks at the lie that trembled on her tongue. “It’s the custom of my people. A man offers what he has to offer and a woman offers what she has in return.”
It wasn’t until she’d voiced it that it occurred to her it wasn’t a lie. Maybe it was a very simplified version of the truth, but it was still true.
Unfortunately, it had occurred to her after she had that she wasn’t in any position to offer the only thing she had in trade. “I meant it. I still mean it … but ….” She broke off. “Lecur said he would give me to the winner of the games. There’s nothing I can do about that,” she said anxiously, hoping they’d understand and not consider it a breach of promise.
On impulse, she settled her hand over Dakaar’s where he gripped the bar. It was unfortunate that she noticed when she did that his fingers were webbed. It counteracted the weightless feel of delight just to feel contact with another being, making her belly drop with an unexpected rush.
“We not same, little ting. It no matter to me. Lau-ren beautiful to my eyes.”
Loren felt her chin wobble, both because he’d noticed she’d frozen and because he was so sweet. She met his gaze with an effort, trying to ignore the flutter of uneasiness in her belly because his eyes looked so strange to her. “I’m not used to seeing … anyone that isn’t the same species as I am,” she said earnestly. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t pleasing to me.”
She held Dakaar’s gaze for a moment and then met Balen’s and finally Kael’s. “You look a lot like my own people.” She smiled faintly. “Except a lot bigger. There’s no point in lying and saying that doesn’t unnerve me, but it’s mostly the size, you know?” She felt her face redden as her mind instantly leapt to the size of their cocks, but then they were discussing fucking! There wasn’t any point in trying to whitewash it in her mind to make it more palatable! “And you’re a lot more handsome than most of the men I know … uh … used to know.”
They all looked pleased but extremely skeptical—especially Kael.
“We win de game,” Balen said confidently. “None udders are as good as a Hirachi warrior.” He looked uncomfortable as soon as the boast left his mouth. “Mean you no worry. We take care ob little ting. No let udders touch.”
Dakaar pushed a folded blanket through the bars. “Bring you dis.” He pointed to the barrier she’d erected for privacy. “Make more comfortable.”
Loren took the offering automatically, but then she merely stared at it in dismay, knowing he would be doing without a blanket if he gave it to her. It was on the tip of her tongue to refuse it, but she realized as soon as she met his gaze that it would wound him, and probably embarrass him, if she refused it. She smiled with an effort when she looked up at him. “This is so sweet! So thoughtful! It makes me want to cry.”
Dismay flickered across his face. “No happy gift?”
Loren sniffed the urge back and smiled. “It’s a wonderful gift—all the more because I know you’re going to be cold without it!”
Balen shoved something white through the bars. When she looked down, she saw it was a comb, not wonderfully fashioned, but useable. It looked as if it had been made from some animal bone. He had to have made it for himself. He couldn’t have much to work with, which probably meant he’d spent a great deal of time on it—and probably also meant that he was going to do without. Her chest tightened with emotion. She struggled with it, smiling at him gratefully. “I made dis. Make special one for little ting later. Pretty. Work better. Now dis all Balen have. Not good, but make hair pretty.”
“Thank you so much!” Loren gasped, struggling with the urge to kiss him. She’d had to use her fingers to try to get the tangles out of her hair aft
er she’d bathed and she knew it had to be a wreck—especially since it had grown so long! She hadn’t wanted to think about the implication—that she’d been in that pod for months, but there was no other explanation for the fact that her hair was so much longer than it had been.
Kael shouldered Dakaar out of the way and held up something unrecognizable—at least, she drew a blank. She could see that he’d fashioned it from a piece of his blanket and pieces of his loincloth because there were thin leather ties attached to it and the moment she recognized them, her gaze had flickered to his loincloth.
She took it, studied it without comprehension, and finally looked up and smiled brightly. “Thank you so much! This was so thoughtful!”
His face darkened. “Cover tup,” he said uncomfortably, pointing toward her crotch and then indicating his loincloth. “Udders no stare at pretty ting den, yes?”
Loren felt her face heat but delight filled her. She chuckled, examining the gift far more appreciatively when it dawned on her that it was a loincloth, and then grinned at him. “Nobody gets to look at my tup from now on but you guys!” she said teasingly.
Their reaction startled her, unnerved her more than a little, but also sent a heated weakness through her. All three of them looked at her with such hunger that it created a chain reaction within her.
Kael swallowed convulsively. “Touch?”
Loren had no idea whether he was just asking to touch her or if he meant he wanted to explore her ‘tup’, but she barely hesitated a moment. Dropping the blanket, she pressed herself against the bars. She could feel a tremor in his hand when he pressed against the bars on the other side and reached through to run his hand lightly over her back. She strained up on her tiptoes to give him better access, but the difference in their height was almost as frustrating as the bars. She couldn’t get close enough to press her lips to his—or any part of him.
It occurred to her, though, that now was the time to discover if there was going to be a serious problem holding up her end of their bargain and as unnerving as she found it, she stroked her hand along his belly and cupped his sex. She felt the jolt that went through him when she did, but he pressed himself more tightly into her palm.
Either the damned leather made it feel more massive than she thought it ought to be or she was in serious trouble! She toyed with the idea of slipping her hand inside for a better feel, but discarded it. She didn’t think she could be that bold and it might well prove to be a dangerous tease when he was already shaking with need.
He seemed to realize the futility of the entire business about the same time she did. Lifting the hand he’d been exploring her back with, he smoothed her hair and touched her face. Lau-ren be mine lover?” he asked hoarsely.
“I don’t know how the hell we’ll manage it through the bars,” Loren muttered in frustration.
He grinned shakily. “Find way. Promise, be gentle. No hurt little ting.”
With obvious reluctance, he moved away. Dakaar and Balen promptly surged forward, but Dakaar was faster. He strained against the barrier, reaching for her. “I touch, is ok?”
Loren was shaken, a little stunned, and thoroughly confused when they left. It was hard to reconcile the reality of the Hirachi—or at least, Kael, Dakaar, and Balen—with their fierce appearance and frightening strength and size. They’d been so needy they’d been shaking with it and they’d still managed to restrain themselves enough to keep from bruising her. In point of fact, none of the three had done much more than stroke their hands over her back and along her sides. None of them had touched her breasts or her sex.
She hated to admit it, but she wasn’t exactly happy that they hadn’t. She’d been aroused enough by Kael’s touch, and touching him, that she’d wanted a little more petting even before Dakaar and Balen had stroked her all over.
She couldn’t decide if they hadn’t tried anything more because they didn’t think they could handle the tease of not being able to do more than touch, or if it hadn’t crossed their minds to take that much liberty. One thing she was no longer in any doubt of, though, was that she found them desirable, regardless of the fact that they still seemed so alien to her she was as unnerved as she was excited by their touch.
She didn’t think, though, that she was going to regret the offer she’d made. She still had to surmount the cocks they were swinging—and she was more than a little uneasy about that. She’d suspected before she’d inspected them that they had to be huge considering the size of the men and it had still been a shock. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that it was pure imagination, that they couldn’t possibly be as big as they felt, she had only to cup the hand she’d ‘measured’ them with to see that the girth alone was going to be a serious challenge. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’d measured at least three palm widths in length—not that she intended to worry about that! That part was their problem! She was sure she could stretch to take on the girth. She’d been designed to have babies, after all. She couldn’t do a damned thing about the depth. They were just going to have to accept the limitations of fucking a human when they’d been ‘designed’ for their own women!
Their women must be nearly as tall as they were to handle anything that long, she realized abruptly. She hadn’t really considered anything beyond how she felt about the situation, and she at least had enough experience with men to know they weren’t all that particular when they were horny—most of them weren’t. It occurred to her abruptly, though, to wonder just how attractive she really was to them.
She’d never been a sun worshipper and she’d hardly seen the light of day after she’d gone to work at the facility. Her skin was really pale—fish belly white. That couldn’t appeal to them! It didn’t even appeal to her. Her hair was dark, but it was brown, not even close to black like theirs was besides having the hideous copper highlights—and she figured it must be a racial trait since all three of them had the same inky black hair—and she must look like a pigmy to them.
All of them had said she was pretty, but did they really think so? Or were they just saying so to make her feel good? Or had it just been so damned long since they’d seen a female of any description that that was all it took to be pretty to them? She’d never really thought she was pretty, but men had seemed to think she was. Dating had never been a problem for her—Not that she’d gotten a lot of that in lately! In fact, not at all since she’d gone in the ‘hole’ as everybody called it. Fraternizing with co-workers was frowned upon. Everyone was supposed to be serious and focused, not thinking about fucking. And they weren’t allowed to get out much.
Depression settled over her. She’d had one on again off again relationship in high school that hadn’t lasted through her senior year, but then there’d never been any talk about staying together once they graduated. She hadn’t wanted anything else to come of it herself since she’d already had plans for college. Sad to say, she hadn’t had but one ‘sort of’ serious relationship in her entire life and that one had gone in the toilet as soon her boyfriend had found out she was considering taking the government job that had been offered. It had been nothing but an excuse, she knew. He’d been giving off signals long before that that he was ready to move on—probably already had and just didn’t have the balls to tell her.
She shook the thoughts off. It didn’t matter. None of it did anymore. That was another life and it might as well have happened to somebody else. The only thing that mattered now was the slim hope that she might eventually at least find a way to escape the life she was looking at now, and surviving in the meantime. The Hirachi were interested enough to want to protect her and that was the important thing. She was just glad that she found them attractive enough it wouldn’t be a hardship.
Well, scaling the monolith might be a little rough, but at least they seemed to be capable of gentleness and they were thoughtful enough to assure her they’d be careful of her—not that that necessarily meant they would when it got right down to it. She did have some experience with men a
nd knew that the minute their dick got hard their mind went on sabbatical! But she thought they seemed sincere and that they would try not to break her in half.
She was just going to have to focus on making them really happy and hope they didn’t lose interest—or if they did, that she could find other protectors that were equally formidable. She didn’t think she was going survive long in captivity without protectors.
* * * *
Lecur hadn’t bothered to lay down any rules for her, or the other women either, she supposed, but he remedied that shortly after her incarceration. She was sitting in the middle of her bed swaddled in her blanket when he suddenly appeared at the door of her cage in a rage. Unlocking it, he stalked (waddled) across the room, snatched the blanket from her, threw it on the floor, and stomped it. “Stupid dyrk! You tink I pay good money have you … cover everyting up? You here make fighters horny, gods damn it! Dey fight better get to fuck woman after!”
Loren gaped at him in stunned surprise. He’d seemed almost amiable when he’d bought her, but then again, she’d realized at the time that she had no idea what might’ve put him in a good humor. She supposed that answered that!
“I was cold,” she muttered uneasily. “I won’t do it again.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. Swiveling around, he studied the privacy tent she’d made for herself and Loren felt a mixture of anger and anxiety surge through her. “You show dem what dey get or I come back and take dat! Understand?”
Loren nodded shakily, relieved at the reprieve. When he’d slammed out again, she stared at the bars, struggling to calm herself. Thankfully, he hadn’t seemed to notice the loincloth Kael had made for her!
She debated whether or not to take it off and finally decided not to. She’d told Kael that she’d wear it to cover up ‘his’ tup and she would, by damn! If the bastard wanted it, he was going to have to take it!
Enslaved Book III: The Gladiators Page 6