Hers, Unbroken

by Anna Adler

  What would it be like to have a pet such as him? A male human-alien hybrid who wanted to please me? Who wanted me to please him?

  The truth was, she was friendless and alone. Her sympathy for pets made the Silenian social life distasteful for her, love life included. She couldn’t stand the company of her fellow citizens. Chase was an outsider, an intelligent and interesting being. He wasn’t merely a training object. He dangerously resembled the friend she needed.

  After another long day at work, Holly stood in her office, coat folded over her arm, toying absentmindedly with the keys in her hand. She knew she should go home. It was late and the compound was empty of staff. She had taken to working late because training Chase got in the way of her other duties, and she struggled to keep everything in hand. Working overtime every day was fine. She had no life outside her job anyway.

  She left her office, but found her feet taking her back to Chase’s cage. The hallway leading to his cage was dim, but to her surprise, she found him standing up, waiting for her. As always.

  “Why so alert?”

  “Heard you coming. I recognize your footsteps.”

  This pleased her entirely too much. Her body flushed warm. Holly knew she shouldn’t get attached. Chase didn’t belong to her; she was only his trainer. Eventually someone else would come to buy him, and she would never see him again. The thought made her heart ache. She enjoyed the small ways he paid attention to things, like the sound of her footsteps.

  “I wanted to talk to you a little,” she said. She pulled a folding chair from near the wall and sat down.

  Chase stepped close to the glass and knelt. “Anything you want, Mistress.”

  “This is not part of the training. You have permission to call me Holly tonight.”

  In reality, pets were supposed to use proper address at all times, but Holly needed to drop the trainer’s façade for a moment. She wanted…she wasn’t sure what she wanted.

  Chase seemed to drop his obedient pet-act as well. He shifted to sit more relaxed, cross-legged, and the gaze he fixed on her was direct and curious.

  “All right, Holly. What do you want to talk about?”

  “Have you been…enjoying our training?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s good. Interesting.”

  “Is Silenia like you thought it would be? Are you still happy you came here?”

  He gave her a wry grin. “Well…I knew to expect some good things and some bad things, but I’m still happy I came here.”

  Holly didn’t need to ask what the bad things were. She knew. She could name them herself.

  “I hope you’re not frustrated because your sexual needs haven’t been met yet,” she said instead.

  She had noticed a change in Chase’s attitude during their second day together. He had been eager and aroused at first, but after the incident in the shower, he was no longer responsive to her charms. Holly worried she had messed up, but Chase hadn’t lost interest in his training. He obeyed her every command; he had simply switched off sex. Holly had adjusted her behavior accordingly. She still touched him in the showers every day, but she didn’t take it far enough to make him feel harassed.

  “I’m good,” Chase said. “I’m getting a little impatient, but I enjoy your company. I can wait.”

  “Is there anything you’d like me to do differently?”

  “I thought you were the one in charge.”

  “I am. I just want to understand your desires better.”

  “I’m pleased with what you’re doing. I wouldn’t want you to do anything differently.”

  That sounded too polite. Holly had the feeling he was holding something back. “What’s going through your mind when we train?”

  He seemed to consider her question before responding. “I like your company. It’s fun to spend time with such a beautiful woman.”

  “What else?”

  “I like the way you touch me and handle me. No one ever did that before. It’s hard for hybrids to find a partner, but you never once looked at me with disgust. I’m a captive here, but your touch is always…how would I say this…I feel wanted. In my earlier life, whenever I approached a woman, I felt unwanted. Like a piece of trash. Here, I’m a valued possession. I might be a captive and a slave, but I’m valued.”

  “I see.”

  “What about you, Holly? What do you enjoy?”

  “I’d prefer to talk about you.”

  “Hm. Now I do have a complaint. I tell you openly about my thoughts and feelings, but you don’t tell me about yours.”

  Holly was bitterly ashamed of her desires. “You don’t need to know anything about me. I’m merely your trainer.”

  He scoffed, annoyed. “From where I stand, you’re the center of my whole universe. I’m only supposed to interact with you, but I’m not supposed to know anything about you. How does that make any sense?”

  “You’ll get to know your owner in every detail once you’re sold.”

  “Fuck, I don’t want...” He jumped up, paced to the back of his cage and back. “If we’re supposed to be having an open conversation here, Holly, let me ask you something. Are you involved with someone? I want to know who the other man is in your life.”

  She shot him a curious look. “The other man? Is that what’s been bothering you? I noticed you lost sexual interest in me.”

  “I didn’t lose it, I just started holding back. You’re still the most interesting female I’ve ever met.”

  Holly’s heart jumped. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “It wasn’t my place to question you.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “But I need to know.”

  Holly tried to swallow her embarrassment. She didn’t want to admit that she didn’t have anyone special in her life, not even to Chase, but it was only fair. “There…is no other man. I’m not involved with anyone. But it wouldn’t make a difference even if I were.”

  Relief, along with renewed desire burned in Chase’s golden eyes. “It makes a difference to me. I don’t want to be just a damn job to you.”

  “You’re not just a damn job, Chase.”

  “Good. Tell me what that means. Do I stand a chance?”

  “What chance do you mean?”

  “Would you have me for yourself?”

  Holly’s stomach did a backflip. She swallowed. “Perhaps, but…it’s complicated.”

  “Why is it complicated?”

  She looked away.

  Chase pressed himself against the glass. “You came here to talk, didn’t you?” he demanded.

  She sighed. “You’re right. I came here because I want to tell you about myself. But this has to stay between you and me, all right?”

  “I promise.”

  She cleared her throat, feeling awkward. “I’ve always loved pets. Ever since I was little, I’ve had immense fascination with your kind and I wanted to own a pet. But pets are insanely expensive and it would have taken too long to save up that kind of money. So I thought I would become a pet trainer. This was my dream job.” She cast a poignant look at their surroundings. “What an idiot I was.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought being a pet trainer would combine all my interests. I’d be able to deal with pets every day without having to pay for them. And I always…I enjoy being in charge. I…” she swallowed, blushing with shame. “I fantasized about a handsome male alien submitting to me. Being my sex toy.”

  Holly wanted to shrivel up and die, but Chase only nodded, his gaze burning with understanding.

  She heaved a breath and went on, “When I started to work here, I was in heaven. But then…I saw what we do here. We kidnap aliens from space, break them, and ultimately turn them into pets. We kill them if they can’t be trained. It’s a nightmare.” She paused to suppress the rising anger inside her, squeezing her hands into fists, before continuing, “The ordinary people outside, they don’t know what goes on in here. They’ve been led to believe that all pets want to be pets.
They imagine the wild aliens don’t know how to take care of themselves and that we’re doing them a favor by capturing and taming them. They never see anything but the end result: the obedient alien who’s been trained not to think.”

  “That’s pretty messed up,” Chase agreed.

  Restless, she stood and paced, motioning with her hands as she went on, “The government decrees that the truth is not welcome out in the real world. I had to sign a heap of documents assuring that I’ll never mention details of my work to anyone. If I spoke out about what happens in Interstellar Pet Training…how the abducted aliens are kept in isolation and tortured until they start obeying…they would put me in prison for life. I hate my job. I hate this slave factory.”

  Chase observed her, looking impressed at her speech. “Can’t you quit?”

  Holly shook her head viciously. “I could but I won’t. If I quit, no one would be here to help the ones like you. My position as the head pet trainer allows me to save pets from a death sentence. Unfortunately, that’s all I can do. I can’t free them no matter how much I want to.”

  Chase’s eyes widened. “You’d like to set me free?”

  “Yes. If I could.”

  His eyes now shined with a different look, but Holly couldn’t read it. Respect perhaps?

  “Anyway.” She sighed and sat down again. “My desires are wrong. You’re right, I…I do want you, Chase. Deep down, I want to own you, but I know it’s wrong.”

  Chase stepped closer to the glass. “Your desires aren’t wrong,” he replied, his tone dead serious. “Silenian society is what’s wrong. Kidnapping aliens and making them sex slaves—that’s wrong. But there’s a consensual version to this whole deal. I’m here because I consent to this shit, crazy as I am. And I was hoping to find a woman like you. A woman who desires me and wants to use me. But you’re even better than I dreamed. You actually understand what consent is about.”

  Holly stared at him. Her heart skipped beats at the thought her secret longing for a pet might not be a sign of horrible perversion, after all. Surely it wasn’t wrong if the other party consented…

  “Unlike Rawley and the others, you have a sense of justice, Holly.”

  She looked down at her hands. “I suppose.” But she still felt like a failure, being able to do so little for the pets.

  “I desired you before, but now I want you even more. Holly…I want to serve you. I want to be yours.”

  Holly’s heart gave a painful jolt at the sweetest words anyone had ever spoken to her, and those words hurt so much.

  “You said you want an alien to be your sex toy,” Chase said. His voice dropped lower. “I’ll be the alien you want.”

  Holly snapped her gaze back to him. He was leaning against the glass with his forearms above his head, offering her a view of his muscular frame. He was so big and menacing…she couldn’t imagine a more attractive male than Chase.

  “Is it forbidden for pet trainers to own pets?” he asked.

  She bit her lip, trying to blink back the tears. “No, it’s not forbidden.”

  “Then why don’t you buy me?”

  Her heart was hurting. She had no choice but to tell him the truth. “You’re so out of my league, Chase. Do you have any idea what someone like you costs? I can’t afford you.”

  Before Chase could reply, she shot up and walked away in determined strides. She couldn’t bear to see his disappointment. She wanted him. She wanted him so much, but she didn’t stand a chance. All too soon, someone else would buy him and take him away from her.

  Chapter 7

  The next morning, Chase was still chewing on his and Holly’s conversation when a male trainer came to his cage, leash in hand. Chase assumed the trainer was going to take him to Holly, so he knelt by the door. The trainer opened the cage and clipped the leash to his collar. Chase got up and followed the man as Holly had taught him to do, without prompting.

  The trainer led him out of the training area into a pristine, white part of the complex. Chase looked around, curious.

  Wow. Must be the public area. Is this where they receive the buyers?

  The man walked him through rooms lined with exhibits, each one occupied by an alien or a hybrid. This was the first time Chase had seen other pets and he perked up with curiosity. The trainer brought him to an empty exhibit, released him from the leash and indicated he should step inside. Chase stepped into the glass cage and turned to face the room. The glass door slid closed and the trainer left.

  Chase looked around him. In the glass cage to his left stood a Lurexian hybrid. He had pale green skin and thick, golden hair resembling a lion’s mane. To Chase’s right was a bald Lizardian hybrid with a ridge of red scales running down his back. Chase walked to the wall separating him from the Lizardian hybrid who was sitting on his knees. The man was like Chase, both of them of human and Lizardian blood, so he figured they had something in common.

  “How’re you doing?” he asked his neighbor, casually leaning his forearm on the glass.

  The man stiffened, but didn’t reply. He didn’t even look at Chase.

  “I’m Chase,” Chase went on. When the man didn’t take the hint, he asked, “What’s your name?”

  No reply. The hybrid remained in a kneeling position, facing the room, his jaw clenched.

  “Nice to see a fellow Lizardian mix. Where’re you from? I was born on one of the Earth’s space stations. My human mom got drunk, had unsafe sex with an equally drunk Lizardian and had me. What’s your story?”

  The red-scaled man didn’t react.

  Chase rubbed the back of his neck. “Mom abandoned me to a prison colony when I was thirteen or so. Haven’t seen her since. I guess you could say I’m a thief by profession. I hung out with a group of scavenger friends before I came here.”

  The other man was starting to sweat. Chase wondered what the hell his problem was, but went on in a casual, friendly tone, “Pretty crazy place, isn’t it? I wish I could see the city though; I hear it’s nice and clean. I’ve been in here for almost a month now and I don’t even have a window in my cell. Do you have a window?”

  No reply. Chase heard voices and approaching footsteps. A man and a woman.

  Better stop chatting and see what’s happening.

  “Hey, nice talking to you,” he said to the hybrid and withdrew from the glass.

  He stood in the center of his cage and waited. He could hear the conversation distinctly. The male sounded like a staff member, showing the woman around. The woman must have been a client.

  “Oh, I’m not sure,” the woman was saying. “They’re all so good-looking!”

  They walked past Chase and his neighbors, coming from the Lurexian hybrid’s direction. The furry-tailed male bowed to the blonde woman. Chase realized he should bow, too. But as the woman moved to the front of his cage, he recalled he had never bowed to anyone in his life; he didn’t know how to bow, really.

  Do I bend down at the waist or what?

  It wasn’t as easy as it looked. His bow was probably clumsy as hell, but straightening up, he found the woman still standing there, smiling. She was beautiful, and dressed in an outlandish fashion that left little to the imagination. Great tits and ass. Chase grinned.

  Shit, I shouldn’t make eye contact.

  He quickly dropped his gaze to the floor.

  “Oh, I like him,” the woman said. “He’s tall. And a little naughty.”

  “Curious. He must be a new one,” the gray-suited staff member said, looking up things in a data pad. “I don’t have him in the catalog.”

  The woman stepped closer to the glass and drank up the sight of him. Chase stole glances at her. The way her eyes gleamed made his blood run warmer. This woman was admiring him. She was attracted to him. It made him feel so good he stood straighter and pushed out his chest.

  “Would you like him to remove the cloth?” the staff member asked.

  “Oh, absolutely,” she replied, practically cooing. “I want to see everything.”


  Chase shifted his gaze to the man in the suit. The man was giving him a pointed look. So he was supposed to lose the loincloth. The situation was freaking bizarre, but Chase slowly untied the cloth from his hips and dropped it. So here he was, standing bare ass naked in a glass exhibit while a female client looked him up and down. But the hunger in her eyes made him proud. Hell, he always knew he had a good cock, but it was difficult to find a woman who appreciated it. Here on Silenia, it didn’t seem to be a problem. Holly wanted him, and so did this woman.

  “Turn around,” the woman said to him. “I want to see the backside, too.”

  Chase turned his back on the woman. He glanced at her over his shoulder and saw the eager lust still on her face as she stared at his ass. He flexed his arms to show the muscles on his arms and back. Her delighted squeal made him purr inside. Yeah, I’m big and sexy.

  “He’s perfect,” the woman declared. “I want him.”

  “Yes, I see.” The man sounded awkward as he flicked through his data pad. “I’m going to have to request his file since he isn’t listed here.”

  “How much does he cost?”

  Wait, what?

  Chase thought this was simply a training exercise. He didn’t expect this woman to actually consider buying him. Holly didn’t say anything about him being ready for this stage yet.

  Or did she arrange this? Is she upset because of last night? Is she sending me away? Panic crashed through his mind.

  “I will let you know as soon as I’ve talked to the trainers. But I believe somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000.”

  “Sounds good. I can’t wait to add him to my collection.”

  Collection?

  “You will have to be careful with him at first, Ms. Hawk. He might not be trained to be in a group of pets, especially with other males. They tend to get competitive.”