Hers, Unbroken

by Anna Adler

  Chase followed her down the street. The nurse had done a good job dressing his wounds. He didn’t find movement difficult and he could give the environment his full attention.

  He had practically grown up in prisons ever since his mother abandoned him, and he had visited some gruesome slave planets, too. He had never seen a slave planet that looked like Silenia. This place was the picture of wealth, cleanliness and order. Everyone looked busy and healthy. No sign of loiterers or beggars. Not a single piece of trash on the street, no posters or graffiti on the pristine walls. Even the alien pets following their owners on leashes seemed docile and relaxed. Chase spotted a male owner petting a Lurexian female who was blushing and smiling shyly.

  “You’ve been such a good pet today, I’m so proud of you, Jewel,” he was saying. “I’ll take you to the park and then we’ll go to your favorite restaurant.”

  The graceful female’s fluffy tail swished with excitement.

  A female owner was sitting on a bench. She looked busy, talking on the phone while eating what looked like her lunch sandwich, the leash of her Wolfman hybrid looped casually over her arm. She was focused on her phone call while the pet was focused on her sandwich. Between her bites, she offered the sandwich to her Wolfman and he took his bites. They seemed to be sharing the sandwich in harmony while she yakked on her phone.

  Fucking bizarre.

  He noticed people staring at him. At first, it made him wary. He was accustomed to hostility, and he internally prepared himself for trouble, but the looks seemed to come with a smile. The women gazed at him with lust in their eyes; the men with calculation, as if trying to assess how much he was worth.

  Several people complimented Holly for her handsome possession.

  “He’s so tall and good-looking!”

  “You should let him take his shirt off to show the scales better.”

  Chase leaned over her shoulder. “Is it always like this?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Yeah,” Holly replied.

  “They seem to like me.”

  “They do. They love your kind, but they don’t understand that you were abducted.”

  “The Silenians seem to treat their pets okay though.”

  “Yeah. I’m sure people on Earth treat their dogs with love, too.”

  Chase looked around, but couldn’t spot a single animal anywhere. “Do you have dogs here?”

  “No. It’s only us humans and intelligent aliens.”

  “That’s funny. If the Silenians want pets so badly, why aren’t there any dogs or cats?”

  Holly smiled humorlessly. “Well… When Silenia was first colonized, the living conditions were extremely harsh. Food, oxygen and water were sparse, so the colonists weren’t allowed to have any superfluous organisms who might consume those elements. No cats, dogs, birds, anything. People satisfied their need of pets by having robot cats and robot dogs. Artificial animals were popular for the first hundred years or so. Then, eventually, the mining industry prospered, these cities were built, and life turned easier.”

  Waving at their affluent, pristine surroundings, she continued, “Trade with Earth has always been good, and Silenia was turning ever wealthier. The colonists were finally allowed some luxuries. But importing dogs and cats from Earth didn’t catch because we discovered a more exciting alien species in the neighboring star system. A small herbivorous creature that looked like a cross between a bird and a rabbit. We called them featherbunnies. Featherbunnies had no natural enemies on their planet, so they were easy to catch and tame. All you had to do was land a shuttle on a meadow and gather all the grazing bunnies. After a while, every Silenian wanted a featherbunny. There were bunny races and pet shows. Featherbunny was the Silenian equivalent to a dog, I suppose.” Her expression softened to a smile.

  Chase grinned. “I somehow can’t picture little feathered bunnies hopping on these streets.”

  “Me neither, unfortunately. They were already long gone when I was born.”

  “Why is that?”

  Holly glanced at him briefly, her expression again turning serious. “About a hundred years ago, a Silenian adventurer, Roger Blank, came back from a long space travel with an alien slave in tow. A Lurexian female. No one knows where he got the alien or how the alien was trained, but he called her a pet and she went along with it. When interviewed, she claimed she wanted to be his pet.”

  “Might be he didn’t train her. Might have been a consensual arrangement.”

  “We’ll never know. They didn’t stay on Silenia; they left after a short while and never came back. But the thing is, Silenia had been an isolated world for over two centuries at that point. We had no contact with intelligent aliens. We hardly had contact with Earth either, because the trade ships ran on autopilot, without any need for negotiations or cultural exchange. We had been living in our own bubble for too long. So when Silenians saw this alien female, they didn’t see an intelligent being like themselves. All they saw was a higher quality pet.”

  Chase chuckled and shook his head.

  Holly gave a wry grin. “Yeah. And a lot of people suddenly wanted what Roger Blank had. But as you can imagine, intelligent aliens are extremely hard to come by as pets, so they became the ultimate status symbol. And of course…very soon someone decided to turn capturing and training pets into a business. That’s how Interstellar Pet Training Inc. and other similar companies were founded. They eventually lobbied a ban on other types of pets, with the absurd claim they might carry dangerous diseases. As far as I know, featherbunnies still happily exist on their homeworld, but it’s forbidden to bring them to Silenia. And that’s where we are now.”

  They had arrived at a large central square, and Chase paused to take in the scene. Colorful logos blinked on the sides of the buildings, advertising restaurants, spas, designer clothes and pet accessories. A huge billboard showed a muscular Crasnian with platinum hair and bronze skin holding a trophy on his shoulder while cameras flashed. “Avalanche, the Wrestling Champion,” said the text below him. The image switched to a video clip of a wrestling match, showing the towering Crasnian slamming a Wolfman to the mats as the audience in the background cheered and applauded in massive volume. Even the people on the square stopped to cheer at the screen.

  “Is that a wrestling match for pets?” he asked.

  “Yes. The pet wrestling tournament is the most popular sports event on Silenia. It gathers huge crowds. Avalanche is insanely popular. He’s practically considered a national hero.”

  “Don’t you Silenians do sports yourselves?”

  “We do. But our own sports events aren’t as interesting for some reason. Pet sports are huge in comparison, almost everyone watches them.”

  “So what happened at the training center?” Chase asked as they descended an escalator to an underground station. “Why did that man tell you to be gone by noon?”

  Holly’s expression hardened. “I’ll tell you later.”

  Chapter 10

  Holly knew she would have to tell Chase what the situation was, but she wasn’t ready. She needed time to think, and besides, she didn’t want to burden him. He already had to deal with enough shit. Remembering what they forced her to do made her furious. Helpless rage made her clench her fingers into fists. She couldn’t undo the whipping, but at least she could keep him safe…for now.

  They took a train to Copper Grove, the quarter where Holly lived, and entered her apartment building. Chase followed her. He was no longer observing his environment, but his gaze was fixed on her. Holly glanced at him and quickly looked away. The intensity in his eyes made her nervous.

  “This is where you live?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You live alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  The way he said the word, with the weight of determination, made her shiver. Maybe he wanted to hurt her and didn’t want any witnesses around, but it was all right. He didn’t owe her anything. She would protect him, no matter what.r />
  Chase breathed down her neck as they walked the hallway to her apartment and entered. Her skin prickled, but she forced herself to remain calm. She locked the door carefully behind them.

  She turned to Chase and gave him the most casual smile she could muster. “Welcome to my home.”

  He gave the surroundings a glance, but his gaze returned on her.

  Holly went on, “You’re safe here, so go ahead and relax and make yourself at home. We can talk freely.”

  Chase only stared down at her. Holly swallowed. She was suddenly aware of how big he was and how he towered over her. She would get to meet the real Chase now. In the training center, in the city, and in general, as long as he wore the collar, his every move could be simply an act. Now he wouldn’t have to fake it anymore.

  “Let me take this collar off you.”

  She used her wristband to deactivate his collar and it came open with a click. She reached up and took it off him.

  As soon as the collar was away from his neck, Chase pushed her against the wall, grabbed the back of her neck and crushed his mouth on hers. Holly gasped, her senses in shock. She could scarcely breathe from the way he squeezed her to the wall, and his mouth claimed hers in a way that made her dizzy.

  Holly wriggled weakly in his grip, realizing she was trapped. A mixture of fear and desire made her heart race, thudding against her ribs like a trapped bird. She didn’t know what she wanted, his actions took her by such surprise. Chase’s hand slid down the sides of her body, but then he suddenly froze. He broke the kiss and dropped his head on her shoulder.

  “Sorry,” he blurted out, his chest heaving.

  “What’s going on?” Holly breathed, feeling shaky.

  Does he want to fuck me right here?

  If he needed it, she would let him do it. She didn’t want it this way, but he could take revenge on her. She deserved it.

  But Chase said, “I’ve been aching to kiss you. And I want to do much more than that. I want to worship you.”

  His rumbly voice and his breath on the side of her neck made her shiver.

  “Look,” Holly said awkwardly, pushing his hands away and trying to will her heartrate down. “You don’t owe me anything. You don’t have to pretend you like me.”

  Chase lifted his head and peered into her eyes. “Like you?”

  “I know I expressed sexual interest in you, Chase, but…”

  His face darkened. “But?”

  “But you don’t have to take it seriously. It was only pet training.”

  He pulled back a little. “You didn’t mean it, is that what you’re saying? You don’t actually want me?” He looked as if she had dumped a bucket of ice water on him.

  Holly grasped his forearms. “No! I want you. Heavens, Chase, I do. It’s just that I…”

  “You have a boyfriend, after all?”

  “No.” She blushed. Chase was the only one she had desired in years.

  “Then what’s wrong? You said it yourself, we can talk freely now. Maybe you should just say if you want me or not. I don’t want any goddamn pity.”

  Holly drew a deep breath. “I want you, Chase. You’re everything I ever wanted for myself, a man like you…”

  His golden eyes turned more intense. He leaned closer. “I want you too.”

  “But aren’t you angry?”

  “Why would I be angry?”

  “For the things I put you through.”

  “You saved my life. What should I be angry about? You saved me when Rawley wanted me terminated, and today you got me out of the facility altogether. I’m beyond grateful.”

  Holly blinked. “All right…but I don’t want to take advantage of you. I know I have the upper hand on Silenia because I’m a citizen and you’re a pet, but I’m going to help you no matter how you feel about me.”

  “Help me? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m going to keep you alive. I’m not going to ask any favors of you. I need to help you because I need to help all the aliens who are kept here as slaves. You don’t have to please me in return.”

  He considered this, gazing at her thoughtfully. “I hear what you’re saying, Holly, but I want to please you. And I want to please myself. I merely realized that I should have asked for permission, first.”

  She smiled, relief allowing her to breathe easier. He still cares about me even after what I’ve done to him? He was too good to be true, but she shouldn’t get her hopes up.

  “Chase, you’re injured. We should take it easy.”

  He flexed his shoulder. “I feel fine.”

  “Let me first make sure the nurse did a good job with your back.”

  He grinned. “All right. But afterward?”

  “Afterward…we’ll get to know each other better.”

  He leaned his hand against the wall next to her head. “I want you to know, Holly…everything I told you was true. You want a pet out of me, I’ll do it. I want to serve you…any way you like.”

  Holly was speechless for a second. Every fantasy she ever dreamed flashed before her eyes. This sexy beast of a man, collared, always by her side, fucking her whenever she wanted it, fulfilling her wishes…

  Heat gathered in her pit of her belly. She wanted to grab him by the back of his neck and kiss him senseless. She grabbed his hand instead and pulled him with her to the living room.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let me first of all check your wounds.”

  “You can check any part of me you like.”

  He lumbered after her and sat on the floor pillow that Holly pointed to. She could have told him to take off his shirt, but she indulged herself by gripping the hem and pulling it off him. He raised his arms to help her. Holly leaned over to examine his back. The bandaging seemed to be in order.

  “I like your apartment,” Chase said, scanning the surroundings. “I never lived anywhere this fancy.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Holly said absently. His back was covered in strips of white gauze and tape. The wounds hadn’t bled through. “It’s pretty standard issue here.”

  “I can’t wait to see the rest of the place.”

  “Does your back hurt?” she asked. It had to hurt. She ached with guilt, seeing the amount of bandaging needed to cover up the damage.

  “A little,” he said. “It’s not bad.”

  She straightened up. “I’ll get you something for the pain.”

  Chase grabbed her wrist. “No.” His golden eyes were serious. “Listen baby…that experience was fucking intense. It was hot.”

  Holly clenched her teeth. “They made me hurt you.”

  “I know. But they didn’t know that you and I can recover from what they forced you to do. I don’t want any stupid painkillers. I want to feel the pain because that was you, saving my life.”

  How could everything he said cause such a flood of desire inside her? His big, warm hand enclosing her wrist felt tantalizing. She touched his stubbly cheek.

  He grinned up at her. “You and me against the world, baby. I like those odds.”

  A smile played on her lips. “Aren’t you afraid of anything, Chase?”

  “Sure. Loads of things. I was scared I would never find a woman. Then I met you. Now I’m scared shitless of losing you. I’m scared that you might not want me, after all. You might change your mind. Or that something bad might happen to you. But I’m not traumatized by the pet training center, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Her heart swelled with pride. “You’re tough.”

  “I am what I am. Will you give me a house tour?”

  She grinned. “Sure. Come on.”

  She showed him the kitchen and her office room, the dining area, exercise room and the bathroom. Finally, a little nervous, she took him to the bedroom. She entertained a secret hope that they would end up in bed together. Chase was injured, and under different circumstances, she never would have rushed it, but their time was limited. Chase didn’t know it yet, but within forty-eight hours, sh
e would lose him.

  As he stepped into the bedroom, a grin appeared on Chase’s lips.

  “Well, well. You’ve got a cage in here.”

  “Installed by the previous owner of this apartment,” Holly explained quickly, trying to guide his attention to the bed instead. “I let it be, but I never used it.”

  Guilt flooded her mind. She should have had that thing dismantled ages ago, but deep down she harbored the desire to put a man in it. The pet cage was three square meters in area, with metal bars. Chase went to examine it.

  “So this is where a pet would sleep, in a cage, at the foot of your bed.”

  “I have no intention of ever using that thing,” Holly said, her voice a notch louder, flustered. “It’s a Silenian custom, but it’s barbaric.”

  “The door has a lock.”

  “Yeah.” Holly was embarrassed. She should have realized Chase would hate the sight of the cage and wouldn’t want to have sex in this room.

  “How does it work?”

  “It reads a fingerprint. The lock is not configured though, so it doesn’t work. The last inhabitant put it back to factory settings when he left and I haven’t used it.”

  “So you haven’t had any pets in here?”

  “No.”

  “Good.”

  That word again, said with the same tone of satisfied determination.

  “Shall we go back to the living room?” Holly asked, wishing Chase would stop poking at the locking mechanism. She wanted to get away from the shameful cage. Chase might be in the mood to kiss her again if they got out of this room. She turned to go, but as soon as she turned away, a distinct clicking sound from behind her made her freeze.

  She spun around. Chase was inside the cage and the door was closed.

  Holly gasped. “What are you doing?” She rushed to the cage door.

  Chase stood in the cage, his thick fingers curled around the bars. “I figured out how the lock works.”

  Holly yanked at the door but it was locked. She pressed her finger on the keypad and it flashed red. She typed frantically on the menu screen, but it refused to reconfigure. The damn thing must be broken after all the years of disuse.