by Dixon, Ruby
She’s not the type to give up. Ever. She’ll just grit her teeth and get down to business. Admirable little thing.
“That’s too soon,” I say abruptly. “I need another day or two. Cleaning up some business here.”
“We’re not going to wait another week,” Mathiras warns, a hard look on his face. “If they get word that we’re heading in their direction, they might scatter.”
“Two days,” I tell him, nodding. I watch in horror as Piper leans over the drone with a hand welder. That’s the last tool she needs to fix a faulty drone and she’s going to destroy it if she’s not careful. “I have to go. Two days, all right?”
“What are we supposed to keffing do for two more days—”
I hang up before they can argue with me and sprint outside. Mathiras talks a big game, but if they need a navigator and a fourth for their head-hunting mission, they’ll wait two more days for me. I just need enough time to get Piper settled and then I can join them. It doesn’t feel right just running out on her hours after she sprung me from jail.
If I’m being honest with myself, it doesn’t feel right leaving immediately after last night…but I’m not gonna be honest with myself. I’ll help her fix a few drones, maybe help her wire a sentry system around the perimeter, and let her know I’m coming back in a few months and I’ll slide her some credits to help things along.
10
PIPER
I don’t understand Vordigar.
One moment he can’t leave this place—and me—fast enough. The next, he’s racing across the field to come and fix my drone. He takes all day working on my equipment, optimizing things and fixing burnt out parts that look like nothing to my uneducated human eyes. He’s unfailingly patient, too. As he fixes the drones, he tells me what he’s doing and shows me how to fix these sorts of things in the future. He wants me to learn, and I want to learn, and I appreciate it. I’m not sure all of it will stick, but I appreciate the information all the same.
For an ex-con, he sure does have a soft heart.
I watch him as I make dinner—more noodles, this time with a protein broth and savory spices—and he tinkers with a bit of equipment at the table. He’s sweaty and dirty from spending all day working on my farm equipment, dirty smears on his blue skin that blend in all too well with his riotous tattoos. His scars face me, but he’s not ugly. I think of the way he watched me last night as he came inside me, as he touched me and made me come.
He’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
I’m blushing even as I think that. After years of alien captivity and being treated like less than a person, I’d come to terms with my fate. I knew no alien would ever look at a human as an equal, but I was hoping with a husband at my side, we’d come to an agreement and I’d happily trade my body for some security and to protect my farm. After all, it’s just a body. I’ve learned to mentally “go away” every time I’ve been touched in a way I didn’t want to be touched. It’s the only way to stay sane.
I didn’t expect Vordigar to be…kind, though. I thought he’d just climb on top of me, go to town, and then fall asleep. I didn’t expect him to caress me. To pleasure me. To ask what I liked. The idea was so foreign to me that I couldn’t even answer. I was too afraid of saying something wrong. I’ve learned that the best thing is to say nothing at all and hope for very little.
Instead, he gave me orgasms. One shattering orgasm after the next, and he made me feel…beautiful. Special. Like someone important. Someone who deserved just as much pleasure in bed as her partner.
It filled me with such joy that I’d woken up this morning, humming. I’d pictured our life together on the farm. I’d hoped for someone to talk to—nothing more, nothing less. A lifetime full of evenings like that one was…unbearably exciting. There’s no talk of love. I’m a realist. But if I have someone at my side to talk to, someone that looks at me like I’m a normal person, someone that smiles at me and touches me gently at night?
That changes everything.
It was too much to hope for, though. I fight back a knot in my throat. He’s not staying. He’s never said he would. Last night was just an aberration. In some ways, I wish it had never happened, because now I’m going to know what I’m missing.
Now I’m filled with yearning.
But there’s no place in my life for things like that. I swallow the knot, clear my throat, and dish up a big bowl of noodles for him. I set it down in front of Vordigar and keep my tone neutral. “So when are you leaving?”
“Two days,” he says, putting aside the drone.
Just as quickly, the knot is back in my throat. Two days. What answer had I expected? What was the right timeframe for me to get used to the idea? A week? A month? My heart doesn’t want to be reasonable. Last night filled it with hope. Hearing that he’ll only be with me for two more days makes all that hope spill out and drain away. “I see.”
Vordigar gives me an intense look. “You don’t want to know where I’m going?”
I make myself a bowl full of noodles, because it gives my hands something to do. “Would you tell me?”
“Bounty hunting,” he admits. There’s a rueful note in his voice. “I’m not a fan of it, but it’s big money and the crew’s been waiting on me to go after one particular target.”
“Ah.”
“After that, I’ll have all the money I need to get back on my feet again. Maybe buy myself a small pleasure cruiser, visit a few scenic planets, take in the sights.” He shrugs.
I say nothing, poking at my noodles.
“You could come with me,” he says after a long moment.
I look up, surprised.
There’s heat in Vordigar’s gaze. He reaches over and touches my hand, his thumb brushing over my palm. “I know we just met. I know I’m not every female’s dream, but…I like you, Piper. And I don’t like the thought of leaving you. I want you to come with me.”
I blink at him. If I was a younger, more foolish Piper, I’d be head over heels excited at this offer. Leave Risda and a life of farming behind? See the galaxies? Be at his side forever? But I’m not that girl—she died a long time ago. The Piper of today has seen a lot of the universe, and none of it’s safe for humans. I shake my head, slowly. “This is my home. I haven’t had one in forever, and now that I have one again, I don’t want to abandon it.”
“You said you never wanted to be a farmer,” he cajoles me, a twinkle in his eyes. Like this, he’s so handsome—even though he’s a big, blue, horned alien and covered with tattoos and scars and I should be terrified. But I know Vordigar, and I know he’s safe. I’ve given him every opportunity to use me and take advantage of me, just so I know who he really, truly is—and he’s been nothing but teasing and kind.
He’s making this so hard. “You don’t understand,” I say stiffly. “Humans aren’t welcome anywhere but Earth. If I go with you, I’m not safe anywhere. There’s always going to be someone that’ll touch me, or try to steal me away, because humans aren’t important. You won’t be able to protect me. Not every minute of every hour of every day.” I shake my head. “Even if I wanted to go with you, I can’t.”
Vordigar nods. “I get it.”
I don’t know if he does. I don’t know if he ever will. But I smile at him and eat my noodles, because there’s nothing else to say. We eat in silence, and I keep thinking about his offer. To leave with him. To just…go. It’s so tempting.
“Thank you,” I say to him quietly. When he looks up at me, confused, I add, “For offering to take me with you.”
His mouth quirks in a devastatingly sexy smile. I don’t know if he’s handsome by mesakkah standards, but I love his grin and I love how ready it is. That makes him handsome in my eyes. “I admit my reasons aren’t entirely unselfish.”
I chuckle, toying with my noodles. “Does that mean you want to have sex again tonight?”
“You offering?” His tone gets low. Husky. Erotic.
I don’t trust my voice to answer. I look up at hi
m and nod, my heart pounding. When he puts his hand out toward me, I take it.
I’ll think about the future in the morning. For tonight, there’s only Vordigar and pleasure.
11
VORDIGAR
I wake up with Piper in the bed next to me, watching me sleep. Her pretty face is always so serious, but she smiles shyly at me when I reach for her. I think about last night, how she came eagerly into my arms, full of trust and excitement at my touch. I made her come hard several times, and then took her roughly over and over, because I couldn’t help myself. There’s something about her that appeals to the feral side in me. Maybe it’s those little cries she makes when I’m deep inside her, or the look of wonder on her face as she comes. Maybe it’s the way she gazes at me when we’re done. As if I’ve made everything in her world just a little bit better.
I’m getting far too addicted to that feeling.
“Will you go into port with me today?” she asks, watching me.
I rub my eyes, wanting to drag her back down against me for another round of sex. Her gaze flicks to my mouth and she blushes, and it’s clear she’s thinking the same thing.
“You don’t want to stay in bed?”
Piper smiles. “I do. But I can’t. There’s too much to do.”
I grunt. I guess on a farm, there’s always something that needs to be done. No sleeping late or rolling around in the bed here. “All right. I’m getting up.”
“And you’ll go into port with me?” she asks again.
“What do you need in port?” I think about the shops there. “Supplies? Parts?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “I need to look for a new husband, and I’ll feel safer in port if I have someone at my side. So I can’t get taken advantage of.”
I stare at her, a little stunned. “You want me to help you go find a keffing husband? After leaving my bed?”
Her cheeks flush. “What we have together is…wonderful.” Her voice catches. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m in danger.”
“I said I’d send some credits back. Give me a month or two.”
Piper shakes her head and looks down at her hands. “You don’t understand, Vordigar. I might not have a month or two. The moment you leave…” She purses her lips, cutting off her own words. “It isn’t important. Look. I like you being here. I like it more than I ever thought I would.” She fusses at a piece of lint on the blankets. “But it doesn’t change my situation at all. You’re leaving in two days—one day—and if I don’t find someone to take me up on my offer, I know I’m going to lose my farm and my freedom. I can’t let that happen.” She turns those big brown eyes on me. “Please understand.”
I hate it.
I hate that she needs to go from my arms right into the arms of another. To marry him so he can get her pregnant. Last night we used plas-film again, and she gloved me in it without question. She won’t push her needs on me. She won’t trap me into getting her pregnant. She’s giving me a choice, because freedom is important to her.
Piper is mine. The timing’s all wrong, and even though this is fast, my mesakkah blood knows that she’s my female. The thought of giving her over to someone else fills me with helpless rage and frustration…but how can I ask her to risk her life? If she says two months is too long, I can’t ask her to wait for me.
She needs help right now.
And even though I’m going to hate every moment of it, I’ll go into port with her and help her find a new keffing husband. But first…I grab Piper around the waist and drag her back into bed. “I’ll go with you…soon.” And I slide my hand between her thighs so I can pet that silky soft cunt. “For now, you’re mine.”
“For now,” Piper agrees breathlessly, and clings to my neck as I touch her.
* * *
I’m in a keffing bad mood when we head into port a few hours later. Piper’s dressed head to toe in heavy, concealing clothing, and she pulls a buff-colored hood over her head as the air-sled lands. It hides her face and her expression, so I can’t see if she’s as openly frustrated to be here as I am.
I help her out of the sled and then wait. “Well? Do you want to go back to the jail and see if you can get another desperate convict? You can always tell them you need two farm hands and not just one.”
She tilts her head back and looks up at me. “I’m not sure. Did you know those men?”
“The szzt was a murderer, so I wouldn’t recommend him. The praxiian—”
“Not a praxiian,” she says quickly. “It’ll have to be someone else.”
Right. She looks up at me hopefully, and I realize she’s waiting for me to come up with ideas. Is that why she wanted me to join her here? “You don’t have a clue where to start?” I ask.
Piper bites her lip and ducks her head, hiding her face from my view. “I was hoping you might know someone…kind. I don’t know many here. I mostly keep to myself. It’s all right. I can start asking around—”
I grab her arm when she starts to walk away.
She stops and turns to look at me, her eyes peeking up from that heavy hood. They’re so worried and yet full of hope and determination.
I can’t let her down. I bite back the sigh building in my throat. “I knew a few guys that did odd jobs here and there. They hung out at the spaceport tavern. Let me see if anyone’s around. If not, the tavern owner might know when they might be back.”
She gives me a brilliant smile, so full of appreciation for a keffing piece of scum like me that I feel unworthy. “I’ll go to the general store and pick up a few supplies while you do that.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if it’s safe for her to go about alone. For all that this is a farming planet, this port is just like any other port on the fringes of the universe—filled with seedy lowlifes and dangerous types. It’s a stupid question, though. She got around on Risda without me in the past. She’ll get around without me in the future.
I hate how much that thought bothers me, though.
I watch her until she goes into the store, and head toward the tavern. Port here on Risda isn’t more than a few private shipping yards, one general shipping lane open to the public, and a long row of shops that cater to the few people that live out here. There’s only one tavern, which means it sees a lot of the local sticks games and every male that’s looking for shady work passes through. I’ve been here several times myself in the last few months, and I mentally go through the list of the regulars. None of them are right for someone as delicate-yet-strong as Piper. She needs someone with a gentle hand but a fierce demeanor. She needs someone that will support her and care for her. That will take the time to touch her in the way that makes those dark eyes go soft—
I growl as I stand in front of the automated door. The barkeep looks at me oddly and then goes back to wiping down the counter. There’s a familiar male at one of the few tables, but he’s not right for her. From what I know of his species, females are not equal. I don’t want anyone taking a single bit of Piper’s freedom away from her. The barkeep will know more, though. Maybe he’ll know someone that fits the bill and is willing to marry a human in a hurry. Even so, I can’t bring myself to go inside and ask. Not yet.
I turn and glance down the winding one-lane street of the port as an air-sled with a loud fan rumbles past. It blocks my view of the general store, but when it finally moves past, I see there’s a big, all-too-familiar form lurking outside the store. A praxiian, judging by the cheek tufts, pointed ears, and the enormous, slightly hunched shoulders. His tail flicks back and forth in a predatory way, and he stares inside at…something.
I know it’s Piper.
My Piper.
I growl again, louder, and even though I’m not close nearby, the praxiian looks up and glances in my direction. He walks away down the street, as if he’s just window-shopping, but I know he was watching her. I absolutely keffing know it and it makes my senses prickle. As I storm toward the store, he walks away, heading into a drone repair shop nearby. I pause i
n front of the store, cross my arms and glare menacingly, doing my best to look protective and fierce. Didn’t Piper say a praxiian was bothering her?
I glance inside the store. It’s got a few random customers inside, and Piper waits at one end of the counter as the shopkeeper talks to a mesakkah farmer. They both laugh as if sharing a joke, and then the farmer heads out. The shopkeeper looks over at Piper, who’s waiting patiently, and his lip curls. He avoids her and goes over to another customer instead, striking up a conversation.
I bristle. Does everyone on this planet treat her like garbage? It hits me then—she won’t leave because it’s not just this planet. It’s absolutely everywhere in the universe. No one respects humans. They’re playthings. Illegal playthings. I shouldn’t be surprised that he treats her like a stray beast, because in his eyes, she’s nothing. A nuisance.
I glare through the window as the shopkeeper checks in with all his other customers before heading toward Piper. He gives her a dismissive look, and when she speaks, his face is hard and unforgiving. He puts goods on the counter, but he practically slams them down as if he hates serving her.
His attitude goes all over me. I casually head inside, moving closer to where Piper stands near the counter. She gestures at the items she’s purchasing, her face obscured by her hood. “I think this is everything for me. What is my total?”
The shopkeeper doesn’t even glance up. He just packs things into a container. “Three hundred twenty standard credits.”
I look at the small pile of goods as Piper pulls out a credit chip, and I know suddenly that she’s being overcharged. She’s got noodles and a few other kitchen goods. Nothing that should be that expensive. I put my hand over hers before she can hand it over. “You want to tally that again, friend?” I say in a dangerous voice.