by Lynnea Lee
“It’s perfect, thank you.” He shoved his pants and his top onto the bottom shelf before heading into the facilities and turning on the cleaning unit.
“Come here, my sweet.” He gestured to her. “Come, get clean with me before we go eat.”
Emma got up and entered the bathroom. He reached for the hem of her shift and lifted it off her body. She was naked underneath; the Meeting Ground had no reason to give her anything else to wear. She had been naked so often, she shouldn’t feel any trepidation, but a moment of doubt hit her. Would Cal like what he saw?
Cal perused her body before pulling her close to press up against him. “So beautiful, just as I imagined. And soft, too.”
He smiled down at her, and Emma almost tittered like a teenage girl meeting her crush. What was wrong with her!
He took her hand carefully and put it under the stream of water.
“How’s the temperature for you? Humans are thinner skinned and more delicate. I don’t want to burn you.”
“It is good.” Emma kept her head bowed, trying to remember her training. She hadn’t had a real bath or shower in so long. Water must be a valuable commodity in space, and he planned on letting her share his shower. Emma tried not to let her excitement show.
He moved them into the cleansing unit. “We don’t have long because we have limited water on the ship, but a water cleanse is one of the luxuries we have on the Defiant.”
The warm water hit her body and cascaded down. It felt exquisite, and Emma closed her eyes in happiness. “We didn’t get water showers at the Meeting Ground. They just decontaminated us with light.”
“Most ships have that, but no technology replaces the feel of genuine water. This one even uses clean water and not recycled water already filled with cleansers for the clean cycle. That means we can spring on quality soaps.” He reached down to cup her face, and she opened her eyes. She averted her gaze immediately, even though what she really wanted to do was to keep staring into those beautiful green eyes.
Most Talleans had green eyes layered with a light-reflecting membrane. But while the eyes of her former owner, the scientists at the facility, and the patrons at the establishment had been cold and distant, Cal’s eyes gave her warmth. Even the eyeshine, created by the membrane, felt soft and warm, like that of a friendly cat, rather than a crocodile waiting in the river.
Emma looked around for the cleanser and found it mounted to the wall. She reached for it.
“Let me wash you, Ma—Cal.”
Chapter 5
Cal cupped Emma’s face with both hands. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling, a look of tranquility on her face. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. He wanted to see her smile every day.
Her eyes opened, and the peaceful look faded, replaced by a moment of panic. She quickly looked away. Right, she was not supposed to look at her owner. One day she would learn that she could look at him all she wanted.
She reached for the soap, pumping out a small portion. “Let me wash you, Ma—Cal.”
Emma rubbed the cleanser between her palms and tippy-toed to reach for his head. She was trying to wash his hair, but Cal knew she was much too short to reach. He ducked for her.
Working the lather through his hair and scalp, she scratched at his scalp lightly to get it all clean. It felt good. Cal closed his eyes, and a rumbling purr came from his chest. She continued to rub his scalp a while before moving his head under the stream of water to rinse it out.
Emma reached for the cleanser again, rubbing her body against his. Cal bit his lip, trying not to react. He wanted her to explore his body and get used to him without pressure. She smoothed her soapy hands over his shoulders and back with deft hands.
She gave his shoulders a light rub before reaching around him to get his pecs and abs. She was small compared to his wide body, and that meant she was plastered to his back. Stars! It was impossible not to react.
Cal took the opportunity to turn in her embrace so that she was plastered to his front instead. She gasped as his erection pressed insistently against her belly. She hesitated a moment before reaching for it with her soapy hands.
Cal growled and braced his arms against the side of the stall. He hadn’t expected her to reach for him right away.
She continued up and down his length. From her methodical movement, it was apparent that she planned to finish him off. But something didn’t feel right. He scented the air. And there was no arousal. The scent of the cleanser hid some of her odd smell, but he sensed no lust at all. He looked down at her, and she looked robotic. She wasn’t here with him, not fully. This was a chore, and she was trying to get it done. This was not right.
Cal put his hand over hers, stopping her.
“Just wash me, my sweet. You don’t need to do this.”
She looked confused for a moment as if she had blanked out. Then she nodded and continued to wash him.
Cal needed to be patient with her. And he needed to recognize when certain actions brought her brain somewhere else. He wanted Emma to be here with him, loving him, enjoying him. That meant he needed to avoid certain things that she had done in the past. She had learned to tune certain actions out to survive. Cal didn’t want her just to survive with him. He wanted her to thrive.
She finished cleaning him up and used the excess soap to wash her own body.
“Let me.” Cal was sure that her previous owner would never wash her back. This would be a different experience for her; he wanted to give her new memories, happy ones.
He reached for the soap and worked it into a rich lather. He started with Emma’s hair, lathering it up and massaging her scalp as she did his. At first, she stood there stiffly, awkwardly, unsure what to make of it. But eventually, she relaxed. He rinsed the cleanser from her hair and started on her torso. She was so small that his palms covered much of her body. Her arms and legs came next. And finally, with her completely relaxed, he pulled her back to rest against his chest and reached down between her legs.
In the transport, she had reacted well to him when he had pressed her up against him by her throat, so he did the same now. She gasped. Cal reached down between her legs, and she pressed them together.
“Keep them open, my sweet.”
She obeyed, her legs trembling. His slippery fingers slid through her folds, and she clutched at the arm wrapped around her shoulder and neck. The light perfume of her lust permeated through the air, covering up the scent that was not quite right. And for a moment, Cal thought he had found his mate after all.
He rubbed at the little nub between her legs, and she mewled. Emma’s knees went weak and Cal supported her with his body. She clutched at his arm, letting him be her strength. As her pleasure built, her breathing got shallower and shallower, as soon she was gasping and moaning. Her head tossed from side to side against his chest.
Cal reached lower and pushed two fingers into her wet channel as he continued to work her clit. Her pussy tightened around his fingers, clenching and unclenching, and she cried out. Cal wrung the pleasure from her body as Emma clung onto him, completely at his mercy.
Satisfied in the knowledge that his female was thoroughly pleasured, Cal rinsed her off quickly and turned the cleansing unit to dry. Warm air streamed through from the top, drying them.
Emma looked up at him, confused and unsure. Eventually, she would understand that her pleasure always came before his own. She was not his slave, and Cal planned on convincing her through his actions.
“You did good, my sweet,” Cal assured her. “You were marvelous.”
Realizing that she didn’t have any other clothes, he dressed her in one of his shirts. The top was loose, and it hung almost to her knees like a dress. He belted it with a leather thong he used to tie on some of his armor. It would have to do. Cal enjoyed seeing her in his clothes.
“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry, and you must be too.”
Emma needed to do something for Cal. “Show me where the
kitchen is, and I will fix your food when you wish. I did this for my first Master. I’m not a great cook, but I can learn.”
“There is no need to fix my food. We can make food for each other instead. I’ll show you the kitchen and how to work the equipment so that you can make food for yourself whenever you are hungry. You don’t need to ask before eating. And you don’t need to wait until I am done before you eat. I want to eat with you. I want your company.”
“Oh.” Emma combed her hand through her hair awkwardly. Cal didn’t want her to do anything for him, and Emma didn’t know how to behave.
They walked to the kitchen. And Emma tried to follow behind him like slaves were supposed to do, but Calix took her hand and held it instead. He pulled her up to walk next to him.
“Arus cooked today, so there’s already food ready for us. Arus is a great cook. If you want to learn to cook, you can ask him to teach you. But it’s not required. I don’t expect you to cook for me.”
The kitchen and dining area were open concept with the food preparation area on one side separated by a peninsula counter. The eating area held one long table with seating on either side. There were only enough seats for maybe a dozen or so diners. This ship must either have a small crew or took their meals in shifts.
A pot of something stew-like was kept warm on the stove. Emma looked around, trying to figure out where the bowls would be. She slid open one of the cabinets. Bingo! Emma reached to grab Cal a bowl, but before she could hand it to him, he picked up his own. He ladled the stew into his bowl but then handed it over to Emma. He had served her instead of the other way around.
Then he took the empty bowl in her hand and heaped it up to almost overflowing for himself. He walked her to a table, and before she could kneel on the ground, he pulled out a chair and sat her down on it. He sat down across from her at the table.
It confused her. If Cal didn’t want her to do domestic chores, maybe she was only there for sex? Some owners had slaves for different aspects of their lives. Maybe Cal only wanted her for his bedroom. That was okay; she could do that too. There was still hope.
She was going to wait until he started eating, but he watched her and encouraged her to take the first bite. She did so to avoid any more awkward situations. Emma was no good in social situations to begin with. With all the rules she had learned from her previous situations thrown out the window, Emma felt the social anxiety start to build. She would have to learn to communicate with Calix like—gasp—a normal person. What if he didn’t like her as a normal person?
A warm hand covered her own.
“Don’t think too much, my sweet. Just eat with me and spend time with me. Do you like the food?”
Emma realized that she had eaten the first bite without even tasting it. She took another, and flavors exploded in her mouth. It was delicious! How long had it been since she had real food? She had lived on nutrition bars for months. Nutrition bars and vitamin supplements were a much cheaper and faster way to feed slaves than real meals.
When she was taken from Earth, she’d been a good deal overweight; her doctor had brought it up at every physical. But after subsisting on nothing but nutrition bars and having no appetite, she had lost much of it. At the Meeting Grounds, the other slaves had fought over the scraps in the kitchens at the end of the day, but she kept to herself, not wanting more trouble than she already had.
She took another spoonful, savoring the complex flavors and the rich meatiness of the stew. Then her body did something stupid. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she couldn’t stop them. Shit! Shit! What would Cal think? He was looking for companionship, not a crying emotional wreck. She tried to hold in the tears, but they streamed down her face despite her best efforts.
Cal was behind her in an instant, pulling her to his chest, his hand smoothing over her hair and stroking it soothingly. As was her usual luck, the situation got more awkward as the biggest alien she had ever seen walked in with a curvy brunette.
“Oh no, what happened?” The brunette came to kneel next to Emma. Oh, great, more attention. Of course, she had to meet her first human on the ship while crying. It was the lady who had been sitting next to the tiny woman with the long dark hair that Emma saw when she first got on the ship.
Emma shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.
Cal spoke for her, sounding worried. “She took a bite and started crying.”
The human female guffawed. “Your cooking broke her!” She hit the large alien on the stomach, still laughing. “Finally, someone who you can’t seduce with your cooking skills.”
“What? I—” the big alien stammered
“No, the food is great. Really good.” Emma finally found words. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. “This is the first real food I’ve eaten in months. I’ve had nothing but nutrition bars. This is heaven, and I was just so happy.” She took another small bite.
“Oh, you poor thing! Sometimes I forget how lucky I was. I’m Mia, and this is Arus.”
“Hi, Mia. Arus.” She made sure to avert her gaze when she addressed the big Tallean. “I’m Emma.”
“You were a Dominion slave,” Arus said bluntly. “You can look at the males directly on the Defiant. The other males may not recognize your behavior, but I do. And so will Vore. Forget your training here. We are not Dominion.” Arus’s face showed his disgust, and Emma realized her error in attempting to follow Dominion slave rules with Cal. They clearly found the Dominion distasteful, and so did she. They had something in common.
“I’m sorry. I hadn’t known there was any other than the Dominion out in space until today.”
“You apologize a lot. There is no need.” Cal relaxed now that he knew she was okay.
She needed to remember not to apologize so much around Cal. He didn’t like it.
“She must be Canadian.”
That got a smile out of Emma.
Mia and Arus went to grab their own bowls of the filling stew.
Convinced that Emma was alright, Cal grabbed his spoon and ate. And boy, did he eat! He put away a lot of food in a hurry. It must be a prerequisite for keeping all those muscles fed.
Emma took a few more bites and found herself already full. Her stomach had shrunk a lot since leaving Earth. Seeing that she was done, Cal started on the rest of her food, too.
A loud beeping sounded, filling the kitchen, and Cal stiffened mid-bite. The noise seemed to be broadcast throughout the ship through the comm system.
“Fuck!” He stood up quickly and stomped towards the door, dragging Emma by the arm.
Pulled along by Cal, Emma waved back at the couple. Mia waved at her, smiling. They didn’t look or act like owner and owned. Did this group prefer to have their slaves act like companions? Was that what Cal wanted from her? It must be lonely in space, and a slave who acted like a happy companion must be in high demand.
Cal entered the bridge, pulling Emma behind him. He took a seat at his pilot’s chair, and when Emma knelt quietly beside it, he didn’t protest. He didn’t like her sitting at his feet in his room, but here on the bridge, he quite liked her there. Maybe Cal could make an exception on the bridge and have a cushioned spot installed next to his chair with seat belts to keep her safe.
“What’s the situation?”
Tanith narrowed his eyes at Emma, kneeling by his chair. Emma kept her gaze in her lap and leaned in towards Cal. Despite what Cal had said, and Arus had confirmed, she was still too shy to break her old habits and look any of the males in the eyes. Calix calmed her with a squeeze on her shoulder. If she wanted to kneel there, she could, as long as she was comfortable.
“It’s a cloaked ship. It tried to sneak up on us from the side. Luckily, their cloaking technology is outdated and we are well equipped to see through it.” Tanith focused on the ship in question on the screen. It looked like a merchant’s ship, though not in good repair. It must belong to the merchant’s brother.
“Hail th
em,” Zeylum ordered.
A familiar face appeared on the screen. This male had sat on the opposing side of the negotiation table at the Meeting Ground. Extra fat, from years of sedentary life, had filled the male’s cheek creases with flesh. They bulged out, giving his face a bloated look. Talleans were blessed with genetics that predisposed them to leanness. It must have taken years of sloth and laziness for a Tallean male his age to look fat. It seemed the merchant’s dissatisfied brother decided to retaliate after all.
“If it isn’t the Defiant. And Zeylum himself. I didn’t recognize the males you sent, but I recognize the ship, and you. Surely a mercenary like yourself could be bought with some extra credit.”
Zeylum made no move to reply.
“Whatever my brother is paying you, I’ll double it if you give him up.”
“If we did that, we wouldn’t have a reputation to fall back on.”
“No one needs to know. I can make it lucrative for you.”
Cal scoffed. Did this lecherous male honestly believe the Defiant would betray their current client for the promise of more credits? He was about to be disappointed. The crew of the Defiant had honor.
“That is not how we operate.” Zeylum scoffed at merchant on the screen. “I should be offended that you assume we have so little honor. Cease now and leave. Or we will open fire.”
The male on the screen sneered. Then the comm cut out, and they were left staring at the blank screen.
“Why do they try that every time? It never works.” Cal maneuvered to keep the Defiant between the two ships.
“Fuck,” Tanith grumped. “Incoming.”
“Hold on tight!”
Cal jerked the ship to the side, and the shot glanced off them. A rumble went through the ship from the slight impact.
