“I do not speak for Axoev.” Sieg turned his stunningly different gaze onto Darin. “He is very tiny.”
“Aye. And feel his skin.”
Darin closed his eyes so that he wouldn’t flinch. When contact came, he was surprised at how gentle Sieg’s touch was. Sieg handled Darin with the same tender care that Darin would bestow on a puppy. Maybe the barbarians weren’t so frightening after all.
“Soft.”
“Aye.” Green Man flashed a smile that any race would interpret as unwholesome. An entire box of Tide and a bottle of bleach could not clean the dirty out of that kind of grin. Lecherous was a word that Darin had read but never used until now. Green Man was a lecherous pervert. “And he’s silent.”
Sieg frowned. “No.”
“Aye?”
“I do not speak for Axoev, but he will not want a faunsha who can’t speak.”
Darin stood there between the two men wondering what would happen to him now. If Green Man couldn’t trade him to satisfy his debt with Axoev, then what would he do with Darin? What was better? The devil he kind of knew, or another he didn’t have a clue about? What pushed him into a decision was the notion of getting back into the crappy spaceship. From the looks of it, it had barely survived the landing. Darin doubted it would hold together for another takeoff, let alone another landing elsewhere.
“I can speak.”
Green Man glared while Sieg grinned. His teeth were white, a bit jumbled, but not scary sharp like the Krase warrior’s teeth had been. Sieg just looked as if he could get by with wearing a retainer for a few months.
“Well, then, ye will make a fine faunsha for the leader of the Clan Shadow.”
So his intended master was the leader? That might be good. Darin figured a leader would have the best of the best. Considering how low tech everything out here was likely to be, if he was going to be anyone’s fuck toy, he could do worse than the leader of a barbarian clan. But how would he ever deal with one so damn big?
“I will take him to Axoev. If he does not agree to accept this creature as payment, you will know.”
“Before I left, Axoev said that’s what he wanted in payment.”
“That doesn’t mean he agreed to take whatever you brought to him.”
Green Man looked to argue the point, but it was clear he really didn’t want to tangle with Sieg or his clan. With a clap of his hands—something Darin realized the alien did as a way of ending the conversation—he turned and got back into his pile of flying shit. Darin might have put up some resistance with Sieg, but he wanted to be far away before Green Man tried to take off. Besides, he couldn’t think of anything more fun than flying on a fuzzy moth.
“Why did you allow Wetoo to think you could not speak?” Sieg strode toward his mount without bothering to see if Darin would follow. Given his lack of shoes and his slim chance for survival alone, Darin dutifully trailed behind. At least the ground was relatively soft and sticker-free. Besides, all things considered, looking at Sieg’s backside wasn’t a tragedy at all. Frankly, the man’s buttocks were so muscular he could probably crack walnuts by clenching them.
“I had nothing to say to him.” Darin would have said more, but again, he decided being chatty out here might just get him killed.
Sieg laughed, which was much lower pitched than his speaking voice. Somehow, it was easier to be less afraid when his captor sounded like one of the Muppets.
“You will please Axoev.”
Darin wasn’t sure if Sieg was speculating that Axoev would like Darin, or pointing out that Darin’s job was to please his leader. Either way, Darin didn’t want to dwell on that aspect of his capture. For the first day or so, he’d tried to convince himself he was really just dreaming and he’d awaken at any moment. No matter what he tried to do to make that happen, it didn’t, so he had to embrace what was. Ultimately, Darin decided that he had to approach his current situation in this mysterious universe as if he was playing one of his computer games. The main difference here was that he wasn’t going to get any do-overs if he died, and he couldn’t just turn the game off and go back to reality. Still, thinking of his new life as a game to be mastered helped him cope. Otherwise, he’d be screaming, curled up in a ball, or pissing himself. None of those options sounded good. So he would confront each new situation as it came.
“You will ride on me.”
Darin was certain he’d heard that wrong, but when Sieg climbed on the big moth and extended his hand to Darin, he realized the only place for him to sit was literally on Sieg. Again, Darin looked toward the jungle. God only knew what was out there. If they had this wonderfully bizarre creature to ride on, then surely there were all kinds of other cool things hidden in the thick net of trees, vines, and shrubs. Moreover, there were probably some not-so-cool things out there, too. Since Darin knew nothing of their world, he would be a grand fool to run off when he had no shoes, no shirt, and no clue about what was dangerous and what wasn’t.
“You would be a perfect morsel for a byssangi.”
“What’s that?”
“A creature similar to the kaby.” Sieg tilted his head toward his mount. “Byssangi are green like the forest. They cling to the underside of the trees then drop, eating a man whole.”
Darin shivered. He reminded himself there were no do-overs so whether or not Sieg was teasing didn’t really matter. Realizing he had little choice, he extended his hand to Sieg, who pulled him up, settling Darin on his lap. Several things clamored for his attention all at once. First was the surprising softness of Sieg’s leather pants, but more importantly was the plush warmth of the moth. Darin couldn’t recall ever feeling anything so luxurious as the creature’s fur. It was so thick it felt like his feet were sinking into almost a foot of softness. No wonder people liked to wear fur coats. Not that he would want to take the beautiful thing’s hide, just that he now got the attraction. Reaching forward, he petted the creature, eliciting a curious buzzing noise.
“Don’t do that!” Sieg reached around and slapped Darin’s hands, forcing Darin to clutch them to his chest for protection. “You’re the type who would be taken in by a cuddle bunny.”
Sieg had actually used two different words, but that was what Darin’s translator popped into Darin’s head. “What’s a cuddle bunny?” Darin decided he just wouldn’t pet the pretty thing when Sieg was around. Clearly, the kaby liked being stroked. Sieg probably used the poor thing to attack people or something. Sieg reminded Darin of the dipsticks back on Earth who would buy big dogs and then deliberately antagonize them to make them mean. It was sick, but legal as long as they didn’t torture the animals.
“Eh, if you are lucky, you will never see.” Sieg squeezed his legs together, and the moth took off.
Darin realized the kaby didn’t have any kind of bridle. It had a small saddlelike thing, which was why Darin had to sit on Sieg since the saddle was only big enough for one, but there was no way to steer the creature. However, after a very short flight, Darin realized that Sieg was controlling the beast by squeezing his legs, tapping his hands, and digging his feet into the creature’s sides. Now it was clearer why he didn’t want Darin petting his kaby. It might be confusing to the kaby about whether or not Darin was trying to steer the creature or simply touch it. But it also made Darin very curious about the cuddle bunny. From the way Sieg spoke, a cuddle bunny was something pretty damn nasty despite the softness of its name.
“What is Axoev like?” Darin thought he’d find out about his master before actually meeting him. Knowledge was power, and he was feeling distinctly powerless so far.
“He is the most fearsome warrior the Clan Shadow has ever known.”
“Oh.” There went Darin’s hopes for a kinder, gentler master. Just his luck, Darin would end up with a guy even bigger than Sieg.
“He will be the best you’ve ever had.” Sieg tightened his legs, making the moth climb quickly. Darin panicked, but before he could dig his hands into the beast’s fur, Sieg wrapped his powerful arms aro
und Darin’s body, holding him tightly to his chest. “That is as long as he approves of you as his faunsha.”
“And if not?”
“Perhaps I will take you.” Sieg laughed while Darin fought off the urge to vomit. Not from Sieg’s suggestion but from a violent attack of vertigo. Far below he watched as Wetoo struggled to turn his ship around so that he could take off. By focusing his attention on that, Darin prevented himself from giving in to his fear. Although, to be fair, he supposed it didn’t much matter which barbarian laid claim to him. Being a sex slave to men as big as Sieg meant he wasn’t likely to survive a first encounter, so he figured that meant he wouldn’t have to worry about a lifetime of it. Just feeling Sieg’s semihard cock against his buttocks put him in mind of a man trying to shove a salami through a keyhole. The man could cram as hard as he wanted, but it simply wasn’t going to work without damaging the salami. Or, in Darin’s case, he figured his metaphorical keyhole would probably give out long before Axoev’s salami. He only hoped he would die quickly.
Darin had envisioned all kinds of things for his future, but being fucked to death by an alien certainly wasn’t one of them. He was hoping for a lot of hot kissing, hand holding, mutual blow jobs, and maybe then some anal sex once he was ready. Seemed much more likely he was only going to get one of those four things. Worse, it was the one aspect of sex that scared him. He’d never had anything up his ass, and starting with the Clan Shadow guys didn’t sound like a pleasant introduction.
“You shiver from cold? I will hold you tighter so you can have my heat.”
It sounded dirty to Darin, but right now just about everything was going to sound that way when he was anxious about where he was going, who he would be there with, and what that guy was going to make him do. Dozens of stories flashed through Darin’s mind. What if he could do something for their primitive culture that might make him too valuable to damage? Darin struggled to find one thing he did that didn’t involve a computer. Nothing came to mind.
“Why does he want a male faunsha?”
That question caused Sieg to laugh so hard he was bouncing Darin on his cock, which hardened it. As their moth slowly lowered, Darin’s anxiety rose.
Oh, no! He’s going to stop this thing and try me before he gives me over to—wait, no. Darin shook his head, rounding off his own panic attack. Axoev was the leader. No one diddled the leader’s fuck toy. Darin was pretty sure he was safe until he met Axoev. After that, all bets were off.
“You are funny.” Sieg squeezed his legs several times, causing their moth to climb.
As their journey went on, Sieg’s cock softened, which helped to ease the tension out of Darin’s shoulders. Once he was more relaxed, he was able to look more attentively at the land below. The lush jungle, which Sieg called a forest but seemed more junglelike with the vines and stuff, gave way to a more desertlike area. Fewer trees gave way to more sand, and then vast stretches of nothing but sand gave way to more trees. These were different from the others in that they were much bigger. Darin had never seen a sequoia in real life, but he imagined these monstrous trees would put those to shame.
When Sieg flicked his legs and feet against the sides of the kaby, it spiraled down into the forest of enormous trees. Whereas the upper air had been bright and warm, this was darker and cooler by at least thirty degrees. Darin realized he was going to need something to wear and soon. However, the area also explained the name of the barbarians. Clan Shadow lived in the shadow of huge trees.
Once they landed, half a dozen men who looked just like Sieg formed a semicircle around them. All of them were peering at Darin with their curiously reversed eyes. Never in his life had Darin ever felt so naked. When Sieg urged him to climb down, Darin froze. Finally, one of the barbarians stepped forward, extended his hand to Darin, and rather forcefully pulled him off the moth.
“He’s soft!” the man exclaimed, his voice lower than Sieg’s but not by a whole lot.
As crazy as it was, Darin felt an insane urge to laugh. Another massive man who sounded like a puppet. He knew it was a horrible idea to give in to his feeling, so he struggled to keep his mirth under wraps. All humor fled when the other men stepped forward to get a feel of Darin’s skin. Luckily, Sieg was there, slapping their hands away just like he’d done when Darin was petting his moth.
“He’s for Axoev.”
That caused all the men to willingly yank their hands away, scaring the crap out of Darin. Just what kind of a terrifying badass was their leader? Darin imagined a man even taller than these guys with a cock that would rival the thickness of Darin’s arm. Granted, he was on the skinny side, but still, he wouldn’t know the first thing to do with a dick that big. Maybe the best thing to do was to fall to his knees and worship it. He could tell Axoev that his kind didn’t fuck such things but sang songs and offered praise. It might work. Maybe.
“Come.”
Darin followed Sieg only because he had no other option. After a long walk that took Darin past a gigantic fire pit, several milling kabies, and what could only be domesticated animals that looked more like insects than anything Darin was familiar with, he was taken to the base of an enormous tree. Far up along the trunk there seemed to be a dwelling of some kind. Or at least a walkway. Darin found it difficult to tell since he was barely able to see that high up.
Sieg whistled. A rope was lowered. He whistled again and another rope, this one with a large box, was lowered. After putting Darin in the box, Sieg climbed up the dangling rope. While Darin waited, he again considered running. The rest of the big guys were back at the main part of their village. He was freezing, starving, and just generally miserable, but he didn’t want to be some alien’s sex slave.
Just as the box started to lift up, Darin jumped out and ran as hard and as fast as he could into the forest.
Chapter 2
“You bring me a box of empty?” Axoev peered into the crate he’d just pulled up to his home. Since he was the leader of Clan Shadow, his house was far up within the stoutest tree. Thick bark allowed him to build inward into the living tree without damaging it.
“No, I—a hunt!” Sieg didn’t waste time explaining. He immediately started working his way back down the rope he’d so recently come up.
“A hunt?” Of all the men gathered in the village, Axoev loved to hunt the most. “What was it supposed to be?” Axoev called, trying not to laugh. He imagined Sieg had found something interesting during his meeting with the other clans and brought it to curry favor with his leader.
“Wetoo’s payment of his debt.”
“Which was?” Axoev had forgotten what he’d asked Wetoo for.
“A faunsha!”
That compelled Axoev to grin and work his way down another rope. Now Sieg’s call of a hunt made far more sense. Axoev’s feet landed almost at the same time as Sieg’s despite his head start.
“You are impossibly fast.” Sieg was looking around, clearly trying to determine which way the faunsha had gone.
“Let’s hope my speed holds out before you steal my payment away.”
Sieg shook his head. “I would hunt to give him back to you since it was I who lost him.”
“That is not the way of it, my friend. He who finds the faunsha wins.”
Sieg looked reluctant, but then a smile worked across his face.
“Ah, so this faunsha is handsome?”
“Tiny, blond, and his skin is so soft it is almost like touching the inner part of a woman.”
Axoev didn’t know about that as he’d never lain with one of the women of the clan. He needed a faunsha in order to keep himself away from the perplexing decision of picking one. Or rather allowing one to pick him. With a slave to look after his home and tend to his lusts, Axoev could postpone taking a woman or two until much later. Possibly indefinitely.
“Then we are agreed that the first to find the faunsha wins?” Axoev extended his pointer finger.
Sieg touched the tip of Axoev’s finger with his own, and then Sieg peere
d at the ground. Just like usual, Sieg was looking too close.
Axoev cast his attention further away and quickly saw where the slave had run. Without waiting, he was off. Since Axoev had been cleaning his own boots, something that he shouldn’t have to do as the leader, he was now bare of foot, but the soles of his feet were as tough as any tanned hide. All his life he’d been able to race up and down the towering trees of Shadow. The bark was rough on him when he was a boy, but he grew accustomed to the texture, and now he scarcely noticed it at all.
Rather than look around and see where Sieg was, Axoev kept his attention on tracking down his payment. He would hold to his word if Sieg managed to find the man first, but that wasn’t likely. Something would distract Sieg. Something always did. It made him terrible on a hunt but vital because he noticed things in a different way than the others of the clan. More than once Sieg had managed to find elements that improved their daily lives.
Axoev stopped suddenly, listening to the sounds, or rather the lack thereof. When the homes of the nesting birds were disturbed, they often turned silent. His slave had to have gone along the area with the least noise. As Axoev went deeper into the forest, he was hyperaware of the shape of the ground, the noises, and the silence. When he saw the mouth of a tearhusk cave, he pondered the footprints he saw at the entrance. Had his slave been so foolish as to go within?
Dropping to his knees, Axoev entered the cave. The creatures were asleep, but it wouldn’t take much to wake them. If they were shocked awake during the daylight they would violently attack. Even a stout man like Sieg probably would not be able to survive the vicious stings of their tails. Just as he was beginning to think he’d been tricked into entering, Axoev found his slave. He was going deeper into the cave, heedless of the danger above him.
Axoev got right behind him. Pouncing, he wrapped his arms around him in a fierce hug, not realizing how delicate he was. Luckily, he clapped his hand over the slave’s mouth before he could scream and then dragged him out and away from the danger.
Enslaved by a Barbarian [Sold! 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 2
