by Raven Dark
“Hey. She is right here, guys,” I deadpanned.
Raul turned and pushed Malek out of his chair, dropping into it. Malek punched him in the arm and sat in another.
“Only words which do not have a translation to English will come through in Xandari,” Z’pheer added as if I hadn’t spoken.
Malek gave me a broad grin. “Have to watch what we say now, I suppose.”
“That you will.” Z’pheer brushed my hair away from my shoulder, dropping a heated kiss there.
“Especially you with your big mouth, Z’pheer,” Malek said. “Don’t want her hearing anything she shouldn’t.”
I rolled my eyes. “Still right here.”
Ignoring Malek’s comment, Z’pheer gave me a pat on the ass and took a seat.
“Well, good,” Rual said. He pushed out of his seat and walked slowly over to me. The mocking light in his eyes made me want to step back. He cupped my chin. “If you understand us, nayna, then there is no excuse.”
“No excuse for what?”
“For you not to learn the rules and follow them.” His grip tightened, and he tipped my chin up until his gaze trapped mine. “Or,” he added slowly, “for us not to punish you severely when you do not obey.”
A painful knot clenched in my gut, a chill chasing away any excitement I’d felt at being able to understand them.
I was pretty sure I knew what he was getting at. They’d been lenient up until now because of the communication barrier between us.
Son of a bitch. I had a bad feeling I was going to end up wishing the fucking translator had never been fixed.
12
Rules
To say that it sounded strange hearing these aliens speaking in English would have been the understatement of the century. After two days trying to get used to hearing an alien language, it was unsettling to understand them.
It just made them seem so…human.
Except they weren’t speaking an Earth language. The translator was allowing me to hear it that way. Their lip movements didn’t match what I heard in my head, which sort of freaked me out.
Raul released me and turned to his men. As if I weren’t there, the three of them talked amongst themselves, but I had to put so much focus into getting used to what I was hearing that I didn’t pick up on anything anyone said. That was the thing. Their language had served as a constant reminder of their alien-ness. They looked so human that, if not for Raul’s statement about following their rules, I could have almost forgotten they weren’t just usually large human males.
Or that they were my kidnappers, keeping me as their slave.
Their sex slave.
After a minute or two, when they still behaved like I wasn’t there, I heaved a breath. I wouldn’t allow Raul’s words to scare me. “So when am I going home?” I asked a little too loudly.
Malek and Z’pheer glanced at me with amused looks.
“Someone has a lot to learn, huh, Raul?” Malek picked up Tarku’s ball near him and tossed it, sending the dog running.
“Yes. She does.” Raul faced me and crooked his finger.
I rolled my eyes. He really did expect me to obey his every order as if it was a given. There was nothing for it but to do whatever he said, and he knew it. No matter how much of me wanted to die at the idea of giving my freedom to these men, I suppressed the dangerous urge to tell him to go fuck himself and forced my feet to move, one in front of the other until I was toe-to-toe with the giant of an alien.
Raul twined the leash around his finger slowly, close to where it hung from the collar. “There are only three rules you need to know at this time.”
I ground my teeth. “Which are?”
For some reason, Malek snickered at my words.
Raul’s lips twitched. “First.” He put one finger close to my nose. “You do not speak until you are permitted to.” He paused, as if letting the words sink in.
I licked my lips, but wisely said nothing. Waiting.
“Second. You do everything we tell you to do. No questions, no hesitation. We can, and will, keep you safe. But we cannot do that if you don’t trust us to protect you. We will give you what you need, but it is up to us to see that you get it. Understand?”
I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Yes. I’m not an idiot.”
He grabbed the back of my hair, pulling hard enough that I hissed in pain. “I see. You are not taking this seriously, are you?” His tone was low and dark. “Your response brings us to the third rule, nayna. Unless you are told otherwise, in public you will respond to everything one or two ways… yes, V’ir or no, V’ir. Do you understand, nayna?”
I let my eyes close, steeling my resolve. Home. The only thing that mattered was surviving long enough to get home. And surviving meant obedience. Raul’s fist on my hair was a nice little reminder of that fact, in case his words were not.
“Yes, Master,” I said slowly, noticing his eyes on my lips. Watching them move.
“V’ir,” he corrected. “You will be with us for a long time, nayna. There is only one way to escape the bond a slave has with her owner, and we will not let you take such a way out. Most people do not have translators and will not be able to understand you. You will be expected to learn our language and our ways, so you might as well start now. You will use our word for owner, not yours.” He tapped my forehead. “Do you understand, nayna?”
I swallowed the planet-sized lump in my throat. Only one way out. Unless I killed myself, I would be their slave forever. I shivered.
“Yes…V’ir.”
Raul released me. “Good girl.”
I opened my mouth to speak, intending to ask what I was supposed to do now, but Raul turned to the console in front of his chair, typing a few keys.
“We’re hungry. See to it, nayna, and then Malek can take you for a bath before we leave.”
Food. Of course, the first thing these huge, sex-crazed men would want from the enslaved female in their midst was food. Some things didn’t change regardless what planet a woman was on.
Wait. A bath. With Malek. Great.
I looked around, not seeing a cooking element anywhere. Something told me they didn’t have a fucking KitchenAid hidden in the wall somewhere. I met Raul’s eyes, letting him know I needed a little help.
Raul grinned, sitting back. “Ask Malek to show you.”
I dropped my shoulders. “Mal…I mean V’ir, will you show me how to make dinner?”
Malek jumped to his feet and touched my nose. “Ask me nicely,” he said in a sing-song voice.
“What?”
He leaned in, smelling my hair. “Say please.”
Jesus. He reminded me of an animal, wild, like he was always on the verge of losing control. Raul watched us with a huge grin, like a man watching Tarku play with his favorite toy.
“Will you please show me how to make dinner?” I couldn’t keep the tremor of rage out of my voice.
Malek closed his hand around mine, a slow insidious action that had me wanting to back away. He led the way over to a cubby hole in one wall with a small countertop.
A food dispenser, I realized, looking it over.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Raul said, drawing my attention across the room to him. “As long as you behave, we will always give you what you need. But the smallest infraction on your part will carry repercussions, nayna. So consider everything you do carefully.”
God damn it. He meant it. My blood ran cold. Because he and Malek were both looking at me expectantly, I made myself respond.
“Yes, V’ir.” God, I was never going to be able to say that without my stomach clenching.
“Oh, and…” When I looked at Raul again, he nodded over to a corner where his dog had curled up with his head on his paws. “I am the only one who feeds Tarku, but you will prepare his food for him.”
Shit, his dog, too? “How often do I do that?”
“When I eat, he eats. And he is always first.”
I glanced at Tarku and blew out a slow br
eath. It wouldn’t have bothered me to feed his damn dog so much if Tarku wasn’t his.
I acknowledged his order and focused on Malek.
“Watch carefully,” Malek said, flipping down a covering on the wall, revealing a small console. “I’m only going to show you this once. Next time, you’ll be expected to know how to do it without help.”
He pressed a few buttons, and the screen on the back wall of the cubby lit up.
“Please select your food choice,” the computer said pleasantly.
“It’s a touch screen.” Malek pressed another button and a slot opened above the cubby’s countertop. A packet slid out of it onto the counter, the silvery wrapping hiding the contents. “The dishes are here.” He hit a panel on the wall with his fist and it popped open, revealing shelves with plates, bowls, and cups, with a lower compartment of cutlery.
It saddened me a little that I couldn’t enjoy the fascination of how food prep on an alien spaceship worked. The whole thing seemed so surreal, and yet knowing what would probably happen if I messed up dinner leeched all the fun I might have had out of preparing a meal here. It still hurt to move around too much when I sat, and Raul or his men wouldn’t hesitate to make sure I spent the next week unable to sit properly.
Or worse.
Malek finished showing me how to work the food dispenser. I dished out four meals, packets of some sort of dark, fleshy meat in a thick red sauce, and orange slices of what I assumed were vegetables. Once it was heated in the microwave-like box in the cubby, the food looked great, and smelled even better, like steak with some kind of seasoning. The orange vegetables smelled like potatoes with butter. Malek also showed me how to prepare drinks, a Gatorade-blue liquid that smelled faintly of alcohol in squat metal mugs. I’d also poured out a packet of cubed wet meat chunks—green, slimy meat that smelled like liver—for Tarku into a metal dish.
“All right, so how long did you say it would take you to repair the ship, Malek?” Raul crossed the room and took the dog’s dish from the counter.
“Too long.” Malek returned to his chair beside Raul. “We won’t be flying this thing for days unless we get a new engine, and we won’t get one anywhere near here. We need to touch base with the Order and see how much of a fucking mess the Rith made of things.”
Raul walked over to Tarku and squatted, setting the food in front of him and scratching his ears. “Couldn’t you raise anyone on the ship’s com?”
Finishing up the meal prep, I listened to every word while trying not to look like I was listening. I had a feeling the only way I’d learn anything on this damn planet was if I watched and listened to everything around me.
“No,” Malek answered. “I tried to contact the Order at Headquarters, and every other base affiliated with them. Kaytol Ral isn’t the only base that’s out of commission. It looks like the entire planetary network is down.”
I wondered if Kaytol Rael was the base we’d been to yesterday, where we’d found Gwen. Where Malek had killed her.
I put a plate and a blue drink on a tray and carried it to Malek, the closest to me, keeping one ear on the conversation.
“Did you try my father?” Raul asked, taking his seat again, between Malek and Z’pheer.
“Yeah, I—no, nayna.” Malek nodded to his superior. “Raul is the superior officer. He always gets his before us.”
Figures.
I went to Raul and held out the tray to him. Fuck, my hands were shaking. Knowing my luck, he’d find some fault with the food and use it as an excuse to punish me.
Raul took the tray, looked over it quickly and sat back with a silent nod for me to serve the others. Some of the tension drained out of me.
“I tried to reach him,” Malek said, taking the tray I handed him. “Nothing but static.”
Raul sighed and massaged his forehead.
“It might not mean…” Z’pheer leaned forward, taking Raul’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’s fine, Raul. He probably just can’t reply back.”
Raul said nothing, slicing off a piece of his meat, scowling at his plate. I tried not to notice the worry lines that creased his forehead as I handed Z’pheer his tray.
Was he worried his father had been caught in a Rith attack? After encountering those creatures yesterday, it was impossible not to feel for him.
After a long moment, he looked at both men. “If the ship is going to take too long to fix, we’ll have to find another way. If I cannot raise my father on the com, we’ll have to go to him. It will be faster getting to him than to the Order. He should be able to tell us where we stand and go from there.”
He ate a few bites. “Z’pheer, as soon as we are finished eating, take her for a bath.” He nodded to me.
Finally, a chance to wash. I could still feel Raul’s dried come on my skin. It pissed me off that the thought of how it got there still made my skin feel hot. I crossed the room to the dispenser, but when I picked up my tray, Malek’s voice halted me.
“Hold it, there, nayna.”
Not trusting myself to hide my irritation, I rolled my head around and dropped my hands without turning to him. Waiting for him to tell me what I forgot.
“Turn your gorgeous ass around and look at me,” he said.
So much for hiding. I faced him.
Malek leaned back in his chair, amusement shining in those purple eyes. “Nayna doesn’t take anything without her V’ir’s permission. That includes food. What do you say?”
Seriously?
Man, this was going to be a long day.
“May I eat, V’ir?” I couldn’t keep the indignation out of my voice.
“Yes, you may. Only, next time, say it without sounding like you’d rather scratch my eyes out, or the answer will be no.”
My stomach dropped. Well, Raul had said the smallest infraction would bring repercussions.
I took my tray from the counter and made my way across the floor to the empty chair. Just before I sat down, Raul cleared his throat.
Now what! I rolled my head to the side so that my eyes met his mocking gaze.
He crooked his finger at me and then pointed at the floor between his knees.
I stared at him. He wanted me to sit on the floor at his feet like a damn dog? I nearly dropped the tray in disgust.
As if some stupid sense of pride held my feet to the floor like glue, I couldn’t make myself go to him. What the hell I hoped to accomplish by not obeying, I didn’t know. It wasn’t like I could say or do anything that would suddenly turn them all into sweet Prince Charmings. But it felt wrong on so many levels to sit on the floor like an animal at my captor’s feet as if it was normal.
I remained where I was.
“If I have to repeat myself, I’ll drag you over here by your hair and put you here.”
Fuck, he’d do it too. He said it almost casually, the way one might discuss the weather. His calm delivery scared me more than if he’d been angry.
Catching the fascinated way Z’pheer silently watched our exchange out of the corner of my eye, and the way Malek smirked at Raul’s threat like he was eager to see if I’d test his boss further, I sat on the floor between Raul’s feet, crossed my legs, and set the tray on my lap.
Still naked as the day I was born, I didn’t want to sit there with my legs open like this, but there was no way to sit that would allow me to hide myself and eat comfortably. At least the tray hid my lower lady bits from view. I let my hair fall forward, hiding most of my breasts.
Raul leaned forward and slowly brushed my hair back from my shoulders, revealing my boobs for all to see. Humiliation burned my cheeks. He tucked a few loose strands behind my ear, and I knew he could see my blush before his lips brushed my ear.
“See, now, was that so hard, nayna?”
Fuck, I’ll kill him. I didn’t dare admit the truth, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie. I said nothing.
Raul tangled his fingers in my hair, tugging hard enough that I winced at the sting. “Don’t make everything so fucking hard on yours
elf. If you don’t answer, Tarku will be happy to eat your rations for you.” His grip tightened before I could reply. “And you better watch yourself. This insubordination of yours will not be tolerated.”
“Owe! Yes! I mean, no, it…” I forced myself to calm down and think past the pain and the fear making short work of my nerves. “Yes. It was hard, Master.”
I’d not said V’ir, but the man addled my brain so much I could hardly think.
“Well, she’s honest,” Malek said beside him, sounding surprised.
Raul released my hair slowly. “You’d better learn to accept your place in this world, nayna, because it won’t change. If you want to make everything into a hardship, we can accommodate you, but your life is going to be miserable. Is that what you want?”
It wasn’t hard to answer that one. “No, V’ir. It’s not.”
“Then you’d best find a way to deal with it.”
I heard him take a few more bites. Then he got up, stepped around me and walked over to Tarku. He set his plate down beside the dog’s empty food dish.
“I’m going to try my father again. Z’pheer, get any medical things you’re bringing with you ready to go. Malek, see that she gets cleaned up. We will wash up afterward. We’re leaving in two spans.”
He disappeared down the hall.
Shit. Suddenly, my life stretched before my eyes, long and dark and unrelentingly joyless. Raul was right about one thing. Until I found a way home, I had to find a way to deal with my new life fast. If I didn’t, I’d go fucking insane.
The ship’s bathing facilities turned out to be on a lower floor of the craft, just off what looked like a small office where I caught a glimpse of Raul standing at a console. He was speaking in Xandari to a glowing computer screen that gave him only static.
The bathing area was a little more than a boxed-car sized room, all white tiles and that too slick silvery metal. Malek pressed a button on a control panel and a part of the back wall slid aside to reveal a shower stall.
