Mantsk rose. Straightened his shoulders. Began pacing back and forth, a caged beast filled with fury. “The life of a soldier must be dark and hard. Punishment for disobeying an order swift and severe. We must never forget. Never again let down our guard.”
Chapter Ten
Mantsk
After granting my female permission to furnish her nest as she pleased, I added one caveat. “I will make time to accompany you here so that you may select what you want, and will have it brought to our quarters, but you may not come to the hold alone.”
She looked up at me, arms laden with bolts of fabric woven from the webbing I’d mentally compared her skin to. But instead of the creamy paleness, these were rainbow hues. “These are dyed so beautifully.”
“Did you hear me, female?” I tipped her chin up higher to meet her deep-green gaze. “What did I say to you?”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d quit calling me ‘female.’ My name is Jess.”
“Very well. I will call you Jess—as long as you behave properly. My name is Mantsk. But you will continue to call me Master, as is the custom for females among my people. A sign of respect for your mate and a reminder of who is in charge. Now, did you hear me, Jess?”
“You said I can have anything I want to make our quarters comfortable and beautiful. You won’t be sorry, Master. This was my job on Earth. I decorated homes for some of the most illustrious citizens.” She grimaced. “I wondered how an interior decorator got chosen to be a diplomat—well, now I know that’s not what I was chosen for, but you understand my point.”
It was such a pleasure to see a female with her arms full of nesting materials again, I overlooked her mocking tone in addressing me. My sulky, resentful captive had come alive. Although she spoke our language, as a result of the chip she’d received, she spoke so fast, I was having a hard time absorbing it all.
Before I could comment, she sped on.
“One of them didn’t pay me, and I had filed a complaint with the courts. It was more than I could absorb. The merchants were coming to me for payment for the fabrics and the contractors for their work as well and—” Her eyes filled with water that spilled over. I leaned closer, alarmed, but she swiped away the droplets. “Those mother fucking bastards sold me into slavery to avoid paying their damn bill.”
With that she sagged, and I grasped her arms to hold her upright as the fabric spilled to the floor. “I don’t know what a few of those words mean, but if the way your leaders treated us, when we begged asylum, offers any indication, you may be correct.”
“There are others, aren’t there? Other women here?” Her voice held so much pain, betrayal at the hands of her own people, those chosen to represent and protect her.
“Yes, there are.” I hadn’t known until then what she knew or did not know, but the females had come through one at a time, and she hadn’t seemed to notice the others the few moments she was awake in the portal compartment.
“I wonder who owed them money.”
I shrugged, at a loss as to how to respond. Was that typical behavior on her planet? Did the wealthy just eliminate those to whom they owed funds? I couldn’t say I was unhappy that she’d arrived, although I would have killed anyone who treated one of our females in such a way. If there were any left. If this was the way Earth protected its females, she was better off here, sharing our exile, than among such poor excuses for men.
“May I see them?”
“Later, perhaps. Like you, they are adjusting to their new life, and many are not yet awake or selected by their masters.”
Her eyes flared. “Selected by their masters. This is what it has come down to. They have no say in who they end up with, who will be in charge of their lives from this time forward. I can’t even… I want to go…”
“Where?”
She blinked back more droplets. “To your quarters, since it seems to be my only place to go. I don’t suppose you would send me home?”
She’d asked before, but the answer would not change, especially since I’d learned of the caliber of men on her world. They did not deserve females at all, especially not one who belonged to me.
“No. But we got off topic earlier. Before we return to my quarters, you must agree you may not leave them alone. Understood?”
“Sure. Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Disrespect will earn you more punishment, female,” I warned.
“Let’s go, Master,” she said and moved to stand by the doorway. “Please.”
Once again, I accepted the words despite the tone. Small steps. Small improvements. A balance to bring her into line without breaking her spirit. She looked so small in my garment, and we’d failed to accomplish our goal of creating any of her own, but that could wait, would have to wait. If she was anything like the females of our world, she would remember on her own and request a return soon for both clothing and everything she wanted to create her nest. For now, I determined it best to allow her time alone to come to grips with how she’d been treated by the people of her home world. It must be a bitter potion to swallow. True, she was my possession, but was becoming more. As long as she remained courteous, I would escort her to my quarters and attend my duties.
For the time being, I could ensure her compliance with my instructions simply by keeping the door mechanism engaged. A simple habit, but one I’d grown lax about while in space. My crew would never even enter the corridor to my private quarters without permission unless it was an emergency. I considered the female’s escape attempt to be my fault, caused by my inattention to basic security measures. I held no ill will toward her. If anything, my respect for her had gone up a notch. In her position, I’d have seized any chance to get away. She showed spirit, a quality I hoped she’d pass on to our offspring.
To my pleasure, when I returned some hours later from the bridge, my female seemed less agitated and even smiled at my suggestion we make a second trek to the storage area. She was quiet though, and I feared it would take some time for her to accept what had been done to her. She’d been very lucky to end up here instead of in the hands of some sadistic brothel owner at the farthest reaches of space where she’d be used up and tossed aside.
Pointing that out might anger her again, though, so I just led the way to where all the things of beauty were kept. Once inside the hold, she moved around, nodding and murmuring under her breath, then faced me. “You said whatever I want, right? Even though all your men are living in such Spartan conditions?”
“I did. Nesting females require comfort.”
“These furs…” She held one up and admired it front and back. “They aren’t dyed at all, are they? Were the animals all these colors?”
“Color is very important to my people. All colors.” I had begun to think maybe in locking away all the color I had done more than make them focus. Perhaps I had gone too far.
She stretched out a hand. Gently stroked my arm. “I’m so sorry. Seeing all this, I can’t imagine how terrible your loss must be. I’m sure your world was a beautiful place. Is everything gone? Even the animals? All those gorgeous flowers and trees I saw in the recruitment video they showed me?”
“As far as we can tell. Our enemy destroyed all our starships close enough to the planet to defend it, obliterated our centers of population, then stripped Arythois of any resources they needed. When we lost contact with our people, we launched a barrage of defense missiles carried by unmanned ships traveling at a speed living beings could not tolerate. But the few remaining vessels in our star force were so far away from home that by the time the missiles arrived, the invaders were long gone. The unmanned ships scanned the surface of our planet looking for any sign of life and sent back the images you saw. Images of utter devastation.”
I stopped abruptly. Guilt poured over me. It would not do to allow the female to get too close. It was my duty to mate with this alien, strictly for breeding purposes. Nothing more. No matter how kind and caring she acted. “Enough. I have answered your questions.”
<
br /> I moved away and her hand dropped to her side.
“Um. Okay. I am not sure how you go about creating garments here, but I’ll need to do that for clothes and…all the fabric things. Do you have a sewing machine?”
I jumped at the chance to change the topic. Although the term she used was unfamiliar, I got the gist and showed her the programmable machine built into one bulkhead that would do everything she wanted and more.
“Wow. So I guess to use that I’d have to be in here.” She arched a brow, eyes sparkling. “Can I be in here without you?”
I considered then nodded. “The gardens are self-tending, so I can arrange for you to be undisturbed.”
Humming, a sweet sound I’d never heard from her before, my female gathered bolts of materials and piled them in front of the machine. With a little instruction, she seemed comfortable to make use of it, and I left her to her work. I coded the door private and headed for the bridge for a while.
“Captain, are you all right?” my first mate queried on my arrival.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I think you were singing.”
“I think you were mistaken,” I growled. “Now, show me your progress in finding us a home.”
Chapter Eleven
Jess
I waited till he was asleep then slipped out of our nest.
That’s what he called it, and I’d come to think of the bed we slept in the same way during the weeks since I’d arrived on the ship.
It could just as easily have been several months. It was difficult to keep track of time without seeing dawn and dusk. As far as I could tell, Arythians had longer waking and sleeping cycles than humans. Tracking the days by meals didn’t work either. I found myself ravenously hungry all the time, craving strange alien foods he introduced me to.
True to his word, Mantsk had allowed me to indulge my every whim in our quarters, piling the cold metal bed surface with thick furs in rainbow shades, topping them with buttery soft blankets and so many pillows I had to toss some onto the floor to make room for us to sleep. I found myself cuddling up against him at night, craving the closeness even though I no longer needed his warmth to survive. The chills and shaking had subsided.
I slid on a soft blue floor-length gown in a gossamer weave, one of the many garments I’d designed and sewed, and crept to the door. Waved my hand in front of the sensor pad. After accompanying me to the ship’s hold several times, he’d set me up in the system’s control panel with limited access, allowing me to get to and from the storage facility.
“I do not have the time or the patience to wait here for hours while you deliberate between two incense braziers that look identical to me,” he’d groused.
“But they’re not.” I held the beautifully wrought vessels up for him to see. “This one has an opalescent sheen to it. I think it would reflect the colors of the tapestry on the wall.”
“Fine. Take it and let’s go. I’ll see to it that you have access to this room whenever I’m at work from now on. Then you can spend all the time you want here—as long as you get your rest.”
He’d ordered me to stay in bed for hours every night and take a nap during the day. I hated the enforced inactivity at first. But as time went on, I found myself looking forward to those naps. I seemed to have less and less energy. Except for sex, that is. The more we fucked, the more I wanted it. Wanted him. That alien cock was addictive. Instead of satisfying my hunger for him, every orgasm seemed to ramp it up higher.
He still used cybellus on me. Being right on the edge of release for hours, knowing when he came back he’d take me to new heights of passion—I’d grown to love his alien sex toy. But I loved what Mantsk did to me more.
Oddly, tonight the insatiable need was gone. That last screaming climax had left my body limp and sated. Without the constant preoccupation with sex, my rational brain began functioning again.
Girl, you need to get out of here before he fucks you crazy again.
The message got me out of a warm cocoon of blankets and furs, propelled me to where I stood in front of the door. Maybe he’d made a mistake when he programmed my access and I could get to the transport hub. Make my escape.
Nothing was happening. Frantically, I waved my hand back and forth across the pad. Apparently, I’d done something wrong. Instead of dissolving the door, the sensor panel activated images on the walls.
But they weren’t the ones my captor showed me the day I arrived on the ship. I’d gotten into what looked like a private video album. I twirled around the room, staring at a Mantsk I’d never seen before. Laughing, glowing with color. Warm honey tones as he strolled through a cobalt blue forest, hand in hand with a lovely Arythian female. Healthy bronze as he frolicked on the beach with two little ones—a boy grinning ear to ear as he dove in the water and came up with a seashell. And a little girl with soft pink hair like her mother, squealing when he ducked under a wave, her arms clutched around his neck.
Then other scenes. Intimate ones. Mantsk a warm tone I had no name for, with a hint of purple to it, his arms around his mate. The welts running from shoulder to wrist were a maze of color. Suddenly, I saw beauty in the intricate pattern they wove. And bliss in the smile she gave him.
He’d been a devoted mate, a caring father. His skin may have become gray and his manner cold, but those pictures showed me a whole different being. This alien had been capable of expressing more love than any human I’d ever known.
Get out now while you can. Go home.
I took two steps toward the door then sank to my knees, tears pouring down my face.
The door in front of me dissolved.
“I will not keep you here.” Behind me, I heard Mantsk’s footsteps approaching. His voice broke, as though seeing the images left him fighting back tears of his own. “My people are not needlessly cruel. I grieve those I lost every day, but that is no reason to cause you grief. Do not cry, Jess. I’ll send you back home. To those you love. Those who love you.”
“That’s not why I’m crying. Seeing you…with them…made me realize how empty my life was back on Earth. Damon was a total prick. He never cared about anyone but himself. I…I don’t have anyone to go home to. No one to miss me. No one to love me.” I broke down, sobbing. “My world didn’t even want me. They gave me away to aliens!”
He knelt down and gathered me into his arms. “I want you, little human. I cannot say I love you. The wound in my heart is too raw. But I care about you, and I will care for you. And some day, gods willing, I will heal enough to love you as you deserve to be loved.”
His hand was gentle as he brushed the tears from my eyes. I watched it turn from gray to pale blue, a shade that mirrored my gown. “Stay, Jess. Stay with me. I swear to you, I will find a new world, a place where we can build a life.”
“Captain, you’re needed on the bridge!” A crew member I’d never seen before skidded to a halt in front of the open doorway. By now I was used to their ways. As chief in command, Mantsk was granted the luxury of mating undisturbed by routine matters. Crew members stood watch nearby, so they could alert him personally in case of emergency instead of setting off an alarm or broadcasting a blaring announcement into our quarters.
He saw us huddled on the floor and averted his eyes. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“Tell them I’m on my way.”
Mantsk’s arms tightened around me. He tipped my head up and looked into my eyes. “Will you stay? Please?”
Epilogue
Jess
It seemed so long ago now. This ship had become my home. This stern alien, my Master. My mate. My wildly passionate lover.
Being able to do what I loved best, create beauty in my surroundings, had helped. Our quarters would always be a work-in-progress, and, recently, I’d been working on the common areas. Bringing light and life to them.
Don’t get me wrong. I still railed at being treated like a child sometimes, a possession instead of an equal. But I’d started to sens
e the caring behind his high-handed orders. And it was nice to know I matter to someone. Besides, I had plenty of time to convince him to adjust his attitude—at least outside the bedroom. I’d discovered I liked being submissive to him there.
And I’d taken on another role—helping the other women here adjust to their new life. Sometimes, it meant sitting with them in the beginning while they wailed in grief or railed against the injustice of what was done to us. Sometimes, we’d reminisce about Earth and all that we missed—especially chocolate. Like me, the others had no one to go home to. I think that was why we were chosen. No one on our world would raise an outcry. I was not sure anyone would even notice we were gone.
That was one reason I told him I’d stay. Then, for the first time, I joined him on the bridge.
A hive of activity, it held more Arythians than I’d ever seen before. Giant warriors, all clustered around a small screen. No longer dull gray, they exhibited faint shades of different colors. Brighter colors, to match the hopeful expressions on their faces.
“Sir, we’ve discovered a world we believe might have the correct biochemical conditions to support life for our species…and theirs.” One of the warriors stepped forward, keeping his eyes respectfully on Mantsk even as he stretched out a hand to include me in his remark. “There is no sign of inhabitation by sentient beings. With your permission, we can send a probe to investigate further.”
Mantsk waved a hand, and the tiny screen expanded, filling one wall of the room. “Where is it?”
One of the men pointed to a corner of the screen, indicating a dot no larger than a fly speck. “There. In Vector Eight. We cannot be certain, but it is in the proper position relevant to its sun to mimic the climate of Arythios. And thanks to your foresight, our scientists have continued their experiments in horticulture in the greenhouses.”
Centauri Captives Books 1-3: A Dark Sci-Fi Romance Page 5
