She didn’t know if the gladiators had narced on her and knew what Lecur had come down for or if they’d just overheard the entire tirade, but as soon as Lecur disappeared, they began to parade past her door again. Sighing, she ignored them the best she could and focused on combing the tangles from her hair with the comb Balen had given her.
Kael had been right. There was no real way to count the passing time and she found that distressing in itself. They were brought food twice a day, but she suspected that there was no dependable schedule to it, no way to use it to actually keep time. Throughout the ‘day’ artificial lights produced a stingy amount of light that was more like an overcast day than a day of sunshine and then there was the sleep period where the lights were shut off, leaving them in an inky, cave-like darkness.
Apparently the bastard didn’t see any point in warning anybody either. She’d been on the toilet when the lights went out during the first sleep period and she’d had to feel her way to the damned bed. The only thing the fish-man didn’t seem to be stingy with was the food, but she was sure that was only because he wanted to keep his fighters bulked up. They left the ‘dungeon’, as she’d begun to think of the place, shortly after the first feeding and returned shortly before the second, sweaty and often bloody from training.
She shuddered to think what they’d look like after an actual ‘game’.
She had no idea when the next games might be held. She could hear the men talking among themselves, but they tended to segregate themselves by species and they spoke their native language unless they wanted to communicate with someone who didn’t speak it.
Her second day, counted according to the sleep period, was marked by Lecur’s arrival with a different sort of collar than the one the trader’s robot had put on her. Naturally, she didn’t have any idea that that was what was about to happen when he told her to get up and present her back to him. Not that she could’ve done a damned thing about it, but she didn’t think she would’ve obeyed quite as quickly.
Despite her effort to preserve her scalp by lifting her hair out of the way, he managed to pluck enough hairs taking the collar off that her eyes stung and filled with tears, blinding her. She didn’t know he was simply replacing the damned thing with his own until she felt the cold metal settle heavily around her throat. She grabbed at it instinctively when she felt a choking sensation but he’d already fastened it by then.
She spent most of that day focused on fighting off panic and trying to breathe. It wasn’t that the collar was too tight to allow her to swallow or to breathe properly. It was the weight of it that gave her the sensation of choking but fortunately she’d pretty much grown accustomed to that by her third day.
She hated it with a passion, but she managed to put it out of her mind for stretches of time. She was still focused enough on it, however, that when the Hirachi arrived that evening she was ready to risk angering them by demanding to know what they knew about them even though she’d already seen that they were very touchy on the subject of their enslavement.
Even so, she almost dismissed it when Kael had pulled her close to cuddle her. It was so comforting that she hated to spoil it—especially with Kael. She didn’t know why him in particular unless it was because he was prone to be far more taciturn than the other two and seemed inclined to hold far more back than he allowed her to see.
She felt a need to know about the collar, though. The purpose of the first had been to control her to get her to auction, she knew, and she supposed it was left either because nobody bothered to take it off or, more likely, as a symbol of slavery since she’d noticed right off that all the slaves seemed to wear them.
She sensed there was significance beyond the symbolism, though, and finally leaned away from Kael enough to actually study the one he wore for the first time. He stiffened when she touched it and she met his gaze. “Why do they put these on?”
His lips tightened and he allowed his hands to drop to his sides. “We are slaves,” he said tightly.
Loren frowned at him, but his face was completely closed and she saw he didn’t mean to discuss it. She glanced at Dakaar and Balen and saw that they were as angry as Kael, although she was pretty sure they weren’t actually angry with her. “It’s just … so that anybody will know if they look that we’re slaves, then?”
“It is for control,” Dakaar said flatly.
Confusion flickered through her. “It doesn’t have a loop for a chain. How do they use it for control?”
“Blow head off wid it,” Balen said succinctly.
Loren recoiled in horror, lifting her hand toward her own and then halting before she touched it. She glanced from Balen to Dakaar and then Kael. “Really? I mean, you know this? Or they said that?”
“Old gladiator told. He see it.”
Loren felt nausea well in her throat. She swallowed sickly. “It’s an electronic device, then. Does it track, too? Or is it just set to alert them if you move beyond range?”
They frowned at her, but this time with less anger than curiosity—and even a little suspicion. “You know ‘bout deez tings?” Kael asked harshly.
She could see immediately that they thought she had some familiarity with slavery and they didn’t think highly of her for it. She shook her head. “On my world, they have something sort of like this that they use to keep pets—dogs and cats—from wandering away from home. If they get beyond a certain range, it … uh … stings, nothing harmful to them, just enough to scare them, but they only work if you train the pet. If they get very far away, it doesn’t do anything at all and once they learn that they don’t pay it any attention.”
They still looked skeptical and anger surged through her. “It’s a barbaric practice! It wasn’t uncommon for people to enslave their enemies to use them for labor in ancient times, but that was hundreds of years ago! We don’t do it now!” She hesitated as it occurred to her that the sex slave trade was still alive and well established, but she damned well wasn’t going to say anything about that when she could see she’d be tarnished with the same brush in their eyes. “Mostly I suspected something because I’m an engineer—was—well, I still am. I just don’t have a career anymore. Could I … look at one a little more closely? I couldn’t really examine the one Lecur put on me. I can’t see it.”
The three men exchanged questioning looks, but Kael finally bent down and lifted his chin. She didn’t actually want to touch it after what they’d told her, but she’d realized immediately that she couldn’t simply ignore it. If it was true about the collars, there would never be any hope of escape if she couldn’t figure out how to disable it or remove it. “I imagine there’s some sort of sensor that goes off if it’s removed while it’s hot,” she murmured to herself as she studied the apparently smooth surface for any sign of a crack that would indicate where the workings were housed. “If I could get one open and study it ….”
“Blow up if try remove,” Kael said.
Nervous already, the comment made Loren jump and snatch her fingers back. She studied his face for a long moment and then looked at the collar again, studying the faint line she’d finally discovered that she knew much be one edge of the cover. She straightened finally, considering what he’d told her. “I guess that’s that, then,” she said dismissively since she didn’t especially like the suspicion in their eyes.
Kael’s eyes were piercing. “You engin-eer. Tink can … break?”
Loren felt her color fluctuate. She shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “I was just curious. There isn’t a lot around here to occupy the time.”
She knew he didn’t believe her just from the look in his eyes but, to her relief, he allowed the subject to drop and they left shortly afterwards.
* * * *
Adrenaline was pumping through Kael when he returned to his own cubicle and his mind was working as fast as his heart was pumping. Ignoring Dakaar and Balen, he paced the small cell, struggling with the ideas churning in his mind and finally settled on his bed when he realized
his agitation might be noted and reported if anyone saw him. Dakaar studied him for a while and finally got up and sat down on Kael’s bed without permission.
“Do you think she actually knows anything about the collars?” he asked quietly.
Kael looked at him sharply but frowned and shook his head. “I do not know the word—engin—eer, but I am guessing she knows machines and she thinks if she can study how it works that she can stop it from working.”
Balen moved closer, settling on his other side. “What are you thinking?”
Again, Kael shook his head. “It would dangerous … for her. Even if we could get our hands on one, we could not chance it being caught in her possession. I do not see how we could make it work.”
“Make what work?” Balen hissed impatiently.
Kael’s lips tightened. “If it could be done, then we would be one step closer to freedom—only one—but I do not see how—not now.”
Dakaar and Balen both stared at each other before turning to look at Kael again. “We could not pass through the space station even without the collars without being instantly recognized. We are the champions. They will know us.”
“Where would we go?” Balen pointed out.
Kael turned to look at him. “If I am right and she understands machines, she might be able to understand how their ships work.”
Excitement lit Dakaar’s and Balen’s faces for several moments before their faces fell. Dakaar frowned. “She would not know where our world is, would she?”
Kael shook his head. “I do not know. I do not think so else we would have seen her people before. Their machines might, but we would have no way to know which would know the way and which would not. I do not think I care where it might take me so long as I have my freedom and I am away from this place.
“Go—before anyone notices that we are discussing something we do not want overheard. I will think on it and see if I can find a way to do this thing.”
Chapter Five
After a week and a half, Loren had almost begun to look forward to the gladiator games, even though she was as uneasy about it as she was anxious as soon as she saw how banged up they all were when they came back from practicing. She couldn’t help but worry about the Hirachi, but their practice period was the only time she had complete privacy and didn’t have to endure being stared at as if she was a freak.
It progressed beyond simply being stared at after that first day, however. They didn’t like being ignored and some of them seemed to take it as a personal affront rather than the attempt to protect herself that it was. Some of them would stand at the bars and try to coax her closer. Others would tell her what they planned to do when they got her—which gave her the shivers and nightmares besides that. She couldn’t decide whether they were trying to scare her, or if they had some twisted idea that she was going to find it a turn on.
The Hirachi never came until everyone else had finally tired of taunting her or trying to coax her close enough to grab her.
The first couple of times they’d come, she’d just been pleasantly surprised to see faces she recognized, especially since they didn’t behave like the others. After the day they’d brought her gifts, she’d discovered she looked forward to their visits with an eagerness that belied her determination to convince herself she was merely doing what was necessary to survive. She hadn’t just been comforted by their touch, though, or grown accustomed enough that she wasn’t afraid of them anymore, she enjoyed it. She looked forward to their visits because it was the only contact she had, and she was starting to get pretty damned desperately horny herself, if it came to that.
That was surprising on several levels. Foremost was the fact that the horniness itself was a new experience for her. She’d enjoyed sex. She’d always thought she had a healthy interest in it, but it wasn’t something that crossed her mind when she wasn’t in a relationship. She hadn’t had any real trouble focusing on her work at the facility, despite the lack of male companionship. She hadn’t had any trouble recognizing it for what it was, for all that. She was just surprised and not particularly pleased that she felt it.
The fact that she felt it for them was also a little disturbing. She’d been glad that she found them attractive enough that she didn’t absolutely dread having to hold up her end of the bargain, but she hadn’t expected to find herself looking forward to it with so much enthusiasm and she wasn’t happy with the thought that she might be forming any sort of attachment. They were sweet. They were handsome and they clearly knew how to please a woman, but she couldn’t afford to become emotional about it. She’d laid to rest her qualms over the agreement when she’d accepted it as a matter of survival, but she couldn’t afford to dismiss the ultimate objective—freedom. She had to keep her wits about her and search diligently for any opportunity that might present itself and, if it did, she had to seize the chance. She didn’t want to be divided in her heart and mind if she got the chance to escape.
Beyond that, she didn’t know how or why she’d gotten horny. It couldn’t be just the fact that she hadn’t had sex in forever. Otherwise, she would’ve been suffering from the drought long before she met them and they hadn’t even tried to heat things up. She felt their need in the way they touched her and their labored breaths, but not one of the three had done more than pull her as close as they could get and strum their hands over her back, or her hair, or caress her face. As unaccustomed as she was to taking the initiative, as contrary to her nature as it was, it was all she could do not to grab their hands and put them where she wanted them or try to climb up them and get close enough for a kiss.
She’d begun to spend more and more of her time trying to think up some way to entice them to do more without having to actually ask. She’d never actually had to do anything like that, though. The options she’d had before were fighting her boyfriends off or letting them have their way. She tried to imagine doing or saying some of the things she’d read in books or seen in movies, but she didn’t think she could carry any of that off.
It wasn’t until she finally gave up on the idea altogether that it simply happened. She’d dashed to her shower to primp for them when she’d decided it should be about time for them to arrive and had just shut the shower off when she heard them. In her rush to get out before they gave up and left, she’d used one end of her blanket/wall to pat herself as dry as she could, grabbed her toga and pulled it on, and then dashed out, still damp and dripping and feeling about as unsexy as she could possibly be.
Apparently, they didn’t agree. They all looked like they’d been turned to stone when she arrived at the bars breathless, with her hair hanging in strings and dripping all over her, and her paper thin toga sticking to her. Their arms were too thick to get more than their forearms between the bars and yet Kael had still managed to grab her and drag her so tightly against the bars that visions of having permanent imprints of the bars danced her head—for a few moments, anyway.
He pulled her clean off her feet, wedged his face between the bars, trapped hers by palming the back of her head, and planted his mouth solidly over hers. The blaze of heat that went through her seemed to melt the bars that separated them. She completely lost awareness of them at any rate. She’d tried to imagine what kissing him would feel like. The thought had warmed her and it still fell far short of reality. The feel of his mouth alone was enough to give her heart palpitations. The invasion of his tongue made her feel faint. A thrill of pleasure raced along her nerve endings as she absorbed the feel of it against her own, tasted him, dragged his scent deeply into her lungs.
She clutched at him awkwardly, trying to get closer, to get more. She banged her ankle bones on the bars as she tried to shove her legs between the bars and loop them around his waist. The pain jarred her from her euphoria and apparently jolted him back to reality. He broke the kiss, to her vast disappointment and set her on her feet again. Before she could complain, he dropped to his knees and pulled her close again, covering one breast with his mouth.
> Not through the damned toga, she thought as she watched his mouth approach! The moment she felt his mouth, though, she realized just how sheer the material was. Fire scorched through her as if nothing at all separated them and created a furnace in her belly that made the muscles dance frantically as if they were trying to grip something. Her eyes rolled back into her head.
She came around enough when he finally let go to consider the size of their audience and discovered to her relief that Dakaar and Balen had formed a shield with their bulk. Relieved of that worry, she managed to focus completely when Kael caught her other breast in his mouth and sucked it. Her legs began to shake so badly she thought her knees would’ve buckled if he hadn’t been gripping her so tightly. They did buckle when he slipped one hand down over her ass and found her cleft. Fortunately, she’d had the presence of mind to grip the bars frantically and he still had a firm grip around her upper back.
The finger he was stroking her cleft with was driving her up the wall. He kept missing the spot she desperately wanted him to find. He seemed to realize that, shifting his attention from her buttocks to her mound. She had to clench her teeth to keep from moaning out loud when he found her clit. Then he passed it and found the mouth of her sex, pushing one long, thick finger inside of her.
She was torn between the urge to ride the finger to happy town and the equal urge to demand he go back to the clit. She didn’t get the chance at either. He seemed to come to himself. Easing his finger out of her, he gripped her tightly for a long moment, pressing his forehead against the bars, and finally looked up at her, his dark brows forming a tent of distress above the bridge of his nose. “Not dis way, shimone,” he said hoarsely. “Tomorrow, I fight and den I come for you.”
She stared at him dizzily when he got to his feet, trying to come to grips with the fact that he wasn’t going to bring her off, too focused on her discomfort for many moments to register what he’d said. She tried to grab his hand as he withdrew, but he’d already stepped away before her sluggish motor-functions reacted to her brain’s command.
Enslaved Book III: The Gladiators Page 7
