“Then you’ve never been kissed properly. Are human males completely incapable?”
Fire spread across my face. “This is…the first time with a man.”
He looked past me at Vuk, before meeting my eyes again. “Are you saying you’ve never done this before? Never even kissed?”
I shook my head. “I tried it with boys at school, before the invasion. But that doesn’t compare, doesn’t count as kissing. Since the invasion, I’ve not exactly had an opportunity to. I don’t trust men. Well, I didn’t. Now I do.”
“You trust us?”
I nodded. “I do. Now can we please continue this? I’d like to gather some more kissing experience.”
He smiled, flashing his sharp teeth. “Oh my Queen, you’ve seen nothing yet.”
Chapter 10
Kili
The pain was almost unbearable, yet I revelled in it, soaking it up as if it was the most pleasant experience. This was my punishment.
“Laird, you’re an idiot,” Kion cursed while adjusting the med pod’s settings. “You’re supposed to be the rational one.”
I grimaced. “Not anymore.”
“I’ve noticed. How is this going to end? If you continue like this, you will end up killing yourself.”
Not a bad idea. At least then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty anymore. But death was too easy. I was almost looking forward to years of imprisonment. I’d suffer and I’d be able to repent.
More pain shot through my abdomen as the machine knitted me together. Usually, this should be painless, but I’d refused the anaesthetics. Kion had protested, of course, but even though I’d passed on my command to him, I still had enough authority left to make him relent. Maybe he even enjoyed my suffering. I would, if I was in his position.
“How’s the human?” I asked to distract myself from the agony.
“I have no fecking clue. I was close to bringing all the equipment to their room so I could break open the door, but then you returned with your entrails in your hands.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I protested. “I could still walk.”
“Laird knows how. You should have been unconscious with injuries like that.”
I shrugged. “I’m sturdy, you know that. Indestructible. And I didn’t want to leave her things outside.” I eyed the stack of clothing that Kion had carelessly dropped to the floor. “I hope I got the right ones.”
“Seriously? You’re worried whether she’ll like the clothes you brought her while you’re being brought back from the dead?”
“You exaggerate. I was nowhere near death.”
Kion sighed. “You’re an idiot. I can’t say it often enough. I have no idea how you became the captain of this ship.”
I flashed him a grin. “Because I was less of an idiot than you were.”
“Careful or I’ll switch off the pod while you’re still being fixed. You’d be left with some pretty bad scars and I know how vain you are.”
“I’ve heard some females like scars on men,” I mused. “Maybe you should switch it off now.”
He laughed. “And what female…no. You’re not thinking of our human, are you?”
“Our human?”
The tips of his ears turned a dark blue.
“I meant, the human on our ship. The one you almost killed.”
All humour drained from me and I was flung back into the cold embrace of reality. He was right. I shouldn’t make jokes, shouldn’t be happy. Repenting for my sins was all I could do. Make up for the terrible crime I’d committed.
“Maybe they’ll open the door when you bring her the clothes,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll go back to my room as soon as I can move again.”
Kion looked at me sadly. “You can stay here for a bit longer. You need to rest.”
“No, it’s better if I’m locked in my room like I should be. Once the others arrive, they will examine the events of the past few days in every detail. I don’t want you to get in trouble for not following the correct procedure.”
He laughed. “I think it’s a little too late for that. We let our ship be hacked by Trads. After we crashed it. And rather than keep the Trads in confinement and save the female from them, they locked themselves into a room and we can’t get in. This is all one big shambles.”
“I hope she’s okay. She didn’t seem as scared of them as she was of me.” I sighed. “Of course, she had reason to do that, but they’re Trads. I’ve never heard of a female who was content being around them. They must have brainwashed her somehow.”
“Unless they weren’t lying,” Kion said thoughtfully.
“About what?”
“That the female was abducted and abused by Athions. It would explain why she was so scared when she saw the inside of this ship. It would have reminded her of the ship they held her on.”
“No Athion would ever hurt a female, especially not a human one,” I argued. “We’re taught from birth how precious females are.”
He frowned. “Do you know who raised the alarm? Who told us about the Trads having her?”
“No idea, but it should be in the system.”
He started typing into his data pad. I waited while the med pod did its thing. The pain was finally getting less and I should be able to leave this claustrophobic machine soon.
“That’s strange, the records don’t mention their names at all. A passing freighter picked them up from their escape pods. It wasn’t an Athion ship, but the freighter captain then contacted our high command to raise the alarm.”
“Second-hand information is always dangerous,” I muttered. “But it’s strange that they didn’t give their names. I’d do that automatically to give my message authenticity. If the high command hears the alert is sent by a ranking Custo captain, you can be sure that it’ll be taken seriously.”
“Indeed. Which means they were either traders who shouldn’t have a human female with them in the first place, or people who didn’t want to be on the high command’s radar. Because they’ve done something wrong.”
“Like abducting a female,” I completed his sentence. “Laird. How could anyone do this?”
“They said she was abused,” Kion said quietly. “Beaten. Almost killed. I didn’t believe them because I didn’t think any Athion would ever do such a thing…but we’re so used to only being around Custos that I sometimes forget there are Athion criminals too. There’s a reason we have prisons on Athion.”
“You’re right. We’ve been in space for too long. We’ve been spoilt by military discipline keeping everyone in check.”
The med pod beeped and the lid slid open. My stomach still ached a little, but that was probably because I’d refused painkillers. I almost wished I still felt the earlier agony. But now that I knew I hadn’t been the only one to hurt the human, a new feeling was pushing away the guilt. Rage.
I swung my legs over the edge of the pod. “We need to talk to the female. Find out who hurt her. And then we’re going to go after those traitors.”
“Have you forgotten that we don’t have a functioning ship? We can’t even get off this rock, let alone pursue two Athions whose names we don’t know.”
I growled when I realised he was right. Every fibre in my body was lusting for revenge, yet I was stuck. Worse, I’d be put into prison as soon as the nearest ship reached us. I’d have to trust Kion and the other Custos to find the men who’d abused the human.
For now, I still had my freedom. I walked out of the room, ignoring the ache in my abdomen.
“Let’s talk to her. I need to know what happened.”
Kion
The door was still closed. Unsurprisingly. Whatever they were doing inside, they didn't want to be disturbed. My stomach clenched at the thought of the female alone with the Trads. Still, she hadn't seemed too scared of them. Maybe she really did trust them, even though that seemed wrong on so many levels.
I knocked at the door, then realised how silly that was. This was our ship. They were guests or captives, I wasn't quite sur
e about that anymore, but I certainly shouldn't have to knock. It's just so not to scare her, I told myself.
"Open up!" Kili shouted, less polite than me. "We've got clothes and we need to talk."
"We're busy!" one of the Trads shouted back. "Come back later."
We exchanged a look. The audacity.
"It's as if they've taken over the ship," Kili grumbled.
I sighed. "That's exactly what they’ve done. I still haven't got them out of our system. Whoever designed the firewalls of this ship will get a big telling-off, trust me."
"Let them in," the human female said, her voice barely audible. "It's their ship."
Kili and I exchanged a look. Finally, someone realised that.
The door opened, one of the Trads - Vuk, I thought - filling the doorframe almost completely.
He glared at us. "We were busy."
"Doing what?" Kili snapped.
The Trad stepped aside and I got a glimpse of the female. She was in the other Trad's arms, her lips red and swollen. My heart missed a beat. Had she kissed them? Seriously?
I pushed into the room. "We need to talk."
Kili set the stack of clothes down on the little table. Wren looked at them curiously before getting up from Raf's lap to inspect them.
"While you do your dick comparing, I'll get dressed." She grinned at us before disappearing into the bathroom.
"Dick comparing?" Vuk repeated with a smirk. "We don't need to do that. It's well known that Trads are far better endowed than Athions."
I raised my eyebrows, tempted to push down my trousers to show him my two cocks. "How many dicks do you have, Trad? Just the one? How cute."
Wren poked her head out of the bathroom. "Did you say two dicks?"
I straightened my spine, proud that I was the only one with this particular anatomy. "I'm from the Southern Tip. Males there are special."
Her eyes flicked to my crotch, before a pink blush spread across her cheeks. My cocks twitched at the sight. She was beautiful, cute, kissable.
I forced myself to look away from her. She was a temptation that I could do without. We had to protect her, not ravish her the way I craved. It was bad enough that the Trads seemed to be taking advantage of her. I wouldn't do the same. I was a Custo and I abided by an honour code. I would not fall victim to my own loins' weakness.
"Why is he here?" Vuk asked, nodding towards Kili. "Shouldn't he be locked up?"
"We need to talk, all five of us," I said firmly, ignoring him. "There are things we have to clear up. And we need to make plans of how to proceed."
Curiosity flickered over the Trad's face and he nodded. "Sit down, have some food."
I bit down a remark about how this was our food and our ship. Arguing would only complicate the situation further.
They'd raided the pantry. Were those looki mushroom crackers? My mouth watered at the sight. I'd kept those for a special occasion. Well, this was one, however you looked at it. Two Trads, two Athions and a human female in one room. With no deaths. So far.
I sat on the floor, close to the bowl of crackers, and Kili joined me. He was glaring at the Trads, but he was wise enough not to start an argument. This went beyond personal differences.
We waited until Wren returned from the bathroom, now wearing black shimmering trousers that hugged her thighs far too much, and a white tunic with a gold-rimmed neckline. She'd wrapped a blue scarf around her waist like a belt, emphasising her wide hips and narrow waist. She was perfect.
"Beautiful," Raf muttered, vocalising my thoughts.
"It feels good to wear proper clothes again, in my size and without rips and bloodstains," Wren chuckled. She sat down opposite me, snatching a looki cracker from the bowl in front of me. "Those are great."
I nodded. "My favourites."
"He'd eat them all day if he could afford it," Kili confirmed.
"I would. But that's not what we're here to talk about."
"Sit down," Kili told the Trads who were still looming over us. I elbowed him in the ribs and he added, "Please."
Vuk crossed his arms in front of his chest, exposing bulging muscles.
"Why?"
I sighed. "Because we want to find the traitors who abused Wren."
Chapter 11
Wren
I don't even notice that I'm shaking until Raf takes my hand.
"It's okay," he whispers. "You're safe."
I nod and give him a brave smile. I'd felt safe and happy right until Kion mentioned the Athions. Now, my body was tense and I was having trouble keeping my composure. I had to be strong. I didn't want to fall apart again.
"I'm sorry to have to ask this," Kion began," but I would like you to tell us exactly what happened. I know we've not really listened before, but we would like to change that now."
"Both of you?" Raf asked sceptically before I could reply.
Kili nodded. "Both of us."
I stared at the Athions, trying to decipher the emotions on their blue faces. "So you believe me now? You believe that Raf and Vuk rescued me, that they're not the bad guys?"
Again, Kili inclined his head. "Yes, and that also means that we believe you about Athions abducting you. Please, can you tell us your story?"
I grit my teeth. No, I didn't want to, not really. I'd only just managed to have a few moments of peace, of happiness. I didn't want to stir up the mud of my bad memories again. But they needed to understand, I got that. If we were to stay together on this asteroid for several more days, there couldn't be too many secrets between us. Or another one of us would get hurt. I didn't feel like getting shot again.
"They pretended to take me to a women's refuge back on Earth," I began, gripping Raf's hand for strength. Vuk put an arm around my shoulders. Touched by them both, it seemed easier to explain what happened. I started slowly, telling them how I'd woken up on the Athion ship as a prisoner. I left nothing out. I didn't remove the ugly details. They had to know.
By the time I was done, I was shaking all over. Raf and Vuk's touch was all that kept me tethered to reality. The memories were threatening to pull me under, drown me, until I was nothing but a sobbing mess. I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from the world. It was too painful.
"I am so, so sorry," Kion whispered. A single tear ran down his cheek. "Nobody should ever have to go through something like that."
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you never trusted another Athion male ever again,” Kili added, sounding just as emotional as his friend.
I took a deep breath. “The rational part of my mind tells me that not all of you are like them. Just like Raf and Vuk aren’t like the rest of their species. But I don’t think I’m quite ready to believe that. I’m sorry, I’m trying not to be scared of you, or this ship.”
“You don’t have to apologise,” Kili interrupted. “It’s not like we started off in the best way possible.” His cheeks turned a darker shade of blue. “I am sorry for shooting you. And I’m sorry for pretending that it was one of the Trads.” He looked at Raf and Vuk. “I never planned to do something as atrocious as that. I wouldn’t usually kill anyone in cold blood, Trad or not. But three of our friends had just died while chasing your ship, and we thought the Trads had been holding you hostage. Your video transmission was very convincing.”
“Wren’s a great actress,” Vuk confirmed with a grin. “I almost believed myself that I was one of the bad guys.”
I shrugged. “I used to be a teacher. That involved a lot of acting. Pretending to be wide awake in the morning. Telling children off for being class clowns even though I found it adorable and wanted to howl with laughter.”
“What did you teach?” Kion asked with genuine interest.
And just like that, we were talking. All five of us. First about my life on Earth, then about their life in space. I bet this was the first time Trads and Athions had ever sat together, chatting about missing things like swimming pools and trees while being confined to spaceships.
It felt ground-breaking, yet
I was a little sad that nobody would ever know about it. Once the other Athions arrived, they’d be enemies again.
I pushed that thought away. I had to focus on the present. The beauty of this moment. I smiled as I watched Raf talking about one particularly successful raid on a trading ship.
“And when we opened the final crate, we found eggs. A thousand o’gra eggs.”
“A delicacy,” Kili whispered to me. “They’re worth their weight in gold.”
“We didn’t want to let them go to waste, so we had omelette for weeks,” Raf finished his story with a loud laugh. “When the crate was finally empty, I swore to myself I’d never eat o’gra eggs ever again.”
“Life as a pirate sounds fun,” Kion admitted. “A lot more entertaining than being a Custo.”
“Maybe you should become pirates,” I suggested with a grin, before doing my best Darth Vader impression. “Come to the dark side.”
Of course, that joke was lost on them.
Silence fell, but it was a companionable silence that wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Vuk pulled me closer and I leaned into him, suddenly a little tired.
Kion cleared his throat. “Before we retire to bed, we should have a chat about what will happen when we’re rescued off this rock. It will take a few days for the nearest Athion ship to reach us, but when they do, they’ll see you as the enemy.”
Vuk tensed against me and pulled me even closer. “We’re not going to let them take Wren away from us.”
“You may not have a choice,” Kili said gently. “They will outnumber us.”
“Us?” Raf asked sharply. “You’re taking our side?”
Kili shrugged. “You saved Wren. You looked after her even though it put a target on your back. I can’t ignore that. And I need to atone for what I did.”
“They’re going to take you into custody,” Kion continued. “And they’ll take you to Athion to put you to trial. I doubt they will give you the chance to defend yourself. And even if we speak up for you, they might think you threatened us somehow.”
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