Claimed by the Alien Gladiator, page 8
The children want to touch Emlee’s hair, which she allows until the youngest tries to pull it. Leefa steps in and gently chides the misbehaving one and then asks if she can “practice” her fur-working skills on Emlee, who laughs and agrees. Leefa braids and twines Emlee’s hair until it’s sitting on top of her head. Then she uses the scarf to wrap it and keep it in place without totally concealing it.
Emlee calls for the mirror, which I hand over to her. She coos over her reflection and thanks Leefa profusely. I’m happy to see her happy, but for my part, I don’t care what Emlee’s head-fur looks like. I might even prefer it messy and arrayed around her shoulders, because I like the way she runs her fingers through it and pushes it around. Having her bare neck on display makes me a little twitchy, too.
When we hear Serontian voices in the hallway, Leefa gathers her children and asks the guard to let her out of the cell. She heads the opposite direction of the voices, as quickly and gracefully as she can.
“What a cute family,” Emily says, oblivious to the approaching danger. “So sad that her husband died. It’s good that you’re helping them.” She graces me with a smile, a real one that has her pink lips opening over her little teeth. It feels like a star has opened up and poured its light on me.
“How is my favorite fighter doing today? Well sated, I trust?” It’s Pylus, and he’s got company. Besides his guards, the slaver Vitio has walked into view, and not only that, Arvassa has joined the party.
Arvassa sports more finery than usual, including an expensive gown and jewelry on her head. She glowers at Emlee.
“I am well, master,” I answer, with as little attitude as possible on the last word. I don’t want to give him any reason to punish me.
“Stand tall and turn around,” he says, with a flourish of his fan. I’m not excited about being completely naked in front of Arvassa or Vitio, but at least Ditakian males keep their genitals hidden.
I comply with his order, and all three Serontian start muttering. Their voices grow louder.
“You, female, stand up and disrobe. Are you with child yet?”
Emily makes a choked sound. I know she doesn’t care for nudity, and the command must be humiliating.
“Emlee, you don’t have to –”
“It’s okay.”
I look over my shoulder to see her slowly pulling off the gown, her eyes on the floor. She turns around with great reluctance.
I turn my eyes away, but her naked form is blazoned in my mind, front and back. I already know what she smells like, what she feels like up against me in the bed. But I had not yet seen her completely unclothed.
Her hips are wide, her mammaries full, and she has a vulva covered by an adorable little patch of fur. Her soft curves make me want to hold her, protect her, and fuck her. And her delicate neck in all its glory with her hair done up. Her bare neck begging for my fangs. For the claiming bite of Espousal.
“What a pitiful creature,” Arvassa laughs. I snarl at her with both fangs exposed. It is she who is pitiful, with her weak attempt to decorate her naked head in jewelry.
She takes a step back but keeps her haughty nose in the air. “How much do you want, Pylus? Just for him, I don’t want the female.”
The idea of being purchased as a slave by this miserable lady, while my Emlee is given to another gladiator, makes my stomach drop. Her sister already tried to buy me as a pleasure slave, and I liked Corianna a great deal more. Does this Serontian think she can force me into her bed?
“Oh, my dear, he’s not for sale,” Pylus says, and fans himself rapidly. “Do you think he’s turning a little blue on the plates?”
“I’ll buy them both back from you, double what this wench can pay,” Vitio says. Arvassa spares him a nasty glance.
“Don’t have a bidding war on my account,” Pylus smirks.
“What would you choose, iron warrior?” Vitio says, addressing me directly. “Danger in the pit, service to a capricious female, or safety with your human? There is a breeding compound on Barya where you and your female could live peacefully. I and my associates would simply ask that we be allowed to study you.” I stare at him, wondering if this is too good to be true. “And of course, any offspring would be under our ownership.”
I take one look at Emlee. The two of us, allowed to mate freely, with no danger of me being killed in a fight. I picture her belly growing like Leefa’s did with B’avur’s children.
Then we would have to give each and every child to slavers. They’d be torn from our arms, Emlee weeping, me unable to protect my family once again.
It cannot be borne. I snarl at him. He simply laughs, so I bellow, a genuine Ditakian shout that has all the Serontians cringing and covering their small ears. I could have sworn their clothing billowed out as if hit by a sudden strong breeze.
Pylus smooths down his fancy clothes. “As you can see, V’kator is showing strong signs of Reversion. I don’t think either one of you can afford to pay me what he might be worth in the next Death Match. Think of the credits I can earn from this atavistic beast.”
Arvassa and Vitio share a glance. I ignore the insult and consider the implications of a Death Match. Theios was never cruel enough to put the team in a Death Match. And even to qualify for the Death Match, the team must succeed in a Blood Match and a Beast Match. Pylus has gradually stripped the team down so much, I don’t know how we would win these contests.
Moreover, Okros is on Barya and likely to be in any upcoming Death Matches. Okros, the Pale Death. He’s the one who killed B’avur, murdered him when we were closing out the exhibition fight prior to a Death Match.
Somehow Okros was released into the arena early, and before we knew it, our golden gladiator was bleeding on the sand with his entrails hanging out, his throat slashed. The monster picked him up and broke his neck for good measure, twisting B’avur’s head so hard I thought he might tear it off completely. And I could do nothing to stop it. Leefa and her children saw it all from inside our gate.
Now I must work hard to arrange some kind of escape for Emlee. I may be Reverting, but I doubt I could stand up to Okros. I don’t want Emily to end up like Leefa. I don’t want her to be given to somebody like Slaga.
All of us gladiators have heard rumors of a free city, hidden in the mountainous wastes, and that a Raxu rebel leader could take you there – for a price. I had dismissed all that as a slave’s fantasy. But now I want it to be true. I need to get her there, where Emlee can be safe when I’m gone. A deep sense of humiliation rises in me, that I can’t protect her.
The three Serontians bicker in ever-increasing speed and volume. Pylus smacks Vitio with his fan, the latter apologizes, and the trio decide to continue the discussion at a fancy restaurant. When I turn back to Emily, she’s sitting on the bed, in her gown..
“Well, that was unpleasant,” she laughs nervously. “Being a slave sucks.”
The memory of her naked form is emblazoned in my mind. Her shape is a lot like a Smaragdine female, except for the tail. It would be interesting to discover how much she resembles that species in more intimate ways.
No, I can’t allow myself to think along those lines. She should be free. I will treasure the sight of her, and that is all.
10
Chapter 10
Emily
He’s not a monster, I’m beginning to realize. Whatever’s going on with him, he’s still not forcing himself on me. I haven’t seen him actually kill anyone. And he gave money to Leefa for her and her kids. Viktor is a good man in a bad situation.
And he’s really fucking hot, in or out of his shoulder armor and gladiator kilt-skirt thingy. Butt stump or not. When we get ready for the training pit, he has the kilt adjusted to ride high to accommodate the stump, showing more of his muscular thighs and the top of his ass at the same time. He’s downright mouth-wateringly sexy.
I’m still a little jealous of Leefa. She’s so beautiful, with green skin and metallic gray plates and gold bumps like jewelry on her neck. And a figure to die for. But after watching them interact, there’s no flirting or anything romantic going on. She’s just grateful for his help. Her kids are adorable too, and Viktor is sweet with them.
Now Arvassa, that’s another story. She seems to be a wealthy lady with social standing, judging by the amount of jewelry she’s been flashing around. She wants to buy Viktor and not me. He could have pursued that option to leave the gladiator life.
What does she want with him anyway? A guard? A fuck boy?
Viktor acts disinterested, but I don’t know how much I can trust that. Bryan would have sold himself to Arvassa in a heartbeat. And Viktor is way hotter than Bryan ever was.
When I asked Viktor if he’d had sex with Arvassa, he gave me a look, as if to say “oh please, as if.” That made me happy, but it got me thinking about other women he might have been with. Prostitutes come down to the gladiator cells to ply their trade, who’s to say Viktor hasn’t availed himself a time or two, right in this very bed?
And what happened with Arvassa’s sister, anyway? Viktor won’t talk about it, and I can’t get any discreet conversation in with anybody, not even D’jhago’s Raxu assistants, who barely speak at all.
My sideways inquiries led to the revelation that Viktor is not unfamiliar with the ladies, but hasn’t been with anybody for a few years. And he’s never needed to buy a prostitute, or so he claims. He mentions something about a “bite stick”, whatever that is. And he says that he didn’t want to have kids with one of those gladiator groupies or take a permanent mate and have her bear children. Any offspring might be sold into slavery, possibly the gladiator trade itself.
The more I learn about Viktor, the more I believe he’s truly not a bad guy. And that if we were somehow dropped into a different setting, he’d make a great catch. Judging by how he interacts with Leefa’s kids, I think he’d be a great dad.
Still, I get aggravated at the thought of him railing one of these alien chicks. My questions lead to him asking me about my sex life, and he becomes visibly irritated to learn that I had had a boyfriend on Proxima. Even though Bryan is most definitely an Ex-boyfriend, with a capital E.
“This Bryan sounds like he needs a punch in the face,” Viktor says. “Why pursue a relationship with a male who does not cherish you?”
“I don’t know, because the choices were limited, and he was cute, and it took me a long time to come to terms with his constant cheating and lying.” It doesn’t feel good to say all this out loud. On a years-long voyage in a spaceship, then a colony, you take what you can get. Until even that falls apart.
Viktor mutters to himself. He touches my hand briefly. “A good male would not treat you like that.” He withdraws his touch, and I immediately feel the lack of warmth. We sit quietly for an awkward moment.
“Why don’t you want to go with Vitio?” I finally ask, to break the silence.
He looks at me with flame-colored eyes. “I told you, I don’t want my offspring to be slaves.”
“He said it was a breeding facility. Some guys would think that’s a dream.”
Viktor snorts. “And you? Wouldn’t you be sad if your infants were taken from you?”
“Of course,” I say. What I don’t say out loud is that Bryan had promised we would get married and have kids. After he cheated on me for the last time, I told myself I didn’t want any.
On Proxima, living conditions were harsh, and who knew if radiation could mutate your DNA. Healthy babies were born on the colony ship on the five-year voyage – I attended a few births as part of my training – but after a few months on Proxima, there were only miscarriages. Which is why I opted for Panoquel injections, a long-term birth control medication with the wonderful side effect of blocking periods. Those shots only last six months though, and I don’t know when my fertility (or my menstrual cycle) will return.
I haven’t experienced anything bad from the environment here besides some irritation from the sun and sand. I can breathe on this planet without a face mask and drink the fruit juice without getting sick. At least in the short term. Maybe I could have healthy children. If the claims of compatibility and prior successful breedings are true, I could have children with an alien. With Viktor.
To distract myself from that strange thought, I decide to poke at Viktor with more questions. “What the hell is a bite stick, anyway?”
His face darkens. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says, and moves away from me on the bed. He scratches at a chest plate and more gray flakes fall away. I’ve noticed he’s starting to get more of the dark blue patches on his plates, while his leathery skin has been intensifying in color from gray to a matte silver.
One of the flakes falls on me. “You’re shedding again. And getting bluer.”
He looks down at himself, then at me. “If there weren’t other signs of Reversion, I would be inclined to say I have contracted some strange illness. I shouldn’t be shedding at this age.”
He takes a mirror and examines himself. “I was always considered iron gray, which is the most common color for my people. I don’t know what this blue is. Maybe I should ask D’jhago.”
“Cobalt,” a familiar voice says. It’s Tasiman at the bars again. “You’ve been a cobalt in hiding all this time.”
“What are you doing, listening in on us? How would you know what color I am?” Viktor snarls. I’m taken aback, because he’s usually not rude to Tasiman.
“My people are not as ignorant as you think. We know a lot about you aliens. And we’ve heard the rumors about Reversion. The return of the Ardent Warriors.”
“What rumors?”
Tasiman puts his packs down on the floor. “Humans were found in Paxus Space. Females triggered Reversion in certain males, and not just Ditakians either.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I say. “When was this?”
Viktor cuts in. “Were they able to reproduce? Pylus claimed humans are compatible, but I wasn’t sure if I could believe him.”
“Oh yes,” Tasiman smiles and nods. “Fully bonded mates, every single pair, and many healthy offspring.”
The world spins for a bit as I consider this. We humans would’ve discovered Paxus Space if the region was anywhere close to Earth. Somehow, humans made it to a far-flung part of the galaxy before I was kidnapped.
The Serontians already knew what might happen if I was put in close quarters with alien men. They already knew I could conceive a child with one of these gladiators.
“What about my home planet, Earth? Have they invaded the planet?” I don’t miss my family that much, but I’d still hate to see them killed or enslaved. Let alone all of humanity.
Tasiman shakes his head. “I have not heard anything. If your planet is far from Kastra space and technologically advanced, it’s unlikely the Synexian Consortium would attempt a full-scale invasion.”
“I have to get her out of here,” Viktor says. “You must know somebody who can do it, right? Smuggle her out?”
“Without you?” Tasiman says with a twinkle in his eye.
“Yeah, without me?” I do want to escape, but I don’t want to leave Viktor here in misery, subject to Pylus’ whims, bothered by horny alien women, and potentially in danger from these upcoming gladiator fights.
“Yes. You know I can’t get this control chip taken out,” Viktor says, touching the base of his skull. “But Emlee only has a tracking chip and that can be extracted safely.”
Tasiman shakes his shaggy head. “You know the social order is for our own good,” he says and winks at us. Then he hefts up his packs and trundles away.
* * *
I sit on a stool next to a wall of the training pit, in the blessed shade. The quiet Raxu assistants are gone – Pylus sold them with no warning, telling D’jhago to take care of everything himself. So I make the effort to help out, even though Viktor doesn’t seem thrilled at me passing out Akarpo fruits to everybody on the team. The old Ditakian is glad to have somebody doing the grunt work while he keeps an eye on the fighters.
Since the conversation about iron and cobalt, I’ve noticed that all the Ditakians are either gray or copper-colored. D’jhago is gray. One of the gladiators is a hybrid Ditakian-Smaragdine with green skin and copper plates.
The Smaragdine warriors are also varied in their colors. They have many different shades of green with light hints of other colors, and they have different patterns on their skin. In some ways their behavior and speech feel pretty human, but they’re clearly more flexible – they’re all bending their joints more than the average human could, like circus performers. And their tails are almost prehensile, clearly serving as a third arm or leg when needed.
Slaga, well, he just looks like he’s made out of rock and mud. He stumps around just like that, too.
Viktor is the tallest of the fighters, with broad shoulders and a thick chest. The sun really highlights his muscle definition and brings out the shine of his plates. Even his skin is a little sparkly. His horns and crest are similarly gorgeous in the light. Not gonna lie, I could stare at him all day long, because he is a fine-looking man. Alien or not.
The fans have shown up in larger numbers, whispering and giggling at everything Viktor does. He’s currently sparring with his buddy Suriat, and the two are putting on quite the show. Their leaping, spinning, and shouting are well-choreographed.
The younger guys are frequently distracted by the women up on the walls, some of whom are wearing pretty scandalous outfits. The youngsters and Slaga occasionally call out to the groupies, but they don’t get an enthusiastic response. These superfans are all here for Viktor.
Speaking of ignoring, I ignore Slaga as much as possible. Sometimes I think he’s flexing his copious muscles in my general direction. Like a bird trying to show off to the ladies. He is by far the most muscular guy on the team, even more so than Viktor, but he’s a jerk and completely unattractive to me. If Viktor wasn’t around, he’d still be the last guy I’d pick if I was forced to choose.
