Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts, page 12
“Are you ill?” Ondry rested his hand on the swell of Liam’s ass as he asked that, his thumb angling dangerously close to Liam’s unprotected hole.
“I’m fine,” Liam answered, his words muffled in the pillow. He was going to become a champion masturbator at this rate. “I just have to pee.”
“I’ll hurry,” Ondry promised, lifting Liam by his hips and casually turning him. And again, Ondry ended up nose to cock with Liam’s genitals. The way the belt attached, it was almost necessary, but it did make this awkward. Humming, Ondry got the last of the straps locked on, and Liam trembled with a need to move, to thrust, to get thrust into—at this point, any sort of sexual attention would work.
“Come on.” Ondry took one end of the leash and helped Liam to his feet. The smooth curve of the nest and the slick pillows conspired against Liam’s trembling legs, and he had some trouble climbing up to the main floor without falling on his nose, but Ondry caught his arm and pulled him up.
“I can go by myself,” Liam said as they reached the door to the waste room. A trench that was almost toilet-like ran down one wall and into the floor, but Liam couldn’t pee if his life depended on it. However, five minutes of privacy would fix that.
“No,” Ondry said in an utterly firm voice.
Liam groaned as he looked down at his traitorous cock. Grabbing it, he tried to pee, but all he could think about was thrusting into his hand, and he was not doing that with Ondry watching.
“Is something broken?” Ondry suddenly sounded concerned.
“Nope. Normal human problem,” Liam reassured him. Yep, perfectly normal when the copulation system and the urination system used the same damn pipes. Liam had read more than one species’ snickering comments about that design flaw. Learning insults was basic training for linguists, even self-taught linguists studying off an army manual.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. Absolutely.”
Ondry grunted, but he didn’t comment. “One more rule,” he said. “If a female chooses me, you have to understand that I do want to spread my genetic material to strong females, even if it is not a pleasant experience. So do not assume that anything is wrong if some old grandmother grabs my tail.”
And that was enough to break the spell. Liam’s cock immediately softened, and the pee came right out.
“And if some young female grabs my tail, she may find herself flat on her back with my boot on her chest for trying. But either way, you do not need to worry about me. I know that anyone who takes my genetic material does so because they find it superior and hope to lay eggs with it.”
“I doubt I’d enjoy watching,” Liam said drily.
“Well, as long as you’re on the leash, I doubt it would happen. So when the day comes, you can turn your back.”
Liam nodded. He’d follow the rule even if he fucking hated it.
“Let’s get you dressed and head over to the human base.” Ondry paused. “Is there anything you can wear that would indicate high status?”
“Like jewelry?” Liam asked.
Ondry’s eyes lit with pleasure.
“Oh no. Whores who get paid well wear jewelry.” Well, the rich did as well, but Liam would never be mistaken for wealthy.
“Perhaps one or two pieces? A neckpiece or a wrist piece?” Ondry turned toward the shelves in his room so fast that he pulled the leash tight, and Liam had to hurry to catch up. Ondry reached to the top and felt around before coming down with a box. “The young like to show off, but then the mature who have a palteia like to show off as well, so it works.” Ondry opened the box to show a pair of polished wrist cuffs inlaid with jewels and a subtle leopard-spot pattern done in contrasting metals. In the center of each was one large white stone.
“I would have traded them away, but I personalized them. I think I kept them all these years as a reminder of the silly things we do when we’re trying to impress others,” Ondry admitted. “It’s so much better to be yourself and have people simply impressed because of your undeniable talent.”
Ondry was either teasing or very sure of himself. Liam couldn’t decide which, but he took one of the decorative cuffs Ondry offered. They looked a little large, but they were certainly human-sized.
“There’s no way you could fit in these.” Liam held them up against Ondry’s thick arms.
“I couldn’t have been more than sixty or seventy when I bought those. Trust me, they fit back then. I think I wore them for twenty years straight.” Ondry smiled. “And then I figured out that I had wasted credit that I could have put toward trading. I’ve bought quality art since then, but I’ve installed it in the temple where it belongs.”
“You have?”
“That’s one of the ways to gain status, but you’ll learn all about us.” Ondry took Liam’s arm in his hand and used the hidden hinge to open the cuff and wrap it around Liam’s wrist. “That looks beautiful.”
Liam had to agree. He watched Ondry put the cuff on his other wrist and then lifted his hands several times to feel the weight of them. “You are letting me wear clothes too, right?”
“Given your species’ strange attitudes toward sex and bodies, I plan to insist on it,” Ondry said. He tossed a shirt Liam’s way. Liam hesitated. Wearing only the leash and the cuffs was oddly erotic. If nothing else, he’d have a rich vein of masturbation material to mine once Ondry let him use the bathroom by himself. But for now, he definitely wanted clothes before heading to meet with the colonel.
Chapter Eleven
By the time they were walking down the path toward the human base, Liam felt like a different man. Ondry had given Liam a vibrant shirt with a crisscrossing pattern in white, and the cuffs shone in the light.
A number of Rownt stopped to greet them warmly. True to his word, Ondry did tease one trader about going blind if he couldn’t recognize a palteia two feet in front of his nose. The older man huffed, but he also gave Liam a small smile as he passed.
“Told you they’d be jealous,” Ondry said loud enough for the man to hear.
But Liam hadn’t worried about the Rownt reaction; the human one fucking terrified him. They stopped in sight of the square human buildings and the wide swatch of dirt and rock burned black by the shuttles. After just three days, the sight seemed alien.
Ondry chose a tree with spreading branches and hoisted himself up onto one. His perch was high enough that it pulled the leash taut, and Liam had to stand directly under him. “Do you want up?” Ondry held his hand out.
“I prefer two feet on the ground,” Liam said. The branch was only four or five feet up, but it was enough for Liam to worry about the fall if the tree couldn’t hold the weight of both of them. So instead he shifted from foot to foot, each time pulling at the leash a little harder to feel the straps all tightening around his leg. He didn’t have to worry about the colonel because he was Ondry’s. The leash was proof of that, and for the first time, Liam was grateful he didn’t have to face his people without it.
Ondry reached out to catch Liam by the back of the neck, and Liam looked over to see Lieutenant Spooner coming out the gates. “Why would he come?” Ondry asked.
“I have no idea. He’s second-ranking officer, but if they were sending an officer for high-level talks, they should have sent Thackeray. If they suspect you’re dangerous and don’t want to risk Thackeray, they should send a lower-ranked trader.”
“You were their only trader,” Ondry pointed out, but Liam shook his head.
“Craig is listed on the mission as a trader. He just volunteered to do any duty I got assigned in return for me taking his trade assignments.”
Ondry huffed. “Interesting.”
Spooner came within a hundred feet and stopped. Liam could see Gina standing at the gates to the base, a long weapon in hand, the gun’s barrel pointed skyward. “Sergeant Munson, are you okay?” Spooner asked.
Liam opened his mouth, not sure what to say, but Ondry’s fingers tightened against his pulse point, and he quieted.
Dropping down out of the tree, Ondry took a step forward so he stood between Liam and the lieutenant. “He is safe. And I will tell you this because our customs are different. For you to name him by human rank after the grandmothers transferred him to my care is an insult. He is Liam. He is not Sergeant Munson, and he will never be Sergeant Munson again. If you wish to address him with status, he is Liam, palteia to Ka-Ondry of the line of Chal, primary trader for the Tura Coalition of Mines, first graduate of the Brarownt Academy and holder of certificates of excellence from four grandmothers.”
Lieutenant Spooner seemed to need some time to think about that. Liam could only see glances of the lieutenant as he tried to look around Ondry, but the body language was all wrong.
“Ondry?” Liam called softly, touching the small of Ondry’s back. When that elicited no response, Liam let his fingers move down to brush across Ondry’s tail. If holding a tail could mean trust, Liam needed some trust here.
Ondry half turned and looked over his shoulder.
“Something’s wrong. Let me ask him in English,” Liam asked.
Ondry glanced back toward Spooner and then toward Liam again before he seemed to reach some decision in his head. From his lippy look, he wasn’t happy, though. “I take my responsibility to protect Liam seriously. If you say or do anything to hurt him physically or emotionally, I will ask permission to declare a feud.”
Liam wasn’t sure that translated, so he added his own English version. “He’s a little overprotective. When he threatens a blood feud if you hurt me, he means it. He will attack if he thinks he has cause, and he’s not a big fan of humans right now, which is a problem because he’s our largest trading partner.” Liam pressed himself against Ondry’s back, hiding in his shadow until the two males came to a decision.
It took a long time, but Spooner eventually answered. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Liam. Ondry, I am deeply upset at the insults and misunderstandings.”
Ondry huffed. Reaching around, he caught the trailing leash and pulled Liam around to his front, a hand still resting on Liam’s arm.
Immediately, Liam could see Spooner’s gaze travel to that chain.
“We have a cultural misunderstanding here,” Liam started. “And really, Colonel Thackeray is at the center of it, so you might want to have him out here for it. Otherwise, the Rownt aren’t likely to see this matter as settled.”
“I relieved him of duty. He’s sitting in the brig, and Command has upheld my decision. A shuttle is inbound.”
Liam sucked in a breath, and Ondry’s arm slipped around his waist, supporting him.
Spooner took a step forward. “Liam, Thackeray had no right to order you into the temple or even to agree to go without more information on the nature of the meeting, but he certainly had no right to order you to break protocol and ingest untested materials.”
“Yet you allowed this,” Ondry said coldly.
Spooner’s body stiffened.
“He couldn’t stop it if it was only me in danger,” Liam said softly. “I’m not enough for Command to issue a demotion. What did he do, lieutenant?”
Surprisingly, Ondry answered. “The night I took you from the temple, he tried saying that you were his. He denied the judgment of the grandmothers, and when one moved into his path, he tried to shove past her.”
“He…” Liam stopped. He didn’t have the words to describe that sort of stupidity.
“She showed him how easily a grandmother can pull a tail,” Ondry said with some humor.
“Three broken ribs, a concussion, and an involuntary retirement with no pension,” Lieutenant Spooner agreed.
“Good. I had wondered if your people would allow that insult.”
Spooner paled some, but Liam gave him credit. He pushed gamely on. It couldn’t be easy for an academic. Protocol confined Spooner to the base where he studied vids and scrolls of Rownt without actually interacting with them. Unlike Liam, Spooner was too valuable to risk losing, so he stayed safely inside human territory and talked to Rownt over the communications network. In person, they were a little intimidating. “He had issues, and I understand your concerns, but Liam is one of ours.”
“No, he’s not.” Ondry’s voice had a bit of growl in it, and the arm around Liam’s waist tightened. “The grandmothers have heard the testimony, and your treaty calls for Rownt justice in cases of local laws being broken.” Ondry had to resort to several English words, and they sounded harsh against the Rownt dialect.
“Okay, what laws did Liam break? I’m sure we can fix this.” Spooner sounded so calm, but something in Liam jerked back from that quick condemnation. Spooner thought he’d broken the laws. As much as Spooner liked him, some underlying suspicion made him assume the worst.
“I didn’t break any laws,” Liam said, studying his former officer through new eyes. Had everyone always assumed the worst of him—looked at his files and at the medical reports from when he’d joined and just figured he was some piece of Earth trash? “The Rownt believe in protecting those who serve faithfully, even in the face of unreasonable demands. They saw enough of me to believe that I was faithful—that I was a hard worker who did my best, and Thackeray bent the customs by publicly humiliating me and questioning my trades, but he outright broke the law by intentionally putting me at risk because he wanted something for himself.” That wasn’t entirely truth, but it was as close as Liam planned to come.
Spooner blinked, surprised by that. “But…” He looked back down at the leash.
Ondry’s voice turned deadly. “Liam is more faithful than his species. He would have returned to you. He tried to return to you, even after Thackeray clearly broke the law. I plan to keep him leashed until he remembers that he is ours now, and you have no claim to him. Were you to try and take him, the grandmothers would declare war as surely as if you were to kidnap me. And personally, I almost hope you do try because I will kill you for even touching him.” His angular features took on new dimensions as Ondry showed his teeth. They were predator’s teeth, the sharp eye teeth resembling fangs far more than the human canines. Liam reached out and rested his hand on Ondry’s forearm.
Liam tried to sound calm in the face of rising aggressions. “Lieutenant, it is far too late to undo what Thackeray started. Bring a new trader or get Craig to take the shifts, and you’ll find the Rownt will still trade. But I’m not coming back. When I do trade again, I’ll be trading for Ondry.”
Spooner took another step closer. “Ondry, can I have a few minutes alone with Liam? Please?”
“No.”
Spooner stopped and frowned.
“I give up any claim to my military preference and any rank. Willingly,” Liam said. “I won’t be back to ask for a berth on a ship, and I won’t press any charges. It’s over.”
“But are you safe?”
For the first time, Liam realized Spooner really would make the stupidest decision in the world if he thought Liam were in danger. It was more than most people would do for a sergeant from a backwater planet.
“Yes, I’m safe. No, there’s nothing coercive or sexual in the relationship, and yes, the Rownt truly do have cultural rules this inflexible when it comes to what they perceive as abuse of subordinates. You may want to warn Command of that before they lose another trader.” Liam smiled. Now that the Rownt knew humans could follow without ever feeling a need to lead, more Rownt might be on the lookout for a palteia.
“Corporal, did you copy that?”
Gina’s voice came through the radio. “Legally recorded, sir.”
Liam looked down the path toward Gina, who still stood at the gates. When she saw him, she raised her arm to him. Liam returned the gesture. Hopefully she understood he was saying good-bye to everyone and she’d pass it on.
“I am out of patience. I have trades waiting,” Ondry announced, and in the Rownt tradition, he turned and walked away without another word. Liam found it surprisingly easy to do the same.
Chapter Twelve
As much as Ondry claimed to have trades, he seemed to spend most of the day wandering the town, leaning on trees and pulling Liam close every time a familiar face came near. Liam had the impression he was being shown off.
A few people Liam knew by name teased him about his aborted run at freedom. Ondry certainly took his share of barbs over that, but he handled them with mock indignation and a creative well of insults that never seemed to run dry. But nothing seemed to dull his pleasure at reminding everyone he had claimed a palteia.
By the time they returned home, Liam was tired, and his cheeks ached from smiling. He didn’t even know human cheeks could ache, but his face was definitely feeling the strain. Despite that, he couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe he was discovering a masochistic streak.
“You smell happy.” Ondry snuffed at Liam’s neck before giving it a quick swipe with his tongue. He wrapped his arm around Liam’s stomach again, and Liam didn’t know if it was the privacy or the tongue against his warm skin or just the fact that he felt good, but his cock hardened. And as long as he was wearing the leash, he wasn’t going to get any private time in the bathrooms. He groaned in frustration.
“You smell…” Ondry gave Liam’s neck another lick.
“I don’t know about you, but I am tired,” Liam said. If he couldn’t masturbate and he wasn’t getting fucked, he really needed to give his cock some space to calm down. The idiotic thing was entirely too fond of Ondry, considering there was no way to make human and Rownt biology match up.
When he pushed against Ondry’s arm, Ondry released him. Of course, Liam still couldn’t get more than three feet away since he had the leash on.
“Do you like wearing the leash?” Ondry asked.
“What?” Liam chose stalling rather than honesty, but the next thing he knew, he was pressed against the wall of Ondry’s front room, a shelf pressed into the small of his back and Ondry pinning his shoulders. And now Liam’s idiotic cock was even more confused.
