Authors: Lolita Lopez
She fingered the white colar encircling her neck. The
thin strip of plain white leather looked so stark against
her honey-brown skin. It had seemed such a savage and
cruel thing when he had first put it around her neck. Now
she had a better understanding of what this colar meant
to Menace. He saw it as a symbol of the commitment
he’d made to her in much the same way her people
viewed matching wedding bands. She wasn’t his slave or
his sex toy. She was his wife.
Even though he’d been exceedingly good to her, Naya
couldn’t shake the idea that he was putting on an act.
The contract she’d been forced to sign upon boarding
the transport ship had so many clauses in such tiny print
on the tablet screen. She hadn’t been able to make any
of them out but she was certain there had to be an
escape clause of some kind. Al contracts had them,
right? The idea that Menace was simply going to keep
her happy until some type of time limit passed wasn’t one
she could discount.
She’d gotten a good look at the spaceship during her
processing. The sheer size of the
Valiant
stunned her.
She couldn’t even comprehend how so massive a ship
could remain in orbit. The mechanics and engineering
could remain in orbit. The mechanics and engineering
required were so far beyond anything she could
understand. Even if she could escape Menace’s quarters,
she wouldn’t get far. The chip in her wrist and the heavily
armed guards al over the ship had dashed those hopes.
If by some miraculous chance she managed to evade al
of that she wouldn’t have the first idea how to get from
the ship to the colonies.
The realization that maybe she didn’t want to flee—at
least not yet—hit her hard. Menace’s skilful seduction
had done more than just show her that she was capable
of enjoying sex in ways she’d never thought possible.
No, he’d also shown her that the two of them shared an
undeniable connection. Try as she might, Naya couldn’t
deny that she and Menace clicked on a level she’d never
been able to reach with any other man.
Finaly she admitted to herself that she wanted to stay
and try. Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe in a week or
two the lust between them would fade and they’d both
be looking for ways to get away from each other. More
frightening for Naya was the prospect that things would
be better between them. She wouldn’t know the first
thing about making a long-term relationship work. Every
man she had ever known had fucked her over in one way
man she had ever known had fucked her over in one way
or another. Even Dankirk, the man she had been friends
with longest, had gotten her into scrapes that she had
only just barely survived. Experience told her it was only
a matter of time until Menace did the same.
“Naya?” Menace knocked twice on the bathroom
door. “I left one of my undershirts on the bed for you.
Come find me when you’re dressed.”
“Okay.” She stared at the door. A quiver of
embarrassment shook her bely. She had never actualy
done this part. Typicaly she would bounce from her
partner’s house or send him packing from hers as quickly
as possible after sex. The second Menace had unlocked
the door of the playroom and offered her the use of the
bathroom, she had fled. She had milked this tidying-up
business about as long as she could without rousing
suspicion. Now what?
Gathering her courage, she opened the bathroom door
and entered the spacious bedroom. Her entire apartment
back in Connor’s Run would have fit in Menace’s master
suite. He had dimmed the lights to a comfortable setting.
She spotted the folded gray shirt sitting on the end of the
bed. The fabric was a darker gray than the bedclothes.
Apparently shades of gray and black were favored here.
Apparently shades of gray and black were favored here.
Naya slipped into the too-big shirt. It skimmed her
knees but she was glad for the extra length. It looked like
an il-fitting dress but gave her a sense of modesty.
Running around without underpants wasn’t something she
did very often, but something told her Menace would
probably prefer it.
Like the bathroom door, the bedroom door slid into
the wal when she touched the frame. It was basicaly a
high-tech version of the pocket doors used in her tiny
apartment to save space. Unlike her apartment, these
quarters were uncommonly roomy. Having been
blindfolded earlier, she had missed the grand tour. She
took a moment to scan her new, possibly temporary,
home. The open living area was connected to a dining
space and kitchen. On the far wal were more doors. She
assumed they led to bedrooms.
The furniture was quite different from what she was
used to back home. There were no woods or natural
fibers. Everything was shiny and sleek and made of metal
or the strange plastic she had spied in the bathroom and
playroom. As she crossed the living area, she noticed the
flooring beneath her feet felt soft and warm. It looked
like slate but was actualy a weird composite material.
like slate but was actualy a weird composite material.
She swept her fingertips across the upholstery on the
furniture. It had a slick, durable feel.
“That shirt looks better on you that it ever did on me.”
Menace stood next to the dining table and grinned at her.
He held two plates in his big hands. “I hope you like
scrambled eggs.”
“I do.” She couldn’t quite believe Menace had made
her something to eat. “No man has ever cooked for me.”
“Wel, I should warn you that I’m not much of a
cook.” He placed the plates on the table. “You might
take one bite and wish I’d stayed in that category of men
who never fed you.”
“I doubt it.” She moved closer to the table and eyed
the food he had prepared. The bowl of fruit in the center
of the table held her attention. It had been so long since
she’d had an orange. They were some of the only native
Earth fruits that had survived the long journey in the
generation ships to be transplanted on Calyx. As such,
they were precious and ridiculously expensive.
He must have noticed her lingering gaze. “Food
supplies are stable here and my salary has a generous
grocery alotment.”
grocery alotment.”
She decided not to point out that food supplies
onboard the
Valiant
were so stable because they
required such high quotas of food from Calyx as part of
the treaty. Fruit and meat were so outrageously
expensive in places like Connor’s Run because the sky
warriors here loved them so much.
Instead of arguing about political arrangements, she
remarked, “You eat the same things we do.”
He nodded and returned to the kitchen for a carton
and two glasses. “You’d be surprised how similar
foodstuffs are from planet to planet. At least in this end of
the galaxy,” he amended. “Your people prepare some
foods differently than we do and we tend to prefer
heavier use of spices, but overal our diets are similar.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
He shot her a strange look. “Why? What did you think
we eat?”
“Food in boxes, mostly.”
“Boxes?” His expression turned to one of amusement.
“You mean war rations?”
She shrugged and puled out her chair. “I guess.”
“When did you taste war rations?” He gestured for her
to sit.
to sit.
“There was a transport ship crash when I was a little
girl. Your people came to our aid during the Merkorian
invasion. One of your ships blew up over our heads.
There were miles of debris. My father took me with him
to scavenge.”
“And you found rations,” he guessed.
“They were terrible.” She made a face as the memory
of the salty, dry food resurfaced. “They kept me alive
though. There had been a bad drought that summer and
no harvest. The winter was especialy harsh that year.
When Daddy was kiled, I hoarded them so I wouldn’t
starve.”
“Your father died during the invasion?” He pushed a
glass in front of her.
She sat down and reached for a fork. “He’d taken us
—my brother Nattie and me,” she clarified, “into the
sewer systems under the town. For some reason those
things
couldn’t hunt down there.”
“It’s their eyes,” Menace said and gestured to his with
a fork. “They need a certain amount of light to process
shapes and colors and shades. It’s why we developed
weapons that target their faces. The skin is the secondary
weapons that target their faces. The skin is the secondary
target on a Merkorian amphibicore. They require a
certain amount of moisture to keep their scaly, slimy
skins alive.” He opened the carton and poured blue liquid
into his glass. “How long were you down there?”
“Three weeks,” she said and purposely pushed the
gross memories into the farthest recesses of her mind.
“We were in the storm drain sections mostly, so it wasn’t
too horrifying. I was only nine at the time. Daddy was
able to make it into a big adventure at first so I wasn’t
too afraid, but then a week became two and I started to
wonder if I would ever see sunlight again.” She laughed
as the good memories shone through for once. “Daddy
came up with al these games and wild stories to keep me
occupied.”
“You loved your father.”
“Very much,” she said and poked at her mound of
fluffy scrambled eggs. “He always did his very best to
protect us, but it wasn’t enough that day.”
“What happened?”
“Nattie got into an argument with our father. He took
off out of the sewers and Daddy went after him and,
wel, you know.” She touched her neck. “I found him
later that night, just after sunset.”
later that night, just after sunset.”
Menace’s eyes widened. “You went out alone? After
dark?”
“Nattie and Daddy didn’t come back. I had to do
something. I couldn’t just sit there alone and wait
forever.” Her eyelids drifted together as the tormenting
memory of her father’s gashed throat and bloodless body
flashed before her.
“What happened after you found him?” Menace
asked, his voice soft and gentle.
“I started digging.”
“What? By yourself?”
She stared at him. “Wel, who the hel else was going
to bury him?”
“But your brother—”
“Is the fucking laziest, most irresponsible dickhead
you’l ever meet.”
Menace frowned. “Language, Naya.”
She roled her eyes. “He’s a jerk, okay? Even back
then he was a huge jerk.”
“But you didn’t see it?”
“No, I saw it al right. I was just dumb enough and
“No, I saw it al right. I was just dumb enough and
naive enough to think that people change. They don’t.”
“No,” he agreed.
Not wanting to talk about her brother or her father any
longer, Naya changed the subject. “Your home is very
nice.”
“Thank you.” Menace splashed the blue liquid into her
glass. “I think you’l like this. It’s juice from a fruit that
grows on Harcos Prime. It’s a little sweet and just the
slightest bit tart.”
She warily eyed the glass. “Is it mixed with water?”
“Yes.”
“From your planet or mine?”
“Mine. Why?”
“Because I haven’t been able to drink water in
Connor’s Run without boiling it since I was ten,” she said
and picked up the glass. After a curious sniff, she sipped
the brightly colored juice. To her surprise, it was quite
delicious. “Oh! This is nice.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He bit a piece of crispy bacon.
“Why are water supplies compromised in your town?”
“The Merkorians destroyed most of the town’s
infrastructure. What they didn’t screw up, you guys blew
up during your aerial attacks on their ships. There hasn’t
been any money to fix it, so we boil water or we don’t
drink.”
“You don’t have to worry about that here. Water
supplies are adequate and clean. The plumbing systems
alocate a rationed amount per apartment per day but it’s
more than enough for the two of us to drink, bathe and
do household chores.”
She glanced around the space. “Your home is very
clean. Do you clean it yourself?”
He nodded. “I’m eligible for a cleaning service, but I