4. Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
MIKA
I gasp as I realize what I have done. These aren’t human feet. Shit. What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of this one? I completely forgot they were coming today, that today the men of Dagmon choose a woman.
I stay still, taking a deep breath as I try to calm myself. Don’t look up, don’t react in any way. Maybe John will come out and save me from the alien’s wrath. If he does, the wrath he gives me will be bad, but maybe I’ll survive.
“Little one?” someone with a deep rumbling but calming voice calls out.
Tears pool in my eyes. His voice does things to me, makes me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time. Calm, peace, comfort, arousal, and excitement.
By voice alone.
Maybe I am more out of it than I assumed. There is no way he can make me feel all these things and I am okay.
“Little one, are you okay?” he asks.
Everything in me wants to look up to see who it is, but I stop myself. I don’t need to draw my attention to myself. Maybe he is talking to someone else, and I can escape.
Having forgotten that my basket of potatoes is behind me, I take a step back and trip over the basket. I fall and land hard on my bottom, and it takes several seconds for my brain to register the pain. But as it comes in full force, I cry out in pain, not being able to hold back the tears that run down my face.
Someone wraps their arms around me, pulling me up into their body so that my head rests on their shoulder. What. What just happened?
“You’re okay, Poliki Sanki, I’ve got you now,” he whispers, running his hand up and down my back.
It takes several seconds for my brain to catch up. One of the aliens is holding me. My eyes go wide. One of the men of Dagmon is holding me.
I scream, trying to push off his chest. One of them can’t pick me up. I won’t last a day being a slave for them.
“Please,” I beg, still attempting to get out of his arms.
But he has four that are holding me in place. Four arms. I continue to scream as he holds me tightly. Is no one else going to help me get out of his arms?
“You’re okay. Try to calm down for Papi. I’m here, and nothing is going to happen. I’m right here, Ikirri. I’m not going anywhere.”
Panic wells up inside of me as my lungs constrict. I know it is a male from Dagmon, but hearing him speak Dagmonian just solidifies everything.
I try to push against his chest once again, but my arm gives out, sending my face crashing into his shoulder. Whimpering, I lie there as tears run down my face.
“Poliki Sanki, are you okay?”
I don’t answer, though. My face throbs, and I’m exhausted and so dizzy. I am not okay.
“I’m right here. It’s time to Tokirra. Papi has you, and nothing is going to happen. I’m going to take care of you,” he says gently.
I whimper, not wanting to be in this situation. How can I escape his hold?
“I’ve got you. Just focus on calming down for me. Focus on my skin and being close to me. Let me help you calm down. Such a good girl. My good girl.”
I start calming in his arms, relaxing as I lie there. His chest is bare, allowing my cheeks to be flush against him. His skin is doing exactly what he said it would.
Calming me.
It should make me panic, not knowing how his skin is calming me, but I relax into his embrace.
“Such a good girl. I’m going to move you now,” he whispers.
Before I fully comprehend what he is doing, he shifts me so that I’m cradled in two of his arms while he runs the fingers of one hand through my hair and rubs my stomach with the other. It’s like he knows my stomach is unsettled from all the movement as he gently rubs it.
But if anything, it makes it worse.
I push my head to the left and puke a little more. Tears spill and run across my face as I dry heave over his arms. The stench of my puke on his arms sends me over, wanting to puke but knowing my body doesn’t have anything left in me.
“Shit. Are you okay, Poliki Sanki? Tell Papi what’s wrong.”
I relax into his embrace, pushing my head to his chest, and draw several deep breaths. I feel so warm, comfortable, and safe in his arms, like he won’t let anything happen to me, that deep down I know he is going to take care of me.
Those thoughts alone should send me into a frenzy, a panic, since he is Dagmonian. I should be trying to push away and get as far away as I can, but I’m not. If anything, I’m getting closer to his body and relaxing more.
I look up to see an incredibly handsome man with red skin. His hair is short, and his eyes are a light brown, something I could look into for hours and without growing bored.
“Poliki Sanki? Tell Papi what’s wrong.”
I don’t reply. Too many things are wrong. I tripped over my bag of potatoes, I’ve puked several times, he’s picked me up, and now I’m not going to see tomorrow.
Panic washes over his face when I don’t answer.
“I need water!” he yells.
I flinch, turning my head further into his body.
“I’m sorry, Ikirri. Papi will give you a warning next time,” he says gently, running his hand through my hair.
I look up at him once again only to see he’s already studying me, smiling. Why is he smiling at me?
The man glances up before looking back down at me.
“Papi is going to yell again.”
I try to reach up with my hand to cover my ear, but the way Papi is holding me doesn’t allow me to move. I whimper and press my head against his chest, trying to cover one ear.
Papi covers my other ear with his hand. “I need water! Someone give me water now!”
The shout is still clear, but I don’t flinch from the loudness.
“Such a good girl. I’ve got you,” Papi whispers, bouncing ever so slightly.
“Here’s the water,” Lily whispers.
“Thank you.”
Papi moves and holds something in front of me—a cup.
“I wish it was a bottle, but this cup is going to have to do. Papi is going to help you drink.”
I don’t need any help drinking, but I can’t do anything when one arm is tucked between us, and he is holding the other in place. I’m stuck.
Papi lifts his arm so I am more upright and holds the cup to my mouth. Once the water hit my lips, I lift my head more, trying to get in as much water as possible. When was the last time I drank water?
“Slow, Poliki Sanki,” Papi whispers, holding the cup back so I can’t drink more.
Whining, I lift my head to the cup, trying to get more.
“Caralirial, slow. I don’t want you to make yourself sick.”
I don’t care. I want more water. Being deprived of it is horrible.
“Please,” I whisper, tears pooling in my eyes. I only want the water, I want to drink all of it. “I promise I’ll be good.”
“Shhh, Caralirial. No one is mad at you. When we get back home, you can have all the water you want, but I don’t want you to get sick by drinking it too fast.”
Papi lifts the cup back up to my lips and lets me drink the water slowly. It is refreshing, the coldness going down my throat. I hum in pleasure, closing my eyes as I continue to drink.
“All done,” Papi whispers. “I’ll get some more so when we travel you can have some.”
I frown. He isn’t going to withhold water or food? He isn’t going to tell me I must do something first to earn those things?
I open my eyes and stare at him. He has said several things that go against what everyone thinks. He isn’t going to feed me to his creatures? He isn’t going to turn me into a slave, deprive me of every little thing?
“It will all make sense when we get home.”
Home.
Something I haven’t really had in a while. Sure, I’ve lived here for more than a year, but it isn’t home. I don’t have a home anymore.
Tears pool in my eyes at the thought. Back on Earth I was happy while living in the mountains and living off of the land. It was always my dream to do that, and once I had achieved it, the government came and took me away. Didn’t give me a chance whatsoever.
“What’s wrong, Poliki Sanki? Tell Papi what’s wrong.”
I shake my head and close my eyes once again. I don’t want to give him anything he can use against me. What if I say I am homesick, and he makes fun of me, whipping me, taunting me with things and never letting me have them.
I can’t let that happen.
“Poliki Sanki, please tell Papi what’s wrong. Please. I want to make it all better.”
“Poliki Sanki?” I try to say, but I don’t say it exactly like him.
Everyone knows they have an official language, but none of us knows it since they also speak English. This is my first time hearing it.
“Little one. Poliki Sanki means ‘little one’ in my language,” he explains. “When we get home, I’ll teach you some words.”
Little one. I guess that makes sense since he is more than seven feet tall while I’m only five foot six. But the way he said it makes me think he is talking about something else.
Why would he teach me some words? So he can command me in his own language to do things? To embarrass me when he teaches me the wrong words when he has guests over?
“My little one. My Poliki Sanki. Papi is here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Why does he keep referring to himself as Papi? Is that his actual name?
“Rest, Poliki Sanki. We have a long journey ahead of us,” he says, gently. “If you need to stop at any point, you let Papi know.”
I sigh and close my eyes, turning into his embrace. I love the feeling of his skin against mine. It calms me down, and I crave it.
“That’s it. Good girl.”
I take in every second of being comfortable. They always do this when they come. The men cuddle and hold the females. Is this the last time I’m going to be this comfortable? Once we leave the compound walls, will he throw me to the ground and tell me to walk?
I need to soak all of this in before we go. This is the last time I am going to feel so cared for, so comfortable, and so loved.
“Amorikir,” he whispers.
I want to ask what he’s just said, but being comfortable is so overwhelming. Without thinking, I open my mouth and latch onto his nipple, suckling ever so slightly as my body relaxes more.
Papi hisses, but I don’t stop suckling. He runs his hand through my hair, comforting me. Arousal floods my system as he pats my bottom and slowly rocks me. There is a connection between us, a strong one, one I’ve never felt before. What is it?
I should be panicking with how good this feels, how right, but I’m not. I love every second of it. I love being close to him, even though it’s the last thing I should want.
“Ikirri, that feels so good,” he groans. “Just relax and let Papi take care of you.”