Chapter 10 #2
I took as much time as I needed to ready myself.
I took a long hot shower. I stood on the platform in the closet and the light was warm on my skin.
The alien tech dressed me in a rose-colored gown that flowed around my curves quite becomingly.
I put my tail in by myself, blushing the entire time.
When I was finally ready, I retraced the path I had memorized and made my way down to Talyn’s command room, every step reminding me of the tail inside me.
His eyes instinctually rose to greet me when I entered the room.
I hadn’t had to announce my arrival at all.
I smiled and he nodded. It was colder than I was used to, but his soldiers were beside him.
I glanced around, realizing that they were amidst what appeared to be the development of an intricate attack plan.
He pointed to his side, and I wandered over to him.
He reached up and slid his hand down my back.
“She is such a nice-looking human specimen, isn’t she, Kathar?” he asked one of the men and he grunted in response.
His eyes met mine and for a split second, I saw a sliver of emotion contained within them. I smiled hesitantly.
The room was busy around us. There were men at stations, maps overlaid with tactical markers, screens cycling through data I could only partially read. I stood at his shoulder for a moment, uncertain where to put myself, and then something happened that I hadn’t quite planned.
I knelt.
There was nowhere to sit, so I settled onto my knees beside his chair and leaned my shoulder against his thigh.
The tail shifted with the movement, a quiet reminder of its weight inside me beneath the fall of the gown.
I concentrated very hard on looking like someone who had chosen to be on the floor for entirely practical reasons and tried very hard not to think about how the constant presence of the tail was turning me on.
His hand found the top of my head without him so much as glancing down.
He kept talking. He kept reading whatever was on the screen in front of him, still fully engaged in the business of his city and his army and whatever they were planning.
His focus never shifted, but his fingers moved through my hair with a slow, absent certainty—the way you touched something you were glad to have nearby.
The way you touched something that didn’t require your full attention because it wasn’t going anywhere.
My heartbeat quickened by a noticeable degree.
I casually fingered the collar at my throat and told myself I was simply being strategic. That I was gathering intelligence. That I was exactly where I’d chosen to be for entirely reasonable reasons.
I hardly noticed the collar most days. It had stopped registering as foreign somewhere around the third day. Right now, though, the smooth band under my fingertip was oddly steadying. A fixed point while everything in the room felt uncertain and dangerous.
One of the men at a far station glanced over at me. His gaze settled on the collar for a moment, then moved away.
I had the distinct impression it was nothing he hadn’t seen before.
There were about a dozen men in the room working at various stations on different things. One was looking at maps. Another at radar of the city. There were more looking at aerial views and weapons and more. I watched it all with a building anxiety.
“Commander, we’ve only been able to dig up a few blueprints on the ancient human servers. It appears much of what is beneath the city is wholly unmapped. We’re going to have to make our own,” one of his comrades explained.
“We have the arsenal to combat whatever the humans have under the streets. We could wipe them out quickly and efficiently with poison gas,” another offered.
I stiffened visibly. If Talyn noticed, he said nothing.
“Or we could go in with more due diligence and commandeer whatever they’ve developed for ourselves,” one replied.
They were going forward with what I feared.
It would be wise for me to keep quiet, but I couldn’t just stand there knowing that humans were going to die if Talyn continued with his conquest.
“Talyn,” I called out boldly. Many of his men stilled, looking at me in surprise. Talyn’s fingers stopped petting my head.
“Human…” he warned. Already it felt like I was skating on thin ice. Was I not supposed to refer to him by name?
“Sir. You can’t do this,” I murmured.
“Quiet. Remember your place,” he warned again. He went back to his plans with another soldier, ignoring me entirely after that.
Last night, he’d been so open with me. He’d talked with me simply because I’d told him it would make me smile, that it would bring me joy.
“Sir? Please. It would make me very happy if you didn’t go forward with this,” I whispered. I said it quietly enough that I thought it would just be him that heard me, but his men still started anyway.
“I will only warn you one last time, my human. Your presence here is something I desire, but if you continue to interrupt me, I’m going to have to punish you,” he declared.
I started at the possibility of something like that.
I slid my gaze up, reading his expression and seeing nothing but blatant seriousness.
It was dangerous to keep pushing.
I settled for a while after that. I knew that he would follow through with his threat, but before long, my hackles started to rise once more. It felt too wrong to remain silent.
One of the aliens in the room started speaking about all the potential women that could be housed inside one of their brothels and another started speaking excitedly about the new fighters that could enter their human gladiatorial games. To them, the humans’ lives were nothing more than a game.
The more I had to listen to it, the more unsettled I felt.
When they started talking about a competition, I closed my eyes and tried to tune out the savagery, but it turned out to be an impossible feat.
“Let’s make a bet,” one growled.
“What kind?” another answered.
“It’s been some time since we’ve gone all out on the battlefield. Let’s keep a running count,” the alien replied.
At that moment, I stopped breathing. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.
“I’ve always been a better shot than you,” the other alien leered.
“I’ve been practicing. I bet a deluxe night with one of the top tier human females that I will kill more than you,” he countered excitedly.
I couldn’t keep quiet. My own well-being ceased to matter. Humans were going to die, and I would not stand for it.
I stood up quickly, grasping a glass of water nearby.
I tossed the entirety of it on the nearest computer station that was lit up with a detailed inventory of the weaponry at their disposal.
The screen blinked several times and flickered into blackness after a few seconds.
I did the same with another, not caring about the consequences.
The room was dead silent. Talyn stood up from his chair, but I stood my ground.
“You cannot kill them. Take them as slaves if you must, but let them live,” I exclaimed.
“Human, it is not your place to decide such things,” Talyn said softly.
I took a step back, glaring at him with anger, then persisted. “Let me go to them. I can try to convince them to surrender.”
His expression darkened and he just shook his head. The other soldiers in the room remained quiet. The tension was palpable between us. The air was practically vibrating with it.
“No. I won’t trust humanity with your life ever again,” he growled. A flash of emotion flickered across his face, but it was gone so quickly that I wasn’t sure if it was real or I’d imagined it.
“Talyn, what if they hurt you? What if they have some new weapon or have some strategy in place that would wound you and your men? What if they kill you?” I pushed. I couldn’t stop. I had to do something, anything that might give humanity some chance at survival.
“You leave me with no choice,” he said quietly.
His words were heavy, and I took a step back, only to find myself cornered by a station behind me. He advanced toward me, and I lifted my chin bravely.
No matter what happened next, I would remain strong. I wouldn’t break for him. Not on something like this.
“You forget that this is no longer your world, human. My kind rules these lands now, but more important, you answer to me. You are to obey me when I give you a command. I can see I’ve been far too lenient with you and I’m going to have to remind you that you belong to me in every way that you can imagine,” he vowed, and I trembled.
I tried to stand my ground when he grabbed my arm. I pulled away from him, but he was much stronger than me and I couldn’t break his hold. He jerked me toward his chest roughly and I cried out. Casually, he wrapped his arm around my neck, pinning my back against him.
The men in the room had all stopped their work. Most of them had sat down and were watching the two of us intently.
That should have scared me, but I was still angry.
“Let me go!” I shrieked.
“Who owns you?” Talyn asks pointedly.
“Fuck off,” I answered brazenly. One of the men watching smirked at my audacity.
Talyn gripped the neckline of the dress in his fingers. With a quick jerk, he tore it down the front. I attempted to knock his hand away and grab the ripped edges, but he brushed my hands away with ease.
He grasped the cloth of my dress and proceeded to rip it to tatters. By the time he was finished, there was nothing left of it to pull back together. I stared down at what remained on the floor. He was so strong. I knew he’d overpower me, but I still fought him anyway.
Without my dress, I was completely naked in front of all his men. I swallowed heavily, finally beginning to feel a bit frightened.
“I’m sorry. Please. Let’s go up to your quarters and talk,” I tried, and he chuckled behind me. The effect of it chilled me to the bone.