Chapter 7 #2
“Captain,” I gasp, my hand flying to my chest as I pretend to be scandalized. “Now how in the world would you know a thing like that?” He lets out a sharp laugh, a burst of sound escaping before he manages to catch himself. I wonder, not for the first time, what he’d be like if really let go.
“I think that’s enough.” Tavryn plucks the oil from my hand, as always managing to do it without letting our fingers brush. “The Despot and Oliver know we’ve arrived. We best not keep them waiting for their delivery.”
A few minutes later, the ramp at the back of the ship lowers, and I get a look at my very first alien city.
At least, I think Qauvela is a city based on how Tavryn described it.
Apparently, it used to be just one big ship.
As people came and decided to stay, their ships got absorbed to build a bigger and bigger ship, until it was able to just eat ships to add them to the mess.
It seems like too far-fetched of a story to be true, but I’m in space unloading crates of Diet Dr. Pepper with a demon pirate, so who am I to say something is too far-fetched?
I grunt as I try to carefully wheel the dolly down the ramp without it gaining too much speed.
Tavryn stands unhelpfully to the side and watches.
“Put those right over there,” he says, pointing to the far side of the room.
We seem to be in some kind of large spaceship that’s kind of like a garage for smaller spaceships.
There’s no one around, although I keep catching movement from the door across from us.
I manage to unload the crates from the dolly without breaking out into too much of a sweat, but the shorts ride up uncomfortably. I tug them down as far as they’ll go, which isn’t anywhere near far enough. They definitely weren’t meant to be worn during manual labor, that’s for sure.
Luckily, it doesn’t take too many more trips to get the rest of the boxes unloaded, especially when Tavryn decides I’m doing it wrong and need his help. I’m happy to let him scold me in exchange for him helping me out. Honestly, it feels normal by this point.
He disappears back into the ship once I’ve wheeled off the final boxes, returning with the collar and leash in hand. “You’re certain of this?” he asks, unclasping the collar as he stops in front of me. I nod quickly.
“Yeah. Let’s do it,” I reply, trying and failing to not sound too eager.
Tavryn at least pretends not to notice. He carefully puts the collar on me, somehow managing to do it without brushing my skin.
He’s standing closer to me than he ever has, and I decide I have to fill the somewhat uncomfortable silence before I can think about that too much. “Stells ain’t comin’ with us?”
Since we’re so close, I can see the two little lines form between Tavryn’s eyebrows as he frowns, though his attention stays on fastening the collar tight. “She’s right here.” He points to a small device that’s looped around his ear. “Just in case.”
“Oh.” It seems weird that Stells doesn’t want to get out and stretch her legs. Maybe she enjoys having the entire ship to herself now that we’re gone. “That’s pretty neat. Do I get one?”
Tavryn clips the leash to my collar before stepping back. “You won’t need one,” he hums, holding up the leash that now connects us. It’s not very long, maybe four or five feet. “You won’t be able to get far enough away from me for it to matter.”
“Right,” I laugh and stumble after him as he strides towards the door.
His steps are shorter than mine, but he makes up for it with a quick kind of determination that has me jogging to keep up.
He keeps the leash tight to force me to stay right behind him, ready to tug at me if I fall behind.
Even when I’m right beside him, he still jerks the leash.
The smug look on his face tells me everything I need to know. If it makes him happy, it’s fine by me.
As soon as we exit the ship-room, Tavryn has to tug on the leash constantly to keep me from wandering off.
This place is wild. It’s like a house made up of shipping crates, except those shipping crates are spaceships of all different sizes and shapes.
Everything goes up and up and up. I crane my head back, steps slowing until the collar jerks tight around my neck.
I move without looking where I’m going, and nearly trip over…
wait, what is that?! Some kind of weird, alien creature with green-blue skin and tentacles instead of legs.
“Watch where you’re going, dog!” My brain short circuits for a moment as the translator takes in its irritated trill and somehow makes it into English. “Should I teach you some manners?”
I gape at it in response, watching the one, big eye in the center of its bulbous head blink. Under it is a tiny, pink little beak, but that’s it. Just tentacles, an eye, and a pointy little mouth.
Oh, and one of those tentacles is holding what looks like a very sharp knife against my stomach.
That should probably be the most important thing to me right now, but I just can’t wrap my head around this thing’s appearance.
I see Tavryn, who I know is an alien, every single day, but this thing actually looks like an alien. And it’s straight up blowing my mind.
Before I can do something to make things worse, Tavryn steps in front of me.
“Move along,” he growls, the words coming out much lower than I’m used to.
He seems taller and broader too, though maybe that’s just because he’s flicked his coat out to show off the weapon strapped to his leg. “He’s mine.”
My attention snaps to Tavryn in an instant as all the blood in my body rushes down to fill my cock. I let out a soft little whimper, and Tavryn spins around to glare at me. I barely notice the tentacled alien hurrying away behind him.
“What? Did they hurt you?” he asks, his gaze moving quickly along my body to check for injuries.
I blink several times, trying to get my brain to listen instead of just replaying Tavyrn snarling “He’s mine” over and over.
His expression softens just slightly when he sees that I’m okay.
“I suppose I could have better prepared you for what to expect on Qauvela. You haven’t seen any otherworlders except for me and the Aelgeah onboard the Triumph, correct? ”
Hearing an unfamiliar word through the translator brings me back to the present. “Except for you and the what?” I repeat, trying very, very hard to catch up with this conversation.
“The Aelgeah. They’re…what did you call them? Those fancy copper-y looking guys?”
“Ah, yeah, those dudes.” I nod, finally catching up. Well, maybe. I’m not entirely sure why we’re talking about the aliens that take humans from Earth. Tavryn is looking at me expectantly though, like he’s waiting for me to respond. “Did you ask me somethin’?”
Tavryn’s head falls back as he sighs. His pirate hat is shoved so tightly between his horns that it doesn’t even shift from the movement. It’s kind of impressive that he got that thing to fit on his head. “Have you seen any otherworlders besides me and the Aelgeah?”
“Oh! There were a couple others on the ship, but I ain’t got a clue what species they are. I never got a real good look at ‘em.” Tavryn chews on his lower lip as he thinks, one of his fangs tugging at the plump skin. And there goes my mind, straight back to the gutter.
“This may be an overwhelming experience for you,” Tavryn finally says.
He looks back the way we came, as if he’s trying to make a decision.
“It might be too much for that tiny brain of yours. I wouldn’t want your head to accidentally explode from an overload of knowledge.
” He meets my eyes again, and that cocky smirk of his is back.
“Plus, I’m having to drag you along. I can’t have people thinking you're poorly trained.”
That gets my attention. The last thing I want is for Tavryn to send me back to the ship. There’s no telling how long he’ll be gone, and there’s only so much I can do to occupy myself. Although, I guess that means I’d finally have privacy…
No. No. I have to think with my head, and not my dick.
This may be my only chance to see Qauvela.
I’ve clearly got a lot to learn about the universe, so I’m not going to miss my one shot.
I’ve been in front of cameras before. I can pretend that all of this is totally, completely normal.
Like I see one-eyed tentacle aliens that threaten to shank me every day.
“I’m good,” I insist, though the abnormally high pitch of my voice suggests otherwise. I clear my throat. “Seriously.” Ah, that’s much better. “I’m good, Tav, I swear. I’ll pay more attention to what’s goin’ on, and I’ll keep right on up with you. Promise.”
Tavryn sighs again. I’m pretty sure this sigh means “I don’t believe you, but whatever” or something like that. The most important thing is he keeps walking down the hallway instead of turning to go back to the ship.
Here’s hoping I don’t make him regret it.