Chapter 14
I kicked the weakening turoch in the chest and my stomach twisted when he hit the wall and didn’t get up.
Years of my life, I’d spent in training rooms just like this, breaking any males sent to fight me, but now I was aware of the pain and fear in their faces.
I was more in control now, I was choosing to fight, choosing to kill this male to keep the sytos from realizing I had changed.
The guilt was almost enough to tempt me to fall back into the protective haze that lingered in my mind. But the thought that I might turn my rage on my female quashed the urge. I’d endure any pain to keep her safe, even from me.
The speaker on the ceiling crackled as the guards assigned to me leaned towards the protective glass that separated them from the fight.
“Very good Carn, you’re responding well to the new formula.”
I didn’t react to the praise. I didn’t care about their experiments or how happy I made the sytos.
“I know your lead tech is going to be excited to see the more advanced affects of the new batch.” The guard continued with a chuckle.
The back of my neck prickled at his tone. Did they always talk in that sly tone and I was just noticing it or had something changed?
They must have noticed the way my ears pricked because another guard leaned towards the glass and smirked.
“Didn’t you know? Our glorious Qwin has decided you’re worth more than the excitement of your fights. In a few days, we’ll be taking some genetic material and incubating a whole litter of dumb killing machines just like you.”
They were using words I wasn’t familiar with and I couldn’t be sure of their meaning. Doing my best to memorize exactly what they said so I could repeat it to Naomi, I glared at the glass hoping to prompt another statement.
The smug syto didn’t disappoint.
“Assuming you survive tomorrow’s fight. Wouldn’t that be the worst luck, to die right before you reproduce?”
I was fighting tomorrow. The knowledge settled in my gut like I’d swallowed a rock. A fight I knew I’d win. Not just because I’d never lost before, but because if I died, there was no one to come save Naomi.
***
NAOMI’S JAW JUTTED out as she traced the edges of the bruise that covered my ribs.
“I don’t like a single thing you’ve said since you got back,” she grumbled, her small finger digging into my side until I let out a breath.
“I think you have broken ribs.”
I caught her hand in mine, half to get her attention and half to stop her from aggravating an injury that would disappear in an hour if she stopped touching it.
“I didn’t like it, either, but I don’t think I understood everything,” I admitted.
She blew out a long breath and met my eyes as her fringe of hair fluttered above her forehead.
“You didn’t understand the fighting tomorrow part or the super gross test-tube babies part?”
My heart stuttered as she confirmed the suspicion that had been roiling in my guts.
“They did mean children, then?” I could barely get the words out.
As far as I knew, there were no female turochs aboard, and while humans were popular as incubation or breeding slaves, I knew the sytos wouldn’t try and breed me to anything as small and delicate as Naomi.
My value was in my size and ferocity, they wouldn’t dilute that with a fragile human mother.
I didn’t understand the way the sytos filled their ranks but the thought of any son of mine being trapped in this life filled me with horror.
Naomi’s eyes softened and she reached up to cup my jaw.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they mean to either clone you or stir your sperm in a petri dish with some weird alien tech and make babies. I’m sorry, Carn.”
I sat heavily on the cot and stared at my hands. Up until today, I’d never felt this overwhelming sense of helplessness. I couldn’t escape with Naomi and protect my female, and if we didn’t get out of here, I would have to live knowing my own children were trapped somewhere in this hell.
Naomi tucked herself against my side and caught my eye.
“Listen, we were going to escape anyway, right? So what if I crawl through the vents again and see if there’s a way out? We’ll just get away before they can make any little Carn’s and before you have to fight.”
Not a single part of me believed her plan would be successful. She must have sensed my doubt because she straightened her shoulders and positioned herself under the vent.
“Just help me up.”
My ears flicked as I shoved the cover aside and carefully heaved her up into the ceiling.
“Do not wear yourself out,” I warned her. “I will survive the fight, if we cannot escape now, there will be another chance.”
Her jaw flexed as she stared down at me.
“You can’t guarantee you’ll win.”
“I will win,” I assured her. “I always win, and I’ve never had a reason to fight before.”
Naomi’s expression crumpled and I stroked a finger over her cheek.
“This place really is the worst,” she whispered. “You shouldn’t have to fight anyone, and you shouldn’t have to worry about leaving children here.”
“It is the worst,” I agreed, my gut churning at the thought of any child being raised on this cruiser. “But we will escape, I swear it.”
“Right.” She gave a determined nod. “And I’ll do my part to make that happen.”
Before I could reply, she scurried off into the darkness, leaving me alone in my cell, praying there was a way to free my female from this place.
***
I DID NOT KNOW HOW many hours I lay on my cot and waited for Naomi to reappear. A few times I thought I heard her rustling nearby but her face never appeared in the vent, so I waited.
Fighting was such a part of my life, I didn’t worry about sleeping to prepare, my rage would rise to the occasion, crushing whatever poor turoch sent to fight against me.
I’d survive, like I always did. My worry centered on Naomi, roaming far from my reach in the bowels of a ship neither of us understood.
If she was discovered, I couldn’t help her. I wouldn’t even know.
When she finally called my name, I leapt up and hauled her out of the vent. She wrapped her arms around my neck and sighed.
“I didn’t find anything. I overheard some of the guards talking about the fight though. They said the other turoch has killed three males a day for the last two days. He sounds dangerous.”
“I am dangerous,” I muttered, hauling her back to the cot. “Do not worry about the fight. I will win.”
I tucked her into my chest, cradling her with my whole body as I held her.
“I really wanted to find a way out,” she whispered, her lips brushing my chest.
“I know.”
I combed my fingers through her hair as carefully as I could.
For the first time in years, I remembered my mother, working the tangles from my own hair with a carved bone.
The memory didn’t sour as I mulled it over, and I realized just how long it had been since I thought of my family with anything other than shame for what I’d become.
I would never be the male I was meant to be, that future had been taken from me. But now I saw a path to being a male better than the one I had been for years. A male defined by how he cared for his female, instead of the number of lives he’d taken.
Naomi wrapped her arms around my waist and nuzzled closer. I closed my eyes as a swell of affection filled me. How things had changed since this female dropped into my life.
“You promise you’ll be okay tomorrow?”
It was an easy promise, I had no doubt I’d win. I’d won every fight I’d ever had, even when all I’d wanted was to fall in the arena and not have to keep living as a slave. With this female waiting for me, depending on me? An army of sytos and turochs couldn’t keep me from her.
“I will win, Naomi.”
“Good.” Soft lips pressed against my skin and my heart pounded at the tenderness in that simple kiss.
My tail flicked against the cot as I considered my next words.
“You do not mind? What winning means?” That to come back to her tomorrow means I would have to kill one of my own people. One of so many, I’d lost count years ago. How could such a kind female look at me with anything other than disgust?
Her fingers tightened against my sides as she pushed closer to me.
“It means you’re alive. That’s all I care about.”
She twisted her arms up and around my neck, pulling me down until she could look me in the eye.
“We will escape,” she said firmly. “Soon.”
I swallowed hard, the scent and nearness of her overwhelming me.
“Yes, soon,” I croaked out, the urge to pull her closer and to keep staring into her hazel eyes fighting each other.
She stared up at me, teeth pinning her lower lip.
“I kind of want to kiss you,” she whispered. Despite all the turmoil in my head, all the worry about protecting her, that, I could give her.
Before she could change her mind, I dipped down and caught her mouth, my hands coming up to cradle her head. She hummed into the kiss, her fingers tangling in my hair and sending shivers of sensation down my nape and across my skin.
My heart thundered in my chest, the sweetness of the kiss somehow even better than the stolen moment thrusting between her thighs. I wanted all of Naomi, every sigh, every inch of skin, the sweetness and the moans. I wanted more from her than I would ask while we were locked in this hellish cell.
Minutes faded into each other as we traded breaths and kisses. She twisted closer, plastering us together from chest to knees and nerves lit up everywhere our skin touched. I never wanted the sweetness of the moment to end, even as I craved more contact, more skin, more of her gasps and moans.
Dull teeth scraped over my lower lip and a rumble ran through my chest as I clutched her closer and imagined us twined together on a pallet of hides, sheltered by a tent and surrounded by the freedom of her planet.
I wished I could picture Naomi against the backdrop of her home, but the only planet I’ve ever seen is Oska, so instead I pictured her among the grasses and boulders of my home.
Pulling back while I still had the strength, I smoothed a hand over her hair and did my best to steady my breathing. She stared up at me, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, her hands slowly sliding back down to my chest.
“Was that really good for you, too?” she asked unsteadily. “Because I didn’t know a kiss could feel like that.”
I huffed out a laugh and couldn’t resist pushing my hips forward until my throbbing cock pressed against her.
“I didn’t know, either. You are the only kisses I have ever had.”
She made a face and snuggled closer, somehow managing to ignore my cock, even as it poked her in the belly.
“Well, I’ve kissed a handful of people and it was never like that. I don’t think you missed out.”
“Hmm.” I wrapped my arms around her and settled my chin on her head. “I would happily have waited a lifetime for you, Naomi. I don’t believe I’ve missed out on any kisses worth having.”
She didn’t reply, but I felt her smile into my chest and savored the feeling of her body going limp with sleep. Against all odds, this female trusted me, wanted me even. I’d do whatever I had to not to let her down.