Her cheeks flush with pleasure and she gives me a tiny smile that I treasure. “It was a great job. I was a teacher for…six years, I think. No wait, maybe it was seven.” She grows thoughtful, and then shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. One night I woke up and I thought I was having a bad dream about aliens—little green men probing me and all that. But then I just…never woke up. It just kept going on and on.” She grimaces. “My memories aren’t good of that time. They’re all blurry. I think they pumped a lot of drugs into my system.”
I imagine they did. To them, she would be nothing more than an animal to be kept subdued and sold off as quickly as possible for as many credits as possible.
“I learned from some of the other captive women that there’s apparently a big demand for human females out in the galaxy. We’re moldable and soft and weak.” Her jaw hardens. “I wasn’t kept with the others for long. Maybe a few weeks. Then I was taken to a pleasure satellite and put on the auction block. And…sold.”
Her mouth flattens.
“You do not need to speak of it,” I say gently. I can imagine the Lrulti was not a pleasant master to serve. Most aren’t. “Not every memory deserves to be relived.”
She nods, her expression distant. “I think eventually he got tired of me. I’m getting old for a human, you know? And I didn’t kiss ass. After a while I just got tired of it all and I didn’t care if he killed me or not. I was just done. He put me up for sale, along with a few other slaves he’d grown tired of. Lord va’Rin showed up and bought all of us, and brought us here and freed us.” She gestures at our surroundings. “He gave us farms and set us up to have a life out here, since we’re not allowed to go back to Earth. It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” Her smile brightens. “And I’ve been here on Risda for about eight months now, I think.”
I do not think it was the nicest thing anyone has done for her. If it was truly nice, she would have better equipment, and a better plot of land, but I do not say these things aloud. I know most in the galaxy think Lord va’Rin is mad for giving humans any sort of freedom. “I am glad that you are here,” I tell her gravely. “And that you have shared your past with me.”
Kim lets out a little breath and straightens her shoulders. “Yes. Well, that’s done. We should talk of happier things. How do you normally spend your evenings?”
“Exercising.”
Her small nose wrinkles. “Really?”
I chuckle at her expression. “Exercise is good for many things. It calms my mind. I enjoy the routine. And it keeps me strong should I ever have to defend my home and my family.”
“I’m not a big fan of exercise,” Kim admits. “I spend most of my evenings writing or cleaning house, and the writing I do so I can bring a little pleasure to the other girls stranded out here.”
“You have a kind heart.”
“Or a bored one. Don’t you ever get bored?” She gazes at me with such a curious look.
I do not point out to her that whenever I was “bored” I would go into town, hoping for a glimpse of her. That I learned what I could of humans and their anatomy so I could bring her pleasure when she became my mate. “I am rarely bored, no.”
“Do you have any hobbies?”
“Hob-bees?”
“Things you do for fun?”
I grin. “Exercise?”
She gives a little snort. “We are going to have to teach you how to have fun, Nassakth.”
“I am game. You may teach me anything you like, Kim.”
Her gaze slides to my mouth, and I think for a moment that she is going to give me one of those human mouth-tastings called a “kiss.” I watched many, MANY vids about kissing, each one more fascinating than the last.
I hunger for that more than anything. My fur prickles with awareness, and I want nothing more than to pull her into my lap and let her taste me.
Kim thinks for a moment, and then brightens. “I know! We can play Slapjack. It’s a card game. I made myself a deck to play Solitaire, but I can make a deck here if you have paper or blank cards of any kind.”
Her face is so full of enthusiasm that in this moment, I want nothing more than to Slapjack with her…
Well, I perhaps want a mouth-tasting more. But I will settle for Slapjack. “Let us see what we can find, then.”
23
KIM
We manage to find thick, stiff plas-film sheets similar to cardstock, and I drink wine and explain the game to Nassakth as I make the cards. I love a lot of card games, but Slapjack seems to be the easiest for someone that’s never experienced card games before. My students used to love it though they always tended to slap a little too hard.
“I know how to play sticks,” Nassakth tells me, refilling his wine goblet as he watches me prepare the cards. “Is this similar in strategy play?”
“Nope,” I say cheerfully. “This just involves slapping. Maybe we can learn other card games later on.”
“Are there many?”
For some reason, that strikes me as funny. “Lots and lots.”
“Then you will have to teach me all of them.”
He says it in such a husky, low voice that I have to drink more wine to hide my blush.
I show him the cards once I’m done, explaining the difference between “face” cards and the numbered ones. When I explain that the entire rule of the game is to hit jacks and only jacks, he frowns. “Why do you not make them all a jack, then?”
“Because that’s not how a deck of cards works.”
Nassakth snorts, as if this is ridiculous, but he takes the cards I hand him and we begin to play. It takes a few rounds for him to catch on, and then we compete in earnest as we drink more wine. I chortle with glee when I manage to win a particularly large stack of cards, and he lets out a grunt of pleasure when I promptly lose an equally sized stack of cards to him. The game goes back and forth, and I end up smacking his hand as often as he smacks mine.
We run out of wine, and after I win the first round, Nassakth shakes his head. “Play again. I cannot be defeated. Let us play again.”
“Competitive, are we?” I tease as I shuffle the cards.
“Of course. I like to win.” He gives me a challenging look. “Now that I have learned how you play, I can stop letting you beat me.”
“Oh please.” I deal cards, and we each pick up our stacks.
One of the first cards to land on the table is a jack, and I immediately smack it. Nassakth’s hand lands over mine, and he arches a furry brow at me, his hand keeping mine pinned. “Are you sure you do not cheat, Kim?”
“What, just because you suck at this game?” The wine has loosened my tongue, and I smirk at him. “Maybe you just don’t like being bested by a puny-ass human, huh?”
“I am certain that is part of it,” he grumbles. He releases my hand, his fingers stroking over my skin in an almost-caress. “Very well, then. Take your foul winnings. I will not let such a thing happen again.”
I gather up the cards, giggling, and as I do, I realize I am hella drunk. I’m having too good of a time to care, though. The wine makes me feel good, I’m safe for the first time in what feels like forever, and I’m playing cards with a friend.