Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"I feel like I want to die," Ziana groaned as they trudged into their lodging bungalow. " Every part of me hurts."

"Understandable. They put us through an additional series of challenges."

"I thought it felt like we were there longer than the others."

"We were. And this illustrates why we do not get into conflicts with the elites. At least, not in public."

"But we were subtle."

"Yes. But apparently not as much as we'd believed. Likely, one of the families took note."

"Or their asshole kids said something."

"I would not put it past them. In any case, you need to be more cautious moving forward."

"We both do," she noted, shedding her ruined clothing as they trudged to the shower.

Any shyness she might have had in her early days was gone at this point. Bathing was utilitarian and the first thing they did upon their return home. Sure, she was still just as impressed with Dorrin's ridiculously fit body pretty much every time she saw him strip, but his cold and often dismissive attitude had reinforced that even the sexiest of men could be downright unappealing in the right, or wrong, situation.

Ziana activated the water, carefully sticking her leg into the flow, testing its impact on her painful skin.

"You know, even my face is sore," she grumbled, easing the rest of her body slowly and timidly into the stream. "The smiling is almost worse than the rest in its own way."

Dorrin nodded his agreement as he stepped in beside her. "Exertion is one thing. Faking joy in the face of adversity, however, is quite another. And it requires quite a few lesser muscles of the face to do so."

Ziana chuckled. "You know, we have a saying about this kind of thing back on Earth."

"Oh? How odd."

"Yeah, I suppose. But they say it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile."

Dorrin cocked his head a tiny bit, musing over her words. "That's actually a rather clever observation."

"See? We humans aren't as pathetic as you like to make us out to be."

"I do not think you are pathetic. Merely grossly underprepared for the games."

"Yeah, you've said. Repeatedly ."

"I am sorry you do not like my words, but that does not change the truth of the matter. You have, however, proven yourself more resilient than I initially believed."

"Gee, thanks."

"I mean no false flattery. It is just an observation. You are performing better than expected. And you possess a drive I could not have anticipated. Other teams have dropped out, you know."

"I noticed."

"They could not hack the sustained effort required of the games. And yet you, a newcomer, have somehow exceeded some who have trained and prepared for years."

Ziana turned under the water's flow, wincing as the last stubborn remnants of charred skin washed away. "After the crap they sprung on us tonight I'm not surprised."

"The fire often tests people in a manner they do not expect."

"And the elites?"

"Oh, the logs were still aflame, but they undoubtedly ran the agility course later when they are nearly burned out."

"How fair."

"Fair has nothing to do with it, as I know you are quite aware of by now."

She nodded, gingerly rubbing her skin despite the pain. Dorrin's eyes ran over her body, assessing the degree of hurt she had endured in a flash.

"Come closer and let me do that."

"I can handle it."

"No, you cannot," he replied, adjusting the water to uncomfortably cold.

"Hey!"

He grabbed her shoulders and held her in the painfully cold stream. "It is unpleasant now, but it will help numb the pain. Trust me, and stand still."

Given his grip she didn't have much choice.

Dorrin took a small scrubbing cloth and began carefully dabbing at the bits of burned skin and debris still stuck to her, not gentle but not rough either.

"Fuck!"

He clearly registered her complaint but didn't stop.

"This is going to hurt no matter what I do. Better to be thorough and quick about it. I will not make this last any longer than necessary."

"Am I supposed to thank you?"

"I know you would not," he shot back. "Now hold still and bite this," he said, offering her a folded towel to bite down on. Ziana shook her head.

"I'll manage."

"Suit yourself."

His hands worked fast, dexterous and thorough in their task. "You're lucky, you know. Your runes are new and had you damaged them it would be far more difficult for your body to heal naturally."

"On my world tattoos don't heal this fast pretty much ever, so this is still much better."

"Perhaps. But among our people the runes are quite resilient, requiring a fair bit of damage before they are—" His words abruptly cut off, his eyes staring at her chest.

"What?" Ziana said, flustered, her nipples hard as rocks, her cheeks flushing at the intensity of his stare.

Dorrin reached out and touched her chest. Not her breasts, but the new rune tattooed between them. "Your Infala."

"Hey, watch the hands, buddy. I didn't burn that part."

"No, you do not understand," he replied, pulling her from the water and leaning closer, his hot breath on her cold skin making goosebumps erupt in an almost pleasant way. "It's subtle. Incredibly subtle. Hidden from all but the most thorough inspection." He traced his fingers across her skin, following the lines of her new Infala rune.

It was a crazy sensation that shot through her body. As if there was some kind of engine sputtering in her belly, just begging to open its throttle wide and be let loose to unleash its full potential. The tingles ran to her breasts, her arms, her legs, and even her clit as her body struggled to figure out just how to react to the utterly novel feelings she was experiencing.

Dorrin remained laser-focused, his eyes following his fingers as they traced their pattern on her skin.

"It required a Skrizzit of some talent to hide their trick like this."

That got her attention. " Trick ?"

"Your Infala. It has been applied to deceive. This rune is incomplete, though the subterfuge has been expertly hidden."

"What do you mean, incomplete?"

"The design, while appearing whole, is not properly connected to the binding lines that link it to the rest of your Dotharian runes. Damn! No wonder you are so weak."

"Hey, manners!"

"I do not mean to insult you. But this explains why, even after receiving the runes, you are not as strong and fast as you should be. I had thought it was just a shortcoming of your race, but now it is clear that it is not your fault. They have handicapped you from the start."

Ziana didn't fully understand the whole runes and pigment thing these people all treated with such reverence, but she felt her anger flare all the same. The elites had arranged for her to receive her runes, and they'd made sure she'd be at a disadvantage. Her cheeks reddened and the water suddenly didn't feel so cold. Cheating was cheating, no matter how they'd done it, but this was too much. They'd used her body to do it.

"We have to report them. It was Chancellor Vinchi's guy who inked me."

"We will do nothing of the sort."

"But it's cheating! It's wrong!"

Dorrin shut off the water and spun her around, carefully mopping her burned skin dry. "You cannot just accuse the elites. And as a replacement competitor? One lined up for servitude? You may be allowed to compete, but you do not have the same rights as others. All you will do is draw further unwanted attention to us both."

"But—"

"I understand your anger, and believe me, I share it. What they have done is an incredible injustice, and one in direct violation of Dotharian law. But your situation is, well, tenuous at best. I'm sorry, Ziana. Truly I am. But we have no choice but to carry on as normal. We have no other realistic options."

"Ow!" she blurted as he began applying a stinging gel.

"It is a healing substance particularly suited to treating burns. It is quite unpleasant at first, but it will absorb and start to dull the pain soon enough."

Ziana gritted her teeth and let him do his work, his hands roaming across her skin, applying both pain as well as a little pleasure as the gel did, in fact, start to reduce the pain of the burns.

She took it as stoically as she could, letting it soak in, and as the pain reduced, her distraction faded with it. And with clarity of mind she felt her anger shift to disbelief, then to confusion and frustration. This whole situation was a revelation to her, but to learn she'd been thrown in to this mess at a disadvantage was adding insult to injury. A realization hit her.

"Do you think they did this to Maria as well?"

Dorrin remained silent for a moment as he applied the healing salve. "This was no mistake," he said softly. "I would all but guarantee they did the same to her."

"Bastards."

"Though they were not born out of wedlock, I believe I understand your sentiment, and I agree. Now turn."

She did as he asked, facing him as he gently rubbed the last of the salve onto the smaller burns on her flanks and arms. His forearm grazed across her nipple as he worked, sending electric jolts of ridiculously strong pleasure through her body, making her jerk involuntarily.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, actually seeming concerned for once.

"No, I-I'm fine," she stammered, her body tingling as her endorphins blended with the healing gel's sensation-enhancing properties.

It seemed to not only reduce the bad stuff, but also improve the good, and the heat abruptly blossoming between her legs was downright distracting, especially as she glanced down and caught sight of his beautiful cock, her mouth salivating slightly in spite of herself.

"I'm almost done."

"It's okay," she said, more than a little conflicted and confused by what she was feeling.

He worked quickly, stepping back to look at his handiwork before applying a new dab to his fingers and starting in on his own burns. Ziana looked at him with renewed focus. She'd been so aware of her own injuries that she hadn't even considered that this seemingly indestructible man could be hurt.

"Wait, you're burned?"

"It's nothing."

"You got burned protecting me?" she blurted, realizing this had happened when he put himself between her and the flames. "You didn't say anything."

"There was nothing to say. I must have a partner to win, it is that simple."

Ziana heard his words, but she didn't believe that he was that callous for a minute. She reached for the small container of gel in his hand. "Give me that. Let me?—"

"Leave it. I can do it myself."

Ziana realized somewhere in her mind that she should probably do precisely that, leaving him to his own devices. But her body was absorbing the gel, and it was affecting her in more ways than just soothing the burn. She wasn't thinking quite straight, but she didn't care.

She reached out and grabbed the container, pulling against his iron grip. "Let me. I owe you."

He glared at her, but she locked eyes with him and did not back down. Incredibly, his gaze softened at the corners. Was that a hint of amusement? Respect? Whatever it was, he loosened his fingers, surrendering to her wishes without another word.

Ziana set to work, examining his body, running her fingers over his rock-hard muscles as she applied the gel to his injuries. He felt as though he'd been chiseled from stone, but his body was anything but cold. He radiated heat in a way that made her arousal spike even more in spite of her best efforts to control her very inappropriate thoughts.

"Why do you put yourself through this?" she asked, trying to distract herself with conversation.

"Because I must."

"But you said they cheat. It's a fixed game. I thought you pretty much couldn't win."

"That does not mean I will not try," her replied with resolve.

Ziana continued her work, pondering this unusual man while savoring the feel of his skin.

"That's enough," he said as her hands lingered on his flank, pulling away. "Now we eat. Food is in the kitchen and I, for one, do not feel like dining with the others."

"Me neither," she agreed, putting down the small container.

"Then it's decided. We eat, then we sleep. We both deserve the rest."

They did just that, Dorrin plating them both a considerable feast to replenish their energy. The dishes in the auto-wash unit, they then turned in, tucking themselves into their beds with relish.

"Good night, Ziana."

"Good night, Dorrin," she replied, drifting off almost immediately, her body still abuzz with odd, new sensations and her appetite pleasantly sated.

It was some time later she woke in the dark, her clit positively thrumming with excitement.

What the hell? she briefly wondered as she shifted from dream to waking. Whatever had been running through her unconscious mind, her body had really liked it. So much, in fact, that her arousal had stuck with her in her waking state.

She glanced over at Dorrin's sleeping form, his chest rising and falling with a steady rhythm. Her hand slid down between her legs, a finger parting her lips as she pushed firmly on her swollen clit before feeling just how wet she was.

"Fffuuuck," she groaned as quietly as she could, stealing a quick glance at Dorrin.

He was, just as before, sound asleep.

Ziana rubbed her clit, little circles of bliss coaxing herself close to the edge almost immediately. She yanked the pillow out from under her head and buried her face in it, biting hard as she tried to stifle a scream as her orgasm blasted through her far faster and with much more intensity than she expected. Her legs locked up, twitching as she convulsed, her pussy absolutely throbbing with pleasure.

She didn't stop there. She wanted more.

Ziana's fingers dipped down again, curving and sliding inside, parting her folds as she penetrated herself, applying pressure forward in the most delightful way. She'd always been sensitive to penetration, but this? Whatever that healing gel had done to her nerves, it had not stopped with the surface ones.

"Oh, shit!" she gasped into the pillow as a ball of white static heat exploded in her belly, the tingling buzz radiating through her limbs in a wonderful wave of orgasmic joy. She rode it, for how long she had no idea, breathing hard as her senses slowly returned. It took a minute for her to realize why her breath was impeded.

The pillow, of course, she realized with a little chuckle.

She slipped it from her face and tucked it back behind her head, her respirations finally slowing to normal. Sex-sated and relaxed she stretched long, then turned her head.

Dorrin's calm expression as he watched her took her by surprise, but she didn't panic or look away. His brow cocked upward ever so slightly.

"Get some sleep," he said quietly, then rolled over. "You'll need it."