Chapter 4

Having slept soundly for the rest of the night with Sam in his arms, Ethan woke the next morning in better spirits than Kipexo had seen him since they boarded the Anamafrid. That his Earthling had found comfort in another would have produced a pang of jealousy in Kipexo had he not been so happy to see Ethan’s bright, genuine smile. No doubt stoked by his good mood, Ethan’s desire for his master took on renewed life, and he seemed incapable of keeping his hands off Kipexo most of the day.

Kipexo had to admit he was feeling much more hopeful himself after his discussion with Reethis. The captain worked day and night to get them to Frohmire, and Kipexo trusted Reethis to know how to handle his ship. Kipexo had more important things to worry about, like where he and Ethan would settle for good once the humans were safely back on Earth. It was hard to think about that though between Ethan’s teasing pets and secret, burning glances as the day went on. More than once, Kipexo groaned with longing, picturing all the ways he could make his denmate fall apart over and over…

“Will you and Ethan be joining us tonight, Commander?” Sara asked, yanking Kipexo out of one such fantasy.

Sara and the others aboard the Anamafrid continued to address Kipexo as “Commander”, choosing to ignore his demotion issued by the Veil as a punishment for refusing to give them the runaway humans’ location. Kipexo appreciated the gesture, but neither the title of Commander nor Sergeant—his new official rank—meant much to him anymore. They were relics of an old life. Master, lover, and denmate were the titles that mattered to him now.

“I believe so,” said Kipexo.

Sara gave a little squeak of joy. “I’ve been saving my best idea for a night when Ethan would agree to join in. We’re going to play flashlight tag!”

“Play… what?”

“It’s a game kids play back on Earth. You hide in the dark until the seeker finds you with their light.”

It sounded to Kipexo a bit like “Hunter and Prey”, a game Raugon lovers sometimes play, but that version was much more… carnal.

“Can you help me get set up?” Sara asked.

“What do you need?”

“Lights for the ones who don’t have databands. And can you ask Reethis to shut off all the lights in the ship except for in the common area? All the halls and rooms need to be dark.”

“I’m sure Reethis would be happy to conserve some more of the ship’s power for an evening. And there’s a crate of portable lights in the cargo hold. I’ll fetch it for you.”

“Thank you,” Sara said in a sing-song voice as she sauntered away.

Kipexo left Ethan with the rest of the humans in the common area while he spoke to Reethis and retrieved the lights. He was on his way back with the crate when he heard screaming.

“It wouldn’t have made a difference!” yelled a human male whose voice Kipexo didn’t recognize. “She would have ended up on that ship anyway!”

The next voice was one Kipexo could pick out amidst a hundred others speaking all at once. “It could’ve made all the difference!” Ethan screamed. “I could have gotten her away from there!”

Kipexo put down the crate and rushed toward the common area.

“You don’t know that!” replied the other human. “You think you’re so fucking special, Ethan, but you’re not! All you’ve done is let some alien fuck you in the—”

Kipexo rounded the corner in time to watch the two humans smash together with a scream of fury. Ethan and another man started swinging punches and kicking each other, banging into tables and sending chairs flying while the rest of the Earthlings in the room gasped and cried out in shock, scurrying away from the fight, all but Sara and Sam who were trying, and failing, to break the men apart.

“Ethan, stop! Stop!” Sam screamed, tugging on Ethan’s arm.

“Get off him, Tom!” hollered Sara as she yanked on the other man.

Kipexo roared as he rushed across the room. Sara and Sam backed away at Kipexo’s advance, giving him space to stick all four arms between the squabbling humans and forcefully push them apart. They continued to swing over his arms and kick out at each other’s shins until Kipexo shoved Tom away and wrapped all four of his arms around Ethan, turning to put himself between the two Earthlings.

“Let me go!” Ethan screamed as he twisted and thrashed in Kipexo’s grip. “Let me go, Kipexo!”

Sara and Sam were both in front of Tom now, ushering him further back.

“You have serious fucking issues, Ethan,” Tom called out.

“At least I didn’t get my fucking girlfriend killed!” Ethan screamed back.

Tom lunged toward Ethan, ramming into Sara and Sam’s arms.

Kipexo looked over his shoulder and snarled, baring all four fangs at Tom who finally stopped struggling at the sight of them and allowed Sara to march him away. Sam came to Ethan’s side.

“What happened here?” Kipexo asked as Ethan finally stilled in his arms. He ushered Ethan toward a chair at the far end of the room.

“Tom started saying some stupid stuff,” Sam explained. “It was upsetting some of the others, so Ethan told him to stop.”

“What was he saying?” Kipexo asked.

“He started spouting off about how we shouldn’t have come up here,” Ethan said heatedly as he sat down. “He said we were all going to die, and we shouldn’t have trusted you, Reethis, Grolpre… I told him to shut his mouth and keep his fearmongering to himself. We don’t need that.”

“That’s when Tom started getting personal,” Sam said. “He said Ethan’s been giving him dirty looks this whole time and that he knew Ethan blamed him for Erin getting captured.”

“What does that mean?” Kipexo asked. He tilted Ethan’s face up to inspect a gash in his brow. He’d likely have a black eye on that side.

“Tom was Erin’s boyfriend,” Ethan spat. He looked at Kipexo, and some of the anger in his face drained away and was replaced with sadness. “The day Erin and I were taken, he was there. I was the first person who realized what was happening, and I tried to get my sister to safety. That prick stood there and argued with me and wouldn’t let my sister leave! Sometimes I wish I’d had that extra minute to get away with Sara and Erin. If we’d had a little more time…” He shook his head.

“I’ve never seen you spare a glance at that man before,” said Kipexo.

“I try to pretend he doesn’t exist as much as possible. He was just trying to get a rise out of me.”

“Well, he succeeded,” Sam pointed out, poking Ethan playfully in the shoulder. “Good for you for sticking up for yourself.”

“Ow!” Ethan yelped when Kipexo touched softly around his split brow.

“You should see Vroft for this,” Kipexo said. “It may need sealed.”

“It’s fine, Kipexo,” Ethan grumbled.

Kipexo knelt in front of Ethan. “What got into you back there? I’ve never seen you act like that before.”

“Tom and I have a history,” Ethan explained. “He and Erin were together for years. I never liked him, and he knew it. It all came to a head that night at the football game. Worst timing ever. I guess it’s been boiling under the surface ever since because, when he started mouthing off, I felt all that anger bubble up again and I just… I punched him.”

Kipexo put a hand on Ethan’s knee. “Everyone’s nerves are raw right now. It’s understandable. My men would often get tense when they knew we were flying into a nasty battle.”

“How did they handle it?” Sam asked.

Kipexo grinned. “They fought or they fucked.”

Both humans laughed, and it was as if the whole room suddenly breathed a deep sigh of relief as the tension slipped away.

“Come on,” Kipexo said, and he pulled Ethan up on his feet.

“Where are we going?” Ethan asked even as he settled into Kipexo’s side with his master’s arm over his shoulders.

“To see Vroft.”

Ethan sighed.

“Are you guys still playing tonight?” Sam asked.

Kipexo looked down at Ethan with a raised brow.

“Yeah, I think so,” Ethan said. “I haven’t played flashlight tag in years. It sounds like fun.”

“Ok,” Sam said cheerfully.

“Why don’t you help Sara pass out the lights from the crate in the hall, getal finan,” said Kipexo.

“Yes, sir.”

*****

“Hey, guys,” Andrew greeted when Kipexo and Ethan stepped into the medical wing. He was bouncing a bundle of fuzzy blankets in his arms.

Andrew spent most of his time in medical. His daughter, a half-Raugon half-human baby Andrew and Sara named Teagan, was the first and only known child of her kind. Vroft monitored and recorded everything he could about her since she was the first of her species, and Andrew refused to leave the child’s side except to eat and sleep, so the trio were often found together, along with Sara on occasion, in this wing of the ship.

Andrew scrunched up his nose at the sight of Ethan’s face. “What happened to you?”

“Tom and I had a disagreement,” Ethan said.

“Tom. Is he the one with the broken glasses?”

“That’s Thomas. The other Tom.”

Recognition dawned in Andrew’s eyes. “Oh, yeah. That guy was always a bit tense. He and Sara get along alright though. Did she help calm him down?”

“I think so.”

The baby woke in Andrew’s arms and began to cry. Dr. Vroft, a Raugon physician who used to work for the HRRA, stepped from an office at the back of the wing.

“Sounds like someone’s hungry,” he said cheerfully.

“Can I feed her?” Ethan asked.

“Let’s get your eye looked at first,” Kipexo said sternly.

At mention of the injury, Vroft came closer, inspecting Ethan’s split brow. “What happened here?”

“Ethan got into a fight,” Andrew said in awe as he moved about the room preparing a large bottle.

Vroft’s eyebrows went up. “Really? You don’t strike me as the type, Ethan.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ethan asked defensively.

Vroft took a small package from a nearby drawer and bent it in half. There was a pop as a capsule broke, and he worked the package in his hands for a moment before unwrapping a piece of gauze soaked with antiseptic fluid. He cleaned Ethan’s eyebrow with it as he said, “Only that you’ve always struck me as a peacekeeper, not someone who gets into bare-knuckle brawls.”

“I don’t usually,” Ethan said, his voice small. “He struck a nerve.”

Kipexo put his hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

“I don’t think this needs stitches,” Vroft said. “Some sealant should do just fine.” He took a tube from another drawer and squeezed a small drop onto a gloved finger, smearing it liberally across Ethan’s slit brow. It hardened within seconds. “There now. That should do it. I can’t guarantee your eye won’t blacken, though.”

“Just in time,” Andrew said, and he walked over to Ethan with the baby and her bottle, settling the child into Ethan’s willing arms.

“She’s heavier,” Ethan commented, and Kipexo noted the way Andrew’s brow bobbed unhappily at this statement.

“What is it?” Kipexo asked him.

“Nothing,” Andrew replied.

Vroft clapped Andrew on the shoulder. “He’s afraid the child grows too quickly,” the doctor said with a small smile. “I’ve assured him Raugon children grow more rapidly than human ones due to their increased size as a species, so it’s only natural that Teagan would share that characteristic. But still, he worries, just as every new father does.”

“It’s not that,” Andrew said sadly. “It’s just… I know I won’t be able to hold her for much longer.”

Ethan had been watching the baby and cooing to her, but at Andrew’s words, his head snapped up. “Did you want to…”

Andrew waved away his concern. “It’s fine, Ethan, really.”

“Perhaps you’ve been cooped up here too long,” Kipexo commented. “I know from experience this wing can drive a man mad with little effort.”

“You should join us tonight,” Ethan said. “Sara has roped us all into playing flashlight tag.”

Andrew laughed. “Really? Oh God, that brings back memories.”

“I know she’d enjoy spending some time with you.”

Andrew groaned then looked at the baby.

“Don’t you trust me to babysit for one evening?” Vroft asked.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

When Teagan was finished with her meal, Ethan handed the empty bottle to Kipexo before setting the child on his shoulder and gently patting her on the back. It was the oddest thing Kipexo had ever seen, but Ethan explained the need to “burp” human children so that the air in their stomachs didn’t cause them pain. Apparently, Teagan shared this affliction with her human counterparts and needed help in releasing this gas after each meal. Ethan only patted her for a moment before she let out a loud belch. Afterward, he handed her back over to Andrew as if the whole thing was completely normal.

“We’ll see you tonight then?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah,” Andrew replied as he carried Teagan to a nearby table, settling her on her back as he started changing her diaper. “Let Sara know, will you?”

“Sure.”

Ethan and Kipexo left the medical wing and headed back toward the common area, but as soon as they were well out of earshot from the others, Ethan turned to Kipexo, grabbing his master by the wrist to stop him.

“What is it?” Kipexo asked in alarm, his eyes darting around to spot the danger Ethan had seen.

Ethan smiled at him. “I have an idea. For tonight.” He looked up and down the hall to be sure they were alone before leaning in toward Kipexo. “Tonight, I think we should play our own game.”

A small, wicked grin spread across Kipexo’s face. “Go on.”

“While everyone else is hiding in the dark from the seeker, what if I hide from you? The thought of you hunting me in the dark, finding me, and…”—Ethan bit his lip—“taking what you want… it does things to me. I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

Kipexo growled low in his throat, and his pants grew uncomfortably tight in the groin. He backed Ethan against a nearby wall, caging him between his chest and the metal with all four of his arms. “Oh, little human, you’ve no idea how much I want that now that you’ve suggested it.”

Ethan grinned. “Is that a yes?”

“Perhaps. We should discuss the rules beforehand, though.”

“What kind of rules?”

“What you’re talking about is me taking things by force, only that which you are willing to give me, but in this instance, it might not be so clear that you wish me to stop. If you truly want to live out this fantasy, our usual word won’t work. Do you understand?”

Ethan swallowed before his lips parted, his breath ragged as he asked, “You want me to struggle, Sir?”

Kipexo snapped his teeth together. This conversation was making his heart hammer, his skin flush, and his cock harden. “Only if that’s what you want.”

“You want me to run so you can chase me and—”

Kipexo took Ethan by the throat with a guttural growl. “I’ll slam you to the ground, pin you down, rip your pants to your knees, and fuck you hard and fast. Do you want to beg me to stop?”

“Only if you promise not to.”

Kipexo was panting now, his self-control close to shattering, so he let Ethan go and dropped his arms. “Pick a word. Any word will do, but it must be something you would never say naturally.”

“It’s called a safeword, Kipexo. Humans often use colors.”

“Tell me how it works.”

“Red for stop, yellow for slow down, and green for keep going.”

“Hmmm. I like that. Simple but efficient. Will it suffice for you?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Kipexo leaned near Ethan’s ear. “Plug your ass tonight. I won’t be gentle, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You better not hold back,” Ethan muttered.

Kipexo laughed, low and menacing, before they turned and started walking together again down the hall.