4. Thrax

4

THRAX

" I have to wear this?" Thrax frowned down at himself skeptically. The male-wife clothing Kat had made for him wasn't exactly to his liking. The top was made of black leather. It had a high collar that went halfway up his throat and long sleeves which covered his shoulders and arms. However, it ended just under his clavicles and showed his entire bare chest and abdomen and also his bare back. So really, it was just half a shirt—or more like a fourth of a shirt, he thought.

Besides baring most of his torso, Thrax didn't like the collar around his throat. It felt too much like a pain collar—the kind the cruel Mistresses of Yonnie Six forced their bodyslaves to wear. He tried to push the thought away as he tugged at the high leather collar with one finger, trying to make more room.

The bottom part of the male-wife outfit wasn't much better. It was a kind of kilt, made of many strips of dark blue and black leather. It hung low on his hips, exposing the small of his back which Thrax preferred to keep covered. Even now he could feel the burning ache of the old scars and he had to restrain himself from reaching back to rub them.

At least he got to wear his own boots, he reflected as he stared at himself in the 3D viewer Kat had in the corner of her office. That was something .

"Hang on—be with you in a minute," Kat called to him. She and Andi were behind the folding screen on the other side of the office where she was presumably getting Andi dressed up like a Delta Salacion "Queen" which was what the dominant females were called.

"You're sure it's supposed to fit this way?" Andi's voice sounded rather doubtful. "I mean, it doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?"

Thrax's ears pricked up. What exactly was his partner wearing? Could it possibly be worse than his own outfit?

"Trust me, doll—this is the latest style. I was up researching all night for you," Kat said. "Look—you've got the float dots on, right? Which is good, because it means you don't have to wear the corset pulled too tight. You've got a nice, curvy figure anyway—might as well show it off."

"I don't know that I want to show it off this much," Andi protested.

"That's kind of too bad, because this is what the Salacions are wearing. You want to fit in, right?"

"Yes, I do. Sorry, Kat—I wouldn't have minded wearing something like this when I was younger. It's just now, well…"

"Well, nothing. You look great! Come on—let's go out and get your partner's opinion."

Kat and Andi came out from behind the folding screen and Thrax sucked in a breath at the sight of his partner. Andi was wearing a black skirt, short in the front and long in the back, with a slit in the middle and high black heels that made her short legs look much longer.

But it was the top of the outfit that caught and held Thrax's gaze. Andi had on a black corset which laced up just under her full breasts. Tucked into it was a diaphanous white button down top with long, flowing sleeves. Her breasts were jutting outward and her ripe pink nipples were fully visible under the filmy fabric.

Thrax tried not to stare at them but it was damn hard—he'd fantasized about his partner's full breasts on many different occasions but he'd never expected to get to see them like this.

"Hey, my eyes are up here," Andi said sharply and he realized he was staring even though he'd been trying not to.

"Oh, uh, sorry." Thrax jerked his gaze up to her face and saw that her cheeks were pink with embarrassment. "You look really good," he offered, hoping the words didn't come out sounding wrong. "Really, uh Queen-like."

"Yeah, right—Queen of a strip club," Andi said sourly.

She never liked to wear revealing clothing—probably because that stupid fucking ex-mate of hers had made her feel bad about her full, gorgeous curves.

She had admitted to Thrax, after both of them had had a few drinks one night, that her ex-mate had told her she was too fat and old to be attractive anymore. The words had so enraged Thrax that he'd wanted to hunt down Brian—what a stupid name for a male!—and pound some sense into his head.

But Andi wouldn't let him. She'd pointed out that Thrax beating her ex would cause a lot of questions—not just from the authorities but from her daughter as well. Lindsey didn't need to see her dad with two black eyes and a broken nose—it would be too hard on her.

Since he cared about Andi's daughter, Thrax had reluctantly agreed not to beat the useless male's ass. Instead he had gone to a family wedding as Andi's "date." The look of jaw-dropping disbelief on Brian's face when he saw his wife with a menacing seven-foot-tall warrior with horns who was covered in curving black tattoos had been almost as good as a beating, as far as Thrax was concerned. The rest of Andi's family had been buzzing with gossip too—it had been a lot of fun. He just wished it was true and he really was his partner's significant other.

But of course that was impossible and not just because he was a Hybrid. No matter how many compliments he gave her, Andi seemed to think he was just "being nice." She always laughed it off, though her cheeks did, on occasion, go pink when he told her how beautiful she was. Thrax just wished she could believe him and see herself the way he saw her.

Like now—she was probably feeling insecure about showing off her body in the see-through top even though the sight was mouthwatering. In fact, he was still having a hard time keeping his eyes away from her breasts. With an effort of will, he kept his gaze on her face instead.

"You think you don't like your outfit, just look at mine!" he complained, gesturing at himself. "I'm wearing a fucking skirt for the Goddess's sake!"

"That's a kilt. And so am I," Andi pointed out. "And at least your outfit isn't see-through." She sighed and ran a hand through her long, curly hair. "Well, I guess we're going to have to get used to it. After all, we're not going for a fashion show—we're going to rescue Commander Kier—if we can find him."

"We'll find him," Thrax said grimly. "If I have to dress up like this, I'm damn well going to have some results to show for it!"

"I'm glad the two of you are resigned to your costumes, because we still have a few finishing touches to add before you can fit into Salacious Delta society," Kat announced.

"What?" Andi exclaimed.

"You mean there's fucking more?" Thrax growled.

"I'm afraid so. But you can wait until you're in orbit around the planet to put them on. Well— you can anyway. Andi's can't be put on until you get where you're going. Speaking of which, Andi, these are for you." She put several pieces of golden jewelry into Andi's palm.

"What are these?" Andi asked, frowning as she held one up. It looked like a tiny golden cuff with many long golden threads hanging off of it. "Is it supposed to go on my ear or something?" she asked Kat, holding it up to the curve of her ear.

"Afraid not, doll—that little cuff opens up and you clamp it around your nipple. The long strands hang down below," Kat explained. "But you don't do it—your male-wife does. Right as you enter the party I got you an invitation to."

"Wait—what?" Andi demanded. "Seriously?"

"Mmm-hmm. You're going to be going to Queen Tieradaughter's residence to attend her feast. Once you get there, your male-wife—Thrax—will kneel before you, open your shirt, and put the nipple jewelry on you in front of everyone. That shows his submission to you and your dominance over him—because he's serving you, all right?"

"No, not all right," Thrax growled. "I'm not going to do anything to Andi she doesn't want me to do." Though he ached to handle his partner's gorgeous big breasts, he wanted it to be because she wanted him to—he had no wish to take what she didn't want to give.

"Look, I'm just telling you the Salacious Delta party protocols." Kat held up her hands in a "don't shoot" gesture. "You can try to get away without doing them, but you might get turned away if you don't show your submission to your Queen."

"This is crazy." Andi ran a hand through her hair again, which caused her breasts to jiggle enticingly—Thrax couldn't help noticing from the corner of his eye.

"Look, we won't do it if you don't want to," he told her. "Maybe we should tell Commander Sylvan he should send a mated and Bonded couple instead."

"No, that's silly." Andi made a shooing gesture. "We can do this—it just…took me off guard, that's all. But it's not like I'm afraid of you groping me or anything. I trust you, Thrax—we'll be okay. Besides, we need to find Commander Kier—who knows what awful things he's going through right now?"

Thrax thought he had some idea of what the hapless warrior was probably going through…but he was trying hard not to think about it.

"All right. Thank you for trusting me," he said shortly. "Maybe I should hold onto those for you. I think I have a pocket in this damn thing…"

"Sure." Andi handed over the nipple jewelry and he put it into the tiny side pocket he'd found in his kilt.

"I'm glad you two worked that out," Kat said. "Golden nipple jewelry is a status symbol on Salacious Delta—the longer the strands, the more wealth you have. I made sure to make it look like you're an extremely rich ‘Queen.'"

"Gee, thanks," Andi said, laughing. "This is turning out to be a really interesting mission and we haven't even left the Mother Ship yet!"

"So Andi gets nipple jewelry. What have you got for me—a cock ring?" Thrax tried to joke, but the words came out sounding harsh instead of humorous as unwanted memories of the last time he'd worn such a device filled his head. He cleared his throat. "Seriously though—what do I have to wear?" he asked Kat.

"For you, it's a little more subtle. But the men—the male-wives—all wear really elaborate eye makeup." Kat held out a small, black lacquered box to him. "Do you know how to use this?"

Thrax took the box and opened it up. Inside was a palate of different colored eye shadows as well as a little blue pencil with a black tip. There was also a black tube—he unscrewed it and pulled out a black wand with a feathery end which was coated in black goop.

"No," he said blankly, looking at Kat. "How the fuck am I supposed to use this stuff?"

"You don't have to worry about that—I'll do it." Andi took the small makeup kit from him and examined it. "How elaborate are we talking?" she asked Kat. "I used to do a mean smoky-eye back in my college days."

"That will work—and be sure to go heavy on the eyeliner," Kat advised her. "A male-wife with beautiful eyes is considered a status symbol. And don't complain," she added, looking at Thrax. "It could be worse—you could be going to Yonnie Six where you have to show off more than your eyes."

Her words brought on another unwanted flash of memory and for a moment, Thrax was lost in the past…

Kneeling before the Mistress, thighs spread, cock on display. The burning plum oil on my shaft keeps me achingly hard and always at attention. She takes me in her hand and strokes me. Goddess, it feels so damn good! So wrong and so right at the same time…

"What's the matter, my beautiful boy?" purred a throaty, feminine voice in his ear. "Do you need to come? It's been a long time since I let you spurt, hasn't it? Well, I'm afraid you'll have to hold back a little longer. That's right, I know it feels good when I touch you like this, but you mustn't come. If you do, you'll make your Mistress very angry and then I might have to punish you…"

"Hey, Thrax—you okay?"

Thankfully, Andi's voice brought him back to reality. Gods, what was wrong with him? He hadn't thought of that time in his life in years! His whole body felt tight and unnatural. Under the damn kilt he was wearing his cock was suddenly rock hard, even though the scars at the small of his back were burning.

"Thrax?" she asked again.

"Fine," he said, and cleared his throat. "Just…thinking. That's all."

"Thinking about what?" she persisted.

"The mission. Shouldn't we be going? They'll be folding space for us any minute."

"Just let me get your invitation to the party. I printed it for you from the digital one they sent me when I sent a request on your behalf," Kat said. She went out of the room and came back with a stiff piece of parchment. On it, written in elaborate golden script were the words,

Admit one Queen and one submissive and breedable male-wife to the Golden Feast of Queen Pantyitch Tieradaughter and her male-wife, Turg this fifth day of the month of Horstella.

"Panty-itch?" Thrax demanded. " Seriously?"

Kat shrugged.

"That's her name."

"Wow—that last name's a mouthful," Andi remarked, staring at the parchment.

"The Delta Salacions have a matronymic system of naming," Kat explained. "As opposed to a patronymic system, which most countries on Earth have. For instance, your last name is ‘Peterson'—somewhere far down on your father's side there was a man named Peter and his son ended up with the last name of ‘Peterson.' So instead of that, you take your mother's first name and add the word daughter to it—then you have a matronymic name."

"Huh…well, I guess that would make me ‘Andrea Elladaughter' then, since my mom's name is Ella," Andi remarked. "But what about Thrax—does he just go by his first name?"

"He can, but the people at the party will be expecting him to take your last name," Kat told her. "So for the purpose of this mission, you two are Queen Andi and Thrax Elladaughter."

"Okay. But what do they mean by ‘submissive and breedable'?" Andi asked, frowning.

Kat shrugged.

"Sorry, as to that, I can't tell you. I did a lot of research into their culture but not their sexual practices, since you hopefully won't be there for long. I can tell you that your male-wife is supposed to walk two steps behind you at all times. He's also not supposed to speak in the presence of women unless he is spoken to first. Basically, he just has to show you respect and keep his mouth shut."

"Well, Thrax isn't exactly a talkative guy." Andi looked up at him. "Are you?"

"No," Thrax said shortly.

"And…this won't be a problem?" Kat asked, raising her eyebrows. "Because a lot of human guys wouldn't like this—though plenty of human cultures still expect women to act like that around men."

"Not a problem," Thrax assured her. He didn't care if he had to walk two steps behind his partner and keep his mouth shut—as long as no one tied him or gagged him or forced him into a pain collar, he would be just fucking fine. "Andi takes the lead on this one—what's the big deal?" he said.

"Okay, then good." Kat nodded. "You'd better get going. Good luck on your mission—Commander Kier is a friend of my guys so both Deep and Lock are rooting for you to bring him back."

"We'll do our best," Andi promised her. She looked up at Thrax. "Come on—let's get to the ship."

"Right behind you, Queen." Thrax made an elaborate "after you" motion with one hand and his partner laughed and slapped him on the arm.

"You don't have to start that until we get to Salacious Delta, you know! Come on, let's go."

They left Kat's suite but inside Thrax was hoping that the mission would be simple…and quickly over. He truly didn't mind playing a submissive male…but he didn't want his past to bleed into his present, which was what he feared would happen if they played these parts for too long.