Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

VYA

I have a fucking ruby in my belly button!

That thought echoed in my head as I slowly woke. The wonder of that novelty faded as I considered the weight of the arm draped over my waist and the events that had led up to my keeper giving me a handful of precious gems.

First, another weird shower that involved way too much handling of my bits. Then seeing him for the first time. He looked different. Very different. But nothing like the other ones, and I was grateful. Was that why I'd wanted him to hold me when I'd started crying? Possibly, considering what this alien had taken me away from.

I hadn't felt so grateful, though, when he'd made me eat while straddling his lap. He'd been impossibly insistent about it. I still couldn't believe I'd forgotten myself and lashed out with an elbow.

I'd regretted it the moment I'd reacted and had thought for sure I'd suffer in some way. However, instead of punishing me, he'd comforted me. And then he'd gone right back to pushing my legs apart, wearing me down until he got his way in the end.

I hadn't liked it. In fact, it had terrified me. I'd been sure his hands would slip between my legs and fondle me like he had in the shower. Or worse, that he would reach for his pants. I sure had been in a perfect position. But he hadn't done any of that. He'd continued to pet me and comfort me while I ate in an unnecessary and uncomfortably exposing position.

The whole experience had left me shaken. And what had I done when I'd finished eating? I'd leaned into him, looking for another comforting hug.

How messed up was that?

Even now, with him pressed up against me while he wore pants but I wore nothing, I resented him and felt comforted by him. There had to be some kind of weird Stockholm-type condition going on because nothing about how I felt around him made sense.

He made me severely uncomfortable but also comforted me. He wouldn't give me any clothes but gave me a handful of gems.

And the way I'd reacted after he'd given me the handful of precious gems ranging in size from a quarter of a carat to the size of my damn eyeball worried me. I'd taken my priceless treasures to that big box and alternated between staring at them and staring at him as he shoveled the rest of the gems into other empty boxes with lids.

He wasn't only big. He was incredibly strong, too. Strong enough to force me to do whatever he wanted. But he didn't force. He coaxed with a persistence that felt too gentle to call force.

His hand moved over my stomach, his finger tracing around the ruby I'd stuck in my belly button.

Surprised because I'd thought him asleep, I twisted around and was met with those solid blue orbs.

"Good morning?" Without windows, I wasn't sure if it was day or night. But that wasn't the reason for the question in my voice. Each time I'd slept, it had been alone so far. I wondered what it meant that he was sleeping next to me now.

He said something back to me, trailing his fingers over my face and down my arms. Then back to my ruby-filled navel.

"I really hope you're going to let me keep that. It was a perfect fit. Maybe we could go back, and I can pick out some different colors this size?"

I thought of all the other stones I'd sorted through that hadn't fit and sat up suddenly. I'd fallen asleep on the box and had left?—

The little pile of gems he'd given me waited in one of the otherwise empty cubbies above the bed.

Looking around the room more closely, I verified what I'd determined the day before. There were no clothes in there. In fact, the entire time we'd roamed the ship, I hadn't seen a single article of clothing except for the pants he wore and that creepy suit that crept over his head.

If my choice was naked or a suit that moved on its own, I'd take naked.

He held up a hand and gently directed one of mine to press against his, palm to palm. His four fingers and thumb could have easily curled over the tops of mine, reaffirming my assessment regarding his size.

While we were palm to palm, he reached out and ran the back of a finger over my nipple. Then he tugged my free hand to his chest and ran my fingers over the spot where his nipple should have been.

"Yeah, we're different, aren't we?" I said, feeling surprisingly calm.

We stared at each other for a moment before my stomach interrupted with a growl.

He flashed me a smile, got out of bed, and held out his hand. Resigned to another day walking around naked, I let him help me from the bed.

"Before we eat, can you show me where the bathroom is?" I cupped between my legs like I had the day before and hoped that today he would understand.

His silvery brows furrowed, and he said something. It hit me then that we both kept talking even though we couldn't understand each other. I wondered if he was simply comforted by the sound of another voice like I was. After all our time together before I'd fallen asleep, I hadn't seen or heard another crew member.

He set his hand on my back and picked me up. I snuggled against him, wondering again why it felt so good and safe to be in his arms. Never mind the way his supporting arm wrapped around me enough for him to stroke the back of my thigh, dangerously close to my slit and ass. Why didn't that bother me more?

The introspective question upset me, and I turned my head toward the bare expanse of his chest, seeking more comfort from him.

He said something low and slow, just the way that helped anchor me, and headed into another room a short distance from the bedroom.

The room wasn't a large space. The walls had small holes near the top and bottom on three sides. Other than the holes and a rectangular pad on the back wall, I didn't see else.

He set me down near the pad and tapped a few symbols on the screen. A flexible metal tube extended from the base of the nearest wall panel and curved upward to about waist height.

I stared at the baseball-sized opening in confusion.

"If that's a toilet, there's going to be a mess," I said, finally looking up at him.

He said something, gently took me by the shoulders, and backed me up toward it.

"Seriously, I don't pee straight down, no matter what it looked like yesterday. Don't you have something a little bigger?"

He nudged my feet wide apart with his foot.

"I can't?—"

The thing suddenly moved, attaching to my labia and between my cheeks with light suction.

A startled squawk escaped me.

He said something and smoothed his hands down my arms. The suction increased in intensity. Nothing painful. In fact, the suction on my clit was sending all kinds of wrong signals to my brain. Until I felt something probe my backside.

My eyes went wide, and I grabbed for my keeper.

"Get this off of me!"

He spoke slow and low, but his attempt at calming me was wasted as the machine massaged and then robbed me of everything, quickly and efficiently.

Shaking from the undignified trauma of the experience, I stayed right where I was, leaning into him while he stroked his hands over my arms and down my back.

"I'm never going to the bathroom again," I whispered. "That wasn't natural. I'd rather hold it until I die."

He made soothing sounds until my trembling stopped and then reached out for the pad again. I hurried away from him and that damn section of wall. When he made a rumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, I narrowed my eyes at him. Only to whirl around a minute later when I heard a metal-on-metal noise behind me.

Thankfully, it wasn't another tube emerging but a bench. I exhaled with relief.

"Right. Shower time. This I can do. If you hit the button for the soap, I can wash myself this time."

Cleanser hit my back from shoulders to tailbone in rapid succession.

"I said I could do it," I grumbled, reaching around for a palmful. When I looked at the soap, it wasn't soapy at all. But it did have a pretty iridescence to it.

His hand clamped down on my shoulder to keep me steady while he started rubbing it into my back in small circles. I rolled my eyes at his persistence and brought the cleanser to my nose to smell it. The scent wasn't anything floral or overpowering but had a subtle quality that reminded me of my keeper.

I rubbed the handful into my arm. It didn't suds up, but the more I rubbed, the more my skin shimmered. His hands made quick work of my back, and I mentally braced myself for another unwanted invasion. He smoothed his hand over each butt cheek, and with a healthy helping of cleanser, slipped between them. Only it didn't feel invasive. Not like his alien toilet had. In fact, each gentle swipe helped remove that lingering feeling.

Without his prompting, I widened my stance a little more, willing to erase the memory.

The thumb of his anchoring hand swept over my shoulder, and he said something. The hand between my cheeks disappeared only to return with more cleanser. I didn't mind being double-washed back there today. His touch was far preferable to that possessed space toilet.

As he worked his way down my legs, I was feeling pretty darn relaxed.