Page 64 of Galaxy Gladiators Romance Box Set #11-19

Chapter Three

Z oey

We women pile into two hovers and travel one hour east to the fair. I’m excited and terrified, but try to focus on my enthusiasm and ignore the fear.

I wind up sitting next to KJ and her adorable son Bran’Zen who’s about a year old.

“You’re dying to hold him, I can tell,” she says, an easy smile on her face. Before I can answer, she slides the sleeping baby into my arms and I cradle him to my chest.

“I forgot how great babies smell,” I say, my voice hushed, partly not to wake him and partly out of reverence. I yearn for a family someday, but I can’t bring a baby onto a fighting ship that’s constantly running from our enemies. Besides, my family taught me a lot of crazy stuff, but I learned one thing—you can’t fix a broken marriage by adding a baby.

Until recently, I wasn’t honest enough to consider my marriage broken, but it’s certainly not healthy. I’m glad I’ve decided both Steele and I deserve more, and I’m going to do everything in my power to use the foundation of our love to build a great relationship that fulfills us both in every way.

When we pay our admission, we’re each given a computer pad loaded with all the information about the fair, showtimes for all the entertainment, and a map because this place is immense.

“Okay,” says Naomi. She’s an interesting woman with a ramrod-straight back and a penchant for detail. She’s in her early forties, I think, the oldest of all of us by far. She took charge on Fairea and it’s amazing all they’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.

At first, comms from the women on Fairea were full of complaints about her, but it sounds as if she’s calmer and a bit more relaxed lately. I guess “more relaxed” is relative, because she’s still wound pretty tight.

“There are twenty of us. That’s too many people to track, especially with miles of pathways and hundreds of booths. Let’s split into smaller groups and meet back at the hovers in three hours. Check your wrist-comms. See you then.”

KJ and I try to follow the herd, but keeping twenty excited Earth women together is about as productive as herding cats. We decide to strike off by ourselves toward the booths.

Captain Zar loaded each of our wrist-comms with a generous amount of credits before we left the Fool’s Errand . I want to find something wonderful to give Steele for the holiday.

My family didn’t believe in a lot of things: playing cards, gambling, and dancing were only a few.

We also didn’t give presents, believing that it cheapened the true spirit of the holiday. This year, though, I’m going to do things differently. I’m going to spend as much as I want on my mate.

In addition to the mom-and-pop booths, there are some large venues here. Some are permanent structures in large tents like old-fashioned Barnum and Bailey big tops. I did some research before we arrived and am dying to see some of the shows the fair is known for, especially the one where the males joust on mronck -back. It will be just like I heard they have at the Ren Fests back on Earth, except the horses here have six legs instead of four.

But we don’t have time for that now. I plan on just doing recon today. Well, if I see something fantastic that Steele might like, I’ll buy it. But I want to return another day with my mate.

Despite my promise to myself that I’d go up one side and down the other, I keep crossing the aisle to check out amazing things that catch my eye.There are woven goods, woodwork, stained glass, and pictures made with every medium in the galaxy. There is leatherwork—that’s what Revikk, Dawn’s new mate, does. They have a booth here. There is so much cool stuff I feel like a kid in a candy shop.

When we arrive at a whole aisle of baby clothes and handmade toys, I glance at the time on my wrist-comm and ask KJ if she’d mind splitting up and meeting back at the hover. Being around all the baby stuff makes me a bit sad and jealous, so I’d rather separate.

KJ seemed relieved to split, knowing she was spending more time at the baby shops than I wanted.

Now I take my time at booths that interest me and dash past others.

It takes me a moment to recognize what I’m seeing when I pass a shop with a colorful, tent-like awning painted in all the colors of the rainbow. When I finally comprehend what my eyes are seeing, my cheeks heat and I hurry past it.

I don’t think I’m mistaken. I think that was a sex shop. Stopping at the next booth, I pick up a soft, knitted shawl and pretend to inspect it while what I’m really doing is focusing on the long tables that form the three sides of the front of the booth next door. The tables butt against a small shack-like structure at the back of the booth where the owner must hang out in the heat of the day.

“Human?” a female voice calls to me. I heard this once or twice when I was walking with KJ. It was usually in a deep male’s voice and seemed more like a proposition than a friendly hello.

I look up from the wares on the sex store’s tables to see a human female. She has long, light brown hair, and her cinnamon eyes are staring straight at me. “Are you human?” she asks. “Where are you from?”

Am I hallucinating? Not only is she from Earth, but I could swear she has a southern accent. As a true Southerner born and bred, I’d wager she’s from the next state over from my home state of Alabama. “Are you from Georgia?” The shocked tone of my voice is so high it’s squeaky.

“Athens, Georgia,” she says proudly, a large smile on her face.

“Montgomery, Alabama,” I respond.

My curiosity overrides my fear, and I set the shawl back on the table and approach her.

“I’m Emily Jane Trevanian, née Jackson,” she says happily as she reaches her hand to shake mine.

“Zoey Steele née Phillips,” I reply. “Wow, fancy meeting you here.”

We both seem to examine each other’s necks for a moment, then she observes, “You’re not wearing a slave collar.”

“Free woman,” I declare, “until I’m caught and returned to my old owner.”

I freeze, suddenly aware I just admitted to a perfect stranger in public that I’m on the run from the law. My heart pounds like a jackhammer and my eyes dart down the path as I wonder if I can make a run for it.

“Are you worried I’ll report you, honey? Are you crazy? I’m just glad to meet another Earth girl. Come into our shop.”

She escorts me past the tables and into the small shop in the back. It’s cooler in here, and not as bright. Aside from sex toys in the shape of male members of a hundred alien species, there are dozens of things whose purpose I can’t imagine.

As she makes me a cup of tea, I discard my desire to keep moving. I’m dying to find out what this human is doing on Fairea. She tells me she and her two Earth friends are all here, living within blocks of each other. They all married purple males from a planet called Zinn.

Thrusting her wrist-comm in front of me, she shows me pictures of her hunky Zinn mate, as well as pictures of the three couples in one shot at a wedding. “That’s me, my mate Trev, his son Arzz, and Arzz’s mate Spirit. This is Sinn and his mate, Dakota. The six of us own this shop and make most of our stock ourselves. Dakota makes the molds, Arzz specializes in bulk sales, the rest of us do production. Except for Sinn, who teaches archaeology at the university.”

“There are a bunch of Earth women at Sanctuary about an hour away. I may be out of line, but I probably have permission to invite you all to visit for our Blessed Peace Day celebration,” I say.

I’m blown away by this interesting turn of events, but even more surprised by how easy it is to talk to Emily Jane.

During a lull in the conversation, while Emily pours me some tea, she catches my fixation on her wares.

“Anything catch your fancy? First toy is free for all Earth girls from Alabama.” Her smile would be infectious if I wasn’t dumbstruck by her offer.

My vow to change my life is on perma-repeat in my head. What’s that old saying? If ya keep doin’ what ya been doin’, you’re gonna keep gettin’ what ya been gettin’. If I want things to change, I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone. By the look of things in this shop, it will be way, way out of my comfort zone.

“Umm,” I say, then glance into the teacup like the tea leaves are going to have all the answers.

“You’re mated. If he’s like most of the male aliens I’ve heard of, he’s big. Perhaps you’d like something smaller for your back door?”

It takes me long seconds for what she said in English to penetrate my stunned brain, then more long seconds to quit stammering.

“No, no. I don’t need…”

Zoey Steele née Phillips , I scold myself, you do need. You may not need something for your “back door,” but you definitely need something . Who better to discuss this with than Emily Jane Trevanian, née Jackson? You don’t have to fly away on a ship with her. You never have to see her again. And goodness knows, look around. Nothing you say is going to shock her.

Everything comes spilling out. First, I tell her how I love my mate more than life itself and assure her he’s the best male to walk this or any other planet. Then I stammer and stumble and stop completely until I finally blurt out, “I can’t come. I’m broken.”

Emily moves into sex therapist mode as if she went to school for it. Perhaps it’s part of what she does as she manages her booth. For whatever reason, she’s calm and cool and goes into fact-finding mode, asking about Steele’s techniques and my responses.

It doesn’t take long for her to find out the long list of prohibitions—sexual and otherwise—that I grew up with in my childhood.

“I’d bet money the problem is in your head, Zoey. You’re not broken. Don’t say that again. Don’t even think it. So tell me, how do you masturbate and how are your orgasms when you’re alone?”

How can a person say those words with the same inflection as if they were asking what type of tea I like? My face must be crimson because my cheeks are so hot I’m certain you could fry an egg on them.

“I…” I clamp my lips together, unable to say another word.

Emily plies me with more tea and we talk about the three couples and how they wound up on Fairea. Finally, when my mouth is working again, she says, “Let me make this easier for you, Zoey. When you masturbate, do you use your fingers or a vibrator?”

Easier? Really?

“Umm…”

“Just nod. Fingers?”

I don’t move.

“Vibrator?”

I still don’t move.

For a woman who can talk about sex and alien cocks and who makes them for a living, I’ve finally surprised her. Her pretty pink lips pop open, then clamp closed.

“I thought you meant you can’t come with your mate, but you’ve never had an orgasm, have you?”

I shake my head.

She scooches closer, grabs my wrists, and looks straight into my eyes. “Sweetie, you’re going to have one tonight. I’m going to send you home with an arsenal of equipment from our shop. You’re going to encourage your mate to have a few drinks with the males he hasn’t seen in a while, and then you’re going to make it very clear he’s not to come back for four hours. Got it?”

Emily’s a force of nature. I don’t think she’s used to hearing no for an answer. I simply nod.

“You’re going to take a nice, long bath. There’s a booth seven doors down that has the yummiest bath salts. You’re going to buy a few on your way back to the hover lot.”

She waits for my agreement, so I nod.

“Then you’re going to put on pretty music from your wrist-comm. Look up music by Grace. Rumor has it she’s from Earth. It’s the sweetest, most ethereal music I’ve heard since I left Georgia.”

I don’t know where I get the courage to say, “You’ll meet Grace if you come to Sanctuary for the holiday. She’s the pilot’s mate from the Devil’s Playground . They’ll be there, too.”

“So cool! I’ll try not to fangirl her.” She fans herself with her hand, then gets right back on topic, “So you’re going to take a long bath that smells divine while you listen to Grace’s soft, sweet music and you’re going to think about how much you love Steele. Got it?”

“Yes.” I nod. I can definitely do this.

“Then you’re going to think about his cock.”

Clang! I can actually hear my protective walls go up around me.

“Say it, Zoey. Say ‘I’m going to think about my beloved mate’s beautiful cock’.”

She waits patiently for me, but I finally gather my courage to repeat it.

“And then you’re going to think about the sexual things you like. I’m getting to know you, Zoey. I know you can’t say them out loud, but I want you to nod at the appropriate times. Okay?”

I nod.

“Do you like when he touches your breasts?”

I nod.

“Do you enjoy his mouth on your breasts?”

I nod.

We go through half a dozen things I love. All the while, her smile gets bigger and bigger.

“So I want you to think about all those things until you get that needy feeling deep in your pelvis. You’ve felt that before, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then you’re going to dry off and slide into bed and you’re going to try this little bad boy right here.” She shows me a small bullet-shaped implement, then turns it on and touches my thigh with it. “You’re just going to touch it all over, maybe right here, maybe your nipples, and when the needy feeling gets a bit needier, you can explore between your legs. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Maybe you’ll come tonight, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll want to try one of the bigger, more powerful vibrators tonight, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll be ready to try again tomorrow, maybe you won’t. The outcome isn’t important. Just promise you’ll do what I told you tonight and that tonight won’t be the last time you try. Can you promise?”

I close my eyes and think. I’m not a liar. I won’t promise something I can’t follow through on.

“Yes. I promise. I want to feel good, and even more than that, I want to give this to Steele.”

Her face is so expressive, all her happiness bleeds away as she shakes her head at me. “It has to be for you, Zoey. Okay? When you can find your own pleasure, it will make Steele happy. Once you can make yourself come, you and your mate can figure out how to make it happen between the two of you.”

I realize I’m going to have to hurry to get to the hover on time, especially if I’m going to stop to buy bath salts on the way.

Emily won’t accept any money for the bag of vibrators I walk away with, and I promise to get back to her about the holiday invitation.

“You’ll do great,” she calls after me. “It’s not a mission like climbing Everest. Try to be in the moment!”

Steele

I had fun with my comrades as we cleaned the arena that probably hasn’t been used in over a century. Sanctuary is hundreds of rextans . It’s bordered by the river on one side, mountains on another, bluffs on a third, and a forest on the fourth.

We think it began as a small village and grew over time. Structures that are still standing indicate that at one point it housed hundreds. The arena is large enough to accommodate a thousand. The village must have lost its inhabitants until it was partially renovated by Daneur Khour.

When we were here before, I didn’t have time to inspect the arena, but I’ve been wanting to check it out. I love to fight now that I don’t fight to the death. It makes me feel… powerful.

Sadness slices through me at that thought. I love Zoey with all my heart, but not being able to fulfill her in bed makes me feel worse than when I lose a gladiatorial match. I’ve tried everything, but the harder I try, the worse we both feel.

I’d rather use my hand in the shower, but it makes her feel she’s failed me, so we’ve come to an unspoken agreement that when she wishes to be sexual with me, we do what she wants. We’ve tried everything and nothing works. It’s awkward to be sexual together, and it’s awkward for me to take care of myself. No matter how we try to deal with it, it ends badly.

I’ve worried about Zoey all afternoon. She’s skittish around others. It doesn’t matter whether it’s males or females. I hope everything went well on her trip to the fair.

The two hovers return from their outing, and I dust off my hands as we all migrate toward the barn where they house the hovers.

I’m filled with relief, my shoulders relaxing, when I see my mate step out of the hover with a shy smile and a bag of things she bought at the fair.

“Have fun?” I ask as I approach her and slide my arm around her waist.

“Yes. I had fun.”

Sometimes she says things just to remove my worries, but I think she’s genuinely calm and happy.

“I met an Earth girl, Emily Jane, who has two other friends from Earth. They’re all married to purple Zinns. I’m going to ask Naomi and Dhoom if they can join us for our Blessed Peace Celebration.”

“Sounds great!”

Zoey made a friend? I’m astonished.

“You’re a dirty sweatball, Steele. Did you have fun?”

“It was great to work in the arena and have fun with my friends,” I say, even as I wonder how long it’s been since Zoey was so loose and easy around me.

“Let’s get you in the shower, and then you’re going to eat and hang with your friends for a while. I bought some fancy bath salts and want some time alone. Think I could have a couple of hours?”

Is my Zoey asking directly for what she wants? I can’t help but wonder what happened on her outing, but I’m thrilled she’s so comfortable.

“You want some time for a long, relaxing bath? No problem.” If our relationship was like the other mating couples on the ship, I could expect a fulfilling session in our bed tonight when I come home. I steer my thoughts away from that, though. Zoey may be acting differently, but nothing has changed that much.

“You’re the best male I’ve ever met, Steele,” she says, then lifts on tiptoes and pulls me down for a kiss.