Page 355 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

I gaped at him, taken entirely off guard by the sound of my native language on his tongue. How was this possible? Emotion flooded me, a wave of homesickness for the planet I had been stolen from. I hadn’t heard anyone speak my language since the moment I’d gotten here; this was the first time.

“Miss?” he prompted me gently, and I found myself leaning in a little closer just to hear him better.

That’s when one of his head tentacles slipped from his shoulder and curled around my wrist, a gentle but firm weight.

It felt like normal skin touching mine, smooth and soft but with solid muscle beneath it all.

I wasn’t sure I could dislodge that thing if I wanted to.

“Oh,” I stammered out, my eyes dropping from his intriguing face down to the tablet and the strange appendage holding me.

“Uh, how about some stew? Can’t go wrong with that…

” I eyed the tentacle again as he nodded along, and his eyes finally dropped from my face to my wrist. They went wide in shock, and I saw him tilt his head and yank back, but the tentacle didn’t let go of me.

“It seems my head appendage is malfunctioning. My apologies,” he said.

I fought off a little burst of laughter that wanted to escape, muffling the sound by clasping my free hand over my mouth.

This guy might speak English, but he sure had an odd way of saying things.

Malfunctioning? He sounded like a computer.

Shaking my hand to try to dislodge his grip, I shrugged at the same time. “It’s all right,” I said, a little unsure what to make of it. At least he was grabbing me in an entirely innocuous place, but who grabbed a person without meaning to? This was just so… weird.

I managed to slide the long tentacle off with the edge of the tablet.

The strange male immediately snatched his appendage out of the air, gripping it with both hands and pressing it against his chest. It was writhing in his grip, but he managed to keep it restrained.

Then, the other one curled around his neck, reaching for me.

I could see the mortification and shock on his face. He really wasn’t doing that on purpose.

I stepped back, smile still in place. “Be right back. Just sit tight.” When I widened the gap between us, I could see those odd limbs settle down in his grip, going slack and calm once more.

Huh. Interesting. So, was it my proximity that was making them misbehave?

I suppose I got to test that theory when I brought him his order.

First, I had to deliver several more orders; I could already see lights flashing on my tablet, warning me. If I didn’t hurry this along, I’d piss off Drova for being slow. That was the last thing I needed when he was already so jumpy.

*

Akri

I watched the human female leave through hooded eyes.

She was small and dainty, but the way she’d gripped my appendage—strong, too.

I still couldn’t figure out what had caused my head limbs to malfunction so abhorrently.

Why would they grip her like that? Was this yet another way in which I had to learn to control this strange body?

I thought I’d finally progressed beyond that point.

My stomach cramped painfully, and I let go of my tentacles to grab hold of my belly. I should have eaten sooner, but I’d been caught up in my research; I had not noticed the hunger until I’d unplugged. I hoped she would bring me the food quickly; this was quite uncomfortable to deal with.

Swiveling my head, I tried to keep her in sight as she progressed through the room.

She was clad in a short black dress, her pale legs bare beneath the skirt.

A spotlessly white apron was tied around her middle, and a red scarf was snugly wrapped around her slender neck.

When I took in the rest of the diner-bar, I could only conclude that she was the cleanest thing around.

A spot of bright cleanliness in a sea of grubby patrons.

Even the floor of this establishment was a mess, covered in a fine layer of sawdust meant to soak up any kind of spillage.

It filled the air with a musky scent, but the most prevalent smells were those of unwashed bodies, sweat, and more pleasant food aromas.

It was very busy, and now that I was paying attention to my surroundings, I was starting to realize that this was not a very safe place to be.

My eyes went back to Jenny. The human waitress was delivering a heavy tray of food to a rowdy table.

I was impressed with how she balanced the entire thing on a single hand without tipping it as she unloaded plates of food.

My eyes narrowed when I realized she had the added difficulty of dodging the hands reaching for her person.

A noise rattled through my body, the skin along my back twitching, and my tentacles curled, the tips forming solid knots.

I struggled to analyze what was happening to me.

Why was I rumbling like this? It sounded like the growls my friend Fierce made when he felt something threatened his mate.

I didn’t have a mate, so that couldn’t be it.

Was I feeling threatened? I didn’t believe so.

Jenny was already moving again, my eyes tracking her automatically.

Her physical characteristics were pleasing.

She was fair-skinned, with brown hair up in a high ponytail that bounced cheerfully with each step she took.

The red scarf at her neck drew my attention; I wanted to know what her skin felt like beneath it.

Would it be soft? I was startled by the strange thought; the desire to touch a being was entirely new.

When she suddenly turned, our eyes met as if they were magnets drawn together.

Hers were a soft mixture of green and brown; hazel.

I wondered if she would think my eyes were strange.

They most closely resembled those of an Aderian, and I knew the humans on the Vagabond thought Aderian eyes looked scary.

The moment seemed to draw out, but a warm smile remained on her face.

She was so cheerful and welcoming, handling this crowd of rowdy males with grace and warmth.

Did she not find their unwashed bodies distasteful, or their rude behavior off-putting?

I focused more on her expression—on the way she moved—trying to decipher her true mood and feelings.

I was still learning this; it wasn’t as natural to me as it was for those born with a body.

I was starting to think that maybe Jenny was just putting up a front, hiding what she was really thinking.

A cold feeling washed over me, distracting me from my urgent hunger.

What if she was putting on that act around me too?

What if she’d really hated it when my tentacle gripped her slender wrist?

She’d smiled and said it was fine, but I’d learned that most species said one thing, but often thought another.

I didn’t like the thought that this single kind human didn’t like me.

She was such a familiar sight to me, ever since my days on the Vagabond, where ten humans made their home—and sometimes even more.

“Hi,” she said when she approached me again, a bowl of fragrant stew on her tray and a dozen drinks that couldn’t be for me.

Up close, I could see a smattering of pale little freckles across the bridge of her nose.

They were interesting, and I had the strange desire to count them all, my eyes roving over them despite the more urgent needs of my empty stomach.

Fifty-six, I thought, but I had a feeling she might have more of those fascinating spots in other places on her body.

I desperately wanted to know if that was true.

She set the bowl down in front of me, followed by a tall glass of water, which I hadn’t ordered but should have; I appreciated the thoughtfulness. Then my eyes grew wide when my tentacles got away from me again; this time, both of them curled around her closest arm, gently pulling her toward me.

“Oh no,” I said, reaching out to grab them, in a hurry to disentangle them from her fragile arm.

Why were they doing that?! When I first gained possession of this body, it had been hard to control these extra limbs, but lately they had followed my commands.

Right now, it felt like they were a foreign part of me, and any progress I’d made was gone.

She laughed, and I noticed a little pinkness along her cheeks as she did so.

“It’s alright, they just like me, I guess.

” Dancing a little out of the way, she shook her hand, and they finally slid off.

I drew in a deep breath, hoping that the practice would calm the unsettled feeling in my belly.

Was that just the hunger talking, or was it something else?

This felt strange and different; I couldn’t be sure what it meant.

More data was required before I could draw a conclusion.

“I should still apologize. I didn’t mean to touch you without permission,” I said gently. I knew what my friends had been through, and something suddenly felt tight in my chest. At least this girl was just working at a bar—she wasn’t enslaved as they had been; she could leave if she wanted to.

The pinkness was still there in her cheeks.

I liked the way it looked; it held a certain kind of appeal I couldn’t explain.

“That’s all right, I didn’t mind,” she said.

She drew in a deep breath, her shoulders expanding with the movement.

Tilting her head left and right, she seemed to be checking our surroundings before she dared to lean in a little closer once more.

“Listen, watch your back, okay? You look a little too fancy for this place. Someone might jump you on the way out.”

Ah, she was concerned for my well-being.

I felt a flush of heat rise up along my chest—I liked that—but she didn’t need to worry.

If anything, she needed to worry about whatever fool tried.

This body was a well-oiled fighting machine; it was the one scenario in which I still felt out of control.

If it came down to a fight, instincts would kick in, and I couldn’t do anything but ride out the wave.

Distracting myself from the worrisome thought and the prospect of a possible fight, I focused on Jenny.

It was easy to let her presence be the only thing that filled me.

I very much liked looking at her face, with its pleasing, even features.

“Thank you for the warning. My designation is Akri,” I said to her, and I stuck out my hand in greeting, the way I knew was customary for humans.