Page 65 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Kitan

The cast on my arm was itching like mad; I was so ready to be done with it.

In the gladiator stables, they’d have shot me full of experimental healing drugs, bone growth hormones—whatever it took.

I’d never had to take the natural, long way to heal a broken arm.

To be fair to the Doc, this was obviously the healthiest way to do it; didn’t mean I enjoyed it.

The tissue regenerator had done a lot for the burns and bruising, but it didn’t help much with bone fractures.

Since I wasn’t one of the fast-healing races, I had to settle for this itchy cast around my arm.

At least I only had two more days to go.

I couldn’t wait to shift at will, to slide into my skin-form and fur-form, to just be who I was supposed to be as a Sune.

For now, I settled for a quick shower to relieve the itching, though it sucked to dry my fur in hybridform.

Today, we were arriving at Strewn, and in another hour, I’d be required on the bridge to initiate the docking procedures.

I wanted to come across as professional, like I was a respectable pilot and not an escaped slave, but it was hard to remember what that was like.

I was just drying myself when there was a knock on the door.

I spun and held out my towel to cover my lower half, but the door swished open so quickly that I wasn’t sure if I was in time.

I cursed internally. It wasn’t just anyone at my door, either; Diamed strode into my quarters with a smug grin and draped herself across the lower bunk of one of the two bunk beds in my crew quarters.

The tall, beautiful Sune female smirked as she took in my towel-clad form.

Her golden eyes lingered on the cloth draped around my hips.

I imagined she was trying to strike a seductive pose in her leather pants and tight white tank top.

It was clear she wore nothing underneath, as I could see the outline of her nipples.

All I felt was a sense of panic. Had she seen my tails? Had I been too late with the towel? Surely, if she’d seen them, she’d say something. Damn it—why had she even been able to enter just like that? Hadn’t my door been locked?

“I feel like you’ve been avoiding me,” she drawled, making no secret of perusing my bared chest. She even went so far as to lean to the side to try to look around me at my tails—or maybe she was just trying to check out my ass.

Panic clawed at my throat, closing up my vocal cords so that nothing came out.

I forced myself to shake my head, which made her grin and shift her pose, pushing out her chest even more.

“As the only two Sune aboard this stitched-together ship, shouldn’t we try to stick together?

” she offered. I shook my head again and managed to clamp the towel more tightly around my hips, though my tails didn’t like the tight curl I was forcing them into.

I sucked up the discomfort and backed up toward where my kilt was, snatching it up.

“One second, Diamed. I’d prefer to get dressed if you suddenly feel like talking. ”

She gave a throaty, husky chuckle but didn’t object when I backed into the tiny shower area and locked the damn door behind me.

I rushed into my kilt, keeping my back to the wall the entire time, fearing that she’d somehow get into this room uninvited as well.

Thankfully, she didn’t, and when I stepped outside, she was standing near where my meager amount of personal belongings lay spread out across one of the top bunks.

She didn’t turn to look at me until I crossed the room, opened the door, crossed my arms over my chest, and leaned against the wall beside it.

Then, she raised an eyebrow, the picture of surprise.

“Don’t want me here, do you?” she said as she sauntered my way, swaying her hips, clearly trying to display all her best assets.

“Your loss, big boy. You’d be passing up on something fantastic here.

Things would work out well for you if you took a bite.

” She gestured down her body, stepping close to me so that her scent all but surrounded me—a common Sune flirting tactic.

I shrugged—something I could do again without my ribs acting up.

“Whatever, not interested. I suggest you get out now and don’t invite yourself in again.

” I didn’t protest when she placed her palms on my chest to lean in, pressing her face against the side of my snout to nuzzle, but I did pull away, turning my head so she couldn’t quite reach.

“Not interested,” I reiterated more firmly.

She dropped down on her heels and stepped back, a pout on her face that wasn’t sultry this time but clearly ticked off. “Your loss,” she hissed, her lips pulling up into a snarl that displayed the sharp canines characteristic of Sune, even in their skin-form.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Now get out of my room.” There was a last lingering glare from the female before the expression on her face smoothed out, and she sauntered out of the room as if the whole interaction hadn’t happened.

The moment she was gone and her scent started to clear from my quarters, I became aware of another scent—one that was far more pleasant to me.

Chloe. She was standing out in the corridor.

Immediately, I stepped out and looked for her, our eyes meeting instantly.

It never, ever got old—the way that felt like magnets locking, something invisible connecting us.

Every time it happened, my heart sped up, and everything inside me told me this was unique and that I should never squander it.

Which, obviously, meant the only thing I could come up with to say was the inane and ever-popular, “Hi.”

She was standing with her back against the wall, right across from my door, and must have seen at least part of my interaction with Diamed.

She didn’t say anything, for a moment, a serious cast to her eyes that I wasn’t used to seeing.

Often, she was a little skittish, a little nervous when around the others.

Though I was proud to see how she’d gotten out of her shell a lot already, each day she seemed to trust my brothers and the other humans a little more, appearing more comfortable in the more form-fitting clothes.

When she was with me, she was mostly relaxed, smiling at the things I said and talking with full animation about the things she loved: gladiator statistics, navigational trivia, and a vast amount of knowledge about half a dozen entertainment feed dramas she followed.

I liked that tidbit very much; it showed her character—that she’d found slices of happiness wherever she could despite her difficult upbringing aboard the pirate vessel.

Helping us locate the smuggling hatches installed aboard the ship had given her a sense of self-worth, too. Even if most had only contained booze, there had been a few that housed some expensive-looking gems. Abby had been absolutely delighted to add their value to our credit stash.

“Hi,” she said eventually, and there was that smile I loved—tentative but warm and friendly.

She gave me a tiny little wave and then pointed to the deck above us.

“I figured you’d be heading to the bridge for the docking portion?

Would you like some company?” I beamed at her; she’d come to seek out my presence!

We were making progress. I nodded before turning to make sure my crew quarters were locked up tight.

I didn’t want to run the risk of Diamed coming back here and snooping or something.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I told her once we started toward the lifts. “I’ve been trying to avoid her as much as I can.” There was a girlish giggle, and then her hand found mine and held on.

“I know. It’s been obvious that you duck out of a room if she enters it. Is it because of, you know?” Her eyes darted to my kilt, where only one of my three tails was poking through the slit in it. When I nodded, she squeezed my fingers. “That the only reason you avoid her?”

Delighted with the direct question, I grinned down at her blonde head. She was studiously avoiding looking in my direction now. “I’m not interested in her, Chloe. She’s not my type. I’ve got a thing for blondes these days.”

Her eyes darted up, blue and bright; they sparkled with an emotion that I couldn’t define, but I sure hoped it was something positive. “I see. Should I warn Tori?”

Ah, my little joker. Thought she could play with me, did she? “Tori’s not a natural blonde; her roots are showing.” Her peals of laughter were music to my ears.

***

Chloe

Unlike the other girls, I didn’t want to go out into the cavernous halls that made up the Strewn space station.

I’d been there a few times before and hadn’t liked the noise and the crowds; it had felt like just another place where I had to tread carefully and go unnoticed.

The two girls weren’t going out alone—nearly all the gladiators were accompanying them, including Ziame.

He had found a cloak with a hood somewhere to cover himself up somewhat.

I thought the disguise was rather in vain; everyone would recognize the Beast.

“Who is overseeing the hull patching?” I asked Kitan.

The big Sune was lazily sprawled in the pilot chair, his golden eyes and pointed ears occasionally flicking my way.

We were the only two on the bridge; Diamed had skulked off as soon as she’d finished the last FTL jump.

I’d avoided watching those so far during the journey but had watched with envy this time around.

The look in Kitan’s eyes told me he’d rather have me jumping with him than the hostile female, which at least made me feel better.