Page 30 of No Strings Attached (Mated Fates #1)

The Ophidians had finally relented after what felt like a million hours of negotiations, agreeing to give Steve an endpoint device. Then they had brought out a contract writer, a fucking contract writer , and had the terms formalized. Everyone signed.

Vi gathered that their biggest fear was someone getting hold of the device and using it to invade Serpentia, a fear she could understand. They had had to promise to only traverse the wormhole in the direst of circumstances. Even still, the Ophidians had made it clear that they would be anchoring the other end within a secure, monitored room. If something happened that caused them to use the device and enter Serpentia, they would find themselves in a fortified enclosure with no escape until the Ophidians came and retrieved them.

Now, the whole Ophidian party had retreated to their quarters and the reception was dying down. Vi was sitting on a loveseat between Caussus and Trak—Acken and Mister Beastly guarding from behind, Friend at her feet, and Steve slithering on the metal framework above. She was downing another pink fizzy drink when Jarxtan Prag approached and bowed. She sighed, inwardly only, but goddamn she was tired. And hungry. And tired of being naked. And wishing Bobby was there. She looked forward to getting up to their rooms where she assumed he was waiting.

Vi forced a smile and said, “Honorable Jarxtan Prag, good to see you again.”

“Queen Violet, your security authorization for the residential section and your suite.” He took a box out of his pocket and handed her a wafer.

She just held it, looking at him questioningly.

He sighed, “You eat it, my queen. It is encoded for a half-life of 10 days. It will allow you access to the section and your suite.”

Vi nodded, unfazed, and popped it in her mouth as Prag passed them out to the others, and she took great amusement in watching Prag have to place the wafer directly on Steve’s tongue. That done, she looked around at her boys and said, “I’m ready for this day to be over. How about you guys? Honorable Jarxtan Prag, how do we find our suite?”

He frowned at her, “I showed the Trallian and the barefoot gentlemen up there earlier. They did not return?”

She smiled, “Bobby and Valis. No, they didn’t. They’re probably waiting for us up there. Would you like to lead us?”

His irritated body language made it clear the answer was no, but he said, “Yes, my queen. Follow me.”

Vi barely registered the trip through the station. She was daydreaming about locking the door on her and Bobby’s room in the suite and staying there for days, as Acken had promised she could. She had worked so hard to suppress her desire for him since those last days on the asteroid, and through the long trip on the ship, that the effect of pulling the cork out of that bottle was alarming. She was almost woozy with a desire to be alone with him, wrapped up in him, and even her hunger and weariness settled down at the thought that it was almost their time.

More than that, she was ready for them to talk about their feelings for each other, to see if they were both feeling the same pulls toward each other. She craved the comfort of his presence at all times, and it went way beyond sexual. This last day, pretending like there was nothing between them to deal with Prag and then the Ophidians, had been harder than she expected. She had continuously sought to take his hand or have him drape an arm around her and pull her in close. She wanted to talk through everything she had experienced in his absence and hear everything he had experienced in hers. Even when he had been standing at her side, she had missed him. Missed the freedom of being with and around him the way she wanted.

So yeah, their room was her destination. A quick group debrief, then escape. Maybe some furious fucking followed by a post-coital heart-to-heart, then a deep, snuggly sleep in each other’s arms. Vi signed aloud and smiled.

Prag stopped in front of a set of double doors, showed them how to use the scanner for entrance, then opened the right door and entered. Vi followed with Acken on her heels.

Prag stopped short, gasping, and Vi walked right into him. Before she could react, Acken had wrapped both arms around her and lifted her to his chest, allowing her to see the scene before them in all its glory. It was madness.

Acken yelled, “Prag! Exit immediately and secure the door. Do not let anyone else enter.”

As Prag complied, Acken turned and put Vi on the ground so she would be behind him, then turned back, drawing both daggers.

On the sofa, Bobby sat with his arm around a curvy, blond, naked human woman who had her knees pulled to her chest and was sobbing loudly. On the other end of the sofa, Valis sat with six pink females excitedly rubbing any parts of his body he would allow them to touch. An Olferian female stood listlessly against a wall, with a Trallian male cross-legged at her feet. In the middle of the sofa, with their backs facing Vi, were two other beings. One had membranous insect wings and one had many tentacled upper appendages.

Standing rigidly away from everyone was the god of dinosaurs. He seriously looked like the result of Arnold Schwarzenegger fucking a velociraptor. His color was orange gradients, and he wore stretchy, navy-blue tactical pants, but was bare chested. He stood at attention, hands behind his back. Vi took in his thick tail, massively clawed fingers and toes, and the stubby spikes running down the back of his head, neck, and arms.

She whispered, “Acken, what the fuck is that?!”

“The Zig. Stay behind me and do not use your normal antagonisms on this one, Vi.”

Fuck that, she wasn’t going to cower behind Acken. She stepped around him and stood in front.

“Bobby, please tell me what the fuck is going on here, right now.” She widened her stance and crossed her arms under her breasts, then glared at him and noticed for the first time that he was covered in blood. “Oh shit, are you injured?”

Bobby patted the back of the naked blond and stood, coming toward her.

“No, Vi, I’m fine. It’s not my blood.”

She held out her hand for him to stop approaching. “Good. Stay there and tell me why the fuck is there a Zig in here? We’ll get to the females next.”

The god of dinosaurs cleared his throat and spoke, without making eye contact, “Permission to speak, ma’am?” He had an extremely deep voice with a growling undertone that made Vi’s hackles rise.

She turned toward him, “You do not need my permission to speak. Please speak freely.”

He blinked, then turned his head to look at her, seeming to take her in with a glance. Then he met her eyes, “Ma’am. It is The Zig, always, even if there is only one of us. I would not wish for you to make that mistake when it might cost you.”

“Noted, thank you.” Her eyes had fixated on his mouthful of ultra-sharp teeth. “I am Violet. May I ask your name?”

He nodded. “Former Commander Zalon.”

“And that is how I should address you? Not Zalon, or Commander Zalon, but Former Commander Zalon?”

He nodded, still maintaining his rigid posture.

“Terrific.” She turned back to Bobby. “Please tell me what the fuck Former Commander Zalon, a human female, and everyone else is doing in here.”

“Ella,” Bobby said, gesturing back toward the human. That, just Bobby saying the name of another woman, combined with her mental image of him holding her as she wept, sent an unwelcome frisson of jealousy through Vi’s gut. She tried hard to stamp it down.

Valis pulled himself free of the six pink females, to a whiny chorus of disappointment, and came over to join Bobby before Vi and Acken. He opened his mouth to speak, but Vi held up one finger to silence him, and he closed his mouth.

Bobby looked at her with confusion. It was clear he didn’t understand why she was angry, “Um, Valis told me he had seen a human female at a brothel on the lower levels, so we went down to see. I thought you might want to buy her so you could set her free, so I wanted to ask her owner for a price.”

Vi softened at that. Of course, he had. He knew how furious Vi would be to see another human female, abducted from Earth and sold into slavery.

Her voice gentled considerably, “I take it that things didn’t go as planned?” She swept her arm to indicate the 11 strange creatures in the room and a bemused expression crossed her face.

“Um, no. Decidedly not.” He gave her a chagrined look. “The owner tried to claim me as his slave, since I wasn’t branded. He had Orni,” he pointed to the Trallian at the Olferian female’s feet, “working in the brothel for people who couldn’t afford females. He was going to send Orni back to the kitchens and have me take his place.”

Vi staggered a little at that. She hadn’t given any real thought to how dangerous it was for Bobby to be on his own in public. That asshole was going to steal him, brand him, and force him into sex slavery? Just because he was there asking about the price of a female?

“But Valis subdued the bouncer before he could do anything to either of us.” He turned toward Valis and said, “Thank you, again, for that.”

Valis nodded serenely.

“The owner called for,” Bobby swung around to look at The Zig, “Former Commander Zalon and ran to the back. We followed. Valis got in front of the owner to meet Former Commander Zalon, so the owner backed up toward me to get away from any fighting between those two. He stepped on the back of his robes and fell backwards onto my knives. He died.”

Vi stood there, looking at him incredulously, then started laughing. “So, you just brought everyone back here with you afterwards, huh?”

Bobby smiled crookedly, “Well, we couldn’t just leave them there.”

She ran to him then and he opened up his arms, catching her and swinging her around, once. She looked up into his face, serious, “You could have been killed.”

He shrugged, “Just like you could have been killed a few hours ago when you single-handedly faced down Prag and 25 guards.” He pressed his forehead to hers, “It’s a dangerous life we’ve chosen, but it’s a good one. Look at everything we accomplished today.”

She nodded, then pulled a little out of Bobby’s grasp and turned to Valis, “Thank you, Valis, for everything you did to keep Bobby safe. You have my vote for joining us, if you still wish that.”

Valis had a look of confusion on his face, “Vote, my queen? I would most certainly still like to join you, but don’t you have the authority to decide that?”

“That’s not really the leadership model we follow here. The King and Queen stuff is for the public, but we have a different organizational and command structure behind closed doors.”

Acken interjected, “And she is at the top for both, make no mistake. She can use her authority any way she pleases, but she chooses to include the rest of us.”

Valis looked at Acken, then back to Vi, thoughtfully.

Vi pulled fully away from Bobby, grimacing at the blood that had transferred to her skin from his fur. She gestured at The Zig, “Your story hasn’t covered Former Commander Zalon’s presence, yet.”

Valis looked over at The Zig, then turned back to her, “He was indentured to the owner of the brothel. His indenture period has many years remaining on it. You have the option of taking over as his master or putting him up on offer at the next indenture auction.”

Vi looked disgusted, “We don’t condone slavery. Can’t we just set him free?”

The Zig turned his head and barked, “No!”

Vi started toward him, but Bobby grabbed her left arm and Acken grabbed her right. She looked from one to the other, eyebrows raised, and they both reluctantly let go. She walked over and stood before him, craning her neck to look up at him. He was at least seven feet of heavily muscled saurian.

“Explain, please, Former Commander Zalon.”

He stiffened then addressed the far wall high above her head, “I am disgraced. Once The Zig has been disgraced, a period of indenture is set that he must complete. If he does not, The Zig will not allow his remains to be returned to the home world and placed with his family.”

“So, your indenture is voluntary? You wish to complete it to erase the disgrace?”

“Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am. I wish to complete it so that my remains can be returned to the home world. I can never erase the disgrace.”

“Would you prefer to remain with us or would you prefer to be sent to the auction?”

“It is not appropriate for me to be given that choice, ma’am.”

Vi blew out an exasperated breath, “Well, tough shit! I’m not going to make your life choices for you. I’ll tell you this. If you remain with us, you will not be treated as a slave or an indentured servant, although you can still be officially completing the terms of your servitude. The Zig are military geniuses, right? The ultimate tacticians? Well, we desperately need one of those on our team. That’s how you’ll be treated, and you’ll be a valued member of our crew. At the auction, who the fuck knows? I’m sure you have a better idea of the possible outcomes there than I do. But there is a price for choosing to remain with us.”

Zalon lowered his strange orange, slitted eyes from the far wall and met hers.

“You’ll have to tell us why you’re disgraced so we can know if those circumstances cause us to retract our offer to you. Think about that before you make your decision. Now, please tell me what your role was in the brothel.”

“Protecting the females, ma’am. Dealing with unruly patrons. Raglan Ark wanted to use me for more nefarious tasks, but The Zig do not participate in criminal activities.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” She turned toward the sofa and said, “Females! Has Former Commander Zalon ever hurt you or done anything inappropriate with you?”

All the females, and the Trallian male, shook their heads.

“Great. Here’s what we’re going to do. Bobby, is there a big master suite in here? There is? Terrific. Former Commander Zalon, please escort all the former brothel…staff…into the suite and lock the door behind you. Stay in there with them so we can let the rest of our party in and explain what has happened. We have a Garoxian in our party,” Zalon lost his composure at that statement, his head snapping down to her and his eyes widening, “and I don’t know how he will react to your presence. I need to talk with him and find out.”

Zalon nodded and moved toward the females, herding them into the room. The human was one of the last.

She stood, puffy eyed from crying, and held Vi’s gaze before whispering, “Who the fuck are you…people?” Then she headed into the room. Zalon pulled the door closed and she heard the lock engage.

Vi turned to Acken, “Are you still transmitting?”

Acken nodded, turning around his big medallion to show her the transmitter stuck on the back of the emerald.

Vi leaned into it and said, “Ship crew, this is Vi. Ship crew, this is Vi. We need food and clothing brought to our suite. We have 12 new people here with us, including nine naked females. Bring all of my coveralls and some of the Trallian ones, too. Also, those blue cloaks Bobby made. Maybe some of the hammocks from the cargo hold, too. I’ll send Trak to the ship to escort you back to the rooms.”

She looked at Bobby, then down at herself and the blood sticking to her skin. “Acken, Valis, would you let everyone in and bring them up to speed while Bobby and I jump in the shower and wash this blood off? And please send Trak down to the ship. Does he need an escort on the main level? I don’t want what almost happened to Bobby to happen to anyone else.”

Acken nodded, said, “I’ll take care of it, little she-beast,” and he and Valis watched as Bobby came to her and gently pulled the crown off her head and set it on a side table. Then he took her hand and they headed into one of the smaller rooms.

As they left, she heard Valis ask Acken, softly, “How does the King feel about the Queen having a Trallian lover?” Acken’s laughter boomed through the room as they closed the door.

Bobby closed the bedroom door and turned to her, “How badly did I fuck up? You were really pissed.”

Vi looked down, trying to figure out how to answer him. Did she tell him that she had been fantasizing about them spending days and days in bed together just seconds before walking in to see him with his arms around a naked blonde? Was she actually angry or jealous, or had that just been a gut reaction she couldn’t suppress?

Instead of saying anything, she reached for one of the golden starburst pasties and tugged at it, pulling her breast along with it comically.

Bobby said, “It’ll come off easily in the shower,” and he walked over to her and dropped to his knees to remove her daggers, belts, gold covering. Codpiece? Clampiece? She burst out laughing at the joke while Bobby just looked up at her.

“You didn’t fuck up at all Bobby, except you should have just waited to tell us all about the human so that we could come up with a plan that didn’t put you at risk. But you’ve already figured that out, haven’t you?”

He nodded earnestly up at her while she went on, “It’s just that…I was so happy to be done with all that bullshit and on my way to you. I was daydreaming about the time we would spend together now that we had gotten the Ophidians out of the way, and I was surprised to see you with your arms around a naked woman. I flared up with jealousy, that’s all. And I overreacted.” She held his gaze and said, “I’m not happy that you were in so much danger, and I’m sorry that you were involved in the death of someone, even if it was accidental.”

He stood and ran his hands down her arms, “I am, too. I hated that. But he was not a good male. Only the Filli were there voluntarily, everyone else was a slave. And he was going to have Valis killed, then turn me into a slave. I’m going to try very hard to not let it bother me.”

“I hope you can.” She looked toward the door, “Filli? Are they the pink ones?” Bobby nodded and she continued, “They were working voluntarily?”

“Yes, they have a pleasure slave caste in their society.”

Vi shuddered, “Awesome. Is that why they couldn’t keep their hands off of Valis?”

“No, I think they just find him attractive.” He grinned, “So…you were jealous of me touching Ella?” A pleased expression washed over his face.

She gave him a light shove, “Don’t look so smug about it.”

He sauntered back over to her and slid his hands around to her bare ass, “Why can’t I? It’s a wonderful feeling!”

Vi gave in and laughed, “You didn’t enjoy the feeling when I lost my shit and was about to leap over that sofa and murder you both, though, did you?”

He grew serious, “No, that was very unpleasant. Terrifying, even. But I couldn’t help wanting to rescue her and then comfort her, Vi. When I look at her, all I see is you.” He slid his hand through her hair and tucked some wisps behind her ear, “I think about how you could have ended up in a situation like she did, and how I would want someone to rescue you and then comfort you afterwards. I wanted to offer comfort to all of the females we rescued, but they were all so strange to me that I had to focus on the only species I knew something about. From the first moment I saw her, I imagined what was done to her happening to you, and it ripped my guts out.”

Vi wrapped her arms around him and said, “I understand, Bobby. I’m the same when I see Trallian slaves. I think of all the terrible fates you might have had to endure, and I just want to help them all get free. I see you in them, and it breaks my heart.”

Bobby pulled them apart enough to look down into her eyes and say with a lightly mocking challenge, “Because you love me?”

Vi held the eye contact for a long moment, then gave him a huge, crooked smile, “If I say ‘yes,’ am I going to have to watch you walk with a swagger for the next month?”

He beamed at her, “Hell, yes! Two months, minimum.”

She laughed, took one step back, grinning like a fool, and started taking the daggers and belt off of his bicep, “Then you’re going to have to wait for a better time for me to answer, because I don’t think I have enough left in me to shower, then go deal with that mess out there, while having to watch you strut all over the room.”

She tossed the belt and knives into the pile he had made on the bed of her finery, then Bobby grabbed her and lifted her to his face for a long, deep kiss.

When they broke apart, he whispered, “That’s alright, Vi, I love you, too.”

She pulled her face back to look at him and saw the deep sincerity in his eyes. They stayed like that for an eternity, with an immense depth of emotion passing between them, all joking gone.