Page 15 of Redeeming Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #7)

Chapter 15

Lena

Even after taking another half a wafer, her feet still hurt. She was eager to get to the nest and pull her shoes off. Grabbing hold of Tarquin’s hand, she tugged, asking him to stand.

He stood with only half his normal fluid grace then wavered on his feet a little. They both needed a good night's rest. They walked to the nest and she tried hard not to wince from her steps, but her swollen feet protested every movement.

Tarquin must’ve noticed because he swept her up in his arms, despite how poorly he felt. She didn’t even get a chance to protest. Within three strides they were at the nest. He knelt on the edge and set her down in front of him. Worried about getting the nest dirty, she was quick to unlock her shoes and pull them off. The moment her boots were off, her feet started throbbing in time with her heartbeat, making her wince.

“Hurts?” he asked, cradling her heel in his hand and leaning over to examine her left foot. There weren’t any blisters or spots rubbed raw, thanks to the boots’ shifting gel layer between the outside and the inside. Unfortunately no amount of gel or technology could make up for feet that weren’t used to walking long distances.

She tried to pull her foot out of his grip, but he didn’t let go. Instead he pulled his own boots off with one hand. Then he shifted into a more comfortable position in the nest and put her foot in his lap. Curious, she put her hands behind her and leaned back.

“I’ll make you feel better,” he said and started rubbing the ball of her foot.

“Oh!” she gasped, her head falling.

Tarquin purred as he massaged. His fingers were deft and soothing. Unlocking the arms that held her up, she fell back into the nest. Closing her eyes, she lost herself in how good Tarquin’s touch felt.

He didn’t only work on her foot. After his magic fingers banished the pain in her foot, he moved up to her calf. A moan slipped out as he worked on the sore muscles there.

When he stopped and set her leg down on the nest, she made a sad sound.

“I’m not done,” he said, lifting her right foot into his lap. He did the same to that foot and leg. It was perfect. If an orgasm was a single powerful wave washing over her, Tarquin’s massages were like a lot of little warm waves lapping against her skin.

When he stopped, she made a protesting noise.

“I’m sorry, but too much massage can do damage,” he said with a purr. “Tomorrow I’ll rub your feet and legs again. I can do this for you every night.”

“Yes!” she agreed, sitting up. Moving without much grace or coordination, she went to Tarquin to give him a hug. “Nice!”

He purred and wrapped his arms around her. It was only when he let go that she remembered he was in worse shape than her! She was being so selfish.

“You too?” she asked, trying to look down at his keratin plated feet.

He made the hand-slapping-a-thigh rattle that indicated a negative response. Getting back to his feet, he retrieved the almost empty bag. Settling back down next to her, he pulled out a few of the nutrition packs and a canister of water.

Seeing the pack made her realize she was famished. She snatched up a pack, ripped it open, and poured some of the round nutri-nuggets into her mouth. They weren’t strongly flavored, but taste didn’t matter when you were this hungry.

“Why do they make these taste so bland?” Tarquin grumbled, casting the empty pack aside. He must’ve poured the entire pack into his mouth at once. It would take her three pours to finish off her pack.

He picked up a second pack and ripped it open. She knew he probably needed three or four packs to feel full, but he limited himself to two. They didn’t have much and it needed to last, especially if their rescue wasn’t on time.

One pack made her feel full, so she left a few nuggets in her bag and handed it to Tarquin.

“You should finish,” he said, refusing to take it even as he discarded the second pack.

“Done,” she said with a shake of her head and pressed it at him again.

He accepted with a purr. “Thank you,” he said and poured the last few nuggets in his mouth.

She uncapped the water, took a few sips, then handed it to Tarquin. They passed it back and forth until it was empty.

“Tomorrow morning I’ll look for a cistern,” he said. “I noticed one of the buildings near the edge tore in half and I think the water storage and filtration tank fell inside. It was probably made strong enough to survive a short fall and will still have water.”

She hadn’t thought about it until that moment, but they only had one canister left. Water was a scarce resource on this planet and they’d succumb to dehydration long before they starved.

“Help,” she said, pointing at herself. She expected him to refuse right away.

“As long as we’re careful,” he agreed, surprising a smile out of her until he continued. “You have to let me go first because the building could be unstable.”

They could argue about that tomorrow.

… for a limited time so negotiations will have to be brief.

The console suddenly came to life, spitting out that transmission. Tarquin jumped to his feet and rushed to see the readout as the message repeated.

Private long-range non-living goods transport ship Avail is open for trade options for one-way goods transport, no living creatures. Avail is only in the area for a limited time so negotiations will have to be brief.

“It’s them,” Tarquin said with an excited rattle. “That’s the entire code phrase.”

Lena crowded close and watched him tap the console’s display. The transmission repeated three more times, and each time it took longer for it to complete. There must be a hidden message in the timing.

“There it is,” Tarquin said, holding his Ident to the console to exchange information. He fiddled with the Ident for a submark then let out a triumphant rattle. “The last two messages had a hidden sound wave that translates into coordinates. We’ll be gone by this time tomorrow!”

Lena laughed and hugged Tarquin. He clipped his Ident back to his belt and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight.

It was tough to push down the hope that fluttered in her stomach, so she let it out.

“Safe,” she whispered.

“Soon,” he promised.

Because they had a full day and most of a night to wait for pick up, Tarquin still insisted on searching for the cistern. There weren’t many places to look but all of them were treacherous. They got lucky and found it almost immediately, but it wasn’t in a good spot.

“Me,” Lena said, pointing at the crumbling canyon edge. Half the building was missing, almost as if a giant had taken a sword and sliced it down the middle. The cistern was balanced precariously on the edge with about seventy percent of it holding the other thirty percent over the canyon below.

Thankfully the machinery that controlled water flowing in and out of the cistern was on the solid ground side so it would be easy to open a control valve and get some water. The hard part was going to be getting to it.

Especially when Tarquin was being so stubborn!

“No!” Tarquin objected. “It’s too dangerous for you.”

She rolled her eyes. It was dangerous period, but she was lighter and smaller than him. She held up the rope she’d grabbed and pointed to herself then him.

“Hold.”

“I know I can hold the rope and pull you up if the ground crumbles,” he said, once again accurately reading her gestures. “That’s not the point. You shouldn’t be exposed to things like this. You’re human, you should be sheltered. We could secure the twine to something heavy and I could pull myself up if the worst happens.”

When he reached for the rope, she pulled it away and stepped back with a shake of her head. She wasn’t going to give in on this point. He needed to let her do this. She crossed her arms over her chest and didn’t back down.

For several submarks they stared at each other in silence.

“I’m overjoyed you're not scared of me,” Tarquin said, breaking the stalemate. “But I wish you weren’t challenging me on this.”

“Partners,” Lena reminded him.

“We’re partners, but not equal,” he said. Before he could continue, Lena laughed.

“Duh!” she said, pointing to her head then putting one hand up as high as she could, indicating their height difference. Then pointed at the cistern again. “Better.”

“Right, well, that’s not what I meant,” he said, fumbling his words a little. “I meant that I’m tougher.”

“Heavier.”

“Stronger,” he countered.

“Heavier,” she repeated. Honestly, that was the only point that mattered in this situation. The lighter person needed to go in. Tired of this exchange, Lena took a step toward a jagged hole in the building wall.

“Lena, no!” he said again, stepping in front of her.

There was no way she was going to let him get away with that. He sounded like an owner.

“Move!” She said the one word with all the ferocity and command in her. She would not let him act like an owner. If they were truly partners, he’d let her do this.

“Please, it’s dangerous,” he begged with an anxious rattle.

She refused to back down. “Partners or not?”

That question made him wilt. “That’s not fair. I can consider you my partner and equal even though I don’t want you to go in there.”

“Partners or not?” she repeated, realizing this was a true test for Tarquin and her.

“Holian warned me that humans could be stubborn,” Tarquin muttered. “I didn’t think he meant with their own safety. I thought it was a problem with only a few humans like Zia and Lakin.”

She waited, never once questioning her choice. She trusted Tarquin, but she could also see him depriving her of freedom for her own good. That wasn’t a habit she was going to let him get used to.

“I don’t like this,” he said with the angry-wasp-buzzing rattle of irritation, then stepped out of her way.

She smiled up at him, leaned in close, and pressed her cheek to his sternum. His irritated rattle went silent and he started purring. Leaning over, he pressed a cheek to the top of her head. Her scalp tingled where Tarquin’s bonding oil soaked in, and the scent of caramel perfumed the air.

“I’m going to trust you not to get hurt or die,” he grumbled as he rubbed his scent glands into her hair.

She hummed in agreement. It wasn’t like she wanted either of those things, but she was thirsty and they’d consumed the last of the water this morning. They could probably survive until pickup without this cistern, but it would be better to have it.

When she pulled away from Tarquin, he let go with a reluctant sound and reached for the rope again. She pulled it away with a frown.

“Let me tie it around you,” he said. “I know how to do a harness pattern so if you do fall, you won’t feel harsh pressure in one spot.”

She let him take the rope and he unraveled it, grumbling about stubborn humans and dangerous situations the entire time. He wrapped it around her waist, over her shoulders, and around her thighs. By the time he was done, she felt gift wrapped but nothing pinched.

“This will work,” he grunted, tugging at sections of the rope to make sure everything was the same level of tightness. “If the ground gives out, turn yourself into a ball and hold tight. It might take me a moment to assess the best way to pull you up without dragging you against anything. When I tell you to start walking, I want you to put your feet on the canyon wall and act like you're walking as I pull. It will keep you from hitting or scraping.”

She nodded her head, feeling energized at the thought of doing something no other Talin would’ve allowed.

After he finished securing her, he wrapped the rope diagonally across his back through his belt. “I’m going to keep a little tension in the line. My hope is that if the building does collapse into the canyon, we’ll get a little warning and I’ll be able to pull you out.”

He pulled a length of hose out from where it’d been tucked into the back of his belt and held it out to her. “This should attach to the filtration overflow. Then you can uncoil it as you walk back.”

She accepted the hose with a nod, gave him a confident smile, then turned to the jagged opening in the wall. It was a tight fit to squeeze through but her jacket didn’t catch on anything.

Rubble crunched under her boots as she cautiously made her way to the cistern. It was octagonal, on its side and half caved in. Unsurprisingly, the filtration monitoring system was blank, but when she opened a valve, water spewed out.

“Excellent,” Tarquin said with an excited rattle. “Now the hose.”

She was quick to slide the attachment in and relieved when it audibly clicked in place. If the hose receiver had been damaged, then getting the water out would require multiple trips. The moment the attachment made solid contact the hose stiffened, filling with water.

Her excitement was interrupted by a creaking sound. She froze, looking around for anything suddenly disappearing into the canyon. She felt a slight tug on the rope but not enough to knock her off balance.

“Lena, hurry!” Tarquin urged.

Moving carefully, she uncoiled the hose as she made her way back to Tarquin. There were no more sounds, and when she got to the hole in the wall Tarquin started purring. His hands were tight around the rope and he stepped back only far enough to allow her to pass through. The moment she was clear, he grabbed her in a tight hug, lifting her high in the air.

“Good-good,” she said, hugging him back with a laugh.

“Let’s never do that again,” he grumbled.

Now that it was over, the whole adventure didn’t feel as if it had been that dangerous. Everything was still in place and not a single pebble had shifted.

“Water,” she reminded him.

With obvious reluctance he set her back down and started untangling the rope. Once she was free, he pulled the other end off himself and rolled it back up.

“I’m glad you thought this color was pretty,” he said. “This tensile twine has been important twice now.”

That made her hold out a hand for it. He passed it over without comment, and she unwrapped it. Measuring it out, she folded it until she thought it was the right size, then put it around her waist and tied it in front. Now she had a nice belt, just like the Talins wore!

“Fashion,” she said, holding out her arms and twirling in place.

Tarquin sounded an amused rumble. “Nicer than mine.”

After a few teasing gestures and loving words, they turned their attention to the water.

They filled the empty canisters they had and rooted around for more suitable containers. By the time they were done, there was enough water to last them about four rotations and she could tell it made Tarquin feel more secure.

If anyone understood, it was her.

They were filling the last container when an ominous groan rolled through the ground at their feet. Scooping up the box of canisters and containers with one arm and her with the other, Tarquin sprinted away from the building.

Another groan was interrupted by the sound of breaking and crashing echoing down the canyon. When Tarquin finally stopped and turned around, the building and a good portion of the ground around it was gone.

“Emptying the cistern must’ve upset the balance and caused the ground to collapse,” Tarquin said, setting her down next to him.

She blinked at the empty place where the two of them had been standing moments ago. Her trip into the building had been as dangerous as Tarquin had feared. It made her finally feel like she deserved the title Tarquin bequeathed her.

“Brave Lena,” she breathed.

“Yes!” Tarquin agreed, dropping the box to snatch her up in a tight hug. “Brave, foolish, stubborn, and wonderful.”

She snuggled into his embrace, feeling invincible!