Page 117 of I'm Not Your Pet

Jesus Christ on a cracker.

By the time we finished up at the tech store I had a communicator of my own, a tablet, and a plethora of other gadgets I didn’t recognize but Roark kept insisting in garbled English that I’d need.

After the first, “Huu-goh need. No argue.”

I didn’t try to ask any more questions.

Well, I mean, a couple more times.

But that was because I liked listening to him talk, awkward English and all.

We visited a huge variety of stores. Different from the ones I’d gone to with Ushuu. There was a tailor of some sort, more tech stores, what seemed like a swap-meet full of random stuff fromall over, including a few human vinyl records, and a shit-ton of candy shops. Roark had figured out early on that I had a sweet tooth—even before he’d asked me about it last night—and as I lapped at what looked like a popsicle but tasted like goddamn pumpkin pie, his fucking smile was brighter than the stars he’d told me he loved.

By that point, Roark’s entire left arm was full. Boxes, bags, and parcels stacked in a rainbow tower tall enough they settled against his chin so they wouldn’t fall. Tendrils looped to help, keeping them in place. His right arm, however, he left empty just for me.

Any time I tried to help carry something, Roark threw a big fit about it, huffing and growling till I eventually acquiesced.

Now I just enjoyed him, lapping at my popsicle as I curled around his forearm and we exited the section of shops full of food.

“One…more…” Roark spoke, distracted as his head swiveled to scan the shops like he was looking for something in particular.

I had no idea what else we could possibly buy, but I didn’t want the day to end, so I didn’t argue.

We walked for long enough that I finished my snack. I was lapping the juice from my fingertips as Roark spotted the store we’d been looking for and pushed the door open wide for me to enter. It jingled—just like doors on Earth did—and I was charmed by the similarity as I stepped into the air-conditioned space.

The scent of flowers accosted my senses. Sweet and opulent, like perfume. The carpet was plush beneath my new shoes as I moved to the side to allow Roark enough room to enter after me. He didn’t have to squeeze too hard, as the store was definitely one of the larger ones we’d visited.

A chandelier twinkled from high above and I found myself transfixed by the way shooting lights spun around it like magic.

An attendant hurried over, dressed in a spiffy black suit—similar to the style on Earth but with alotmore buttons. Maybe his species used buttons as a sign of wealth? Because otherwise, I had no idea why he needed five hundred of them.

The attendant took Roark’s bags from him, spouting off rapid-fire alien-speak, his speckled head swiveling. Roark was polite but gruff as he always was, his hand rubbing the small of my back as I took in the rest of the shop with fascination.

Glass floating cabinets lined the room. They hovered at varying levels in the air, full of rich dark velvet, and a variety of glittering jewelry in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and other oddly shaped objects I had no idea the purpose of. Everything seemed to be catered to the wild variety of clientele that visited this planet.

“Huu-goh,” Roark said my name softly to get my attention. “Come.”

I followed the order obediently, trailing behind Roark and the employee guy as we moved past the hovering cases full of glittering treasures. He led us through a hallway and into a separate, even larger room than the first. Inside it, near the back wall there was a bed with a hole in it—much like a massage bed.

Beside it was a tall dark cabinet that looked like it housed machinery of some sort, if the outlets on to its left were any indicator. I didn’t understand why the hell there was a massage bed in a jewelry store, or why we were here at all.

It didn’t take long to figure that out though, when Roark directed me to the bed and helped me up onto it. Sitting there, I tried to make sense of where we were. He tapped the collar that sat around my neck with one gentle claw and suddenly…I got it.

My thoughts spun in circles.

He’s going to take it off.

He’s going to take it off.

He’s going to take it off.

A million emotions flitted through me all at once. Fear, excitement, trepidation.

I’d been wearing this thing for so long I wasn’t sure who I was without it.

I guess I was about to find out.

Roark stroked a hand through my hair as I lay on my belly. The bed squeaked beneath me and I inhaled, then exhaled just as slow.Scratch, scratch,Roark petted me as he murmured in sweet low tones to the attendant. I was certain he spoke that way for my benefit, as he had to know how scary this was.

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