Page 25 of Rogue: Planet Athion
“Do you have a home back on Tradacyh, a family?”
He snorted. “I told you before. I don’t do bedtime stories.”
“I had a cat, Milo. My parents are dead, but I have a brother. I’d go back for him. We were never close, but we loved each other, and he’s the only family I have. I like to paint. I have a studio, and I usually spend hours in it. I had an exhibition coming up you know, my first. It was a big deal. I was so excited, and I went out to celebrate and I …”
“You met a Trad and were reeled in.”
I closed my eyes. “No. I was out with my boyfriend of almost a year. He took me for dinner, and then I felt ill, so he took me upstairs to a room he’d reserved for us. I lost consciousness, and when I woke up he was gone, and there was another guy there. A Trad.” My throat was suddenly dry. “Liam, my boyfriend, had sold me. I’m not sure how much they paid him, but I guess it was getting harder to snag a human female, especially as we were getting more wary by the day.”
His gaze was hot on my face, but I couldn’t look at him, not yet. Because I hadn’t told anyone this before, and now that I’d started, the need to finish was a tightness in my chest.
“He didn’t force himself on me. He didn’t have to. I wanted him. He made me want him, but there was a part of me that knew it was wrong, that it wasn’t what I wanted, but my body wasn’t my own, it belonged to him. He was like a puppeteer, and I was the puppet, and when it was over he led me into the balcony and there was a bright blue light, and my world was gone.” I cleared my throat. “I don’t recall much of the journey to Tradacyh. I guess they must have kept me sedated, and the rest … The rest is stuff I’d rather forget.” A small laugh bubbled up my throat. “Funny thing is, I didn’t even know the Trad’s name.”
Something touched my cheek, and I flinched before realizing it was Vex’s thumb, that he was wiping away a tear I hadn’t realized I’d shed.
“I’m sorry for everything you lost,” he said softly. “But not all Trad are the same. We don’t all believe in what the world leaders have decided to do. We don’t all condone it, but the threat of extinction has driven our world mad.”
In that moment, his harsh face was gentle, and his gaze was soft, and the need to know what crime he could have committed to find himself in this place was a poignant desire.
“Why are you here, Vex? What did you do?”
His expression shut down. “Get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
He lay back down and closed his eyes.
Shit, me and my big mouth. I wiped the moisture from my face and then settled down beside him. After a moment, he raised his arm in invitation to snuggle in. I pillowed my head on his chest and closed my eyes. His chest rose and fell evenly, his heartbeat thudded steadily and slowly, and sleep gradually pulled me under.
* * *
My body awoke a few minutes before the rumble of the machinery, and once again, Vex was wrapped around me like a blanket, his breath on my neck, his huge hand curled into a loose fist on the bed by my abdomen, and his morning glory poking me in the spine.
Was this what it would have been like with Anton if we’d had time? My throat tightened, and I swallowed against the constriction. Anton was gone, and because of him, I was still alive with hope of freedom.
Vex rubbed his stubbled jaw across the sensitized flesh of my neck and gathered me close. “Mina …” The word was filled with soft longing. “Love you …”
Mina?
His body tensed, and I quickly closed my eyes and faked sleep, breathing slow and even. He slowly extracted his arm from around my waist and then cool air kissed my back as he withdrew from me. I cracked my lids to see him walk past and disappear into the small washroom.
Shit. Mina? A lover? His wife? Who had she been?
The rumble of machines started up, and I rolled onto my back and stretched. Vex re-entered the room a moment later. His chest was bare, and his hair was wet, and his face and neck were beaded with water. His shirt was clutched in his hand. He shook his head, dislodging droplets. I shrieked and leapt off the bed, and his lips quirked slightly.
But then the buzzer was going, and his expression sobered. He bridged the gap between us, grabbed my shoulder, and shoved me back onto the bed. He came with me, landing on top of me, his hands sliding into my hair, his mouth descending on mine. He nudged my legs apart, settling between my thighs. My gasp was swallowed by his mouth, and the moan that came after turned into a yelp as he bit down on my lip hard enough to draw blood.
Somewhere in the periphery of my consciousness, I was aware of soft laughter saturated with malice, and then something slammed against the bars, and Vex broke the kiss. He looked down on me, right into my eyes, and then swiped his tongue across my bloody bottom lip in a leisurely fashion, a move that said he owned me, before raising his head to pin his gaze on Marick.
The house master looked ecstatic at my disheveled, abused state. “Get up,” he said, more to me than Vex. “House Ryzer will be working the mines today. Eat your gruel.” This time his attention was on Vex. “And enjoy the hour before you’re taken up to Sector Four.”
He stepped back, and then two bowls were shoved through the hatch. Vex sagged against me, his head resting in the crook of my shoulder. “I’ll have to eat the food, or he’ll get suspicious. Also, because I’m hungry.”
I nodded jerkily.
He raised his head. “I won’t hurt you. I won’t let myself. I give you my word. Besides, you don’t reek as bad now.”
“Bad?”
“You know what I mean.” He climbed off me and headed for the hatch and the gruel.
