Page 42 of Under His Skin

“I’m fucking fine,” Alex repeated, for probably the fourth time. He didn’t bother looking at the tablet to read any of the names.

Galanis’s lips thinned into a line. “Please humor me, then. I’ve read so many reports about people who have gone through the bondservant system. The idea that we even allow sexual service or fully-body-control contracts is quite barbaric.”

Alex didn’t see what the problem was. The sex wasn’t a big deal, and Nadia had a good time with her full-body-control contract, didn’t she? He rolled his tongue piercing over the roof of his mouth, remembering how it felt to push the piercing against Tracht’s dick and feel the cock twitch and expand in his mouth. Tracht liked it when he used the piercing during rimming, too.

All those thoughts of rimming made him want to have sex. Maybe he could sneak into the bathroom to jerk off. He could jerk off, if he wanted to, since Tracht hadn’t bothered to lock his cock up again after their date. But thinking about coming without permission killed all of his desire.

“I know I seem like the bad guy right now, taking you away from what you’re used to. But I want to reiterate that we’re all here to help you.”

Alex rolled his eyes. Nobody helped him without wanting something in return. In this case, they wanted him to testify against Anna and probably get Tracht in trouble in the process. Fuck that.

“Mr. Stone… I understand this is a difficult time for you. I simply want to make you aware that there are more options available to you.”

The thing Galanis didn’t seem to get was that Alex didn’t want options. He just wanted to go back to being with Tracht, not having to worry about any of this trial shit. Life was easy when all he had to worry about was whether Tracht was in a good mood or not.

Alex was willing to bet his next meal that Tracht was seriously pissed off at the moment.

Galanis sighed loudly and tapped the tablet screen off. “All right, this is clearly boring you. Let’s do something else instead. Why don’t you tell me what your favorite thing to do on the station is?”

The sudden change of topic made Alex suspicious. “My favorite thing to do? Why?”

“It’s an innocent question,” Galanis said quietly. “I can start, if that makes you more comfortable. I actually enjoy touring the greenhouses.”

The greenhouses were a section of the station apart from the residential and commercial areas, set aside to grow food for the residents. Alex didn’t know the exact details, except that every station grew fruit and vegetables because you couldn’t wholly rely on shipments from planets. Most of it was just beans, potatoes, lettuce and chickens, stuff that could sustain them for a while if regular shipments got delayed.

“They just let you in there?” Alex asked. “‘Cause me and Nick tried to sneak in once, and security is so tight. They figured us out real fast, and we couldn’t find a way in.”

“Oh? Where was that? Cadmus has special walkways that allow you to view the greenhouse, although you’d never get close to the plants themselves.” Galanis fumbled with his hands a bit. “It does make me wish I could visit a planet, sometimes.”

“Why would you want that? Planets are fucking terrifying.” No matter how many people raved about planets, all Alex could think about was stuff falling from the sky and all the diseases you could catch. Not to mention how stuck you’d feel under all that heavy gravity.

He thought his comment would annoy Galanis, but Galanis actually smiled. “That’s actually not an uncommon view. Many station-born people profess to have difficulty coping with heavier atmospheres, and of course our immune systems need a lot of help dealing with all the dust and germs. But it’s actually not so different, considering human bodies weren’t designed with the Pylos ecosystem in mind. Allergies are extremely common even among those born planet-side.”

Alex almost answered, until he realized what Galanis was doing. It was the same shit Nick and Parsons had done, pretending to be nice just to reel Alex in. He quickly clamped his mouth shut. He wasn’t gonna be made a fool again.

“It’s quite natural to be wary of the unknown. It’s human nature, in fact. It’s hard to believe now, but hundreds of thousands of years ago, on Earth—"

A knock at the door interrupted Galanis’s boring history lesson. Alex sat up straight and wished for a second that it was Tracht on the other end of the door. When Galanis immediately stood up to open it, he figured it was unlikely.

In a way, he’d been right though. It wasn’t Tracht, but it was a Tracht: Franziska. Alex recognized her from the few times she’d invited him to join Tracht and Anna for breakfast or dinner. Alex had no idea how to act around her, because Tracht would tell him to behave but he’d get mad if Alex and Franziska got along too well. Mostly Alex tried to ignore her.

“Ms. Tracht!” Galanis greeted. “How was court today?”

She gave a curt nod. “It was as expected.” She set her gaze on Alex, a sharp glare with the same cold eyes as Tracht had. “Alex. I’m glad to see you well.”

Although her words sounded nice, she didn’t smile, and there was no warmth in how she said it.

“Hi?” Alex answered, more confused than ever. “Why are you here?”

Franziska came to join him at the table, robbing Galanis of his chair. “I simply wanted to check on you. I’ve never had the opportunity to speak to you at length in private, given how close Johannes always keeps you.”

“Why do you want to talk to me?” Alex looked at Galanis. “Did you call her here?”

Franziska folded her arms in front of her. “No, he had nothing to do with this. Or rather: I approached him on my own once I discovered that Anna was likely to be put on trial. Since we have similar interests, I thought we could help each other out.”

That meant she did want something. Alex glared and leaned back in his chair. “So, you’re here to what? Ask him to take it easy on Anna?”

She laughed then, startling Alex. “Oh, heavens no. I wrote her off years ago. It’s a bit of a shame, but in a way there’s something even worse about a person who turns a blind eye when confronted with wrongdoings. Have you been watching the trial, Alex?”

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