Page 13 of A Savage Bargain

I bit my lip not to make a sarcastic retort and did as he ordered. However, I kept my arms wrapped around me, failing in my attempt to cover my nakedness.

We re-entered the main living area but didn’t stop there. Krake continued to another wall, one with an indented area I hadn’t noticed before. As with the bathroom, the indentation shimmered and slid open to reveal the room beyond. My interest heightened at the thought of entering what must be Krake’s bedroom.

“Huh.” My exhalation of disappointment slipped out. A black box sat against the far wall. It was big enough for Krake to lieon it, but there didn’t appear to be any bedding. It was just a box of an unknown material. The room was otherwise empty. Though, now that I knew what to look for, I saw one of the door indentations on the wall to my left.

Sure enough, that was where we headed.

“Stay,” he commanded as he entered the closet.

I considered barking in response, but the desire evaporated when I saw inside the room. For one, it appeared much bigger than I would have guessed in comparison to the size of the bedroom. Did it somehow defy the laws of physics? I shrugged and accepted that. What stumped me even more were the rows and rows of bags. It reminded me of the working part of a laundry service, where they hung bags of laundered clothing on a conveyor belt for easy access as customers came for the clothing.

“This is the standard room for an etarat. That’s someone who works for the Collector,” he explained before I could ask. “An etarat will keep clothing options for the individuals brought to auction.”

I swallowed hard at the word auction. “You’re not an… etarat,” I stumbled through the word, “so why do you have a closet full of one’s clothing?”

Krake stared at me. Then, with a small noise that had to be an alien’s equivalent of a sigh, he answered. “The Collector was gracious enough to allow me passage on his ship. I took the available room.”

“That makes sense,” I said, mainly to have something to say.

“You will need to look your best at dinner. Not all the bidders are on the ship, but many are, so you must show them your goods.”

Now I snorted. “My goods? Jesus fucking Christ.”

Krake faced me, holding out one garment bag. He ignored my question and curse. “Put this on.”

I yanked the bag from him and considered where to set it down. The only option was the black box against the wall. Nowhere to easily set down the bag. I spun to head for the door. “Since there’s no real furniture in here, I’ll change in the living room.”

If he objected, he gave no sign, only followed me out.

After placing the garment bag on the couch, I took a closer look at it. There was a seam down the middle of the bag. The seam was like a very advanced Velcro. A slight tug freed the bag’s contents. My delight in the new technology was short-lived. “What is this?” I hissed.

“Your clothing for dinner. I thought that was clear.”

I shot Krake a scathing glare and pulled the dress from the bag. Althoughdresswas a generous term.Scraps of glittery clothwas more accurate. Absolutely nothing would be left to the imagination. I considered refusing for all of a second before crashing into the memory of my predicament. Refusal equaled airlock. Airlock equaled dying horribly in the vacuum of space. I’d wear whatever I needed to, to avoid that fate.

Without looking at Krake, I stepped into the hole of the dress and shimmied the scraps up my body. It took some doing, but I got all the straps and itty-bitty pieces where I thought they should be. I looked like a prostitute, no doubt, but I was one hella sexy prostitute.

The green glittery cloth that made up the dress felt like satin against my skin. Straps over my shoulder helped hold it in place, but it also seemed to have a sticky quality that adhered to my skin once adjusted. One thin strip ran along the top of my boobs, another below, with a third between them. The straps honestly showcased my perky tits well. Additional straps descended from the bra portion to the bottom of the dress. Two straps ran along either side of my belly button and two straps lined up with myshoulder blades in the back. Another strap encircled my upper hip, and two more straps circled down my thighs.

That was it. My hoo ha was gonna get every draft and wayward glance. I mean, I might as well be naked.

Krake seemed to appreciate the view, however. When I turned to face him, the slashes in his neck were fluttering, as if he was breathing hard. Interesting.

“What do you think?” I twirled before him. “Good enough for a sex slave? Apologies, I mean, Obedient.” There was no way he missed the sarcasm in my words, but he remained silent.

“The test will be at dinner,” he said, then shocked me by wrapping his hand gently around my upper arm.

He led me through the living quarters and into the sterile hallway. If I’d thought my anxiety was high before, now it ricocheted off the ceiling and throughout not just the ship, but the known galaxy. This time, we passed a few aliens, perhaps because our destination was a more popular part of the ship. But nobody seemed to care. At least, not that I could tell.

That didn’t matter. My heartbeat thundered in my head. It took every ounce of self-control to maintain steady breathing. My walking became stiff and disjointed.

And that’s when my focus wasn’t on the feeling of Krake’s hand around my upper arm. A uniquely pleasant mixture of cool and warmth reminding me of hot chocolate after a day of skiing. Such an odd thought to have while almost naked on a spaceship hurtling away from my home planet and toward a life as a sex slave.

Krake stopped before a metal door similar to the one that gave entrance to the Collector’s quarters. “We are here.” He stared at me, his bright green eyes giving nothing away. “Be ready.”

“Uh, okay,” I stammered out. The doors whooshed open.

Chapter Seven

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