Page 57 of Rescued

“Anything your heart desires, baby girl,” he’d told her generously. “Whatever you want—it’s yours.”

Sonya had always loved to shop and once she realized he wasn’t kidding, she’d allowed herself to indulge a bit. She hadn’t really been shopping for over five years since the invasion—not if you didn’t count scrounging for food in abandoned grocery stores while keeping one eye out for the Scourge patrols who were always trying to round up more humans to sell to the slavers.

So once more indulging in retail therapy made her incredibly happy. She didn’t even care that she was shopping on an alien world and most of the clothes weren’t meant for humans—she’d found a few nice dresses in her size and then Davrik had insisted on buying her some beautiful jewelry and hair ornaments to go with them.

“I want you to wear this when you’re singing in the Lounge tonight,” he’d murmured, fixing a gorgeous blue and gold ornament into her hair that matched one of the gowns. “You’re going to look so beautiful I won’t be able to take my eyes off you for the whole set.”

“Oh…you’re going to come hear me sing again?” Sonya had asked, slightly surprised.

“Of course.” He had cupped her cheek in one big, warm hand and looked down into her eyes. “I never want to miss a chance to hear your beautiful voice again, baby girl.”

True to his word, he had come to listen, sitting right up front where Sonya could reach down and touch his hand every once in a while, which kept the bracelet she wore from burning her. He had even requested some very specific songs which no one who didn’t have a thorough knowledge of Earth jazz and blues music would know. Sonya sang them, putting on a show that was mainly just for him. In fact, she barely even noticed the Trollox, Sir Grox, sitting at a table in the corner of the room and scowling at her through her entire act.

Better be careful, Sonya, whispered a little voice in her head when she glanced up once and saw the Trollox shooting her a glare that would certainly have been deadly if looks could kill. There was an ugly mixture of jealousy and fury on the lumpy features of all three heads and all seven yellow eyes were narrowed in fury. You’d better watch out. This week Sir Davrik has you but next week he’ll be gone and Sir Grox might be your VIP client!

Somehow, she was sure that if the huge Trollox paid for the Supreme Treatment package, he would use it to the fullest. But there was nothing she could do about it, Sonya told herself. Nothing but keep singing and finish her set. Besides, she had to concentrate on one client at a time and right now, the big Kindred was the one who, for all intents and purposes, owned her, body and soul. Also, he was much more pleasant to be with than the horrible Grox, who reminded her of her childhood nightmare.

So Sonya just kept singing and after her set, Davrik had swept her off the stage and carried her away in his arms, which left her quite breathless.

“Oh!” she had gasped, as he lifted her as easily as if she weighed nothing at all—which was definitely not the case. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to Last Meal—what you humans call ‘dinner’ or ‘supper’,” he’d rumbled, smiling at her. “I made reservations at La Travola—the most high-end restaurant in this place.”

“La Travola? But that’s so expensive!” Sonya had exclaimed. She’d expected that he would put her down once they were out of the lounge, but the big Kindred kept on striding along, holding her in his arms bridal style.

“Well, I thought such a beautiful performance deserved a celebration,” Davrik told her. “And I think they have something you might like to eat there.”

And then he had surprised her by somehow getting the chefs to make her a cheeseburger. He’d listened to her story of how she lost her family and expressed real grief for her—not only that, he’d told her that he wanted all of her—the pleasure and the pain. And he seemed to actually mean it. Sonya felt like she’d died and gone to heaven…that is until Oozle slimed his way up to their table.

“Hello there,” he burbled, his antennae directed at Davrik. “I thought I’d check and see how your Supreme Treatment experience is going so far?”

“It’s excellent—I have no complaints where Sonya is concerned,” the big Kindred said. “But I do object to that damn bracelet you’re making her wear.” He nodded at the proximity bracelet still around Sonya’s wrist. “It burns her if I don’t touch her every fifteen minutes or so! It’s completely inhumane and I want it removed at once!”

“Ahh, I am afraid that the proximity bracelet is part of the VIP package you paid for, Mr. Davrik,” Oozle protested. “However, I will be taking it off of her—at least for several hours tonight.”

“You will? Good!” Sonya felt a burst of relief. Not that she minded being close to Davrik—she was actually coming to really like the big Kindred, though she was a little wary about the intensity of the emotion he expressed for her. But it would be nice not to worry whenever she was away from him for any length of time because she was afraid of getting burned again.

But Oozle’s next words erased her relief and filled her with dread.

“I’ll be taking it off only because you have another client.”

“What?” Davrik exclaimed. “What are you talking about?”

“Now, Mr. Davrik—we spoke about this when you paid for your week with our lovely Sonya,” Oozle burbled. “I told you that some of her time was already spoken for and you agreed to release her to the client who had already paid for her time.”

“I didn’t realize you were going to come interrupt our meal!” Davrik growled. “This is outrageous! I refuse to release Sonya until she’s finished eating!”

“Actually, I’m finished now,” Sonya said in a small voice. There were still a few bites of her rich dessert left, but she found that she’d completely lost her appetite. “It’s all right,” she told Davrik, trying to make herself believe her own words. “It’s probably just a client who wants me to sing to him.”

“Your client is a Xeba-shla gentleman—they have three large ears which they enjoy having aurally stimulated through song,” Oozle agreed. He looked at Davrik. “I’ll just take her along with me, shall I? You can return to her room in two solar hours and have the rest of your week with our lovely flower uninterrupted.”

Davrik was clearly still fuming—his eyes were narrowed and his lips were a thin line. Sonya remembered the way he had claimed her, telling her that she was his. Clearly he wasn’t a man who liked sharing. Not that she wanted to be shared—she would much rather spend all of her time with the big Kindred who seemed to care for her so deeply, though she couldn’t understand why. But it wouldn’t kill her to give a private solo concert for a three-eared alien for a couple of hours.

“It’ll be all right,” she told Davrik. “I’ll see you soon, I promise.”

“You shouldn’t have to do this,” he growled, his pale eyes flashing.

Sonya shrugged uneasily.

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