Enslaved by a Warrior [Sold! 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (9 page)

“Is this what your kind eats?”

Tyler considered the items and nodded.

“What is it? And yes, you may speak when I ask you a question.” That might be the best order to have with Tyler so that he didn’t feel free to speak his mind whenever he wished. If he did that, Tyler would somehow lure Blessed into another deep discussion that would draw him closer.

“That’s a hamburger, or at least it looks like one. That’s potato salad. This is a chocolate cake.”

All down the row of alien foods, Tyler pointed and explained. Blessed still didn’t want to taste any of the items because he didn’t think they would meet well with his palate. On his side of the serving table there were several of his favorites, almost all of which involved raw meat with rich sauces. There were some dishes that looked a little like Tyler’s salads, but they were raw sea vegetables that were so bitter most alien species couldn’t tolerate them even when they were used as a spice. To drink, Blessed had the elixir of the gods, which was fermented
tarrow
. It was pungent, sweet, and had an alcohol content that wiped most species out after consuming a small amount.

Tyler had no more desire to try Blessed’s foods than he had to try his, so they ate from their own dishes and kept wary attention on each other.

“What will I do all day?”

“Did I ask you a question?”

“No.” Tyler went back to eating, but he seemed less inclined to continue. It was clear from his expressive features he was sad.

“I will give you chores to do.” Blessed tried to think of some, but the only things that came to mind involved both of them in his playroom. “You will not be allowed to stagnate.”

Nodding, Tyler set his dish aside.

“You are finished?”

He gave a half of a nod and then stood there, his beautiful eyes hidden by the way he kept his head down.

“Look at me.”

Tyler lifted his head.

“What is wrong with you?”

Tyler didn’t even have to think about what he was going to say. It all came tumbling out effortlessly. “I thought we were connecting in that room. It was enjoyable for both of us, or so I thought, but obviously I did something that sickened you because you left me while you went off to get a break for whatever it was that I did.” Tyler frowned. “Please tell me what I did wrong so that I don’t do it again.”

If he chose to do so, Blessed could make everything all Tyler’s fault. He could blame his moodiness on him, but what purpose would that serve? There had only been the two of them in that room. Blessed didn’t need to save face to himself. But he felt telling Tyler would be too intimate, and he wasn’t certain if he was ready for that or not.

“You pleased me.” Blessed kept his tone neutral.

“Then why did you dump me off as if you were disgusted?” Clearly, Tyler’s feelings had been hurt by Blessed’s actions.

“I wasn’t disgusted. I was done with you.” Blessed’s comment obviously stung Tyler’s pride because he straightened. “You will find that I do not linger once I have had my release. If your kind does, then you will have to tend to yourself in some manner because I will not.”

Rather than argue, Tyler just nodded. “Maybe next time I won’t be so accommodating.”

Blessed narrowed his eyes. “You know what will happen if you defy me.”

“Yeah. You’ll suck my dick some more. I can’t say it’s really all that much of a deterrent.”

“Each time I punish you means that I bind you ever tighter to me. Eventually, I’ll be able to look at you and make you climax.”

“So?”

“I would have total control over you that way.”

“I still don’t see—”

“I would isolate you.”

Tyler frowned, considering what that would mean.

“You would only be able to find release with me, and once I instilled that in you, I would keep you but never allow you to cast your gaze upon me again.”

Tyler’s mouth dropped open. “That’s cruel.”

“That’s the punishment that awaits you if you continue to defy me.” Blessed popped another sea vegetable into his mouth. “I am a kind and considerate master, but I will not be mocked.”

“I wasn’t mocking you.”

“You refused to follow my order.”

“I forgot that you had told me to shut up.” Tyler uttered a noise of frustration. “Forgive me for not intuitively knowing how to be a perfect servant since I’ve never been someone’s slave before.”

“Obviously.”

Tyler frowned, but he didn’t turn away or say anything else. He was learning. Slowly but surely he would eventually become conditioned to Blessed’s needs. And if he had his way, Tyler would never have any idea that he felt anything for him other than desire.

“I don’t understand why I can’t just look around. It’s not like I’m going to steal anything.” Tyler was shown to his quarters in the slave area and told to stay there until he was called for. Since Blessed owned the entire top floor of the building, his living space was roughly the size of the high school Tyler had attended on Earth, but Tyler was only allowed to stay in a very small room that was about fifteen feet square. It was nicely furnished with a bed, a chair—both fashioned in blocks like the furnishings at the hotel—and there there were other things that Tyler couldn’t even fathom a use for. Entertainment, perhaps, or personal hygiene.

“You are a slave, not a guest. Be happy that he did not order you bound in your room.”

“Is that what happened to the last guy?”

“That is none of your concern.”

Tyler wanted to probe the slave master for more information, but he refused to discuss anything with Tyler other than where he would live, the rough timing of things in the household, and what Tyler should do if there was something he needed for his comfort. At that, Tyler had said he needed his freedom. The slave master hissed a vulgar expletive and departed after locking Tyler in his room.

With nothing else to do, Tyler settled on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. No mirror in here, just smooth ceiling that was roughly the color of old coffee grounds.
Gah
. The color was slightly nauseating, so he turned his head and looked to his side. The walls were more of a cream color that was bland but soothing. There wasn’t any art or decorations on the walls. Apparently, slaves didn’t need any eye candy. After about ten minutes of rest, he rose and explored the curious items in his room. Baffled as to their use, he kept pushing and poking until he got one of them to do something. Unfortunately, it started to make a deafening noise that forced Tyler to put his hands against his ears.

Eventually, the slave master returned and shut the thing off. He turned and slapped Tyler hard across the face. Since he had big hands, his strike damn near knocked Tyler out.

“You idiot! Who turns on the disposal without shutting the cover?”

“I didn’t know what it was.” Tyler stepped back before he could hit him again. Once was quite enough.

Fury abruptly drained from the slave master’s features. “Didn’t the slave house condition you?”

“I don’t know what that means.”

After a long sigh that didn’t need to be translated, the slave master explained what the unit was for. When Tyler needed to rid himself of personal waste, he would do so in the bin. When he was done, he closed the cover, pressed the button, and the waste would be removed.

“When the unit is not needed, you may press this”—he pointed to a spot on the floor that Tyler had thought was a stain—“and it will fold away. Press it again and it will return. Use this lever to set the height needed for your body.”

Tyler got it. He also understood that what had looked to him like an empty room at the hotel was actually the bathroom. When he described the other room he’d seen, the slave master said that was the closet used to house cleaning supplies. The thing Tyler had thought was a terrifying toilet was actually a device for steam cleaning the fabrics in the room. Someday he’d probably laugh about his mistake, but not just yet.

Tyler looked at the other strange device in his slave quarters. “And what’s that thing?”

Again, he explained using clipped, concise terms. The second unit was for cleaning. Tyler could use whatever his species preferred, from water to sonic waves, or a scrubbing brush. The cleaning unit could be hidden away in the floor just like the waste disposal unit.

Tyler thanked him for the explanations. “What am I to do until I’m called for?” Just the thought of sitting in this room for days at a stretch made his skin crawl. There wasn’t a window or anything to do other than attend to his personal hygiene.

“There is visual and auditory entertainment.” The slave master took Tyler over to the head of the bed and pointed to the block that looked somewhat like a table. With a flick of his finger, a screen popped up on the ceiling above the bed. With a tap, he moved the screen to the far wall. He showed Tyler how to change the channels and the volume. What stunned him was the sheer amount of things he could watch. There were shows from all over the galaxy, most that made no sense to him at all because visually he couldn’t understand the information.

“You don’t have three eyes.” The slave master showed him items that would likely be more pleasing to him. But what held his attention riveted was the learning channel. Here, he could watch videos on everything that was known about every species that was currently identified.

“No Earthling stuff?”

“You are one of the first. Soon, there will be an entry on your kind, but it takes time for the educators to put the presentations together.”

“It’s like an encyclopedia of the universe.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

Tyler hesitated, but he figured he at least had to ask. “How many sexual slaves does Blessed have?” For some reason, Tyler imaged his room multiplied by a hundred, each one filled with a creature hungering for contact with their owner.

The slave master frowned as he considered Tyler. “You are the only one.”

Astonished, Tyler couldn’t help but smile since he was unique in Blessed’s household. However, his joy was short lived.

“Once Blessed tires of you, he will either have you retrained to be a house slave, or he will sell you back to the auction house.”

“Is that what happened to the others?” Tyler was certain that a man like Blessed had had many sexual slaves.

The slave master offered a curt nod.

Devastated, Tyler settled on the end of his bed.

“Do not despair.”

Tyler looked up.

“No harm will come to you. As one of the first Earthlings, you are extremely valuable. It is unlikely that any citizen would buy you in order to harm you. Not when your cost is so exorbitant.”

“How much did Blessed pay for me?”

“More than you can imagine.” The slave master shrugged. “Besides, it does not matter. You now belong to him until he decides otherwise.” He turned on his heel and left Tyler alone with his thoughts, which were jumping up and down in his head like a pack of crazed monkeys.

Tyler wasn’t worried about Blessed hurting him, but he was concerned that he would soon grow bored with him. What did a sexual slave do to make himself irresistible to his owner? Tyler wasn’t sure. And he felt weird even having the thought. He should be scrambling to find a way out of here and off this planet, but that seemed so hopeless and unlikely he gave up before he even started. All he’d seen of the city was the massive buildings. Land must be at a premium since the buildings were literally built with no space between them. To Tyler, they were like massive versions of New York brownstones, or perhaps the row houses in San Francisco.

The other thing he’d noticed was the sidewalks were easily ten times the width of those on Earth, probably because of the sheer volume of foot traffic. Hundreds of creatures went whizzing by him, but Tyler didn’t really get any good looks at them. There seemed to be some type of transport in the middle of what would be the street in most American towns, but it wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen. Since his focus had been on keeping up with Blessed without running into him or ripping up his feet, he hadn’t really gotten a good look at that, either. But his overall impression was that he was an ant among giants. Since the buildings were so high and tightly packed, there were lights glowing everywhere. He imagined the sun, if there was one, only shone down on the street when it was directly overhead. There was an almost physical pressure of having all that weight looming above him. It had been disturbing to say the least.

When they’d stopped suddenly, Tyler was afraid he’d somehow inadvertently angered Blessed. He worried that his teeth were chattering or his shivering made the leash feel jittery in his hand. Holding onto himself for warmth, Tyler had waited for Blessed to do something to him, but he never expected to be outfitted in custom-made clothing.

Looking down at himself now, he marveled again at how light the fabrics were in relation to how strong and warm they were. When he’d asked one of the tailors, he’d said the cloth was intelligent in that it held or released heat given the comfort of the wearer. Should Tyler start to sweat, it would pour off heat. Should he shiver, it would trap heat. As fascinated as he was, he was unable to ask any more questions once they’d finished dressing him.