Space Invaders (59 page)

Blake was groaning in earnest when the door to the entrance opened and another man stepped into the room.

“Sorry, didn’t realise this room was occupied,” the stranger whispered as he backed out again.

“Is that you, Farrer?” Blake called out, a little breathlessly.

“Blake?”

“Yes. Take a seat if you like.”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“It’s no intrusion. I’m just introducing my whore to the world of porn.”

Farrer laughed. “A whore who doesn’t know anything of porn. Where did you find him?”

“At a party a few days ago. I’ve contracted him to service me for a week. But I’m happy to share with an old friend.”

“Does he agree to that?”

“He’s my whore, and he’ll do as I say,” Blake replied. “If I tell him to suck you, he will. If you want him to spread his legs for you, just say the word.”

Farrer stepped closer and sat down in the seat AJ had vacated. “I don’t think I want to fuck a whore without knowing where he’s been. I wouldn’t say no to a blow job though.”

AJ tried not to cringe as Farrer whipped out his dick and started to fist himself. He was far larger than Blake and he didn’t look anywhere near as clean. AJ wouldn’t have wanted Farrer to fuck him, even if he hadn’t been sore from Blake’s attentions earlier in the week. AJ turned away to look at the screen, but what he saw there wasn’t much better. One of the men had bent over the end of the bed while another struck him across the buttocks with first his hand and then some sort of wooden paddle. AJ closed his eyes to try to shut out the sights around him.

The joy he had found in the archives earlier in the day had evaporated, which AJ suspected had been Blake’s intention from the moment he had suggested bringing him there.

* * * *

When AJ returned to the staff sleeping quarters that night he found Ryder sitting in his capsule, clearly waiting for him to return.

“Are you okay?” Ryder asked as he set aside the book he had been reading.

AJ nodded. “At least he didn’t fuck me tonight,” he said as he crawled into bed. It had been the one small blessing in the otherwise dreadful evening.

He climbed into bed and sighed when he saw Ryder settle down for the night in his own capsule across the room. A small part of him had hoped Ryder would join him again tonight, but instead he was spending the night alone. He tried to quell the disappointment.

* * * *

The next day Blake remained at home and kept Ryder far too busy to spend even a few minutes of time with AJ.

When Blake sent AJ out on an errand he was relieved to leave the tension-filled apartment for even a short while. The errand took him close to the agency who had given him the waiter position and the collar, and on the spur of the moment AJ slipped inside the cave to see what work might be available for him at the end of the week.

Landon sat working at his desk. He recognised AJ as soon as he approached.

“I heard you were contracted for a week,” he said with a nod to the collar. “Nice job. How are you enjoying life as a whore to a tower dweller?”

“Not much,” AJ admitted as he took a seat. “I wondered what jobs might be coming up at the end of the week. Anything for me?”

Landon grinned and nodded. “Now you’ve got a bit of experience I can probably place you as a personal sex slave to any one of a number of men. You could take your pick of a half dozen offers any time.”

AJ held up his hand to halt Landon’s spiel. “I don’t want this sort of work. I meant is there anything else?”

“I told you a few days ago, no one’s hiring at the moment. There might be some waiter jobs, but they’re few and far between. You got really lucky with the last one. One of my regulars pulled out at the last minute. Are you sure you don’t want to continue with what you’re doing right now?”

“I’m sure.”

“But why not? You’ve got the looks to get work of this nature for a few years yet. It could set you up for life. You’ll never make as much as you have this time. You can only sell your virginity once, but you could still do pretty well.”

AJ shook his head. “I can’t keep doing this. I don’t want to be a whore forever.”

Landon chuckled and leant closer. “Once a whore, always a whore,” he whispered. “Stopping won’t change what you’ve done. Whenever you’re hard up and strapped for credits you’ll always have the knowledge that you spread your legs once before and can do so again.”

“Is there anything else?” AJ pleaded.

“Sorry. Maybe next week.”

AJ stood up to leave.

“Or you can come back any time if you change your mind about the other offer,” Landon suggested.

AJ hoped never to be that desperate again.

Since he still had plenty of time before Blake expected him back AJ decided to head down into the labyrinth to see if his siblings had calmed down and got over the shock of what he had done.

JD was nowhere in sight when AJ arrived at the cave. Essie sat in the entrance and the smell of some sort of stew cooking came from inside.

“What are you doing back here?” Essie asked when she saw him approach.

“I wanted to check you were okay.”

“I’m fine, as you can see,” Essie replied. “You should leave before JD gets back.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“I don’t want any trouble or any more shame brought on the family.”

“I’ve done nothing I’m ashamed of,” AJ lied as he sat down across from Essie.

“You’ve whored yourself to a tower dweller for credits,” Essie reminded him. “I never thought I’d live to see the day one of my brothers lowered himself to such a level. I wish I hadn’t lived to see it.”

“Don’t talk like that. I had to get the credits somehow. This was the only way.”

Essie shook her head and repeated her advice to him to leave. It was too late though and JD rounded the corner with one of their neighbours.

“Get out of here, whore,” JD shouted.

It was obvious from the moment he appeared that JD had not calmed down at all during the last few days. AJ got to his feet and brushed the dust from his borrowed trousers.

“Hey, not so fast,” JD’s companion said. “I’ll pay a credit to fuck your brother, if he’s offering.”

AJ blanched as JD roared with laughter.

“Just get out of here,” Essie pleaded. “And don’t come back this time.”

AJ nodded and ran all the way back to the elevator. He had made a mistake in returning to the labyrinth. His family wasn’t going to forgive him for what he had done. Landon had spoken the truth. Once a whore, always a whore.

Chapter Nine

Back in the tower no one seemed to have missed him during his trip down into the labyrinth. Other than Corrine passing him a damp flannel to wipe the dust from his face, his brief sojourn went unnoticed.

Ryder had been kept busy all day. Apparently he wasn’t going to be getting the afternoon off today.

Blake growled at everyone who approached him and AJ noticed several missing glasses and ornaments. Ashleigh was disposing of yet another breakage when Ryder stormed into the kitchen, causing everyone to jump.

“That man is impossible!” Ryder shouted. “I’m on the verge of quitting this post right now.”

“Take a deep breath,” Corrine advised. “You know how he gets in a temper sometimes. This is no different to the time he was convinced someone was breaking in here when he was at work. He’ll calm down soon enough.”

“What set him off this time?” Jessiah asked.

“He didn’t like the book I checked out of the archives yesterday,” Ryder said.

“What book was that? How to seduce your master’s whore?”

Corrine smacked Jessiah on the shoulder and tutted under her breath. AJ tried to make himself blend into the background.

“It was a book about his great-grandfather’s work,” Ryder said. “I only wanted to check a few things in comparison to the journals in the study. He lost his temper as soon as he saw the book. Tore the thing apart completely. And you know I’ll be the one who has to pay the archive for the damage. It’ll cost me a month’s credits to pay for it.”

“Maybe there’s some scandal in the book he doesn’t want anyone to know about?” Ashleigh suggested gleefully.

“Like what?” Jessiah replied. “He probably just wants to make sure Ryder isn’t spending any more time teaching AJ to read.”

“He can teach him to read with any book he likes,” Ashleigh pointed out. “There has to be something in that particular book which upset him. Perhaps you can get another copy and find out?”

Ryder shook his head. “I’m not having him tear up another one for me to pay for. I’ll go to the archives some time and read the damn thing there instead. Hopefully they have another copy of it.”

“Just try to stay out of his way,” Corrine advised everyone. “He’ll calm down eventually.”

“He wants to see AJ straight after supper,” Ryder said, turning to AJ with a grimace. “Can I have a word in private?”

AJ frowned as he followed Ryder into the sleeping quarters. “What is it?” he asked after Ryder had closed the door behind them.

“Blake wants to know where else you’ve been when you ran his errand. He noticed you’d been gone for longer than you should have.”

“I went down into the labyrinth,” AJ said. “I thought I’d see if my family had changed their minds about me.”

“And?”

“They aren’t going to.” AJ ducked his head to hide his watery eyes.

“Are you okay?”

AJ shrugged and sat down on the edge of the capsule. “I guess.”

“That’s not much of an answer.” Ryder sat down beside him and gave him a soft nudge with his elbow. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“Maybe about how you’re feeling? It’s just you and your brother and sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Have either of them thawed a bit since we took your sister—Essie, right?—the medicine?”

“Not so you’d notice.”

“Do you think they’ll ever come round?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Maybe with some more time they’ll reconsider.”

“It doesn’t matter. Screw them both. Let them live in the labyrinth forever, if that’s what they want.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Why not? They don’t care about me, so why should I give a shit about what happens to them?”

“Because they’re your family. It’s okay to be upset.”

“I’m not!”

Ryder raised his hand and ran a finger under AJ’s left eye, wiping away a stray tear. The small gesture opened a flood barrier and AJ collapsed, sobbing into Ryder’s arms.

“It’s okay, AJ,” Ryder assured him as he rubbed his back in a soothing circular motion.

“I did it for
them
,” AJ sniffled. “I only wanted to get my family out of the labyrinth, to give us a chance of surviving. Except now they hate me and I don’t have a family anymore.”

Ryder pulled AJ tight against him. “You have me.”

AJ let himself be enveloped in the hug and resisted the urge to answer ‘yes, but for how long?’

* * * *

After supper AJ went to face Blake, resolving to be honest about where he had been. Blake had never said he couldn’t visit his family when he wasn’t needed. He had every right to go where he pleased. All his words died on his lips when he saw what Blake held in his hand. The paddle looked hard and unforgiving.

“Get on the bed,” Blake ordered.

AJ shook his head. He wasn’t going to let this happen again. The first time had been bad enough and that had only been Blake’s hand. He should have said stop then, but he’d held his tongue. There was no way he was letting Blake near him with a paddle or anything like it. “I never agreed for you to hit me during this week.”

“Are you arguing with me?”

“I’m not going to let you beat me with that thing,” AJ said. He stood his ground at the top of the stairs. It wasn’t worth it. No amount of credits was worth being paddled.

“Who were you with today?” Blake yelled. “Who was fucking you when you should have been here with me?”

“No one.”

“Who is he? I know it wasn’t Ryder this time. Who have you been spreading your legs for?”

AJ backed away down the stairs. He didn’t have to put up with this.

“You deceitful little whore,” Blake shouted as AJ dashed for the staff quarters, barely closing and locking the door behind him in time.

“AJ, what’s the matter?” Ryder asked as he came out of the sleeping quarters to see what the commotion and shouting was about.

AJ slid down the door and curled up in a ball, his head buried in his knees. “I won’t let him do it.”

“Do what, AJ? What happened?”

“He wanted to hit me with a wooden paddle,” AJ whispered. “I don’t care how much he pays me, I’m not going to let him beat me again.”

Ryder sat down beside him and pulled him into his arms. “He won’t strike you again, I promise. No one will lay a hand on you while I’ve got a say in the matter.”

“Where am I going to go?” AJ asked. “I’ve got about fifty credits to my name and nowhere to live.”

“We’ll find somewhere.”

“We?”

“You think I’m going to let you walk out of here without me?” Ryder asked. “I’ll find another job and once you’re able to read you’ll be able to find work too.”

AJ clung to Ryder and the hope he offered.

* * * *

The next morning Blake had calmed down and was most apologetic to everyone in the household. AJ suspected Ryder handing in his notice had a lot to do with Blake’s change in temperament.

“You don’t have to leave,” Blake insisted when he saw AJ heading out the door with only his borrowed clothes on his back.

“I broke the contract,” AJ reminded him.

“As you said, the terms never said anything about physical chastisement. If you stay until the end of the week I’ll pay half your fee.”

AJ bit back a sarcastic response about how paying him only half the fee altered their terms as well. Still, ten thousand credits would go a long way to finding him somewhere to stay and putting food in his belly while he looked for work.

“If I stay, you won’t hit me again?” AJ clarified. He wanted to be sure on that point if nothing else.

“Agreed,” Blake said.

“AJ staying won’t make any difference to my decision,” Ryder commented.