Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 51862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
“Why don’t we introduce the pets,” Kahn suggests. He has short hair and a much more taciturn disposition. In a certain light, that could make him pretty hot, I suppose, if you like big, serious, bossy aliens. He’s not interested in me. He’s got more serious matters to attend to. “Then we can discuss matters of business and war and such.”
“Good idea,” Arkan agrees.
I am carried through the ship, for though I can walk, Zain does not seem inclined to let me do so until we are standing in front of a door marked JEN.
The Voros ship is much brighter and somehow more homey than the Wrathelder ships. The floors are covered in soft material so footsteps are muffled rather than ringing out aggressively. I think I might like it here, though I would like being at home more.
“Jen? This is Emily. She’s Zain’s pet, be nice,” Arkan says by way of introduction as I am finally set down and allowed to meet this other human.
The room is furnished with all sorts of comforts and treats. There are several beds for some reason, multiple screens with images dancing across them, and two different musical outputs playing at the same time. The overall impression is somewhat cacophonous, but nothing is as bright or bold as the occupant of the room.
“Alright, we will leave you two to get to know one another,” Arkan says, closing the door behind me. I immediately want to run back out of it, but that would make me weird and I already feel far too weird for words.
Jennifer comes from the city. I see it immediately. She has sass all over her, and she is dressed like a… like a… like someone who has a lot of sex and wants everyone to know how sexy they are.
I am immediately terrified and intimidated. She, meanwhile, oozes confidence. She is so beautiful and she is so worldly and her clothes are so cool.
I immediately feel under dressed, simple, plain, and frumpy. The clothes I was once so proud to wear because they were made by my grandmother’s hands now feel like an embarrassment. I hate that. I hate that simply being in her presence makes me feel like I’m suddenly wrong in so many ways.
“Hi!” she says, with a bright, warm smile. “I’m Jennifer. You can call me Jen.”
“Hi,” I reply. I then proceed to immediately forget my name. “I’m… uh… I’m Emily. I’m Zain’s…” I can’t say the word pet in front of her. That, like everything else, suddenly feels so embarrassing.
“You’re Zain’s pet,” she says, tilting her head to the side and looking me up and down. “Wouldn’t have picked you for his type. He’s got a real psycho bad boy vibe, and you look like you just walked out of a picture book.”
“Yeah,” I giggle, nervous.
“I guess opposites attract,” she says. “I’m kind of wild, and Arkan is as strict as it is possible to be. It’s nice to have another girl in the family. We’re going to get up to so much trouble!”
“We are?”
“Yes,” she laughs. “We are. You can’t possibly be as innocent as you look.”
I think I might be as innocent as I look. Well, in most ways. I guess I don’t look super obviously sexy the way she does, but I’ve had so much sex with Zain, and that gives me a certain level of confidence.
“How did you meet?”
“Well, I got sucked up into the air with half my town,” I say. “The Wrathelder aliens abducted us. I ran away…”
“Yeah, you did!” Jennifer interjects enthusiastically. I find a smile coming to my face. Maybe she’s not that bad after all. She seems absolutely thrilled with me. I’m warming to her already.
“Yes, I ran through the ship, looking for somewhere to hide. I found a spot behind some crates and squeezed in and Zain was already there. Naked.”
“Oh my god!” Jen laughs. “That’s so Zain!”
I feel a pang of jealousy at her familiar tones. “Do you two know each other very well?”
“No,” she says. “I met him when he was in prison. But I hear Arkan and Kahn talk about him a lot. They’ve been talking about almost nothing else the entire way here to rescue him.”
I feel a certain relief at that. I never thought I was a jealous person before, but maybe that’s just because I never had anything to be jealous about before. The idea of Zain even smiling at Jennifer makes me feel slightly queasy. Am I a psycho? Am I possessive? He’s possessive of me, so I feel like maybe that could be something that goes both ways.
“So you two boned,” she says. “I can tell. You’re blushing.”
“Boned?” I repeat the word, not knowing what it means. Sounds like a city expression.
“Had sex. Fucked.”
“Oh!” Now I am blushing. “He saved me.”