Part 5 (2/2)
Chapter Six.
Kor was relieved that she had agreed to come with him of her own volition in the end. If necessary, he had been prepared to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and take her with him by force. He didn't want to do that, though-Maggie was already wary of him and it would have been much more difficult to win her trust back if he'd had to resort to such measures to keep her with him. But he would have done it if he had to.
He couldn't completely explain it, even to himself, but he was unwilling to part from her. The universe was vast and wide-huge beyond imagining. If there was one thing Kor had learned it was that once you lost someone in that deep, black void, the chances of ever finding them again were a trillion to one. So he planned to keep Maggie with him by whatever means necessary-at least until he was sure she was safe. Or so he told himself.
Kor made sure the privacy screen between the driver's and pa.s.sengers' compartment was up and then settled into one of the plush gray seats. He didn't want to take a chance on their alien driver overhearing their conversation.
”Comfortable?” he asked, c.o.c.king an eyebrow at Maggie.
”Hardly.” She relaxed in the seat across from him, putting an arm across her face. ”Will it be a long trip, do you think? I'm dying to get out of these shoes.”
”Not long. Here.” He reached for one of her small feet and began removing the ridiculous strappy green shoe she was wearing.
”Hey!” Maggie sat up with a jerk and would have yanked her foot right out of his hand if he hadn't kept a firm but gentle grip on her ankle. ”What...what are you doing?”
”Giving you a foot ma.s.sage...Mistress.” Kor raised an eyebrow at her and then finished taking off her shoe.
”But you don't...you shouldn't...” she protested weakly. ”I mean you don't have to do that.”
”I want to,” Kor said simply. Really what he wanted was to touch any part of her at all and if he could bring her pleasure at the same time, so much the better. They were going to be together for a while-he wanted Maggie to get used to having his hands on her. He rubbed the sole of her little foot, which was barely as long as his hand, then kneaded the arch with his thumbs.
”You don't...ooooh...” Maggie's eyes rolled up in her head. ”You're, uh, really good at that.”
”I know.” Kor grinned at her.
She opened her eyes and frowned at him. ”But...where did you learn to do that, anyway? I thought you were a warrior. A, uh, gladiator kind of guy.”
Kor shrugged. ”Don't know what a gladiator is.”
”It's...basically it's a slave that fights in the arena for the entertainment of a bloodthirsty crowd. There were people like that-gladiators-in the past on my planet. In ancient Rome. You wouldn't know where that is but it was a city where everyone was trying to sleep with or a.s.sa.s.sinate everyone else. If the prime time cable shows are right, anyway.”
Kor nodded thoughtfully. ”That sounds about right. If it makes you feel better then, yes, I was a kind of 'gladiator.'”
”It doesn't make me feel a whole lot better,” she said, frowning as he started on her other foot. ”But I guess it's better than you being just a straight out cold blooded murderer.”
”Not all of my kills took place in the arena. I killed my old master, as I'm sure Lady Pope'nose told you,” Kor said neutrally. ”And I would do it again in a heartbeat.” He didn't want to frighten her but there was no point in her making false a.s.sumptions or romanticizing his past life. Much of his former existence had been nasty and brutish-there was no hiding or denying it and Kor didn't intend to try.
”You...” She shook her head. ”Why? Did he torture you like Lady Pope'nose did?”
”He treated me well as long as I was winning-which I generally always was,” Kor said. ”He never beat or starved me or forced me to service him s.e.xually.”
Maggie s.h.i.+vered. ”Well, that's good, at least. So then why...”
Kor looked down, concentrating on her foot. ”You don't need to know why. Not now,” he said roughly. ”It should be enough that I admitted it to you-that I didn't try to hide it.” He looked back up at her. ”Can you just trust me when I said I had a d.a.m.n good reason and leave it at that? Is that enough?”
”I...guess so,” she said hesitantly. ”I guess it will have to be.”
”Thank you,” Kor said simply. He felt relieved. The reason behind the death of his master was still too fresh-too raw. Talking about it would have been like poking an open wound with a stick. He was glad she wasn't demanding a full explanation right this instant.
”So, uh, are we doing true confessions then?” Maggie sounded uncertain. ”Because I cheated on a spelling test in sixth grade.”
Kor looked up at her swiftly. ”You cheated? On a test?”
Her cheeks got red at once. ”Yes. I knew it was wrong but I...see, I've always been strong in math and science but spelling just isn't my thing and it was going to hurt my final grade and I, well, I...”
”I'm kidding.” Kor almost laughed at the guilt on her face. What was it about this little female? She was so innocent that she was almost completely transparent-every emotion she felt showed on her face. He liked that about her. ”I admitted to you that I murdered my old master and you come back at me with a falsified test,” he pointed out. ”Those don't exactly measure up.”
”Sorry,” she muttered. ”I can't help it I've lived a boring life up until now. I mean, I've never killed anyone or stolen anything other than a pair of pantyhose I accidentally tucked under my arm at the store and I took those back immediately. I've basically just been living the life of a sequestered academic, up in my ivory tower doing nothing but research and writing papers to get grants.”
”Well, I'm glad you came down from your ivory tower to save me,” Kor remarked.
Maggie's face got even redder. ”That's just it-I didn't come for you. I'm not even supposed to be on this planet. I was going to wait in the s.h.i.+p. I should be on my way to Gaia right now-the new Super Earth world the Kindred discovered-to catalogue all the new species of flora and fauna.”
”The Kindred, hmm?” Kor frowned.
”Yes, do you know of them? They saved my planet from the Scourge attack and they're still orbiting our moon. They've been very helpful and willing to share research opportunities.”
”h.e.l.l yes, I know of them.” He frowned. ”I've got Kindred blood myself-they're the ones who sold me-slaved me out in the first place. Because I didn't fit their ideal-because I was a freak.” He tapped his temple, indicating his red eyes. ”I know because I heard it from my first master.”
”They what?” Maggie frowned. ”I've never heard of them doing anything like that. They've been nothing but nice to me.”
”I'm sure,” Kor said neutrally. To change the subject, he tickled the arch of her foot and smiled when she jumped.
”Hey!” Maggie flexed her toes. Despite the impromptu tickle, he really was amazingly good at this. ”You know, you still never told me how a gladiator got so good at giving foot ma.s.sages,” she remarked.
”It's the easiest way to relax a female when she's nervous-at least, so I've found,” Kor said.
”What?” Maggie began to get a bad feeling. ”What do you mean by that? How many women have you had to, uh, relax?”
Kor shrugged. ”On occasion my master sent me a female to breed who was a virgin. I never wanted to frighten them so I tried my best to relax them before we did what was necessary.”
”What?” She sat up fast, jerking her foot out of his hand. ”You're treating me like some...some floozy you're about to have s.e.x with?”
He frowned. ”No, of course not. I'm just trying to relax you...and to be honest with you. You asked how I learned to give ma.s.sages-well...” He shrugged again, like it was no big deal.
”But this is...that's...” Maggie shook her head in disgust. ”I knew I shouldn't have gotten into this s.h.i.+p with you. You're just some kind of a...an intergalactic player, aren't you?”
Kor lifted an eyebrow. ”Define 'player.' Is it like a gladiator?”
”No! It's a guy who screws every girl he sees-or tries to. He doesn't give a d.a.m.n about their feelings-he just wants into their pants.” Maggie crossed her arms over her chest angrily. How could she have let herself be so taken in by him? The quickest way to relax a girl, indeed. It was disgusting.
”Maggie,” Kor said, leaning forward. ”I don't think you understand. I didn't try to get into these girls, uh, pants-or under their skirts-or however you want to put it. They were sent to my cell for me to breed them whether I wanted to or not. I simply tried to make it easier for them.”
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