Once dressed, he joined the others in the dining area. Preen sat on its haunches, stuffing its small face. The creature could eat as much as three grown males, yet it never got any bigger. The human sat back on his heels, his worn clothing hanging from his skinny frame, quietly nibbling on a piece of blan. His gaze remained fixed on a spot on the floor in front of him. Rone had ordered the relatively sweet bread specifically because he remembered Mac eating it with some relish, and this boy seemed to have enjoyed it, too, the previous night. He saw that a healthy amount of water had been consumed, which was good,but Rone thought the kid probably hadn’t eaten very much. Too afraid, maybe, of taking food away from his master.
Rone gestured to Preen.“How much has he had to eat?”
“Not enough. He doesn’t say anything, either.”No surprise there. The human either thought Preen incapable of understanding him, or he was afraid of getting in trouble for speaking out of turn.“He also appeared to be sore when he sat. I wonder why that is?”Preen smirked at Rone.
“Fuck off,”Rone retorted without heat, then stuffed some blan in his mouth.“You know I didn’t have a choice.”
“Tell that to the boy. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Rone glared at his companion for a moment before returning his concentration to his own food. Damn, he didn’t need Preen to act as his conscience. Rone already felt guilty enough as it was. He pushed a plate of fruit abruptly toward the human, startling him.
“Eat this,” he said, forcing his voice to be calm and gentle. No sense in scaring the kid in an effort to be kind. “And more blan. This,” he clarified by gesturing toward the bread. “You are too thin.”
“Yes, master,” the boy replied in a low voice and picked up some fruit. “I’m sorry, master.”
Preen grinned around his mouthful of food at Rone and gestured with one hand.“Good job. You’ve got him apologizing for being starved half to death.”
“Not. Helping.”
Rone watched the human eat while mindlessly shoving food into his own mouth, until he saw the boy’s chest start to rise and fall in a more labored fashion. Gauging that meant the pet was getting overly full, Rone put a stop to it. If he didn’t watch out, this new pet of his might hurt himself in a quest to please Rone.
“Enough,” he said quietly. The human instantly dropped his hand away from the food. “Too much too fast will make you sick.”
“Yes, master.”
Mother of them all, this pet had been cowed brutally by Arpell, not that Rone should be concerned about that. After all, the last thing he needed was some kind of rebellious pet he had to keep track of and discipline. This docile boy would at least stay out of his way and not foul up the mission. Rone should be pleased by that. He frowned down at his handful of food. For some reason he just wasn’t.
“What’s your name?” He barked out the question without thought.
The human flinched as if he’d been struck. “F-Frey, master.”
“Frey?” A strange name, although he supposed Travian names sounded weird to other species. “Is that a common human name?”
The boy swallowed hard, his neck so long and thin that it was easy to see the throat muscles work. Rone had a fleeting and somewhat alarming thought about what it might be like to feed his cock down it.
“No, master. It’s, um, Icelandic. My people came from a small island nation back on Earth. It, ah, kind of got mostly destroyed by volcanic eruptions.”
Most of the boy’s words got lost in the translation for Rone. As if sensing that he’d said more than his master had intended or wanted, Frey clamped his lips shut tightly and stared furiously at the floor.
Rone waved his hand. “No matter. It is easy enough for me to say. Preen, just so you know, understands much of what we say.”
Frey nodded his head at Preen in an obvious acknowledgment of the being’s sentience. Rone stopped chewing for a moment as he stared at the boy. Frey’s curtain of bright, white hair fellpast one cheek. Now that it was clean, it appeared even lovelier and temptingly soft. Frey lifted his delicate hand and slipped the strands behind his small ear. The hair really should be braided, perhaps with ribbons entwined with it like a female’s would be. Rone swallowed his mouthful of food down hard as the image popped into his head. His dick rose to press against his fly. If the human understood the effect he had on his new master, he didn’t show it. If anything, he seemed determined to be as unnoticeable as possible, practically shrinking in on himself.
Preen’s derisive laughter brought Rone back to his senses. Shooting his companion a dirty look, he chased his meal down with a long drink of water before standing up. “Clean this up. We’re going out.” He gave the order without thought, not caring who followed it.
As it happened, Frey jumped to the task, not giving Preen any chance to help. The boy might prove useful after all. Rone scooped up the collars and leashes. He gave Preen the same apologetic look he always did when binding his companion as if it were some mindless creature. Doing the same to the docile human caused a different feeling inside Rone. He liked the way the metal looked around the base of the slender neck, liked the possessiveness of it, although the cheap item didn’t do justice to the boy’s beauty.
Rone’s plan was to wander the station to see if he’d garnered any attention from his stunt with Arpell. If he were lucky, the male himself would make a move against him. Rone would leverage any attack as a way of learning information. The trick would be to act as if he didn’t have a care in the universe. Taking a leisurely stroll with his pets, buying supplies, should do the trick. Frey needed new clothing. A few ribbons wouldn’t go amiss, either, and if Preen chose to give him grief about it? Well, he could always threaten his companion with a long journey through a short cargo bay.
As usual, he looped the end of Preen’s leash around his belt to give the pretend pet a little more freedom of movement. Frey, however, Rone kept close, his fist wrapped around a good portion of the lead so that the human had to walk within Rone’s shadow. Frey didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he edged even closer to Rone the moment they entered the main corridor of the station. Given the appraising looks of the males they passed, Rone couldn’t blame him. How frightening must it feel to be the only one of your species in a place filled with larger, stronger beings, especially when most of those you encountered looked at you as if you were a tasty treat? Rone bared his teeth at more than one male, taking great satisfaction in making each one avert his gaze and hurry past.
Being a far-flung and inconsequential station, likely it didn’t see much in the way of deliveries of legitimate goods. Illegal ones were a different story. But Rone wanted clothing for his human pet at the moment, not armament. He headed for the one place he’d seen selling personal items and hoped he’d find what he had in mind. The moment he entered, a thin, older male materialized as if he’d been waiting desperately for a customer. The male bowed deeply.
“Sire, how may I be of assistance?”
The cultured and obsequious tone surprised Rone. He wouldn’t have expected it way out here and wondered what this male had done so wrong in his life to end up in the back of nowhere.
“I’m in need of clothing for my pet.” He tugged gently on the leash to pull Frey forward.
