“We will balance safety and advantage,” he says. “Right now, we need rest, and we need food. We have both. There’s a spring not too far as well, feeds the river downstream of here. Might even be one of its origins. Anyway, we have what we need.”
I am talking a big game, but the truth is I don’t know more than he does about surviving on this planet. He’s done it for a while. I just want to assert myself, not hide in a cave while two big men fight over who gets to make decisions for me.
“Here,” he says, handing me a leaf with what looks like wild bacon on it. “Eat up.”
I do, because refusing would be stupid. It’s good. It’s crispy and it has a kind of umami tang that I quite enjoy. I don’t know what kind of animal it came from, but I am grateful to the creature for its sacrifice.
“Did you eat?” I ask the question out of a sudden suspicion that Drako might be sacrificing himself for me.
“Yes. You do not have to worry about me. I am going to take care of myself so I can take care of you. It’s no good if I am weak and hungry. Who is going to pull your boyfriend up from the ledges of cliffs?”
“He’s not my boyfriend. He’s a guy I met when my house burned down and then we ended up on the same ship together by accident.”
“By accident? Or because you stowed away on it?”
“I stowed away because I was angry at my family, not because Thor was on the ship. I didn’t even know he was there until the thing took off and I was sneaking around and saw him.”
Drako smirks. “If I found you hiding away on my ship, I can promise you the consequences would be dire.”
“They were dire. Thor turned me over to the captain when he worked out I didn’t belong on the ship, and that guy beat my ass like I owed him money.”
“Beating you is fun,” Drako admits. “You have a certain kind of personality that lends itself to being punished.”
“Thor thinks I do it for attention,” I say, licking the leaf to get the last dregs of bacon off.
“Maybe,” Drako says. “But in my experience, people like you are born all the time. They’re useful if you can set them to a task that happens to be aligned with the greater good. And often, they want that task badly. It’s the lack of that purpose that leads them to be chaotic and push against authority. I don’t think you rebel for attention. I think you do it because you want purpose and safety. A good leader should be able to give you a sense of both.”
It’s easier to think of Drako as a big, cruel barbarian from a clan of people who do violent, awful things, than it is to think of him as a sophisticated tactician, but I have to admit his view of me is more nuanced than what Thor’s seems to be.
“For example, your purpose, for the moment, is to stay alive and do as you’re told. The safety comes from knowing you’re not going to be left to your devices. Why were you angry at your family?”
I tell him about my father, how he founded Weltheim City. I think I see his eyes widen a little at that piece of news, but he doesn’t interrupt me. I tell him how the old family home had pride of place in the residential district until it burned down and my sisters decided to sell the land, and I felt as though I hadnowhere to be and I wanted to fulfill my dream of space travel at all cost.
“And you did that,” he says. “You got your wish, a grand adventure.”
“I could do with it being a little less grand,” I admit.
He reaches for me and pulls me into his arms. He sits back against the cave wall, and I sit in his lap. One arm wraps around my waist, while the other slides between my legs and cups me there. His grip isn’t overtly sexual, but I can feel an instant pulse of heat at my core.
I lean back against his chest, rest my head on his shoulder, and inhale him. He smells like man, meat, and fire. Everything I need.
I feel a slight increase in pressure as he runs his middle finger slowly up and down the seam of my sex. I am still wearing pants, but if anything that makes the sensation better. It is slightly dulled, but quite teasing.
He plays with me like that for a time, and I fall silent as the need to explain myself and the desire to speak turns to other needs.
“You are a lot like the women of my clan,” he says. “I wonder if that is because you were made to be one of us, but happened to be born in the wrong place and at the wrong time.”
“Maybe,” I shrug, giving a slight moan because I cannot help it.
“You feel like you could belong,” he murmurs.
“I could never treat people the way I was treated when you captured me. You’re being civilized now, but… ow!” I gasp as theflat of his palm spanks my pussy through the tight fabric of my leggings.
“You’re not a captor, no, of course not. You were born to be caught,” he says. “That’s why you melt for me so prettily, why you have always been wet for me…”
“That’s just because you’re hot,” I say indignantly. “It’s not because I was made to be a captive.”
He chuckles. “You find me attractive.”
