Page 62 of The Pleasure Contract

Az seemed completely unfazed, though. He’d pulled my panties back in place, unbuckled me from the restraints, and chuckled when my legs were a little wobbly after he’d put me back on my feet. Before letting anyone back into the room, he’d found the cleaning bot stored in a recess in the wall and programmed it to clean up the… evidence on the floor. But there wasn’t much he could do about the bent frame where the burgundy curtain now hangs at a very strange angle.

‘That’s solid metal. How did you-’

‘I was holding myself back,’ was all he’d said before using his personal comms to arrange a donation of a large sum of money to the museum.

He did apologize to Lazzy as we left. Though, I’m not so sure you can call it a proper apology if you look so smug while doing it?

Mind you, what do I know? He apologized to my pussy for being so rough with it practically all night long, and I’m not complaining.

I’m pretty tired the next morning, and Az lets me sleep in while he and the others are up early for their training game with the Capital team, but it doesn’t take long before Zek is getting me up, washed, dressed, and fed, and ushering me out the door like a mom on the morning school run.

* * *

The Lords’ Gallery here at the drakball arena is as plush and inviting as you’d expect any kind of executive viewing box at a major sporting venue to be. Not that I’d been in any of those back on Earth.

The whole upper ring around the stadium is dedicated to the Lords, Ladies, Royals, and God knows who else they normally allow up here.

The game-facing wall is all glass, looking down into the arena, above the lower tiers of the average spectators. Those are all empty right now, of course, since this is just a friendly training exercise between two teams.

Every now and again, embedded into the glass is a TV-type screen, currently switching between clips of the Capital team’s victorious moments, and an image of what I can only assume is their team logo – a simplified drak shape in gold on a background of red, the two heads parted and a crown in the middle. The repeating reel of past game video clips feature the guy Az and I had met back at the Xaviann Goddess temple – Zyre. Some show him in slow-motion, leaping from the back of his drak, or thrusting his fist into the air and yelling in victory while blood trickles down his face in two streaks like he’s some kind of Viking warrior or something.

On the opposite side of the room is a bar that stretches along the entirety of the wall. Many staff are bustling about, wiping, polishing, and doing inventory of their supplies. I do, however, spot a couple of female staff members with their elbows propped on the bar’s surface, chins resting on their hands as they watch the slideshow of Zyre clips, sighing and giggling to one another.

“I will go to check for human-safe beverages,” Zek tells me before disappearing to go and boss around the bar staff.

With DJ bobbing up and down beside me – quietly, for once – I stand there a moment, taking it all in; the long seating arrangements positioned in front of the glass wall to watch the game, the floating chandeliers gently glowing close to the golden ceiling every twenty feet or so. I decide to sit, but as soon as my butt hits one of the large, ruby-red couches, I hear a male voice say, “Ah, and you must be one of the humans from the Northern Principality.”

Turning, I see an older Xaviann gentleman walking toward me, sharply dressed, and a streak of white a little off-center at his hairline. He smiles at me as he approaches, and I see one of his fangs is replaced by that precious stone they have here – the one that looks like a glowing opal. “Senator Glex at your service,” he says, bowing before he seats himself. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Suddenly, a flood of pressure hits my brain like a wave.

“Oh, uh, Lois,” I provide, bowing now, too – like an awkward idiot.

Glex gives me an odd look, and before I can spiral into thoughts of blowing this mission before it even starts, I blurt, “I met your son… the other day… at the uh…temple-thing…”

Good God, Lois, have you forgotten how to talk to people?! Did Az fuck the ability to hold a conversation clean out of your brain?

Glex offers a weak smile, briefly glancing toward the glass in front of us. “Zyre is such an… entertaining asset to the family.”

That… was a weird thing to say about your own son.

“And how are you enjoying your time here on Xaavia, Lady Lois?” he asks, blindly waving at a passing staff member to bring him something to drink.

Gee, Mr Senator, I’d enjoy it a whole lot more if you could talk to the Intergalactic Peacetime Authorities for me to help end human trafficking and slavery!

No. Better not open with that.

“I love it!” I say brightly, plastering on a big smile. “I hope to stay here forever!”

I’m not exploited and forced into any kind of servitude here, unlike other abducted humans! Which, by the way, Mr-Important-Senator-Man, you could help with, if-

Be cool, Lois. C’mon now.

I shift in my seat and tuck my hair behind my ear. “I’m really enjoying all the new experiences I’m having here-”

Like getting fucked in a museum.

“And today is my very first time experiencing drakball,” I say, hoping the heat in my cheeks isn’t a blooming blush across my face. “Would you be so kind as to explain the game to me?”