The King parts 18 AND 19

DEE

No one speaks after Vadnar introduces himself. I can feel his gaze on my skin. He’s furious, and all I want is to be in his arms, even if I get burned.

I’m locked in this cell with a naked stranger. A master that whispers to me, telling me to breathe and that I’m safe.

His face is blank, and although I don’t dare to look at his groin, his chest is muscled. He’s unconventionally attractive and has given me no reason to distrust him yet as he whispers soothingly to me, but he is not the master of my heart.

Vadnar looked at me with the same cautious, cold gaze when I met him, but I managed to melt him.

The master quits talking and remains seated. This seems to calm Vadnar, although he continues to ram his shoulder into the bars to make them rattle. I’ve never seen him this eager to be freed.

“Dee?” Trey calls for me.

I rub my wrist with the pad of my thumb, feeling stressed out.

How the fuck did Trey get captured, too? I thought he was still hiding at the farm.

“How are you here?” I ask Trey with my eyes locked on my cellmate.

“I…” he hesitates, and I have a feeling I won’t like what the answer is.

“You can tell me, Trey. It’s not like these guys can speak English. They won’t understand.”

“What is she saying?” the oldest master asks from his cell.

“The most important question is, what is she? She must be the same species as the little boy,” says Vaine.

Vadnar interjects. “Don’t worry about her. Just know that she’s under my protection.”

“Right now, she’s under mine,” speaks my cellmate.

Vadnar snarls, and the chaos makes me rub my wrist harder.

“Was she your prize for winning a match?” my cellmate asks, finally standing and revealing his intimidating figure. He looks in Vadnar’s direction, as if I’m no longer present.

“I’m not a prize,” I answer loudly.

He looks at me, eyes squinting. “Do you want to be?” he whispers, like he’s giving me a way out. I’m not interested in it.

I breathe shakily, feeling small. Feeling like Vadnar is a galaxy away. For the first time, I wish the ringleader would hurry and appear, so that I can be removed from this cell and returned to Vadnar’s arms.

The door creaks open and a new guard appears. “There’s a rotten brawl breaking out in the bar. All of you have been summoned.”

The guards groan. After they test that all of our locks are set and there’s no escape, they rush out, leaving us behind. Finally, we get a stroke of luck.

“Vadnar,” I call for him when the door shuts. “Focus. Tell them your plan.”

He grumbles as he gathers his thoughts. “I’m going to break free. I must know if all of you will follow me.”

The oldest master huffs. “I have been here for two years, Vadnar. There is no escaping this coffin.”

“I will dig a way out,” he says. His voice is so full of conviction that a shudder racks through my body.

It feels like he has… snapped. Over the past few days, he has mentioned burning everything down and overturning the rulers that betrayed him. He was just a farmer when I met him, but he has become so much more in a few days. A force to be reckoned with.

“Then you have my support, although there are many questions left unanswered,” says the elder with his eyes locked on me.

Yeah, I would also be curious about the aliens in the cells.

“Me too!” says Vaine.

The master in my cell remains silent, but Vadnar seems satisfied. He dips his chin. “Good. Let’s get to work, then. You will all hear from me soon.”

“Dee,” whispers Trey.

At first I think he’s going to tell me to translate what the men are saying, but my blood runs cold when he asks, “did you get Cherry’s message on your skin?”

“Yes,” I whisper back without a shred of joy. The thought of going home sounds like a nightmare now that I’ve been sheltered in Vadnar’s arms. He is the only home I want.

The sound of the guards’ footsteps nail our lips shut. We don’t speak another word about planning an escape. I’m not sure how Vadnar will facilitate the communication with the other gladiators, but it won’t be easy.

The ringleader looks around. He looks at Vadnar, and then at me. “Why is my champion separated from his toy? Retrieve her at once!”

Two guards rush forward. One holds an axe, ready to strike my cellmate, and the other unlocks the door to lead me out. The master remains seated, not moving an inch. I’m led to Vadnar’s cell, which is unlocked.

Vadnar steps out and I clash into him, wrapping my arms tightly around him. His hands are still bound, but he rubs the tip of his nose into my hair and exhales hot air.

“Forgive the confusion, Vadnar,” the ringleader laughs nervously. He’s eager to please his beloved ‘champion.’

Vadnar’s glare could melt the metal bars.

As we’re escorted back to our cell, Vadnar directs his gaze to my former cellmate. There is a message there so dark that I can’t read it. Perhaps a threat, perhaps pure hate. Only another master who has experienced the same life would be able to tell.

“Are you okay?” I whisper to Vadnar.

His jaw is locked as he nods. His lie is nearly as loud as the cheers from the stadium.

“Is this about the master I was locked in?” I whisper again.

He stops walking, his chest rising and falling rapidly before he stomps a foot and cracks the stone beneath.

“I fucking lost you,” he says, his eyes full of rage and his body trembling like he’s about to enter the enraged state. “He had complete control.”

The ringleader turns to face us, looking confused.

“Vadnar, it wasn’t your fault. And nothing happened, so–”

“He could have gotten his slimy hands on you.”

“So this is about jealousy?”

“Yes,” he grits. “And fucking self-hatred for being powerless.” He growls and pulls at his restraints, the needles biting his skin and making him bleed.

“Enough!” Says the ringleader, gripping Vadnar’s bicep. Vadnar head-buts the man, making him scream in pain.

I cringe at the sound of bone smashing.

“Guards!” The ringleader yells as he holds his throbbing forehead.

Four guards descend on Vadnar, dragging him to his cell. I follow with my heart in my throat, because I don’t know how to help.

“I’m doubling the fights you have tomorrow. That ought to teach you who the real master is!” The ringleader says as Vadnar is shoved in his cell.

“I want to speak with you!” I blurt before they lock the cell.

“Dee,” Vadnar says warningly.

“It’s about meeting the women,” I explain as I step outside and watch the guards lock the cell.

Vadnar looks at me with careful eyes. We agreed he would meet the gladiators and I would establish trust with the women. I don’t mention the other things I want to discuss with our keeper.

“Get on with it girl!” Says the ringleader.

I look pointedly at the stairs behind him, and his eyes spark with interest. He leads me away from the cell.

“Dee!” Vadnar calls for me.

“I’ll be back!”

Once we’re out of earshot, I blurt, “I want to make a deal. I’ll perform in the arena if you let me meet the female workers in private, reduce Vadnar’s fights, and give us a few nights in an actual room.”

My heart stammers in my chest. I’m asking for a lot, but it’s time I start showing my worth.

I want a private room with Vadnar to show him my loyalty. He’s beating himself up over my encounter with that strange master, but all I want is him. It’s time for him to see that.

“You are not arena material. You are weak,” the ringleader grits.

“Not as a fighter, but as an attraction.”

I imagine people from far and wide would want to get a look at an alien freak. It will be humiliating, but I have to do this.

The wheels in his head turn, and he grins greedily. “Ah, yes. You will be a toy and a clown. Good. I accept your terms.”

“But Vadnar can’t know it or he’ll—“

“Dee!” Vadnar roars my name.

“Fine. Go,” the ringleader dismisses me with a flick of his hand, and I run back to the cell before Vadnar puts another hole in the ground.

“He agreed,” I say with a smile. “He’ll let me meet the women.”

“Why couldn’t you have the conversation through the cell?”

“I wanted to give you time to cool off,” I lie.

He sighs and runs a hand down his face. His cuffs have been removed, and his wrists remain bloody.

“I apologize for yelling at you, and for my jealousy. I understand you are not a possession of mine, but I have not felt so strongly for a female before, and I don’t know what to do with my rampant emotions.”

I wrap my arms around him again and rest my ear against his chest to hear his heart.

“I’m glad you’re unloading. Tell me more,” I encourage.

“There just used to be frustration in me. I was alone on the farm and could not grow a damn crop. But then you came, and for the first time, I’m afraid, full of rage and jealousy. You make me crazy, human.”

I grin. I’m definitely going to take care of him in the private room the ringleader prepares. Vadnar deserves pleasure after struggling for so many restless days.

“What a romance!” says Hull.

“Be quiet, or I won’t be so merciful in the arena next time,” warns Vadnar, his tenderness gone.

“Ignore him. Here, let’s clean your wrists.”

We use the water in the tub to wash the blood away, and then he pulls the cover over the entrance so we can bathe privately.

I convince him to sit in the tub first, and then to his surprise, I sink in after him. Goosebumps covered my back as I stripped and revealed my ass to him.

I hear something rattle, and from the corner of my eye I see he has the edges of the tub in a death grip.

He’s silent as I sink into the tub, but his cocks are very loud as I sit on his lap. They are erect beneath me, throbbing so hard that I can feel it.

I fan myself, feeling hot although the water is cool.

I don’t know if we will survive long enough to fuck in the private room.

A/N: IT HAPPENS NEXT CHAPTER! FINALLY THEY SMASH

READ PART 20 >

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