Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Two weeks had passed since Lilly had performed, and she was now much in demand. Lilly was now so popular that she performed every afternoon. Overseer Cheng had wanted her to give more performances, but to do so would take her away from her other duties, such as maintaining the Dome’s power grid and repairing the many servos and droids that were needed for building maintenance and cleaning.
Lilly also needed the time to go to the ruined city to work on repairing one of the ships; her plan to send several servos off with a message to Ronan’s planet hadn’t changed. Ronan and his men deserved to be rescued and to go home to be free, even if she never went home herself.
Lilly had found a smaller ship that Rugger and Cahir had identified as a long-range scout ship in a sealed hangar. The ship only needed its engine refueled and its batteries recharged to come to life. With Rugger and Cahir’s help, Lilly had been able to program in the coordinates for Ronan’s home world, Gilese, and a flight path from where they were to Gilese.
Lilly, with the help of the servos and an old electric cart she’d managed to salvage from the dump, had taken the navigation counsel from her shed back to the ruined city and installed it in the new ship. The refueling of the engine was the most problematic; it was a fusion engine, and finding the correct radioactive material to charge it would be a problem. There was a section of the dump near the new spaceport where toxic and radioactive waste was dumped, but Lilly had always avoided it as she didn’t have any kind of containment suit to protect her. Despite this drawback, Lilly was determined to find a way to power the ship.
While Lilly was making progress at repairing the ship, her personal life with Ronan had reached a stalemate. She still hadn’t slept with Ronan, despite the fact that she knew he was eager to sleep with her. It wasn’t that Lilly didn’t love him or desire him as she did both, but was afraid of what would happen if she did. While it was clear that Ronan cared for her and had promised to take her home with him, she was afraid his people would not accept her. Lilly had earned the respect of Cahir and Eacha but would not call them friends, and it was obvious that Rugger disliked her. What if all his people hated her as much as Rugger did? Could she live on a world surrounded by people who hated her and thought she was inferior?
Lilly cursed herself for a fool and a coward as she pushed the door closed behind her and stepped back into the walled enclosure. Lilly dropped the pile of cables on the floor inside the shed before pushing the heavy door shut behind her as she checked her wristband for the time. Damn, it was later than she’d planned. Lilly had gone to the dump looking for something she could use to make a hazmat suit. Instead, she’d ended up finding and dragging back several hundred feet of metal cables that she could use to add more solar panels.
Lilly mumbled another curse; she had just enough time to take a shower and a quick bite to eat before reporting to the Dome for her daily performance. Lilly’s wrist unit beeped loudly, alerting her to an incoming message. A moment later, it said she was to report to the master’s chamber. Lilly’s stomach flipped nervously. This was definitely not good news, and she wondered what kind of trouble she was in. Her shower and food would have to wait; it didn’t do well to keep the master waiting.
* * * *
Ronan was sitting at the huge bar in the Pleasure Dome with Cahir and three males, ship captains from visiting ships, who were buying them drinks while asking them to talk about their time in the fighting pits as well as discussing all the females they had bedded. While he was glad that he was not being forced to recreate with the females he did not care for, he did miss the physical release. The past few weeks had been torture. He could hold and kiss Lilly as he liked, but she refused to let him claim her fully, which was driving him mad. While he respected her desires and her decisions, sex to him sex had always been a simple thing, a way to find pleasure with no deeper meaning. Lilly had told him that while many on her planet thought as he did, she believed sex was more than just a physical release; it was a bonding of two beings. His father had told him that when he found his true mate and joined with her, that the experience would be the greatest joy he had ever known. Ronan had wanted to believe his father; he wanted desperately to believe that because in his hearts, he felt Lilly was his true mate. If she were his true mate, then once they had made love for the first time his claimed mark would begin to show.
On his world, when a male mated with his true heart mate, a dark black mark would begin to form about his neck; it would completely encircle his neck once the first child was born. It was considered a high honor to have such a mark that the fates had graced a male with his true and forever mate. His father’s mark was like twining branches about his neck, and his father had always shown it proudly all the days his mother had lived.
Ronan reached for his glass of ale when he noticed his wristband was flashing, he checked it and saw that he was to report to the master’s chamber. Ronan frowned it was never good to be called to the master, the reptilian male could destroy his life on a whim and there was nothing he could do about it. Ronan tossed back his ale then showed his band to Cahir who nodded and then frowned.
“If you will excuse me, I have been summoned elsewhere. Thank you for the drinks,” Ronan said. The ship captains nodded in understanding, then pressed their thumbprints into the small handheld devices they had been given at the door. The devices deducted credits from the money they had deposited with the Dome when they had arrived and went into the Dome’s account, paying for Ronan’s time as well as the drinks they had consumed. Ronan’s wristband flashed, showing his personal account had also been credited with his percentage of their payments as well as generous tips. Ronan nodded his thanks and hurried towards the back of the Dome and the corridor that led to the staff elevators.
* * * *
Lilly tried not to fidget nervously as she stood with Tyrel before the master’s white metal door, waiting for Ronan to appear. Tyrell gave her a nod, then returned to staring at the master’s closed door. Tyrell had told her that he didn’t know why the master had called for her, but that he had also called for Ronan. The information did little to comfort Lilly, especially in light of her activities both in and outside the Dome to try and contact Ronan’s people.
Lilly nervously rubbed her hands on her robe as there was a soft whoosh behind her, and Ronan stepped out of the elevator at the end of the corridor. He gave her a quick smile, then hurried to her side, catching her eyes with his.
“You are here too?” Ronan said, stating the obvious.
“Yes, but I don’t know why,” Lilly replied nervously, wishing she could take Ronan’s hand.
“Prime I will let them know you are here.” Tyrell stepped forward to knock on the Master’s door. A moment later it was answered by manager Laoni who gave them a smile, then stepped back motioning for them to come in.
Ronan and Lilly followed by Tyrell stepped into the manager’s huge office and followed Laoni to the manager’s giant desk. The manager looked up from his tablet as they stepped up to him and smiled showing rows of sharp pointy teeth, while beside him overseer Cheng gave them a contemptuous look that made Lilly uneasy.
“Ah, good, you are both here. Please be at ease, you are not in trouble, no far from it, you are my two biggest earners.” Master Perion said. “In fact, the video of the two of you has already had over two hundred thousand uploads, and I have had over a thousand demands for more videos, which is why you are here.”
Ronan frowned, not liking what he heard; beside him, Lilly sucked on her lower lip and went even paler, signs he’d learned that meant she was upset.
“What do you want of us?” Ronan demanded, trying his best to be civil.
“It’s simple; I want you to make more videos, lots more videos. But this time you must have complete sex, not just pleasuring each other.” Perion replied before returning his attention to his tablet.
“What?” Lilly stammered, feeling ill, thousands of beings had watched her and Ronan together, had seen her naked.
“No, out of the question.” Ronan snapped.
“What do you mean no, you will do as you are ordered or pay the price,” Cheng growled.
“I said no, I will not debase Lilly like that, I have done everything else you have asked, but I will not shame her like that,” Ronan replied. Because of him, Lilly’s identity had been revealed and she was subject to the leers of other males. He would not humiliate her further, especially as she was going to be his wife.
“No, you don’t get to say no. You are owned as she is.” Cheng fixed Ronan with a hard stare.
“Come now Prime; let us be reasonable I will be willing to share the profits from the videos with you. It is not like you and she aren’t lovers already, now you shall simply be paid for bedding her.” Cheng said looking up in annoyance from his tablet.
“I said no.” Ronan growled and heard Lilly’s sharp intake of breath and Tyrell mumble a curse.
“You go too far, Prime, you forget your place. It is bad enough that you refuse to recreate with the other females. You will obey or face the consequences.” Cheng shouted, spittle running down his chin.
“I said no,” Ronan replied, sending Cheng a challenging look.
“There are consequences for disobedience.” Cheng sneered, and a heartbeat later, he pressed a button on his wrist controller, and Ronan dropped to his knees as his collar delivered a powerful charge that sent a long and painful jolt of electricity through Ronan’s body.
Lilly moved to grab Ronan, only to have Tyrell grab her arm, jerking her back as Cheng continued to ruthlessly shock Ronan, making him twist on the floor in agony.
“Stop, stop, we will do it.” Lilly pleaded as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Perion nodded to Cheng, who pressed the button again and stopped shocking Ronan.
Lilly dropped to her knees to lift Ronan’s head into her lap as he opened his eyes to look up at her.
“You shouldn’t have,” Ronan murmured, weakly trying to reach up and touch Lilly’s face, only to be too weak to do so.
“All that matters is you,” Lilly replied brushing, his long hair back from his eyes.
Ronan wanted to say so much but he couldn’t not here and not in front of his captors. He rolled to his side and got to his knees as his muscle continued to painfully contract. Lilly slipped her small hand under his arm, and he let her help him up. He held her eyes for a moment, trying to convey all his feelings of regret to her, then he turned to master Perion.
“It will be done, but on our terms, and forty percent of the payments are to go into my account.” Ronan managed to force out.
“That is outrageous.” Laoni stammered. “Ten percent perhaps.”
“Forty percent and I control where and when,” Ronan replied.
“Fine, fine, just as long as the first video is done tonight,” Perion replied. “Laoni write the agreement and have him sign, we are wasting time and losing credits.”
Laoni gave a curt nod, then typed something on his tablet before handing it to Tyrell, who read it over and then handed it to Ronan, who quickly scanned what was written. Satisfied with the amount and conditions, Ronan signed and then applied his thumbprint before setting the tablet on the desk and stepping back.
“Excellent, now go, I have work to do, Cheng, stay we need to speak,” Perion said.
Tyrell motioned for Ronan and Lilly to precede him out of the office. Once they were in the hall he closed the door after them and gave Ronan a scowl of annoyance.
“Have you lost your mind? You are lucky that you were only shocked he could have whipped you,” Tyrel shook his head.
“I was trying to protect Lilly.” Ronan reached out and took Lilly’s hand in his. “She and I have not yet had sex. It is against the customs of her people for an unmarried female to lie with a male. I have already brought her enough shame and dishonor; I did not want to dishonor her further. I also don’t like the thought of every male seeing her naked.”
“Ah, I understand, but there is nothing you can do,” Tyrell replied with a shrug.
“Perhaps, but I can help with the shame. Is there a holy man in the village?” Ronan inquired, looking from Tyrell to Lilly.
“A holy man, why?” Tyrell gave him a puzzled look.
“Because I would wed her today,” Ronan said, looking at Lilly’s pale face, and saw her eyes go wide.
“I don’t think there is,” Tyrell replied.
“You mean it, you would wed me today?” Lilly couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
“Yes, I told you I would wed you once we are free, but now we can’t wait. I am sorry, Lilly, this is my fault.” Ronan gave her hand a gentle squeeze, conscious of how small her hand was with his, how delicate the bones were.
“You truly care for me?” Lilly asked, aware that Tyrell was watching them.
“Of course I do, you are my female. I shall never want another, I thought you understood that.” Ronan gave her a puzzled look, then tugged her closer to him.
Lilly felt her heart skip a beat as joy filled her. It was true, Ronan, in his own way, had said he loved her.
“On my world, when my ancestors wished to be together but no holy man was available, they would say their vows to each other before a trusted friend or family member; it was called hand fasting. The hand fasting was considered legal and would last for one solar year and one day unless they wished to extend it. We could say our vows to each other.” Lilly was both excited and terrified at the prospect of finally making love to Ronan and of becoming his wife.
“That is a good plan, Tyrell. Would you hear our vows then, would you act as a holy man?” Ronan looked over at the blue-skinned guard.
“Of course, when and where?” Tyrell gave Ronan a lopsided grin.
“The fountain before supper, and I will need you to do me a favor. I need you to buy two rings and two bracelets.” Ronan reached into his shirt and pulled out a small cloth pouch full of credits and held it out to Tyrell. Inside were two thousand credits, all tips from pleased patrons.
Tyrell took the pouch and shook it before giving Ronan a questioning look.
“Two thousand credits, it is the custom of Lilly’s people to give each other rings when they wed, and mine bracelets,” Ronan stated.
“Ah, of course, I should be able to slip away for a bit. Anything else you want?” Tyrell asked, motioning for them to follow him to the elevator.
“Yes, a white dress for Lilly. It is another of her people’s customs.” Ronan squeezed Lilly’s hand as they stepped into the open elevator.
“A white dress, I shall do my best. Both of you go to your quarters, and I shall slip into the village and see what I can find.” Tyrell said as the elevator came to a smooth stop at the basement level and the doors opened.
“Thank you,” Ronan said, as he tugged Lilly off the elevator after him, then down the corridor towards the exit to the garden.
Once outside Ronan turned to pull Lilly into his arms to hold her for several heartbeats.
“I am sorry for this, for all the pain I have brought into your life. But I will make it all better. Once we are free I shall tell you who I truly am and no one shall ever shame you or harm you again.” Ronan murmured before kissing Lilly on the top of her head.
Lilly nodded, as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that she was about to become both a married woman and an intergalactic porn star on the same day. She was frightened of what was to come but as long as Ronan was with her she knew she could do anything.
“As long as you are with me, I shall be fine,” Lilly replied, pushing out of Ronan’s arms.
“My brave little flower, I shall be with you always. Come, we must tell the others. Then I must shave and wash, I would look good for our wedding.” Ronan took Lilly’s hand in his and gave it another squeeze.
Lilly smiled in return, though her stomach was in knots at the thought of the other’s reaction to their upcoming wedding. She supposed it didn’t matter, for Ronan would soon be hers and hers alone.