Ignoring her hard nipples and the sudden dampness between her thighs, she decided the first order of business would be to find some clothing. Since Baralt had told her to make herself at home, she didn’t feel too guilty about rummaging through his bedroom. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear that he had any clothing other than the belts he wore around his lean hips, so there was very little to choose from. Her only option was a type of kilt hidden at the back of a chest. Although she suspected it was designed to go around his waist, she fastened it over her breasts instead. The cloth hung down far enough to make a short dress. Far too short for her liking but better than being naked.
Her next action was to look for food. The small kitchen area contained a machine with instructions she couldn’t read, but it also had something similar to a refrigerator that held a basket of various types of fruit. After a little cautious experimentation, she decided that two of them were quite acceptable and ended up devouring both.
With a full stomach, she was aware of just how exhausted she felt. Between the cage on the ship and the slave quarters, she had barely slept since she’d been taken. Last night in Baralt’s arms had been the first time that she had truly slept, but it hadn’t been enough to make up for what she had missed. She briefly considered returning to the bed, but she didn’t like the idea of being asleep and vulnerable in a bedroom. Instead, she hauled one of the blankets into the main living area and curled up on the couch. She only intended to rest her eyes, but the next thing she knew, Baralt had returned.
Chapter Eight
When Izzie opened her eyes, she found Baralt standing over her. Perhaps she should have been scared, but instead, the sight of the big white-furred alien gave her an odd feeling of safety. She smiled up at him.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
“Don’t be,” he said gruffly. “You have been through a difficult time.”
At his words, the reminder of her situation made her frown, and she pulled herself into a sitting position. “Did you really mean what you said—about helping me leave?”
“I did.” He sat down next to her, and she caught a hint of his appealing musky scent. “The male I went to see is looking into transportation options.”
“Do you trust him?” she asked suspiciously. In her experience, most people were only out for what they could get.
“Yes, I think I do. He has not been here long, but he is an honorable fighter.”
She supposed that was better than nothing. “And you still think it’s possible? You think I can get away from here?”
“I believe that it’s possible.” He hesitated. “There is something you need to consider. You would be an escaped slave. Relkhei could send someone after you or issue a bounty for your return.”
The idea of being hunted filled her with dread. “I know you said I couldn’t go home, but why can’t you just take me back to Earth? There are billions of people there—he would never be able to find me.”
“Based on our discussion yesterday, my understanding is that you come from a pre-spaceflight world. Any contact with those worlds is forbidden.”
She scowled at him. “Yeah, right. That’s how come I ended up here.”
“I stand corrected. I should have said that any legitimate contact is forbidden. What that means is that it would be extremely difficult to find a trustworthy pilot to return you to your world. And there is another difficulty—do you know where your world is located?”
Her mind raced as she tried to remember any information about the location of Earth in the galaxy. “Um, it’s a solar system with nine planets, but I suppose that doesn’t help much. I think I remember reading that the nearest star system is Alpha Centauri.”
He shook his head, and she realized that of course their naming system wouldn’t translate.
“The bastards who took me must know where it’s located.”
“They would, but we would have to find them. Did they auction you off here on Tgesh Tai?”
“No.”
She shuddered at the memory of being dragged naked into an examining room on the Derian ship. After the painful, humiliating exam, she had been chained in front of a large screen. She hadn’t been able to see who’d been on the other side, but a short time later, she had been placed back in her cage. Although she’d tried to resist, she had been shocked again. When she’d regained consciousness, she’d been in a new location. Rummel and the little lizard creature had been nowhere in sight, and her cage had been stacked in what appeared to be some type of cargo hold. She wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed—perhaps a day or two—before she had been unloaded and handed over to Relkhei’s guards to be chained and marched through a series of stone tunnels.
She rubbed her shoulder at the memory. She had tried to escape during the transfer, but although the guards hadn’t used shock sticks, their methods had been unfortunately effective. One of them had caught her by the arm and simply yanked it up behind her back until she’d thought it would snap.
“You don’t need two working arms for what the boss has in mind for you,” he’d said in her ear. “Try that move again and I’ll break it.”
The thought of being even more helpless had been enough to make her stand still as they’d fastened the cuffs around her wrists and chained them together.
“I did not mean to upset you,” Baralt said softly, bringing
