Love?
Did I love her?
There was no question.
She touched me in ways no one ever had before. She existed on the same plane I did, and she asked me to climax in unison with her.
What was so wrong with that? Why couldn’t I do it?
So, I did.
I thrust into her over and over, my hips tightening and my balls constricting, until I felt that sweet moment of release as I fucked her harder and deeper than before, exploding inside her.
I lowered her leg to the bed and bent over her. We were covered with a thin layer of sweat and our breath hitched in our throats. We shared a smile and kissed again.
No words were spoken. The moment didn’t need it.
We were joined. And there was no going back.
Ivy
Kren’s healing skills were astounding. When he rescued me and picked me up earlier from the Prize Pool, I was sure his wrist was broken. But by the time we made love, it was already completely healed.
It worked in other ways too.
He could recover from sex faster than any guy I ever met. Less than five minutes would pass before his stocks were replenished and he could go again. It was tough for me to keep up with him.
We stopped between sessions and nibbled on food he had in the fridge. We drank fresh water and talked all night.
Harper had told me—in excruciating detail—about what it was like doing it with other fighters. Sometimes there were long nights, sometimes short nights. A one-time deal or a long night of escapades depending on where the alien was from. It could be enjoyable or it could be painful.
But in all those tales, not once did she tell me about a time she fell in love. It was a dangerous thing to do, considering my situation. After all, I was there to become a surrogate with Kren’s sperm. I was there to give birth to the first in a new generation of his species, a species that had almost gone extinct.
He was filling me with billions of tiny swimmers. If I was going to get pregnant, now was the time.
Then why wasn’t I excited that I would be leaving this prison? Why wasn’t I glad I would soon head back to Earth and resume my life as an accountant?
Because I would be leaving him behind. Because I wasn’t sure I wanted to live that life anymore.
Did I want to stay at the prison and continue working as a “Prize” for fighters?
No.
But I wouldn’t mind being Kren’s Prize every day. I wouldn’t mind seeing him and building a life with him…
I stopped and pulled myself up.
There wasn’t going to be a life with him. I was fishing for disaster if I continued down that route.
What if he lost interest in me? Without him, I would get passed from one fighter to another. I would hear the name “Kren” in passing on the lips of an alien and think about the life I could have had back on Earth if I’d just stuck to the plan and become a surrogate. I could have forgotten this whole chapter of my life and relegate it as a nightmare.
But it wasn’t a dream. It was happening. And now I was willing to trick him and use him for my own purposes.
Thinking along those lines didn’t help me or him or anyone else. I had made a deal with the Supervisor and now I had to stick to it.
I glanced up and noticed a picture on the wall. I turned my head to peer at it closer. It showed a simple green image with thick bushes of trees and long streams of vines lit by a bright sun.
“What’s that?” I said.
Kren turned to look at what I was pointing at. When he noticed me peering at the image, he removed it from the wall and slipped it in a drawer.
“Nothing.”
It was clearly something.
“It looked like a landscape of somewhere in the countryside,” I said. “Did you paint it?”
He suddenly looked very nervous. I imagined him as a little boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was a far cry from the fearsome warrior the prison knew so well.
“Maybe,” he said.
“Can I see it?”
He hesitated and shook his head.
“It’s nothing. It’s stupid.”
“Let me see it.”
I extended my hand to him.
Still, he wouldn’t back down.
“Okay,” I said, lowering my arm. “I guess you don’t want any more blowjobs from me. Or to use my body anymore.”
His eyes boggled.
I let the blanket drop so I exposed my nakedness and rubbed my leg with my own foot in a way I knew was provocative.
Kren just stared. He didn’t know what to look at first.
“I understand,” I said.
Finally, he couldn’t take anymore and withdrew the picture from the drawer.
“Here!”
He jumped into bed with me.
I looked the image over as he ran his hands over me. I guess he deserved it for being a “brave” boy.
The image was simple with no clear features or defining attributes. It was not the work of someone used to working with paints, that was for sure.
But when I peered closer, I made out the different layers he’d added to the painting over time.
It might not look much but it’d taken him a long time to put together.
“This is a place you remember?” I said. “Or a place you want to go one day?”
I could understand why someone would want to have an image like this on the wall in such a dull and dismal place. There weren’t many windows and even if there were, it wasn’t a landscape you dreamed of being in.
Unlike this picture.
“It’s a memory I have,” he said. “Every year it fades a little more and I find it difficult to remember the details. So, I painted it and hope I’ll never forget it.”
I was touched and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. Who would have thought the champion fighter would have a soft spot?
“Does this picture look
