Selena

Companion seemed like a nice word, but it didn’t mask the truth. I would be used at Lance’s whim and discarded when he found out the “thing between us” was nothing but lust. Even so, the next morning, I awoke with a sense of relief that came with the knowledge the dragon wouldn’t send me back. In bed, I tucked my hands behind my head and smiled at the daylight inside the room. Before I’d gone to bed, I’d checked on Nano, then forgotten to close the black curtains.

No wonder I’d forgotten to close them. I was lucky to even know my name after the hour Lance and I spent inside the kitchen while he whisked up one of the tastiest sweets I’d ever eaten. I’d watched the corners of his black mouth tip up or down, depending on the thoughts running through his head while he worked.

I wondered if he’d thought about me when they tipped up. I hoped he hadn’t thought about me when his mouth frowned. And I hadn’t expected him to change his mind about sending me back. Yesterday in the library, he’d sounded so sure. Something had changed his mind, though I couldn’t possibly think of anything I’d done to make him “feel a thing between us.” I was even late for dinner. He’d fed me, made dessert for me, and then…well, then…

He’d basically asked to sleep with me. I’d told him yes, but I wasn’t so sure. I hadn’t seen all of him. How could I lie with him? What if he scared me? He might sound like a man, talk like a man, and walk like a man, but he was not a man. I wished he’d show himself so I could get accustomed to what he looked like, so I wouldn’t freak out seeing him naked.

A thought occurred to me.

Diego was, in a way, not a man. He was a cyborg. At level four, tech parts took up eighty percent of his body, but because cyborgs were a normal sight for me I hadn’t considered not sleeping with him because his body was so much different from mine. I would not sleep with Diego because he’d attempted to force himself on me and also because he was an asshole. It had nothing to do with his looks and everything to do with how he had approached me.

Lance approached me differently. In a strange way, I could argue, he courted me. I couldn’t think of a valid reason why I shouldn’t enjoy his attention.

My feet hit the warm ground, and I removed my thick socks so I could feel the heat coming from the floors. The room was warm, so I guessed the motion sensors knew I had slept and wanted me to wake up all warm and cozy and not freeze my tits off.

I walked to the window and forced my gaze down. I didn’t want to see the habitat first thing in the morning. The ice covered Nano and my car. Poor Nano must’ve frozen. I really needed to get it.

After breakfast.

I frowned. When was breakfast again?

What time was it anyhow?

I’d showered late last night, so I dressed in black again, got the thermal jacket I found on the dresser, and put it on. The sleeves stopped above my wrists. I frowned at the length. The jacket was also tight around my shoulders. Someone must have thought a child’s jacket would fit me. I was petite, but not that small. Still, it was charity, so I couldn’t complain. Everything in this castle was charity. Hm. I should probably make myself useful.

After I got my Nano.

Somehow, I found my way downstairs, but paused as I entered the sitting room, hearing a lot of voices inside. At the door, I squared my shoulders and pried it open only enough to squeeze my body through. It closed behind me, and I kept to the wall, hoping I would be invisible as I dashed though the room.

No such luck. When I glanced to my right, the bare-chested men stared, bowls of food in their hands, spoons halfway to their mouths. Might as well slow down my mad dash. “Hi,” I said and strolled in as if casual, as if the buffet of broad man chest was an everyday sight for me. I believed that Lance had hoarded every sexy human man age twenty and older so they could repopulate the earth with more hot men. The future didn’t look so bleak for us after all. We ought to call this a Pleasure Island, and all women should come here.

A dog walked by and brushed his tail on my thigh. I crouched to pet it. So many friendly domestic animals in the room! They were mainly dogs of the same breed, but in different colors, mostly gray. The one with me had blue eyes. I scratched his ears. His? I tilted to the side and looked under his body. Yes. “You’re a boy. What a cute boy.” I scratched him some more.

Belle came in. “Hey, Selena,” she said at the door and walked to me. She wore her long blonde hair down this morning. I noticed how healthy her hair looked, how she swayed her hips and played those men whose eyes left me and landed on her butt. Hm.

“What’re you doing?” she asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but closed it when she stared down at the dog.

“Get lost,” she added.

Okay, then. Maybe Belle wasn’t as friendly with domestic animals as I would’ve liked. She tucked a hand under my elbow and led me the rest of the way. I swayed my hips a little more by putting one leg in front of the other.

Belle and I strolled into the Great Hall. The staff was clearing out breakfast, a huge event, I supposed, with lots of plates to clear up. “How many people live here?” I asked again.

“Not sure,” she said.

She probably avoided telling me the numbers. “And all those people eat here?”

“Usually.”

“And…” I paused at the sight of Lance sitting by himself in the corner of the room, a full plate of food in front of him and one set up for another person—likely me!—across from him.

“Belle, has he stayed here all morning?”

“I think he expected you to show for breakfast.”

“Oh no.”

“He doesn’t usually eat with us. Just so you know. He hates the noise and people in general.”

Oh, double no. I hurried to the table, Belle all but forgotten. I sat down, picked up my utensils, and apologized profusely for being late, but finished off with “Better late than never. Right?”

Under the cloak, I couldn’t see much of what his expression looked like, but I clearly saw his lips pinch. “Late is not better,” he bit out.

“It’s better than never.” I ate the eggs and fresh cheese. Delicious. They must have livestock on the island. “I’m really sorry. I slept in. The room is nice and warm, and the bed isn’t orthopedic, so I sank in. My whole body melded with the mattress.”

“I see.”

He wasn’t seeing anything past my excuses and some flattery to ease his mood.

“Belle!” he barked.

Shuffling came from behind me, and Belle stood on my left, hands clasped before her, head down. “Yes, my lord.”

“Weren’t you supposed to take care of Selena while she’s here? Say, wake her up in the morning and show her the way down here? On time?”

“Yes, my lord. She was sleeping, so I didn’t bother her.”

“It is eleven in the morning. Who sleeps until eleven in the morning?”

I raised my hand.

“I see.”

“Besides, there’s no clock in my room,” I added. Got ya, buddy.

“No?”

“No.”

“It’s my fault I didn’t have a clock placed inside my companion’s room.”

“Well, I wasn’t saying that…you know, just saying. No clock, no way to know the time.”

He pinched his lips again, then his chair scraped the floor as he stood. The black cloak fluttered around his boots as he marched to the wall. He spun around and walked to the round table, picked it up, and put it against the wall. In a single leap, he climbed on top.

“What’s he doing?’ I asked Belle.

“No idea.”

Lance grabbed the giant clock and took it off the wall, then landed on the ground and walked to our table. He peered from behind the clock. “Have your breakfast at leisure. When you are finished with your meal, Selena, you may take this clock to your room upstairs. Belle will help you carry it.” He leaned the huge thing against the table and left.

Belle stared at it. “We’re gonna die carrying this thing upstairs.”

I stuffed cheese into my mouth, thinking I better eat everything, for I’d need the fuel to carry that thing all the way to the top.

Boo.

* * *

We strained but managed to get the clock into my bedroom. Belle’s face was as red as a tomato, and she dropped the clock, then pushed it against the wall. I leaned my hand on the door and sighed, trying to catch my breath. My mattress creaked when Belle threw her body on it with a grunt. “We made it.”

“Barely.” I joined her on the bed, watching our reflection in the mirror on the ceiling. What a strange place to put a mirror. “Why is there a mirror up there instead of down here?”

Belle turned over and looked up. She smirked. “That’s for you.”

“For me?”

“Mm-hm. Or another companion he might take after you.”

I inhaled a sharp breath, unable to contain my emotions.

Belle picked up on it and squeezed my hand. “You like him.”

“I guess.”

“Have you seen him yet?”

I shook my head.

“Prepare to be shocked. If you can look at him without blinking, he’ll feel better. He hides under a cloak for you. Usually, he doesn’t wear it. We all know what he looks like.”

“I wish he didn’t wear it, so I could see him before…we sleep together. “

“Yeah,” Belle said. “The mirror is for you so you can watch what he’s doing, how he looks when he’s fucking you. It’s quite sexy, I think. I want one of those.”

I imagined his body on top of mine. It made my girly bits flutter. “Does sex hurt?”

“It only hurts the first time and not for long, especially if the wolf knows what he’s doing.”

“Wolf?”

Belle gulped. “I mean a hot guy who moves like he owns your body. A dominant, possessive, all-consuming kind of guy. We call those guys wolves.”

“Ah, okay. You’ve been with such a guy?”

“Nah.”

I leaned to my side, propping my head on my hand. “But you wish you had. Is it one of those guys downstairs?”

“You haven’t met him yet. He’s out on the run. Be back tomorrow.”

“You seem excited.”

“I am.”

“Are you like… I don’t know what you call it. A couple?”

Belle chuckled. “Jake’s pack alpha. He can mate any girl he wants.”

“So?”

“So I stay out of his way, remember the glorious night we shared that almost led to something, and that’s it. I mean, I like him, but I also don’t want to crawl around his feet if he doesn’t want my attention.”

Crawl around his feet. What a strange way to describe going after a guy. Oh well, this entire island was a bit strange.

A commotion outside made us get out of bed. We stood at the window to see a pair of Cy cars flying our way.

“What the hell do they want?” Belle bit out and a…a growl came from her chest.

Weird got weirder. I swore I heard her growl like a dog.

“This won’t end well,” Belle said and pulled my hand. “Come on. Let’s see what’s going on.”

Although exhausted from dragging the clock all those flights of stairs, I found my step quickening behind Belle’s even quicker one. We rushed outside, ran through a courtyard, through some sort of tunnel, only to appear inside a bigger courtyard. Belle kept up her speed. I slowed down, thinking I ought to get in shape. Belle disappeared inside another dark tunnel. I hurried along so as not to get lost. I took a sharp left and paused. A pair of big white dogs stood guard at the door, their lips peeled back. I put my hands up. “Easy.” I stepped back. They followed.

A bang from the other side. “The lord’s companion is with me,” Belle said. “When she gets here, let her out.”

The dogs retreated.

I opened the door and squeezed out.

It closed behind me with a loud thud.

Outside, the flat Cy-cars circled the iceberg, then descended on my car. A metal pole ejected from one car and stuck to my car’s roof, pulled up, and lifted my car. “No, no!” I ran to the edge of the shore and waved my hand. “No, no. I parked it there. Totally legal!”

Lance came to stand next to me.

Oh good. “Can you tell them to leave the car?” He said nothing, so I looked at him and pointed. “They’re taking my car, dude.”

“You don’t need it.”

“Of course I do.”

“Where do you plan to go?”

“Nowhere. But it’s my car.”

“I’m sure they’ll return it to your home inside the habitat.”

“Yes, that’s the point. I’m not in the habitat.”

“The weather is harsh. Both the car and the robot will likely malfunction out there. It’s better if they take it.”

“I was going to park it inside the castle. In the courtyard.”

Lance shook his head. “No Cy or cyborgs on the island.”

“It’s neither of those things. The car is a car, and Nano is a robot.”

“Absolutely not.”

Oh my God! They really were towing my car. The pole kept drawing it up, and it was only a matter of a minute before the tow vehicle turned around and took my ride inside the habitat. I searched the shore for a boat or anything I could use to get me onto the iceberg. “Can you at least take me there so I can punch in my ID and tell the tow service to fuck off?”

My cursing must’ve surprised him, because he snapped his head my way. “No.”

“Oh, come on, Lance. It’s nothing to you. I’ll freeze if I swim there.”

“You are not swimming anywhere.”

I shook off my jacket and draped it over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” he bit out.

“Like I said, I don’t want them to take my car.”

I took off my sweater, shirt, and undershirt in one move over my head. With only a bra, my tits would freeze and fall off. A shiver ran through me, and goose bumps showed instantly on my skin, but I figured the water would be warmer during the day than it was at night. Wouldn’t it?

I draped the clothes over Lance’s other shoulder. The dark hood watched me, said nothing. Fine. I unbuttoned my jeans.

“Stop that.”

I slid my pants down.

Lance stepped closer. “I said, stop it.”

Voices came from the castle, where a large audience gathered to watch, including lots of dogs. All snarling. “Silence!” Lance shouted. To me, he said, “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I am so.” With my pants around my ankles, I slid off one boot, kind of relieved my toes weren’t cramped anymore.

Lance bent, hooked a hand under my knees and lifted me. I screamed and held on to his shoulders. “Hey, put me down!”

He slapped my ass. “Silence.”

Oy!

With my body draped over his shoulder, he marched through the crowd, pausing only to bark at someone. “If they pass the threshold, take them down. Business as usual. Carry on.”