Boulder
It was impossible not to stare!
In front of me on the floor sat a flesh and blood woman with nothing but a thin layer of silk between me and her nakedness. I don’t think she was aware that when she bent down and leaned forward her dress shaped her ass perfectly.
Swallowing hard and fisting my hands, I told myself not to touch her, but everything about her lured me in. Her feminine scent was strong, her hair looked soft and inviting with the sexy curls falling down her back, and when she first walked out from the bathroom I had seen her from the front. Fuck! I knew she was pretty, but the woman was curved in all the right places and had the cutest freckles.
Next time I go to a sex-center I’m getting a sex-bot with freckles and curly brown hair, I thought to myself.
I watched in wonder as she tried on the shoes and I automatically moved forward to support her when she almost fell.
“They’re much harder to walk in than they look,” she said and held on to me.
My heart was pounding harder than when I fought that prick Nelson. It was her strong grip on my shoulder and the closeness between our bodies that was messing with my head. Any time now we would have to go down to the ceremony and she would marry another man.
The thought alone made it hard to breathe. I’d been so close to becoming her champion and protector – if only that fucking sack of shit hadn’t broken my arm. A bit of rage welled up inside me and I regretted not killing him for coming between me and the chance to spend more time with Christina.
“Christina,” I said in a solemn voice, and unsteady on her feet she turned her head and looked up at me, her hand still holding on to me.
“There’s something I should explain to you before we go down.”
“Yes?”
“It’s just that, once you’ve chosen your champion, I can’t speak to you unless he allows it.”
“Why?”
“It’s a rule that helps the protectors. Imagine if any man could strike up a conversation with you. It would be incredibly stressful for him to keep you safe from that much male interaction.”
“But, you’re the only friend I have here,” she said, her voice dripping with sadness.
I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw, regretting even more that these were my last minutes with her. “I just want you to know that if I see you again and I don’t look your way, it’s not because I wish to ignore you. It’s how things must be.”
I was surprised to see Christina’s eyes grow moist. “You’ll ignore me?”
“I’ll have to.”
“But what if I speak to you?”
“You shouldn’t,” I said. “It would upset your… champion.” I almost slipped and said husband and felt heat rise in my cheeks.
I wasn’t sure how Khan thought this was going to go down peacefully. Christina would surely refuse to marry an Nman once she understood what Khan’s plan was. And even if he somehow convinced her to go through with the ceremony, he couldn’t keep her here against her will. The council would request her return to the Motherlands and most likely enforce strict sanctions on our trade if he failed to return her.
Had he informed the other winners of the games that the marriage was only temporary?
I didn’t think so. In fact, I was convinced that every winner in that room was already planning their wedding night in detail.
It enraged me to think that Christina might be pressured into having sex against her will. There wasn’t much I could do about it except maybe speak to the man she chose and ask him to go slow with her.
Christina blinked away her tears. “I’m sorry that I’m being emotional. I know you don’t like that, but it’s just that we’ve been together night and day for three days and I feel like I know you. That you’re my friend.”
An invisible iron band formed around my throat and I looked away, uncomfortable with the emotions she brought out in me. “I did my job and kept you safe; I’m glad you consider me a friend but I’m afraid this is where our friendship ends,” I said, low.
“Can I hug you?” she asked with a sad expression and looked down on my arm. “I’ll be careful.”
My minuscule nod was all the encouragement she needed, and I forgot to breathe when she pressed herself against me, snaking her arms around my waist and placing her head against my shoulder.
Her hair tickled my nose but I slowly placed my right arm around her and took a second to enjoy my first hug with a woman, which was completely different from any hug I’d ever had with a man. Men’s hugs were quick and often involved slapping on the shoulders or backs. This hug was warm and long.
Without releasing her arms around me she leaned her head back and looked up at me with those fascinating eyes of hers. “I’ll never forget you, Alexander.”
I don’t know why she called me Alexander at that moment, when so far she had called me Boulder, but her closeness and my name on her lips made me act on instinct.
I leaned in and kissed her. She gasped and pulled back, her fingers shot to her lips, and her eyes filled with confusion.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” I said quickly to apologize, but we didn’t get a chance to discuss it further when a knock on the door alerted us that it was time to go.
“Are you going to wear those shoes?” I asked to change her focus from the failed kiss.
She looked down and shook her head. “I would break an ankle before I made it down the stairs. They’re beautiful but I can’t wear them.” She took them off and went to pick up her own flat shoes, which were simple in design and neutral with their charcoal gray color.
Christina
My head was still spinning from what had just happened between Boulder and me.
He had kissed me!
I’d never been kissed before.
At least not by a man and not on the mouth. My friends and I were huggers and would kiss each other’s cheeks on occasion, but Boulder’s kiss had been different and made my body buzz with confusion. My reaction had been to pull back immediately but in all honesty, the kiss hadn’t been unpleasant.
I was on Boulder’s right side when we walked into the arena. Maybe he was puffing himself up or walking taller than usual, because I’d never felt so small next to him as I did now. I was only a bit below the average height of women. Still, he was more than a head taller than me.
The white noise from the audience settled down as we came to stand in the middle where Khan and four other men waited for us.
My pulse raced and my eyes flickered around, taking in the huge audience of men and the four large males that had to be the other four winners.
Every one of them scared me, just like Boulder had scared me in the beginning too.
“Our games have successfully resulted in five winners,” Khan said and faced the audience. “It is time for Christina Sanders to choose her champion.”
It was stupid that I felt so nervous about picking my bodyguard, but the set-up of the whole thing was so over the top that it made the responsibility weigh heavily on my shoulders. The man I chose would get a higher rank and financial freedom – something these men had risked their lives for.
With all eyes on me, I cleared my throat and said. “I can’t choose fairly, when I know nothing about these men. Am I allowed to ask them questions?”
Khan frowned. “No,” he said, “but I’ll allow them all to briefly present themselves.”
I nodded and listened carefully when the first man stepped forward.
“I’m Napoleon and I supervise lumber-bots in the area called Old Alaska,” he said.
“Okay, but you do understand that…” I started but was silenced by Khan.
“No questions,” he said.
The next man stepped forward and it almost made me want to take a step back. He was badly bruised, with a big black eye and a crooked nose that looked like it had been broken more than once and never healed right. He presented himself as a mining engineer from somewhere – I had no idea where it was – and informed me that he was forty-two years old.
The third man was young and good-looking. His hair was nicely braided and he only had stubble instead of a full beard like most of the Nmen I’d seen. He even smiled at me when he stepped forward. “My name is Archer Rex and I’m twenty-eight years old. I’m a Mentor.”
“What kind of mentor?” I asked quickly and after getting a nod from Khan, Archer explained.
“I teach boys in both academics and survival skills. My title is Mentor.”
“Oh, like a teacher,” I exclaimed.
The last man stepped forward and mumbled something I couldn’t hear.
“Speak up,” Khan ordered but the man pointed to his mouth and repeated something in a mumble.
“He broke his jaw. It’s hard for him to speak,” Archer, who stood closest to the man, translated.
I turned my head to meet Boulder’s eyes, wondering why he stood by Khan’s side instead of in the line of men. “And you?”
He shook his head. “I hardly need to introduce myself, and with a broken arm you don’t want to choose me.”
I gave him a long glance, silently asking if he was sure. Boulder’s chest rose in a deep sigh and then he looked at Archer – giving me his answer.
I took a deep breath and studied Archer closer. He was the obvious choice: young, strong, and smiling.
“In that case I choose you,” I said and pointed to the tall man.
Archer’s fists flew in the air and he jumped with glee. “Yes!!”
Applause filled the air from the audience. I gave a last glance at Boulder and didn’t like the way his head hung down.
“Congratulations,” Khan told Archer and shook his hand. I figured this would be the place to greet the winner properly so I walked over and reached out my hands to him. He didn’t take them but instead he grabbed me by my waist and lifted me in the air, carrying me around like a trophy.
“Let me down,” I demanded and when he did I smiled stiffly at him. “I feel bad about taking you away from your students.”
He shook his head. “Not at all, we’ll go back tomorrow and you’ll meet them all.”
My smile vanished.
“That’s not possible. I have a job to do and I need to get started right away.”
He frowned. “A job?”
All the color left my face and I turned away from him, moving fast to face Khan. “Why does Archer think I’m going with him? And why does he not know about my job here? Did you not explain to him that he’s merely my bodyguard?”
Khan looked down his nose at me with a smile I didn’t like. “I’m afraid, I haven’t been quite honest with Archer. After all, I expected you to pick Boulder. How was I to know he would break his arm?”
Archer had moved closer and asked, “What’s wrong?”
With a hand in the air, Khan silenced the audience. “As you all know, this is a different ceremony than previous ones.”
Absolute silence fell and I had my eyes fixed on Khan as he spoke.
“Normally the woman is born and raised among us – Christina Sanders is not.
“Another thing that is different about her is that she has a profession and she’s here to do a job.”
I scanned the audience when unease spread among them.
“Christina has chosen Archer to be her protector while she leads the excavation of an important archeological digging site. Now it’s up to Archer if he’ll take the money, prestige, and stay to make sure she’s safe while she works.”
Archer looked furious “What kind of fuckery is this? I have obligations with my students and I was expecting to take my wife home tomorrow.”
“Wife?” The word came out of me as a high-pitched scream and my head whipped from Khan to Archer and back, but Khan didn’t look the least bit shaken.
“A champion is the woman’s husband,” he said, loud and clear. “It’s the oldest tradition of keeping women safe in history. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that to you.”
“No, you never mentioned the word wife,” I forced out, feeling my heart run in circles of sheer panic.
He shrugged. “It’s a minor detail really. The contract is still the same.”
“What contract?”
“The marriage contract.”
“I’m not marrying any man – ever!” I practically screamed.
The audience got up from their seats and were visibly upset about the situation.
Khan’s hand went up again and it calmed them.
“No man here wants to marry a woman without her consent, so if you’re adamant that you don’t want a protector we’ll have to respect that.”
“I’m here to do my job and you said I needed a bodyguard,” I accused him.
“That’s true. It would be very dangerous for you to be here without protection. Still, it’s your choice and you’re free to leave anytime you want.”
“What about the job?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“I already told you it would be impossible for you to work without having a Champion. No one here would touch a married woman – it’s punishable by death.”
The men on stage nodded in agreement.
“However, a single woman without protection… That’s a completely different story.”
I bit my lip and felt like exploding from the pressure inside me.
“Maybe you’ll make it to the border, but I wouldn’t count on it,” Khan said with a calculating smile on his face.
“Are you saying I have to marry Archer or you’ll send me back without protection?”
“Of course not. I already assigned Boulder to protect you, but he’s one man with a broken arm and now that the whole country knows you’re a single woman…” Khan trailed off and walked close to Boulder, who looked down. A pat on his shoulder and a sad smile from Khan came before he drove in the last nail in my coffin. “To be honest, I hope you won’t ask Boulder to take you to the border because he’ll surely die protecting you, and he’s my friend.”
I was shocked and enraged that I’d been lured into this trap. This was like choosing between jumping into a pool with one large crocodile or a pool with many. Either way I would be chewed up.
“And if I marry, what happens when I’ve finished my job? Can I still go home?”
Khan tilted his head. “Hopefully you’ll want to stay, but I give you my word that if you want to leave after the excavation is finished, you can.”
“What?” Archer exclaimed. “My wife can leave me?”
“I’m counting on you to make her want to stay,” Khan responded.
Archer leaned forward crossing his arms. “And if she’s already pregnant?”
I almost fainted then and there. Clearly this stranger was expecting us to have an old-fashioned marriage and not just a contract of protection.
Reacting on instinct, I ran straight into Boulder’s arms with eyes full of fright. “I won’t do it!” I repeated over and over.
He pushed me behind him and faced all the men, speaking loud and clear. “Christina will marry me!”
“No, she chose me,” Archer shouted.
“And now that she understands what her choice involves she’s changed her mind,” Boulder roared.
“Christina,” Khan called loudly.
I moved to Boulder’s side but stayed very close. “Do you wish to marry Boulder instead of Archer?”
“Yes,” I said quickly, trusting that Boulder would willingly let me go when I was done working and that he wouldn’t expect anything sexual from me. We had spent three nights together without his touching me, after all.
Archer was cursing and objecting but Khan silenced him with a hard glance. “You are young, Archer, and I promise you this: Next time we have a tournament you don’t even have to fight. You have a spot as one of the five winners and a chance of being selected.”
“But that could take years.”
“It won’t, and to compensate you, Boulder will give you half of the prize money.”
Archer was clearly frustrated but stepped back and left the arena when Khan announced that he would now be performing the ritual to unite Boulder and me.
I was numbed from the shock I was in. Boulder held my hand and guided me through the ceremony and before I knew it, we were declared man and wife.
Marriage, a tradition that had been outdated for hundreds of years because of its predatory nature toward women and yet here I was, married to Alexander Boulder, the first Nman I’d ever met.
I couldn’t smile when Boulder picked me up and kissed me in front of a cheering audience!