Chapter 5
Ruby leaves me in the room and tells me to stay put. That’s no problem. I’m curious, sure, but not so curious that I’ll risk getting in trouble for looking around. Pushing back the temptation to open drawers and cupboards, I stay on the table, but I sit up. My knees come up to my chest and I wrap my arms around myself.
What could she possibly mean? Her words weren’t ominous, but they left me hanging. Now I’m all alone with nothing to do but think about what she said.
Does Taneyemm have a thing against virgins? I’m sure it’s a situation we could remedy pretty quickly. Hal isn’t really my type, if I were to say I had a “type,” but I’m sure he’d be able to get the job done pretty fast.
Then again, maybe not Hal. I saw the way he looked at Elf and I feel like maybe there was something between them. Growing up, we all discovered quickly that other planets don’t have hang-ups when it comes to sexuality. No one really cares if you like men or women or something else or both. As long as you don’t let your love life distract you at work, you can do as you please.
So why was Ruby so weird about me being a virgin?
It’s not that I planned on being a 24-year-old virgin. Who does? It’s a bit pathetic, really. It’s a bit silly. Here I am, though: grownup and alone. When I was a kid, I always thought I’d start dating as a teenager, maybe have a boyfriend or a car, but before I hit puberty, we had our first war, and that was when everything changed.
Suddenly, there wasn’t time for dating or sex or anything fun.
Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was staying alive.
Oh, I know plenty of people who have babies, even now. People always find a way to fuck and play, but me? I had my dad to look after. I would have felt guilty leaving him alone to go spend time with a male, so I never did. He never mentioned it and I never brought it up.
I didn’t plan to make it to my 24th birthday, though.
Maybe I should have planned ahead better.
Perhaps I should have been a bit wilder. Still, I don’t really feel embarrassed about being an innocent. If there’s a problem, surely they can deflower me. Right? Surely someone on this ship has a dick they wouldn’t mind using.
I try not to focus on the negative, but it’s hard when the ship is completely silent. Even though there are plenty of people on it, the ship is so big that there is almost never any noise. When I imagined spaceships as a kid, I pictured noises and whirring and sounds, but strangely, everything seems quiet.
Much quieter than Earth.
Even as the planet was falling apart, people were loud. Babies cried, people sang and yelled and shouted. There was always something happening.
Now I’m sitting in a sterile room just waiting for something.
After a long time, Ruby returns with Jenika. They’re speaking in the other language, the one I can’t understand.
Ruby is motioning wildly at my body and I immediately try to cover myself, but Jenika doesn’t seem bothered by my nudity. If anything, she seems curious. She eyes me with surprise and perhaps a bit of uncertainty, but finally, she speaks to me.
“You’ve never been fucked?”
I shake my head.
“Not even at all?”
“No,” I whisper. “Not even at all.”
“Are you a prude?” Jenika asks.
“Um, no,” I mumble. Suddenly, I’m a bit embarrassed by my lack of experience. I really talked myself up about it, but now that it’s go-time? Now I’m a little nervous. “I just never had a chance.”
“Oh, this is good,” Jenika says, rubbing her hands together like she’s coming up with an evil plan. “He’ll like that.”
“Who?” I ask.
“The King, of course,” Jenika waves her hand away. “We’ve never had a human virgin before. He’ll want you. Of all the girls, I guarantee he’ll pick you.”
The King?
“You have a King?”
“Yes, he’s very handsome,” Ruby says, a little dreamily.
“What would he want with me?” I ask, and both women just start laughing.
“Oh, doll,” Ruby says. “We have a lot more to work on than your body hair. A lot more. Best we get started.”
***
The two women are in cahoots with Hal and they all come up with a plan for making me as fit for the King as possible. I have no idea if their plan is going to work or what the consequences for failure might be, but they seem certain they can whip me into shape before we reach Taneyemm.
Apparently, the King is notoriously picky about his females and never keeps a woman for very long. Oh, when he’s done with them, he sends them to the countryside to live in this mansion with the other females he’s given up on, but apparently the planet is tired of him not having a proper queen, and he’s been given an ultimatum.
Basically, that’s where I come in.
Jenika is going to teach me the language. The other girls will learn a small amount when they’re woke prior to our arrival, but after four years of speaking, I should be able to communicate very well. That’ll be points in my favor, but there are plenty of other things I need to learn about Taneyemm.
Ruby volunteered to teach me about pleasing a man. Jenika wants to watch those lessons, but I’m not sure why. Perhaps she wants to see that I’m learning correctly. Maybe she’s just horny. I don’t know. Hal doesn’t care and he’ll focus on teaching me the traditions and customs of Taneyemm.
All I know is that four years doesn’t seem like a long time to be primed for a possible marriage when there’s no guarantee the King will even want me.
I’m just a human and he’s…well, if what Hal says is accurate, he’s an alien dragon with an insatiable appetite for women.
And me?
I’m just a virgin.
How can I possibly be enough for him?