Kane

I awake with a jolt, my fists raised.

“Calm down,” Piper says, pushing me back down onto my back. “I’m nearly done.” Her touch feels fantastic on my naked skin… my naked skin?

I glance down to see I’m lying on my couch, half-naked, with fresh bandages all over my bruised body. A thin blanket covers my frame. While I was out cold the human cared for me? I briefly expect her work, and I’m impressed. Couldn’t have done it better myself.

She hums to herself as she changes my bandages, and I enjoy the soothing tune. In the distance I hear the soft, familiar sounds of my record player. She leans in and her soft hair tickles my silver skin.

Instantly I’m as hard as a rock — and there’s no padded coat or armor to keep my manhood from bursting out into the open this time. I raise one knee so that the tent that has risen underneath the covers isn’t too obvious.

I shouldn’t be having thoughts like these. It’s my fault she’s here, and I should be taking her back home, not fantasizing about taking her innocence.

“There. Good morning,” Piper says cheerfully. “How are you feeling?”

It’s morning already?! How long have I been out?!

I try to stand up, but again, the human female stops me.

“Cut it out,” she says. “You need to take it easy!”

I need to save you from yourself, human.

“Close the curtains,” I growl angrily. “What if someone sees us?! And turn off that music!”

Piper rises, looking wounded, and follows my instructions to the letter.

I lie back down and hold my head in my hands. Can I ever not be an asshole?

“Sorry,” I say. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she says as she sits back down next to me. “You’re right. We need to be careful.”

“Yes, but I shouldn’t yell at you. Not after you saved my life.”

“It was nothing.”

“No, it was noble of you,” I say. “You’re brave.”

A soft blush appears on her cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispers, the corners of her lips curling up into a shy smile.

I grab her hand and give it a soft squeeze. Instantly, her face turns crimson, and she pulls her hand away like I’m as hot as stove.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask.

“No, it’s this simulation, I mean, this dream I had, I mean, forget about it. Just forget I said anything.”

“Gladly,” I say.

“What is this place?” she asks. “Your home?”

“Something like that,” I answer, taking a look around. Bright monitors fill the dingy apartment, the computers constantly scanning the local web for any keywords that are relevant to my interests.

From the text rapidly flashing across the screens, something big is going on.

“It’s my hideout,” I answer. “A safe house.”

“Are you…” Her voice fades away.

“Go on. Say it.”

“A hitman?”

“I’m whatever the clan wants me to be, or at least, that’s who I was. Now… now I don’t know who I am anymore. Except for the fact that I’m a chump who got played.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Piper gestures at the dark, empty room.

“Pretty sure I have the time,” she says with a smile.

No matter how dire the circumstances, that bright smile of hers is always there on her face.

“Fine,” I say, “but you won’t like the answers.”

“I haven’t like a whole lot recently, it can’t possibly get any worse,” she shrugs.

Ouch.

Piper grabs us both a cup of tea, and she finds a comfortable position on the couch next to me.

Here goes.

“It all started six months ago. I woke up and found myself in a pile of burning rubble, my hands and ankles tied to a metal frame without a single memory in my mind. I didn’t know who I was, or how I got there. The only thing I knew for sure was that the fire had started licking my skin, and that was about to die an agonizing death.”

“So that’s why…” Piper whispers.

“Hm?”

“Your leg,” he says. “I was changing your bandages, and…”

“Ah. You saw my scars.”

She nods. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

I wonder how much more she saw of me. It seems she’s at advantage, because I have no idea what she looks like underneath that well-fitting bodysuit of hers. Not for long, though… Her glorious curves will be mine…

No! I push the wanton thought way. Again. I should be protecting her innocence, not plotting to seize it for myself. It has to be the pain that’s making me delirious.

“You’re right,” I say. “That is why I have those burns. Right at the moment when I had accepted my own death, a figure appeared in the flames. For a second I thought I was delirious, but no, it was real. Ragh was his name. He saved my life, and I pledged it to him and his cause, which I thought was just.”

A bitter taste fills my mouth.

“It wasn’t.”

Piper is hanging on my every word. She doesn’t look at me like a murderer or a wild beast, like most people here on Vagreon. She looks at like I’m a person.

I could get used to that.

“What happened next?” she asks. “Don’t leave me hanging!”

“I need to check the computers first,” I say. I try to get up, but a quick flash of pain has me stumbling. Piper is at my side in a second and helps me find my balance.

Those Sahr really did a number on me.

“Don’t be so stubborn and let me help you,” Piper says.

I don’t deserve her help.

She guides me to my multitude of screens. My eyes scan the text flashing by, taking all of the info in. It’s worse than I had feared. The clan put a price on my head, raising it from sixty-five thousand to a staggering two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand credits. It’s open season.

It’s just a matter of time before someone finds us. Vagreon is only so big, and the clan will be combing every nook and cranny. And in my current state, I’m as good as dead.

Piper doesn’t deserve any of this. I need to get her out of here, no matter what.

“Come on, continue your story, please,” Piper says.

Her big blue eyes demand my attention. While I’m staring into them, all my worries fade away. If I can’t save her, I can at least enjoy the time that we do have together.

“Alright,” I say, “alright.”

I turn the monitors off and settle back down on the couch. If the clan does find us, I’d like it to be a surprise, so I can savor every minute we have without anxiety weighing me down.

“Where was I?”

“Ragh.”

My short-lived happiness fades away. “Yes, Ragh. He nursed me back to health. I was desperate to learn who I was, but he had no answers. All I had was this.”

I hand Piper my metal dog-tag.

“Kane. That’s all I know.”

“Wow,” she says. “I can’t imagine what that must be like.”

“I hope you never find out,” I say seriously. “Without memories, without something to anchor yourself to in this world, you’re simply… adrift. It’s incredibly hard to find your place. That is why I latched onto the clan’s narrative, I suppose. You’ve seen Vagreon. It’s a lawless place where the strong prey on the weak. Literally. Slavery is a fact of life here, and the Seven Lords, the various crime syndicates, gangs, and families, rule this place with an iron first. Or, they did. Until I showed up.”

I take a sip of my tea, but it’s gone cold.

“We need something stronger for this story. I’ve stashed a bottle of cuhla somewhere in the kitchen.”

“Say no more,” Piper says as she rises up.

“It’s a black bottle.”

“Got it! I think.”

Piper returns with the bottle and two glasses. I watch her hips sway when she walks, and the beast inside of me is growling with lust. The cuhla will lower my inhibitions even more, and it might make me do something I regret, but… fuck it. I already have my fair share of regrets. What is one more?

“Is this it?” Piper asks as she hands me the bottle.

“Yes,” I answer. “This is the only truly Zoran thing I have. It was a gift from Ragh for a job well done. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. This is it.”

I uncork the bottle and a sweet aroma fills the room. I pour two glasses and we clink them together.

“Cheers.”

The drink is strong, yet sweet, and fills me with warmth. Piper makes a face, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“Too strong for you?”

“A bit,” she coughs, “It’s tasty though!”

I savor the sweet taste, for what I will divulge next will fill me with bitterness.

“Ragh told me he was part of the Sahr clan,” I continue. “An underground collective, fighting the Seven Lords, with the ultimate goal of ending slavery in the entire sector. Naturally, I was drawn to this cause. I owed Ragh my life, and he promised he would use his connections to dig up any information about my past he could find. All I had to do was work for him. Happy to have found a purpose, I accepted.”

I take another sip of cuhla. Already I can feel my head start to swim — it hits heavy on an empty stomach.

“As I said, I’ve lost my memory, but my training is still there. I must have been a warrior in my past life, because killing is like a second nature to me. I take no pleasure from it, but if it’s for a good cause, well, I will use the talents gifted to me.”

Piper nods as she tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. She looks so innocent, and yet she pulled the trigger on my gun without a moment’s hesitation, blowing that Sahr away.

I wonder if she realizes she killed him? Either way, I’m not going to tell her. I don’t want to steal her innocence away from her.

Or do I?

“I quickly made a name for myself,” I go on. “Silver. That’s what they called me. They whispered it to each other, afraid that if they said my name out loud it would attract my attention. I was the bogeyman of the Seven Lords — except that I was very, very real, and I started taking them out, one by one.”

“That’s good, right?” Piper says.

“That’s what I thought. However, this city, this planet, this whole corner of space didn’t feel one bit safer to me, no matter how many crime lords I assassinated. More and more slaves came pouring in, the market busier than ever. Ganons were touching ground every day, their cargo loads full of new slaves, ready to be sold to the highest bidder. The more I killed, the worse it became. I questioned Ragh, but he assured me that this was just the death throes of the old guard. It would become worse before it became better, he promised me. All I needed was to have faith. What else was I supposed to do?”

I shake my head. I feel so foolish. In hindsight, it’s all so obvious. How could I be so dumb?

Piper grabs my hand, her fingers entwining with mine. “Hey,” she says softly. “Don’t beat yourself up. You did the right thing — or what you thought was right, at least. That is the only thing that counts.”

Her touch makes me feel warm all over, like the cuhla does, but a thousand times stronger. The human female is so positive, so friendly and nice — are all human females like this? Or just the untouched ones?

No. I feel it in my soul that it’s just Piper. It can only be her. I can’t imagine any other person, male or female, Zoran or human, who could make me feel the same way as she does.

I lick my dry lips and continue on.

“I pressed Ragh again and again, and he finally revealed he found some information on my past — but he didn’t want to share it with me, because it was so terrible. He said he wanted to protect me from myself. In the end, he used that information to blackmail me, to keep me in line when I was already filled with doubts.”

“Do you think that’s true?”

“I want to say no,” I say. “I want to say it’s another ploy, another lie, another scam… but I keep returning to that crashed ship where I nearly burned to death. Why was I bound to a metal frame? I must have done something to deserve that fate.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Piper whispers.

“I do,” I say. “I do. Because of the dreams.”

“Dreams?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve had my suspicions, but I don’t think I’ve really admitted it to myself this clearly before.

“Every night. Every night I dream. Of death. Of blood. My hands dripping with it. I did something bad, Piper. Something really bad. I’m a monster,” I choke.

“You’re a hero to me,” she says. “You saved the girls from those slavers, you saved me… in a roundabout sort of way, sure, but I’m counting it. And your heart is in the right place, Kane. I know that for a fact.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am. Your previous life doesn’t matter anymore. It’s what you do with the one you have now that counts.”

I cannot believe how sweet and trusting the human female is. She has every right in the world to hate me, and yet she shows me nothing but kindness. I’m not worthy.

Tears form in my eyes. I do not know much of Zoran culture and customs, but this feels wrong. Zoran’s don’t cry.

Piper places her hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look her in the eye. “Hey,” she whispers. “It’s okay, I promise. Please, keep talking. I’m curious to hear where I fit in.”

“Right,” I chuckle. Her touch feels perfect, and I wish she’d never move her hands.

“After our last altercation, Ragh ordered me to free you from the Ganon, and deliver you to Melkov. It was supposed to be my last job. I didn’t know he was a slaver as well, I thought… never mind.

“No, tell me,” Piper says. “Why me? Why, of all the girls, did you take me?”

“Oh, that’s simple. You were the only virgin.”

The human female recoils as if stung by an insect. “Excuse me?! H-how do you, how do you know that?”

“Your scent,” I say matter-of-factly.

“My s-s-s-cent?!”

“Correct. Your scent.”

She folds her arms and tries to scowl, but all she succeeds in doing is looking adorable.

“I feel violated.”

“If I hadn’t saved you, you wouldn’t just feel violated…”

She shudders. “Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry. I see you’re still confused, so I’ll explain it as clearly as I can. Human females are worth a fortune here on Vagreon, and that goes doubly so for virgins. They are said to possess mythical powers. Their blood can halt aging, their hair wards off evil spirits and restores virility, and the one who takes their innocence gains incredible powers. That’s what they say on the streets, anyway. I thought that the clan might use your ‘power’ for good, in some way.”

Piper is looking at me like I’m a crazy person.

“And you believed all of that?”

I shrug. There’s not much more I can do.

“I don’t know. I’ve never met any of you before. Not that I can remember, anyway. The universe is a strange place, after all.”

“Fair point. Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t think I have any powers.”

Oh, but you do, human. More than you realize. You have the power to heal my heart. To make me whole. To help me forget all about my past, my nightmares, my problems. When I’m with you, I feel like everything must just turn out okay, and if that’s not a superpower, I don’t know what is.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” I say. “You might surprise yourself.”

“Perhaps,” she muses. “Perhaps.”

“That’s the whole story,” I say. “I had no idea Melkov was just another slaver. I had no idea the clan was just another crime family, abusing my trust to get rid of the competition. If I had known, I would never have taken you here. That’s a promise.”

“I believe you,” Piper says.

“Thank you. Sorry for dragging you into this conflict. You shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes.”

Piper smiles at me.

“I’m curious: How do you feel about humans, now that you’ve met one? On a scale of one to ten, how disappointed are you?”

“Good question. Let me take a good look at you, first.”

I sit up straight, and let my eyes wander over her body. Her bodysuit was white when I picked her up, but now it’s a dark grey in places, covered in dirt and grime. Still, she looks amazing.

The material is stretched around her many curves. It barely keeps her wide hips or her large bosom under control. The fact that the material hasn’t snapped yet is a miracle of human engineering.

“Hm,” I muse. “I still haven’t made up my mind yet. Stand up.”

Piper plays along and stands up. She strikes several poses, like a intergalactic supermodel. I’m enjoying the sight immensely — and I’m happy to see she’s smiling as well.

Despite our grim situation, Piper can find always find something to smile about, it seems. There’s something more in her smile as well. A gleam in her blue eyes, as if she’s daring me to take this even further…

My temperature rises as I unabashedly stare at her thick, luscious hips. It could be the cuhla lowering my inhibitions, or the adrenaline from unburdening myself and opening my heart, but either way, I’m feeling adventurous.

And I’m going to take this as far as Piper will let me.

“And?” she asks, looking at me over her shoulder, her hands on her hips. “”What do you think? Regret risking your life for me, yet?”

The only thing I regret is that I haven’t buried my cock in that thick ass of yours yet, human. I want to grab a fistful of your hair, I want to wrap one hand around your throat and hear you moan my name as I fill you, inch by inch. I want to feel your nails scrape down my back, I want you to moan my name as you shudder in ecstasy. I want to pump you full of my cum, make your belly swell with my child, I want to steal your innocence and turn you into my mate and do every single thing you’ve ever dreamed of doing. I want to make you mine and mine alone.

My cock is as hard as a rock as I stare at her curvaceous figure. Piper’s blue eyes are filled with lust, a shy smile on her face.

“Still not sure if I regret saving you,” I growl. “I’d have to see you naked to know for sure.”

Piper freezes in place. Her big blue eyes grow as wide as saucers. Did I take it too far? My gaze travels up to her eyes, but I’m relieved to see there’s no fear there.

Only arousal.

“There’s one way to throw our would-be pursuers off our trail,” I say.

“You mean,” she breathes heavily, “losing my virginity…”