perhaps an agreement. “I’m Bethiah va’Savarr.”
“I am known simply as Nassakth.”
Her eyes widen. “Nassakth from Askorthi Prime?” When I grunt, she looks impressed. “I think I’ve seen one of your matches.” Her hand slides up my forearm and she squeezes my bicep, a thoughtful expression on her face. “You’re still a fine specimen after all these years.”
I grow uneasy. “I appreciate the compliment, but I am only interested in Kim—”
Bethiah jerks her hand away as if burned, then rolls her eyes. “I’m checking the goods, you moron. My little human deserves a good match, you know. I want her to be happy with my choice, just in case she needs some repeat business in the future.” She moves around me, and appears to be checking out my backside.
“She will not need repeat business! I will be her only mate—”
“Are you diseased?” Bethiah asks, ignoring my protests. “Because I know how nasty you gladiators can get. I don’t want her to catch something from you.”
“Not diseased.” My jaw clenches at the insult. “I would never infect her with anything—”
“Except your love, right? Pardon me while I vomit.” She crouches and feels my thigh. “Any old battle wounds I need to be aware of? Cybernetic limbs?”
“No. And no. I would have been put down if I lost a limb.” I was what was known as a “pure” fighter in the gladiator arenas—unassisted by stims or technology.
“Can I ask about your penis?” Bethiah looks up at me.
“It is…grand? I have had no complaints.” I consider for a moment as she continues to feel my leg muscles. “You may check it, as well…if it will help my case.”
She doesn’t even pause, this female. She just reaches up and gropes my cock, then gives a surprised little grunt. “You’re definitely a big boy. Okay, noted.” She gets to her feet and then puts her hand out. “I’ll need to be paid.”
“Paid! But you already charged my female—”
“And if you want to be the man I choose to steal, I’m gonna need some incentive.” She wiggles her fingers, palm out. “Pay up.”
“This is robbery,” I grumble, even as I reach for my wallet.
“No, this is bounty hunting.” She takes my credit chip the moment I pull it out, and pockets it. “I’ll contact you tomorrow and let you know what I decide. Been a pleasure, praxiian.” She moves away from the bar, pulls on my tail, and leaves the place with a jaunty saunter.
I feel as dizzy as if I just escaped a cyclone. That one is trouble, I decide…but if it means I get what I want, then I will embrace trouble.
All I care about getting is Kim.
5
KIM
Each day that passes feels like agony. I mean, how long does it take to kidnap a man? She looked capable, but what if she isn’t? What if she’s not able to bring me a guy and she took all my savings? The thought makes me hyperventilate.
I try to bury myself in fiction instead. To write the next chapter of The Fair Maiden and the Scotsman, but I’m finding it impossible to concentrate. I write a paragraph, then I clean the bathroom. I write another paragraph, then get up and fold laundry. I sweep the floors twice in the same day. I check the harvesters. Pluck fresh flowers for my table. Write another paragraph. Make dinner. Do the dishes. Go back to my datapad and delete all the paragraphs I’ve written so far today and then stare mutinously at my document.
It doesn’t help that the other women that follow along are sending me messages, asking where the next chapter is. How do I tell them I have writer’s block because I’m waiting for a kidnapper?
Doubt creeps in, too.
What if Bethiah is the wrong person for this job? She comes highly recommended from someone who said if I needed a person to “get things done,” Bethiah was the one to call. But…what if I’ve asked for too much? Perhaps I should have put another personal ad out with the port datagram, the Risda version of a local newspaper. I’ve tried that twice so far, to disastrously bad results.
The first man that showed up to my ad for a husband didn’t like my face. Or my body. He was a handsome mesakkah—the big blue sort—and the moment he saw me, his face fell. He asked me all kinds of invasive questions about the human body and how it “holds up” over time and it was clear he’d been expecting someone