Free Kaitlyn O'Connor by Enslaved III: The Gladiators

It was unfortunate that she noticed when she did that his fingers were webbed. It counteracted the weightless feel of delight just to feel contact with another being, making her belly drop with an unexpected rush.
    “We not same, little ting. It no matter to me. Lau-ren beautiful to my eyes.”
    Loren felt her chin wobble, both because he ‟ d noticed she ‟ d frozen and because he was so sweet. She met his gaze with an effort, trying to ignore the flutter of uneasiness in her belly because his eyes looked so strange to her. “I ‟ m not used to seeing…anyone that isn ‟ t the same species as I am,” she said earnestly. “That doesn ‟ t mean you aren ‟ t pleasing to me.”
    She held Dakaar ‟ s gaze for a moment and then met Balen ‟ s and finally Kael ‟ s. “You look a lot like my own people.” She smiled faintly. “Except a lot bigger. There ‟ s no point in lying and saying that doesn ‟ t unnerve me, but it ‟ s mostly the size, you know?” She felt her face redden as her mind instantly leapt to the size of their cocks, but then they were discussing fucking! There wasn ‟ t any point in trying to whitewash it in her mind to make it more palatable! “And you ‟ re a lot more handsome than most of the men I know…uh…used to know.”
    They all looked pleased but extremely skeptical—especially Kael.
    “We win de game,” Balen said confidently. “None udders are as good as a Hirachi warrior.”
    He looked uncomfortable as soon as the boast left his mouth. “Mean you no worry. We take care ob little ting. No let udders touch.”
    Dakaar pushed a folded blanket through the bars. “Bring you dis.” He pointed to the barrier she ‟ d erected for privacy. “Make more comfortable.”
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    Loren took the offering automatically, but then she merely stared at it in dismay, knowing he would be doing without a blanket if he gave it to her. It was on the tip of her tongue to refuse it, but she realized as soon as she met his gaze that it would wound him, and probably embarrass him, if she refused it. She smiled with an effort when she looked up at him. “This is so sweet! So thoughtful! It makes me want to cry.”
    Dismay flickered across his face. “No happy gift?”
    Loren sniffed the urge back and smiled. “It ‟ s a wonderful gift—all the more because I know you ‟ re going to be cold without it!”
    Balen shoved something white through the bars. When she looked down, she saw it was a comb, not wonderfully fashioned, but useable. It looked as if it had been made from some animal bone. He had to have made it for himself. He couldn ‟ t have much to work with, which probably meant he ‟ d spent a great deal of time on it—and probably also meant that he was going to do without. Her chest tightened with emotion. She struggled with it, smiling at him gratefully. “I made dis. Make special one for little ting later. Pretty. Work better. Now dis all Balen have. Not good, but make hair pretty.”
    “Thank you so much!” Loren gasped, struggling with the urge to kiss him. She ‟ d had to use her fingers to try to get the tangles out of her hair after she ‟ d bathed and she knew it had to be a wreck—especially since it had grown so long! She hadn ‟ t wanted to think about the implication—that she ‟ d been in that pod for months, but there was no other explanation for the fact that her hair was so much longer than it had been.
    Kael shouldered Dakaar out of the way and held up something unrecognizable—at least, she drew a blank. She could see that he ‟ d fashioned it from a piece of his blanket and pieces of his loincloth because there were thin leather ties attached to it and the moment she recognized them, her gaze had flickered to his loincloth.
    She took it, studied it without comprehension, and finally looked up and smiled brightly.
    “Thank you so much! This was so thoughtful!”
    His face darkened. “Cover tup ,” he said uncomfortably, pointing toward her crotch and