Ch. 2.3

Tasha was no longer laughing.

"Riordan, honey, you don't switch owners here, as you say. You signed, you're it. Unless your keeper gets annoyed with you, and you don't want that to happen. Come on, what don't you like about Xana?"

"Except that he's a dude and he enjoys penetrating all my holes? Not much, I guess," he said as his lips twitched in sarcasm.

"Come on, Riordan, sex with a Xeno is the bee's knees. I was with dozens of men before Marn and none can hold a candle to him."

"Well, that's not what I can say about myself. I'm into chicks, not dudes."

Tasha shook his head in pity.

"Fuck, then it must suck big time," he murmured. "Maybe you should tell him then. That you don't want to have sex with a male. Xana seems so understanding and good natured all the time. But I'm afraid he's really taken a liking in you. Are you sure you don't enjoy it at all? I can hardly imagine him forcing himself on you out of the blue."

Riordan looked sideways. He had never been good at lying. Tasha eyed him with renewed interest.

"Wait..." His eyes became thin and questioning. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I kinda offered to blow him," Riordan admitted plainly.

"Wow," Tasha replied, with awe in his deep chocolate eyes. "So you had no idea that's like the strongest aphrodisiac for these guys?"

"What? Oral?" Riordan quirked an eyebrow.

"No, honey. Asking for it. Okay, I don't blame you, it's not like I knew it, either, when I came here."

"Oh. How long have you been here, then?"

"Almost one year," Tasha sighed.

"What was the sigh for?" Riordan cocked his head to one side and watched his new found friend. "Are you already pregnant with your guy's egg?"

"No." Tasha shook his head. "Marn, he just wants to postpone things. He says the climate is not right."

The redhead bit his bottom lip while his eyes cast down in something akin to worry.

"So, what's the problem?" Riordan questioned. "Don't tell me you're dying to carry that in your belly?"

Tasha shot him a pained look.

"Unlike you, Riordan, I like my guy. And I don't want him to cast me aside for someone younger when he finally decides to have an offspring."

"Uhm, sorry. I had no idea."

"No problem," Tasha said, but the mood was now changed and Riordan felt a bit like a douche.

"What's this climate your guy speaks about? I must be honest. I don't give a shit about politics."

"He's afraid that his political adversaries would find means to kill his child, even before being born."

"So, the guys here are not that different from those on Earth," Riordan murmured.

"Yeah, I guess," Tasha said with another sigh. "In the meantime, I'm not getting any younger."

"Would it be too much to get out of here? You know, be done with everything and head back home?"

Now Tasha looked right down dejected.

"Once you go Xeno, you never go back to human dick." The redhead tried to hide his distress with a crass joke.

"Come on, is it because of that thing… you know, what they're pumping into us when they fuck us?"

"You're talking about the seth?"

"Yeah, that's it. Xana kept talking about it, and of course, putting enough into me to make me puke."

"Don't tell me you don't like it." Tasha giggled. "It's the real deal. Not that their cum is bad, either. I love sucking Marn dry."

"Too much info, man," Riordan said with a small smile. "The thing is I wasn't getting into this for a man."

"Ugh, sorry to tell you, but tough luck. You don't want to make them angry, either. If you're too insolent, or you try going over your guy's head, you can be in deep shit."

"That's what he told me. About being sold into the black market around here, used and stuff."

"He was being gentle with you."

"How come?"

"The punishment for anything that goes against your keeper is usually death."

Riordan swallowed hard. "Are you pulling my leg?"

"I wish. We're the ones who were conquered. They have any right over us. By intergalactic standards, it even looks like they're being soft on us."

"Fuck," Riordan covered his face and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. "That's what I get for being stupid," he commented.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, honey," Tasha said in a sympathetic voice.

"Well, at least, when I'm done with carrying the egg and everything, can I be let go?"

Tasha was a bit thoughtful upon hearing the question.

"I don't exactly know the protocol. Most ex-bearers remain here. They're like prized courtesans, and some get into clerical work."

"It must be of their own accord," Riordan tried to extract a confirmation out of the other.

"I really don't know. I guess that makes me anxious about the future, too. Since I'm not that young, nor that beautiful. Damn Marn and his strange tastes. He asked for a redhead, you know? That was how I got here."

"Wait, didn't you apply for being a bearer?"

"I did, but what do you think? I did it as a joke. My friends were teasing me, saying that I should do it as a dare. Imagine how boastful I was when I got selected. Like I managed to win the lottery. I flipped the bird at my crew on the way to the shuttle. And now I'm here, and if Marn decides that he's through with me, I have no idea what will happen."

"That's tough, man," Riordan admitted. "So, at one point or another, we get discarded anyway. I cannot believe that everyone accepts it without saying anything."

"Look around you. What do you see? These empty heads know nothing but parties and glamor."

"Yeah, but even that's gotta end someday, right?"

"All this system involving human bearers is rather new. So far, no one is that old and ugly to become really useless. Plus, you know Xenos don't age at the same rate as us."

"They do seem to prefer young bearers. That means that I might be out of commission soon."

"Well, that may happen." Tasha became saddened again.

"Stop it with the long face," Riordan tried to cheer up the other. "How old are you, anyway?"

"26. By all standards, I'm ancient. Kids around here are 19 or 20, rarely 21. Of course, the retirees are a bit older, but they're still young and beautiful."

"At this rate, I should be on a shuttle back to Earth," Riordan commented.

"There's one thing you might want to try," Tasha suggested. "Now listen to me without opening your mouth, because I know how that will sound."