Claimed by the Ruthless Alien Lords

4

"That was an awful sound, Ciara," the bearded man remarked.

"I am sorry, Master," I sobbed, relieved that the long-haired man had suddenly released my arm.

The bearded man then addressed the long-haired man sharply. "Use less force, Evan. You behave as though we have not been trained." Master Evan, as the man was called, pulled me upright while grunting an apology to the bearded man.

"It charged at me," he said. "I was caught off guard."

I stood there trembling between the two men.

The word powerful did not even begin to convey what they were. Although I resisted, the long-haired man, Master Evan, had effortlessly moved me to the floor as if I were not fighting him at all. My arm throbbed, serving as a vivid reminder of what not to do. The men were watching me, and I realized that I had been staring at them.

I could not understand how I had ever mistaken them for human.

For one thing, they were far too tall. Secondly, their eyes were unlike human eyes—larger and distinctly more feline. Their skin should have revealed it to me as well: it was faintly striped with gold and golden brown. There were subtle yet unmistakable differences between them and me. I lowered my gaze, but not before taking in Master Evan's entire form.

He was tall, with clearly defined muscles across his arms and chest. Like the bearded man, he also bore numerous scars stretching across his body. Unlike the bearded man, however, he had less hair on his chest. Unlike the bearded man he had less chest hair.

"Your eyes are green, Ciara. None of us has green eyes," Master Evan remarked in a conversational manner.

I had nothing to say in response, so I simply looked up at his face once more. Master Evan wore a crooked smile. He was watching me with unwavering attention. For a man who had nearly torn my arm off, he seemed surprisingly good-natured.

The bearded man was also standing there watching me, but he appeared to have left the conversation to Master Evan.

"What is Ciara? Why do you keep calling me that? My name is Rachel," I said to him in a pleading tone.

"That is the second time you have failed to follow instructions, Ciara. I would gladly answer your question if you apologized for failing to address us properly. You should be warned that the punishment will become worse the longer you continue to defy us," he said in the same pleasant tone.

The lanky man on the bed spoke before I could respond. "Liam told me that the first thing they did with their slave was take it outside and show it the whipping post. He said they tied it to the post and left it there for half the day, and afterward they had no trouble with it."

My mother and her brothers had beaten me on more than one occasion. These men were far tougher than my family. I had no desire to go through anything like that ever again.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you Master, Master. Please tell me where I am. Why do you call me Ciara? Why am I here? I'm sorry, Master." I stumbled over my words repeatedly and lowered my gaze to the floor.

Once again, tears began to well up in my eyes. I was too weak; I needed to fight them. The whole experience was deeply humiliating.

"We named you Ciara, which is why I call you that. You are on the planet Pateria. You are our s*x slave."

I gasped and looked up, but he continued speaking.

"You were brought here from your home planet through a dimensional portal. Those portals do not open often on your world, so you cannot return. If you are willing to cooperate, your life here will be pleasant. If you cannot cooperate, then we will be very sorry about that."

Master Evan concluded his speech by swiftly wiping a tear from my cheek. I watched him bring it to his lips.

"Well?" the dark-haired man on the bed asked as he looked at Master Evan.

"Salt, along with something else," he replied.

The lanky man then spoke. "Ciara, what do you keep doing with your eyes?" he asked with curiosity.

I had no word for it in the language I was thinking in. "I'm sorry, Master," I said, becoming flustered. "There is no word ... Master."

"Did your first language have a word for it?" the lanky man inquired.

I thought intensely for a moment, trying to recall it, and at last the word came to me. "Tear, Master," I said triumphantly.

My expression fell as soon as I realized what a fool I was being. Amid my confusion, Master Evan had enclosed my arm in his hand and was drawing me back toward the bed.

The dark-haired man gave the lanky man a sharp look as he spoke. "You are not to speak of its home planet again, Christof. Do not encourage that behavior," he said.

Master Evan kept pulling me toward the bed, while I resisted.

"Please," I cried in a wavering voice as I pulled against him. "Don't do this. Please, don't hurt me. I want to go home."

The words s*x slave continued to circle through my mind. I was never meant to become anyone's s*x slave.

Master Evan tugged harder, causing me to stumble forward. My arm still throbbed from his earlier abuse, so I did not resist him very strongly. Rather than continue fighting, I searched the room for another possible escape route.

My frantic gaze settled on the bed, where the two figures were still lounging. The dark-haired man I had initially assumed was the one who bought me was watching my performance with intense interest.

"We have no desire to hurt you," he said. "We have paid a considerable sum for you and merely want to examine what we have purchased."

'They paid that much? For me?' I was so astonished that, for a moment, I stopped pulling against Master Evan.

I noticed a fifth figure entering the room. He was carrying a large brown jug in both hands.

"We ought to give it some water," he said to the group. "It lost fluid at the auction and has not had any since."

His reddish-brown hair was trimmed into short waves around his head. He was leaner than the others and had a more finely muscled build. He wore the same linen shift around his waist, however.

The moment I heard mention of something to drink, I became suddenly parched. I moistened my dry lips with my tongue while watching him. He stopped in front of me and let something fall to the ground.

"Kneel Ciara and Kein will give you something to drink," Master Evan ordered.

I was desperately thirsty. Master Evan placed his hands on my shoulders and urged me to cooperate. I slowly lowered myself onto my knees, realizing that a thick, soft cushion had been placed beneath them. I reached toward the jug, but he tutted at me.