PART 1
The beast raged against the chains. It was more an act of boredom then escape, the likelihood of that at the moment was unfortunately low. He felt cold. Everywhere after he'd been taken from the ship was cold. A breeze brushed its way through the beast's knotted and folded skirt. He emitted a low growl. The air tingled his bright green scales and wriggled its way under the leather harness on his back. The small tent thankfully kept most of the smells away. Very time he pasted one of the females on this planet, under the stench of human crept a smell that made his breathing difficult and his muscles tense. He wondered how long he had, how long it would be until he lost what little control he had. He tried to calculate the direction of his home planet to distract himself from the pulsing in his body. He knew vaguely where it was, though he'd never been there.
"Hello." The woman with short hair entered the tent.
He stared at her and felt the pulsing get worse.
"You know I saved you from a nasty fate." She wasn't fishing for gratitude, it was just a fact. She gazed at one of the many books in the tent.
The beast ignored the comment and studied her. Humans were ugly as a general rule, they had more hair than necessary, and their smell could be better. This one wasn't too bad, she'd look better green and with spikes, but besides that there was nothing unpleasant about her shape.
"Had I not bought you, you'd be in the mine now. There's little else on this planet besides the mine." She brushed some black hair behind her ear and turned the page.
The beast shifted his weight and tried to look at other things in the room. There were more books, a rug, some cushions, but nothing that spoke, had him chained, or had an odor that oddly demanded his attention.
"My husband left me his business, a few stores in town, so thankfully I don't have to marry again." She glanced at her slave and noted how heavy his breathing was. "Not that anyone would marry a barren woman. Would you?" She looked up at him again.
The beast swallowed hard. He stared at her hand laying on her chest. He lifted his eyes and met hers.
His gaze made her toes curl. There was a lust in it she'd never seen before. It wasn't like the slimy leers of the men outside the brothels. There was no want for power or lechery acts. It was some how an innocent lust. She broke the stare. "Do you know why I bought you?"
The beast was silent still.
"You can stop pretending you don't understand me anytime now. I know you speak English. You swore at the slave runners when they were beating that child."
He flinched in surprise then looked away.
"I bought you for scientific purposes. I have made an extensive study of other species, including yours. I could not pass up the opportunity of a obtaining my own living specimen."
Demon did not like where this was going, bleeding seemed a distinct possibility.
"The principals of your biology aren't that different from humans. There are some structural and chemical differences, Roke senses of taste and smell are more acute then humans, but nothing too radical." The woman looked her purchase over. He was well built, medium to slim frame, toned muscles, but not overly so. On his left arm were tattooed black markings His green scales were small, almost looking like green skin, and shined a little in the dim light. Scruffy brown and black hair flopped from his head, almost covering the beginning of the spikes, which were blue. The brown cloth around his waist went to the floor, but there was a slit on either side that started at the thigh.
"The Roke are nothing like humans."
She smiled. "Culturally the two are very different."
The beast grinned back. "Studied that too have you?" His tendency towards defiance and survival seemed to be conflicting with on another. There was a new sent in the tent, faint but it was there. Some animal was in the tent in?
"Yes. Roke males tend to have more than one wife, mainly because the ratio of females to males is three to one."
"Or because Roke have better stamina."
She smiled again. He must not had been a slave for long. "The males are not the head of the household. Also Roke males must be virgins in order to marry. And just before they marry they go through something called Talmin."
The beast fidgeted a great deal.
"Before Talmin a males spikes are green, like the rest of his body." She stood and took a step towards him. "During Talmin the spikes are green and after they turn purple." She stepped closer and reaffirmed her appreciation of his physic.
The strange smell was getting stronger. He pulled at the chains and tried not to notice she was coming closer. He had the feeling the strange smell was not a random little animal.
"There is some chemical reaction that occurs when a male and female Roke mate. If a male does not go through this reaction he goes mad." She walked around him and stood behind him. "That chemical reaction does not occur when a Roke mates with a female of another species and in that case is still considered a virgin." As she stood so close to him. She could feel the heat he radiated. She recalled for herself the research she'd done on Roke erogenous zones. "Have you ever been with a female of another species?"
He shook his head. The beast was glad she didn't seem to know everything, but too distracted to think about it for long. He knew now the strange smell was coming from her. The heavy damp smell made it hard for him to think. It filled him, pressing in his stomach and making him tingle. It was so close.
"This is a very old tradition." She glided fingers down his back on either side of the harness, surprised at the smoothness of the scales.
The beast gasped and groaned, arching his back against her fingers.
"It covers an erogenous zone." She paused and watched him squirm. "Part of it any way, and makes the back more sensitive at the same time." His body surged under her hand. She bit her lip and snuck her finger under the harness a little.
His moans became growls. His body burned as she slid a finger between two of his spikes. He bucked against the chains. His legs went weak and he fell to the floor.
The woman stepped away. She involuntarily tighten between her legs as she watched him pant on his knees. She swallowed. "I am Mila Rell. What is your name?"
He couldn't speak for a moment. "You can't pronounce it."
"I could try."
He slowly got to his feet and turned to face her. "It's closest translation is Demon."
Mila raised an eyebrow. "You give me so many questions." She put a hand on his chest, then started softly twisting his right nipple with her thumb and finger.