Enslaved by a King [Sold! 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (6 page)

After a startled laugh, Noah turned back around. “I’m not normally this—well, yeah, this is pretty much me. No sense in putting on airs when you’re going to be stuck with me for the rest of your life.”

“I do not think of myself as stuck with you.” Mingor motioned toward the sitting area then moved that direction. In one smooth motion, he sank down, crossing his legs as he settled on one of the firm cushions. To his left was a low table of food items. “I hope you will find this pleasing. If not, I will have something else brought in for you.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” Noah considered the sparsely furnished room. “Your planet is really minimal.” Noah followed Mingor’s example, or at least tried to. But his legs weren’t as flexible and it was clear he wasn’t used to sitting so close to the floor. After awkwardly kneeling down, he settled his buttocks on the cushion, crossed his legs, and put his hands in his lap. He managed to look quite out of place.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“A bit, but I’ll get over it. So now tell me what being your
sephir
really means.”

“My kind is minimal, as you have noticed. I did not realize how different some other cultures are until I traveled from Thand.” Frankly, Mingor had been stunned by the excesses he’d seen. “Take Hindur.”

“No thanks.” Noah’s smile was quickly followed by a waving hand gesture. “Sorry, I’m kind of a smarty pants.”

“You use humor to mask your pain. It is very wise.”

“It is?” Noah straightened a little. “I don’t think anyone has called me wise before.”

“I am glad to be the first.” Mingor found Noah a curious creature who was not technically brilliant, not in the classical sense, but he was far wiser than most beings. Noah was also vastly more compassionate. Mingor believed he had found the very best
sephir
that his planet had ever known. “But to continue. Hindur lives in a home that is far too large for one man. To run it, he must employ dozens of souls. They spend their time cleaning his possessions, which are generally things he doesn’t need. Worse, he has decorated his ostentatious house with living beings. To me, that is simply unconscionable.”

“Thand isn’t like that?”

Rather than answer for the entire planet, which he could not do, he answered for himself. “There are some who aspire to live that way.”

“But not you?”

“No. The things that surround me are the same as what you would find in all living spaces on Thand.”

“So everyone wears these very fine robes?” Noah stroked his hand over his chest, reminding Mingor of how good bathing him had felt.

“They do. There is a difference in fabric, but—”

“I thought so.”

“It is not by my decision.” Mingor left out how valiantly he’d been trying to change things on his world. Telling Noah wouldn’t be as powerful as showing him, though, so he didn’t.

“So you’re the king but you’re not elevated?” Noah’s tone was clearly disbelieving.

“King?” After a moment, Mingor grasped the meaning of the word. “I am not their ruler in that way.”

“Okay, then what are you?”

“I am worshiped.”

“But not a leader?”

“No.” If he was, things would be very different. “There is a body of souls who regulate the policies of the land. They are my advisors.”

“Then what do you do?”

“I serve the Thandlings.”

“How?”

“It is complicated.” Mingor hesitated only for a moment. But Noah had said Earth had plenty of fresh water. He wouldn’t be unduly impressed by Mingor’s ability. “I can turn salt water to fresh.”

“You mean with a machine?”

“No. With my body.”

To Mingor’s utter surprise, Noah did the last thing he expected. He laughed.

“I do not understand what is funny.” Mingor pulled the small table between them so they could eat.

“I can turn lots of things into water with my body.” Noah examined, sniffed, and then tasted almost everything before settling on a bowl of simple fruits. “This right here, or a part of it, anyway, will become water.”

It became apparent what he was talking about. “Yes, but I do not think anyone would want to bathe in what you personally produce.”

“Probably not. Well, unless they’re into water sports, which I’m not.” Noah struggled to find a comfortable position on the cushion. “Are you telling me that you’re magic?”

“Magic?” The word did not translate well. “I am a scientist.”

“Wait, what?” Noah considered as he finished his mouthful of fruit. “No, that’s not right. If you were, you’d use a machine.”

“I am the machine.” Mingor tried to explain how he was able to communicate with the smallest forms of matter to effect changes.

“Yeah, that’s magic.” Noah tilted his head. “Or physics. From what one of my teachers said, a long time ago, people used to think fire was magic until they learned that it’s not.”

“That is a very good explanation. Everything can seem magical until its properties are known.”

“Kinda sucks all the fun out of life.”

“How so?”

“When I was a kid, a rainbow was something pretty in the sky that had a pot of gold at the end. Now I know it’s just a trick of the light that has nothing to do with a leprechaun’s treasure.”

Despite some of the mythology not translating perfectly, Mingor still understood exactly what Noah meant. “Knowing the truth behind things can take away their mystery, but it doesn’t have to steal their beauty.”

“Good point.” Noah grinned. “I still get excited when I see a rainbow. Or I did. When I was on Earth.”

“You miss it?”

“Yeah. But I can’t say that I dislike everywhere else out here. All I’ve seen so far has been an auction block, a space ship, and Hindur’s house. None of it was very nice. Well, until you came.”

“You are happy in my presence?”

“So far.” Noah frowned. “But every time you shy away from telling me what I’m supposed to do for you, I get more uncomfortable.”

Their gazes met and held. Mingor knew that if he delayed again, he would hurt the fragile trust between them.

“You called me king, which isn’t quite right, but very close to what I am to my people. On your world, does your king have a companion?”

“Sure. A king always has a queen.” Noah popped another
grasleberry
in his mouth, smiled, and chewed vigorously. Slowly, a look of horror twisted Noah’s face. “Wait. I’m going to be your queen?”

Noah sat in uncomfortable silence. His position was doubly unpleasant in that he couldn’t find a good way to sit on the hard cushion and he’d just found out he was to be Mingor’s queen. A dozen jokes about the word swam in his mind, but he didn’t find the situation remotely funny.

“I’m not going to cut off my dick and wear dresses.”

“I have not asked you to perform such a strange sacrifice.” Mingor blinked rapidly, something he seemed to do when he was trying to understand something Noah had said. “Why would I wish for you to emasculate yourself?”

“Aren’t queens supposed to be girls?” Noah realized he was making a huge leap in logic. Just because on Earth such things were male and female didn’t mean they were all the way around the universe. “Aren’t most couplings on your planet male and female?”

“Yes.”

Fear spiked through him. He should have asked Mingor exactly what the deal was before he’d taken it. He’d just wanted out of Hindur’s and then freeing all those poor slaves— “Wait, you said you wouldn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do.” Before Mingor could add his restriction to that, Noah cut him off with a lifted hand. “Besides the staying with you part. So if I don’t want my balls removed or I don’t want to dress up like a girl, you can’t make me.”

“I have no interest in either of those two things.” Mingor shook his head. “I do not think that word—queen—is quite right.” Mingor pronounced
queen
almost like he was sneezing.

“I’m beginning to see that even with whatever translator unit they stuck in my head, our words to each other are not always clear.” A part of Noah wanted to laugh at the idea of being a queen, but another part was concerned. “So I guess your people are pretty hip?”

“I do not understand the meaning of that phrase at all.”

“They’re okay with you having a male…” He trailed off while he struggled to find the appropriate word. “Companion?” No way was he going to refer to himself as a queen. It was just too weird. And it left a big door open about how they were going to interact with one another. Would Mingor demand Noah perform wifely duties? If so, what might those be? Not that Noah was opposed to throwing down with the cute purple guy, just that he was most decidedly a top. After getting a look at the size of Mingor’s cock, he really didn’t think he could comfortably take him up his ass. Not that it seemed to be heading that direction at all. It seemed that Mingor wasn’t interested in him in that way, not if he could jack him off without getting a stiffy.

“Are you asking if my people will be disappointed that I picked a male for my
sephir
?”

Noah nodded.

“Perhaps.”

“Again with the short, cryptic answers.”

“What more do you need to know?”

“Are they going to be so displeased they try to kill me?”

Mingor was silent for a long time. So long, in fact, Noah felt his heart sinking. No wonder Mingor had been so enamored of his muscles and attempted to curry his favor with a hand job.

“You picked me because I’m strong.”

“Yes.”

“God fucking damn it!” Noah got to his feet. “You lied to me.”

“I did not lie to you. I said you would be my
sephir
, and you are. I told you I needed protection because there are many dangers. Explain to me how I have lied to you in any way.”

Noah realized that Mingor hadn’t lied to him. Not really. It was assumptions made by Noah and issues with the translation of words. He had just thought with his powers he was pretty much untouchable. Also, given his laid-back approach to life, Noah just assumed the rest of his kind was the same way. “I’m an ass for assuming.”

“Do you wish to leave me?” Mingor had not risen from his seat on the hard cushion. He looked up at Noah with a mix of concern and compassion. “I did not realize we were not clear in our agreement. My intent was not to trick you in any way.”

“If I say I want to go, will you let me?” For some reason, the idea that he would was crushing Noah’s soul, and he had no idea why.

“I will.”

“What about the slaves?” Noah vowed if they had to return to their enslavement, he would have no choice but to stay.

“What about them?”

“Would you make them all go back to Hindur’s house?”

“No.”

Noah frowned.

“Why does that displease you?”

“I don’t get it.” There had to be a catch that he simply wasn’t seeing. “You free me from a brutal master, and free all his slaves, but you do this only if I agree to become your
sephir
, but now you’re saying I can go and they remain free. I lose nothing in the bargain. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You will lose something.”

Ah
.
Here it comes
. “What’s that?”

“You will lose your honor.”

“What?” It was the last thing Noah was expecting.

“You gave me your word that you would exchange yourself for their freedom. If you go back on that now, you dishonor yourself.”

As much as Noah wanted to laugh and say he could live with that, he didn’t think he actually could. Whenever he did the wrong thing, it bothered him until he set it to rights. Determined to hold to his word, he settled back on his extremely uncomfortable cushion and popped another one of the pale pink berries in his mouth. His attachment to Mingor was complex. There was something about him that urged Noah to stay near, and he honestly had no idea what it was. He considered that it could be just the novelty of a purple man. One with a big dick. And stunning amethyst eyes. But there was something else he simply couldn’t name.

“Do you wish to leave me? If you do, I must tell my crew to change course.”

“I don’t want to leave you.” Noah had another trickle of concern that Mingor was somehow messing with his mind, but that was wiped away when he discovered in a very short time he’d become genuinely attached. “How does your kind feel about outsiders? Given that I’m a different species…”

“I do not know how they will react to that.”

“Ah.”

“Please trust me that if there is an issue, I will attend to it.”

Rather than struggle with sitting awkwardly on the floor, Noah stretched out and put his head on the cushion. It wasn’t nearly as comfy as his easy chair at home, but it would have to do. Noah kept his attention on the ceiling. It was metal, but it looked like it had been painted a soft blue. “Why is everything in here blue?” Noah had just now noticed that most of the decor was done in shades of blue.