And they will lap it up like grateful dogs, never imagining that I have a plan in mind.
The female returns in the morning. I smell her—and her baked treats—before she appears. Her scent is clean and fresh, with a light, musky scent to it that must be her natural human smell. It is a good one. I only know of humans as prizes offered in the ring, but I do not have a memory of ever being offered one myself. Surely a champion deserves the best prize?
I decide she will be my prize. When I get out of here, I will snatch this good-smelling female and claim her as my prize for putting up with these fools. I smile to myself at the thought. Her male's scent is on her skin, as if he has touched her, yet again, there is no arousal perfume, no sweetness of her cunt hanging on the air. He touches her and she feels nothing.
This makes me grin.
When I am done with her, I will make her cunt drip with honey. She is a challenge, and it is in my nature to rise to any and all challenges. It is who I am. I am a champion, and so I must win this, too.
I will win it and rub the scent of her juicy cunt in her lover's face.
I like this thought very, very much.
"You're in a good mood," the female calls cheerily through the windows of my cell. "Don't think I didn't see that smile. Do you want your cookies today? I made them with the Risda nuts you guys have here, but if there's a taste you prefer, I'm happy to oblige. Just tell me what you like."
She practically shouts this at the window, as if I am somehow hard of hearing. I can hear every word she says from three hallways away. I heard her male tell her that he wanted kisses, and I heard her turn him down. I heard them argue about it, and I heard the male whine like a petulant child.
I cannot wait to bring it up again, but I will need to be sly. I do not need the female to shut down. I need her to play these games with me.
So I tap the floor, indicating I am ready for my bowl, and say, "I like the ones with the round nuts."
She gasps, and the guards at her side panic, as if I have suddenly pulled out a knife. "He's talking," one cries. "Get Lord va'Rin!"
"Lord va'Rin is busy, fool. Get First Rank Novis!"
The guards race around like idiots. The female sits on her little stool and beams at me from the other side of the window, as if we are sharing a secret. I want to smile back, but I know my jagged teeth and enormous tusks will not inspire confidence. So I tap the floor again, waiting for the food (which is, admittedly, much better than the food the guards give me).
Her mouth forms a little circle and then she taps on the guard nearest to her. "Can't someone give him his food?"
They ignore her, talking amongst themselves and preparing their weapons, and a flash of annoyance crosses her face, quickly gone as she resumes her happy smile. The smile grows broader when the commander—First Rank Novis, as they call him—enters the hall and listens to the babbled reports of his men. She sits on her stool and preens as if she has just won a race. I want to laugh at the foolishness of it all.
The male arrives, all stiff shoulders and equally stiff tail, and glares at me through the glass. He does not like me. I know he thinks this particular posting is beneath him—he's said as much “in private,” not realizing I can hear every word he says through the walls and the duct-systems thanks to my enhanced hearing. He is waiting for me to kef up, to slaughter someone so he can point to his lord that I was a mistake from the beginning.
Before, I did not care, but before, the female had not arrived with her suggestions to treat this like a game.
And that speaks to me, because I like to win. This is the way I can win…by tricking them all.
First Rank Novis gives me a long, searching look. "Decided to play along, have we?"
I bite back the urge to snarl, my tail thrashing in the filth at the bottom of my cage.
"Oh my," the female says brightly. "Look at how angry he gets when you're around. My goodness, he must view you as the biggest threat in the compound." She turns toward First Rank Novis and touches his arm gently. "And here he was making such progress. I wonder…perhaps he feels threatened by your strength? It might be better if you keep your distance."
It amazes me how quickly she manipulates everyone with a few words of flattery. Novis blusters and regards me, but in the end, he clears his throat and agrees that I seem to “react” better to the female.
They will give her more time to work with me, and as long as I do not show signs of threatening her, they'll let things progress.
I plan on letting them progress, all right.
The female isn't let into my cell again for another week. She's clever, always careful to flatter the guards into getting what she wants as she bribes them with treats and sweet words. She's patient, too. When she asks for something that isn't granted right away, I can tell that she doesn't forget it. Her mouth hardens ever so slightly before she curves her lips into another one of those achingly pretty smiles and then goes right on about her day. I find myself watching her probably more than I should, and I'm not the only one.
All of the guardsmen that are supposed to be keeping a close eye on me are fascinated with her. She is small and soft, with large teats and big, dark eyes, and an enticing scent. The guards comment on how “lucky” Riffin is, and when Riffin is not around, they speak on when they will mate and she'll come in stinking of his attentions. They don't understand how he's being so patient with a prize like her.
I don't understand it, either.
My cock stiffens and aches when I pick up her scent. I hide it, because the last thing I need is for the guards to notice that I like the scent of the female and to use that against me. But I am imprisoned and in a cage. For this Riffin to have his hands free to place on the female and he never touches her except to put his mouth on hers and take in her breath?
He is a bigger fool than I imagined.
After another week of sitting on her stool outside my chamber, the female finally grows tired of waiting. She arrives that day with a determined gleam in her eye, the stink of her male on her face and hands, but there is no arousal scent to accompany her otherwise. Interesting. She sets down her basket of foods and then clasps her hands, beaming at the guards who have been waiting for her arrival. "I think it's time we push boundaries a little, don't you?"
The guards look uncertain, glancing at her useless mate. He is sulky today, frowning at the female and in the direction of my chamber.
As if she does not care about her male's displeasure, she gestures at the door to the hall, the one that keeps me on the other side of the walls. "We're going to clean his chamber up today. It smells, and if it's uncomfortable for me and my poor human nose, I can only imagine how wretched it must be for you gentlemen." She beams at them. "So this will be a wonderful test."
"A test?" one says.
"Yes. I'm going to go in and clean up and talk to Crulden as I do. He seems to respond well to females, so I'm going to do what I can to make him comfortable, and the more he gets used to my presence, the easier he'll be."
Her male looks sulky. "I do not like this, Bee."
My ears prick at that. Is that her name? That short, strange sound? Oddly enough, I like it. It suits her. I memorize it, because I want to repeat it to myself later, just to taste it on my tongue.