Chapter song: Hi-Five by Angel Olsen
When I awoke the next morning, my arm immediately reached to my left to see if Ronan was still there. I felt a pang of disappointment when my hand touched nothing but cold sheets. I slowly rubbed my eyes and sat up, looking around the room just to make sure I was really alone. He never promised to stay the night, but a small part of me was hoping he would. Before my imprisonment, I never craved the attention of others; in fact, I enjoyed being by myself most of the time. However, now I felt myself becoming strangely dependent on Ronan for companionship – and that was not good at all.
Shortly after I got dressed and ate my simple breakfast of porridge and fruit, Nebula walked into my room and escorted me to the training room. We entered the padded room and immediately I sensed that something was wrong. Before I could even turn around to ask what we were doing today, Nebula began attacking me from behind, and I instantly rolled forward to escape her blows.
I quickly stood up and turned to face her with my arms blocking my face, as if I already anticipated her next move. Sure enough, her fist roughly hit me in my right arm, causing me to stumble backwards a few feet. For the next ten minutes Nebula continued attacking me from all directions, and much to my surprise, I was able to block and evade every single blow. I actually began to smile because I realized I was hardly trying at all, whereas Nebula was becoming angrier by the second.
When I began smiling she lost it. She began ferociously striking me and soon I was overwhelmed by her relentless kicks. I was not quick enough for her kick to my chest and as a result I was sent flying backwards, roughly landing on my ass.
I slowly stood up, feeling slightly stunned by the sudden impact. Other than that, I felt completely fine, which was surprising since Nebula just dealt a powerful blow to my upper body. Surely I had to have at least one broken rib or a fracture. My hands roamed across my torso as I inspected myself for any undetected injuries, but everything felt normal. Nebula stared at me questioningly while she walked towards me.
"How are you not injured?" she asked suspiciously. She stopped within a few feet of me and continued staring at me like she couldn't believe her eyes.
"I…don't know," I said, not quite believing it myself. "I guess I really am getting stronger," I said proudly as I looked back up at her. She rolled her eyes at this and placed herself into a fighting stance once again.
"Let's test this newfound strength of yours," she said smugly as she advanced towards me.
For the next couple of hours Nebula and I sparred, and much to her embarrassment the results were similar to earlier. For some unknown reason, I was becoming particularly good at defending myself, and I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy by this. I had only been training for a few days, but my body already felt accustomed to fighting.
It almost felt like I could sense what she was going to do before she actually did it, and this allowed me to dodge and block almost all of her strikes. Nebula began grunting as she attacked me - obviously frustrated by my ability to easily block her - and soon she was openly cursing at the moments when she missed my body completely.
"How is this possible?" she asked angrily. She became completely still after another failed attack.
"You must be a good teacher," I said unsurely. I was honestly asking myself the same question and didn't blame her for being so upset. Maybe I am naturally a good fighter and for some reason this hidden talent is just now appearing. The idea seemed ridiculous, but there really was no other explanation.
Nebula didn't seem convinced by my answer, but she didn't say anything else about it for the rest of the day. Over the next several hours she continued training me in defensive tactics - despite the fact that I really didn't need it – until we were both mentally and physically drained. She suddenly stopped and looked at me with her mouth drawn tight.
"We are done for today," she said distastefully as she began walking towards the door. "Tomorrow we will move on to offensive combat. Do not expect it to be easy," she said in a low voice.
When I returned to my room I was happy to discover a hot meal waiting for me on my nightstand. I walked over to the steaming plate and saw a strange roasted animal lying on top of what appeared to be a bed of couscous. Surrounding the animal were large, colorful vegetables which made my mouth water just by looking at them. The animal on the other hand did not look as appetizing. It smelled delicious, but I was pretty certain that if a chicken and a rat were to have a baby, this is what it would look like. However, it felt rude and wasteful not to eat it so I hesitantly took a bite of the white, juicy meat. It tasted like chicken. Surprise, surprise.
After eating I took a long, hot shower and scrubbed away the salty layer of sweat on my skin. I could feel my mood lifting by the second as the soap suds ran down my body. Cleanliness was always something I enjoyed, and I was enormously grateful for being given such a wonderful shower.
When I was done, I quickly walked across the cold, slate tile and grabbed my towel off of the sink countertop. While I was drying off I couldn't help but wonder if Ronan would be waiting for me in my bedroom. As my hand turned the doorknob, I felt my heart start to beat a little faster with excitement.
My eyes eagerly scanned the room, but I was disappointed to find myself alone. I slowly walked over to my bed and plopped myself down on the edge, casually swinging my feet in boredom. My mouth and jaw suddenly felt tired and I realized that I had been frowning. It was saddening to discover just how much I had been looking forward to seeing him.
For the next hour I walked around my room trying to decipher the carved images in my walls, but none of it made sense to me, so I finally lied back down on my bed. Exhaustion quickly overcame me and soon I was sound asleep, dreaming about a mysterious blue man.
The next morning, I was roughly shaken awake by Nebula and ordered to get dressed. When we entered the training room, Nebula immediately put me to work and had me practice my offensive strikes on the wall pads. Within the first few seconds of practice I noticed something very strange was happening. The pad felt unusually soft and conforming, whereas a few days ago it felt like I was hitting a brick wall and left my hands feeling bruised afterwards. Now, wherever my hands and feet made contact with the pad, a small indention was made.
"Are these new?" I asked pointing to the wall pads. Nebula slowly walked over to where I was standing and stared at the wall suspiciously as she got closer.
She ran her hand over the wall pad, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she did so, and quickly turned to face me. Her mouth was slightly parted as she stared at me, but she remained silent.
"Let's begin hand-to-hand combat," she said curtly as she walked to the center of the room. It sounded like her teeth were clenched together when she spoke. I hesitantly walked over to where she was standing and stopped ten feet in front of her, unsure of what to do.
"Try to attack me," she ordered angrily when I remained unmoving.
I walked towards her although I was extremely intimidated by the way she was staring at me, and attempted a straight punch to her face. She quickly bent backwards to avoid my hit and kicked me in the stomach as she straightened up, forcing me away from her. Immediately I advanced again, this time feeling more determined to wipe that smug look off her face.
After a combination of punches and kicks, I was finally able to break her defensive position and land a palm strike to her nose. I actually heard her grunt in pain as the heel of my palm hit her in the nose, which made me feel disturbingly happy and proud. Nebula became motionless and glared at me, clearly not enjoying how things were going.
"Time for a break," she said gruffly, turning her back to me as she walked out of the room.
She motioned with her hand for me to follow her, so I immediately began jogging to catch up to her. Soon I was standing in front of the double doors which led into the dining room. As the doors opened, a wave of mouthwatering scents filled my nose and mouth, and automatically my stomach began to growl. I felt my feet moving before I even thought about it, and instantly I was standing by the long table which was covered in dozens of trays filled with decadent foods.
My eyes surveyed the room to see if Ronan was lurking in the shadows, but I was alone – again. I rolled my eyes and began eating unenthusiastically from the trays, feeling slightly annoyed by his absence.
About an hour later Nebula returned and all but dragged me down the hall, taking me back to the dreaded training room. We continued training in offensive hand-to-hand combat, but we did not fight as long as we did yesterday. Nearly two hours of training had passed and I had lost count of how many times I had managed to strike Nebula. For whatever reason, I was improving remarkably fast, and I could tell this angered Nebula because by the end of our training she was a snarling, grunting mess.
I almost wanted to apologize for advancing so quickly, but I knew I shouldn't feel guilty for such a thing. In fact, she should be proud because it just meant she was an excellent instructor. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on here. After all, I had only been training for four days so it was almost physically impossible for me to get so good so fast. As we walked back to my room I stared at the floor in silence, pondering over the possibilities.
After eating and showering, I started to feel restless so I began pacing my room until my feet hurt. Any time I thought I heard something my head snapped to the main door, hoping to see a large blue man walk in and save me from my boredom. Several hours passed by and Ronan still hadn't visited me. My feet tapped nervously on the floor as I stood by the door, waiting for it to open. I walked over to the door on the left side of my room and tried opening it out of curiosity. It was locked just like the other times I had tried. What was the point of having a door that never opened?
I walked over to my bed and tried to sleep when I concluded Ronan would not be visiting me – again. I couldn't help but feel a little resentful. Yes, I was his prisoner, but he managed to see me every day before, so why suddenly stop now?
It felt like I had barely even closed my eyes when I heard Nebula shouting at me to wake up. I reluctantly got dressed and grabbed a pastry from the tray on my nightstand, quickly devouring it as I followed her through the hallway. When we entered the training room, Nebula walked over to the right wall and removed one of the pads from the wall, revealing a complex looking control panel. Her fingers swiftly entered a code into the panel and almost immediately a wall began descending from the ceiling on the opposite side of the room.
The wall was filled with dozens of shelves and sitting on each shelf was a unique weapon. As I stepped closer, I could identify a few guns which I had seen the guards on the ship carrying around, as well as many different knives and batons. The majority of the weapons were unrecognizable to me and I couldn't even begin to guess what they did.
We spent the entire day going over every single weapon in elaborate detail until my brain felt like it was going to explode. Although some of the weapons were fascinating – such as the gun that could shoot multiple people at once – it was the most boring day of my life.
When I entered my room I was expecting to see Ronan, but the only thing waiting for me was my dinner. Seriously, where the hell was he? I was beginning to feel crazy being locked up in here with no one else to talk to except for the ever-cheerful Nebula. The fact that I would rather hang out with Ronan than her just confirmed how utterly desperate I was for company. This was insane - no, I was insane.
The next day when I still received no visit from him, I asked Nebula where he was but the only answer I got was "he's busy," and she refused to go into any more detail. I began keeping track of how many days it had been since I last saw him.
Five days. Where was he?
Six days. I'm tired of guns.
Seven days. I don't have to use the eye piece, Nebula.
Eight days. I don't need to practice anymore. Look, my aim is perfect.
Nine days. Is he mad at me? What did I do?
Ten days. I hate this.
Eleven days. Leave me alone, Nebula. You taught me this already.
Twelve days. I am stronger than you. Why do you keep fighting me?
Thirteen days. Why is he doing this to me? LEAVE ME ALONE, NEBULA.
On the fourteenth day I snapped.
Over the past two weeks I had become frighteningly good at everything Nebula taught me. After the first week she and I both silently agreed not to talk about it because it was an uncomfortable subject. It obviously bothered Nebula that I was stronger than her and there was no explanation for my creepy, freakishly-fast reflexes.
My body moved on its own, performing moves I did not even know I was capable of, and it honestly freaked me out. The other day during weapons training I managed to hit one hundred targets, all perfectly in the middle, in under thirty seconds. How was that even possible?
Today Nebula and I were back in the padded training room, practicing both offensive and defensive moves. Over the last few days Nebula and I sparred, and I won every single time. Fighting Nebula wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't hard either; it was mostly annoying because she was the most stubborn person I had ever met.
Two days ago I roughly kicked her in the jaw and consequently discovered her body automatically fixes itself any time a bone or joint becomes dislocated. It was crazy and mildly disgusting to watch her jaw pop back into place, but the craziest part was that she wanted to keep fighting. It was like she was determined to prove she was better than me.
"Nebula, we've done this already. We fight. I win. Game over," I said tiredly as I started walking towards the door.
I heard a faint whooshing sound and a second later felt something nick my ear. Sticking out of the wall in front of me was a twelve inch long knife. When I pulled my fingers away from my ear I looked down to see they were coated in blood, and I instantly felt myself become enraged.
"What the fuck," I hissed, turning around to face her.
"Do not turn your back on me, Terran. The time for child's play is over. Let's see who the better fighter is once and for all," she said harshly, walking towards me in quick, deliberate strides.
"Fine, bitch," I growled back at her, preparing myself for her attack.
As Nebula closed the distance in between us, my mind began exploring the possible moves she might make, but nothing prepared me for what she did next. In the blink of an eye, Nebula was spinning horizontally in the air with her feet aiming straight at my chest, and I knew I didn't have time to move. I felt her feet land directly on my sternum, causing me to fly backwards faster than I imagined possible. I didn't even have time to process the pain in my chest as my back collided with something hard. There was a loud, shattering noise, and instantly my body was covered with shards of glass.
I slowly stood up in the hallway, grunting in pain as pieces of glass dug into my skin. I looked up to see the glass wall that once looked into the training room was now completely destroyed and lying at my feet in broken fragments. At that moment, all I could think about was hurting Nebula. Every bit of emotional turmoil I had suppressed for the past two weeks suddenly came bubbling up to the surface, and I became blinded by a desperate rage.
I heard the sound of glass crunching underneath my feet before I even realized I was running towards Nebula. I decided at that moment to let my body take over, and instantly it felt like a switch had gone off in my brain, turning me into some type of killer animal. It was a bizarre feeling because for once in my life I allowed my body to act before my brain could think, and it was actually working. The adrenaline and rage that coursed through my body turned everything into a blur, but I suddenly became aware that Nebula was on the ground, writhing in pain. I stood over her, breathing heavily from physical exertion, and forced my body to relax. Now that it was over, I actually felt guilty looking down at her.
After a few seconds I heard a faint sound to my right and I quickly turned my head to discover the origin of the noise. I felt my eyes widen with surprise as I saw Ronan standing in the hallway, staring at me and Nebula with faint disbelief. Without thinking I started moving in his direction, trying to get ahold of him before he disappeared into oblivion again.
"Ronan," I whispered as I stepped closer to him. When his eyes met mine, I felt myself come to a sudden halt. The message he was sending through his eyes could not have been any clearer – he did not want me anywhere near him. It felt like I had been punched in the stomach, but I remained untouched where I stood.
He stood there frowning at me for what felt like a lifetime until he turned and began walking away, leaving me alone with Nebula once again. Despite every instinct telling me not to, I ran after Ronan. Maybe it was the adrenaline which still ran through my veins or my desperation for a meaningful conversation – who knows – but I was not going to just let Ronan walk away from me. By the time I caught up to him he was almost around the corner out of sight. My feet pounded against the hard, metallic floor as I sprinted towards him.
"Hey!" I shouted as I ran up behind him, but he did not stop or slow down. The second my fingers touched his back, he turned around and pushed me against the wall with his hand wrapped around my neck.
"Do not assume to touch me, Terran," he growled as his grip tightened, causing me to whimper. Terran, really? I didn't understand what I had done to make him so angry.
"Why are you acting like this?" I asked, bewildered by his harsh behavior.
"You are my prisoner and nothing more," he said angrily. "It is time you start behaving as such," he said in a low voice looking down at me.
"It sure felt like more two weeks ago," I said heatedly. My eyes began to water with the anger I now felt deep inside me. How dare he treat me like this? Everything that had happened between us was his fault, not mine.
"Enough of this," he said, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. He began pulling me along with him down the hallway towards my room. I could barely keep up with his long strides, so half the time he was dragging me and I was stumbling around like an idiot.
"Ronan, let go of me," I said hotly, trying to pull his hand away from me. He remained facing forward, walking at an unreasonably fast pace.
I suddenly tripped and fell facedown onto the floor, crying out as my knees hit the hard metal. Before I could even attempt to get up, I felt Ronan pick me up and sling me over his shoulder like I was a bag of flour. I started screaming indignantly, punching and kicking as hard as I could, but he didn't even seem to notice.
"Let me down! You are the one that started this, not me. This isn't my fault," I shouted irritably as I continued to wriggle on his shoulder.
"You can't leave me here alone. Please, I can't take it anymore," I cried out as we came to a stop. I heard the sound of a door opening and then I was roughly dropped from his shoulder onto the floor of my bedroom.
"Ronan!" I shouted angrily at his back as the door closed behind him. I stared at the door in disbelief, hoping I had just imagined the whole ordeal. Was Ronan really not going to see me anymore?
I began crying when I thought about my impending isolation and meaningless existence inside this room. Captivity was not something I could handle well, and I was seriously worried about my mental health. I was already turning into a psychotic killing machine, capable of blacking out and harming people until they're writhing on the floor. I felt guilty for hurting Nebula, but it was honestly her fault. Still, it was scary to think I could overpower someone such as her. After today, I wasn't going to have anyone else to talk to. There was no way Nebula would want anything to do with me after what I did to her.
As snot ran from my nose, I forced myself up from the floor and into the bathroom, desperately needing to wash my face. As I waited for the bathtub to fill up, a thought came to my mind and I walked over to the pill cabinet. I wasn't going to kill myself, but doping myself up would make my imprisonment a little more tolerable. When I opened up the drawer I found it to be completely empty. Damn it. Ronan must have removed all of the pills after I nearly drowned. Well, so much for that plan.
After spending nearly an hour in the tub, I stepped out of the bathroom and crawled into bed, ignoring the steaming dinner plate by my nightstand. Sleep was my escape from this miserable place, and it could not come fast enough. Within minutes I was dreaming and blissfully unaware of my imprisonment on Ronan's ship.
For whatever reason, I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. I lied there in bed for what felt like hours, but I couldn't fall back asleep. I sighed in frustration and looked around the room, instantly noticing a faint light coming from the left side of my room, right where the locked door was. I swiftly got out of bed and pulled on a shirt and a pair of shorts I found in my clothes pile.
As I got closer to the door I felt my heart start to beat faster with excitement when I noticed something different. The door was slightly cracked open, but if you weren't looking close enough it would still appear closed. My fingers pushed slightly on the door, causing it to slowly open up without a sound. When the gap was wide enough, I stepped through the door and had to stop myself from gasping at what I saw.
It was a bedroom. It was eerily similar to my own bedroom, except the furniture was slightly grander and the ceilings were even higher. The room was illuminated with the same bluish-white wall sconces that were found in my room, which made the space appear more mysterious and alluring. Everything about this room was clean, orderly, and smelled strangely masculine. On the opposite wall there was a door which was slightly open and light could be seen through the crack. I began absently walking towards the door as my curiosity got ahold of me.
When I reached the other side of the room and stood five feet away from the door, something to my left caught my eye. I looked over and instantly felt my mouth run dry as I looked at something terribly familiar: Ronan's armor. For a second I thought it was Ronan himself, but when I didn't see his blue skin or glowing, purple eyes I was instantly filled with relief. I looked back to the door in front of me, now slightly trembling with anticipation and nervousness. Before I could stop myself, I stepped forward and lightly pushed on the door.
My chest was visibly rising and falling with excitement as the door began opening up. When the door was finally fully opened, I couldn't stop my mouth from dropping open at what I saw. The room was filled with steam and there in front of me was a very naked Ronan standing in the shower, completely unaware of my presence. He was turned away from me so all I could see was his backside, but that was enough to make me feel hot with desire, and I absently walked forward.
Everywhere I looked I saw defined muscles hidden underneath beautiful, blue skin. His upper body had a perfect "V" shape which reminded me of an Olympic swimmer, but he had much more muscle mass. I felt myself blush as my eyes moved lower, but I was too curious to stop there. I never considered myself an ass girl, but Ronan's ass was something completely different. It honestly looked like it had been carefully sculpted and created solely for the purpose of being stared at. His lean, muscular legs only accentuated his perfectly round bottom that women back home would pay to have.
He leaned forward with his hand placed on the wall while his other hand slowly rubbed the back of his neck. I was surprised to see that he was bald, but it suited him. As his hand ran up his neck and over his head, the muscles of his upper back and arms flexed from the movement, and I truly admired his physique at that moment. I heard myself sigh in appreciation and I instantly regretted it. My hand covered my mouth to cover the noise, but I was too late.
Not a second later, Ronan was halfway turned around, staring at me with wide, furious eyes. I started walking backwards, completely terrified of him at the moment, as my heart began pounding away in my chest. I felt my breath catch in my throat as he stepped out of the shower. I reflexively covered my eyes with my hand in embarrassment and quickly turned around to run out of the room. That was probably the stupidest thing I could have done because before I even took one step, I felt my face collide with the door frame. I silently cursed myself for being an idiot and stumbled out of the bathroom with my hand holding my sore forehead.
When I ran past Ronan's bed, I felt his hand grab the back of my shirt and pull me backwards, causing me to slam into his torso. My hands rested on his bare abdomen, which was covered in an impressive eight pack and felt as hard as a rock. His hand pulled on my hair so I was forced to look up at him, and right away I felt my eyes go wide with shock and wonder.
I had never seen Ronan before without his war paint on and what I saw now was so completely different than what I was used to, so I couldn't help but stare at him in awe. He was still intimidating to look at, but without the black paint surrounding his eyes, he did not look like the terrifying man I had grown to fear. He was actually extremely handsome. Of course his powerful presence and large physique still scared the hell out of me, but as my hands felt his chiseled abs, I felt a strange tingling sensation in my core. I didn't think it was possible, but I was both slightly frightened and turned on at the same time.
"How did you get in here?" he asked in a sharp voice. "Answer me," he hissed, tugging on my hair when I didn't answer right away. When he spoke I noticed his teeth appeared to be perfectly white and straight now that they weren't covered in black paint.
"I... the door… it was open," I whispered, subconsciously licking my lips. He glanced down at my mouth, slightly loosening his grip on my hair as he did so. I looked down at his chest and abs, and slowly began moving my hands across his chiseled torso, relishing in the power I felt behind his muscles. I could feel Ronan's eyes watching me as I explored his body, but he made no move to stop me.
My hands moved lower until they reached the towel that was tightly wrapped around his waist, and I suddenly felt a burning hot desire overcome my body. Just as the tips of my fingers pulled on the top of his towel, Ronan's hands fiercely gripped my wrists, causing me to wince in pain.
"You are my prisoner," he growled harshly, glaring down at me.
"Yes," I said softly as my eyes roamed across his body.
I didn't know what was happening to me, but every inch of my body felt like it was on fire. Ronan let go of my wrists and tightly held my jaw with his right hand, tilting my head back so I was looking straight up at him. Now that my hands were free again, I placed them above the towel on his waist and began playing with the edge of fabric. He leaned in closer so I could feel his hot breath on my face and looked at me with his penetrating, purple eyes.
"Do not make the mistake of thinking you're in control here," he said slowly in a deep, husky voice.
"I have no control," I said as my fingers toyed with his towel. "Please," I whispered, unable to holdback my desire any longer.
His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared at my words, as if I had said something of great significance. He looked at me with heavy eyes and lowered his face so his mouth was hovering above mine in a teasing manner.
"You don't know what you're asking for," he said seriously, tightening his grip on my jaw.
"I'm asking for you," I said impatiently as my hand pulled at his towel, causing it to drop down to the floor. My eyes remained locked on his face as he stared down at me smugly, as if he was impressed by my bold move.
Ronan grabbed my hair once again and pulled my head back, while his other hand gently held me by my neck. He quickly closed the space between us and pressed his lips against mine with a delicious amount of force. His mouth slightly parted and I felt his tongue expertly open my lips, claiming my mouth for his own. My hands reached around his neck and pulled him closer as our tongues lightly grazed each other, both trying to take control of the kiss. He was without a doubt an excellent kisser and I felt myself growing wetter by the second. When I began moaning into his mouth, I heard him growl and he then roughly pushed me backwards, causing me to fall onto my back on the bed.
I looked down past his waist for the first time and gulped when I saw his erect length pointing at me like a weapon. I had seen plenty of dicks before – from porn, anatomy class, the occasional frat party – but never a blue one. It appeared nearly as thick as my forearm – and almost as long – which made me extremely nervous because I knew it was going to be painful. The closer he got, the larger it appeared, and I felt myself swallow nervously. I looked back up as he slowly approached me and saw him smirking down at me, obviously noticing the worry on my face when I took in his size.
"It will not hurt with me," he said confidently as he lowered himself on top of me.
And I trusted him.
I know, I know! I hate to end the chapter right there, but good things come to those who wait. Trust me.
On another note - sorry the update took so long. I had family in town! The reviews have been SO encouraging and nice. I really appreciate them and they definitely keep me motivated, so thanks :)
The next chapter should not take as long to complete, so no need to worry. I will not keep you waiting too long for the full details ;)