by Lynnea Lee
“This isn’t yours.”
“So, I’ve been told.”
But just as Sidas had, Zey took a drink.
“Vore won’t notice it missing. He’s too busy with Lettie.” Cal knew he sounded envious.
“Don’t you have your own female to entertain you? Or is all the talk I hear around the ship correct, and you’ve lifted your claim on Emma. It’s only the second day, Cal.”
Cal held back a growl. Zeylum was not after his female. He had his own.
“I have not lifted my claim. Emma is still mine.”
“So, you did not move her into the spare room last night?”
Sidas laughed boisterously. “We just went through this before the comm from Trenton came in.”
Cal huffed. Zeylum and Sidas were his closest friends. They had grown up together.
“I didn’t trust myself not to hurt her. She was safer in the spare room.”
“Except now Emma believes that Cal thinks she stinks,” Sidas explained to Zeylum.
“When I first brought Ashe on board, I was stupid and avoided her, thinking she wanted me to drop her off a Reka 5. You forced us together, so we had to work out our issues.” Zeylum smirked. “Ashe says that you lit a fire under my ass. And now, I’m going to light a fire under yours. If you don’t claim her, I know that both Vosken and Grissom will approach her, if not for sex, then for companionship. Though I highly doubt they would settle for the latter without the first.”
Calix snarled at the thought of either male inviting Emma into their bed.
“Then, I suggest you reinstate your claim clearly, and soon.”
Chapter 9
Emma knew that Tallean culture was incredibly open about sex, but she had thought that because many of the mates on board were human, that meant that sex would happen behind closed doors. She was wrong—so very, very wrong.
Vore and Lettie were going at it like bunnies in heat in the common lounge. And once they started, the ship’s medic and his mate started up as well. There was sex everywhere. But Emma didn’t mind the sex. She had seen her share.
It was the love she couldn't handle. The real, sappy, I’ll do anything for you type of love. This was what Cal wanted and what she couldn’t give him. And it reminded Emma that she was lonely.
Emma had spent most of her life lonely, even before her foray into the stars. Not just with the lack of friendship, but she had trouble connecting with any man enough to keep them around for more than two dates.
Emma needed to get away from the sounds and sights of love and sex before she lost it at one of the couples. She was liable to scream at the next lovey-dovey couple she saw. Especially now that Cal seemed to have lost interest in her.
She needed something to get the feeling of loneliness out of her mind. And if Cal wasn’t interested in her for sex, she needed to find another reason for the crew to keep her on board.
She went to the training area first. Two males were training on the mat. They were the two males who had accompanied Cal to the rendezvous at the Meeting Ground that day. Grissom had looked tall and gangly with his clothes on, but with his shirt off, it was clear that he was filling out into the muscular specimen that Tallean tended to be. Vosken was broad-chested and very well-built. He had a darker, more menacing look to him and moved with the grace of a big cat. It was mesmerizing, and Emma couldn’t look away.
Lettie’s comment that if Cal didn’t want her, maybe someone else on the ship would, sprang to mind. The idea didn’t sit particularly well with her, but Emma knew she shouldn’t reject it outright. She needed to think of her future.
It wouldn’t hurt just to watch. There wasn’t much to do on the ship, and without her own personal portable computer or comm unit, she could only watch vids in the common lounge, which was currently occupied by the amorous couples. So Emma settled on the bench and watched the two train. Maybe they wouldn’t even notice her.
The two circled each other, punching and kicking. They wore leather caps on their feet to cover their sharp talons. Grissom took more chances but was faster. Vosken, on the other hand, was calculated and fought with seasoned ease. The younger Tallean lunged at his training partner, but Vosken leaped over him. Grissom turned and ducked, just barely avoiding a punch to his face. They were so aggressive, Emma forgot they were only training and gasped.
Dancing back, Grissom shot her a grin. She had given herself away with her reaction. Using the distraction, Vosken tackled him to the ground, pinning him.
“The young are so easily distracted.” Vosken let the beaten male up.
“Maybe you’re just too old to notice a pretty female.”
Grissom walked over with a swagger in his step, a sheen of sweat covering his chest and shoulders.
“Cal would skin you alive for poaching on his territory. He hasn’t released his claim on her yet.”
“How would you know?”
“I’ve asked.”
Vosken had asked? Emma wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Cal had told him that he hadn’t released his claim on her, which was good. But then, it was strange to know that Vosken had asked about her.
“Last I heard, Cal put her in her own room. That’s rescinding his claim as far as I’m concerned.” Grissom turned to Emma. “Is that true? Do you sleep in the spare room?”
“Yes.”
“See. She’s open game.” The look on his face bordered on predatory, and Emma felt for a moment like a deer caught in headlights.
Grissom leaned in closer, and Emma scrambled back. She didn’t want him to pick up her odd scent. She knew the males could only smell it when they were up close or when she was in an enclosed space with them, like when they were in the transport. Maybe watching the males training wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“I—I should go.” She backed away awkwardly, turned, and fled.
“The young also lack finesse.”
“Fuck you.”
And the sounds of fighting resumed behind her.
The next place she went to was the greenroom. The greenroom was a beautiful greenhouse, plastered from floor to ceiling with plant life. When the ship passed close enough to a star to use its light, the roof opened up to allow light through. The clear panels regulated the light levels to avoid burning the plants and any crew members inside. During normal travel through space, the roof closed and lit the green paradise with a preprogrammed light and dark cycle.
When Lettie had shown Emma this garden during the tour, it had been during the dark cycle, and it had been eerie but beautiful. Now that the lights were on, the garden was cheery and relaxing.
Emma didn’t have her eyes set on the garden, though it was beautiful, and she loved plants in general. She was aiming for the next room over. She opened the door to the barely used food production lab. There were a few herbs she didn’t recognize growing in a corner, but most of the place was unused. What a waste!
It had started a few years back when she bought a sad, dying succulent from the discount section at her local big box store. It had grown into a healthy houseplant obsession before it took a sharp right turn when she tried to grow her own food.
Back on Earth, she’d grown her own herbs and microgreens on her windowsill and even had a few pepper plants under a cheap LED grow light she’d bought off of Amazon. She loved the idea of growing her own food, and she had been thinking of this room since Lettie had shown it to her.
She had lost a lot of sleep to research on YouTube, the online university for all things, on the subject matter. How much different could it be on an alien spaceship? Emma got to work figuring out the system.
Cal spent a good portion of the past day watching the security feed. It was part of his job, of course, but if he had to be honest with himself, he was watching Emma.
Ashe, who had come in earlier with Zey, had called it cyberstalking and had shaken her head disapprovingly at him. But Zeylum had told her that for a Tallean male, it meant he car
ed. And then Zey had admitted to watching Ashe on the feed as well.
“That’s not the same,” Ashe had said exasperatedly. “You are my mate. You can cyberstalk me any time you want.” Then to Cal, “Emma hasn’t even spent a whole night in your room yet. Watching her on the comm is totally being creepy.”
Somehow, the fact that Emma slept in the spare room last night had been broadcasted ship-wide by the time Cal had reported to the bridge the next morning. Vore’s mate had a very big and very loud mouth, even when it wasn’t screaming Vore’s name like it currently was.
Vosken had already approached him, announcing his intention to make a play on Emma. Cal had lunged at the male. But Vosken had not flinched.
“Emma is still mine,” Cal had growled at his friend.
But Vosken simply said, “I will give you time to claim her. But if you do not, I will,” and left.
When Grissom had approached Emma in the training area, Cal had been ready to go down and show the young male who was the stronger fighter. He had wanted to wipe the mats with the younger mercenary’s face. To his relief, Emma had backed away and left.
She was now in the food production lab, fiddling around with the poorly maintained equipment. The greenroom and food lab had been his idea. And while Cal found caring for the permanent plant fixtures in the greenroom easy enough, he had lost interest in the food production portion. He did, however, have the manual to the whole system on his PPC, his personal portable computer, and he considered going in to give her a hand.
Then Cal remembered the disappointment he had felt at her reaction to him, the sadness and fear she displayed. Sidas had stressed that she was upset at his reaction to her scent. She was preoccupied with it, and Cal’s initial reaction had made the problem worse. Cal didn’t trust himself not to react in a detectable way. Maybe it was best if he walked her through setting up the lab over the shipboard comm.
He strode to his room. He didn’t use his PPC often. He was on the bridge and security room most of the time, and when he wasn’t, his comm unit was usually enough. He turned on his PPC and found the manual.
He opened a channel to the food production lab, overriding the need for Emma to accept the comm.
“Emma?”
“Eeeek!” She jumped and looked around; confusion showed on her face when she didn’t see anyone behind her.
“I’m talking to you through the shipboard comm. Do you see the bigger panel on top of the door control? Go and press it right under the blinking green light.”
She followed his instruction, and her face brightened when his face showed up on the panel.
“Cal!” A smile brightened her face, and Cal resisted the urge to reach out to her through the screen.
“I thought you might want some help setting up the food production lab. I have a copy of the manual.”
“I don’t think I can read it. All the glyphs in your language look like gibberish to me.”
“I’ll read it to you. I can walk you through the whole set up process via the comm.”
“Really, that would be amazing!” She smiled at him, looking directly at the screen.
She seemed to have no problem looking directly at an image of him, probably because her training with her old owner did not involve him being on the screen.
He walked her through the set up of the system, including prepping the growing medium and how to adjust nutrition and PH levels. Emma already had the basic knowledge of using a hydroponic system and was able to pick up on details Cal himself had not. She must have used something similar back on her home planet.
When she had asked about light cycles for different plant foods that she had used in her meal prep for her previous owner, Cal had been stumped. He hadn’t gotten that far and had only researched enough to get the few herbs Arus had wanted going.
“We will have to do some more research on that. This manual only has the basic set up,” Cal admitted. “I also have the manual for the livestock corral. Talleans require a lot of animal protein, so most ships prioritize that.”
A confused look flitted over her face a moment before it brightened. Emma turned to the livestock corral. “Oh! That’s what that thing is. It did remind me of a high-tech rabbit hutch. I’ve never raised bunnies or chickens before.”
Cal had no idea what those things were. “The only times I’ve heard of the words rabbit and bunnies were in reference to Vore and Lettie’s constant sexual activity.”
Emma burst out laughing, and the sound was food for his starving ears.
“Actually, that’s why I’m here.” She looked around the food lab. “There’s nowhere safe on the ship from all the happy couples.”
“The Defiant needs to invest in some soundproofing. Or we could just make our own loud noises to cover them up.” Cal smirked at her and waited to see her reaction.
Her cheeks turned pink. Cal wondered what else would trigger that reaction.
“Tell me, my sweet, are you loud?”
Her face turned a brighter red, and for a moment, Cal thought she wasn’t going to reply as indecision flashed on her face.
Then she spoke. “Wouldn’t you like to know? You could always come and find out.”
He growled. He did want to know! He wanted to order her to walk her sexy, rounded little ass over to his room, now. But he realized that it might be too demanding and remind her of her past.
Emma rounded up her courage and said, “Wouldn’t you like to know? You could always come and find out.”
He had growled, but to her disappointment, he didn’t come charging into the room to test his theory. Maybe he wasn’t really interested and was just flirting for lack of better things to do on the ship. It was for the best anyway; she didn’t want to physically see Cal until her strange scent faded.
So she changed the subject. “If not bunnies, what do Talleans raise as livestock on their ships?”
“Most people raise tepins because they are easy and quiet.”
“Tepins? What are those?”
Cal’s fingers traced across the screen several times before a picture of a fat, round bird showed up on the screen. There was no way something that fat could ever get off the ground. It also didn’t have feathers. Instead, it was furred and quilled. So maybe it wasn’t a bird at all. But it sure looked like one at first glance. It had a beak and bird-like clawed feet. It also had a small crest at the top of its head that made it look like it had a tiny mohawk. It was adorable.
“Oh em gee! That’s so cute. I can’t eat that!”
“They are really tasty. And you’ve already eaten tepin. We keep a stockpile frozen in storage. Arus used it in the stew you ate.”
The meat in the stew was awfully tasty: rich with a little fat, and tender.
“You can also raise them for eggs. They are very prolific layers. You should see the size of the egg compared to the tepin.” Cal smiled at her through the screen. “You would think it was impossible.”
“So, they are like birds and lay eggs.”
“I believe by birds, you mean avian creatures that fly.”
“Yes, the tepin looks like a bird, but not quite.”
“Tepins do not fly, but they are built like avians. They have quills that do not provide lift and are too heavy to leave the ground.” Cal looked thoughtful. “If you want, we can bring a small flock on board at our next stop. If you can get fresh produce and tepins producing in the lab, Arus will be forever in your debt. The rest of the crew will appreciate the fresh food too.”
“Yes! Let’s do that.”
They did say that the best way to a man’s heart was through his belly.
Now, Emma had a purpose on this ship. She would make herself useful by running the currently mostly defunct food lab. A sense of calm came over her. She grinned.
“You are smiling.” Cal reached for her and touched his screen with his finger.
A yawn overcame her then. She hadn’t slept well, and it was catching up
with her. Vore and Lettie’s loud sexual encounters didn’t help. She didn’t blame them, though. There wasn’t much to do when they were traveling between ports. The merchant’s ship traveled much slower, and they had to move at their speed.
“You’ve done enough today, my sweet. Go get some sleep. Tomorrow, if you want to work on it again, just key in these glyphs into the food lab comm, and it will call me.”
“Thank you, Cal.”
He tilted his chin in a half nod before the screen went blank.
Emma yawned again. She was exhausted. They must have worked together on the food lab for hours without realizing it.
Emma left the food production lab and headed over to her room. She stopped at Cal’s door. He was in there right now. Emma was tempted to knock, tempted to go and see him, but she thought better of it. There would be time in the future when she didn’t stink from the shot. She found a reason for the crew of the Defiant to keep her on the ship. It felt good to have a purpose.
Emma crossed over to her own door and went inside. She didn’t bother to use the cleansing unit. She just rinsed her mouth with the mouthwash Talleans used to clean their teeth and went straight to bed. She fell asleep moments after hitting the mattress.
Chapter 10
The next day, instead of waiting for her call, Cal waited for Emma down at the food lab. He had thought of her all night and was eager to see her again. He hadn’t seen her face to face since the first day in his room, and it felt much too long.
The door to the lab opened, and Emma walked in with a big smile on her face. But when she saw him, her smile crumpled.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She fidgeted uncomfortably. Her reaction to him in person was a far cry to her response to him last night through the comm. But Cal intended to change it.
He took her hand and pulled her into a warm embrace, careful not to show any strange behavior when she got close. Emma was stiff and awkward. Cal ignored it.
