by Lynnea Lee
“You’ll need my help getting the water tanks filled and moved. You are strong but you are small, let me help you. This was supposed to have been my project if I hadn’t given up on it. Now, it is our project.” He squeezed her shoulders.
Emma seemed to relax and accepted his help. They worked on the system together, prepping it for future crops. Emma found some seeds, hidden away at the bottom of a drawer, that were still viable, and they started them together. They worked well together, but Emma tried to keep her distance whenever she could. She was discreet, but Cal noticed all the same.
Cal wanted more from her. Using a box of equipment behind her as an excuse, he leaned in towards her. But she scrambled away.
“Sorry, I’m in your way.”
“No, Emma,” Cal said bluntly. He did not believe in deception. “I’m trying to get close to you.”
“Oh.”
“You are avoiding me. Are you scared of me? I will not hurt you.”
Emma stared down at her feet as she tended to do before switching to slave mode. Cal reached over and held her chin in his hand. He forced her to look at him, searching her eyes for the truth.
“Tell me why you are avoiding my touch. Have I hurt you? Show me how to make it good for you.”
Emma chewed on her lip. Somehow, despite Cal holding her chin up to look at him, she still managed to avert her gaze.
Finally, she spoke. “I don’t want you to smell me. I know I smell bad. I’ve heard it ever since they took me from Earth. My first owner didn’t like it and complained about it often. At the breeding program, the doctors often complained too. They said that the smell was the result of my altered hormones. At the Meeting Ground, some patrons asked for another female because of the scent. I was grateful for the bad scent until I met you. It kept me safer than most. But now, I don’t want to turn you off.” She looked down at her hands.
Cal was glad she was telling him the truth rather than hiding it. Honesty was a giant step ahead for them.
“You said the scent was from the hormones. How long does it last?”
“Three Earth months. I have no idea how long it has been. I’ve been on a different planet, a moon, and a spaceship. What if my scent never changes? No one will want me, and I’ll be forever alone.”
“Never! Have you seen Arus yet?”
“I met him in the kitchen that first day with you. But I’ve heard his name plenty since. Mia is no quieter than Lettie.”
Calix laughed. “That’s why I hide on the bridge all the time. I don’t need to pilot the ship actively. But it gets me away from all the happily mated and very bored couples. It’s entertaining at first, but it gets lonely sometimes.” He looked serious for a moment but brushed it off. “But I meant for an exam.”
“Lettie took me to Sidas already.”
“We should go see Arus.”
“No.” Her brow furrowed.
This was the first time Emma had told him no for anything. It was a good sign that she was getting more comfortable and braver with him. But a visit to Arus could solve their problem. Cal needed to take her. Their happiness was at stake.
“We will go see him now.”
“No! There’s nothing wrong with me! The effects will fade.” She pushed away from him.
He narrowed his eyes at her. It was the only warning he gave before he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder.
“Ahh! What are you doing?” she squealed.
“Taking you to Arus.”
She beat at him with her fists and kicked her feet, but he did not let her down.
“No fertility scientists. Please.” She struggled against him, squirming for all she was worth.
Instead of putting her down, Cal slapped her ass. She stilled as the sound echoed in the room.
He strolled down the hallway. She immediately quieted when they passed by the common lounge where the other human females were spending time. The females looked at them questioningly.
He turned down another hall and into Arus’s lab
By the time Cal put her down in the middle of Arus’s office, she was stinking of fear. She shook and balled her hands into fists.
Cal explained their issue to Arus. She would forgive him once she realized that he did this for them.
“I will need to take a blood sample to give you a good response.” Arus reached for the handheld med scanner.
But as he approached her, Emma backed away, still shaking. Tears squeezed from her eyes.
“Stars! She’s terrified.” Arus backed off and put a calming hand out. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just going to press this scanner to your arm or thigh. You’ll barely feel a pinprick, and it will be done.” Then to Cal, “Maybe you should hold her and calm her.”
Cal reached for Emma, but she ducked and scurried to the opposite side of the room.
“Okay, maybe not. Mia!”
“Coming!” Mia came in from the next room. “What’s going on here?” Then her eyes landed on Emma. “The poor girl’s terrified!”
“I’m trying to get a sample so we can see if we can fix her hormones.”
“I don’t think she wants it fixed. I don’t think she even wants to be here.”
Emma made a noise. “I do, but I don’t want it to hurt.”
“Arus is just taking a sample; you’ll barely feel it. I promise. He took a sample from me this morning. We are trying to get pregnant.”
Emma looked at Mia, her eyes wide. “You are?”
“Yup! But don’t tell my mom yet. She would have the name picked and the nursery painted before we even confirm conception.”
Emma calmed visibly.
“Here, just give me your arm or leg.” Emma lifted her arm, and Mia took it and held it in place.
Arus placed the scanner on her bicep. Emma scrunched her nose up for a second, then Arus lifted the scanner away.
“See, easy peasy.”
“Thank you, Mia. I had some bad experiences with Tallean fertility doctors.
“You are low in iron.” Unlike Sidas, who had great bedside manners, Arus was a bit awkward. Emma suddenly felt more akin to the male. She felt awkward most of the time too.
“Sidas already put me on supplements. I just forgot to take them.”
“You should take them.”
Arus transferred the results to his comm to analyze it in detail.
“There is an artificial hormone in her body that is regulating her ovulation. It renders her infertile as long as it is in her body. But this hormone will be absorbed and expelled from her body with time. There is nothing I could give her to shorten the process that would not affect her scent even more. But the hormone should be gone very soon.”
“See! I told you all this before you went full barbarian on me and tossed me over your shoulder.” It was the first time Emma had raised her voice at him.
She gave Cal a shove as she went past him to the door. Slapping her hand angrily into the door panel to open it, she stormed out and down the hall.
Mia gave Cal a disgusted look. “You dolt.”
“Fuck. I think I messed up.”
Emma stormed down the hallway, cursing as she went. She was glad that no one was here to witness her grumpiness. Who did he think he was, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and marching into Arus’s lab?
The tests they had done to her at the breeding facilities had been very painful, and she had panicked at the thought of seeing another scientist working on the matter. But Arus had been nice enough, and the sample only felt like the lightest of pinpricks.
She couldn’t believe she’d not only yelled at Cal, but she had shoved him too, hard. But he had totally deserved it. A few days ago, she would never have done it, afraid that he would leave her at the next port if he found her too difficult. She knew better now. Cal wasn’t her enemy. Emma had to remember that Calix wasn’t like the other Tallean males she had met. He didn’t think of her as a slav
e, but as a person, a partner.
As the red faded from her vision, Emma realized that Cal had only insisted she saw Arus because he was worried about her. He wanted to find a solution to their problem. She understood that now.
The problem wasn’t just the scent, though. Emma knew her own actions were part of the problem. It was the way she acted around him, timid and unsure. It was the way she froze and panicked when he got too close. She sucked at communication, and it had to stop now.
Emma made her way back to the food lab. Their frustrating situation would end today. It wasn’t about being afraid of getting dropped off or being sold. This was about her happiness. Emma could feel it in her bones. Cal could make her happy. And she could do the same for him.
For the first time since leaving Earth, Emma had found a place she wanted to call home. Home. What a marvelous concept. Cal and the Defiant could be that for her. She decided right there and then, today was the day she started working towards making a life here, with Cal. That meant no more hiding her feelings and acting defensive for no reason. It meant opening up and talking. It meant taking a chance.
“You can spray the olfactinull around your quarters, and anything in it would lose its scent for a few cycles. I would not recommend spraying it on your bodies. It hasn’t been tested for that, and you won’t want to accidentally lick or suck on it if it’s on the body.”
Arus held out a can of the odor nulling spray.
“It might not work, though,” Arus warned. “We Talleans rely on our sense of smell a lot; it may be hard to be turned on without it.”
“I’m not having trouble getting turned on because of the scent. My parts work fine. It’s in my head. I’m looking for my mate, and the scent tells me that she is not my mate. It tells me I’m wasting my time.”
“You do know that the off scent is a lie. It’s not really her, and it will eventually fade.”
“Yes.”
“And you want her.”
“Yes. I’m willing to try anything. I want everything else Emma has to offer. I don’t want her to change. That’s why I asked for the olfactinull. It only changes my own ability to smell. I just hope she forgives me.”
Arus places the can firmly into Cal’s hands.
“Good luck! You’re gonna need it!” Mia shouted from the next room.
Chapter 11
Emma drew on the comm panel screen with her finger. She had figured out how to use the screen like a whiteboard with her finger as her marker. She tried to remember every day that she had lived away from Earth. It wasn’t very precise, but since Emma didn’t have too much difficulty adjusting to the light cycles, it must mean each light cycle must not be too different from one Earth day. Emma planned on counting it one for one.
She needed to know how long it would be before she was back to normal.
The terrifying ride on the slave ship took several days, maybe four. She drew four lines. And the auction was another. She crossed the tally for five. Then, perhaps a fortnight with her first owner. It wasn’t accurate. She had lost track of time at first since she had been too upset. But the estimate would have to do. Nineteen days so far. And one day at the auction house again, and one day to make the transfer. That was twenty-one days already.
The vessel for the scientists came every ten days. They had come on her fourth day there. Twenty-five. One scientist had stayed to work on her infertility problem until the vessel returned. Thirty-five. Another day at the auction and another day for transfer. Thirty-seven. And she must have been at the Meeting Ground for at least a month if not two.
It was too bad the hormone shot had removed her periods. She wasn’t able to use them to track the time. She must have been away from Earth for at least two months, most likely more. She was already one month into her last shot when she left Earth. It should have faded already.
Emma understood that the shot didn’t completely disappear at the end of three months, but she was disappointed. What if she smelled like this forever? No! She had to stay positive. It was only a matter of time now.
The door opened, and Cal stood in the doorway. His head hung down, and he held something in his hand.
Emma took the first step. She needed to fix this problem between Cal and herself. Her very happiness depended on it. She walked to him and hugged him.
“Forgive me, Emma.” He wrapped his arms around her. His face looked sad, defeated.
“Done. Forgiven. You are not the only one at fault. I overreacted. And I’ve been approaching all this wrong. I think we should start over.”
“Do you not like that I stole you from the Meeting Ground?”
“I liked it a lot. But you didn’t steal me. You rescued me.”
“I will always rescue you.” Cal kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her hair.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.” He shuffled into the room, with Emma still tightly wrapped around him, the door slid closed behind them.
“Why did you stop the first day in your room? We were about to do it, and you stopped.” Emma had thought that it was because she’d smelled bad and turned him off. But she needed to know.
“You were not aroused. And you were panicked. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Oh. I have difficulty getting aroused, more side effects of the hormones. But once sex starts, I usually get turned on. I thought you didn’t want me because I stink.”
“You don’t stink. I can ignore it. But I have a solution here.” He held up the canister. “This spray renders everything in a certain radius scentless. The problem isn’t your smell. It is my reaction to it. Let’s delete my sense of smell from the equation and see where it takes us.”
“That could work.”
“There is one more thing we need to talk about. When you touch me, sometimes, you zone out. I know you did it in the past to survive. But I want all of you. If you zone out, it will feel like I’m taking advantage of you. That won’t work for me. I don’t get off on that.”
Emma knew. Cal was a good man. “Tell me when I do it. Or we can avoid certain things at first. I want to be all here for you too.”
Cal released her. “Step out of the room for a second. I don’t want to get any of the spray on you or me. I’ll spray it, and let it settle and distribute in the air before we come in again.”
He did just that, and after they gave the chemical time to settle, they went back into the lab.
“Is it working?”
“I can’t smell anything. So it must be.”
“Are you sure? It gets more obvious right next to the skin.
Cal pulled her close and buried his face into the crook of her neck. He took a deep breath.
“Nothing.”
He nuzzled her neck again and nipped at her jaw. His fangs rubbed up against her, and she shivered. Emma closed her eyes and relaxed into Cal’s embrace.
“Is it strange not to be able to smell? I don’t feel any different at all. I don’t think humans have a strong enough sense of smell for the spray to work on us.”
“It’s only in this room. And I’ll get used to it.” Cal continued to nuzzle at her neck and jaw.
“Talleans don’t kiss mouth to mouth, do they?”
“No, but I want to learn.”
Then his lips were on hers, hard and demanding. His tongue slipped past her lips to explore her mouth. His hands wrapped around to dig into her ass cheeks, pulling her towards him as he devoured her. By the time he let her up for air, she was clinging onto him, her knees too weak to stand.
“You are moving back into my room. Putting you into the spare room was a mistake.”
Happiness flooded her. “I would love to.”
“Wrap your legs around me.”
Emma did, and Calix lifted her up into his arms, supporting her weight with a palm on her ass.
He exited the lab and walked towards the crew quarters.
“I’ve already sprayed my quarte
rs.” He smirked at her.
Emma raised an eyebrow. “You were that certain that I would move back in with you?”
“Yes. And even if you don’t agree, I’m going to tie you down and pleasure you until you do.” He ended on a growl, and Emma felt it all the way in her belly.
Damn! Cal was hot.
“I’m tempted to say no, just to make you convince me.”
He growled again.
Cal carried the little female into his quarters and threw her onto the mass of pillows at the center of his bed. Unlike the other males on the ship, who he knew only had what was necessary, Cal enjoyed his comfort. He had also invested in a larger bed than was normal on a ship. He had expected to share it with his mate eventually. While not truly his mate, Emma was the first female to grace his bed.
She looked perfect in it, except that she was still dressed, and in the shift dress from the Meeting Ground, no less. That had to go. He never wanted to see her in that dress again. He pulled her to kneeling, then grabbed the dress and tore it over her head. She squealed and giggled but did not cover her body.
Her nipples perked at the sudden chill of the air. He reached out to fondle them, and she closed her eyes, leaning into his hands.
One hand traveled down the curve of her waist and hips. Emma had extra skin there. She must have lost weight after leaving Earth. Cal made a mental note to feed her more. She was gorgeous now, but Cal wanted to see her with all her curves. He trailed his fingers down to the blonde curls at the junction of her thighs.
He pushed her down onto her back, hooked his hands behind each knee, and pulled her to the edge of the bed. A few pillows fell to the ground. He ignored them and lowered himself to his knees.
She looked up at him uncertainly. He reached up to caress a rounded breast, running a thumb over the erect nipple. She closed her eyes and dropped her head back.
“So beautiful. I want a taste.” Cal didn’t want to wait anymore.
Calix leaned forward and covered her clit with his mouth. Her legs tried to close instinctively, squeezing his shoulders.
