The Commander's Warrior Mate

by A. R. Kayne

  “Yeah?” Pryce sounded amused. “Good try. You’re not getting out of movie time.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of trying.” She yawned again then slumped back against the couch. When she let her eyes drift closed, he laughed so hard the couch shook.

  “Come here. You can’t even sit up straight. I’d better help you with that.” He snaked an arm around her, pulled her up on his lap, and nestled her against his chest.

  “I’m a little cold, too,” she murmured pitifully.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, we can’t have that.”

  Pryce draped a throw around their bodies. It was heaven. One of his hands trailed up and massaged her shoulder with a slow, insistent rhythm. The other arm circled around her ribcage, his thumb making circles just beneath her breast. She sighed each time he touched her.

  “Are you alright, honey?” Pryce asked, his voice rough and low.

  “Yes. It just feels nice. Weird nice. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

  “Mmmm. Yeah. Your muscles are really tight.” He whispered the words against her ear, so close she could feel his breath puff against her skin. “You work so hard. Did you spend the day hunched over the desk again?”

  “Um. I don’t know.” The words came out in a sigh.

  “You don’t know?” His lips brushed against her cheek as he spoke, making her skin tingle.

  “Don’t remember. It’s hard to think.”

  He cupped her face in his palm and turned it so he could look in her eyes. His face was only a hand’s breadth from hers, so close she caught a hint of his scent. Her heart stuttered.

  “Do you want more?” he asked, the pad of his thumb gently smoothing across her lower lip.

  “More what?”

  “Do you like the way I’m touching you? Do you want to try more?” His eyes searched hers. She had the feeling she was missing something very important.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

  Disappointment flared in his eyes. “You haven’t had the classes yet, have you? It’s alright. I won’t push you. I know you’ve had to adjust to a bunch of things and it hasn’t been easy.”

  Before she could ask what he meant, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. She closed her eyes, relishing the safety and warmth and the feeling of his body pressed against hers.

  Watching movies with Pryce was very nice. It was even better when she didn’t actually have to watch them.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Jess

  Jess bent over her circuit prototype, squinting as she soldered a capacitor to the board.

  “There. All done. Now I can test it,” she said with satisfaction. She smiled at her trainer and new friend, Klye. “Thanks for teaching me how to do this. I know working with individual components like this is primitive, but it’s helping me learn circuit design. I used to fiddle around with things like this on Draco, but I didn’t understand what I was doing.”

  But Klye’s attention was elsewhere. He leaned back against the workbench, arms crossed, and chuckled. “The old man sure likes to keep an eye on you, doesn’t he? It’s almost like he has a thing for you. Did you know that he put out an order that nobody on the ship is allowed to touch you?”

  “The old man?” Jess’s brow furrowed. “Who is that?”

  Klye smirked. “Captain Adamson. He comes here every day and watches you. He’s been doing it for weeks. You hadn’t noticed?”

  “Pryce is here? Where?” Jess swiveled her head. She must be slipping if he’d managed to get past her even once, much less for weeks. It was a good thing Pryce wasn’t a predator. She would have been dead already.

  “He’s lurking behind the power supply racks where he thinks nobody will see him. There’s a door over there where he slips in and out. Do you want to have some fun and flush him out?”

  “Sure. Okay.” How odd. Why would Pryce be down here? How would he find the time to watch her? Jess still didn’t understand much about his job, but she’d learned that it kept him very busy. Every moment of his day was filled, it seemed.

  “Just play along with me. I’m not going to touch you, but I’ll make it look like I’m going to.”

  “Why would he care about that?”

  “Trust me; he will. He’ll be over here within five seconds. Even if you tell him I’m attracted to men rather than women, he won’t care. Here’s what I want you to do. Stand up and walk to the supply bay with me. Whatever you do, don’t look in the Captain’s direction. Good job. Stay on my left hand side, so he can see your face, and look up at me and laugh a little. Now, turn around so that your back is against the wall and look in my eyes.”

  Jess turned as instructed. Klye’s eyes danced with mischief. “Okay, now what?”

  “I’m going to fiddle with your hair a little, put a hand behind you, and lean in like we’re going to kiss. Keep looking me in the eyes and smiling.” Klye slowly leaned toward her. “One. Two. Three.”

  Pryce appeared before Klye reached the count of four, his face red and his teeth clenched.

  “Jess. Come with me. Now,” Pryce snarled. “And you, whoever the hell you are, I believe you have work to do? Or should I give you a lesson in your duties with my fist first?”

  “Yes, sir. I apologize for my behavior, sir,” replied Klye in respectful tones, ducking his head, but he winked at Jess behind Pryce’s back.

  Pryce gripped Jess just above the elbow and drug her to the lift; she struggled to keep up with his strides.

  “What’s wrong, Pryce?” She’d never seen him like this before. He reminded her of a wild animal ready to attack.

  “We’ll talk in my office,” he snapped.

  He was silent and rigid during the lift ride, staring toward the front of the lift with a fixed expression. When the door opened, he marched her into his office. Jess caught the sideways looks of his staff; her cheeks flamed.

  “Please talk to me,” she begged, “I don’t understand what’s wrong.”

  He gripped both of her arms and yanked her against his chest. “You’re done in that lab and so is he. I’m having him transferred off the ship. He was going to kiss you!” Pryce snarled, not bothering to keep his voice down.

  Jess gaped at him. Of all the nerve! “No, he wasn’t! He didn’t even touch me! We’re friends, but he doesn’t like me that way. He explained it to me when we met: he dates men, not women. But for what it’s worth, he said you wouldn’t believe that.”

  “I don’t care if he’s gay. You can’t trust any man on this ship, Jess. Not the straight ones or the gay ones. You probably shouldn’t trust any of the women, either.”

  Jess pulled her arms free and glared at him. “Klye knew you were behind the racks. He walked me over to the cabinet and leaned toward me on purpose to prove a point. He said you’d be like this.”

  “Just what was his point?” Pryce sneered, “That he could tick off the captain of his ship?”

  “I don’t know, but I guess he proved it. He said you gave orders that no one on the ship is allowed to touch me.”

  “That’s right.” Pryce’s eyes drilled into hers, daring her to protest. His voice was deep and mean. “Men need to keep their filthy hands off you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re innocent!” Pryce yelled. “They’ll take advantage of you! You have no idea of the things they’ll do! It’s only the fear of my personally beating the shit out of them that’s keeping little assfaced bastards from dragging you away and putting their hands all over you!”

  “Well, what if I want that? A few months ago you said that I have a potential mate on board this ship. You told me to make friends with some different men and see if I’m attracted to them. I was frightened then, but now I’m not. I’m not ready for a man to sting me but I’d like to try kissing. Your order is holding me back!”

  Pryce’s mouth opened and closed, but no sounds came out.

  Jess put her fists on her hips and stared him down. “I’d wondered why all the men r
ecoil from me like I’m poison. They shy away when I so much as walk down the corridor. Undo that order, Pryce. And don’t you dare have Klye punished! He was just playing a joke. He didn’t do anything wrong.” She flounced toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  Jess paused and looked back at him, her eyes snapping. “Back to work! You know, the thing I was doing when you got mad over a man and me maybe breathing the same air? If you’ll recall, I spent almost fifteen years living in a cave. Do you remember why I’m on this ship? To learn to be normal! I’m the dumbest person on this ship. You all just keep me around to be kind, and it wears at me every single day. Nobody needs the things I know how to do. Nobody on a starship needs an herb to stop a toothache or wants an animal skin tanned.

  “I’m years behind, Pryce. I know less than a freshly birthed baby. On top of that, I’m a freak. Nobody else on this ship spent years shitting in a hole or eating raw grubs. I’m so far behind I feel like giving up sometimes, but the only way it’ll get better is me working as hard as I can every single day. So undo your order, Pryce. Let me work hard and meet people and get on with learning how to be normal.”

  She smiled tensely at Pryce’s staff as she strode out of the area, certain that they’d heard every humiliating word of the shouting. She was sorry about that, but damned if she was going to be passive about her own life.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Pryce

  Pryce collapsed in his chair and stared at the door as it closed behind Jess.

  Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Yes, he’d once suggested that she meet men and even try dating, but that was months ago. He’d never meant for her to actually do it! The sight of that boy moving in on her had made him want to wring the kid’s neck. If he lifted the order, there’d be more horny little bastards putting their hands on Jess, only this time they wouldn’t be gay kids pulling a prank.

  He’d thought he was making progress with her. How in the hell could she not know what attraction felt like? They spent hours together, laughing and chatting and arguing. She was a healthy grown woman - surely she had the same urges as everyone else! Several times a week she curled up in his arms and rubbed up against him. He’d been almost certain she was ready for him to kiss her. Shit. He should have gone for it - screw duty and honor! If he had, she’d be in his bed right now, sated and purring, and this mess wouldn’t have happened.

  Even worse, apparently she felt dumb and useless to the point of being depressed about it. That needed to change and quick.

  Pryce bashed on his com. “Kellis. It’s Pryce. I need you and Dr. Ales. It’s an emergency.”

  The two women appeared in his office moments later, somewhat out of breath. Kellis looked around the office wildly. “What’s wrong, Pryce? What’s the emergency?”

  “It’s Jess. She’s mad at me. I don’t know how to fix it.”

  Kellis gaped at him then she glared. “That’s your emergency? You have a crush on a woman and she’s mad at you? We dropped everything and down here. I was in the middle of a consultation. So was Dr. Ales. You don’t think that perhaps a mature grown man, the captain of a starship, could have scheduled an appointment or asked us to come to his office when we had a free moment? We’re here for you and we want to help, but you shouldn’t abuse your position.”

  Pryce winced. Stated that way, it did sound bad. “Yes. Of course you’re right. I’m sorry. It isn’t really an emergency, not exactly. Maybe we can talk later when you aren’t as busy.”

  Dr. Ales smiled at him and settled into one of the chairs. “I sent my patient away, so there’s not much sense in my hurrying back. Since we’re here now, why don’t you tell us what’s bothering you?”

  Pryce recounted the whole sad mess.

  “I see,” said Kellis, rolling her eyes. “So you’re upset because you advised her to meet some different men and date them, and now she wants to go do just that.”

  “They’ll touch her,” he said lamely.

  “Yes, they probably will. That’s part of dating. That’s part of learning about attraction.”

  “She may have sex with them.”

  “Yes, that may happen too. That’s also a natural part of dating. Surely, if she comes to your bed, you don’t expect her to be a virgin? You certainly aren’t. She has the same right to have experiences that you do. Or were you hoping that she’d stay inexperienced, so you could mold her into your idea of a perfect woman?”

  Pryce blanched. The last comment hit a little too close to home. “It’s just that there’s no point to it. We’re mates and she’s mine. It’s a waste of her time.”

  “No, Pryce, she isn’t yours. She isn’t an object. She belongs to no one except herself.” Kellis spoke calmly but firmly, as though trying to reason with a toddler.

  “But I’m in love with her,” he whispered. “I can’t bear the thought of anyone else touching her.”

  At last Kellis smiled, but the expression was far from kind. “Ahhhh. You’re in love. Maybe you’ve even thought about settling down and making babies. Let me guess; you want a little girl who looks just like her, a boy that looks like you, and you’ve been making up names for them. Do you think that gives you a claim to her? Do you think your feelings negate what she herself wants?”

  Pryce winced and cradled his forehead in his hands. That sounded almost exactly like the issue he’d had with his former bedmates, their wanting more than he’d been willing to give. He was ashamed to remember how coldly he’d cut them off. It seemed that Kellis and Dr. Ales had heard their stories.

  “I know I’ve done bad things in the past,” he admitted. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be a better person now.”

  “We know. You’ve made a good start. Now you need to stay on track.”

  “What am I going to do about Jess?”

  Dr. Ales, who had been silent, finally spoke. “I think your original plan of Jess meeting and befriending different men on the ship was a good one. However, that is her concern, not yours. You don’t actually need to do anything.”

  “So I’m supposed to just sit back and wait while she does it? How am I supposed to take care of her?”

  “That’s right. You will allow her to do what she needs to do. You will not interfere. I will guide her and help her through the process as necessary.”

  “Surely you’ll let me know what happens?”

  “No. I won’t. Neither will Kellis. We aren’t going to discuss the private details of her life with you any more than we’d tell her about what you got up to before she came on the ship. And believe me, Pryce, even though I have great affection for you, I’ve heard enough stories about your sex life to satisfy my curiosity for several lifetimes.” Dr. Ales’ tones were firm but not unkind.

  Pryce winced again. “I guess deserve that.”

  “Do I have your word that you’ll give her the space to explore and grow? Because I warn you, Pryce, if I learn that you’re interfering, I’ll go around you and have her transferred off the ship. I’m tempted to have her moved into quarters away from you regardless. The living situation the two of you have is odd and not entirely healthy. It may be time to change it.”

  His heart cracked in half. It was bad enough knowing that she was going to see other men. He couldn’t bear it if she wasn’t in his life at all. “No. Please don’t. I promise that I’ll let her do whatever she needs to.”

  “Was there something else, or can we go now?”

  “There is another thing, actually.” Pryce described Jess’s despair and feelings of worthlessness.

  “That is actually something you can help her with.” Dr. Ales smiled at him sweetly and her eyes twinkled. “She has considerable skill with combat and weapons. You have a close friend who runs a group that appreciates that sort of thing. He might have some ideas about how she could be useful.”

  He gulped. “I’d prefer that she not visit that group.”

  “Really.” Dr. Ales’ voice had a lilting quality. “Now, why might that be? Surely you trust yo
ur friend, who’s as close to you as a brother, to watch over her? Surely you aren’t already thinking of going back on your word?”

  “I’m concerned that she might meet someone else,” Pryce mumbled.

  Dr. Ales’ eyes held his and she nodded. “Yes, she might. We know what you did, Pryce. We know about your limiting her training rotations to the groups with the least compatible men. We let it go because she was acclimating and we thought it would do no harm at that time.

  “You and Jess have an amazingly high match score, but there are other men who also have high scores, aren’t there? Yours just happens to be the highest, so you were the only one who was notified. That’s been the custom, but perhaps it needs to change. A little competition might do everyone good. Perhaps Jess would like to choose her own match rather than letting an algorithm do it. Perhaps she’d be better served by pairing with someone other than the captain, so she could have a less prominent, more normal existence.”

  Ah, shit. They knew he’d been trying to keep Jess away from the others. The situation was getting worse by the second. Pryce closed his eyes. He should have been more aggressive. He should have taken her to bed the last time she started rubbing up against him. If he had, this situation would have never occurred. That was for damned sure the last time he’d make that mistake!

  “Pryce. Open your eyes and look at me.”

  He did. For all that Dr. Ales was ancient, lower in rank, and half his size, there was something about her that demanded obedience. The fact he’d known her his entire life and she was friends with his mother, the admiral, probably didn’t help.

  “Heed my words, Pryce. We’ve cooperated with your whims, even though some of them were silly or questionable. You’ve had Jess hidden in the quarters adjacent to your bedroom for months, and you implemented that ridiculous shipwide ‘no touch’ rule. We cooperated because we knew that she was naïve and your intention was to protect her while she adjusted. But there are limits. Now, because you’re afraid she might meet someone else, you’re holding her back from an activity that could be good for her mental health. That crosses a line. Kellis and I will not allow you to do that.”