Warriors of Phaeton: Dathrow (Bridal Pact)

by Leora Gonzales

  “I think she’s napping right now,” Poppy said with a glance at the clock.

  “Napping?”

  “She created a schedule for naps so she doesn’t fall asleep during dinner.” Poppy shrugged and then smiled. “Apparently she went face-first into a piece of pie last week and scared the shit out of Thorne.”

  “Thorne did what?” Finch’s voice was incredulous.

  “He didn’t actually shit, goofball. It’s an expression.” Poppy laughed.

  “I do not mean to offend you but the Earth expressions that I have heard so far are not pleasant and make no sense.”

  “Oh, by the way, that reminds me,” Pixie interrupted. “Apparently I said one of my phrases and confused the hell out of Dath the other day.”

  “Which one was it?” Poppy leaned forward as if Pixie was sharing a secret.

  “I think it was the Hitler one.” Pixie giggled. “He was so confused. I had to explain why I say them instead of cursing.”

  “You know you started doing that when you dated Brian, right?” Poppy asked, reaching for her own bowl of popcorn on the table.

  “No I didn’t. I said it because I didn’t want to cuss at the restaurant,” Pixie said with a shake of her head.

  “Nope. It started the day Brian said it was unladylike to say ‘fuck’. I remember it because we were laughing at something and when he said that you got all stiff.” Poppy’s voice became very matter of fact. “Pixie, seriously. You never cussed at work. I’m sure you wanted to, but you’re more professional than that. He’s the one who said something like ‘what if you say that vulgar word at work and get fired’?” Poppy lowered her voice to imitate Pixie’s douchebag ex.

  “Really? I don’t remember that at all…”

  “And it’s not like we were even in public when we said it. It was one of our pizza nights where we were all watching a movie,” Poppy added.

  “Damn. I never even thought about it. I guess I just thought he had a point with the whole ‘watching my mouth at work’ bit. I know there were a few times I wanted to let it fly.”

  Poppy nodded at her sister in understanding. “‘Fuck’ is an awesome word.”

  “It totally is. And you can use it so many different ways. You know what other word I—”

  “Are the two of you seriously having this conversation?” Finch interrupted, his voice heavily laced with amusement.

  “Yeah we are, so shut the fuck up,” Pixie quipped smartly.

  “Why did I volunteer for this job?” Finch dropped his head onto the back of the chair and stared at the ceiling as if searching for answers.

  “Because you want to earn points with the powers that be and get into the matching system,” Pixie offered.

  “And you wanted to eat all the Earth food that I programmed into the food generator,” Poppy added.

  Tipping his head back down, Finch leveled each of them with a look. “You may be right.”

  “We’re always right, Finch. Get used to it. Now can you message Val for me? I think naptime is over,” Pixie asked with a sweet smile.

  As Finch stood up and walked to the communication system on the wall, he muttered under his breath about crazy humans.

  Hearing some of the words coming out of their escort, the sisters bit their lips to keep from laughing at him.

  “You think he’ll come back tomorrow?” Pixie whispered to her sister.

  “Yeah. If these warriors have one thing in common, it’s determination. They never give up.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Are you sure you’re okay with us not going to medical today?” Poppy asked again.

  “Yeah. There’s no reason to head that way until I need to talk to Andi about the welcome packages for the brides.” Pixie tossed her notebook down onto the table. “I have to admit, even with Val being exhausted, that bish can work like no other.”

  “Ha! I’m sure she would appreciate someone telling her that,” Poppy said while she kicked up her feet onto the table.

  “Seriously, she was here for two hours and somehow managed to give me at least a week’s worth of tasks.” Pixie picked up her notebook again. Flipping through the pages, she jotted something down. “Can we plan on medical tomorrow?”

  “I don’t see why not…”

  “Do we need to make an appointment with Andi or can we assume she’ll have time to sit with us and go over the new bride packages?”

  “Well, damn. I never thought to make an appointment with her. I just kind of always showed up and just started talking to her,” Poppy admitted sheepishly.

  “Seriously?” Pixie asked with a smirk. “And you are soooo important that everyone stops what they’re doing and rushes to talk to you?”

  “It’s not like that, bish. I normally just went by to see if they needed help and it snowballed from there. The docs usually have things taken care of so she sits and chats with me.”

  Finch handed Poppy the glass of tea he’d had been preparing and sat down on the opposite end of the couch. “I can message now and see if there is a particular time of day that she would prefer company. Maybe around the lunch meal?”

  “That sounds good to me. What about you?” Pixie asked her sister.

  “Perfect.” Poppy nodded. “I may need to sleep in tomorrow though. I’m plain tuckered out.” As Poppy yawned wide, Pixie could hear her jaw pop.

  “I’m gonna head out.” Pixie stood up, disregarding her sister’s protests. “Poppy, you’re tired. I can tell that. Finch can as well and I would like avoid pissing off Wheaton by tiring you out.”

  “I can escort you back to your apartment if you are ready,” Finch offered, standing up.

  “That would be great.” Pixie leaned over to kiss Poppy’s cheek. “Plus, it would be nice to have a meal with just Dath tonight.”

  “I know, I know.” Poppy smacked Pixie on the thigh as she walked past to get to the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

  “Sure, Pops.” Pixie rolled her eyes at her sister who was already starting to ease herself down and lie on the couch. “Get a nap in before your husband gets home.”

  “Uh-huh,” Poppy murmured as she nestled her head back on a pillow.

  “Jesus, she must have been more tired than I thought,” Pixie said quietly to Finch as they walked out of the apartment.

  “She was showing signs as early as two hours ago,” Finch pointed out in a clinical voice.

  “What? Two hours? Why didn’t you say something?” Pixie smacked Finch on the shoulder, shaking her hand out when it caused her knuckles to sting from the impact.

  “You were making progress with Valerie. Poppy indicated she wanted to keep going until Valerie had to leave.”

  “Well, let me know next time. My baby niece or nephew needs rest.”

  “Of course,” Finch agreed. “Dathrow messaged saying that he will be another hour or two and would like me to stay with you until he arrives.”

  “Why do I get a guard and Poppy is allowed to sleep without one?”

  “Poppy has a guard. He was due to arrive as soon as we left.”

  “So…he’s just gonna watch her sleep. Like a creeper?” Pixie asked, stunned.

  “Of course not. He will be stationed outside their unit.” Finch laughed at her expression.

  “Oh. Well okay then.” Pixie stopped and waited for Finch to open the door when they arrived at her apartment. “Wanna watch a movie? I spent some time organizing them this morning.”

  “That would be nice. My collection is not as extensive as Wheaton’s or Dathrow’s so I would like to see what they enjoy.”

  Pixie kicked off her shoes before walking into the living area. “How long have you known Dath?”

  “Dathrow and I were in the same training house.”

  “And that means?” Pixie asked when he didn’t say anything further.

  “We were raised together since young children.”

  “Okay, this is like pulling teeth.” Pixie said under her breath. “Maybe
you can explain what the fuck that means. Think of it like this…I don’t really know anything about how you guys were raised. Poppy explained the training house stuff to me. The warriors were separated according to their breeds, right?”

  “Correct.” Finch sat down and waited for the next question.

  “And it was like a boarding school setup? You guys had classes and training and all that jazz and stayed in something similar to a dorm?” Pixie prodded.

  “They were barracks, but yes. We entered when we were four cycles old and stayed until we graduated. Dathrow was part of my barrack pod.”

  “Pod?” Pixie repeated. “That sounds super alien-y.”

  “Barracks were divided into pods of ten warriors in training. We trained together and fought together.”

  “So…you were just assigned to a barrack and that’s who you grew up with the entire time?”

  “Unless a warrior died, then yes.”

  “Died? Kids died while you were there?” Pixie exclaimed, her voice catching in disbelief.

  “Pixie, we are warriors. Our training years were teaching us how to operate ships, use weapons and hand-to-hand combat as well as the normal schooling regarding history, reading, writing and technology. We lost one of our pod brothers in a flight accident in our last year of training.”

  “Damn. Talk about trial by fire.” Pixie shook her head, unable to absorb the life these men had lived through.

  “It is normal for us. We knew that the generations before us had the same training and anticipated the generation after would as well. It is our way of life.”

  Pixie sat silent for a moment, thinking about what Finch had just said. “Oh fuck no. There is no way my baby will be sent to live in one of these pod things when he’s just four years old!”

  “He will not have to,” Finch said quickly. “Your sister has already addressed the changes that will need to happen for our human brides to be satisfied with their children’s schooling.”

  Pixie slumped on the couch, relief taking over her body. “Thank fucking God.”

  “Any other questions or can we watch a vid now?” Finch asked, tilting his head toward the controller for the TV.

  “We can watch something but let me make myself very clear. I will have more questions and you better be prepared to answer them.” Pixie shook her finger at Finch and smiled when he rolled his eyes. “You’re getting better at that.”

  “What?”

  “Acting human.”

  “It is hard. You and your sister use a variety of words that I am not yet comfortable repeating.” Finch smiled at Pixie when she snorted. “There are also sometimes that I believe you can have an entire conversation by only looking at each other.”

  Pixie shrugged, “We have been together forever. We probably could if we had to.”

  “It is interesting.” Finch kicked his legs out and got comfortable. “Are we going to watch a movie or not?”

  “Hold your horses.” Before Finch could ask what she meant, she added, “It means to relax and be patient.” Pixie started flipping through the movies before settling on Indiana Jones. After the movie started, she started to feel tired herself. After trying to get comfortable without the help of a pillow on the squared couch, she gave up. Snuggling down into the warmth of the friend beside her, Pixie drifted off into sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Why are you holding her?”

  The tightly spoken words barely penetrated the fog of sleep that had taken over Pixie. What actually woke her up was that the pillow she’d been sleeping on had started moving. She snuffled a few times, her nose tingling like it usually did when she was waking up. Reaching up one hand to rub it sleepily, she tried to let herself be lulled back to sleep by the deep breaths under her cheek.

  “She drifted off to sleep at my side.” Finch’s voice was tight as he replied to whoever he was speaking to. The rumble in his chest as he spoke woke her up even further.

  “You are not allowed to touch her.”

  “Dathrow, you are not being rational. There are no pillows in your apartment and she simply fell asleep against my side.”

  Dammit. There went her chance to sleep. Dathrow was pissy about something and her pillow wouldn’t shut the fuck up. Pixie opened her eyes and gave the two men the stink eye.

  “Hey, babe.” Standing up, Pixie gave him a sleepy hug. Maybe she could talk him into a nap, this time on their comfortable bed in the other room.

  “Pixie, what did you think you were doing?” Dathrow’s rough tone confused her for a moment before she connected the dots.

  “What? Are you angry because I fell asleep against Finch while we were watching a movie?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, tough.” Pixie scowled at him for a moment before turning back to Finch on the couch. “Did you want to stay for dinner?”

  “No, he does not,” Dathrow answered for his friend.

  Finch shook his head and tried to hide a smile when Pixie turned back to Dathrow with her hands propped on her hips.

  “I didn’t fucking ask you, now did I?” Pixie snapped in a voice that showed the men she wasn’t too happy with being woken from her nap.

  “Pixie, I should be going. I have a training course scheduled this evening in the rec room.” Finch’s voice was amused as he interrupted her.

  “Okay. Will I see you tomorrow?” Pixie followed her question up with an elbow to Dathrow’s side when he started to protest.

  “Yes. Would you like me to come for the noon meal to take you to Poppy? She mentioned that she wanted to sleep extra tomorrow morning,” Finch reminded her as he walked to the door.

  “That sounds perfect. Have a good night.” Waving at him as he walked out the door, Pixie tried to recall everything Dathrow had said to Finch while she’d been waking up.

  “Did you seriously just get mad at Finch because I fell asleep against him?”

  “Well…yes,” Dathrow grumbled.

  “No sir.” Pixie pointed at the white couch. “You see that fucking uncomfortable piece of furniture you call a couch? It’s awful. Finch was the softest thing on it and he’s covered in muscles.”

  Dathrow pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. “I may have overreacted.”

  Pixie stood silent with her toe tapping against the floor. “You’re forgiven but you need to be nicer to your friends. He didn’t do anything wrong. I literally fell asleep against him.”

  “I understand, Pixie.” Dathrow reached forward and grabbed her hips. Squeezing the soft skin at her sides, he asked, “Did you have a good day?”

  Pixie snuggled closer to his body. “Yeah, we got a lot done. In fact that’s why I’m so pooped. I stayed at Pop’s all day and met with Val. Oh, and I figured out what I’m going to do on the ship!”

  She waited a moment for Dathrow asked her what it would be and when he was silent, she said excitedly, “I’m going to help Val out with all the bride stuff she has to figure out.”

  “Is she unable to do her job?” Dathrow asked, confused.

  “Of course she can do her job,” Pixie replied, offended on her friend’s behalf. “We just talked it over and there needs to be a better system for what happens after the brides arrive on the ship. So far, everything is covered until they get on the shuttle but once they get here…let’s just say that you guys have dropped the ball.”

  “What ball?”

  “The ball. It means you guys have no idea what to do with the brides once we get here.”

  “We definitely know what to do with our brides.” Dathrow wiggled his eyebrows.

  “I’m being serious here,” Pixie argued, stepping back from him. “Do you know how many sad emails and weepy calls I got from my sister? It drove me nuts, especially since I wasn’t able to do anything about it. You guys are lucky I didn’t go completely nuts on Earth and raise all sorts of hell.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Can you picture a protective father getting a phone call or email from his daug
hter who isn’t exactly happy with her match and he goes to the press? Or better yet, he goes to the crazies who seem to be making it harder and harder for the women to sign up for the damn pact in the first place?”

  After a moment his eyes widened and he nodded.

  “That would be bad,” Dathrow agreed. “How is it that you would pick up the ball?”

  “What? Oh, because you dropped the ball…” Pixie smiled at his use of slang. “First, we need to establish a system where the men who receive brides are allotted a certain amount of time before going back to work.”

  “Agreed. What else?” Dathrow sat down on the couch, tugging her onto his lap.

  “The women need to know they have the support of the warriors when it comes to their medical care. I know you weren’t too keen on the option of condoms, but believe me it will really help some of these brides come to terms with their new lives. Plus I think that having the option to be intimate without necessarily tying them down to their warrior is a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I can imagine there has to be at least one instance where the bride and groom aren’t really…ummmm…compatible? Yeah, compatible. I mean, you can’t say you’ve wanted to marry every single person you’ve slept with, right?”

  “That is correct, considering that up until now they have all been pleasure workers,” Dathrow answered dryly.

  “Well, just imagine if our first time hadn’t been not all we wanted it to be. Chemistry is a big part of a relationship. From what Andi said, she and her first match had zero chemistry so they quickly put the kibosh on that whole thing. What if a bride and groom were thinking they could make it work but wanted to test the waters before taking the chance of little alien babies?”

  “I can see your point. It would be nice to be able to test physical compatibility before signing the bridal agreement.”

  “We were lucky. Very, very lucky.”

  “We were very lucky.” Dathrow ran his hand around her hip and squeezed her ass firmly.

  Groaning low in his throat, he almost distracted her from her speech. Pixie squirmed slightly as she tried to keep focused on what she was saying.