by April Zyon
“This isn’t something that gets turned off when we leave our home, Adira,” he said. His voice held a warning. “It’s all the time, forever. I’m not the type that will manage every second of your day, but there are rules that will be followed at all times whether I’m with you or not. If you want to work you are more than welcome to, most of our women have jobs, some are even in our Armada. That is completely up to you, and what you feel is best for you.”
“I’m a medical doctor. Would you be able to use someone like me?” she asked quietly. “And I don’t mind it being all around the clock. I really don’t. As long as you would know that there would be some things that I couldn’t do. But I would tell you what it was, ensure that you knew my limits fully.”
“All things that we’d discuss and put into writing. A contract between you and I, and only us. The particulars of whatever we agree upon is for only the two of us, no other. The rules, though, are non-negotiable and are not only for us, but for all of Craegin society. They aren’t that difficult, or hard, and there are only a few to know and live by.”
“And what would those rules be? These are something that I will need to know before your people pick us up, perhaps?” She wasn’t sure if she would learn more about his world and rules for his society before they were picked up or if she would have to learn while on the destroyer that would take them to his home world.
“Yes, you should know what they are.” Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers, then nipped at a fingertip. “The main one is to always be respectful. This is of everyone, myself included, especially when outside our home. Inside our home you are more than welcome to speak your mind. I welcome it, in fact. It will allow us to better figure out our dynamics. But never, ever get confrontational with someone outside our home, no matter if you think you are in the right. If you see a potential problem you take me aside, tell me, and I’ll handle it. I know that may chafe a little, or a lot because of your previous position in Imarian society, but things are very different in Craegin society.”
That had her frowning but she understood. “As the head of the Medical Ministries I was used to making decisions, the hard ones that I hated to make. I think maybe it will be good to be able to allow someone else to make those choices.” There was a moment’s hesitation before she added, “However, sometimes I might see a situation in a different light. Will you be able to take my insight on the situations or not?”
“As long as you are not confrontational about it, of course. As I said, Adira, you can tell me anything, say anything to me without fear. I want to know what you are thinking, hear your opinions, and I will even solicit your advice as I hope you would mine. But that is in private. In public you must maintain that level of absolute respect to everyone, no matter what is going on.”
She nodded and chewed her lower lip. “And you will help me through that?” She trusted him, though perhaps it was odd that she trusted him as much as she did. “It sounds as if this is like some of the relationships that I’ve viewed on my world as well. It’s a Dominant/submissive relationship.” She wasn’t certain if he would believe her or not, but it was something she had secretly always wanted.
“It is precisely that,” he told her. “Some on my world prefer the Master/slave dynamic, but that has never been to my tastes. I don’t want a woman that has no voice of her own, and I definitely don’t have the energy to run her life as well as my own. That’s why we have the rules. It gives you the guidelines I expect you to live by, and yet still affords you plenty of freedom to be your own person.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her nose. “I will always help you, Adira. With anything you need. I do not plan on throwing you into this and seeing if you make it. I intend to be there to guide you as we learn together about who we are as a couple.”
She smiled and nodded. “I like how that sounds. That you will be there for me, to guide me in all that I do.” It warmed her; deep inside it made something inside of her shift slightly and reach out to him. She needed him, she realized in that moment. She needed him in her life, always.
“We’ll both have a time of training, so to speak, as we get started. Both for you to learn the rules, and for us to learn one another. Not every Dominant/submissive relationship is the same, so we can’t be expected to fit into a mold. What works for us won’t necessarily work for others, and the reverse is also true. Also why we will do the contract. We will do it for a set amount of time with specific guidelines, and at the end of the time we renegotiate, adjust, add, or take away certain things. There will be hard lines, things I will never do to you no matter what, and you’ll have things you will never allow me to do to you. That I doubt will ever change, but the future is fluid so I can’t say that with any certainty.”
She nodded. That actually made a good bit of sense to her. “And when is it that we would draw up this contract? Once we’ve been picked up by your friend?” She hoped it was his friend, at least. “Another question, and this is totally a different topic, but what will happen to my crawler? While I trust you, I honestly would feel better if your people couldn’t go through and download the medical files that I have. I don’t want this to be used against them. I hope you understand?”
“We can draw it up at any time once we finish going through the rules, and my general expectations. Once I’ve done my part I fully expect you to have your say on everything too. I may be a Dominant, but I’m not a dictator. As to the crawler, it will likely be used to scrap metal, the hard to get parts pulled out, and whatever’s left junked or recycled, depending. We can wipe all the banks if you wish, or if you’d prefer we can download the data for you to keep with you for the future. I will never, ever ask you to reveal anything you are not comfortable with, Adira. Especially anything about your people. I may ask you questions from time to time, but you always have the right to refuse to answer. Are we clear?”
“Thank you for that.” She couldn’t tell him enough just how much she wanted him and how much his words meant to her. “I’m happy that we will have a training or adjustment period as we learn each other. It means that we will be able to learn each other’s quirks while learning each other.”
“Precisely,” he said softly. A double beep sounded suddenly. Fintan frowned and looked around before his eyes went wide. “I need to get up. That’s a message coming through. Hopefully it’s Bracken telling me he’s coming to rescue us from this tiny ship. Up, if you would.”
She shifted and moved, rose to her feet, and nodded. She watched him as he moved, the predator’s grace that he had in spades once more making her realize how lucky she was to have him in her life. In the cockpit he waved her back out of sight, a slightly amused look moving over his face for a moment. Once she was tucked out of sight he pulled up the message, only it wasn’t a message, but a live communication. Likely a good thing he’d had her duck out of the way. “Bracken, you old goat herder, it is you.”
“Fintan?” the other male’s voice sounded stunned. “I thought for sure command was playing a foul joke on me when they sent the message along. It’s damn good to see you, old friend. Though the clothing leaves much to be desired.”
“Beggars must not be choosy, old friend. Now, bring this beast aboard so I can have a real shower and change into something more comfortable.”
“It will take us a few moments yet. We will be in position soon, and then pull you aboard. Hold tight.”
A few more words passed between the men before Fintan turned the communications off. “Apparently my luck has changed for the better since meeting you, Adira. But now we need to do whatever you wish with the medical logs. Do you want to purge them, or save them so you have them later?”
“Purge them. Anything that is there in the logs is in my memory.” She looked to him and felt real fear. She moved closer to him. “I hope that they don’t try to force us apart. If they do, know that you were worth whatever price I have to pay.”
He cupped her face in his hands, tipping her up to look at him. “They may tr
y, but they will fail. Bracken will back my decision once he understands it. There will be no price for you to pay, Adira. None. Do you understand? None. You are mine. Now let’s purge the memory from the system, and then we will get pulled on board the destroyer. Say nothing when we leave the ship, and stay slightly behind me, but close to my side.”
She leaned into his touch and nuzzled his hand slightly. She finally nodded and pulled back. Moving from him to the console, she put in her codes to do a full memory dump and clean up. Once that was accomplished, she smiled. “Let’s get you home.” She was nervous, but she would be stupid not to be. “I trust you.”
“Good,” he said quietly. Leaning in, he kissed her gently, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her body up tight to his. He took the kiss deeper, but didn’t rush it in any way. His free hand slid up and down her hip. Slowly he lifted his head, licking his lips as he did so. “Personally I can’t wait to have pants that actually fit.”
“I bet.” She let her hands move over his chest and downward. “Although there is something seriously sexy about having you in clothes that are so tight on you. You are truly hot.” Her hands moved to his back and she looked up at him once more. “We could always get naked again, you know.”
Cocking his head slightly, he asked her, “So you were watching me when I was showering. I thought so, but now I know for sure. Why don’t we shelf that until we have a real bed? One where my feet are not dangling off the end while my head is at an unnatural angle.”
That had her laughing. “Yes, I watched you as you showered. How could I not?” She shook her head. “We will be a while before we have a real bed, won’t we?” she asked nervously. “Or will we have one aboard the destroyer? And can we go through our contract on board the destroyer as well, so that we can both be naked, together?”
“Being an officer has its perks, Adira. One of them being a real bed with all the amenities included. We can do the rough draft of the contract, though we may not be able to finalize it. Depends on how stubborn we both are over any of the details. Who knows, we might have it done very quickly with enough motivation to drive us.”
“I like that idea.” She would try not to be stubborn. She wanted this with him far too much. “I’m glad that being an officer will come with those perks, by the way. And what about your destroyer, when will you be back on board your own ship?”
“That depends. I was missing for three months. There will likely be a very long question period to find out all that was done, what I found out, and a bunch of other nonsense. I’ll have to ask Bracken where my ship is currently. They don’t tend to put them out of commission when their officer disappears. They do tend to put someone else in charge, though. So this could become rather messy in the long run.” A couple of beeps sounded, and Fintan wrapped his arm around her tighter while reaching up to grab one of the ribs of the crawler a moment before the ship was jolted about. “Hold tight,” he instructed.
She wrapped one arm around his waist and the other she braced on the wall. Wavering slightly, she lay her head back on his chest and closed her eyes. “Well let’s hope that they will install you back onto your destroyer, because I have a feeling that you live for the action, don’t you?”
“I used to think so. Certain recent happenings, though, have me reconsidering my outlook on life. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.” They both bumped about as the crawler settled with a bit of a shriek of metal. “We’ve arrived. Let’s go greet them before they decide to try and break in here.”
She took a deep breath and settled in just at his back and side. She slipped her hand into his, gave it a squeeze, and nodded. Reaching out, he punched in the code to open the door and lower the steps. “Remember, say nothing no matter what. Trust in me a little longer,” he said under his breath. They were in a landing bay with a couple of officers and some other soldiers. All had happy looks until they saw her—then the weapons came up fast.
Chapter Seven
Fintan eased in front of her. “Lower your weapons, now,” he said in a tightly controlled voice. He sounded pissed, and chilling. “That was not a request,” he added with a little more bite to the words.
Adira kept her mouth closed. She was trusting him just as he had asked of her. She believed in him and knew that he would keep her safe. She felt her pulse racing, however. She knew that if she wasn’t careful she would have a full-blown panic attack hitting her in the face of the men and women with their weapons raised to her.
The officer in the middle of the grouping frowned. “Fintan, what is going on?”
“They lower their weapons, or I’ll take them from them violently. This is not a request, gentlemen. Lower the weapons now!” His voice rose only a little but it seemed to have the desired effect. All the guns were lowered until they pointed at the deck plating. Fin gave her hand a squeeze before he moved out of the crawler. Turning so his back was to the group, he helped her down. “Breathe,” he said for her ears alone.
Adira nodded and squeezed his hand. With her gaze locked with his she took the moment to calm herself, breathing with him. She was thankful that he was taking the time to calm her, to help her to relax. She swayed in closer to him, closing her eyes, and lightly rested a hand to his chest.
His hand came up to rest over hers. “Nothing is going to happen to you, Adira. Take another slow breath for me.” Fin was keeping his voice very low, barely a whisper to her ears, but exactly what she needed. It was an intimate moment amid potential chaos.
A throat cleared. “I hate to interrupt, but what is going on here?”
Adira nodded and smiled. “Thank you,” she whispered very softly, wanting to keep the moment between the two of them alone. She took another deep breath and touched her fingers to his lips before pulling back slightly. “Your friend wants you, Fin.”
“I noticed,” he muttered. Turning back around, he looked to his friend. “Adira, this is my oldest friend Bracken. Bracken, this is Adira, my chosen one.” In the silence that followed that statement, a pin could have been heard dropping on the command deck.
Adira simply bowed her head to Fintan’s friend. The man was just as large as Fin and looked as if he could spit nails from that pronouncement. She looked to Fintan, not sure if she could speak and relying on him to lead her in this uncertain time.
Bracken was staring at Fin with wide eyes. “Uh,” he managed to get out. He shook his head and frowned again. “Clear the deck,” he ordered. The men hesitated just a little too long. “Now!” he snapped out.
Once the landing bay had emptied, Bracken moved closer. “What the hell is going on, Fin? You vanish for three months and bring back an Imarian?”
“Be careful, Bracken. Friend or no friend, if you insult her I will take offense. She saved my ass and got me out of that hellhole I was stuck in. Once we bond she’ll be Craegin, so choose your next words very carefully.”
Bracken shot her a look. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
Fin’s eyes narrowed. “As the words are coming from my mouth, yes.”
The other man shook his head slowly. “You’d better, Fin. This is going to be a hell of a mess when we get home. Damn,” he muttered. “I’ll pass the word through the crew, but I think it best we get you two into a room sooner than later. No point testing them, given the level of hostilities of late.”
“I’ll need all the data from the last months I’ve been gone. Everything you have, Bracken.”
“I’ll have a pad delivered to your quarters.” The man shook his head again, and let out a breath. “Hope she’s worth what’s to come.”
“Bracken, enough,” Fin said with a growl. He squeezed her hand gently and tugged as Bracken led the way out of the bay into the bowels of the destroyer.
Adira followed along at the heels of Fintan and Bracken. She listened to their quiet talks but more than that, she watched the looks she received. She looked quite different from the men and women on this destroyer, her skin far fairer and her height much less than ev
en their women’s height. She also noticed the difference in how she felt, the air in the ship something she wasn’t accustomed to and making it a bit difficult to breathe, but thankfully nothing too bad.
Bracken stopped a moment later, punched in a code on the pad next to the door, and stepped aside. “I’ll have some food brought up, along with some clothing. If you need anything else you know where to get it.”
“Thank you, Bracken.” Fintan clasped his arm for a moment, then stepped aside. Turning, he reached out for Adira’s hand and, giving it a squeeze, he led her into the rooms. She waited for several moments before she finally spoke. “Well that went better than I had anticipated.” She turned to look at him and watched the way he was moving, sure that she was missing something. “Why did they all look as if you had signed your own death warrant when you told them that you were keeping me?”
He gave a lazy shrug while looking around the room Bracken had given them. It had a sitting area, a table that sat four, and a small kitchenette in the main area. Beyond that was a large bedroom with a decent closet, and a full-size bathing room. “They tend to get that way when someone bends the rules.”
She moved toward him and lay a hand on his strong forearm. “Talk to me?” She wanted to know what it was that they were getting into. “What is keeping me safe going to cost you, Fintan? Please, talk to me?”
“Nothing I’m not more than willing, able, and happy to give. Think nothing of it, Adira,” he said, finally turning to look at her. “I don’t want you worrying about any of this. For now we should wait on the food and clothing to be delivered. Then I really want to have a shower.”
