Why had he never thought to ask if Semeera wanted children? Had his beautiful mate suffered with the loss alone, not wanting to put a damper on his mood? Had he somehow made her think she couldn’t confide in him? Or maybe she thought he was disappointed?
All the questions pushed Kader faster than he’d ever run before. He had to see Semeera now. Instinct controlled him, forcing him to ensure his mate was well.
Semeera shook her head, making her locs wave against her ass. They’d gotten longer. She’d just finished doing upkeep on them in the infirmary, allowing Doctor Gyan and company to watch and ask questions this time. They’d even weighed her hair while it was wet and marveled over her ability to hold her head up. Not that she had a choice in the matter. It was either get used to the weight—dry or wet—or cut it off.
She grinned at the idea of cutting it. How would Kader react if her hair were shorter? He liked running his fingers through it. He still could if it were down to her shoulders, but maybe he wouldn’t see it that way.
Scared gasps from the four females who made up her guard—Kader had added three more after the mating—got her attention. She looked down the hall at whatever had them spooked and gasped as well.
Kader was running toward them so fast that she stumbled back against the wall to get out of his way. Except he stopped directly in front of her, chest heaving with his labored breathing. He barked at the guards, “Leave.”
The females ran.
“Kader?” Semeera laid her hand on his cheek. “What’s wrong?”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the suite, slamming the door behind him.
“Kader, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
He went to one knee in front of her, making them almost eye level. “I spoke to my grandparents to tell them of our mating.”
“That’s great.” Semeera gave him a big smile but let it drop a moment later when Kader didn’t appear happy. “Not great? Were they mad I’m not khartarn?”
“They are unaware. Your existence is still classified until the high command is given a full report and deems you a citizen of Home World.”
“Oh. Is that the holdup? I was wondering.” And she’d thought it was the fact she couldn’t read, which she was working on, albeit in secret. She didn’t want her language studies to become yet another thing scrutinized and recorded.
Besides, her pronunciation was horrible. Khartarns had sounds in their language human mouths weren’t meant to make. But she wouldn’t give up just yet. Practice might make it happen.
“The holdup, as you put it, is entirely Gyan. He refuses to submit his report, always wanting to add more data.”
Semeera smiled with a knowing snort. “And I’m betting if I said I wanted to go to Home World tomorrow, you would breathe down Gyan’s neck to speed along his submission, wouldn’t you?”
“Do you?”
He really would. His eyes held the promise of violence just to make her happy. “No, warrior. I’m fine where I am. Plus, I’m still learning stuff.”
“Sssemeera, if you wish to visit—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “So, what did your parents say about your mating? Are they happy?”
“I wouldn’t know. My grandparents will relay the information to them.”
“You’re not going to call them yourself?”
He frowned in confusion. “No. Why would I? My parents and I have never spoken.”
“What?”
“What?”
“You’ve never spoken to your parents? Why not? Are they mad at you?”
“No. We simply haven’t. It is the same for most khartarns, with few exceptions.”
“The same? For parents not to speak to their children? That’s cruel.”
Kader shook his head with an expression that said that was normal. “We do not see it as such. Parents do not raise their young. The older generations do. That is always how it is done. Parents work to provide, only returning home to add eggs to the clutch and then leave again.”
“So you’ve never met them?”
“In passing, once. My father relayed his pride that I was chosen to be a warrior like so many others of our family.”
“But that…” Semeera didn’t even know what to say. How the hell had he never interacted with his parents beyond a simple pat-on-the-back meeting?
Kader cocked his head to the side as he studied her. “Humans raise their young differently, I take it?”
“Yeah. We have to. First off, we don’t lay eggs.”
“This I knew already.”
“Women carry babies for nine months and then give birth to live young who are dependent on their mothers for food and protection.” She shrugged. “I’m oversimplifying, since there are bottles, but you get my meaning.”
“Yes. You know your parents then?”
“Hell yeah, I know my parents. It’s my grandparents I don’t know. My mom got disowned for marrying my dad, and my dad was an orphan.” At Kader’s questioning look, she said, “An orphan is a child without parents, either due to abandonment or death.”
“Where are their other relations to care for them?”
“Sometimes there just aren’t any.”
“A clutch is better. We have no orphans.” He made a sound of disgust. “There is always an elder to care for the clutch. Several. No hatchling is left to fend for itself.”
“But you don’t know your parents.”
“There is no need to know them.”
She stopped herself from arguing with him. This was his culture. It differed from hers, but that didn’t make it wrong. His people laid eggs that hatched young able to walk and eat solid food. They gained the ability to talk after only a few months. And after a year or so, they entered school to learn the basics before being funneled into their different vocations for higher education.
By age five, when most human children started school, Kader had already started training to become the warrior he was today. Well, maybe not the warrior he was today. She doubted he would have dreamed of being captain of a science vessel and mated to a human.
“I’m sorry,” she said for what seemed to be the one-millionth time.
“Why apologize, my mate? It is not your fault your culture is strange.”
She smacked his arm for that, making him chuckle, and stinging her hand. “You’re one to talk. And I’m apologizing because I ruined your life.”
“You didn’t. I have said many times you didn’t.”
“You don’t want kids?”
He drew in a breath and his eyes pupils narrowed to slits for a moment before going round again. With a shake of his head, he said in a measured tone, “I never thought about it. Finding a mate and adding eggs to the family clutch was a matter of obligation. I didn’t want it. I just knew it was expected. Now that I’m mated to you”—he cupped her head, rubbing his claws softly against her scalp, finally confident he wouldn’t hurt her—“the loss of the obligation doesn’t bother me.” His expression turned worried.
“What’s wrong?”
He pulled away as he regarded her. “And you?”
“And me what?”
“Do you wish children?”
She grinned. “Kind of a moot point if I did.”
“That isn’t what I asked, Sssemeera.” The serious edge to his tone killed her amusement.
Semeera inched closer to him. “I can’t.”
“I know you cannot now, but did you want to?”
“No, Kader, you’re misunderstanding me. I can’t have kids. Like, at all. I had a… let’s call it an illness just to make things easier. The illness necessitated having my uterus removed, which is absolutely essential for human females to get pregnant.” She lifted her shirt and leaned back, pointing at the horizontal scar on her lower belly. “That’s what this scar is. It’s where the doctors went in and removed my uterus.”
Kader passed the pad of one finger over the long, thin scar.
That was when she noticed the blood on h
is scales. She grabbed his hand and peered at it. “What did you do to your hand?”
“Unimportant. It will heal.” He pulled gently out of her grip and traced the scar again. “This removal was unavoidable?”
She hoped whatever he’d hit wouldn’t be hard to fix. And since he wanted to ignore it, she let it go. “For my continued health and wellbeing, yes.”
He looked up from her scar to meet her eyes. “My question stands. It matters not that you cannot. Did you?”
She bit back the quick denial, knowing it was a lie, and nodded. “I did, way back when. I’d always talked about kids with my husband.”
Kader sucked in a harsh breath and his pupils narrowed to slits again. “Husband? This is another word for a mate.”
“Yeah.” She twisted the rings on her left hand, debating explaining their meaning but then vetoing the idea because she didn’t want to get into an argument about them. They were keepsakes of Earth now, not a remembrance of her ex. She didn’t want to remember that asshole. But she doubted Kader would see the difference, not once he got territorial.
“The experiment took you from him,” he ground out, his tail sweeping the floor in agitation.
“No. Not even close.” She grabbed his head and forced him to look at her. “Listen to me, Kader. My ex-husband and I were over long before the experiment. I promise you that. After I lost my ability to have kids, he divorced me. Sure, he said that wasn’t the reason, but we both knew the truth.”
“Divorce?”
“Ended our mating.”
“Ended it? Humans do not mate for life?”
“Not really. No.”
Kader’s expression grew dark as he grasped her wrists and pulled her close. “You cannot end our mating. I won’t allow it.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Nor will you in the future. You are mine. Nothing will ever change that. We are bound.”
Some intuition made Semeera struggle against his hold as she tried to hold her breath. “Don’t you dare, Kader. I will be beyond pissed off if you musk me right now. Don’t even!”
“Mine!”
“Yes, I’m yours, you overgrown lizard. Now, let go.”
“Forever.”
Semeera shivered at the word, getting aroused despite being mildly angry over Kader’s behavior. Just because she and her ex had ended didn’t mean she would end her relationship with Kader. That was the furthest thought from her mind. And she doubted she could if she ever wanted to. They couldn’t be apart for long without longing becoming a painful physical ache that could only be soothed by touching each other.
Kader flicked out his tongue and then grinned. Rubbing his head against her neck, he rumbled, “Mine.”
“Yes, yes. I’m yours. I said that already.” She pulled her wrist free from his grasp so she could pat his head in a soothing manner. “Males. Yeesh.” Pushing him back, she met his gaze so he could see how serious she was about her next words. “Do not ever do that, Kader. You know what I mean. It’s not fair.”
He nodded. “Forgiveness, my mate. I am possessive now. It makes me act before I think.”
“Not even a valid excuse. Just don’t.” She shivered at the memory of his musk enveloping her. She never wanted to be that single-mindedly obsessed with sex again. It didn’t matter if the sex had been beyond amazing. It came at the price of her free will. Hers and Kader’s because he fell victim to it too, rendering both of them incapable of doing anything other than fucking.
Not making love. Not sex. Hell, not even screwing. Raw, hard fucking that left them both exhausted and sore.
Kader gave her a kiss. “I will not. You have my word, my mate. I don’t want you that way. I much prefer doing this.” He growled low while holding her to his chest.
Semeera let out a groan at the inevitable, becoming aroused as the sensual sound assaulted her ears and vibrated her body. “Not fair. You know what that does to me.”
“Mmm. Yes, I do.” He did it more as he divested her of her clothing.
“Naughty.” Her tone was playful, and she bopped his nose.
He grabbed for her fingers with his mouth, still growling. “For you, my mate, always.” He sucked at her captured fingers for only a moment then said, “Over.”
She turned her back to him and sank to her knees, pushing her ass against the bulge in his pants. Desire for him swept through her. Just desire. Not overwhelming need. She could control this encounter or deny it completely if she wanted. Instinct didn’t force her to rub her heated sex against Kader’s shaft after he shoved his pants down his thighs. And mindless lust didn’t make him tease her with his length before slipping it inside her.
They sighed in unison as they came together.
Semeera arched back so she could give Kader an upside-down kiss that made him smile.
“I love your flexibility.” He kissed her again.
“I love you.”
He froze with a soft gasp. “Sssemeera, you…” His growl came out as a man-purr. Lowering his head so he could rub his face over her neck and shoulders, he rasped, “I love you as well, my mate. Always.”
She wiggled her hips, caressing his length with her slick sex. “Always.”
Kader surged forward with a seductive chuckle. “Mine.” He thrust into her depths again and again, driving them both crazy until they both came together with cries of satisfaction.
Semeera couldn’t imagine anything better than this. Sure, it had taken being abducted and stranded on an alien spaceship, but she’d finally found love. True love. And it was wonderful.
Chapter 15
Semeera hummed to herself as she put the finishing touches on Kader’s hatchday card. It was like a birthday card except Kader had been hatched. And he’d been really huffy about telling her the date, which was still three weeks off. He’d grumbled about not being a child who needed presents to mark such an occasion.
She’d ignored that to create his surprise. The card was part of it. The real surprise was her ability to read. It had taken several weeks of constant study, but she could read the khartarn language. Mostly. There were a few words that hung her up from time to time, but all she had to do was sound them out—as best she could—and the translation program supplied the meaning in English.
The day she’d shut off the audio function of the books to read them herself had been the best ever. She’d almost told Kader right then. Instead, she’d channeled her enthusiasm into her lovemaking that night and creating his hatchday card the next day.
Beyond making Kader happy enough to display the card on his ready room desk, which she would tell him was the proper place to put it, the card was to serve an ulterior purpose. His subordinates would see it and compliment him on it—hopefully, assuming they got past their fear enough to actually talk to him—and hopefully ask her to create a card for them to give to someone else or keep for themselves.
More and more people would want the cards. She would make them for a variety of occasions, thus creating a demand for a product Home World didn’t already have. She’d checked to be sure. Home World had no greeting card industry, and Semeera planned to pad her bank account by making it happen, shades of Hallmark-style. In this way, she wouldn’t be a burden on Kader.
And even though divorce wasn’t a thing with khartarns, Semeera didn’t want to be caught in the same mistake she’d made with her ex. Kader was happy to do lots for her, and he didn’t throw it in her face or act as if she owed him something for all he did. But there were two of them in this mating, and she planned to contribute to the finances. Whether he liked it or not.
And he’d already told her he didn’t like the idea of her getting a patron since she shouldn’t need an outsider to provide when he could do it just fine. Pointing out that made him her patron had led to lots of sex.
If he didn’t want her to get a patron, fine. But he wouldn’t stop her from earning money. And giving him the hatchday card would go a long way toward explaining how.
She gazed at
the card and a soft smile curved her lips. She couldn’t wait for him to see it. After wrapping it in soft cloth, she tucked the card into its hiding spot in the guest room—now her art room.
Heading out the door of the suite, she said, “To the infirmary, ladies.”
The four guards surrounded her, and they made their way to the infirmary to do… something. Semeera never knew what Gyan had planned for her until she got there. So far as she knew, he still hadn’t submitted a report to the higher command that would lead to her grant of citizenship. Now that she could read, once she let that secret out, she wouldn’t let him keep delaying.
She got the feeling Kader wanted to return to Home World much more than he let on. Knowing that made her want to give it to him. As her mate, as her true mate, the high command would have to grant the visit because separating them would cause her pain. Normal mates didn’t have that issue, and Semeera planned to use the bond to her advantage, and Kader’s, every chance she got. Like staying on his ship with him, for instance. Something that wouldn’t have been allowed if they were a normal mating.
Just thinking about the day she became official and got to tell the higher command she would live on Kader’s ship made her smile.
“You appear to be in a good mood, Artist Sssemeera,” Doctor Gyan said when she entered the infirmary.
“I totally am.” She peeked over his arm at his tablet, earning her an annoyed hiss from Quagid. The male’s irritation was finally warranted, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “What’s on the docket for today?”
“We wanted to test your flexibility. I’m finishing a report, and I’ll be with you shortly.”
“My report?”
Doctor Gyan chuckled. “Not yet, Artist Sssemeera. Soon. I promise.” He handed her his tablet. “I must discuss a matter with my team. We will attend you shortly.” A wave of his hand got the attention of his team, and they followed him into his office with Quagid trailing the group, still glaring at her.
She gave him a sweet smile while waving the tablet at him.
Alien Mate Experiment Page 17
