Frowning, Jordon shook his head. “It is not possible at this time. Perhaps—well I don’t want to waste my time wishing. Good luck finding your mate.”
Dorian watched as Jordon waved his hand over the entry panel and walked through his birth parent’s door. He promised himself to look into the situation between Jordon and Sarinnea, just as soon as he could straighten out his situation with Gwen.
First he had to go to Medical and ask Chiang about Argen Weed.
Then he had to plan a wedding for his mate.
***
“This is ridiculous,” Gwen said, glaring at the females. “I’m by far the tallest and biggest female on the Liberator. Why don’t you just wrap a bed sheet around me and fasten it over one shoulder with a portable com unit? It will look just like the clothing Sarinnea wears all the time.”
Ania and Sarinnea looked at Gwen, both appalled at the idea of her wearing a bed sheet to her mating ceremony. Sarinnea also snorted at the subtle insult to her feminine attire.
“Not that you don’t look nice in your sheets, Sarinnea—I mean clothes—not sheets,” Gwen said quickly. “Dresses are just not the kind of thing a commander can wear on a ship. That’s why I don’t own any. Tell her, Ania.”
Ania laughed from the desk chair she’d nabbed the moment she’d come into the room. “I don’t know. Malachi says the ensigns keep hoping you’ll wear the slave girl outfit on the bridge again.”
“Too bad. It got recycled the day after I took it off,” Gwen retorted, glaring at Ania’s teasing.
Boca laughed as she sorted through Gwen’s shoes, coming up with the only non-uniform pair she could find. They were not much more than a series of straps but were at least female looking.
Gwen couldn’t remember ever wearing them and frowned when Boca knelt down to strap them onto her feet. She already felt on display standing in the middle of her old room completely naked except for her hygiene straps.
“Seriously, where are you going to get a dress big enough to fit me?” Gwen demanded, just as there was a knock on the door.
Gwen watched as Sarinnea glided to open it. The bursar was standing outside with an armload of pink fabric.
“Pink? Shades of Kellnor, what are you trying to do to me? On Earth, that is the color that marks an infant as female. I detest that color,” Gwen complained, exasperated at the insistence of the females in her room that she had to have a wedding dress for the ceremony Zade insisted they have. All she wanted was him back in her bed—or his bed. Hell, on the floor or standing in the middle of it. She no longer cared. It had been twelve hours now and she was tired of waiting.
Sarinnea accepted the armload of fabric from the bursar, gracing him with her most grateful Siren smile just before he turned and fled, unimpressed. It was obvious he did not want to hang around for his commander to try on the hasty dress he’d assembled. No doubt he didn’t want to hear all the fault finding she would do with work that he’d done in two hours that normally should have taken two days.
Sarinnea smiled as she carried the dress to Gwen and shook it out, holding it up for inspection. “Not as beautiful as I would have liked, but it will serve much better than a bed sheet.”
Gwen looked at the column of fabric, recognizing it at last. “You had the bursar make me a dress from the Rylen blanket Zade had stored in his clothing chest.”
“Yes. It was the blanket I lay on when I let his father impregnate me with Dorian. So I guess you could say the blanket was a family heirloom—of a sort. Dorian always favored it because it contained his father’s mating energy,” Sarinnea said wistfully. “I still miss that Greggor. Centuries have passed, and I’ve had many other males, yet I still miss him. I have many more blankets with his energy stored away on Rylen. When I return home, I will send Dorian a replacement.”
“Why in hell did you ruin Zade’s conception blanket for me—for this ceremony we don’t really need?” Gwen asked, shocked that Sarinnea would have done such a thing. She distinctly remembered the emptiness that had numbed her when Zade’s last robe had lost its traces of him.
“I did this because, like me, I am absolutely sure his Greggor father would have approved of you much more than his other mates. I wanted this day to be special. For Dorian, this will be almost like having his father there to welcome you into our family,” Sarinnea said.
“You really approve of me?” Gwen asked, bending to let Zade’s mother push the column of pink fabric over her head.
“Yes,” Sarinnea said, easing the entire dress past her shoulders.
Straightening, Gwen let it fall, and it slid down over her in a silky swish.
“Now I will give you a wedding gift from me,” Sarinnea said.
“Gift?” Gwen squeaked.
Sarinnea unfastened the jeweled belt she was wearing and deftly hooked it around Gwen’s waist, watching it sparkle and shine against the smooth pink. It was probably too feminine for a warrior, but she thought her son might appreciate the contrast. Dorian might not often see his mate looking so—female.
Gwen felt the belt catch her curves and marveled at how comfortable it was. The end contained a blue crystal pendulum jewel that swung neatly into the vee of her thighs. It gave Gwen a quiver of arousal every time she moved and the heavy jewel bumped against her nakedness beneath the thin cloth. Sarinnea had insisted she not wear anything under the dress, other than the hygiene straps Gwen insisted she needed.
“Now you need body adornments,” Ania mused. “Got any earrings? I didn’t bring anything with me from Pleiades. I guess I should ask my parents to send what is left of my belongings to the Liberator. Since I’m legally dead there, it’s doubtful I’ll be going back to my planet to live.”
Gwen sighed and looked at Boca. “In the bottom of my clothes chest is a wooden box with a lock on it. I’d get it, but I’m afraid I’ll rip the dress bending that far.”
Boca nodded and started digging until she found it. Taking the tiny box from Boca, Gwen put it on the bed. “Trouble is I lost the key to the lock,” she said, looking at Ania. “I don’t suppose you could open it, could you?”
“Do it yourself,” Ania ordered, giving Gwen a chastising look for even asking.
“It hurts when I do, damn it. I meant to ask you why, but I got distracted, and you are too injured to be fussed at—yet,” Gwen said.
Ania shrugged. “Using such a gift will always hurt some, but you will learn to bear that pain and much more before you finish your Khalsa training. This one should not hurt as much as a complicated Xendrin collar. It’s just a small lock.”
Gwen huffed and turned her glare on the box. She said the chant, grabbing her mid-section as she did so because the cramp was significant, but it didn’t make her ill. Sparing one glaring glance at the approving look on Ania’s face, she ripped the lock off and tossed it into the nearest waste collector for recycling.
“You might want to reconsider,” Ania advised. “You own a lock that has no key and only you can open it. I can show you how to block Dorian and me from doing so. Then you could hide things.”
“I have no need to keep secrets from either of you,” Gwen said firmly.
“I like you too, Gwen,” Ania said with a smile. “I’ve even missed that irreverent mouth going on and on about how bad things are. Things haven’t been the same since Dorian started keeping you so content.”
“It’s a truth my mouth has little self-control—just ask my father. He blames it on my mother, but he’s the cause. Talk about an aggravating male. Normally, he visits me every three years on my birthday, but I guess he forgot this time,” Gwen exclaimed, pawing through the contents until she came across what she was looking for among the scraps of metal and plastic stored away.
She lifted the long cascades of metal from the box, walked into her bathroom, and came out moments later wearing them.
“These were the mating gift my father gave my mother. When they broke their relationship agreement, she gave them to me. They’re actually Ceruse metal that is similar to white
gold on Earth. She said I could sell or trade them, but I just locked them away in my treasure box,” Gwen said. .“Got to admit I never thought I’d be wearing them to my mating ceremony. Of course, I hadn’t planned on ever mating.
She lifted a small metal disk from the box and showed it to the females staring at her.
“Look at this. This was my first cadet-training pin. When I started, I had to wear it as a communication device. It translates languages spoken around you into images that your mind picks up. I eventually learned to use my intuition enough not to have to wear it. I was supposed to turn it in when I upgraded, but—well, I kept it as a souvenir,” she said. “Now it’s obsolete. Plus, I would never serve as commander on a ship where the common language was one that I didn’t understand. I’d just look for a better fit.”
Gwen looked at Boca staring at the cadet pin in fascination. She leaned over and attached it to the front of her shirt. “There. It might help you with Chiang until you learn Greggor. Happy Birthday.”
“I don’t understand. What does this have to do with the day of my birth?” Boca asked, looking down and touching the pin in awe.
Gwen snorted. “Not yours. It’s mine today. My birthday I mean. On Earth, it is customary for a person to get gifts on the anniversary of his or her birth. In my case, I am giving instead of receiving them today.”
She walked to Ania in the chair. “Can you stand up for a minute?”
Ania lifted her hands and let Gwen pull her up with them. She was surprised when she felt Gwen’s arms come around her for a hug, and more surprised to feel Gwen kiss her cheek.
“Thank you for staying alive to be my friend and teacher. One day soon, I’m going to buy you a beautiful dress for that amazing new body Malachi gave you. It’s going to be so amazing that you won’t ever look back on the skinny blonde you used to be with longing anymore,” Gwen said. “Guys like curves. Trust me.”
After suffering through a hard hug or two, Gwen lowered a sniffling Ania back into the chair.
Then she turned to walk to Sarinnea. The Siren female was the same height as Ania but always seemed a lot taller. It was her energy, Gwen decided. The ancient Siren just projected her energy out so much that she appeared to be the same size as Gwen. With her revved up intuition, Gwen could also now detect the similarities between Sarinnea and Dorian. He definitely got his ego from this female, which made her more curious about what he got from his father.
“Sarinnea of Rylen, I can’t promise not to hurt your son, but I give you my word that I will never kill your only child no matter how mad he makes me,” Gwen vowed, bowing her head solemnly, liking the appalled laugh that burst from the Siren’s lips. “I also promise that I will love him with all my heart for the rest of my life.”
Sarinnea put her hands on Gwen’s arms and rubbed as she swallowed back the painful tears she didn’t want to shed at the moment. Soon the emotional release would have to happen, but not yet—not today.
“I know you will, Gwen Shenu Jet. Thank you for the gift of your love for my son. He is a fortunate male, and I hope he pleases you.”
“Wait—I’m not finished yet,” Gwen protested, smiling at the surprise on Sarinnea’s face.
Gwen cleared her throat and took a deep breath, letting it out roughly. This was the hardest promise she was going to make today, but one that she realized was needed for the female in front of her, as much as for the male who had chosen her. She hoped Zade wouldn’t mind that she made the promise to his mother first.
“I’ve been researching Sirens, especially those of elite houses, so I know how important family is to your people—who I guess are my people now too. So after I finish my contract with Synar in two Earth years, I promise to go live with Zade on your planet while he works at the Rylen cadet academy. I also promise to give him children if you promise to stick around for another thousand years and help them after I’m gone. We all know I might not even have a century left in me. I figure Zade’s children will likely live a lot longer. It’s the only concern I have about having them. So what do you say?” Gwen asked.
Sarinnea was too moved to speak at first so she simply stood rubbing Gwen’s arms. Children. She had hoped to live long enough to see Dorian’s children, but after two Earth mates had refused them, she couldn’t believe the one most likely to do so for good reasons was now volunteering to further her house. Finally, her voice came out as a croak.
“I will do my best to live as long as possible and see that your children grow into the fine enlightened warriors they will inevitably be,” Sarinnea vowed.
“Good,” Gwen said, pulling away before she broke completely. “Now let’s go get this mating thing done so I can get started on my second wedding night. I’m having Zade withdrawals whether he remembers our bonding or not.”
“I am saving my Siren blessing for the ceremony, but for now I will offer the one his father would give if he were here. Creatorii gratie mai ai cu o foarte lunga de viaţa,” Sarinnea said with smile.
Hearing the blessing for being granted a long life, Gwen rolled her eyes to the ceiling but smiled. “I speak Greggor fluently, you know. And I’m not sure that isn’t a curse, considering the potential aggravation of a long life with your son,” Gwen said.
“Well, let’s see how you feel about him in the morning,” Sarinnea said gently. “Shall we head to the meditation room for the ceremony?”
Boca helped Ania stand, and gave her an arm to lean on as she walked.
Sarinnea opened the door of Gwen’s quarters and smiled as the Earth female marched through it with no hesitation at all. Not a shy female nervous about mating a Siren, but rather a warrior on her way to claim the male she wanted, Sarinnea thought with a smile.
Dorian had met his match in this one—thank the Creators.
As they entered the hallway, Sarinnea felt her spirit suddenly fill with more peace than she’d had in years. She savored the moment every parent hoped for.
Chapter 20
By the time everyone started arriving, Dorian had found some pleasant music to play. He had on his best meditation robe, sans clothing this time. Around his neck was the banner of his birth parent’s Rylen house and a braid that had been made from his Greggor father’s long hair. He stroked the braid for comfort as he looked around.
He watched Synar come through the door frowning, but his friend’s expression lightened to a genuine smile when Dorian bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“I’m going to say this once and then we will move past this moment. Raging fires of Helios, one of my darkest moments was when you looked at me with no recognition in your gaze. It was like the last of my family had truly died,” Synar said, clapping a hand on Dorian’s arm. “Welcome back, old friend.”
Surprising himself, Dorian leaned into and hugged the male he cared for above all others, keeping it short when he felt the Norblade male’s discomfort at the emotional display.
“Thank you for coming to stand with me today, Liam,” he said. “And thank you for bringing the Liberator to rescue me. I don’t remember anything that happened after the first few days on Terris Rein. Apparently, my memories under the influence of the drugs they gave me are lost forever.”
Synar looked at his friend, remembering the grief it had caused Ania not to remember. “Forgetting may be a blessing in this one case. At least you only forgot the bad things.”
Dorian dropped his gaze and frowned. “According to my mate, I forgot many good things as well.”
Synar laughed and shrugged. “Pay that no mind. Gwen was probably another week away from going crazy jumping to do the will of the unleashed side of you. Make tonight count and she will forget the last week. Trust me. Every time I bond with my mate is a new starting point. It is quite remarkable how it works.”
“Indeed?” Dorian asked, his tone less confident than he would have wished. “Your words give me great comfort, Liam.”
“Good,” Synar said, his grin widening. “Because your mate—and my irreverent command
er—is going to make your life outside of bed a torture in ways you haven’t even dreamed either.”
“Is this verbal sparring payback for my teasing when you mated Ania?” Dorian asked.
Synar smiled, pleased with the proof that his friend had truly returned. “Yes.”
Dorian took several deep breaths. Chiang, Malachi, and Jordon came in wearing clothes other than uniforms. It gave Dorian an odd feeling in his gut to see everyone looking so—normal. Well, except for the demon now inhabiting Conor’s body. He still hadn’t adjusted to that yet.
“Who’s on the bridge?” Dorian asked, looking around again.
“An ensign,” Synar said, holding up a hand at Dorian’s disbelieving stare. “Don’t start. It’s just for an hour during your ceremony. And Ensign Lofgren, our new lead engineer, met the supply ship that just arrived.”
Dorian nodded at all the information, not responding as he saw the door to the meditation room open again. A female fantasy in a long pink gown walked through the door ahead of the females that followed her. For a moment, he completely forgot to breathe. His gaze dropped to the straps crossing her feet that disappeared somewhere up inside the bottom of the dress, which stopped mid-calf and emphasized every curve Gwen possessed. Hundreds of metal circles fell from her ears to her shoulders, sweeping them with every step. His birth parent’s favorite belt, the one that represented her Rylen house, was wrapped around Gwen’s waist, dropping the fertility jewel precisely in the right spot between her legs. A single glance at Sarinnea confirmed it had been her intent to adorn his mate in just such a way.
Tearing his gaze from Gwen when he finally could, Dorian studied the ceiling of the room while the beast in him clamored to physically possess what he knew in every other way was already his. Never had he felt for a female the way he did for Gwen Jet. And he couldn’t see how he would ever feel so devoted to any that followed her. She was like a madness for him, consuming most of his energy and thoughts.
Then she opened her mouth.
“Okay, Zade. I’m here. Let’s get this show over. It’s been a long damn day,” Gwen declared, stepping up to her mate’s side, feeling the confusion in him, but also the desire. “Yes, I want you too. You can stop thinking about it because it’s definitely going to happen. Since I’m tired of waiting for you to make peace with what you can’t remember, I’m just going to show you how it is between us. So let’s get things moving. What do we do?”
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