by 1
She blinked. “You can find my name?”
Rejik looked at her and he smiled, his features taking on a hazy glow in her vision that none of the other men at the table could match. “We will do our best, lady.”
“Thank you.” Her voice vibrated a little and her emotions dipped into it. The men at the table didn’t become stunned. They all took on a fierce look that focussed on her.
Rejik cleared his throat and cuffed the male next to him. “Come on, Tomas. Let’s let the lady enjoy her meal and get some rest.”
The men shook their heads to clear them as they got to their feet.
As they left, Rejik muttered, “Let’s hit the gym. We need to work this off.”
“What did that mean?”
Helain smiled, looked around to make sure that they were relatively alone and leaned forward. “You are an Edinar and more than that, you are a siren.”
“A what?”
“Your voice directly connects to the nervous system of some species and either freezes or stimulates it. What were you thinking when you spoke to Rejik?”
Pet blushed. “I was thinking that he was very handsome and his hair needed to be pushed away from his left eye. I was thankful that he was helping to find me.”
“And that little emotional trigger sent arousal through them all with only a few syllables. If I don’t miss my guess, they are in the gym right now fighting for your hand or any other available body parts.”
Pet cocked her head and tried to put an image together in her mind. “I don’t really understand. What is an Edinar?”
Helain exhaled and leaned back. “Whew. That question surprised me. Well, the Edinar were a race of very creative and highly intelligent people who had genetic predisposition to psychic talents. Several races saw this as a threat and destroyed their colony world with only a few rare stragglers remaining.”
“If they knew there were survivors, why didn’t they look for me?”
“They didn’t know there were any survivors until a few started popping up recently. We listened to every rumour and finally, we were able to pinpoint that a woman was being held as an exotic treasure by the Marcovians. We tried to send in representatives to buy you, but they wouldn’t part with you and so, we were forced to take additional measures.”
“You blew up the ship because of me?” Her voice hummed in shock.
Helain paused for a moment. “Um. Yes. Well, no. We didn’t mean for the ship to blow, but they wouldn’t give up your location and things got out of hand.”
Pet absorbed that and pushed away the dregs of her meal. “Is there a place where I can sleep?”
Helain nodded. “Of course, but the captain would like to meet you first. He will give you your room assignment.”
“Where is he?”
“I will take you to the bridge.”
Pet got to her feet and found herself face to face with an eager crewman.
“You are so lovely. I have never seen anyone like you before.” His gaze was admiring, but Pet was too tired for this kind of foolishness.
She put her exhaustion into her tone. “What is my name?”
He dropped to the floor and snoring ensued.
She turned fatigued eyes to Helain. “He is just sleeping. Can we go now?”
Helain immediately got to her feet and escorted Pet to the captain.
Every crewman who thought to stop and chat was met with the same question, “What is my name?”
Helain was a little perplexed. “Why would you ask them that question when you know they don’t know the answer?”
Pet smiled grimly, “Why would they try to start a seduction when they don’t know my name?”
Helain nodded. “Good point. Very good point.”
The bridge of the ship was sparsely occupied, but the man in the central chair was obviously the one they were looking for.
“Captain Harrir, this is Pet.” Helain was standing stiffly and she inclined her head slightly toward Pet as she spoke.
“Hello, Pet, is it?” The man turned to her and smiled slightly. He was old, much older than any of the others she had seen on the ship so far. Something familiar flared in his eyes and she could almost place him in the missing part of her mind.
“Until my name is returned to me, I will be Pet.”
“You can call me Captain or Harrir or Sofalic if you wish.”
She smiled. “It must be nice.”
He stood and approached her. “What is?”
“To have a name that you know is yours.” She knew she was wistful, but she couldn’t help it.
The moment that the words left her mouth, the crew started sobbing.
Captain Harrir nodded. “I will take you to your quarters so that you can rest. Are you aware of what we are?”
“You are not Coalition forces, so I am guessing that you are from a world that was not hostile to the Edinar.”
He smiled and took her arm. “That is correct. We are all from the world of Reska and our sole mission has been to find surviving Edinar and make sure that they are safe and comfortable. We buy the survivors, steal them or fight for them, whatever is needed to bring them freedom.”
“Why do you care so much for the freedom of another species?”
He didn’t answer her until she was standing in the VIP quarters.
As he stood next to the door, he smiled, “As long as there are Edinar, there is hope that we can become something more, something better. The Reska were a sister species to yours, but you went one way evolutionarily and we went ours. This is our chance to bring a little of what your folk became to our folk, not for us, but for future generations.”
He left her with that while she sat on the edge of the bed.
Pet peeled off her tunic and crawled between the sheets with nothing sticking her or prodding her from any angle. It was hard to sleep while comfortable, but she was going to give it her best shot.
A knock on her door woke her from a troubled sleep of people screaming and panicking while she could not see the threat.
“Pet, are you awake yet?” Helain was smiling and she had an armload of clothing with her.
“Yes. Come in.” She sat up with the bedding wadded around her in a nest.
“I brought you some clothing and underclothing that should fit. We also have a few names that match your blood type and if we can run some specific scans, we might be able to confirm your identity today.”
Pet flipped the bedding back and lunged for the clothing. “What are we waiting for?”
In less than three minutes, she had run herself through a cleaning cycle, brushed her hair and was tugging up the closure of the jumpsuit that Helain had brought. With the suit on, she felt almost like a crewmember.
Exiting the lav, she stopped short when Rejik was standing and watching her. “Hello, lady. You look lovely today.”
She swallowed and controlled her voice, which she found difficult, as he looked lovely today. His dark hair waved over one eye again and the other piercing blue eye was crinkled as he smiled. His jaw was still chiselled and she could see the one spot he had missed while shaving. Her fingers itched to touch it.
Helain watched them both and cleared her throat. “We should get some breakfast and then run those scans. Rejik, will you join us?”
His smile changed to something slow and the glow that Pet always saw when she looked at him intensified into something with a pulse that made its home in her belly.
“I believe that joining you is high on my priorities today.” He smiled. “Escorting the two loveliest ladies on the ship, I will be the envy of every officer.”
Blushing was her response and it remained high on her cheeks while they ate. She really wanted to simply run to medical and take whatever scans were needed, but Helain needed to eat as well.
“Rejik, what do you do when you are not digging women out of holes on strange worlds?” She managed to modulate her tone enough to stop any spill over, but her body was still aroused, her senses desperate
for additional input.
“I am a ship’s officer. I fill in at the helm and where I am needed.”
Helain snorted. “He is the second in command but hates it when folks call him Commander.”
Pet raised her brows. “I have become very aware of names recently, for some reason. To reject one that you can wear and know it is yours is strange to my current mindset.”
“I suppose that it would be. I am Commander Rejik Eslir Harrir of Reska, at your service.” He smiled at her, his gaze sparkling.
Pet tried not to shake her head. No matter how he looked physically, her mind was painting him with a perfection that spun her senses wild. Her mind was trying to tell her something and her body wanted her to follow through.
When Helain finished her food, she wiped her mouth on her napkin and smiled. “Well, Pet, if you are not going to eat, we may as well get the scans done.”
Pet was out of her chair in a second.
They all entered medical together and Pet sat down while Helain readied her instruments.
“We have the files here, but because the Edinar didn’t use genetic scans, we need a more involved blood typing as well as the records that were salvaged. For the first scan, I just need a drop of blood.”
Pet extended her hand eagerly and Rejik held it still while Helain pierced the palm of her hand.
“How long until we know?”
“Two minutes or so. I have to tell you that those nasal implants were a little confusing until I realized that the sirens might have a caste system. Some research that Rejik did provided the answer.” Helain wandered off with the sample to run the test.
Rejik stood next to her, his hand still supporting hers.
She whispered, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not calling me Pet. I may not have a name, but I appreciate being a lady.”
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You have always been a lady, but I would be very happy if you were my lady.”
“That is very straightforward.”
“I thought it best to avoid confusion. Even if you don’t learn your identity, if you wish to, we can live on Reska and start a new life.”
“You don’t know my name.”
“You don’t either.”
She smiled. “You have got me there.”
He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and she lifted her head to increase the pressure. She let out a sigh into his mouth and he stiffened against her with a groan.
“That is cheating, lady.”
“I am learning as I go here. What happened to you?”
“Nothing that a few hours in a bedchamber wouldn’t cure.” He took one of her hands and gently pressed it against the crotch of his suit.
The column of heat that she felt called to her fingers and she curled them around it as best she could.
Rejik kissed her again as she stroked him and with that one kiss his features burned into her memory. He was hers. Her perfect man. For any other women, he might be a good match, but for her, he was perfect.
She quivered with eagerness to be alone with him, but Helain’s voice reminded her that this was not the time.
“We have a match. It is ninety-nine percent on the blood typing and your nose piercing makes it a perfect match.” Helain smiled. Instead of reading the name out loud, the doctor handed the readout to Pet.
With trembling hands, she read her own name for the first time since it had been taken from her. “Bronwyn Undermark, Siren of the Silver Clan.”
Hearing her own name unlocked the life that she had lost and something surprised her. It had not been the Marcovians who took her memories.
Looking up at Rejik, she smiled. “Bronwyn. That is my name.”
He caressed her face. “It is a lovely name, Bronwyn.”
Helain looked between the two of them. “What happened while I was running that test?”
She looked up at her true match and smiled. “Nothing happened, but a few things became clear.”
“I see. Well, if you wish, the file has an estimated account of how you came under Marcovial control.” Helain smiled.
“I would be fascinated to see it. My name was the block that I needed lifted and now, I can actually start to see a fair amount of my life before I became Pet.”
“It is sealed and in the possession of the captain.”
Rejik sighed at the mention of the captain. “I will take her.”
Helain looked from one to the other again. “Yes, I think you will.”
Bronwyn grinned. “Let’s see this file. I want to compare it with everything that is coming back to me.”
Rejik took the hand that had been tapped for the sample, pressed the tiny mark to his lips and threaded his fingers through hers to lead her to the captain.
Bronwyn looked from their hands to the clear-cut features of his face. “You seem very sure that I will choose you.”
He grinned and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “Reska and Edinar came from the same parent species. We know our mates when we see them. I knew the moment I tore that hole open to find you that you were the perfect woman for me.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, you glow when I look at you.”
The captain smiled when he saw them. “Welcome, Bronwyn Undermark, Siren of the Silver Clan.”
“Thank you Captain Harrir.”
“Rejik, what are you doing here?”
Bronwyn smiled. “I wanted him here. We are a good match and we are getting to know each other.”
Captain Harrir’s eyes widened in shock. “Rejik? He is your match? Well, hell.”
Rejik chuckled. “Thank you for your enthusiasm, Father. Your happiness is touching.”
“I am just surprised. I thought she would wait until on the planet surface before she made her choice.”
Bronwyn chuckled. “It isn’t that kind of choice. When I see Rejik, he glows. I can’t stop staring at him. Even you must know what that means.”
Captain Harrir nodded. “I do. Wow. An Edinar in the family. Who would have guessed?”
Bronwyn raised a brow. “Are you pleased?”
Harrir grinned. “Very. Now, let’s try and piece your last day on your world together.”
In reflex, Bronwyn clutched at Rejik’s hand. From what she remembered, it had not been a good day.
They went to the captain’s office and sat down as snippets of transmissions, reports and images were displayed outlining the fall of Edinar.
Bronwyn lived out the last day on her world with Rejik’s hand as her only lifeline to reality. Her memories overwhelmed her and she remembered it all.
She had been running an evacuation, using her voice for crowd control, and was trying to get a shuttle past the incoming forces when a panicked mind wiper broke from the queue and ran into her, her talent surging out of control. Bronwyn tried to fight the woman’s talent, but fear gave the talent extra power and Bronwyn was lost, a blank slate on the planet of the Edinar.
The next memory was asking her name and being told it was Pet, over and over. She had no idea how she got from the surface to the Marconian ship.
The images of tiny ships making forays to the surface explained how she had ended up on display. The invading force blew several up, but dozens made it past the attack and into the space beyond. She had been on one of those ships.
“Whew. That does explain a few things. How long was I with the Marcovians?” She tilted her head.
Harrir cleared his throat. “We estimate that it was close to nine years.”
“Ah. Well, I am thankful for the mind wiper then. I would never have made it otherwise.” Bronwyn sighed and smiled softly.
A soft feminine voice spoke. “I am very glad to hear it, Bronwyn. It was a bad day for all of us.”
Bronwyn turned in her chair and saw the mind wiper from almost a decade in her past. “Ro-shah-na, if I recall. It is good that you made it.”
She got to her feet and hugged the woman, feeling the tight embr
ace returned and sobs broke out of the woman’s throat.
“I am so sorry, so very sorry.”
“It all turned out well. Don’t worry. I am hale and whole.” Bronwyn pulled back and smiled brightly.
“But all the others you could have helped onto the ships. Perhaps more could have survived if I hadn’t panicked.”
“The past is fixed, we can control our future. That is where you need to focus your energies now. Do you have a family? Friends?”
She sniffed. “I do. Two little girls and a community who cares for me.”
“Then put your energies there and let them be your mark on the world. Don’t let one moment of fear destroy everything you could become.”
Tears formed in the woman’s face. “You were kind back then, too.”
Bronwyn stroked Ro-shah-na’s face. “There is never a good reason to be cruel.”
Harrir cleared his throat. “Rejik and Bronwyn have declared themselves. I believe it would be best if their union were formalized before we land.”
The mind wiper nodded with wide eyes. “Definitely. The colony would be pissed if she went elsewhere after she landed. Ratifying it on the ship is the safer option.”
Bronwyn was confused. “What?”
Ro-shah-na explained. “Because there are so few of us, the colony that the Reska helped us organize is very concerned with our bloodlines continuing. While you declaring for each other is traditional, the colony will want to arrange a suitable match when you land.”
“Fuck that.” Bronwyn crossed her arms and scowled. “Rejik, are you amenable to a consummation?”
He raised a brow, walked to her and pressed a kiss to her throat. His lips moved against her skin. “Yes, I am amenable and quite a bit more. Father?”
Harrir had tears in his eyes, but he cleared his throat. “Stand two feet apart and face each other with your hands touching, palm to palm.
Bronwyn stood and followed the instructions, her neck still tingling from the kiss. She was breathing more rapidly than normal. Rejik’s blue eyes stared into hers and they waited for Harrir to speak.
“Bronwyn Undermark, Siren of the Silver Clan of Edinar, do you take Commander Rejik Eslir Harrir of Reska as your bonded mate?”
She smiled. “I do.”
