by Isabel Wroth
Tara swallowed thickly, but said a soft, “Thank you,” to him. Tarek inclined his head and invited any other questions. There were a few more, and then one of the other women cleared her throat, speaking with only the slightest of quavers to her tone, “Would a blood sample be sufficient?” Tarek tilted his head in question, looking down to her for clarification, “We had discussed the manner in which Commander Brennaugh’s warriors would identify a potential mate. I said an article of clothing, or something with their scent on it.” Tarek made a sound and nodded, “The scent on clothing would become muddied after too much handling. A sufficient quantity of samples could be made and introduced. The Fifth wing will not arrive in proximity for another twenty four hours. I would ask that you take that time to come to a decision.”
Before he could remove her from the room, his Clary had one more thing to say. She stood up, hugging herself a little protectively, and because of their growing bond he could feel the odd mix of joy, and sorrow pulsating through her body. It made him hover closer, made him stroke his hand down her spine to soothe her, deeply satisfied when that sensation of joy overwhelmed her sorrow. “One of my favorite times out of the month aboard the Aria, was teaching the few children interested, about earth. About flowers, and puppies, tell them stories of what it would be like someday to climb a tree. I always secretly had wished my test scores were high enough to have rated a least one child of my own, but consoled myself with those precious few who came to the botany lab. I gave up the idea of a family, the day I was sterilized.”
His beast roared with rage for that mutilation of his mate’s body. The cruel mutilation of the desire she had to bear her own young and teach them of these things called, puppies. But now he began to suspect why she was feeling both sorrow, and joy, and it humbled him to know he had returned the possibility of such desires to her. “Some of you were in the infirmary the second time I was brought down, the day we first got here. I’d been given a transfusion of Tarek’s blood, the first go around, and within a matter of an hour, whatever regenerative properties there are in his blood, my entire reproductive system started to regrow. So don’t think that a potential mate is some random guy picking you up off an auction block for his own pleasure,”
She nodded to her crew and left them to their decision, glad when they were beyond the door and Tarek curled his arm around her and drew her close to share his strength. He didn’t say anything, he just took her up to the temple and let her go, walked beside her while she walked the carefully groomed paths and let the long stalks of grass tickle against her palm. She felt settled, happy for some reason. She was pretty sure she was feeling Tarek’s emotion, his calm and contentment, and when she looked at him to confirm he regally inclined his head. “Why are you happy?” She asked softly, watching him cross his arms across his massive chest and his lips cant up with a quirk. “Because my mate is beginning to accept me. What I am and will be for her.”
“Which is?”
“A home.”
Fifteen
The next morning Tarek had woken her with some soft, sweet kisses and a few deep purrs, after he’d presented her with a tablet that catalogued, listed and described every bit of flora and fauna on Saraz and the surrounding planets. She sat there in the bed, naked with the sheet around her hips, staring at the image of the most beautiful blue flower she’d ever seen in her life through blurry eyes. “I do not understand why you cry, why you feel so…overwhelmed.” She swiped at her eyes, sniffled back the rest of her tears, set the tablet aside and crawled into his lap to hug him as tight as she could. “I’m overwhelmed because of all the things you could have given me, that was perfect. Thank you.”
His big hands stroked tenderly down the fall of her hair, down her spine, turning so he could roll his cheek over her shoulder and his nose up along her throat. “You are willing to accept me, but still do not understand,” His rumbled words held a hint of amusement, but he didn’t say anything else. He just held her close and continued to pet her tenderly. She drew back and cupped her palms to the tattooed skin on either side of his head, shaking her hair out of her face while she rubbed her thumbs over the sharpness of his cheekbones.
She loved the way the lights of the room reflected in his eyes and made the deep honey flash gold, she could stare into his eyes forever. “I am very willing to accept you, Tarek.” She murmured, and his pupils slit vertical for the briefest of moments. She almost missed it, but that close, she saw the cat inside him react to her. To her words. “Because of a scientific manifest?” She shook her head and touched her lips to his softly, again, then again, “No. That was just the icing on the cake.”
“What?”
“An old earth saying.”
“I see. You cry, because it pleased you.”
“Very much.”
“I did not wish for you to be ignorant to the poisonous plants found on my world. You have such curiosity and delight for pretty things, you might have touched one and not known, been violently sick or worse.”
She frowned and turned to reach out for the tablet, reading the caption about the beautiful blue flower she couldn’t pronounce the name of, skimmed the description and noted that the stem of the flower was riddled with tiny thorns. If plucked, the thorns would prick into the skin, injecting a paralytic toxin that was cured only by ingesting the yellow pollen from inside the flowers. “All of these are poisonous?” She skimmed to the next one, a more sinister looking green vine, “Yes, my one.” She blinked because his amusement had returned, and when she asked what was funny, he smiled at her again. “How fascinated you are by poisonous vegetation.”
“Well, these plants could be medicinal! As a salve, or tea with curative…purposes…what?”
“They have many such usages already, my one.”
“Oh. Of course they would. Advanced civilization, right.”
“If you wish to learn of such things, there will be amble opportunity. Your crew are waiting to speak with you.”
She nodded and set the tablet aside again, but she snuggled up to his chest and turned her cheek to listen to the pounding of his heart. “What kinds of things do you like? What makes you happy?” She asked softly, wanting to know this warrior, “Before you arrived, before our bonding began and I could sense your emotions…it’s been so long, I think I forgot what it meant to be happy. You feel sadness because of this, why?”
“Do you remember the last time you felt happiness?”
He was quiet for a long time, thinking, and she let her head fall back on his strong shoulder to look at his face. He had a faraway look in his eyes, and then a thought sparked, she could see it. “The day my brother called his mate,” They had probably been at the same festival, and Tarek hadn’t called a mate, “You were happy for him?” He nodded, using a finger to stroke a lock of hair from her cheek, “Of course. It was his very first, I had seen over eight by then, and I was happy because he would not ever have to know the disappointment I felt each time I attended a festival, and couldn’t find your beautiful face among the crowd.” Her beautiful face turned bright pink, and he chased that blush, following it down to her chest where he flattened his palm between her breasts and spread his hands over her sternum. “He was always optimistic, he told me every season before the festival that he felt good about this next one. Then the next one. Until our father asked me if I would sacrifice myself for the greater good of our people. Asked me if I would join our armada. I tell you truly, I was relieved to go. Relieved that my father had lost hope for me and that I would no longer be expected to attend the festivals. Within three of your years, one cycle of ours, I had proven myself enough to command my own ship. In four cycles, the armada, and after that, I no longer needed to hope, or to be happy, I only needed to protect our people by being the best warrior I could be.”
She melted, right then. She melted for that younger man he’d been, happy that his brother would never know his sorrow. For that man who had looked for her in all the faces of the many at the festiva
ls. For that man who had willingly given up his happiness, his hope, to be the best warrior he could be to protect his people. He stiffened suddenly, his hand sliding up to gently curl around her throat, rubbing his thumb over her chin while his eyes searched her face. “I don’t know that emotion you’re feeling now. It burns inside you,” She laughed then and took his hand to move it to her face, turning her cheek into it to press a kiss to the fleshy pad of his thumb. “That’s awe, Tarek. I am in awe of you. You’re the strongest man I’ve ever known.”
He shook his head slowly, still searching her face, her eyes intently. His nostrils flared and she knew that if he hadn’t known happiness, he wouldn’t understand the emotions she was feeling now. “I have sensed your awe, this is…more.” She wanted him to feel it for as long as possible, so she just relaxed in his arms and let him feel it. He quivered under her, his breaths came a bit choppier and his pupils slit and widened until she could barely see the gold of his irises. “My animal is raging inside of me,” He murmured, “Why?”
“To possess you. To claim you now, and destroy any who would challenge that claim.”
“You’re fighting it,”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“If I give in before the night of the festival, I will forfeit my claim until the next season.”
“I don’t understand, if I’m your mate, why, who would revoke your claim?”
He took a deep breath and lifted her from the bed to carry her towards the enzyme shower. She waited to speak or ask more questions, because she could sense his struggle. She put on the dress he gave her, blue this time, and she felt her own nervousness when he took her hands and raised them to touch a kiss to each of her knuckles, staring at them, rubbing it in. “It is just our way, and I will allow none to dispute my claim. It is my first true test to prove I am worthy of you, and I will not fail. You are my mate, my one.” He said firmly, his conviction echoing down the strange length of their bond right into the heart of her.
She was still clutching the tablet Tarek had given her to her chest when she walked into the women’s quarters. Andi was there and she immediately smiled upon seeing her, which made a knot of tension she hadn’t realized she’d had, unravel. Cassie and Gwen were there, and they seemed a little happier too. The rest of the women stood up when she entered, most uncertain and nervous, but others eagerly nervous. She waited patiently for them to speak, and surprisingly it was Tara who stepped forward, “We’ll give blood, but we don’t want to be paraded out like cows in front of their entire crew. Most of the girls want to go back to Saraz, do the terra firma deal. I want to fly. I want to find our people. I don’t suppose anyone discussed how they would react to being ordered by an alien species, to stop and follow them to greener pastures? They might react better with one of us to tell the story, make the invite?”
She honestly hadn’t thought about that, but she made a valid point. A very valid point. Unless they were under attack, it was very plausible that everyone aboard the starships would react like Ethan had, with fearfulness and distrust. “If you’re called and the higher ups give permission, I agree that one of us should be there to help smooth the way. You understand how it happened here though, how quickly Ethan was able to spread distrust. There will be more, others that will accuse us of being brainwashed, of these warriors stealing our women for their own gain.”
Cassie took a breath and by her expression she was about to profusely object, but she held her hand up to stop her and gently said, “We’ve all thought it, others will too. It’s our nature. If you’re called, do you feel like you’ll be able to handle that fight?” Tara took a deep breath, opened her mouth to speak, her eyes slid to the left and her cheeks turned pink. She dropped her eyes and glanced around at Cassie, at Gwen and lingered on Andi for a minute. “So long as I’m not alone, yes.” She looked over her shoulder and saw Tarek, Falken, Ga’rae and Ohlen, having appeared silently out of nowhere.
The four of them touched their fingertips to their hearts and in the most regal manner inclined their heads to Tara. “Brennaugh and his warriors will be within proximity soon.” Tarek said in his gruff manner, though this time it seemed a little gentler. “Did you bring the things I asked for?” Gwen asked Ga’rae, and he handed over a medical bag. “How did you know we’d say yes?” One of the women asked, and Gwen grinned, “You’d be an idiot not to want one of those.” She hooked a thumb at her scary alien man cat, and giggles happened all around.
Sixteen
She lay in the circle of Tarek’s arms that night, drowsy with the relaxation that came from his fingertips swirling around in gentle patterns on her back. Looping swirls and long swoops, an occasional touch of his lips to her shoulder, or a nuzzle to her hair. She had walked into their suite and had intended to accept her mate, to give herself to him because she wanted to, had even stripped out of her dress and glanced over her shoulder in what she hoped was a come hither manner. Only to have found him rooted to the spot, his talons out and so long they looked like knives, his lips parted to reveal the bright tips of his fangs, his pupils split vertical and his growl feathered through the air between them.
He hadn’t come into the bedroom for long enough that she was starting to doubt herself, he prowled in and had crawled up over her, balancing his weight on the hands he planted on either side of her shoulders, quivering while he stared down at her. “What you offer me…” His voice was a bestial growl, wrapped in silk, “I want it, you, desperately. But I cannot. Not yet.” He bit out. Embarrassed, she’d made to cover herself, but he shook his head almost violently and she froze. “All I can have of you, I will have.” And at first he drove her crazy with desire by touching every bare inch of her body, and not nearly in enough of a sexual way to sate her need. He took long, deep breaths and slowly but surely he’d begun to calm, and so had she.
He’d pulled her close, cradled and cuddled her, leaving no room between them to mistake the fact that he was excruciatingly engorged. She could feel the ache, the throb of his erection pulsating in time with his heartbeat, and the pulsating ache in her own groin. She got used to the sensation after a while and was able to deal with it enough to relax. It helped soothe him too it seemed, and so they had laid there together in the quiet, only his purrs to break the silence. Until the sound of something beeping broke it, and after laying a string of kisses up her arm, he shifted to look at his wrist unit. “Brennaugh and the Fifth are here, my one.” He murmured, and she inhaled deeply, stretching to rub herself against him. “Okay. I’ll go down to tell the others.”
“You may, but we must greet Brennaugh together first,”
“Kay.”
He gave her another green dress, brushed her hair himself, and when she asked why, he had bent himself around her and hugged her back against him, “As much as I can, as much as you will allow, I would touch you. It calms my beast to know my scent is on you, to feel your skin on mine, feel you breathe, your heartbeat, leave with your scent on me. It will keep me sane until the breeding festival comes.”
“How long until the festival?”
“Two more of your weeks.”
He escorted her down to the receiving bay where Brennaugh and his personal guard waited. He was proud to see the look of awe on his fellow warrior’s faces, the brief flash of envy, of respect they gave to his mate. “Commander Brennaugh, welcome aboard. This is my mate, Clary of the Starsong.” The man Tarek introduced her to was every bit as large and physically imposing as he was. The man was dark haired, the left side of his face so beautifully handsome, that if not for the fact that the right side of his face was scarred terribly from just under his eye, stretching to his ear, down his throat to his collar bone …he’d have been the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Tarek was handsome, the most handsome, rugged, sexy man she’d ever seen, but Brennaugh was beautiful.
When he inclined his head and touched his right hand to his chest, she saw that his arm was burned too. Like he’d thrown his hand up to shield his face a
s he’d turned it away. He seemed stiff and uncomfortable, which made her wonder if he was uncomfortable to have her looking at him. But she was hardly going to look away and make him think she found him difficult to look at. With their regenerative blood, whatever had happened must have been excruciating. She smiled at him and stepped towards him, “It’s very nice to meet you, Commander Brennaugh. I’m still learning the proper way to greet your people, but humans, we shake hands.”
She offered hers to the space between them, and his bright, bright blue eyes cut to Tarek and then back to her. She waited patiently, and Tarek must have nodded because Brennaugh lifted his scarred hand to meet hers and his rough, callused palm met hers carefully. She squeezed firmly, not shying away from the rubbery smooth scars on his fingers. “Thank you, for going on the hunt for my people. You, and your warriors. Thank you. I know the breeding festival is a massive loss for your men to miss, and though I’m thankful, I’m sorry too.” She squeezed his hand one more time, feeling Tarek’s growing agitation and stepped back, not surprised when his arm snaked around her waist to haul her back against him.
