“Alright, we are going to Fayfaix. Tell them to get it ready.” I saw a man step out of the tunnel to my left and I pointed my revolver at him. I was about to pull the trigger, but my finger hesitated for a moment. The man looked terrified and raised his hands. His clothes were dirty, thin, and had patches on the knees. He was either a local in the station or a slave who escaped during the confusion. I gestured with my revolver back toward the tunnel, and the man backpedaled quickly before he turned to run.
Madalena spoke in her own language through her transponder, and I heard a voice that sounded like Nikki answer. They exchanged a few sentences, and then the Prime Valkyrie nodded to me. “They will be ready,” she said.
“The guards are closing the distance,” Mikhael said a moment before a shotgun blast sounded from behind us. It hit the wall some three meters to our side, but then we were right at our docking tunnel, and I ushered the women inside.
Persephone’s hold door was open, and I saw the armored forms of Lux, Milda, and Josefinna. They each held their pulse rifles leveled at the tube behind us, and our group sprinted up the ramp and into the safety of Persephone's hold.
“We are in, Nikki,” Madalena said as the hatch doors began to close.
“I’m disengaging from their docking tube,” the pilot replied through the transponder, and Persephone shook for a moment. Then I felt the thrusters engage, and we all leaned against the small press of the g-forces.
“Navigation system has been programmed, Prime Valkyrie,” Calisto said over the transponder.
Madalena’s helmet dripped from her face and pooled down by the bottom neck joint of her armor. The beautiful woman warrior looked at me, and I nodded.
“Engage Hyperdrive,” Madalena said, and I felt Persephone’s thrust instantly shift to the gentle sway.
The armor dripped and pooled from the Vaish women and then returned to their amulets. The slaves we just saved ran over to the women that Lux had brought back, and the group gave each other joyful hugs. The sight made my heart warm, and I took a few long breaths.
“Figure out where to keep them until we can get them back to their world,” I said to Madalena.
“Yes, my lord,” she replied, and then she spoke to Lux in their language. The black-haired woman nodded, and then she walked toward the group of celebrating ex-slaves.
“I’m going to bed,” I said as I turned toward the hallway that would take me to the elevator.
“I will accompany you,” Madalena said as she fell into step next to me. Her voice was calm, as usual, but I could feel the hope in her emotions.
“I need to sleep, Madalena. I haven’t recovered from when I shifted.”
“I understand. I will attend to you. It is my duty as your wife.” More fear. She didn’t want to hear me reject her again. Damn it, she fucking loved me. Why? She didn’t even know me. I didn’t know her.
“When I wake up, you can make me dinner. Then we can talk for a few hours. I want to get to know you better, and you need to get to know me better. I want to tell you about the women I love so you will understand why I’m not happy about you submitting to me. You need to tell me about these Shadow Eagle ships, folding drives, the Draugr, and everything you know about the video of Parnarta.” I stepped into the elevator, and she followed me.
“That is acceptable to me. I will help you with your armor and then massage your muscles so you will sleep--”
“No, that’s fine. I can do all that myself. Just take care of my ship, okay? I’ll come see you when I wake up, and we can talk. That’s all you are going to get from me for now. Deal?”
“Deal,” she said quickly, and I felt a small surge of pleasure. “I will not fail you, my lord.”
“You need to call me Adam. This ‘my lord’ stuff makes me feel like an asshole.”
“Yes, Adam.” she smiled slightly, and I forced my tired eyes to look away. Then the door to the elevator opened, and we walked out to the bridge. I made a hard left as soon as we exited, and then I took the hallway down to my room. I half expected the Prime Valkyrie to follow me, but she left me alone.
I pulled off my gun belt when I entered my suite, threw it on a chair, pulled off all my armor pieces, peeled off my flight suit, and then jumped in the shower. The warm water made me remember Eve and Zea, and I spent a few long minutes leaning against the tile thinking about them. Then I finished cleaning myself, brushed my teeth, and climbed into my bed naked. I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, and the good thing about sleep was that it made time pass faster.
It was just a matter of time now before I saw them again.
The thought made the beast in my stomach purr, and my brain spiraled into a dream of me tearing out the throats of white-robed men.
Chapter 16
I startled awake to hands on my face, lips, and neck. For half a moment, I thought it was Eve and Zea, but my bed was empty, and I remembered taking my shower before I passed out. I had no idea how many hours I had slept, but the exhaustion from my adventures on Nordar - 13 - a was now gone. I felt like I could climb a mountain, or fight another uiun-bair. Then my stomach roared from hunger, and the world spun a bit. When was the last time I ate? With Hegeia, Uma, and Waiola? How many days ago was that? Shifting into and back from my tiger-man form burned a ton of calories, and I felt like I could eat a whole fucking cow.
Good thing I had a few cows cut up in Persephone’s freezer.
I lifted up my sheets to get out of bed, but my eyes were drawn to the chair in my room. Madalena was sleeping there, and I felt a flurry of mixed emotions punch me in the stomach. She wasn’t wearing her uniform. Instead, she was wearing a short pair of sweat shorts and a tight shirt. The outfit showed off her muscular legs, and the swell of her perky breasts pushed against the shirt. My movement, or the growl from my stomach, hadn’t seemed to awaken her, but I pulled my sheets slower in order to not disturb her.
My suit and armor weren't on the floor anymore, so I tiptoed to my closet. My flight suits were hanging inside, but the remaining half of the closet was now filled with clothes that weren’t mine. They were the kind of dark black and blue uniforms Madalena would wear, and a quick inhale confirmed they were her clothes.
She had moved all her shit into my room.
“I brought my possessions into your room,” Madalena said from the doorway of my closet, and I turned away from her so she couldn’t see my naked front side.
“I didn’t say you could,” I replied as I grabbed one of my flight suits.
“You have been asleep for thirty-three hours,” she said.
“You just changed the subject. I didn’t say you could bring your stuff into my suite,” I said over my shoulder as I pushed my legs into my suit.
“Can I make you breakfast?” she asked, but I didn’t answer her. Instead, I finished putting my arms in my suit, zipped up the front, and then walked past her without speaking.
I went to my bathroom and saw an extra toothbrush beside the other sink. There were also ten or so bottles of lotion, soaps, and other feminine products that I couldn’t identify. Some of it looked like makeup, but Madalena didn’t seem like the type of woman who wore makeup.
The sight angered me more, but I focused on brushing my teeth.
“You said we would speak over a meal when you awoke?” she asked, and I could feel her fear. It was mixed with frustration, anger, and loneliness.
It was the loneliness that made me finally reply to her.
“It must be hard not getting what you want for once,” I growled.
“You know nothing of me,” she growled in return. Her eyes narrowed a small amount, and anger flooded over all of her other emotions.
“I know you are supposed to be submitted to me and follow my orders, but you keep pushing where I tell you not to push. You keep making advances toward me when I tell you that I’m not interested.”
“You are interested. I feel your desire.”
“Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Head!” I threw my toothbrush
down in the sink, and she flinched. “I told you I didn’t want this! I didn’t want you to submit to me! I didn’t want to go in this rite! I just wanted to help you and then save my friends!”
“We are going to save your friends!” she shouted back, and her outburst surprised me. “You know nothing about our people, or what I have given you. You spit on me, and my honor, every chance you get! I have worked my whole existence to serve Odin.” She raised her hands to my face, and I didn’t step away from her touch. “These hands have been broken countless times. Along with every other bone in my body. I am a Valkyrie, my husband and lover have been battle. I have been to the edge of mortality and returned because Odin needs me. I have obeyed his wishes knowing that it would bring my people life and a place at his side in Valhalla.”
“Madalena, I--”
“I was dead, so was my crew. Have you ever felt life-support systems fail? Every breath is agonizing, and I prayed to Odin for another chance to serve him. I prayed to die in combat fighting the Draugr. They are coming, not just for my blood clan or the Nordar, but for all humans. I asked him if I failed him somewhere, but there was no answer, and I said my last goodbyes to my friends. Then you entered our system. It was a clear message from him. You were his answer.”
“I already told you that I was looking for you because you had a ship like mine, and we saw the vid--”
“You have a Shadow Eagle. You are fighting the Draugr. You can turn into a walking snow leopard.”
“Tiger--”
“Odin sent you to me. He showed me how to serve him, unite the Nordar clans, and defeat the Draugr. I watched the videos of your ship. You had no arms and were dying, but you saved us. Valkyrie do not submit to another man unless he has beaten her in combat, or performed an act of heroism fit for the gods. I am the Prime Valkyrie. When I submitted to you, it was proof to the gods and our people that I have finally met a man who is my better. It is the highest honor that can be given, yet you do not care. You send me away. You tell me you do not love me. You tell me you prefer other women, but you are the only man I will ever want.”
“I’m in love with two other women. I didn’t ask you for any of this,” I said.
“I excel at every task I commit myself to. I wish to be your wife. Our souls are already bound. I am sorry I took the choice from you but is it so unpleasant? I am beautiful and will serve you in life and in Valhalla. I will stand by your side in battle and pleasure you in our bed. I will give you strong children who will swell your chest with pride. You only need to accept me.”
Her fingers stroked my chin and face as our eyes met. I felt her emotions, so I knew she wasn’t lying to me. I also knew I could tell her no, and she would just continue. She would never stop trying to serve me.
Unless I told her to kill herself, and she would even do that for me.
What would Eve and Zea think of Madalena? The warrior woman and Eve had a lot in common, they had both prayed for a savior, and I happened to show up. Madalena was honest and honorable. Just like Eve. The two women would probably get along famously.
Zea would be another matter. The snarky hacker had just come to terms with our polyamorous relationship and was still a bit insecure with our love. Madalena would throw a huge wrench in things.
Especially if Zea knew I now shared emotions with another woman who wasn’t her.
“I need to save my friends, then we’ll take the slave women back to their homeworld. After that, well… I’ll think about it some more.” I thought about what Madalena had said about me completing Odin’s rite of passage. Did she really expect me to hang from a tree? I wanted to ask, but then my stomach roared like an uiun-bair, and I stepped away from her.
“Can I make you breakfast?” she asked again.
“Yeah,” I said, and her lips upturned into a slight smile.
We stepped out of my suite to the elevators, and into the galley. She walked barefoot, and I tried to keep my eyes from her muscular legs and tight ass. Looking felt like cheating, but I was only a man.
A man with a tiger in his soul.
“I will cook. You can relax,” Madalena said when we reached the kitchen.
“I’m not the kind of guy who relaxes while someone else works for me,” I said, but the idea of cooking with her felt too intimate, and I didn’t want to continue on that path.
“Then you can speak. I wish to know my husband better.”
“Don’t call me your husband,” I groaned. “Adam is my name.”
“Yes, Adam,” she said. “You were born on Jupiter?”
“Ganymede,” I said. “Dad died in the Saturn Wars, so my mom raised my sister and me.”
“You are the oldest?” Madalena asked as she took eggs and a large cut of steak out of the massive refrigerator. There was no one else in the kitchen or galley, and I wondered if she had set it up so we would be alone.
“Yeah,” I said, and I talked about life on Ganymede. I talked about my sister and mother, about working to help pay the bills, then joining the Marines to pay for my sister’s medical expenses. I talked about going to war, and the countless battles. I spoke about joining the special forces, but I didn’t talk about any of the things I had done, or seen while I was a member of that group.
She finished cooking us breakfast, and we sat on barstools beside each other while we ate on the kitchen’s long counter. Madalena was a surprisingly good cook, and the steak, eggs, and potatoes she made were seasoned with the perfect amount of salt, pepper, and dill. We washed each bite down with strong coffee, and I let the words pour out of my mouth.
I told her about needing more money for medical bills and deserting the Marines so I could work for the Yakuza. I talked about breaking legs for them and doing a bunch of other dumb shit just to pay the bills. I talked about taking the heat for a bad bank robbery so my sister and mom could be set up.
Madalena was a good listener, and she asked questions to clarify a few cultural points, but she let me do most of the talking. When I spoke about the experiments and President Yu, she leaned closer to me, and I paused so she could speak.
“The blonde man in the video of Parnarta?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how, but it is the same guy in the video. It looks like he hasn’t aged a damn day.”
“Hmmm,” she said.
“Have you heard of him?”
“No, but I know of the tiger-man that he captured. Please continue your story, and I will tell you about it after.”
“They used an explosive collar to control the other men they had experimented on and me,” I said. I described the conditions of my imprisonment and how I was forced to perform clandestine missions. Then I began to speak about my mission to Trappist - 1e, and she raised her hand to interrupt me.
“You are still hungry,” she said as she pointed to my empty plate. She hadn’t asked it as a question, so I guessed she already knew the answer.
“Yeah. I could eat another plate, or two.” I chuckled, and she slid out of the stool beside me.
“We have smoked fish and boiled potatoes. I will serve it with more dill and aquavit.”
“Aquavit?” I asked.
“Drink of the old ones,” she said. “It is the water of life and goes well with fish. You will like it.”
“I’m not much of a drinker.”
“You do not need much aquavit,” Madalena said. She actually smirked a bit, and it made my heart beat in double time.
Then I grew angry at myself and looked down to the counter.
“Continue, please,” she said, and I talked about landing on the building in Trappist - 1e, killing the guards, and then coming to Eve. When I began to speak about my lover, I felt Madalena’s emotions swirl, and I had trouble picking through them.
“Something wrong?” I asked her as she ducked into the fridge again.
“No,” she said. “I can feel your emotions. I know you have a deep love for this woman.”
“I do,” I said.
“Then let us toast to fin
ding her.” The brunette pulled a glass bottle out of the fridge, placed it on the counter before me, and then set two plates next to it. Each plate had a variety of smoked fish, pickled onions, crackers, and a dill covered potato salad. It smelled fresh and salty, and my stomach rumbled again.
Madalena poured the clear liquid into two small glasses, passed me one, and then raised hers.
“Skol,” she said.
“Skol,” I repeated, and we pressed our glasses together before we poured it down our throats.
The alcohol was a unique blend of fire and ice. At first taste, it was minty, but then the complex rye flavors bloomed in my mouth. It burned as it passed down my throat, and then it felt as if an ice cube slid down as an after shot.
“You like it,” she said.
“Yeah,” I admitted, even though I knew she hadn’t really asked me the question. She knew I liked it because she felt I liked it.
I didn’t know how I was going to get used to this, having someone read my thoughts wasn’t that difficult, since I still had my private emotions.
“Eat, then tell me more about Eve,” Madalena prompted, and I took a bite of the fish.
“This is great too,” I said as the brunette filled up our glasses with more aquavit. “Who is the chef?”
“I made all of this,” she said.
“Really? Damn. You are a great cook.”
“I told you I strive for excellence. I had hoped that you would allow me to make you breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, so I prepared.”
“You didn’t need to,” I sighed.
“Yes, Adam. I did. Cooking for someone is a sign of how much you care for them. You are my husband, I will--”
“I asked you not to call me that,” I said, and my heart hammered in my chest.
“Yes. I am sorry,” she apologized, and I felt her disappointment. Fuck, it was like every time I got mad at her it also made me upset. “Tell me about your escape with Eve,” she said.
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