Chapter 6
What had I done? Fear blazed like fire in my veins. “I swear I meant no harm.” Feet scrambling backward on the bed, I jerked to a stop. I’d already backed myself into a corner.
The more I panicked, the more I realized Silver wasn’t.
His dilated pupils ranged over my chest and face, traveling downward.
Oddly, they lingered on my hands. Under the weight of his inspection, my fingers tingled and my skin grew hotter.
But he didn’t seem scared at all. Had I taken so much blood that I’d stunned him?
Maybe Earthers went silent when they lost blood. What the hellfire did I know?
I swiped my chin, collecting a tasty smear.
Silver’s gaze leaped to my knuckle and tracked my tongue as I ran it over my fangs.
The trace of blood ignited my taste buds, and I groaned at the heady flavor.
Rich, spicy and more satiating than any Boola’s.
It fired through my veins like a power bank, heightening my senses.
As Silver stared at my body, his single-minded focus overrode my panic, and I took notice in new ways.
My d’ink throbbed. The gold ring all male Boola wore around their sex organs to prolong matings heated with the building pressure.
I fisted my hands to avoid jerking it up and down for relief like I would’ve if I’d been alone.
Instinct drove me across the bed on all fours, toward the twin drops of blood staining his neck. I leaned in, flicking my tongue over the puncture to seal the wound. Silver moaned, his hands gripping and clinging to my shoulders.
“Please tell me you’re okay?” Only a breath away from him, my head spun.
This close, his multi-faceted blue eyes sparkled like the stalagmites in my home planet’s ice caves.
His scent invaded every one of my olfactory receptors until his smoky whisper vine perfume blanketed us, stirring a connection.
Before I’d left for Tern, the lead Boola had commended my latest crop of whisper vines. Dried and burned to strengthen the bond during vitae tie mating ceremonies and to welcome new younglings to D’ulanna, it meant many strong bonds would be created this annum.
“Never been better.” Eyes glazed over, Silver smiled in a dopey way, so different from his brisk tour voice.
A sudden need to lay claim and possess this male rushed through my body, lengthening my fangs. But I clawed it back. Something didn’t seem right. “Are you sure you aren’t a little faint? Here, sit awhile.”
Slow and steady, I spoke to Silver in the same voice I used to coax a whisper vine to yield its treasure. The vine only released its prized seeds to the calmest and most persuasive Boolas. I’d garnered two in my life—more than anyone else in Clan Lasting.
A smile snuck across my face as he leaned into me.
“You look dizzy.” Could an Earther even handle having blood taken from them?
I hadn’t asked, and it wasn’t like they were commonplace on D’ulanna.
I didn’t even blanting remember attacking him.
What would happen when he returned to himself?
What if I’d scared away my only companion? My only blood source?
Alone, this hellfire mess my manipulative brother had gotten me into would be excruciating.
“It’ll be quick,” D’iver had said. “In and out. Just take the leisure craft, drop the new containment system at Thermal Station C and you’ll be back at the poolside, tossing my younglings overhead before you know it. ”
Limbs liquid and loose, Silver gazed at me. “I thought your skin looked brown yesterday, but I can see swirls of copper in it today.”
Though I didn’t know Silver, the matter-of-fact male I’d met on the previous rotation would never have thrown out a compliment that easily. Or that sweetly. “Ah…how long does it take Earthers to return to themselves after losing blood?”
“I’m fine.” Silver swirled his hand through the air. Sweat beaded his milky skin, dotting his brow and neck. His broad chest heaved, pulling at the fastenings on his wrinkled coveralls, where a tuft of yellow hair poked out. Strangely, he smelled of d’ew and I craved a slice of the juicy melon.
Eyes never leaving Silver, I picked up the tipped-over container off the floor, filled it with water and offered it to him. “Did I…hurt you?”
“Not at all.” His palm floated over his collarbone, covering the two puffy holes.
I licked my lips. The sight of my mark on his pale skin sparked a yearning low in my stomach.
A craving for his closeness as much as his lifeforce.
The healing effects of his blood curled through my limbs, drawing me closer, connecting us like the velvety smoke of burning whisper vine.
Though I shouldn’t need blood again until the new moon, an aching thirst I’d never experienced—one not driven by injury or hunger—strained my shaky resolve.
Silver’s vein thrummed in his neck like a blue beacon calling me.
No longer able to control the pull, I bent to brush my lips against his neck.
The haze cleared from his eyes, and he jerked to his feet, jumping away from me. His hands fumbled to cover his lap, drawing my attention to the stiff length tenting his coveralls.
“What’s wrong with me?” he asked.
A hard lump formed in my throat, and I struggled to swallow. Though I wanted to linger on the vision of him dazed and aroused, I owed him an apology, and I needed to make sure he was okay, not ogle his fun zone. I jiggled the container of water in his direction. “Thirsty?”
Silver hustled backward toward the door, still covering his groin.
“Thirsty, yep.” His eyes darted to my mouth, but he made no effort to take the container.
“I’m good. G-great.” He picked up the shredded pieces of the shirt I’d removed before crawling into bed last moon.
At the time, death had seemed right around the corner.
“I’ll just wash these and get them back to you. ”
“Don’t worry about it. They’re garbage—” The door swooshed closed behind him, cutting me off before I could explain.
Moments later, it opened again, and a trolley rolled into the room. Just a trolley loaded with crates. No Silver. Only his voice slipped in with it. “I found some food.”
“Hang on.” I rushed to the closing door. “I need to apologize.”
I heard footsteps running down the corridor before the door shuttered closed again. Why would he be hurrying to wash my ruined shirt? Earthers were confusing. I sighed. Though, if he was giving me food, that must mean he wanted me around even after I’d stolen his blood without consent.
I drained the water from the container I’d filled for Silver and approached the stack of crates. Though the sweltering temperature made my head swimmy, a newfound energy buoyed my spirits. Thermal Station C no longer felt like a trap, but a fount of possibilities.
“C? Do you have an info packet on Earther behavior?”
If a towel existed among this cargo, I’d be happier than my brother the rotation his younglings were born.
“Good morning, D’alton of Clan Lasting. Human behavior is complex. Can you narrow the topic of interest?”
Black hinges creaked as I opened a lid. Dried meat. My stomach rumbled. Not as satisfying as fresh meat, but I wouldn’t complain. The wrapper crinkled when I ripped it open with my teeth. Savory and salty—saliva pooled in my mouth at the taste. All the while, questions cycled through my head.
Anatomy? Nope, too personal. Compatibility? Reeked of desperation. Blood nutrient composition? Too telling.
Despite knowing C was an AI, I censored myself. Boola were private. It seemed like a breach of privacy to go behind Silver’s back, but I needed something to impress him. Some way to make up for attacking him earlier.
“What do Earthers fear? And if you have anything on ah…mating practices.” So much for filtering my thoughts.
His reaction to me drinking his blood sent my questioning mind spiraling into the bedroom. Though it didn’t take much to drive my mind to the bedroom. It would be stuck there perpetually now, with Silver as my only companion.
I shook my head before my imagination required me to take my d’ink in hand and run my ring up and down it.
Would Silver lose interest if I mentioned I was a soil guardian, like every other potential mate I’d met on D’ulanna?
If I’d chosen a career as a warrior, or even run a shipping company like my brother—anything besides growing food—I’d likely have someone to fulfill my increasing mating needs.
I twisted the gold ring, shuddering as my thoughts returned to the drugged expression on Silver’s face earlier.
My hand was becoming more unsatisfying by the rotation.
Despite the poor pay and long hours alone, the soil called to me.
Caring for the seeds, tending the young shoots and nurturing them as they grew strong and healthy filled me with purpose.
They brought me more joy than any of the failed matches my brother had attempted to saddle me with; connections that had never ended with a vitae tie, the blood mate match Boola coveted.
“I will prepare a package and send it to your wristport. It will take some time, as there are many references on these topics. Remember to scan your palm at the terratherm hub so I can track your biometrics.”
“Thanks, C. I will.”
Making quick work of the bins in front of me, I sorted the useful—towels compressed to the size of my thumb, tooth tablets, sani-foam, jerky, seeds, energy paste—from the useless—female hygiene products, underwear that looked like tooth floss and boots three sizes too small.
A quiver of arrows and a launcher made my heart skip a beat at my good fortune.
If Silver was leaving me with weapons, it meant he didn’t consider me a threat.