11. Johree
JOHREE
The door to the meeting room swished open, revealing the ambassador, his aide, and my human mate, all three of them bowing.
I frowned at the sight of my mate.
“Was he not informed of my impending arrival?” I asked.
Ambassador Helkhor wrung his hands, his tail twitching in agitation behind him.
“He was, Your Grace.”
Jesse Wilson smirked at me. I understood then - this was an act of defiance.
He stepped forward, thrusting his hand out at me. “Jesse Wilson! Nice to meet cha!”
I took his hand in mine. It was as sweaty as the rest of him.
I linked our fingers together, turning over his hand and bringing it to my lips to kiss his knuckles.
His cocky expression faltered as I took an exaggerated inhale before actually performing the kiss.
If he thought he was going to reject me and have me fail in my duty to my people, not to mention leave me mateless and alone for the rest of my life, he was sorely mistaken.
I might not have wanted to use the Mylos service, but we both had, and his choice to do so was entirely of his own making.
To try to wriggle out of it now would be dishonorable.
“Fate has indeed smiled upon the Empire this day,” I said, holding his gaze. I dropped our hands, keeping them linked.
“Wha-at?” he stammered, now looking shaken. “You mean it's true? The AI didn’t make a mistake?”
I ran my tongue over my tender gums, throbbing now as my venom sacs began to prepare for the production of kasha.
Ah, so he wasn’t trying to reject me. He had doubts about the accuracy of the mate test. Understandable.
“There’s been no mistake,” I reassured him. “You are mine, as I am yours, Coramelis.”
He swallowed, reddening. “So, that’s it then? We’re mates, and according to the treaty terms and the stuff I signed, we’re married?”
“Legally, yes,” I replied, studying him. His natural scent was enticing, though at the moment more pungent than was proper. “Come, let us take a walk.”
“Where?”
“Just through the corridors. Just you, me, and my two guards. They’ll hang back to give us privacy.”
“Okay.”
I gave a nod of dismissal to the ambassador and his aide. “We’ve got it from here.”
“Do you wish his belongings transferred to your Corsair?” Helkhor asked me.
It was a reasonable question, given I’d elected to fly to where The Taloned Wing maintained orbit, too large to land upon the surface.
Despite this, I found myself disliking that they were asking me, instead of Jesse.
I did not want him treated as secondary to myself - I wanted a mate who would be my partner, as Pata was with Father.
“Would you like them to do so?” I asked him gently.
“Uh, yeah, I suppose so.” He looked down at our linked hands. “Except for my clothes and Buster’s stuff, everything is in my truck, I think, which is in the cargo hold.”
“They were removed and safely repacked,” Helkhor informed him.
“We did not wish anything to become lost or damaged while your vehicle underwent power conversion. The maintenance crew responsible for doing the work also refreshed your paintwork, the rest of the exterior, and the interior as a mating gift to you. It now looks new, and while you operate it the same as before, the engine has been replaced so it operates using our crystal technology.”
He looked startled. “That must have been a lot of extra work, and we were there only for two days!”
He inclined his head. “The shop stopped all other work and put all of their employees on it. They worked around the clock.”
“Please tell them thanks,” Jesse said, looking touched.
My hearts melted at the sight. He might be brash, and occasionally defiant if he felt wronged in some way, but he was showing that underneath it, there was an honorable male who was appreciative.
I found myself already smitten, something Hulomin would tease me mercilessly about if he were to discover it.
Which he would, as soon as he heard me speak of my Jesse.
Turnabout is fair play, I reminded myself. I did the same to him when he kept mooning over Jusrvi after he first met her.
“I already took the liberty of doing so. They will have their company prominently listed as one of those presenting a gift on the official palace node site.”
He looked startled. “Is that like a website?”
He glanced over at his aide, who nodded.
“Wow. This is crazy," Jesse muttered. He glanced over at me. “Can we go for that walk now? I’d like to introduce you to Buster and take him over to your ship myself.”
“But of course.”
I led him out into the corridor, Kiprr and Fethri following, falling back to a discreet distance.
Jesse squared his shoulders, the motion causing our joined hands to swing. I was gratified to see he didn’t pull free.
“I think I should tell you straight up that while I signed on the dotted line to get tested, I honestly never thought it would happen. I really wanted to be able to claim some land to start a ranch.”
I regarded him steadily. “I will be equally forthright. My fathers decided I should sign up to be tested, in a show of good faith in our new treaty. I, too, thought it highly unlikely that I would be matched, but was not opposed to finding my mate.” I pressed my lips together.
“Though I was not entirely comfortable with the whole ‘unless you are already mated, you must get tested if you want to be permitted a claim’ portion.”
“Right? Though I kinda get why. So many people would want to come, and the vast majority of them would be young single dreamers. This way, you only get families or singles really wanting to commit.” He let out a soft, deprecating laugh, “And don’t I sound like a hypocrite?”
I smiled gently down at him. “Not to me. You haven’t tried to break the bargain you made.”
“But I sure as hell tried to make sure that you got a damned good sniff, certain that when you did, you’d realize it was all a cock up.”
“Cock up?” What did one’s dick being hard have to do with anything?
“It means a mistake, a screw up.”
“Well, I did get a really good, and quite pungent, whiff of you, and it confirmed the match is correct.”
“And I looked like an ass showing up all sweaty and gross after exercising all morning and not showering or changing clothes.”
I laughed. “It certainly made our first meeting memorable.”
“Um, we turn here,” he said, indicating we should bear left at a junction. “And this is me.”
A guard stood at attention, bowing deeply when he saw us.
“I wish they’d stop doing that,” Jesse muttered.
“You’ll get used to it.”
“I doubt it.” He pressed his hand to the doorplate, and it swished open, revealing a very happy four legged canine that yipped and began bouncing about, tail wagging so hard its entire back end moved along with it.
“Okay, okay,” Jesse laughed, letting go of my hand now as he stepped inside and tried to wrangle his pet. “Yes, Daddy’s home!”
The animal noticed me now and began the same dance.
“Remain here. I am in no danger,” I told my guards as I went inside.
“Wow, he’s taken to you already. Usually the German shepherd side of him has him acting more cautious towards new people, but he’s all Team Prince Johree already.”
“He can no doubt scent that I am no threat. And you did scent mark me with your sweaty hand in mine, which he just sniffed.”
He blushed again, and I found myself endeared by it, wondering how else I might get his skin to flush so beautifully. Would he be this responsive under me as I took him apart?
“Did they tell you I definitely still want to have my ranch?” he asked, holding up a harness for Buster to see.
Buster immediately sat down and stilled.
“Good boy!” he crooned, kneeling to put it on.
Then he attached a lead onto a metal ring on the back of it.
“Okay, We’re ready. They can bring everything else. ”
I palmed open the door, letting him leave first.
“They did,” I confirmed, “it was in the data packet they sent me yesterday. I do not see a problem with you doing so, but as governor, I will be extremely limited in time as to when I can assist you. Not to mention, I know very little about animal husbandry other than the economic and environmental sides of it. I had hoped you would aid me in my efforts to integrate the humans with the Dragonii population so they will feel truly at home, and help me understand their needs as the colony grows.”
“Oh! Yeah, I can see how I should take on that responsibility.”
We stopped in front of an elevator, and Kiprr pressed the plate to call it for us.
Jesse sighed. “I think…no, I know, part of me wants the ranch so much because of how things went down with my family. But mostly, I really like working with the animals, and I want to get my two horses back.”
“Bob brought the horses to my attention. When you say back, does this mean someone took them from you?” I had not missed the suggestion of familial dispute his earlier words had evoked.
The elevator doors slid open, and we went inside.”
“Destination?” Xeranos asked, the AI present as The Taloned Wing was officially attached to the Mylos Fleet and Earth.
“The landing bay,” I responded.
“Okie dokie! Have a great trip to your new home, Jesse. I’m sure Prince Johree and Bob will take excellent care of you.” The elevator began to move.
My guards looked bemused at this.
“We will ensure his safety,” Kiprr protested.
“Oh, yes, you guys will as well, sorry,” Xeranos amended, and Jesse exchanged an amused glance with me, knowing Xeranos had in all likelihood “forgotten” them merely as a tease.
The elevator came to a halt and opened to reveal the VIP landing bay area. Jesse whistled, taking in the magnificent sight of our sleek craft.
“Now that’s a beauty. No flying saucers for you guys, huh? And that’s definitely not a shuttle.”
“It’s a Corsair, with a military crew aboard. Once our home is built, it will be placed into orbit on sentry duty, leaving only when we have somewhere we must go.”
“Wow.”
I entwined my tail around his leg, and he looked down in surprise, but didn’t say anything, so I let it remain.
“You were saying about your horses?” I pressed as we walked towards our vessel, crewmembers already shifting a vehicle secured on a large grav sled inside the cargo bay.
“Right. Um, guess it’s best I tell you everything, seeing as our mating is going to be a huge sort of public deal. But can we go to our quarters first? I assume since we’re technically married we’ll be sharing?”
“Yes, but you may have your own sleeping quarters within it if you desire.”
He gave me a grateful look.
“That would be wonderful.”