Chapter Seven #3
“It's not going to happen!” Lena slammed her palm onto the table.
“I won't ever love you! You captured me!
You're my enemy! What the fuck is wrong with you?
Source? Really? You're relying on Source?
If Tech told you I was going to be yours, it's either lying or messing with you.
Or—here's a fun option—you're insane and hearing voices.”
Again, Vor's face twitched. He stretched his neck. Took a sip of his drink. Inhaled deeply. “It will take time for you to understand. I know that.”
“You'll be waiting for me until the day one of us dies, Commander.”
“If that's what it takes.”
Lena fell back in her seat. “Utterly mad. You are utterly mad.”
“Am I?” Vor cocked his head at her. “Then I imagined the way you gazed upon my body with lust?”
Heat shot through Lena's cheeks. “That's a natural response. I admit you have an incredible body. But I'm not an animal. Lust isn't enough for me.”
“No, but it's a good start. There will be more between us, built upon that foundation.”
“Absolutely.”
Vor lifted an eyebrow.
Lena smirked. “The longer this goes on, the more I'll hate you.”
He sighed, glanced at the window, and then said, “My people only marry to have children.”
Lena blinked at the odd subject change. “What?”
“You think that allowing lust to rule you makes you an animal.
I agree. We don't let it rule us. We handle it.” Vor leaned back and sipped his whiskey.
“As you said, Nethren don't love. We have places we go to when our sexual urges hinder us, and we handle those needs with whoever we're attracted to at the moment. Simple.”
Lena blinked, her mind filling with images of Vor in a room full of naked Nethren, fucking woman after woman until he was sated.
“Yes.” Vor laughed as he watched her expression change.
“It's exactly what you're thinking. We find a partner and satisfy our lusts together.
It's very reasonable. As all things are underground. We have a need, and we take care of it. No nonsensical attachments.” He sighed.
“But that's not what I want anymore. This path that Tech has put me on has shown me that any satisfaction coming from such interactions is minor.
It's tasteless. It doesn't last. Reason isn't always the best choice. Sometimes, being unreasonable and following your instincts is far more satisfying.”
“I am not your path to emotions!”
“I think you are. Moreover, I think you want to be.”
“Fuck you!”
Vor laughed boisterously. “What happened to your delicate sensibilities, darling?”
“They're leaving me under duress. I don't feel like a lady anymore. So, speak freely, Commander Vor. Use all the foul words you want. Because I'll hurl them back at you. They're the only weapons you've left me.”
Vor bent his head. “I don't want to fuck women mindlessly in a dark room full of strangers.
It's not enough for me anymore. A week with you—even the silent, sullen you—has already shifted things inside me.
I know with absolute certainty that once I'm inside you, I will never want another woman again.”
Lena's breath stuttered in her throat as those words shivered down her belly to tingle in places words shouldn't be able to go. Inside you. How did he make those two words sound thrilling, terrifying, and possessive all at once?
He lifted his gaze to hers. “I'm sorry that I had to take you as I did. I didn't have another option available to me. I couldn't court you as you deserve or bring you flowers to make you smile. I don't want to fight with you, not with words or my body. I need your help, Lena. I need you.”
“I can't help you,” she whispered.
“Yes, you can. You already have. I'm changing every day.
I'm seeing things differently. I know now that we were never meant to live only underground.
We were meant to go back and forth, to form relationships with those on the surface and in the sky.
We've cut our world into thirds when it was meant to be whole.
That's what the Sources want. Unity. You know that.
You're a Medean. Your entire culture is based on convergence.
Hasn't it ever occurred to you that our three races need to converge as well?”
Lena didn't like the feeling blooming in her chest. Sympathy?
Agreement? What was this warmth that softened her muscles?
It didn't belong in her. Not now. Not while she faced this man who had taken her from her family.
But she wasn't a Nethren. She didn't handle her life with cold reason.
Lena merged reason and emotion, as every Medean did naturally.
Reason said that this man was her enemy, and Vor was tricking her into bedding him.
But emotions saw deeper. It gave her a view of the hollowness in his chest. The ache in his eyes.
He wanted more for himself and his people, and Lena could only find that admirable.
“I would very much like there to be peace among the races,” Lena finally said.
“That's what I want as well.” Vor leaned forward.
“But you will not get it like this.” She motioned to the window.
“Then how? We can't even speak to the other races unless we break down the barriers they constructed over our homes. How do you suggest I negotiate with them? And even if I could, what would get them to listen?”
Lena frowned.
“Yes, you see now. Tech has shown me the only path available.
I don't want to fight your people or even the Aethari.
But I will if it's the only way to bring my people back to the surface.
They need to be up here, Lena. We don't have to live on the surface, but we must be allowed up to balance the technology in our bodies with magic.”
“Do you really think that will help your people?”
“Yes! I said we don't love, but that's not entirely true.
We can form bonds with each other. Married couples usually join to have children, but after years together, they form a partnership beyond what single Nethren feel.
I think that's the seed of love. If they could just come up once in a while, magic could grow those seeds inside us.
I can already see my soldiers changing after only a week here. It's not just me, Lena.”
Lena sighed. “I understand.”
“You do?” Vor's expression turned eager.
“But it doesn't change how I feel or what I can do for you. It's magic that's changing your people, not me. I'm not what you need. You need to speak to Paradefense and negotiate a truce. That's what will help your people.”
“I agree that I need to speak to your commanders. But first, we need to establish enough footholds up here that they will be inclined to listen. Regardless, that is only one part of our unearthing. You are another branch of the plan. A personal branch. You will show me how—”
“To love,” Lena cut him off. “Yes, I heard you.”
“Lena, you're already changing my soldiers. Your song had them all in its grip. They felt something! Do you know how incredible that is? They—”
“What do you mean?” Lena cut him off. “They heard me sing? But I was . . .” Her gaze went to the open window. “Oh.”
“Everyone in the courtyard heard you, and some soldiers were even drawn outside to listen. You touched them with your song, Lena. You touched me.” Vor leaned closer.
“I've never heard anything so beautiful. I was struck dumb, and then something burned inside me, and I ran to you. I ran to you, Lena.” He ran a shaky hand over his face.
“You have magic in your voice, and that magic reached into the hearts of my people—into my heart.
I'm more certain than ever that you are the key to changing the Nethren. You are our path to the surface.”
Lena gaped at him. Her song had done that to Nethren?
It was hard for her to believe. Yes, she knew she had a lovely voice.
That, and her talent for music, were all she had to offer.
But was it lovely enough to make a Nethren feel emotions they had never felt before?
No. No, Vor was trying to trick her again.
She lifted her chin. “You're a fanatic. You're not looking past whatever Source has shown you.
Listen to me, Vor. I can't help you or your people.
Music can't make you feel something you've . . .” She trailed off, thinking about how deeply music affected her.
Not only her. She'd learned early on that music had the power to make people feel things deeply.
It awakened emotion, sparked memories, and even summoned laughter.
Combining the right words with compelling music and a pleasing voice could create a song that changed a person as easily as magic.
Was it magical? No, not like energy granted from the Source of Magic, but it had power over people.
Music could bring a crowd to tears or fill them with the determination to fight for a cause.
It could soften a heart or harden it. Music was magic.
“Lena?” Vor whispered.
She flinched. Stared at him. Built a wall around her heart.
Maybe music could make the Nethren feel something, but it wouldn't change them permanently, and it certainly wouldn't help them get to the surface.
Instead of arguing about it with Vor, she pivoted and focused on his personal expectations.
“I will never be yours. Not even if you were to become the man you say you're not and force me into your bed.
Still, I will not be yours. Only a prisoner forced to do her captor's bidding.”
Vor's hands clenched. “It's only been a week. You will change your mind. As I have. For now, let's talk about something else. You seemed shocked by my body when I undressed before you. Am I the first man you've seen naked?”
Lena gaped at him. “Excuse me?”
“You looked upon me as if you'd never seen male flesh before. I was curious if you had. Are you a virgin, Lena?”
Lena burst out laughing.
Vor frowned.
“You'd like that, wouldn't you, you male-chauvinist machine-man!”
“Chauvinist?” Vor scowled at her. “I don't believe men are better than women.”
“No, of course not. You just think women aren't as strong as men and should be protected.” Even as Lena sneered, she felt the lie in her words.
Not about Vor, but herself. Some women were strong enough to protect themselves, but Lena didn't count herself as one of them.
Even worse, she liked the thought of a man protecting her.
Her sister would probably grimace at that.
“There are many female soldiers under my command,” Vor said. “I don't believe any of them are in need of protection.”
“Just me?”
As if he could hear her thoughts and wanted to justify them, Vor said, “Yes, because you're different, Lena. You're gentle and kind. You're not a trained soldier. You need to be protected.”
“I see. And so you don't care if I've had sex before?”
“No, of course not.” Vor's eyes twitched. “Have you?”
“Of course, I have!” Lena leaned forward. “I'm thirty-seven years old!”
“I see.” He cleared his throat, his disappointment clear. “Then why did you look at me like that?”
Lena paused, and then lied, “Because you're the first Nethren I've seen naked. I was curious.”
“You were curious about my cock?”
A flush rushed up her neck. “Yes, all right? I had wondered if it would be metal.”
Vor lifted an eyebrow. “Some Nethren men do have metal cocks. As I said, the metal in us is alive. It responds to stimuli like regular flesh.” He laid his hand on the table, palm up, and slid it halfway to her. “I am willing to appease your curiosity anytime you wish.”
Lena shoved his hand away. “You already have.”
He chuckled. “When you're ready for a second look, let me know.”
“No, thank you.”
Vor just nodded and poured her another glass of whiskey.