Chapter 6
MARDOK
I’m still seething from the conversation with the captain as I head through the empty halls of the ship.
He’s been quiet lately, but he’s not the most garrulous of men, even on a good day.
I didn’t think anything of it. To think that I might not have a job—hell, a home—when we’re done here…
More than Farli’s tribe is at stake now.
Niri and Trakan and Chatav will all be without a job if we don’t get this delivery out.
What if Farli’s people do want to be rescued?
Do we dump the cargo and screw ourselves out of a living, or do we tell them to wait patiently for the next rescue ship?
We could alert the nearest Interplanetary Enforcement station and notify them of the situation, but that opens The Tranquil Lady’s crew to suspicion for being in the area in the first place.
They might delay us just for questioning.
And if they do take charge, Farli and her people will be shuttled through the system and… I’ll never see her again.
Either way, once I leave this planet, Farli is long gone. For some reason, that disturbs me far more than it should. I’ve just met her. I shouldn’t care. Instead, I’m obsessing over her with every waking moment. And as I head toward med bay, I keep picturing how Farli’s going to react when I leave.
She thinks we’re married. According to her customs, because she ‘sang’ to me, we’re now together and should make babies.
It’s absolutely crazy.
And yet…I’m drawn to Farli, far more than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. Maybe it’s the fascination of her na?ve happiness. She’s brimming with life and love and hope and all the things I lost long ago. That has to be why I’m obsessed with her. That and the obscene way she puts her mouth on me.
It’s normal, and it’ll fade. A guy like me won’t hold her interest. She deserves better.
She certainly deserves better than a life stuck on this iceball of a remote planet.
And I can’t give her much of a life, on or off it.
I’m just a loner with a small bank account and an even smaller living space.
No family. Not many friends. If I disappeared, no one would miss me, except maybe Niri.
My thoughts are dark as med bay opens. Both Farli and Niri are still here, and Farli’s ridiculous, smelly pet is in the corner, chewing on something, tail flicking.
Farli’s dressed in a thin plastic gown as she sits on Niri’s examining table.
She swings her legs like a kit, and her face lights up with excitement the moment she sees me.
Even from across the room, I can hear her begin to purr.
And I smile despite myself. She’s like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, and just seeing her delight at my return…
it makes me feel too keffing good. “Sorry I took so long to return.”
“I missed you,” Farli says, beaming at me. In the gown, swinging her legs, she looks like a kid. But then she licks her lips and her gaze moves over me possessively, and I remember all the very adult things we did last night. She’s not a child. Not in the slightest.
Niri looks up from her scanner. “Oh good. We’re just finishing up here.” She squints at her screen and then looks at me, then back at it again. “Huh.”
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.” She taps a few buttons and then puts her pad in a pocket of her jumpsuit. “Are we done here?”
“I should take Chahm-pee outside if you do not want him dropping dung in here,” Farli says as she hops to her feet and pulls the plastic gown over her head.
Her gorgeous body is suddenly nude, and my mouth goes dry at the sight of all that blue skin and her long legs.
My gaze is drawn to the vee between her thighs, and the sight of her delicate folds makes my cock grow hard immediately. Keffing hell.
“Farli!” Niri squawks, and rushes over with a blanket. “What are you doing?”
She gives Niri a confused look, glancing over at me. “I am not cold.”
“I don’t care!” She wraps Farli in the blanket. “Get dressed in here. We’ll wait outside.”
I let Niri usher me out of the room, and I don’t correct her that I met Farli nearly naked.
Niri likes protocol and order. She clearly also dislikes nudity, and the thought makes a grin sneak across my face as the door to med bay slides shut.
“Don’t worry, Niri,” I tease her. “I’ve seen naked women before. ”
Niri shoots me a look and pulls me away from the door, her bony hand clenching my arm. “We need to talk.”
“What’s wrong?” Has she found something terrible in Farli’s scan? I feel cold with fear. “Is she sick?”
“Actually, she’s probably healthier than you and I both.” She pokes a finger in the center of my chest. “What I want to know is what’s going on between the two of you.”
I take a step back. “What do you mean?”
“I know you didn’t sleep in the storage room last night. I came by to chat with you and you weren’t there. Wanna explain that, or do I need to bring it to Chatav’s attention?”
I just snort, because we both know she won’t do that. Niri is trustworthy. “Nothing happened.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and looks at me.
“I swear, nothing happened. We talked a little and I slept on the floor.” I don’t add that Farli draped herself on me and slept right next to me. “She didn’t want to be alone in a strange place, that’s all.”
“You’re full of shit,” Niri tells me. “She’s been asking questions about you nonstop since you left. If you have family, how I met you, what you enjoy ‘hunting.’” She gives me another patient look. “She has a crush on you.”
I say nothing.
“We’re playing that game, are we? Okay, then.
You wanted me to run tests on her?” She shoots me a cross look and then pulls her pad out of her pocket and pecks the stylus on the screen.
“She’s approximately twenty-five Homeworld years old.
Adult. Last menstruated about three weeks ago.
Blood sugars are excellent, teeth and vital signs are perfect.
She’s got that parasite, but other than that, everything’s as it should be.
Oh,” she adds in an exaggerated voice, “and she started ovulating when you walked into the room. Interesting, isn’t it? ”
I can feel my ears growing hot. “She what?”
“Ovulated. The moment she saw you.” Niri’s brows go up. “I was doing a scan on her when you walked in, and boom. Egg production. And this is not the timeframe for her to regularly be ovulating. So now do you want to quit lying to me and tell me what the kef is going on?”
I rub a hand along my jaw, unsure of how much to say.
Niri’s the closest thing I have to a friend, but she’s also prickly at best. In the end, I decide to confide in her.
“She thinks I’m her mate. She said her symbiont chose me for her and that we’re now mated.
” I tell her all about what Farli shared with me.
“Well, she’s not lying to you. You have sex with that woman and you’re going to get her pregnant. Didn’t think you wanted to be a dad.”
I didn’t think I did, either. But there’s something so wholesome and happy about Farli that…I don’t hate the idea of making a family with her. I don’t love it, yet, but I also don’t hate it. Which seems even crazier to me, so I wave it off. “I’ve known her for a day. It’s nothing.”
“That so? Because she didn’t ovulate around Trakan.”
A hot surge of jealousy rips through me. “You keep him away from her.” I don’t like the thought of him hovering around her, needling her, or worse, trying to seduce her. She’s far too trusting for the likes of him.
Niri shoots me a knowing look. “It’s nothing, huh?”
I clench my jaw and glare at Niri. “Nothing happened between us, and that’s all I will say.” I push away from her and head back toward med bay.
“Just let me know where to send the wedding invite,” she calls back mockingly.
FARLI
“You want to visit my village?” I look at the faces of Mardok’s friends in surprise. I thought they did not like me.
Cap-tan nods. “It is our duty.”
Oh. Well, I do not know what he means by that.
“I think my chief would like to meet,” I say, a little guarded.
“Though I cannot speak for him.” I glance over at my new mate, but his expression is impossible to read.
“If I start running now, I can make it there in a few days and will be back in a hand or so with an answer.”
“Run?” Cap-tan blinks at me. “Oh no, my dear, we will take you.”
It is on the tip of my tongue to ask how, and then I feel foolish.
They live in a flying cave. Of course they can fly to my people.
I look at Mardok uncertainly, and he gives me a small nod.
“How long does it take? To fly?” I also worry if it will hurt when we land, but I feel foolish asking such a thing.
“But a few moments,” Cap-tan says, and smiles at me.
I do not entirely trust that smile. But Mardok is here, and I trust him. “All right. How do we go?”
“We need you to show us the way.” Cap-tan gestures behind him. “Join us on the bridge and we can begin. Your pet can stay in med bay for now.”
Niri makes a strange noise.
“Farli can sit with me,” the other male—the mocking one—says, and winks at me.
Mardok growls low in his throat and steps forward, putting himself between me and the other male. “She sits with me.”
“Trakan is the navigator—” Cap-tan begins.
“She sits with me,” Mardok repeats. I beam happily up at him, because he’s being possessive over me, just like a good mate should be. I like it. I hold on to his arm, pleased.
Cap-tan stares at Mardok for a long moment. “See that she does not get in the way.”
“She won’t.”