Chapter 6 Timber
Timber
"Ididn't think you'd take it," I said from the hall as I peeked around the wall to see Axelun grab the vial.
Kaustol told me that he'd offer it to him, and I listened to the whole conversation as he explained what it would do.
I knew Axelun wanted to stop me from doing well in the reality vids, but what he didn't know was that I wasn't part of the main mating game.
I was the companion of the real contestant.
Without Remy, I wouldn't be here at all.
Sure, my plug was popular enough to pay the bills, but it wasn't my plug that got us the gig. Remy tried to hard to keep her DNA a secret from databases, but someone had it and it's the reason she was picked. The invite was clear that Remy was picked and I was her companion.
He turned. The vial clutched in his hand.
"You're not with Commissioner Umal?"
"Sorry to disappoint," I said with a teasing smile.
"I know how much you wanted to stick the screws to him if I said your name while he was exploring my body.
" I wouldn't tell him that I thought whatever exploration Umal would have done was likely to be fumbling around awkwardly as I tried to train him to do more than rely on alien chemistry.
"The only one I wish to stick any screws to is you.
I thought I made myself clear when I bathed in your pleasure," he said then licked his lips and took a predatory step towards me.
I gripped the wall to prevent myself from fleeing on instinct.
The way his eyes roamed over me was doing things that I couldn't deny as my thighs clenched together.
"What will you do with the krelin's musk?" I asked to change the subject back onto him.
"Exactly what he asked of me, nothing more. Luring him to someone else, isn't against my principles. If you're asking if I'll use it on you, then that is a no. It's your choice if you wish to fuck him, but he is not allowed to fuck you."
"What's the difference?" I asked breathlessly. My chest was rising and falling quicker than it should. Blood pumped through my veins, igniting my nerve endings.
"The difference is your choice, little mate. You must choose. If you choose him, then you were never mine. Is he what you want, Timber? Why didn't you follow him when he left this observatory? Why did you stay to watch me instead?"
"I, I..."
Was I ready to admit that all I could think about was him? We barely just met...
"I won't fuck you until you're mine," he promised. "To be mine, you must choose me as I have chosen you."
"You've chosen me?" I asked in shock. "I thought you were trying to cock block me from finding a mate? You said—"
"I meant it. I do not claim to act rationally if you choose someone else, but I will allow you to choose. And it will be up to that mate to fight me for you. I suggest picking someone that can protect their bond with you, as I will not give up easily."
"But you don't even know me..."
"Anyone who can betray their best friend and still have their loyalty is brave and honorable. You did one dishonorable act that does not define all of your actions before it, nor those after. You must've had a reason to lie to your companion, and I'm here to listen."
I've had no one to talk to about it, without confessing to Remy. He already knows I tricked her into coming here.
"Remy has DNA markers that make her kind of like a universal mate for aliens. I looked it up after a notice of mandatory service was sent to our place for her to join the mating project where she'd have to join the breeding center to either be breeding stock or allow scientists to study her.
"Luckily, she's always been a bit paranoid and stripped her DNA from her hair and always wore a signal jammer for her privacy.
She never got the notice, and I'm not sure how they got her DNA, but I knew the H.E.T.
would take her if she applied. At least here she has a choice.
If she goes back to Earth, they will find a way to take her against her will. "
I took a deep breath and waited for what he would say.
I knew many would say I should tell Remy, and she'd understand, but I liked knowing that if she did find a mate here, that it won't be tainted with the reality that if she didn't choose someone that what waited for her on Earth would be worse for her.
I also double her chances of staying away from Earth to get my own mate and convince her to follow me to another planet.
"She will find out, eventually," he noted logically before adding, "She'll forgive you. Though I should warn you that she has plans to slap you in the tit before demanding you renewed companionship."
"How do you know that?" I asked with a chuckle.
"She said as much when she woke from the medbay."
"She doesn't mean it," I assured him. "She's threatened me with slapping my tits on many occasions. Most she's ever done is hug me tightly and shake me around. One time she did smack the back of my head... I guess that counts."
"I'm in," he said and I stared at him as he walked past me down the hall.
"You're in?"
"We'll return to AsunGor. The mating games are for those who have plug channels. She doesn't, and you're the companion, so where she goes you go. Where you go, I go. All human contracts have clauses for bonded mates that put them under the law of their mate's planet. We will be her matchmakers."
"What are you going to do?"
"What I said I was going to do. Musk all the other humans. It's temporary, but it will be enough to make a universal mate be irresistible to every other mate prospect on this ship. She will have her pick of mates."
I laughed with relief washing over me. He understood I'd do anything to protect her, and he'd help me.
"I figured I could find the mate and she'd come with me," I said, as I shuffled my feet after him to catch up. My thoughts went to just mating with him and taking Remy with us, but maybe that was too soon?
"Mating me wouldn't help her, and I don't want you to choose Umal simply to save your companion.
I'm an ambassador, posted on Earth. Mating me doesn't take us away from Earth, and neither of us can protect her from being taken by the Earth government.
" He handed me the vial of musk. "Say whatever you must and convince your fellow humans to apply a drop to their wrists before bed. I'll lead you to each of the pods."
With a skip in my step, I went to the first pod, and then called out, "Who wants some alien musk?"
"Not quite what I was expecting," Axelun stated, but shrugged and left me to do my thing.
This was for Remy, and if Kaustol was telling the truth, the musk was diluted and would only linger on a compatible mate past twelve hours.
I wanted the musk to last an entire day on every human here that wasn't already interested in someone.
Calling out for those interested is a way of not putting the musk on someone who is already bonding with someone.
"Why do you have alien musk?" Delphey asked as she braided her hair for bed.
"I was told that the musk makes someone sleepy and helps with insomnia if you're not a compatible mate with the alien.
If you are a compatible mate it will simply make you more noticeable to them.
So, if anyone is feeling nervous and needing a way to get to sleep easier tonight, this is a good remedy, or you find out that you have a potential mate. Win-win."
"So, you got it from the medic?" she pressed, and I was dangerously close to lying if I answered that.
I bent the truth instead, "I'm not opposed to giving myself an advantage in snagging an alien mate. Everyone is here for their own reasons, but most of them include not returning to Earth."
"Why give it to others instead of keeping it for yourself?" She wouldn't let it go. Delphey wasn't a push over, and she certainly didn't trust me. "Musk is a krelin mating tactic, isn't it? You're doing that commander guy a favor, aren't you?"
Well, not exactly where I thought she was going with her doubts, but if it gets her to help me give the musk to everyone then I'll go with it. Getting her on board would convince the others.
"He is a practical kind of guy. It would rule you out as a mate if you get sleepy from trying the diluted musk," I admitted.
"And if I don't pass out? Would he know?"
I sucked in a breath.
I nodded, unable to lie to her about something like that. Sure, my main priority was still hidden from her, but I wasn't a complete asshole.
"He said it was diluted enough that it wouldn't do more than leave a marker on you for him to smell. It wouldn't influence you into anything you don't want. You can still say no to him."
"Something tells me he isn't the kind to take no for a final answer, but I didn't come here to not play the game."
"You'll try it?"
"No," she said with a smile. "But I'll convince everyone else to do it."
"Why?" Now, I was curious.
"I think it will be fun to watch him squirm with too many matches for a day.
I chatted with the medic about musk earlier after we ran into him.
It dilutes fast after it's released into the air.
It needs to reach a host immediately to have any effect.
That vial you have was probably extracted by the medic, which means that it's considered safe for use in the games, and has a short shelf life once it reaches oxygen.
It metabolizes and is not a permanent effect even if it does reach a host."
"What will you do while he's pursuing compatible mates?"
"I'm going to pretend I took it along with everyone else and simply fell asleep... if he asks."
"What if you are compatible? You could take it and know for sure. You could fall asleep for real."
"I'm going to test him the same way he's testing us. I won't smell like him, but I'll smell like me."