Page 26 of Stolen Slave

“I can feed myself,” she said, trying to keep her legs closed.

“But that will not help you.”

I patted her shoulder and continued to speak to her in low and slow tones until she gave in with an angry growl. The show of temper was a good sign, regardless of the elevation of fear in her scent.

This time, I waited until she started eating to ease my legs open. It widened her even farther. She swung her left elbow back into my ribs then stiffened.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered before crying.

My chest ached, and I wanted nothing more than to gather her into my arms. But I knew this moment was too important. She’d struck out, fought back against me. Considering the way she’d looked when I’d found her, the Wsoau would have shocked or beaten her for such insolence.

I ran both hands over her upper arms.

“Come now. Feel what I’m doing. Does this hurt? No. I am proud of your strength. And you will need much more.”

I widened my legs farther and shifted my hips back so her birthing sheath was likely fully exposed to the air. Through it all, I continued to pet her skin.

“You are strong. You will survive this. You will see that not everyone means to harm you.”

A shuddering breath escaped her. It took several prexels for her to calm enough to resume eating.

When she emptied the second bowl, she immediately shifted positions, sitting across my lap and leaning into me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her until all the fear faded from her scent.

Once I knew she was calm, I eased her from my lap and cleaned up. She stayed close to me, watching how I placed the dirty bowl and spoon into the side of the sanitation unit. When I finished, I turned to her.

She looked up at me, a wary expression on her small face, then moved closer until she leaned against me. I ran my hands over her shoulders and head.

Testing her trust had seemed to tire her. I picked her up and carried her from the galley. However, when I opened the door to our sleeping quarters, she shook her head. Fear bloomed in her scent.

“I don’t want to go in there.”

I sighed and turned away from the space.

“If you are not ready for rest, I will not force you, small one.”

Although I worried that the maintenance I needed to attend to would bore her, I took her to the cargo bay with me. She stayed close when I reluctantly released her but looked around with interest. Knowing she was safe enough, I went to the datapad while watching her as she wandered over to a drop bin.

“Command Korahn,” I said, speaking to the ship’s nav system, “prep life suit for verification.”

One of the side panels opened, but I didn’t pay attention to the life suit within. Instead, I watched my female carefully climb up onto the drop bin, flashing me the parts she otherwise desperately sought to hide from me. Turning, she settled that intriguing backside onto the bin’s hard surface. Thankfully, I was meticulous about decontaminating them after each use.

Turning away from her, I stripped off my pants and put on the life suit. The nano-tech embedded material immediately adjusted to my form, molding to me like a second skin. The extra matter around the neckline moved upward, as designed, to cover my face. It started filtering the air I breathed. The thing had cost me a fortune but had saved my life more than once.

“No!”

I turned toward my female as she leapt from the bin and ran toward me. The way her hands tugged at the suit covering my chest surprised me, and I caught her up in my arms and did my best to assure her.

“You are safe, my fragile human. This life suit cannot hurt you. A few more prexels, and I will remove it. I swear.”

She seemed to calm at the sound of my voice and pulled back from me, studying the suit. The scent of her fear faded, and she eased from my arms to walk around me, running her hands over the suit. It felt like a bare caress on my skin.

My ambal swelled with an influx of secretion.

“Diagnostic report.” The suit rattled off its statistics, only audible to me inside the suit. As I’d anticipated, everything was in working order.

“Return to stasis.”

The female wrapped her arms around my middle when my face reappeared. However, her joy faded as the suit continued to fall away, and she hurried back to her perch. Rather than watch me remove the suit, she studied the mounds of mineral waste.

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