Page 3 of Bonded

Ruzan shifted nervously from foot to foot as he studied our soul. His emotions were a tangle of nettles that pricked at my mind. I nodded toward her feet. “Help me lay her out straight so the pod can get a proper read.” With a task, he would be less anxious, and I could concentrate.

Tapping a few commands on the pod’s console, cuffs appeared, and I placed her wrists inside the ones above her head while Ruzan placed ones around her ankles. The cuffs would take a moment to adjust to her more delicate sizing, but when they did, they could administer any necessary medicines while monitoring bioscans.

I wondered if that was why she was cuffed inside that pod. Had she been receiving some sort of treatment when the ship she was on was destroyed?

It was extremely lucky timing if it had.

Cuffs went on her, and her eyes flew open. They were the most majestic shade of purple ringed in brown. My breath caught as I looked at them.

And then she went wild, screaming. I was afraid that she would hurt herself, so I tightened the restraints, but she kept screaming.

“Ruzan, the sedatives are taking too long. We need to calm her now!”Where was the tranq?“Hold her down while I find the tranq. She’ll hurt herself if she keeps doing this.”

As Ruzan moved toward her, I rushed to find it.

“I have a better idea,” he muttered.

I didn’t have time to listen to his fanciful notions. He always had some scheme or another.

When I finally wrestled one tranq out of its case, Ruzan had stripped down to skin, and hopped into the pod.

“What are you doing?”

“Soothing her.” He hummed, the notes of the song pitched so that it made his chest vibrate and purr.

She calmed. More so, she seemed to melt into him.

“The harmonics in our singing calm our younglings. I figured, why not try?”

Seeing them together in bed shocked me, and then I wondered why I hadn’t thought of that.

I set the tranq down on the medical side table and picked up the tablet to resume my screening. “Calms the younglings while also unlocking recognition in our mates?”

Ruzan didn’t even try to look embarrassed. “It was a safe enough bet to wager.”

“Dangerous bet, you mean. If she hadn’t been compatible as a mate, what then?”

“That didn’t happen, so it’s a moot point.”

“But it could have happened. You are too reckless by far, Ruzan.” I knew I was overstepping my bounds, and I was subordinate to him, but dammit. He could risk his life all he wanted, but he didn’t have the right to risk my soul, too.

“The ship recognized her. You recognized her, though you’re too stubborn to admit it. Not that big of a leap. And once you stop being scared, you would have been the first to thank me.”

I prodded and poked at the controls governing the pod. I didn’t like that he was right. And for the first time, I didn’t like that we shared a link via the ship. Even now, I could feel a shadow of emotions that weren’t mine tugging at me to understand. To forgive. To shut the fuck up.

I hated even more that I agreed with him.

“I’m scared. I don’t like being scared.” And then, in an even smaller voice, I added, “I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t lose her. I won’t let it happen.” He spread his hand against her soft stomach, pressing her against his body. He was hard and ready to prove his claim, but he would do nothing so crass as to initiate a bond without her knowledge.

Ruzan had the first claim as the heart of the ship, but I would have an equal claim to her afterward. She would then bind us together, and we would be the perfect pilot for the ship. Heart, mind, and soul.

For once, the ship agreed with me wholeheartedly.

“This might startle her, so get ready for her reaction. Injecting the nanotech in three…two…one…injecting.”

“How long will it take to work, do you think?”

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