Page 40 of Temple

“I thought you were going to jump me.”

He smiled. “Later, when we are on the warship and headed home. I intend to be on you, in you, or next to you the whole trip.”

“We need to make the contract.”

“I will wake you when it’s ready,” Zell murmured.

She smiled and fell asleep against him.

“Sage, wake up; it is time to sign the contract.”

Sage felt hot, slick, and aching. She fought for consciousness and stared at him. There was no indication that he had been doing anything until he licked his fingers. “Seriously?”

“I was doodling, nothing more. I have the right just to get up and walk off with you, but I am writing this very extensive contract, and you were making soft noises in your sleep, so I just—”

“Doodled. Wait. Where did you learn that term?”

He chuckled. “Symo has Terrans, and he has a psychic adaptation. He learned a lot from them, including what happens when a beloved mate dies.”

“Oh. So, Bailey’s story.”

“She needed time, and he could give it to her, so he gave her a year in total. She used it in interesting ways, and that is how she was on my station when you came through. How did you recognize each other?”

“Oh, I cursed, and she heard me. I cursed in my original language. Then she warned me of an attack, and we ran for her shuttle. She called Matron and got clearance. We spent the travel time eating and drinking. She baked Terran-style treats, and we ate, drank, and talked until we fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw her for the first time.”

“What do you mean?”

She pushed herself upright, rubbing her forehead, and saw the contract tablet in front of her. She started reading as she spoke. “She was out of her suit. All scarred up from knife and claw wounds.”

“You have beasts on your world?”

“We did, but these were human marks. Our own did that to her when they killed her husband and murdered her child.”

He got very still. “Did that happen a lot?”

“Religious nuts twisted their texts to say that it was the end of the world. No child should be born into it. Of course, some bastards just wanted to kill people without restraint. It was fun when nothing was fun.”

“So, that is what Symo meant byBailey’s bloody hobby.”

“Ah. He told you? Hah. Yeah. She was in the station, and women were telling their stories, and then, then, one of the women saw an attacker, and another saw hers, and Bailey took notes. The station didn’t kill them, but other species are open to revenge for such things. Bailey got a list of women, got a list of their assailants, and contacted the worlds where those men thought they were safe. Then, she used that suit to make them not safe.”

“Ah.”

“Same thing she did with the men who took her family.”

“Correct.” She read through the intimate stipulations that had not been in the companion contract. “Wow. You put some detail into this.”

“Symo said it was best.”

“Well, attention won’t be an issue, but I draw the line at public sex.”

“Draw the line all you like; if I need it, it will happen.”

Sage looked at him, and he was calm. “What would the circumstances be, hypothetically?”

“If I had exerted myself excessively or if you were wearing a particularly fetching gown.”

She stared at him. “So, anything. If I even part my hair in a particularly alluring fashion.”

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