Page 13 of Warrior's Captive
Ibukay’s exasperated glance conveyed the depth of her annoyance. “No, Tai’ri. Slowly, gently. Allow her to take the lead.”
The only way to escape the argument had been to sign off the comm, banishing their holo images. Neither was wrong. The marks were laid but quiescent, in a half state. They’d offer Vivian some healing benefits, the nanotech in the ink working to eliminate any antibodies that might react poorly when introduced to his . . . genetic material.
But to seal the bond, the marks required a far more primal claiming.
Wasn’t the right time. She must feel alone, frightened, and tired as heavy as she was with child. He could use those facts to his advantage—he was trained in manipulation. But that wasn’t the foundation he wanted with his child’s mother and hopefully, his bondmate.
However, small gentle touches, and brief skin contact to slowly stoke the marks and her internal fire . . . he was not an unattractive male. Females never found him wanting. Now, when it mattered the most, he’d use every tool in his arsenal to gently woo his alien mate.
“You have a preference?” he asked, indicating different tables. She shook her head, so he chose something that gave them both a view of the windows and entrances.
He’d hoped she’d seem less fragile once awake. Strange now, speaking to the living, breathing female. Intelligence and emotion in her eyes, wariness in her body language. She reached up and flicked the strands of her long dark hair out of her face, and glanced up at him. Odd for a species to be so . . . plant colored. Soil colored hair, tree bark eyes, and herbal tea skin. Except for her lips—deep pink, reminding him of his mother’s favorite velvety blooms.
She was lovely. Strange, but lovely. In another time, another place, he might have seen her walking and followed, offered her his name. Though he chose his lovers with care and didn’t flit from female to female, he wasn’t celibate. Also true that he hadn’t had a long-term relationship since that first, disastrous one during his youth.
As they sat, a server approached. He liked the low tech service, one of the reasons he’d chosen this location.
Tai’ri reached for her elbow to help her settle into the seat but lowered his hand when she jerked.
“Every time you touch me there’s a spark,” she murmured. “Like static electricity.”
He played with the beads on the wrist of the offending hand, the familiar weight of the bracelets a comfort. His eldest sister’s son was a bead blower and gifted the family with new strands every year. Tai’ri chose not to tell her why there was a spark. He doubted she would like the explanation.
“It’s dark in here,” she said.
Tai’ri frowned, but waited until the server had set down the paper menus and glasses of water. Sunlight streamed in through the wall length window, bathing the walls in warm color.
“Do you have standard vision?”
She blinked. “What?”
“Is your vision normal? Can you see color, distant objects?”
“20/20, you mean? Of course.” She stared at him, a little baffled at the random choice of subject. “They don’t do standard vision correction on young adults here?”
“Poor vision is not a vulnerability Yadeshi suffer from.”
“How do you know about it then?”
“Yedahn has a small but healthy alien population. Increasing in the last century since we’ve begun to actively recruit—”
“Grunt labor?” She looked down at her hands, folded on top of the table. “I noticed that the training programs all offered by YETI are for menial tech positions and . . . breeding.”
He frowned. “Not breeding.”
“What would you call it when you encourage human women to mate and have children with your people? And give them financial incentives to do so?”
“Genetic diversity. We’re a small planet, and we’re at a stagnant population growth.”
“Why not encourage your own people to have babies?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“The Yadeshi drive to increase genetic diversity and its alien population—in order to staff the war cruisers that protect your scientific expeditions—is one of the reasons we’re in this predicament. It created an appetite among segments of your populace. You have a demand, but limited supply, and it’s created a black market.”
Tai’ri blinked. “You’ve done some thinking about this.” This was going to be tricky. Intelligent people were harder to distract. He wanted her settled in somewhat before he revealed the truth of the marks.
“I’m an educator. I can read, research, and come to conclusions.” She looked at her arms with a strange expression. “Though I'm realizing I was researching the wrong questions.”
