Page 15 of Souls of Steel
“Or maybe you’re just special. After all, there’s never been a female chimera tamer before.”
I didn’t think I was that special. My love for chimeras notwithstanding, I’d always been a pretty regular girl. But I didn’t bother correcting him. If he and other people like him assumed I was different from other women, it could only be an advantage, at least for now.
“In any case, we should get on board,” he continued before I could come up with an actual reply. “His Royal Highness wishes to return to Tartarus Base as soon as possible. We shouldn’t leave him waiting.”
“Yes, of course,” I answered, trying very hard to not think about what that meant. I turned toward my parents once again. “Mother, Father, goodbye. May Gaia guide you on your path. I’ll do my best to contact you as soon as I can.”
“And may Tartarus guide you on yours, my daughter,” my mother said. “I’m sure you’ll make us all very proud.”
The comment took me by surprise, since it wasn’t my mother’s habit to deliver blessings or farewells in Tartarus’s name. It was another sign of how much things had changed. All of a sudden, I realized how much had remained unsaid between me and my parents. I wanted to hug them one last time, to tell them I loved them, to thank them for the way they’d raised me and to reassure them that, no matter what happened to me, I’d never blame them. But I didn’t get the chance. Knox grabbed my elbow and ushered me into the shuttle. The hatch closed, shutting my parents out.
I ached to rage at him for denying me the opportunity to finish my conversation with my parents. But lashing out wouldn’t help me, so instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. “How long will the trip to His Highness’s vessel last?”
“Only a few minutes,” Knox answered. “Brendan brought the ship as close to New Washington as possible.”
“That was kind of him,” I offered, not knowing what else to say.
Knox shrugged. “Kindness had nothing to do with it. If he’d been elsewhere, it would’ve just taken us longer to get back to base.”
I wondered if the prince had come specifically to pick Knox up. Knox had called him by his given name, so they were likely very close. It occurred to me that even if I’d wanted to seduce the prince, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
Knox would be a very effective barrier between the two of us. The thought was strangely reassuring and the knot of tension inside me unraveled.
Knox guided me to the passenger section of the shuttle and buckled me in. His hands didn’t linger on my body and I began to feel stupid for my previous concerns.
Knox and other men like him must’ve seen and slept with countless other women, far prettier than I could ever be. There was no reason why anyone would want me in particular. I was going to Chimera Academy as a tamer. My gender was irrelevant.
Taking that into account, I thought back at my interactions with Knox Alexander. They hadn’t been great. I had to try to be a little nicer to my fellow students. I wouldn’t sleep with any of them like my mother had suggested, but surely, making friends was possible.
Biting my lower lip, I turned toward Knox and shot him a hesitant smile. “Flight Lieutenant Alexander, if you would be so kind… Could you tell me more about the academy? It’s a bit of a mystery on Earth. What does a tamer study there?”
For a few moments, Knox just stared at me like I’d sprouted a second head. Then, all of a sudden, he was in my space, practically on top of me, showing no signs of losing his balance even if the shuttle was already in flight. He trapped me between the chair and his massive, muscular form, and my senses began to scream in alarm.
“You shouldn’t do that, Ms. Renard,” he whispered huskily in my ear. “I’m trying very hard to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I’m a man and if you make an invitation, I’ll take you up on it.”
I wanted to kick myself for my behavior. Hadn’t I decided mere minutes earlier that I’d be careful around him? Why had I changed my mind so quickly?
“It wasn’t an invitation of any kind,” I replied. “I was just asking a question. But if you’re not capable of answering it without physical assault, fine. I’ll find out more about the academy once I get there.”
My voice came out much too breathless for my comfort and my head was spinning. A strange warmth coursed through my body, one that had nothing to do with the power of Tartarus. My breasts felt heavy and my stomach fluttered with a powerful physical awareness and a need I’d never experienced before.
No. I refused to do this. There was no shame in having a sexuality, but if I followed such impulses, my fellow students would never respect me. “Now, please, remove yourself,” I continued. “I don’t like to be touched.”
He laughed, and the sound flowed over me like a physical caress. “Liar. You’re practically begging for it. Terran women are all the same. They always want to be—”
The memory of what my mother had told me flashed through my mind. Fury replaced my incipient arousal. Suddenly, the fact that he was so close to me seemed unbearable.
He wasn’t completely wrong. I did like to be touched. But not like this, and not by men who saw me as nothing more than a sexual object.
Snarling, I tried to shove him back. When that proved to be a futile effort, I slapped him, and the force behind the blow made my hand ache. It was still satisfying, because it left a distinctive red mark on his cheek. His eyes widened in shock, and I savored the knowledge that I’d proven him wrong. “Like you said, I’m not like the women you’ve met before,” I reminded him. “In fact, for you, I won’t ever be a woman at all. Just another chimera tamer. Is that perfectly clear?”
He pulled away and got up, his seductive aura fading into a far colder, calmer demeanor. “Yes, Ms. Renard. I understand.”
Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed out of the compartment. I slumped against my seat, feeling exhausted even if I’d just left New Washington.
This trip to Chimera Academy hadn’t started well, had it?
Tamer of the Serpent
