Page 16 of Tornn's Mate
“I’m not certain, but the lead physician has requested my presence. I know he wouldn’t bother me if it wasn’t important. Especially today of all days.”
I feel like he knows more but doesn’t want to tell me. Not that I can blame him. We just met. We barely know one another. He probably hasn’t decided whether he can trust me yet. I hope I can trust him. I think of my uncle, his first mate, and all the sleazy, power-hungry assholes on the command team.God, please don’t let Tornn be like them.
Tornn leads me into the bathroom and gestures at a large tub. “You may bathe in my absence, and you are free to get dressed afterward. I am uncertain how long I’ll be. Please make yourself comfortable in my quarters. If you get hungry, there’s a food replicator in the kitchen.” His demeanor has turned somewhat cold. Overly formal. As though the intimacies we just shared mean nothing to him.
As though I mean nothing to him.
My heart sinks, and I instantly feel like the biggest fool. I remind myself that he needs me for one purpose and one purpose only—procreation. For the rest of our lives, I’ll likely be little more than a vessel to him.
“Thanks,” I finally reply. “I’ll be fine while you’re gone.”
He takes a step back and nods. Then he turns and strides out the automatic door of his quarters. The door closes behind him, and I wonder if it’ll open formeif I approach it. I’m not planning to make a run for it—and honestly, where the hell would I go anyway? I’m on his ship and I don’t know my way around. But I can’t ignore the temptation to test the door.
Increasingly curious, I wrap a towel around myself, wincing as the fabric rubs against my sore bottom, and traipse over to the door. But when I walk directly up to it, the damn thing doesn’t budge. My pulse accelerates.
He told me I wasn’t his prisoner, yet I can’t help but feel like one.
Especially when I’m locked in his quarters.
Apparently, I’m not allowed to leave until he’s ejaculated inside me multiple times, enough to cover me in his scent so no other Darrvason male tries to steal me.
I turn and look out the massive viewscreen, my eyes pausing on theJansonna. After theHaxxal’sdocking tunnel disconnected fromJansonna’sairlock, the human worldship drifted further away, taking up position in the center of the Darrvason fleet. I can see the outline of the larger viewscreens on the upper decks, and I try to figure out which one belongs to my family, but sigh with disappointment when I’m not successful.
I start to head back to the bathroom, but a huge painting on the wall catches my attention. It’s a depiction of a breathtakingly gorgeous alien city that rests in a valley. The buildings are constructed of what appears to be multi-colored stones. The roofs are green, teeming with lush gardens. In the distance, there are sparkling lakes and huge snow-capped mountains.
Is this a painting of the city Tornn calls home? Where is his planet located? It’s beautiful, and a sense of longing reverberates in my chest.Land. Real land.
My whole life, I’ve been waiting for the day theJansonnawould reach a habitable planet and we could finally disembark the worldship. So many times, I’ve imagined the moment I would first set foot on a planet, dreaming about how solid and permanent the ground would feel beneath my feet.
I swallow past the burning in my throat. TheJansonnahouses over fifty-thousand humans. It’s a feat of technology, or so my father always said. But it’s never felt like home. Not really. Because we were taught it wasn’t enough. Because we knew if we didn’t reach a habitable planet before we depleted our resources, we would be done for. We would perish in the cold darkness of space.
After tearing my gaze from the painting, I continue to walk around Tornn’s spacious quarters. The furniture is sparse, though his living space doesn’t seem too sterile. There are more landscape paintings that add color to the various rooms I walk through, as well as metallic artwork that's attached to the walls.
I open all the drawers I can find, only to discover most are empty. Tornn doesn’t appear to have many belongings, aside from a closet filled with black clothing and boots. There are no photographs of family members or friends. No mementoes. But maybe his people don’t care about those things.
Once I’m finished snooping, I hurry back to the bathroom and draw myself a bath. Fortunately, the controls are easy to figure out, and I manage to get the tub filled with warm, soapy water.
I ditch my towel, step into the tub, and start to sink down in the water. I hiss as my sore bottom meets the hot water, reinvigorating the sting of my spanking, but after a moment the pain recedes and I manage to sit down.
It’s been ages since I’ve enjoyed a real bath with steaming water. TheJansonnahas been dealing with water shortages for years, and even wealthy families like mine who live in luxurious upper deck quarters must ration their water usage and consumption. That means nothing but freezing cold, one-minute showers.
My mind wanders as I lounge in the tub. Tornn’s been gone for about twenty minutes, and though I try not to worry about the reason for his absence, I can’t help it. I finally allow myself to complete the thought I couldn’t finish earlier…
If Paddax dies, what will that mean for the alliance? What will it mean for the woman who injected him with the harmful substance? I try to remember all the faces from our group of thirty. I don’t know all their names, but I’d recognized most of them from school and social activities. Those who’d spent time in the brig were familiar since it’s a very public event when an individual on theJansonnais sentenced to serve time away from society. Trials, like executions, are broadcast on every available screen on the ship.
I sigh and resolve that I’ll find a way to visit the human woman who’s currently in theHaxxal’sbrig. Once I’m permitted to leave Tornn’s quarters, I’ll speak with her and discover why she attacked her mate. Maybe if I can convince her to apologize, everything will be okay.
A dark thought enters my mind. What if she was defending herself against Paddax? What if he was trying to hurt her and she simply fought back? The hypospray filled with poison (or whatever it was filled with that caused illness) could’ve been her insurance plan. Maybe Paddax was rough and tried to force himself upon her. Maybe she had no choice.
Shit. I run a hand through my hair, then dunk my entire head under the water. After I resurface, I wipe the water from my face and try to stop myself from thinking the worst of the Darrvasons. I know so little about them that maybe it’s not fair to paint any of them as villains.
All I know about them is from scant information Nathan has shared with me. As a security officer, he’s observed several meetings between the command team and the aliens from afar as he stood guard in the docking bay.
They’re more technologically advanced than us and possess an impressive amount of weaponry. They’re currently exploring this sector of space and aren’t entirely familiar with it, but they claim to have discovered several nearby planets that hold promise for humankind, and they recently deployed probes to those planets.
Beyond this information and the fact that they’re low on females, the Darrvasons are a mystery to me. How far away is their homeworld? How long have they been exploring this sector?
They found us. They came upon theJansonnaso quickly one day, their fleet bolting out of hyperspace directly in front of the bridge’s viewscreen, evading our sensors and taking the entire worldship by surprise.
