Bride of Death (3 page)

“You are. The darkening is beginning on your wrists and throat. After the meal, you are going to medical.”

She was going to argue, but her wrist began throbbing as they spoke. “Can your doctors work on a Prothean?”

“We will find out.”

The junior officer took their plates, and they were left with the beverages.

“What do you do for fun on this ship?” She finally blurted it out when her cups were empty but he was still lingering over his.

“We train. We race. We play sports. This is an entire ship of men, so there is no end to the hormonal stupidity we get up to.”

She almost smiled. The guard tower had been similar. “You have entertainment vids?”

He grimaced. “Yes, but they are not something you would be interested in. They are primarily for the release of sexual tension and all the vids are geared toward the masculine sensibilities.”

She wrinkled her nose. She had seen a few porn vids in her day, and they hadn’t appealed to her. Something always seemed to be missing.

“So, I am stuck here.”

“I can have language instruction and history vids sent in. You can learn about my people.”

Saloa looked out the window and wistfully saw the mountains that she had called home. “Can I travel?”

“No. Even after the enclave arrives, you will only be allowed out under escort. You are far too precious to allow to escape.”

She tightened her lips at the reminder that she was still a prisoner.

He set his cup down deliberately. “And I can see that your mood has shifted. We should head to medical and get those bruises checked.”

General Hinlior stood and extended his hand to her. Apparently, it was time to leave.

She put her hand in his and walked beside him with her face blank and her head high. If he wanted to remind her that she was stuck in a situation she had no way out of, he had done it.

The medical officer’s hands were shaking as he examined her.

Hinlior stood in the room with his arms crossed, and when the officer’s hand strayed to a part of her arm that was not injured, he barked harshly at him in whatever language it was that the Anvin spoke.

The physician ran his hands over her bruised skin; a thick gel numbed her and helped the pain of the swelling. He used a scanner to check for damage, and then, he rubbed the gel in. Her hair was a barrier, so she extended her hand, and he put the solution in it. She slid her own fingers up and under her mane to ease the bruising caused by her reverse head-butt.

The physician asked Hinlior a few questions, and the general’s answer made him jerk in surprise. He gave Saloa a respectful look as he took care of the last of her bruises.

General Hinlior extended his hand when the treatment was over. She slapped her hand into his and let him escort her back to her quarters.

If she was a prisoner to an alien race, she was going to start acting like one. Name, rank and ident number.

Two days later, Hinlior came to her quarters. “Time for lunch.”

She stood up and followed him, quiet and solemn. She hadn’t spoken since their first meal together, and she was trying to come up with some sort of escape. The city beyond was almost complete, and if she wanted to hide, she needed to do it before the area was fully populated.

If she could get to the mountains, she knew the trails and tunnels better than any of the men with her. She could get lost in there until she could think of something else.

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

She gave him a blank look.

“I order you to speak.”

She whispered, “What would you like me to say?”

He blinked and leaned back. He had not been expecting her to speak.

“Anything. How was your sleep?”

“Fine.”

He exhaled sharply and instead of the dining room, he grabbed her by the bicep and hauled her into the lift and to the private level for the command officers.

He pulled her down a hall and into a room that bore his particular stamp of neatness and predatory attention. He steered her onto a couch and pulled a chair to block her escape. He sat and stared at her, his deep brown eyes searching hers. “What is it?”

“What is what?”

“Why are you so sullen?”

She couldn’t believe it. “Why! Why!” She stood and pushed at his shoulders, but he seemed to be waiting for it. He pinned her wrists together and slammed her down on his thigh.

She snarled and fought him until she slumped and panted.

“Now, tell me what is wrong, and I will see if I can help.”

“I want to choose my own mate. I mean, I know we can’t have a Prothean bonding, but it would mean so much.”

“What is a Prothean bonding?” He was genuinely curious.

She sniffled and inhaled. “We link minds during the ceremony and our emotions are shared throughout our lives. There is a reason we mate for life. If we don’t, we go mad.”

“Why haven’t you explained this to me before?” He stroked her hair away from her face.

“Would it have mattered?”

“Of course. I would have gotten the details about your tolerance, and I would have contacted the enclave.” He frowned. “Your well-being is a prime concern.”

“What if I can’t breed with more than one male?” She held her breath.

“Are you telling me that you can’t have more than one breeding partner?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know any Protheans that have. If your mate is alive, you can only have children with them.”

He sat back in his chair, taking her with him. His hand was still absently stroking her hair. “I am unaware of the customs of your people. Are you willing to let the medical officer examine you?”

She blinked. “Will you be there?”

“I will be there.”

Saloa followed her instinct and kissed him, her hands still pinned.

He backed away, stared at her for a moment and then he returned her kiss until his teeth grazed her lip. She gasped, and he pulled back.

They stared at each other, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. No man she had ever met made her feel this way, and for it to be a stranger from another world seemed to be just her luck.

She blushed and slumped her shoulders. “Medical then?”

He sighed and held the back of her head in his hand. “Why do I think my life just took a sudden shift?”

Saloa shrugged. “I don’t know, but it is nice not to be the only one in the out-of-control category.”

He chuckled and kissed her again; their connection heated and she trembled. It was her stomach growling that broke his intense exploration of her mouth.

He laughed and stroked her cheek with his thumb, releasing her wrists. “Lunch before medical then.”

She sighed. “I suppose so, though this was just getting interesting.”

He shuddered. “You have no idea.”

“Do you have another name aside from Hinlior?” She boosted herself to her feet and ran her hands down the folds of her dress.

“Althur. My mother named me Althur.” He got to his feet and adjusted his trousers.

“Althur. That was the best moment I have had in months.”

He grinned. “It would be best if you called me Hinlior when we are in front of the men.”

“Of course. Is there a chance that we will be alone again?” Her body was very interested in the answer.

He sighed. “It would be wiser not to.”

Her inner female snarled. She wanted him, and her body was telling her that he was the one. His attitude toward her future in reproduction had driven her irritation. She actually didn’t mind the idea of settling down, but an endless round of strange men was not something any Prothean woman saw in her future.

He extended his hand, and she placed her fingers in his, taking up their standard means of running around the ship.

The shift from warrior to woman was difficult for her and not one that she thought she would ever have to undergo, but her body was very specific about what it wanted, and what it wanted was holding her hand formally as they took the lift to the officers’ dining room.

In front of his men, he was always stiff and polite. He relaxed when he was alone with her, but those moments were few and far between.

After lunch, where they talked about the history that she had been taking in, they headed to the medical centre where an older physician ran the scanners over her, jerking his head up abruptly.

He spoke quickly to Hinlior, and thanks to her knack for language, she managed to translate Anvin into something she could understand.

“She is ovulating.”

The general straightened. “What?”

The physician shook his head. “I don’t understand it. Four days ago, her system was completely dormant. I was in conference with the enclave for the best supplement to stimulate her.”

Hinlior looked queasy. “We don’t have a breeder on board.”

Saloa cleared her throat and tried to work out her words in Anvin. “It wasn’t a breeder that got my system active.”

Both men whirled to look at her; the physician stared at her. “What did it?”

“I met a match that suits my biology. When that happens, Protheans become receptive.” She spoke in Prothean and Hinlior translated.

The physician ran his hand through his hair. “What...how long will this last?”

“I have forty-eight hours where I can get pregnant. After that, it is another six months before anything happens.” She shrugged. Once a female Prothean had been triggered, the distance between her receptive phases shortened dramatically until it was a constant biologic signal. That was why the Protheans could out breed most other species. Once they got started, they didn’t stop. A viable breeding pair with good medical treatment could put ten or more children into a world if there were no population restrictions in place to sterilize them at a certain level. They were world fillers.

The six-month gestation didn’t hurt either. The two most populated educational choices were obstetrics or paediatrics.

“We could put her into cold sleep.” The physician was frowning.

She shook her head. “It won’t work. My body will just turn off, not pause its programming. If you want to test me as Life Bringer, I am going to need to find a partner to make a child.”

Hinlior’s eyes lit with an inner fire. “We have no registered breeders on board.”

She waved that off. “Registered breeders are for pure-blood Anvin women. Any child I bear will be out of your specifications. Allow me my choice.”

The physician blinked. “I need to run that past the enclave. Do you have a male in mind?”

She gracefully extended her hand, palm up to Hinlior. “He is attractive, intelligent and more than that, he is the one who started this entire situation.”

Hinlior blushed. “I am flattered, but perhaps you should meet a few more of the Death Bringers to help you make up your mind.”

“I have been around men all my adult life. None have keyed in the reaction that you did. Now, the point comes, are you willing? Even among my people sometimes what is felt by one is not shared with the other.” She waited, trying to look like she wasn’t holding her breath.

He jerked his head and the physician sprang into action.

“General, please submit to a full set of scans. I will send in reports of your information, and the enclave can look them over to compare them for genetic compatibility. They are closer now, I should have authorization for you in a few hours.”

Hinlior got off the medical bed and extended his hand to her. She slipped her fingers along his and threaded her grip through his. He blinked in surprise at the small intimacy, but he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her knuckles.

“It will be fine, Saloa.”

She looked into his face and saw the patience there. “I hope so. Something tells me that we will make really cute babies.”

He swallowed hard and closed his eyes for a moment. “Don’t tease.”

He spoke rapidly to the physician, ordering him to find him when the authorization came in.

Hinlior walked with her to her quarters. Inside her room, he swung her into his embrace. “Are you sure?”

She shrugged. “No, but if my body is calling for yours, it is the only solution that I can figure out.”

He sobered, “What if they demand that you give me up for the next child?”

Saloa reached up and stroked his cheek. “I will fight them. I am a good fighter. You may have noticed.”

He turned his head and kissed her palm. “I have noticed. I have noticed that you wrinkle your brow when you are going to say something I won’t like. You bite your lip when you are embarrassed, and you hunch your shoulders when you are worrying. They are hunched now.”

She laughed softly. “I am worried. Do we have to wait for the official report?”

He pulled her close until she was flush against him. “I think I am willing to take a chance.”

Saloa kissed him, pulling his head down to hers. His hands moved over her feverishly and cool air caressed her skin when her gown slumped and slipped away. His body was hot, and she rubbed against him, fumbling at the unfamiliar clasps of his tunic as he walked backward, leading her toward the bed.

She focused on the sensation that his hands were evoking as he tipped her to the wide expanse of her bed. His hands took on a fevered intensity, and his teeth scraped against her skin as he tasted her inch by inch.

Saloa shook violently, and she finally pulled his hair to bring him up along her body. When he entered her, she arched into him, taking him deep.

He rocked, twisted and rolled with her as their bodies strived to prove who was in charge. She found pleasure three times before he joined her, and as he shook and pressed into her, Saloa whispered his name. “Althur.”

He slumped against her and rolled her to one side. “Saloa.” He caressed her sweaty hair away from her face.

“I am beginning to see why your people have populated three worlds in five thousand years.”

She blushed.

“I mean no disrespect. If the rest of the Anvin knew what I just found out, they would have left the colonists here and simply requested a personnel exchange.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

Saloa had to ask. “Is it too late? I doubt that the generation ships have even made it out of the system yet.”