Mandate (4 page)

He turned and smiled at her. “The moment I saw that image, I stopped looking and began waiting.”

She didn’t know what to say. “I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”

She stepped toward the edge of the stone walkway and followed his lead, staring up at the moons. “Why was I bound to you before I landed?”

Not making eye contact made the conversation easier. It was a strange business to have to discuss marriage and children before she even knew his last name.

He squeezed her hand. “I am not the most vocal or forward of the Guardians. I did not want to chance their linking to you before I could introduce myself. I didn’t know about Beryl at the time. Toyo and Rand could have easily gotten between us.”

“So, you cheated?”

He chuckled. “I believe the Terran term is
stacking the deck
in my favour. Bebe taught me that one.”

She laughed. “I think I can respect that. I have done it myself on occasion when working with folk who did not want to heed me. I use whatever I can to get the desired result.”

“I am glad you do not resent me for it. Being mated to a man you haven’t even met must be a little disturbing.”

“The actual mating part is going to have to wait until I am comfortable with you seeing me naked. Really naked, not in the portrait. The scars are not pretty.”

“They are marks of a survivor, but if you wish, you can have treatment to remove them.”

Wren tried out something she was longing to do. She moved to stand close enough to feel the body heat coming off him, and he put his arm around her.

“I will think about it. They are part of me.”

“I understand. I also understand about the lack of children born of your body. There are options there as well.”

She blinked. If he knew she still had an ovary, then he was right, he did know quite a lot about her.

For a few minutes, she stood with him, soaking in his body heat through her suit. Finally, she sighed and straightened. “Time to tidy up the dining room.”

“The bots already took care of it. The others have come out of hiding and are in the common room watching a vid. Well, sort of. They are really watching us.”

She sighed. “And now we have to go in and face them. Wonderful.”

“It isn’t so bad. Beryl and Toyo were far worse when they got going. She kept getting arrested.” He chuckled.

“Oh, that reminds me. Someone has to sign for me with the peacekeepers. I don’t want to chance an incident.”

“If we are not called out, I will take care of it in the morning.”

They turned and walked toward the building. She looked at him sideways. “So, does Toyo still think he is the only Guardian who can fly?”

Drovin winked at her and pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh, I am saving it for a special occasion.”

She was still giggling when they entered the base and everyone pretended to be watching a small marsupial outrun a rainstorm with a documentary voiceover droning on.

They silently joined the others and sat with them as the documentary wore on.

Wren listened to the silent hum of contented emotions and she relaxed. Everyone was satisfied with the direction the evening had taken, and they were enjoying the companionship. They had brought out the second batch of cookies and the cleanup bots were on the lookout for crumbs.

It was not bad for her first day on an alien world.

The spare room was kept for Nyal Imperium Guardian Project assessors. Wren woke up before dawn, stumbled into the bathroom and got dressed.

She walked past the other doors, all with slumbering occupants. She began to make breakfast as silently as possible. By the time she felt the first mind waking up, she had tea, caf and the morning beverage of choice that was thick, green and smelled like toasted oatmeal all ready.

The pancakes were stacking up and the disks of breakfast meat were seared and on the warming element.

Drovin came in with a shy smile. “Good morning.”

She smiled. “Good morning.”

He walked up to her and kissed her quickly. Her lips tingled wildly for a moment and she blinked. “Um, hello.”

He chuckled and produced a flower from behind his back. “This is an urhing. It only blooms an hour before dawn, so I got up to catch it for you.”

The flower was purple and scarlet, streaked with a soft gold. The stem was a soft lavender and the leaves were the same gold as the petals.

No one had ever given her a flower before. She was suddenly, devastatingly unsure. Her fingers trembled as she reached out, and it was only the scent of the pancake that brought her to her senses. She quickly flipped the pancake with her thoughts and she took the flower in both hands, careful not to crush any part of it as she inhaled its heady scent.

He chuckled. “They told me you had a deft touch with the ability to move objects, but I wasn’t sure until just now.”

She kept working on breakfast as she admired her prize.

Drovin laughed. “The way you are looking at that flower, you would think you had never been given one before.”

She flicked him a quiet glance, and he paled, stammering apologies.

Wren smiled. “It is fine. You are making up for it now. What do I do with the flower now?” At home, she would have put it in a vase, but she didn’t have a vase.

He chuckled. “Put it behind your ear. It will continue to flourish with your body heat. Here, let me.”

He reached out and tucked the flower behind her ear; the scent filled the air the moment it nuzzled against her skin. Drovin nuzzled her cheek with his as he inhaled the scent that flourished against her skin.

She turned her head and kissed him; the food continued to cook and flip as she threaded her hand under his braid and held his mouth to hers. When she tasted him, her senses went wild and she shivered against him, her arms the only ones that held them together. Her teeth grazed his lips but didn’t bite. The sensation of the fangs descending caught her by surprise and increased her ardor.

She felt his arousal but also the restraint in his emotions. He was holding himself back and she reluctantly released him.

“Sorry. Thank you for the flower.” Her words lisped lightly as she spoke around her fangs.

“Wren, I am not holding back because I don’t want to pursue this, I am holding back because the rest of the base is about to wake and I don’t think you want to find yourself on the counter with me out of control. I am holding on to what little I do possess, but it is not an easy thing.”

There was sweat on his brow, and she could feel the arousal humming through him. He was right, she could feel the others waking around the base. Beryl and Toyo were leisurely having morning sex that was gaining in intensity and that could have spurred her own reaction. It had happened before.

She stepped back and let her hands do what her mind had taken over. When the others arrived, breakfast was ready and her body was calm once again, teeth normal.

Drovin set the table, and when they started to trickle in, all was ready.

Breakfast was amusing. Everyone had different favourites, and she watched them pick them out and transfer them to their plates. She snickered inwardly but made mental notes to keep track of who liked what.

The morning grain drink disappeared, as did the caf and tea. This was a thirsty bunch. After breakfast, she took an inventory and went over a supply list with Rand.

Loesh headed to the city to do Wren’s official transfer as well as some personal shopping.

Beryl and Toyo went to spar in the gym, but it was more for fitness than a need to blow off steam.

Drovin was in the living room doing some weird yoga that Wren found fun to watch, and when she finished her itemizing and tour of the facility, she returned to watch him do handstands that turned into leg-free push-ups.

She took a comfy seat with her feet up, and she watched him while he worked out. “It is impressive, but is it for me or because Toyo and Beryl are getting busy in the gym.”

“Both.” He gracefully stepped upright. He did lunges with slow deliberation and then smiled. “Would you care to go for a run with me around the island?”

“I only run when chased. I can move all right, but running is out of my scope of motion.” She sighed regretfully. “You head off and get all sweaty. I will be here when you are done.”

He stepped over to her with the slow grace of a predator and bent forward. “This exercise is a distraction.”

She whispered. “I guessed that much.”

He nuzzled her cheek next to the flower again before he straightened and headed for the exit.

With a heavy sigh, she looked over at Rand, “So, do you guys put shirts on at all while you are home?”

“Nope. It cuts down on the laundry.” He grinned.

She sighed. “From what Beryl has told me, I am amazed no one has complained about my suit.”

“It is a nice suit. The lines are clean and the design suits you. Hers were just awful.”

She snickered.

“Don’t tell her I said that. She seems to be calm today, but you never know.”

“I am keeping tabs on her. She is exhilarated but calm. The combat with Toyo has amused her.”

Rand sighed. “Of course it did. He doesn’t hit her and she has license to pound him into the walls. We have had to obtain a special set of repair bots just for the gym.”

“How have you adjusted to her strength increase?”

Rand shook his gold head and then shrugged. “Pretty well. She hasn’t taken a swing at any of us since the supplement. Well, no one but Toyo, and he is rather to blame for her moods.”

Wren chuckled. “I hope to keep everyone safe and on an even keel.”

With that goal in mind, she set about creating some snack bars that could be used for Beryl with no preparation. If anyone had told her that she would have become an expert at cooking with insects, she would have sneered that she would never be that desperate, and yet, here she was toasting larvae and estimating their doneness based on the nutty aroma.

As the chassa cooled, she mixed the rest of the ingredients, sealing everything with a thick honey before pressing it into a pan with oiled hands.

“That looks good.” Rand looked over her shoulder.

“It has chassa in it. I can make some without if you are interested.” She smiled at him as Drovin came in.

Rand went flying through the air and was pinned to the ceiling while Drovin held him there with one arm flung upward to focus the energy that was holding his friend prisoner.

The dark swirl of emotion coming off Drovin shocked her. Wren sent tendrils of calm into the storm, but they were absorbed and disappeared.

Contact seemed the less safe but necessary option. A few steps took her to Drovin’s side, and she touched his arm and chest. “Easy, Drovin. He was just after food. He complimented my cooking, so I smiled.”

She had her mind ready, and the moment that Drovin eased up, she lowered Rand to the floor.

Drovin’s grey skin was flushed and his heart was pounding. “I…”

Wren pressed her forehead to his chest and sent calm to him. It crept over him in a warm wave, and she felt his muscles relax.

He pressed his hands to her shoulders and down to her arms. He lifted her up and their lips were an inch from contact when an alarm rang through the base.

She felt his hands clench on her arms, but he carefully set her down, backed away and sprinted for his quarters to get into his suit.

Rand went past her and muttered, “Thank you.”

The base was a whirlwind of activity for a few minutes, and then, they were gone, leaving Beryl and Wren behind.

“What about Loesh?”

Beryl sighed. “He will meet them en route.”

Beryl was wearing the W’lyn version of yoga gear. She was sweating lightly but calm. Wren was going to try and keep her that way. It would give her something to do while trying not to think about what would have happened next in Drovin’s arms.

“Beryl, I have to ask, was Toyo a little moody around the others before you two formalized things?”

Beryl chuckled. “You could say that. He guarded me like an angry hen with a chick. Of course, that ended after the bonding began, for the most part.”

“How did you two bond?”

Her charge blushed, her pearly skin tinted pink. “Uh, he nipped my inner thigh at a delicate moment and gave me some of his blood at the same time. It started the ball rolling, so to speak, and it changed my body chemistry.”

“Right. But he wasn’t jealous at any point after that?”

“Well, there were a few moments. I am guessing that until they lock you in, they are uncertain and it makes them dangerous.” Beryl grinned. “Having trouble with Drovin already?”

“He pinned Rand to the ceiling.”

Beryl winced and headed into the kitchen. “Well, I hope, for your sake, that courtship progresses quickly or you will be putting out little fires like that all over the place.”

Wren narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that since you two have made direct contact, he and you will be pulled together and anyone who interrupts that process will feel your upset. Can I eat this?”

Wren moved between Beryl and her target and sliced the bars with a quick thought. “You can have one now and one in an hour.”

Beryl beamed and snagged one of the bars while Wren packaged the rest of them up and put them away.

“So, are you content to wear the bodysuits or do you want some more W’lyn clothing?”

“I am not up to shopping. I don’t have any funds yet.”

Beryl waved that away. “I am not concerned with money. You will be drawing a stipend from the Guardian Project, but for now, I have a lot of clothing that doesn’t match my colouring and I am never going to wear. We are currently the same size, more or less, and I think you could help me thin out my wardrobe to make room for maternity stuff.”

“Are you serious?” Wren frowned.

“Of course. The clothes shouldn’t go to waste because I am suggestible in the marketplace. This will give you something to wear when we go to concerts in the cities.”

Beryl was trailing down the hallway toward the new addition that had been installed for the new couple’s privacy.