Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) (27 page)

Her baby is definitely winged. Sakkra practically called for a public holiday when it was confirmed.

“So... What did you need to talk to me about?” Amy asked her a full minute after the door closed behind Rietin.

“I want my daughter to be allowed to choose a husband. When she’s old enough, I mean. Just because Rietin is Sakk, I don’t want her choices taken away.”

Her cousin smiled. “I thought that might be a concern. You don’t have to worry about it. Sakkra has already agreed that daughters raised on Earth will be given the same choice Earth-born Sakk descended are.”

Jo took a calming breath.

“You like Rietin. Don’t you?”

She didn’t know how to answer that.

Amy turned to look at her. “Sakk men don’t always express themselves well.”

That broke the dam. “He wants to mate just because I’m pregnant.” Misery and rage fought for supremacy.

She sighed. “I doubt that.”

“You heard him.”

“Yes, but I have the benefit of knowing Rietin.”

Jo tried to argue that she didn’t want to know him, but curiosity won out. “Then tell me about him, because he’s not making a good impression right now.” Part of her wanted to believe he wasn’t what he seemed.

Amy settled back on the pillows. “Rietin thought he would never be allowed to take a mate. He’s what the Sakk refer to as...inferior stock or genetically inferior.”

Jo winced. “Because he doesn’t have wings?”

“Haven’t you watched
any
of our new commercials?”

She shook her head. “Didn’t think I needed to,” she grumbled.

“I guess so.” Amy hesitated for a moment, then continued.

“No. A lot of strong Sakk-descended, both male and female, don’t have wings. What matters is certain key gene sequences. Rietin doesn’t have them. He picked up too many genes from the non-Sakk members of his ancestry.

“That meant the Sakk didn’t want him to reproduce. Or maybe they thought he
couldn’t
reproduce with a match from a seed world. I’ve never been clear on the distinction. At the same time, he thought he was too Sakk to reproduce with a human woman.”

Realization made her stomach clench. “He thought he couldn’t have a child with anyone?”

Amy nodded. “You could say finding out you were pregnant to him was more than just surprising. It shattered his beliefs about himself and his future. For the first time in his adult life, Rietin dared to dream he could have what he’d been told he could never have.”

“A child.”

“Not just a child. A mate. A woman he is compatible with. Other Sakk have a one in one hundred and eighty some odd chance. Sakk who come to Earth have a chance with one in seven hundred women willing to be tested. Until today, Rietin thought he had no chance at all. Do you know how...?” She winced. “Pardon the pun. How astronomical it is that the two of you are compatible?”

Again, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. “I don’t even know where to start making sense of all this,” Jo admitted. The stark reality of the situation made her groan. “And you’re leaving for Sakk soon.”

“Come with us.”

Her heart stuttered. “What?”

“To Sakk. My parents are coming. You could come, too. There’s plenty of room on the ship. Look at it this way. You’ll be far away from Earth, outside your mother’s communications range. You can take a leave of absence from college. You’d probably have to do that anyway. Believe me, carrying a Sakk baby isn’t easy. Naps are essential.” She shot Jo a hopeful look.

“I don’t know. Running away from Rietin won’t help me work things out with him.” But she wanted to go. Badly.

“Well, of course he has to come. Today proves the only way to keep you safe without a brawl is to assign Rietin as your guard. No Sakk male with a brain would try to argue his right to protect his child. Or argue his familiarity with you, for that matter.”

There were too many choices to make, and Jo was exhausted already. It seemed Amy’s prediction of a nap in her future was about to be fulfilled.

“Come on, Jo. You know you want to see Sakk.”

“Yes. I do.” Spitting out the rest was more difficult than she wanted to admit. “Okay. I’ll come with you to Sakk.” Another thought occurred to her. “But my daughter is being raised on Earth.”

“Of course. Who else would my daughter play with?”

Jo managed a weak smile in answer. Then she closed her eyes with a sigh.

****

“You six may return to your quarters. There is no question you were trying to hold back the men to protect Ms. Williams’s escape.”

They tipped their heads, whispering their thanks to Sakkra, before they turned to leave the audience hall. The youngest was pale and wide-eyed, no doubt thanking Sakkan that they weren’t among the four stripped of the right to choose a mate entirely.

The two who’d attacked Jo’s guard, a third who’d made a lunge for her—and by the grace of her duck alone had avoided tackling her to the floor beneath his bulk, and the one who’d refused to stand down at Rietin’s order had all faced that penalty. They would have their choice of donation of their sperm and death, or duty on a far-flung station.

And they have a week to choose their punishment.

The others involved in the riot had been punished with extra duties and suspension from meeting matches for two Earth months. Even that had stung.

But it is supposed to. Any man not mindful of a woman, especially a bearing woman, is not worthy of being responsible for the protection of a mate and children of his own.

On the other hand, the final six had been excused of all punishment, and the male who’d led Jo to the dining area had been awarded honors by Sakkra for it.

And he didn’t touch Jo in the attempt.
That meant Rietin wouldn’t have to
discuss
his future boundaries with him.

Sakkra turned to General Lea. “No matter their choice, they are not to leave on the same ship my mate and I do.”

He bowed stiffly. “Understood.” With that, he took his leave. Lea had a lot of work ahead of him, since he’d been named Sakkra’s voice on Earth, in the absence of the prince.

His exit left Rietin alone with Sakkra. The tension in the air was impossible to miss.

“You realize you presented yourself badly this morning,” Sakkra informed him.

“I know it. Now I have to find a way to undo it.” That went without saying. He had to have Jo in his life.
And our precious daughter.

“Walk with me.” Sakkra rose and started moving. Since there was no question Rietin would obey, he didn’t look back to confirm it.

The silence was thick and potent.

“My Sakku and I spoke at length about the situation before this deplorable scene.”

Rietin didn’t question what they’d decided. The prince would get to it in his own time.

“Amy is inviting Jo to go to Sakk with us. I am allowing it.”

His heart ached at the loss of her already; he had to find a way to change Sakkra’s mind. “But you said no woman could leave Earth without being mated. That has always been the rule, even in Representative Janice’s time as liaison.”

“Jo will not be going alone.”

Rietin shook his head, confused by the conflicting messages he was receiving.

“You will be accompanying her as her personal guard.”

His mouth went dry. “I take it there is more to this,” he guessed.

Sakkra didn’t answer immediately. He stopped at the kitchen and picked up a cart of food for Amy and Jo. With the commotion, it was a safe bet neither of them had eaten much of their lunch.

If anything. Jo likely didn’t eat at all. No wonder she was faint.

They were well on their way to Sakkra’s quarters before the prince returned to the subject. “You will have three months before we reach Sakk. If you fail to convince Jo that you should remain in her life by then, I will encourage her to meet other males and will ask if she wishes you to remain in her life at all. Am I understood, Rietin?”

Three months to convince Jo to become my mate, or I lose the right to ever approach her.
“Perfectly.”

Corporal Brak opened the door for them, and Sakkra made his way across the large front room to the drape at that shielded the sleeping area from view, Rietin in his wake. He stopped short, halfway through the drape Sakkra had parted for him, a smile pulling up at his lips.

Amy and Jo were both asleep, facing each other on the wide bed. It was a peaceful scene, one he would not disturb for any reason.

Jo has always been lovely when she sleeps.
Leaving her the first morning had strained Rietin’s control.
This is why.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Two weeks later

Jo straightened her backpack on her shoulders, her heart hammering.
I’m in space. How the hell did I end up in space?

She was training to be a teacher, not an astronaut.
Christa McAuliffe I am definitely not!

Jo winced at the comparison. Sakkra had assured her that there hadn’t been a disaster aboard a Sakk ship in well over six hundred years. Yans, she reminded herself.
Maybe that means we’re due for one.

Or maybe it just means they’re good at what they do and don’t use the lowest bidder.

“Please, let me carry your bag,” Rietin requested again.

She started to argue that it wasn’t the bag making her wince. Amy caught her attention and motioned to Rietin behind the tracker’s back. Jo sighed, stripped off the bag, and handed it to him. Amy and Sakkra had tried to explain that Sakk males would be distressed to see a pregnant woman carrying things for herself.

That’s silly. It’s sexist.
Then again, considering the lack of females in their culture, she supposed the pampering they showed them was only to be expected.

Rietin smiled at her and shouldered the bag. Jo looked away, rattled. His smile made her feel things she had no right feeling.
I can’t trust him.

Can I?
She shot a sideward look at him, questioning what she knew about him and what she was assuming about him.

The only way I can know is to talk to him.

Men lie.
Oh, but she knew that well enough.

That doesn’t mean all men do.

Time for an olive branch.
Jo managed a strained smile. “Thank you.”

His smile widened. “Anything for you, Jo. Anything.”

Butterflies erupted in her stomach, and she focused on Amy.

Gabin appeared at her side, his expression issuing a warning.

“I know. Be calm, Jo. Be calm.”

He disappeared without a word.

The shuttle door opened, and Jo took a calming breath.

****

Rietin bit back a series of curses. At every move he made, every offer of comfort or support, Jo reacted with upset or hostility. She was volatile, much moreso than he’d attribute to simply bearing.

The door opened, and Jo moved to follow Sakkra, Amy, and Amy’s parents. Rietin took her hand, determined to make his place in her life as clear as he could without
bio chains
binding them together.

Jo looked as if she was about to balk. Out of the corner of his eye, Rietin saw Amy mouth something that looked suspiciously like “Let him.” Jo’s muscles eased, and whatever protest she’d intended to make never emerged, though her color stepped up several notches.

Rietin wound his fingers through hers, and Jo let him. She shot him a questioning look, then took a step toward the opening. He matched her pace, letting her comfort take precedence.

He heard the Sakk warriors drop to one knee nearly in unison before they’d cleared the doorway.

Two came to their feet again and bowed deeply to Sakkra and Amy. Both were silver-haired, though only one wore the ornamentation of command.

“Welcome aboard, Sakkraas. Your quarters and those of your...guests have been prepared.”

“As I ordered, I assume.” There was a warning in Sakkra’s voice.

The captain’s wings stiffened, as did his spine. “Of course.” He motioned to the male standing beside him. “I present to Sakkraas Master Healer Dravil. He is the preeminent birth healer on the planet and has presided at the birth of both Sakkriel’s young heirs. He has been hand chosen to see to Sakku’s needs by Sakkrel.”

Dravil tipped his head politely. “I will see Sakku for an initial examination before we leave orbit, at Sakkraas’ convenience, of course.”

“And my cousin, Jo,” Amy corrected him.

His brow furrowed. “Sakku may bring whomever she wishes with her, of course.”

“You misunderstand me. You will be treating Jo as well.”

He hesitated a moment, and he and the captain exchanged a potent look.

The captain found his voice first. “If Sakku’s cousin requires medical aid, I am certain my personal healer would be available to—”

Amy cut him off smartly. “Jo is bearing. Dravil
will
care for her as well, I hope?” Though she’d made it a question, Rietin didn’t doubt that everyone would take it as an order.

Dravil’s smile widened. “As Sakku wishes. I normally treat several females at once. Two for the duration on the journey is akin to a holiday for me.”

His gaze trailed from Amy to Diane, then focused on Jo. His smile faded away. “I am not well-versed in human births,” he informed them.

That snapped Rietin’s patience. “It is not a human birth, and there is no reason not to tend to my daughter.”

“But she is not...” The healer cut himself off mid-sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Mated. Yes, I know it.
Rietin glared at him, challenging the healer to make a comment about it.

He didn’t.

Wisely.

But that didn’t stop the gathered warriors from peeking up at her unchained wrist.

Sakkan damn them. I’ll gut the next one who approaches her with more than the most common courtesies on his lips.