“The what?”
“The long part of your bone. In the middle.”
Was she trying to make me feel stupid?
“Normally we would simply do an injection, but your bone fragments required realignment as well.”
Fragments? Gross. I suddenly could picture a surgeon with a knife and a pair of pliers trying to move pieces of my femur around. Not cool. This conversation was making me sick.
Don’t ask.
Don’t you bloody ask…
“Where’s Darius?”
Damn it. Idiot. He wasn’t here. That was where he was. Somewhere else. Maybe he was hurt.
“He was creating a disturbance after his treatment. I do not know where he is now.”
“A disturbance? What kind of treatment? Is he hurt?”
She sighed, but the sound was more tired than anything else, so I let it go.
“Let’s see. Elite Starfighter Darius. Ah yes, here he is.” She scrolled through the data as I would have scrolled through a social media feed on my phone, pausing to scan, then moving her fingers again. “Two broken ribs. Bruises. A few minor burns. He was treated and released. He’s going to be fine.”
Relief flooded me and I tried to hold on to my anger from before, during the mission, but it drained out of me like someone had pulled the plug on a tubful of bathwater. Gone.
“How do I find him?”
She grinned. “I’ll put out a shipwide call. In the meantime”—her smile was infectious—“you have other visitors. If you feel up to it?”
“Who?”
The door slid open, and two people I had once believed I would never, ever meet came into the room like they owned the place. “Lily!”
The nurse left the room as I looked them over, a huge smile breaking on my face. I knew them well, from the unmistakable Starfighter uniforms to the faces I’d grown to care about back on Earth. “Jamie? Mia? Oh my God, what are you doing here? How did you even know I was here?”
“Oh shit, your accent is even cuter in person.” Jamie clapped her hands and came around to my left side. “I have got to learn how to talk British.”
“I’m stationed here. I followed your mission at MCS.” Mia rolled her eyes at Jamie, her thick German accent making me smile even more than Jamie’s exuberant American one. “Jamie has been driving me absolutely insane. Since we knew you were coming, every single moment she’s been talking about the three of us meeting.”
“No, not meeting, going out clubbing. Dancing. We need to get drunk and dance and drive our men crazy.”
Mia chuckled. “A tight black dress and a rave would certainly make Kass lose his mind a bit.”
Jamie was smiling. “Oh yeah. Alex wouldn’t last an hour. He’d throw me over his shoulder and have his way with me in a bathroom stall.”
I nearly choked on my own spit. “What?”
Jamie sat down on the side of my bed and took my hand. “Don’t tell me Darius isn’t smoking hot and totally in love with you?”
“He’s definitely smoking hot.”
Mia, brilliant, annoying Mia caught on to what I didn’t say. “But he’s not in love with you? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. But he’s not.”
“Have you, you know, had sex?” Jamie asked.
“Yes.”
“Was it good sex?” Mia asked.
I had to be three shades of red by now. Proper ladies did not discuss this kind of thing. “I think so.”
“You think so?” Jamie, so forward. Blunt. She was exactly the way I’d always imagined Americans to be. I simultaneously judged her for it and wished I wasn’t so reserved. I had my maniacally controlling mother to thank for that.
Mia watched me, her gaze more intense than I was prepared to defend against. “You were a virgin.”
“Mia!” Brilliant. Did I have the word virgin written across my forehead in red ink?
Jamie leaned back with a gasp but didn’t let go of my hand. “Oh dear. Well, did he take care of you? Was it good? Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Did you come?” Mia asked. “Have an orgasm?”
Now who was the blunt one?
“Or two?” Jamie added.
“Yes. It was good. Sex isn’t the problem.”
Jamie wiggled her hips to sit even closer. “Spill.”
Mia glanced over her shoulder toward the closed door. “Are those things soundproof?”
She looked from Jamie, who shrugged, to me.
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Well, let’s keep our voices down, shall we? Our men are right outside.”
“What?” I hissed, not a bit happy to hear this news. We were discussing my sex life with two alien men I didn’t know standing right outside the door?
Mia leaned close, as did Jamie, until I felt like we were in a footballers’ huddle, foreheads nearly touching. “So, what is going on with you and Darius?”
“And how can we help?” Jamie asked.
I squeezed both of their hands. “You already have. It’s so wonderful to meet you both in person. I can’t believe we are on another planet.”
“Yeah, and back home everyone still thinks Starfighter Training Academy is just a game.”
“How many people do you suppose are playing right now?” Mia mused. “Right this very moment?”
“Tens of thousands,” I guessed.
Jamie sighed. “Well, I wish they would hurry up and beat the game. We need them. This war is not going well, in case you didn’t notice.” She glanced down at my bandaged leg, still uncovered from when I’d moved the sheet. “What am I talking about? Of course you noticed.”
The war wasn’t going well? What did that mean?
“Forget about the war,” Mia insisted. “Tell us about Darius. What’s the problem?”
“I don’t know. The sex was great. Then we went to our first mission briefing, and I found out he was already a Titan…with a different partner.”
“Who?” Jamie asked. “A woman? Is he pair bonded to someone else?”
“Did she die?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t said a word about it, and I haven’t had time to ask.”
Jamie winced in empathy. “Well, if she died, I could see how he wouldn’t want to talk about it. Might be too painful.”
Exactly. “Which is why I don’t think he’s in love with me. The sex is good, but there’s something missing, you know? He doesn’t talk to me. He’s not honest. He’s keeping secrets. And worse than that…”
I stalled, but Mia was having none of it. “Worse than that is what?”
“He was completely psycho on our last mission. Shoving me out of the way, ordering me to wait for him instead of doing my job. He treated me like I had no skill and no idea what I was doing.”
“You’re an Elite Starfighter. Damn right you know what you’re doing.” Jamie jumped to my defense.
Mia, however, had grown pensive. “Maybe you should give him a chance. If he lost his pair bonded in battle, maybe he’s afraid it will happen again. Maybe he’s afraid to lose you, too.”
“Maybe.” The idea was worth considering, but even that wouldn’t excuse not telling me about his past. I’d felt like an idiot in that briefing room, everyone there knowing his history but me. Me! When I was supposed to be the one he loved, his pair bonded, the one he shared everything with and trusted above all others. His freaking wife, for goodness’ sake. Or as close to a marriage as these Velerions got.
The nurse came back into the room with a smile pasted on her lips, the same smile I’d seen on nurses’ faces back on Earth. The I’m-here-and-it’s-time-for-everyone-else-to-leave smile. “Let’s get you cleaned up, Lily.”
I glanced down at my hands, clasped on either side by my friends, and noticed they were covered in dirt. “I guess I really need a bath.”
Jamie laughed. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but you stink, girlfriend.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“We’ll be back to check on y
ou tomorrow. General Romulus promised me you would be given quarters on board the ship as well as a day or two off to heal properly.”
“The nurse said I’d be fully healed by tomorrow morning.”
Jamie slapped me on the shoulder and it stung. “Woman, take the day off. Trust me. Speaking of…” She glanced down at a display on her forearm. “We’re due for Queen Bitch patrol in half an hour.”
“What?” I asked.
Jamie stood and gave me a quick, gentle hug. “You’ve heard of Queen Raya and her planet-destroying missiles?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m on missile patrol, saving the galaxy one blown-up missile at a time.”
“What happens if you miss one?”
Mia and Jamie both froze, but it was Mia who spoke. “Not funny. Not going to happen. Not on my watch.”
Jamie clarified. “Mia finds ’em and I kill ’em. Most of the time. Sometimes I find one first, but that’s rare. I’m only one small ship, and Mia has a freaking army of satellites, drones, and scanners.”
“My minions are very well trained,” Mia agreed.
“They’re computers.”
“Very well-trained computers.”
They walked toward the door but turned to wave farewell. “Get better!” Jamie ordered.
“Give him time.” Mia’s words were no less an order.
“I’ll try.”
The door slid open, and I caught the barest glimpse of two men I recognized from their game avatars, Kassius and Alexius. The alien hotties we’d all oohed and ahhed over every time we played.
The only one missing was mine.
“Let’s get you ready for the next round of visitors.” The nurse’s false cheer and wink were appreciated but wasted on me. Maybe it wasn’t false, but I didn’t know her. She didn’t know me. I didn’t trust others easily. And when I put weight on my leg, I felt anything but cheery.
“Can we not talk? I’m sorry, but I’m tired, my leg hurts, and I don’t feel like saying much.”
“Of course.” Cheery or not, she was kind. That I appreciated very much as she helped me move, step by agonizing step, toward what appeared to be a shower with a seat in the center.
Thank all that was holy, because there was no way I could stand up long enough to take a shower.
I didn’t hear the door open. The nurse turned in alarm, then smiled. “Starfighter Darius, I was wondering when you would appear.”
“Now. And I will take care of her.”
“Of course.” The nurse smiled and nodded her head without the slightest protest. The next thing I knew, I was in Darius’s arms, cradled against his chest like a baby. I was wearing an alien version of a hospital gown, which, as most hospital attire was wont to do, didn’t cover much.
Darius stopped at the bed and pulled the blanket loose to cover me, tucking me into his arms as gently as he could.
“What are you doing? I’m supposed to take a shower.”
“I will take care of you in our private quarters, Lily. I’m here now, and nothing else is going to hurt you tonight.”
Except you, I thought, but I laid my head against his shoulder and didn’t argue as he carried me.
8
Darius, Battleship Resolution
* * *
The ache, the guilt of failing my brother, of his death was nothing compared to the thought of losing her. My life. My pair bond. Mine.
I held Lily cradled to my chest as I hurried to our quarters. I avoided eye contact with everyone we passed on the battleship, not wanting to stop and talk. Introduce the newest Elite Starfighter from Earth. She was a celebrity. I knew that, logically. The success of the previous two Earth females had ensured Lily’s arrival was highly anticipated by all Velerions. Everyone wanted to get a closer look. Meet her. Make her a friend.
The fifth officer who called out a greeting made me grind my teeth and turn down a less traveled route on the large ship.
I had no patience for others. The medical team had made me wait. General Romulus had made me wait. Lily was in my arms, and I was not stopping until I had her snugly in my bed.
I needed to know, to feel that Lily was safe and whole and alive. Having her heart beating next to mine, holding her, touching her—and soon, being buried deep within her—would be the only way to convince the completely illogical part of me that everything was all right.
My emotions raged out of control. I truly felt like I was the Atlan beast in one of Lily’s erotic books. I’d secretly scoffed at the beast character’s lack of discipline, his inability to master his physical and emotional need for his mate.
Now who was acting like a wild animal, struggling to speak, to think? Trying to maintain a thin veneer of civility so I would not scare the female I so desperately needed to protect?
I looked at Lily. Her long hair had partially escaped its braid and was now a wild, snarled tangle framing her face. The blanket I’d wrapped her in did not do enough to keep her warm as I walked through the battleship to our temporary quarters. She shivered and I pulled her closer, tighter to my chest.
She gasped in pain.
“Damn Vega, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know. It’s okay.”
“No. I should have been more careful.”
“Nobody’s perfect, Darius. I’m fine. In fact, I can’t believe you are carrying me. I’m too heavy for this. Don’t you people have wheelchairs or something?”
We did, in fact, have mobile chairs that were very efficient. “I want to hold you.” I looked straight ahead and willed my heart to stop pounding in terror. She was in my arms. Safe. “I need to feel you.”
With a sigh I took for surrender, she settled her head back on my shoulder and made no more attempts to protest. When we arrived at the section of the battleship where they were housing the Titan teams who had fought today, I found Bantia and Ulixes standing outside our door, waiting.
“How is she?” Bantia asked.
“She’s fine,” Lily answered. “And I’m right here. My ears work just fine.”
Bantia laughed, the relief evident in her face. “Thank Vega. I don’t know what Darius would have done if—”
“Do not speak of it,” I commanded before she could finish. I did not need to hear my fears spoken aloud by another. Having my darkest thoughts shared would amplify my instinct to protect Lily at all costs. I was already fighting the need to lock my pair-bonded female in a room and keep her there, away from battle and cannon fire and explosions of rock burying her alive.
Ulixes inclined his head to my female. “We are very relieved to see you are well.”
“Thank you.”
He looked at me; our gazes locked as he spoke. “General Romulus has ordered all Titan teams to report tomorrow, after second meal. They have reviewed today’s mission and have teams scouring through what's left of the base. He will be giving us a report, and possibly a new mission, tomorrow.”
“We won’t be there.”
Lily stiffened in my arms. “Yes, we will. The doctor—or nurse—whoever she was, said the bone grower robots would have my leg better than new by morning.”
“No. You need more than one night to heal.”
“According to the doctor, I don’t.” She looked up at Ulixes. “We’ll be there.”
“I said no.”
Lily’s voice sharpened, the crisp cadence of her words becoming extreme. “I will be there. I cannot speak for Darius of Velerion. Perhaps he is planning to retire.”
Bantia was covering her mouth, but I could see the laughter in her eyes. I was not amused. “Lily, we will discuss this in private.”
“No we won’t.”
Ulixes cleared his throat and wrapped his arm around his pair-bonded female, gently guiding her back toward what I assumed were their temporary quarters, away from us.
“See you tomorrow,” Bantia called over her shoulder.
Lily drew breath to call back, but I lowered my face to hers and kissed her so she
could not respond. When I let her up for air, Bantia and Ulixes were nowhere to be seen.
“That wasn’t fair.”
“When it comes to you, bonded one, I have no intention of playing fair.”
Her silence suited me as I carried her into the sparsely furnished soldiers’ quarters. There was a bathing unit, clean uniforms laid out for each of us, two meals, drinking water, and nutrition bars on a table no larger than one of the pillows on the bed. I could take care of my pair bonded, bathe her, feed her, and make sure she rested in my arms.
I didn’t need anything else. Not tonight.
Carrying her to the table, I settled her in the chair and pulled the foodstuffs toward her, opening everything. “You will eat. All of it.”
“You are very bossy.”
That made me chuckle, but only because Lily was already taking a bite of the nutrition bar I’d placed in her hand.
“Yum. This almost tastes like watermelon.”
I chose another flavor and ate the entire thing in two bites, saving the other bar of the same flavor for her.
“Drink.” The water cartridge I set in front of her was full and loaded with minerals and healing amino acids the doctor had assured me she would need to regain her full strength.
She sipped, then set it down. “That’s too cold.”
I lifted the cartridge, adjusted the temperature setting and handed it back to her. “Try it now.”
Eyebrow raised, she lifted the small opening to her lips and sucked more water into her mouth. “How did you do that? It’s room temperature now.”
Showing her how to adjust the water to her liking, I unwrapped more food and placed it before her, a feeling of intense satisfaction raising my chest as she devoured the food like she was starving.
Odd. I enjoyed caring for her. Seeing her satisfied. Sated, whether in bed from intense orgasms or from the simple act of drinking chilled water.
I’d never behaved this way before, and I had no idea how to stop myself or control the urge.
When she’d had enough, I lifted her and carried her to the bathing unit. There was no tub to recline in, but I pulled a small seat out from its built-in resting place in the wall and set her down. The medical gown was easy to remove, and I set the water stream to warm her. She leaned back with a groan, and I stepped out, quickly stripped, and joined her.
Elite Starfighter: Starfighter Training Academy - Game 3 Page 6