Cohn: The Teague Bride Experiment: Intergalactic Dating Agency

by A. M. Griffin

  He threw back his head and laughed harder, his mirth scaring her more than his words. “The officials? All they care about is if I’ll be able to provide for your upkeep and if I can put a female child into you. I can do both. Once I impregnate you, they’ll forget about how it came to be.”

  Terror clogged her throat. She couldn’t believe the words he said. Deep in the pit of her stomach she worried he’d get away with it. The main objective on Teague was her fellow Earth women’s ability to carry a female child.

  “We’ll go away for a little while and when you re-emerge it will be with my child growing in you.”

  Daliya threw up, projecting onto the wall and floor as she wilted in his arms.

  “Let’s take this off so we won’t be disturbed.” Unconcerned for her state, he tightened his hold on her hand one more time for good measure, sending waves of agony crashing through her. Then he grabbed her comlink and pulled it from her wrist, tossing it on the floor. Once done, he glanced at her. “Are you going to be quiet while we leave?”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you!” Daliya gasped out, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  As soon as she spoke the words, she knew it was a mistake. She should’ve said yes and pretended to be docile. Then once outside screamed at the top of her lungs for help.

  His gaze darkened. “I didn’t think you would.”

  “Wait—”

  His fist came barreling toward her face and everything went dark.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Incoming call from Mother.”

  Cohn sat on his couch, twirling his drink in his cup. He’d had too much already but couldn’t stop his intake. Every time he thought about Daliya and his mom strengthening their bond over dinner, he took another drink because he knew this would end the moment she took on a new mate.

  Not only the relationship with his mother, but her relationship with him too.

  He took another gulping drink.

  Who was he kidding? They didn’t have a relationship. Not the kind he’d made up in his mind. He’d kissed her and she’d kissed him back. Twice. But that still didn’t equate a relationship. If he was being honest with himself he would admit that theirs was a business relationship only. And he needed to make sure he remembered that.

  “Incoming call from Mother.”

  Cohn sighed. If he didn’t answer she would only keep calling. He could wallow in his self-pity later tonight. He accepted the call. “Hello, Mother.”

  “Cohn, why didn’t you tell me you were picking Daliya up for our dinner date?”

  “I didn’t pick her up.” Cohn frowned. “You said you were going to get her.”

  “Hm. I’m at her apartment and she isn’t home.”

  “She’s not home. She’s at her friend’s house. I gave you the location, Mother.”

  “Oh, no. Daliya went home. I spoke to her while she was on the way.”

  “What? I told her to let me know beforehand.” Cohn shook his head. He would have to remind her why it was important for her to have a guard. Maybe she would prefer a female guard as well?

  “Do you think she’s already at the restaurant?” his mom asked.

  Even as she spoke, Cohn used his touchpad to contact the restaurant. “Are you sure she isn’t home?”

  “I announced my arrival and when she didn’t come out I knocked.”

  The restaurant responded. No one had checked-in for his mother’s reservation.

  “I honestly don’t know how safe her apartment building is,” his mother continued. “I just walked inside and right up to her door.”

  Cohn’s heart thudded. Something wasn’t right. He felt it in his bones. “Are you still there?”

  “I am. Should I just meet her at the restaurant?”

  “I’ve asked them to notify me if she shows up. I’m contacting her friend now to see if she stopped by her house.”

  Jasmine replied to his message immediately. She hadn’t seen Daliya but had received a message that she’d made it home.

  Cohn stood. “Mother, go home. I’ll find her.”

  “Find her?” True concern laced his mother’s voice. “If she’s not here, her friend’s or the restaurant, where could she be?”

  Cohn rushed to his bedroom to don his clothes. “That’s what I intend to find out.”

  Cohn drove to Daliya’s apartment in record time. Fear clouded his judgment so he set it to automatic. He did override the manual speed used for emergencies. When he arrived at Daliya’s apartment, it was as his mother said—Daliya didn’t answer the door.

  He called the owner of the building and received an emergency authorization to go inside her apartment. Cohn stood at the door, heart in his throat and panic racing through him. Items lay askew on the floor and a hole had been punched in the wall. The most terrifying sight was Daliya’s bags sitting untouched and unopened by the door.

  There had been a struggle. He didn’t dare think about what he believed was vomit on the wall and floor. If he did, he’d lose his mind.

  Cohn hit his comlink, opening a direct line to his boss.

  “Ibn here.”

  “I’m at Daliya’s apartment and something’s wrong. She’s nowhere to be found and her apartment is wrecked. I think she might’ve been abducted.”

  “Abducted? Why jump to that conclusion?”

  Cohn stabbed his fingers through his hair as he paced her living room. “I really hope I’m wrong, but my gut is telling me differently. There are a lot of males who would love to get their hands on her and are not willing to wait for her to choose them.”

  “I’m sending over someone to assist. In the meantime, I’m giving you authorization to go through her contact log.”

  Cohn headed for the main communications board by the front door. When he activated it, there was an alert for a code. Cohn entered his personal code and was granted access. He scrolled through, not bothering to open any from himself, his mother or Jasmine. That left one other person who had contacted her consistently and more times than anyone else.

  The contact details were blocked. Cohn ran the number through the security database. With the network of the Teague Security Agency at his disposal, he got an instant hit. It was an encrypted file but easily decrypted.

  Adman Hoekel.

  Cohn recognized the name. He’d spoken with Adman a few times. He didn’t like being sixth on Daliya’s list. Then Cohn had spoken to him to confirm their date for tonight and again after Daliya had canceled to spend the evening with his mother.

  Adman hadn’t been happy about the cancelation. That hadn’t alarmed Cohn, though. Adman, like everyone on the waitlist to find a human mate, was anxious about being selected.

  Cohn looked at the message time stamps again. Adman must’ve started contacting her as soon as she’d moved into the apartment. Well before she had gone on her first date.

  There was a strict rule in place for the candidates. None of them were supposed to have direct contact with Daliya. The rule was put in place so she wouldn’t feel coerced into accepting a relationship and so she could make a sound decision on her own without undue influence from the candidate or the candidate’s family.

  Cohn opened the time stamp of the messages Adman had sent to her. As he read each one, his stomach curdled. Realization for her unexplained move to her friend’s place dawned on him.

  Daliya had been dropped off to a less than desirable apartment, alone and vulnerable. Then Adman made the situation worse by leaving her intimidating messages.

  Why hadn’t she told him about this?

  “You seem to like the attention.”

  “What do you say that? I don’t thrive on attention. I would rather walk into a room and no one know I was there.”

  “I’ve never met a female who didn’t like all eyes on her.”

  “The worst thing in the world for a woman is to have attention from someone they don’t want.”

  “Well, you’re human. Everyone on Teague is going to track your every movement
.”

  “Will it end?”

  “Eventually.”

  She’d basically told him she was being stalked and he hadn’t pursued it further. Cohn could kick himself.

  “I’m here to assist.”

  Cohn glanced over to the young cadet from the security agency standing in the opened doorway. When the cadet began to undo his coat, Cohn stopped him. “Keep it on. We’re going to Adman Hoekel’s house.”

  Cohn put out the alert and notified his boss of the situation. Adman wouldn’t go through all this trouble to kill Daliya, but he did want a female child. He needed to get to Daliya fast before Adman did something that would make Cohn kill him.

  Chapter Twelve

  The room Adman forced her into was small. On the way to this place, Adman had rambled on and on about how he needed to put his child in her. Daliya blinked back the tears threatening to escape her eyes, vowing not to cry. She was not some damsel in distress needing saving.

  She would get herself out of this. Daliya sniffled and wiped her nose. She glanced around, noting there weren’t any windows and only one way in and out. The only piece of furniture here was a bed. Her stomach twisted into knots just looking at it. She averted her gaze. Anxiety continued to grow in her belly.

  What’s the plan?

  Because she needed one if she was going to survive this.

  Fight.

  Daliya gnashed her teeth together. Adman was about seven-feet tall and had to weigh over three hundred pounds. Fighting wasn’t really a viable option. He could toss her around like a rag doll. Without a weapon, her fists and feet were her only recourse.

  Heavy footsteps approached outside the door.

  Danger! Danger! Danger!

  She stood in the middle of the room, refusing to sit on the bed and steeled her back. She curled her fingers into fists even as her mind screamed.

  The door slid open and Adman entered, holding a tray with food on it. He held it out to her. “Here. Eat.”

  Daliya crossed her arms in front of her chest as she’d done the previous times he’d tried to feed her. According to Adman, she needed to eat to gain strength for sex. She didn’t plan to eat anything he offered. She would starve herself if it meant not being touched by him.

  “Someone is going to find me and when they do, they’re going to put you in jail.”

  Adman looked genuinely perplexed as he tilted his head. “Jail? What does that mean?”

  “The place where bad people who break the law go. Jail.”

  “We don’t go anywhere. People who break the law are rehabilitated and receive psychological counseling.”

  Daliya’s arms dropped. “Wait. So, if you get caught they’ll send you to counseling?!”

  Adman nodded and Daliya threw up her hands. “Seriously? I’m all for rehabilitation but for something like this, I was hoping you would be locked up forever.”

  He gave her the same confused look. “Locked up?”

  Daliya rolled her eyes and let out a heavy breath. Just her luck that this planet didn’t have any type of capital punishment. “No wonder you kidnapped me all willy-nilly.”

  “Who is willy-nilly?”

  Rage rushed through her. He was going to hurt her. Hurt her bad and nothing would be done? That was the last straw. She’d left her loving family behind, to come to a planet on the other side of the galaxy to mate with a husband who’d got himself killed.

  His parents evicted her, putting her in a crappy apartment with nothing but the minimal clothes she’d brought with her. The officials were forcing her to find a new mate and the male she actually liked wasn’t on the list of candidates. Now, she was about to get raped and impregnated and her rapist would be required to go to therapy.

  Therapy!

  Without another thought Daliya marched to Adman and knocked the tray from his hand. Food went flying everywhere. Adman stared in muted shock. Not wasting the opportunity, she pulled her arm back as far as she could and punched him in the groin. Adman yelped and bent over. She stepped back and kicked him in his face.

  It didn’t make him fall over like she’d intended, but it did the trick. Adman shook his head, as if gathering his thoughts. Before he could recover, she skirted around him and to the door. He hadn’t locked it when he came in. As she ran down the hall, his footsteps raced after her.

  She wasn’t going to outrun him and even if she made it to the door, there was nowhere to go. It would be stupid to run out into the snow without a coat, shoes or a hovercar to take her away. She wouldn’t last the night in the elements. The weather on Teague was unforgiving during the day and brutal at night.

  “Come back!” Adman yelled.

  Daliya slid under a table, knocking over some of the chairs. Adman leaned over trying to reach her. She scrambled from his reach and kicked at his hands. “Get away from me!”

  She eyed another hallway. She hadn’t seen the kitchen but she thought it had to be that way. When he’d brought her to this house, he’d marched her straight into the room and locked the door. Her only chance at possibly finding a weapon such as a knife was that way. How to make it without him catching her?

  Adman reached for her again and she moved farther back against the wall. Adman bumped the table and a glass vase fell, shattering. They both eyed it at the same time. Adman hesitated a beat longer than she did. Daliya pushed off her butt, to her hands and knees and grabbed a glass shard. Adman reached for her, clutching onto her pants leg. Daliya swung around and stabbed the back of his hand.

  Daliya screamed as pain ignited in her own injured hand from earlier. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the shard from his hand and lunged at his face, stabbing him in the eye. Blood spurted and Adman fell back on a howl.

  A loud noise sounded in the distance. Daliya scrambled from under the table and ran toward where she thought the kitchen was and ran smack into a brick wall. The wall grabbed her by her arms and handed her off to someone.

  Cohn!

  All she saw was his broad back stalking in the direction she had run from. He’d come for her.

  * * *

  Cohn had gone to Adman’s family residence first. Not finding him there, he went to his parent’s house. They told Cohn about the old family home deep on the other side of the planet. Without their assistance, Cohn might not have found out about this place.

  He and the cadet arrived in the dead of night. While waiting for the security clearance to override the door lock, he heard Daliya scream. Cohn used his blaster to blow open the door. He didn’t know what to expect but caught a fleeing Daliya in his arms.

  There was blood on her. He growled low in his throat. Pushing his protective instincts aside he handed her off to the cadet with him then stalked toward Adman. The male crouched on one knee, clutching his left eye. A piece of glass stuck out from it and blood flowed down his face.

  Adman glanced up. When he saw Cohn coming his way, he panicked. “Get her away from me! Take her away!”

  “Now you want me to go? Not until I kick your ass some more!” Daliya came running behind him. Cohn stopped her with an arm around her middle. She struggled against him. “No! Let me get him.”

  Cohn glanced over his shoulder at the cadet. “You were supposed to keep her safe.”

  The youth flushed. “I’m sorry, Sir. She overpowered me.”

  Cohn motioned toward Daliya. “This little human got the best of you?”

  He shifted on his feet. “It won’t happen again.”

  Cohn rolled his eyes and pulled Daliya’s struggling form closer to him. “We’ll take him into custody. He won’t bother you again.”

  “He already told me that nothing will happen to him. He’ll have to go to therapy while I’m stuck trying to process all this bullshit that has happened to me since coming to this God forsaken planet!”

  Cohn ran a hand down her back as he held her. “Do you want to hit him again? Would that make you feel better?”

  Daliya stopped struggling and her chest deflated. “No. Not really.
”

  He wanted to keep her in his arms but he let her go. “Through therapy, he’ll get the help he needs.”

  Daliya gave Adman one last glance and pulled down her shirt. “Get me out of here, please.”

  “Cadet, secure Adman and wait here for the next unit. I’m taking Daliya to my parents’ house.”

  “Why your parents’ house?” she asked.

  “Your apartment clearly isn’t safe. You can’t go back there. I can take you to Jasmine’s if you want but my mother has already expressed that she wanted you safely returned to her. She was very worried about you. She’s the one who contacted me when she couldn’t get in touch with you. If you would rather I find another secure location, I will.”

  Daliya narrowed her eyes, then turned around and stomped over to Adman. The cadet tried to block her path but she easily pushed him out of the way. Once in front of Adman, she balled her fist and punched him in the side of the face. “That’s for making me miss my dinner date.”

  Cohn slapped a hand over his face. “Cadet, you weren’t supposed to let her by.”

  “She pushed me out of the way!”

  * * *

  Daliya sat calmly, hands twisting together in her lap. Yesterday had been the worst day of her life. Thank heaven for Cohn and his parents. When she’d finally gotten to their house, they’d gone over and beyond to make sure she was comfortable and knew she was safe. Cohn had her personal belongings moved out of her apartment and into his parent’s house.

  Last night had been the first good night’s sleep she’d had since she’d received her official letter welcoming her to the Bride Program. While she couldn’t remember her dream, she’d known it was a good one. She’d never felt so at peace and at rest.

  They’d put her in a huge room which she’d learned had been Cohn’s when he was a child. It smelled like him. Deep masculine scents that tickled her nose and made her feel warm inside. She’d curled up clutching Cohn’s pillow and breathing in his scent.

  Now, her peace and calm was being shattered once again. After breakfast, Cohn came to the house to pick her up. An emergency meeting with the panel of authorities who oversaw the Bride Program had been called because of the incident with Adman. Five panel members stared at Daliya seated in a chair in front of them. Cohn stood at her right shoulder.