Warriors of Phaeton: Dathrow (Bridal Pact)

by Leora Gonzales

  “You will not regret this,” he promised as he stared into her eyes, tracing her temples with his fingers.

  “I know I won’t. You’re an amazing man, Dathrow.”

  Before Pixie could kiss him again, the both froze as they heard the tone ringing at the front door.

  “Fuuuuuuuck,” Dathrow groaned out in an obviously frustrated voice. Dropping his head down to hers, he rumbled low in his chest. The noise reminded her of a lion standing claim over his prey as another pride member stalked too close.

  Pixie started to giggle but stopped when Dathrow whipped his head back to her. “You think this is funny?”

  Not able to keep from teasing him, Pixie pinched the skin at his side. “You have to admit the timing is funny, plus you said ‘fuck’. It’s funny hearing you cuss.”

  Moving slowly to get up from the bed, Dathrow gave her a look when she started to laugh again. “I cannot help my reaction to your body,” he said, sweeping a hand down to his obvious erection.

  “I appreciate the reaction, stud. You should probably answer the door though. They’re starting to sound impatient.” Pixie nodded toward the living room where the tone that had been beeping earlier was now replaced with a consistent knocking.

  “Stay. Right. There.” Pointing his finger at her, Dathrow backed out of the room, not turning to see where he was going until she was out of his sight.

  Pixie took the few minutes alone to plump up her breasts and smooth her hair back. Lying down on her side, she struck what she assumed was a sexy pose. Drawing one leg up, she waited for him to come back and make good the promise his eyes had been delivering earlier.

  The raised voices in the living room made Pixie realize she and Dathrow might not be consummating their relationship that morning. Sighing in disappointment, she scurried off the bed and grabbed some fresh clothes to change into before stepping into the bathroom and away from the shouting that had started.

  By the time she’d freshened up and walked into the living room, it seemed as if emotions had calmed down among the men who now took up the small space. Dathrow immediately stood and walked to her side, his anger obvious in the movement of his body.

  “What’s going on?” Pixie whispered to Dathrow when he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

  “There has been another security breach. I am being called to service earlier than expected.” The tone of his voice was so somber Pixie wanted to smile at his frustration. After he’d been called into work on her first days there, Dathrow had requested a longer leave of absence. Wheaton had been in agreement with giving them more time together and had quickly approved it. Dathrow had been excited when he’d told her they had two more weeks together without his duties interfering. Now disappointment and frustration filled his voice.

  “It’s okay, Dath. Your work is important.” Patting his arm, Pixie tried to let him know that she was okay with the situation.

  “The good news is that we can sign the bridal contract before I leave.” Dathrow took her hand in his and led her to the small table at the side of the room.

  “They brought the paperwork with them?” Pixie cast a curious glance at the men who were still sitting in the living room space.

  “No, they did not. I have had this here since you arrived.” Dathrow gave her a cocky smile as he handed her the pen and pointed to where her signature was supposed to go.

  “Wow. Pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?” Pixie couldn’t help but tease as she signed her name with a flourish.

  “I was sure of us, Pixie. I was sure of us.” Leaning down to kiss her once more, Dathrow stroked her cheek before smiling sadly. “I hope to be back by the evening meal. Would you like me to have an escort sent here to take you to Poppy’s?” he asked while gathering the paperwork. Without waiting for her to respond, Dathrow handed it to one of the men. “File these immediately with the council.”

  “Spending the day with Poppy sounds great,” Pixie answered, even though it seemed as if Dathrow was not paying attention to her.

  Her displeasure must have been apparent because Dathrow walked back to her side and pulled her into his chest. “This was not how I anticipated spending the morning with you. I will take care of these matters as soon as I can, and then we will finish what we almost started earlier. Okay?” Kissing the top of her head, Dathrow waited for her to nod before turning back to the men awaiting his direction. “Let us take care of the council’s concerns so I can get back my bride.”

  The three men gave him understanding looks and nodded to Pixie before hurrying through the door. Dathrow gave Pixie one last wink before following them.

  “I will be anxious to see if you taste as good as I remember, sweet one.”

  “Bastard!” Pixie yelled, frustrated that his last words to her were teasing ones that would be hard to forget throughout the day.

  “Well…fuck me,” Pixie said to herself after the door closed behind the warriors. She turned around a few times in the now-empty apartment, trying to figure out what to do while she waited for her escort to arrive. Seeing her messenger bag sitting by the end of the couch, she realized now would be the perfect time to make that list she hadn’t had a chance to get to earlier.

  Grabbing a notepad along with her favorite pen out of her bag, she started thinking of what she needed. “Throw pillows.” With a glance around, she figured that four would be a good idea and marked a number next to the item. “Floor cushions wouldn’t be a bad idea either.” Pixie liked to lounge when she watched a movie and she could already picture her and Dathrow lying down all cozy in front of the screen while laughing at whatever they were watching. “Hmmm…how do I order artwork I like?” Figuring it would be easier to ask someone if she could browse a catalog online than try to describe what her style was, she left artwork alone with a simple question mark beside it.

  “List complete, so now what?” Talking to herself as normal, she started to move around the small space, tidying up the small messes they had made. The few items she had to clean up were done with quickly, which left Pixie again waiting for her escort with nothing to do. Staring at the remote on the small table in front of the couch, she grinned, remembering the organization that Dathrow had for his movies.

  “I guess that’s something I can do.” Opening the screen, she noticed hundreds of files still not categorized. Not only that, but he’d labeled some of them without using the movie titles. “Big Green Thing” happened to be Godzilla and “Hairy Monkey” was King Kong. Figuring out that these belonged in the action movies folder, she started sorting them quickly. As she moved through the files, Pixie realized that Dathrow must have really picked Poppy’s brain. Some of her classic favorites were downloaded and had higher viewed numbers located next to the files. She decided to make a new folder titled Favorites that would be compiled of the ones he seemed to watch more frequently. Moving up and down the list, she saw there were a few movies he’d yet to watch. Creating a folder for those, she started clicking on them to title and sort when she heard the familiar tone at the door. “I’ll finish you guys later.”

  Jogging to the door, Pixie brushed back her hair and swung her arm over the sensor to open it. Standing in front of her was the warrior who had been introduced as Finch.

  “Hey, Finch, are you my escort for today?” Pixie turned to grab her bag when it was lifted out of her hands. Startled, she took a quick step back.

  “I did not mean to alarm you, Pixie. I wanted to simply help. Let me carry the bag for you.” Finch smiled at her and held his hands out with his palms up as if he meant to reassure her.

  “Thanks, but I’ve got it.” Swinging the bag over her head and shoulder, she toed on her shoes and waited for him to walk out the door before following.

  “Your sister was unsure if you had eaten your morn meal yet so she has prepared pancakes and sausage,” Finch said as he walked quickly down the hall.

  “Is that the reason you’re practically running? You must be starving,” Pixie teased as he started to slow h
is gait.

  “I apologize. I have yet to eat some of the Earth items that I have heard so many people talk about. Escorting you today will guarantee the chance of two meals and I am anxious to see what they taste like.” Finch blushed when his stomach growled loudly after the words left his mouth.

  Pixie started giggling at the giant man in front of her. When he turned even redder and started to laugh himself, it caused her to giggle harder and snort a few times. When his eyes widened at the noise she made, she completely lost it and bent over clutching her waist, trying to control herself before she started braying like a donkey.

  “Yo! Porker! If you’re done snorting around the hallway, would you mind getting in here? This baby is starving!”

  Pixie glanced up to find Poppy standing in her open doorway a few feet away with her arms crossed over her belly, amused.

  “Porker? I wouldn’t throw stones there, glass house.” Pixie walked up to her sister and rubbed her palm over the hard lump that was her stomach before hugging her.

  As they walked into the apartment, Pixie started giggling again. “Did you see Finch’s face when I accidently snorted?”

  “He was part horrified and part confused.” The women both looked at each other before saying in unison, “It was hilarious!”

  “I am right here, ladies. Must you make fun of me while I am able to hear you?” Standing with his hands on his hips, Finch was the picture of an offended male. His stance, however, had the opposite effect that he’d wanted. Both of the women started laughing harder. Raising his head to the ceiling, he muttered to the blank space, “The food better be delicious.”

  Poppy gave him a teasing smile and patted him on the back. “It is and I already have your plate ready.”

  Finch glanced around and spotted a plate of prepared food waiting at the small table. Moving quickly toward his goal, he almost knocked Pixie off balance as he passed her. Before either woman could blink, he had his fork loaded and was shoveling food into his mouth. As they stared at him in fascination, Pixie realized her stomach was starting to protest its lack of food as well.

  Quickly serving themselves their own plates, the women joined Finch at the table as he finished off his two loaded dishes. As they ate, Poppy explained to Pixie possible job options on the ship.

  “We’re still trying to organize a way for the warriors to have their families on the ships. It’s mostly a space issue. Most of the apartments are only one bedroom. Hudson said the other day his wife and child are often separated from him because there’s no room for them all to live comfortably now she’s a toddler.” Shaking her head in sadness, Poppy rubbed her belly. This subject obviously upset her since she would soon be in the same position.

  “Yeah, I can see how that’s a problem. The first few months would be easy since you could just use a basinet in the main bedroom, but where do you go from there? Is there any way to actually reconfigure these apartments?” Pixie could only see gleaming metal. Knocking down drywall would have definitely been an easier task.

  Licking syrup and sausage grease off his fingers, Finch leaned forward with a satisfied sigh. “How about you start construction on one of the docked ships on our home world and then switch out to the next ship when you are done.” Cocking his head at Poppy, he offered, “Considering that we have only a small amount of brides, I would say that construction be restricted to one floor on each ship and make it a family level. That way no one vessel is out of commission for an extended period of time and you have family quarters for the different warriors assigned to each ship.”

  Both women stared at the man. First stunned that he wasn’t in a food coma but also at the fact that he had a really good idea.

  “Having a family level is a really great idea. That way the wives and children will all be in close distance to be able to have play dates and keep each other company,” Pixie pointed out.

  “And if we can outfit one ship at a time just focusing on one level, we have a better chance of it happening quickly.” Poppy grinned at the thought.

  “How many bedrooms do you think each apartment should have?” Pixie asked out loud.

  “That’s a good question…” Poppy said, tapping her fingers against her lips.

  “I would suggest three.” When the women looked at Finch, he shrugged and added, “One main room for the parents and then two standard rooms for the children. If a warrior has more than two offspring, they can share space. We are used to barracks where we shared one large room with fifty others so adding one more into a room should not be hard.” He waited for a moment before speaking again. “Plus, if a warrior has more than two children, they will most likely want a more permanent dwelling on the home planet. Council members are the only ones usually required to do long-term travel anyway.”

  “Finch?” Pixie said after a moment of silence.

  Looking uncomfortable with the attention he’d called to himself, he leaned back in his chair. “Yes?”

  “You’re a genius!” Poppy walked around the table to give him a kiss on the top of the head.

  “I am?” he asked, seeming uncomfortable with the show of affection.

  “Yes! Do you realize you’ve solved one of the problems I’ve been worrying about for months now?” Poppy asked, her voice sounding teary. “Wheaton wasn’t even sure how to approach the problem.”

  “Whoa there, Pops. Are the alien baby hormones high today?” Pixie stared at her sister who was now wiping her dripping eyes.

  “Yeeeeessss.” The word came out on a wail that had both Finch and Pixie looking at each other.

  Finch was currently eyeing the doorway as if estimating how long it would take for him to reach it and escape.

  “Well…calm your ass down. You’re scaring the native,” Pixie said, not knowing how to deal with a pregnant Poppy.

  Poppy sniffed and rubbed her nose, as if snapping out of it. She looked at Finch and laughed. “Sorry, Finch. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Finch straightened his shoulders and scoffed slightly. “You did not scare me. Not at all.”

  The sisters stared at him for a moment before looking at each other and trying not to laugh.

  “So, do you have a bride yet?” Pixie asked the question, hoping to distract Poppy before she had another baby breakdown.

  “Not yet. I was scheduled to have my profile in the system before it was compromised but now it will be delayed since they are pulling smaller batches.” Finch showed his disappointment at the prospect of having to wait even longer.

  “Why the smaller batches?” Pixie asked in between bites of her cooling breakfast.

  Finch was eyeing the food left on Pixie’s plate as though he hadn’t just finished a meal himself when he answered distractedly, “The council wants to ensure that the matches are accurate before entering a larger quantity of warrior profiles. We were told they will limit the amount to five and see what happens before for a few cycles before increasing the numbers.”

  “I thought that Wheaton said the most recent matching had four brides who were scheduled to be picked up,” Poppy said, confused.

  Finch shook his head sadly. “There were originally five. The fifth bride was matched to Zane.”

  “Oh.”

  Pixie was confused when an uncomfortable silence came over their meal.

  “Want to fill me in?” she asked when no one seemed as if they were going to elaborate.

  Both Poppy and Finch were silent a moment before Poppy looked at Finch. “You better tell her what happened. If I do I’ll probably start blubbering again.”

  At the threat of more tears, Finch started to speak quickly. “The council pulled five matches a few weeks ago. Shortly after the warriors were notified of their good fortune, we were attacked by a Verge shuttle in the docking bay. One of the men who died that day was a warrior awaiting his bride.”

  “Wait a minute? There was another attack?” The question came out loudly as Pixie looked at her sister with her anger plain on her face. “Poppy! What
the fuck?”

  “Hey! Don’t yell at me!” Poppy shook her finger at Pixie. “I know I didn’t tell you about the attack but it literally just happened and I wasn’t even involved. It stayed contained to the docking bay and all the guys were caught before they made it to other parts of the ship. Plus, there isn’t really a whole lot of information on the attack.”

  “What does that mean?” Pixie looked at Finch for answers. She wasn’t going to believe that Poppy would give her the truth any longer, considering she’d been keeping secrets.

  “We questioned the surviving Verge warriors but they kept silent. The council was unable to figure out their agenda.” Finch crossed his arms over his chest.

  “What happened to them?” Pixie asked, toying with her food.

  “They were sentenced by the council to hard labor on a mining planet. Right now, they are in the brig until Squadron Two arrives to take over our Earth orbit in a month. I believe that once we are relieved of our Earth rotation then they will be shuttled away on our trip to the home planet.” Rubbing his jaw, Finch looked lost in thought for a few moments. “At least, that is what I believe the council plans…”

  “Okay. New rule.” Pixie stared at both Finch and Poppy and pointed her finger. “No secrets from now on. I can’t handle not knowing when shit goes down. Understand?”

  Poppy stuck out her tongue at her sister but nodded. Finch simply sat still, unsure what she wanted him to do.

  “Finch, just say ‘okay’,” Pixie snapped.

  “Okay?” Finch repeated in a questioning voice.

  “Good. Now I need to talk to my sister about lady business. You may want to make yourself scarce unless you want to hear what Dath is packing in his pants.” Pixie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud when Finch jumped up from the table and practically shot to the couch in the living room.