by Mills, Shae
“Her request requires no confirmations!” he shouted. “From Fremma or anyone else!”
Chelan gasped at the harshness of her mate’s booming voice, and she flinched under his undeniable authority.
“Yes, my Lord,” Lena replied immediately.
“Don’t ‘Yes, my Lord,’ when it should be ‘Yes, my Lady’!” Korba continued, his voice betraying his anger at her insubordination.
Lena swallowed, trying to remain in control. She returned to her knee and looked at Chelan. “I apologize to you, my Lady, and I will now abide by your request, if you permit?”
Chelan began to feel sorry for the woman, and she started to reply, but Korba was not going to let the situation slide. Originally he had been amused by the whole scene, but now he was genuinely aggravated by Lena’s disobedience and her lack of respect for his mate. He lowered his voice and stepped in front of Lazen and Chelan. He walked toward the warrior and glowered down at her. “It is obvious,” he seethed, “that some members of my crew, whether they attended the Koll or not, seem to be unclear about the status of my chosen mate.”
Lena dared not look away, and she remained motionless.
“So let me make this very clear to you, and when you leave here, I trust you will pass the word along … or someone is going to get killed!” he thundered.
Chelan jumped at his scathing remark, wishing she had never come here this morning.
“No one on this ship, absolutely no one, challenges or questions her. You bow in her presence, and you abide by her wishes”—he lowered his voice to a threatening rumble—“or your outlook is indeed bleak.
“Now,” he hissed as he stepped closer, “pertaining to your own situation. I assume that Fremma has made it obvious that you will no longer be in his intimate company. Whether or not he has made his reasons clear is of no consequence. Your visits here now are benign, unless he dictates otherwise. And in the future, by my order, your presence here terminates immediately upon the Lady Chelan’s entrance, and there will be no exceptions to that. Failure to leave promptly will result in your untimely demise by my hand. Is that understood?”
Lena was an emotional wreck. “Yes, Sire,” she whispered.
“You may now abide by my Lady’s wishes,” he added sternly.
Lena nodded to Korba and hustled toward Chelan but was brought up short by Lazen’s gun. Lena bowed from a distance. “I apologize, my Lady. May I now be excused?”
Chelan simply nodded, too stunned by the whole confrontation to speak.
Lena immediately took her leave, and Lazen followed her out. Chelan and Fremma remained very still, both afraid to speak to the enraged Warlord. They watched as Korba hung his head, his hands on his hips while he collected his thoughts. Suddenly, he began to laugh, and Chelan and Fremma looked at one another in baffled silence.
“Chelan,” Korba called. “Your intent is well-taken, and your conduct was admirable, but please do not challenge every woman you see. They are not all a direct threat to you.”
Chelan stiffened, unable to control the pain that instantly surfaced in response to Korba’s inaccurate assessment of Lena. “Lena was not just a perceived threat!” she shouted angrily. “She was the bitch I walked in on months ago when—”
Chelan stopped, her hands flying to her lips. Then she remembered that Korba knew nothing of the incident. His downplay of the whole affair was innocent.
Chelan immediately looked away. Visions of Fremma with Lena flashed through her mind, and she closed her eyes against the misery. She suddenly felt unwell, the intensity of the whole affray began taking its ultimate toll.
Fremma was the first to recognize Chelan’s dire state of mind, and he looked to Korba. “It was my fault, my Lord,” he began. “A while back, Dar was unexpectedly called from the Command Center, and Chelan came here to be with me.” Fremma looked anxiously at Chelan. He lowered his voice as if still apologizing to her. “But I was with Lena, and Chelan saw us.” Fremma looked back at Korba. “I don’t think I have to elaborate on the calamity it created.”
Korba instantly realized why Fremma’s decision to remain abstinent was so important to him. The warrior had felt the sting of her rejection personally and had never fully recovered. But Korba was struck by yet another disturbing revelation. He stepped up to Chelan. Slowly turning her face to him, his fingers slipped to her neck and he traced the red scar that marred her pretty skin.
“You said that you had requested of Dar permission to stay in the private blue room, yet you told me you had moved in with Fremma on the day of my departure. Was it this incident that forced you to leave his quarters?”
Chelan simply nodded.
Korba removed his fingers from her. “I’m sorry I laughed,” he offered lamely. “I had no idea what had occurred here before.”
Chelan looked up at him. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I thought I had healed, but when I saw her, the old wounds opened … and I overreacted.”
Korba watched her closely. “My Lady,” he whispered. “When we hurt you with our ways, you must talk to us. Please do not run from us.” Korba traced her scar again. “You spurned Fremma and sought seclusion for an act he would have never have committed deliberately to hurt you. And by seeking seclusion you took yourself out of his direct protection.” Korba felt his heart stumble as his eyes looked at the wound inflicted by Solis, and he blocked the images of her near death from entering his mind. “Always talk to us, Chelan. Please.”
Chelan finally looked up at him sheepishly. He smiled down at her. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
Chelan nodded contritely. “Yes, I think so. I just seem to be learning a lot of lessons rather rudely.”
Korba smiled and drew her to him. “I’m sorry that our world is so harsh, my Lady. I wish I could spare you from it all.” Korba hugged her and then looked up at Fremma. “Did you explain your decision to Lena regarding Chelan?”
“No, my Lord. I simply told her that I would no longer be intimate with her or anyone else, and that my reasons were personal and not to be discussed. I did not wish to intrude upon Chelan’s wish of confidentiality. My Lady’s private dealings are important to her and are not open to public knowledge such as ours. However, after all of this, Lena knows the reason behind my decision, though it is obvious that she does not understand it, nor does she accept it.”
Korba smirked. “Obviously is an understatement. But she has just accepted it via my decree, whether she likes it or not.” He looked down at Chelan, taking her face in her hands, and kissed her lovingly.
Chelan returned his affection. “You had better get back to your workout or your command will not be forthcoming on this day.”
Korba kissed her lips once more. “And so you are right, my pretty woman. But I will take my leave only on one condition.” He smiled. “That you stay out of trouble!”
Chelan nodded obediently, and then Korba looked at Fremma. “Take good care of her, my friend, and just to be on the safe side, make sure she does not have access to any knives, or I just might happen to find half of my female crew dispatched by nightfall.”
Fremma chuckled. “Don’t worry, my Lord. I won’t let her out of my sight, and I will allow her no access to any of our women.”
Chelan flushed with embarrassment. She watched as Korba left the room, and then she glanced at Fremma quickly. “I’m sorry, Fremma,” she blurted.
“No, don’t be sorry, my Lady. Your response was understandable. But you do not have to worry about my fidelity, and I trust that you now know that.”
“I do,” she whispered, and she hugged him. He held her tightly, and she smiled. “I have some good news for you,” she began.
Fremma took a deep breath, his heart already knowing that Korba had released her to him. His entire being overflowed with love for Chelan, and with love for his fair and unfailing Commander.
Chapter 6
Chelan spent a couple of hours with Fremma, both of them talking and laughing their way through the morn
ing. But soon, Chelan realized it was time to return to the Command Center. She felt excited and apprehensive at the same time, but Fremma bolstered her confidence, kissed her gently, and sent her on her way.
Chelan headed directly to the workout area and found her loving Warlord doing laps in the cerulean blue pool. She sat on the edge and dipped her legs in, the shock of the water’s icy embrace causing her to shiver from head to toe. In a way, she was disappointed. Chelan had always loved to swim, and as a child she had spent nearly every spare moment of her time either in lakes or pools. But she had known ever since her first few days in the Command Center, when she had washed out her old clothes in the pool, that her time in it would be measured in mere moments of survivability.
Chelan smiled as the small ripples made by Korba’s passes licked at her skin. Then she peered over and noticed her shin’s redness and felt the numbness in her feet. Finally, she was forced to remove her legs as they began to ache painfully. Her gaze remained riveted to Korba as his muscular, yet sleek, bronze body knifed easily through the water. His strokes were powerful, his speed beyond belief.
Chelan longed to join him, and she sighed with envy as she hugged her cold legs tightly. She wonder if he even knew she was there, but she would receive her answer soon enough as she watched him submerge at the far end of the pool. Chelan became temporarily concerned when he failed to surface, but her heart nearly stopped as he rose up abruptly in front of her, his massive body splattering her with the frigid water.
Chelan gasped, startled by his appearance and shocked by the cold. She tried to scramble back away from the deadly water, but his arms shot out from the depths, grabbing her ankles and pulling her forcefully toward the edge. Chelan braced herself, fearing entry into the pool. “Damn you!” she shouted, reaching forward and swatting water at the devilish grin on his face. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Korba placed his hands on the pool’s edge and rose up, taking her lips firmly and passionately. Chelan responded, her hands barely brushing his deathly cold shoulders.
Finally, he let himself back down into the water. “Come in with me,” he commanded alluringly.
Chelan’s eyes grew large. “Are you kidding? I’d die in that stuff.”
Korba grinned. “Oh, come on now, it’s not that bad.”
Chelan huffed. “Not that bad! The only things that pool is fit for is polar bears and penguins.” She paused, noting his feigned hurt expression. “Korba,” she began softly. “I love to swim, and I’ve always wanted to go in this pool, especially with you. But I would get hypothermia in a matter of minutes, possibly seconds.”
Korba continued to stare into her beautiful brown eyes, realizing that he had simply neglected to think of the water temperature. He had just assumed she didn’t like to swim. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Chelan looked at him, trying to think of why she hadn’t. “I guess because I assumed there was nothing you could do about it. It’s such a vast expanse of water.”
Korba lip quirked as he moved silently toward her. “There is nothing I cannot do, my Lady.” In one fluid motion, he raised himself from the water and knelt before her, pressing her back gently to the floor. “I guess if you can’t join me,”—he paused as his gaze traced over her warm inner thighs—“then I’ll have to join you.”
Chelan remained very still, her hands resting on her chest as her eyes drank in his moist, aroused body, his wet blue-black hair hanging down over his pecs, his piercing azure eyes pinning her to her spot. “I guess so,” she whispered softly as she smiled coyly at him.
Korba did not waste any time bringing first her and then himself to their peak, for he knew she was cold, and his frosty flesh pressed to her did little to remedy that. Then he lifted her up quickly and carried her to the shower area, immersing her in the warm soaking tub to thaw while he dressed.
Chelan watched him as she languished in the warmth. “Why is the water so cold?” she finally asked. “Surely even you find it barely tolerable.”
“I suppose,” he began, “but we have adapted to it. Though our bodies efficiently dissipate heat, the coldness of the pool helps to do that for me when I press myself to the limit of my endurance. It is simply more comfortable that way.”
Chelan continued to watch him. “The air temperature in the Command Center and in your quarters—you’ve raised it for me. Is it uncomfortable for you?”
Korba smiled. “No. It is within my tolerance limits, as I notice it is for you. Besides, the material of my uniform provides the insulation I require, against both hot and cold.”
“Then the only problem you have is at night, when you are without your uniform?”
Korba chuckled. “You worry about me too much, Chelan. Yes, I find my quarters warm at night even though you still require several layers of blankets. But it is not too warm to sleep as long as I remain uncovered. And no, my admission about feeling warmth does not give you license, my fair Lady, to withdraw your warm body from my side out of concern. Should you even consider that, I will drop the temperature in my chambers so low you will have to remain glued to my body just for simple survival.”
Chelan laughed. “Your warning is heeded, my Lord.”
Korba smiled back as he extended his hand to her. Chelan stepped from the tub and began drying herself as Korba disappeared for a moment. Then he returned holding a neatly folded white bundle, and he presented it to her.
Chelan drew her gown over her head quickly and then looked at the gift Korba held, her eyes widening. At first she had to tame her initial reaction to recoil, recognizing instantly that the garment was made of fur. She had always abhorred the practice on Earth of slaughtering animals for clothing, but she quickly quelled her objection. Among a race that killed people as easily as she squished bugs, skinning a few animals would not warrant a second thought. Besides, the plush fur was heart-stoppingly beautiful, and she reached for it. As her fingers sank into it, she moaned. “Oh my god, it’s the softest thing I have ever felt.”
Korba smiled at the delight reflected in her eyes. He watched her as she allowed it to unfold. “It’s a full-length cloak made from the hides of a small, native Iceanean animal,” he began.
Chelan looked up at him, and then closed her eyes as she held it up to her face. Korba beamed. “I found out that it was Dredon who helped you with the Koll gown. He still had your tastes pretty well pinned down. He surmised that you might like a cloak made of that particular pelt. He felt that it suits you, and I agree.”
Chelan rubbed her cheek against the plush, white fur and kneaded her fingers into it. It appeared to be from a rabbit, the fur quite long, but as she burrowed her fingers deep, she knew it was like nothing her planet had to offer. The guard hairs were dense enough on their own to produce a wonderful garment, but the underfur was nearly beyond description. She knew what chinchilla felt like, and this made that pale in comparison. She just wanted to lie in a bed of the fur and never leave.
Finally, Korba took the cloak from her and draped it over her shoulders, closing it at her neck with a gold clasp. The cloak was long and voluminous, its hem just pooling at the floor, the length allowing for her shoes. It had a hood similar to that of the shrouds, and the whole garment was furred on the outside as well as the inside. Chelan hugged the soft, downy cloak to herself, adoring the feel and appreciating the added warmth it supplied.
She looked up into Korba’s loving eyes. “How …” she whispered, “how did he do it in such a short time?”
Korba reached for her long hair and drew it out of the cloak. “It seems, my pretty woman, that my fair warrior was taken by you beyond words. When I asked him if he could come up with something simple temporarily, he would have nothing to do with it. He told me that he would get help, and that within three hours he would present to me a cloak which would befit you and your status.” Korba smiled. “I must admit that I was somewhat surprised and more than pleased when he presented this to me.
“The animal is called a
Batex. It’s a relatively small and rare, dog-like creature. Their hides are usually worn only by royalty to special functions, and I was unaware that we had any of the material on board. But obviously, you are royalty to him”—Korba lifted her chin up to him—“as you are to me.”
Chelan held her breath as he kissed her tenderly. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to curl up in his arms and while away the day with him. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice hopelessly overcome with emotion.
Korba immediately drew her to him and hugged her close. “Oh, my Lady,” he breathed. “You are pleased by such small tokens of my affection for you when you actually deserve so much more.” He drew her back, kissing her cheeks. “When we reach Iceanea, my Empire is yours, and with it, all its riches.”
He tried to continue, but Chelan shook her head and pressed her fingers to his lips. “Only you,” she said, her voice soft and low. “I want only you and nothing else. If I were stripped naked tomorrow, I would still be the richest woman in the galaxy as long as you remained by my side. I want nothing more.”
Korba hugged her feverishly, nearly crushing her. He buried his face in her neck, his powerful feelings overwhelming him. He would do anything for her, kill anyone to protect her, and he wanted her by him always.
They lingered together in each other’s arms for a long time, and then Chelan looked up to him. “May I see more of the ship now?” she smiled.
Korba nodded, his azure eyes misted with love. “Yes, you may,” he whispered. Slowly, he turned and led her out into the Command Center. There she watched as he armed himself heavily, expertly concealing everything beneath his shroud, while she quickly slipped into her delicate shoes. Turning to her, he pressed a button and the doors parted, allowing access to Lazen and his men.
“All is well, my Lord,” he indicated to Korba. Then he turned to Chelan. “And, my Lady,” he added, smiling warmly.
Chelan smiled back at the guard and nodded to him out of respect. Then she faltered slightly, the tip of her shoe catching on the hem of the cloak as she moved to Korba’s side.