Atone By Treaty

by Kayla Stonor

  Oltu took a deep breath. “My temper is short. It is not my intention to embarrass or frighten you, but I must ask you to leave. Yulla will follow you shortly.”

  Scales colored his neck and his eyes glowed hot. His barely restrained control propelled Gabrielle out the door, Oltu giving her wide berth as she passed him. She went straight to her cabin, her walk stiff, stomach elsewhere, emotions churning. She paced her room, waiting for Yulla, terrified Oltu would vent his anger on the fragile alien, praying he was better than that.

  When her door chimed, she raced over and palmed it open, almost hauling Yulla inside, checking her over until the confused alien backed away.

  Gabrielle smiled. “You’re okay.”

  “Yes. You worry for me?”

  “I am so sorry for getting you in trouble.”

  “Moje pan... please forgive... my lord Oltu not hurt me.”

  Yulla could not have surprised Gabrielle more. “Never?”

  “Saiorse protects me.”

  Gabrielle’s eyes narrowed. “Protects you how?”

  “She draws First Lord attention. She says she used to punishment.”

  “So, he hurts Saiorse, but never you?”

  Yulla hesitated, unhappy.

  “Tell me!”

  “My lord command I speak truth. He once catch hand, squeeze hard, very angry.” She paused, seeking the word she wanted from the translator. “Frustrated. Saiorse distract. She struck my lord.”

  Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

  “Lord Oltu want punish Saiorse, but then he left, see my lady.”

  Startled, Gabrielle shook her head. Yulla meant her. So, Oltu left to see her.

  “When? My first night aboard this ship?” It could only be that first night.

  Had she made him so angry? She had sent him packing. He’d taken his fury out on Cale, and then on his tributes? But Oltu had sent Saiorse to her room the next morning and she’d looked fine.

  “My lady, I need be honest.” Yulla’s voice hardened, her expression determined, that gold blush extending to her ears. “Alegia depends on Lord Oltu. Every day I fail in duty, and every day Lord Oltu overlooks my failing. If First Lord returns me because you disapprove...” Blood filled her eyes once more. Distress sharpened her voice. “My lady, you ignorant of Qui ways, you endanger my people! I beg you, stop.”

  Yulla’s rebuke, the young alien’s fear for her world, hit home.

  Gabrielle didn’t understand the tribute culture.

  She knew from her studies on board the Thrak ‘Yla that tributes were partly selected for their psi-compatibility with the acquiring Qui, explaining Saiorse’s and Yulla’s dexterity with the translator. The Qui had leveraged psycom-tech developed for the resistance into a sophisticated linguistic tool between English-speaking humans and speakers of the galactic-wide K’lahn language, but a psi-translator couldn’t bridge the culture gap between the many species that populated the galaxy. All tributes were expected to study, presumably to increase their value to the Qui, and Oltu had clearly encouraged both tributes to learn to use the psi-translator.

  Why?

  Did Oltu anticipate she would need to interact with his tributes?

  A nagging ache in her temples exploded into a pounding throb.

  She condemned Oltu for traditions long established across the galaxy, and nothing would stop her standing up for her beliefs, for her values, but maybe, by labeling Yulla as a victim of Qui oppression, by assuming the role of judge and jury, Gabrielle risked far-reaching consequences she couldn’t predict.

  Yulla feared Oltu would return her because of Gabrielle’s disapproval.

  Hence Oltu cared about her opinion of him.

  So why did he keep his distance?

  Why did she care? Exposure to his pheromones addled her brain. Distance gave her perspective, allowed her to think without the distraction of her body’s cravings for him. Presumably, the relief worked both ways, and yet Yulla believed her world at stake, because of Gabrielle.

  She ushered Yulla to a deep-holstered bench. Yulla sat, straightening her barely there shift dress to cover her knees. Her tears had dried, the blood reabsorbed into her skin without trace, reinforcing her alien origin, and yet they shared so much in common—Yulla’s humanoid physique, her emotions, her fears, and an intuition Gabrielle respected. Their cultures, their traditions, might be different, but sitting with Yulla now, the light-years separating their worlds were no smaller or greater than the distance between the United Regions and those who lived in the Fringes.

  More united them, than separated.

  “I will make this right, Yulla, I swear. I have no right to interfere with your world, your people’s arrangements with the Qui. Forgive me. There is much I don’t know. Yulla, Lord Oltu bade you to be honest. Please, I need you to explain everything. Make me understand your world, your desires, so I may help you.”

  *****

  Gabrielle lay facedown on her bed, fighting the headache pounding her temples.

  Cale massaged her shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had gathered after a long day of making amends with both Yulla and Saiorse.

  “I am yet to meet this Yulla,” he commented.

  “She’s shy. The K’lahn frighten her and Oltu allows her to remain out of sight, I think to protect her tribute status.”

  “You make it sound like he’s doing her a favor, and yet from what you say, she’s desperately unhappy.”

  “She is. She’s terrified of Oltu, his anger, I saw that for myself—it’s why I jumped to her defense—and then she passionately defends him, because he’s never hurt her. But of course she sees what he does to Saiorse.”

  “Bastard. I’m sorry to crow but I’m glad you’re beginning to see through him.”

  “I’m not so sure,” she said. She shifted under his touch. “Left a bit.”

  He found the knot under the edge of her shoulder bone and she winced before his fingers eased the pain away. She wished he could massage away her headache.

  “Not so sure about what?” Cale asked.

  “Um... about Oltu. Saiorse says he hasn’t touched her either. Not since...”

  “Since?”

  “Since me.”

  His sweeping strokes stopped.

  “Fuck,” he whispered.

  Gabrielle twisted to see his face. “Do you think that’s the reason for his foul mood? You know...” She nodded towards Cale’s groin.

  “A man can relieve sexual frustration, Gaby.”

  “He’s not a man. He’s a Qui.”

  “Which makes him dangerous, unpredictable, and totally unsuitable for you, and not just because he’s a Qui... his temperament, his appetite...”

  She agreed with every word Cale said. Her headache intensified. She felt sick. “It’s no good. I’m getting a migraine.”

  “Not sure why your nanobiotes haven’t kicked in yet. I’ll go to the infirmary. See what they can give you.”

  She nodded, eyes closed, tracking tell-tale zigzag lights. The bed lifted as Cale stood up, making her feel sick. He dimmed the harsh lights as he left. A spike of pain made her cry out.

  Within seconds she drowned in an ocean of pain.

  It felt like days before the agony eased and then passed. She felt sleepy. A gentle stroke circled around her temple. She inhaled Oltu’s scent, too grateful for the absence of pain to protest his close proximity.

  She murmured into her pillow, not wanting to open her eyes. “What did you do?”

  “A sedative effect that can act as a pain killer. Is it working?”

  “Like you did for Farivar...”

  “No. Farivar wished to remain alert. Is this helping? Do you need more?”

  “Hmm... yes, helping... No more. It won’t paralyze me like before?”

  “No. It won’t paralyze you. Gotnas believes a Qui treatment is safer for you than any remedy he has. He will scan you tomorrow if you are not recovered.”

  Gotnas. He was the ship’s healer.
Had Gotnas informed Oltu she was unwell? She mumbled the question.

  He chuckled. “You’re making no sense.”

  Sleep stole her reply.

  *****

  Oltu watched over Gabrielle until her brow smoothed.

  She slept soundly now, her face relaxed in repose, beautiful with the silken coverlet draping over her soft curves.

  A growl rumbled in his throat and his wings itched for escape, his Qui demanding satisfaction. He fought the urge to awaken her and appease his stymied mating call, his frustration a starving beast salivating over a forbidden delicacy placed under its nose. As his heat mounted and his cock thickened, Gabrielle stirred and moaned, a blush gracing her cheeks.

  Even in her sleep, her body reacted to him.

  She possessed no control in his presence, and Oltu could claim no better. He’d seen his fellow Qui succumb to their mutual attraction with their human drug of choice, berated them for indulging their craving until they could no longer maintain objectivity; enslaved to their human as a devoted tribute served their master.

  Enslaved.

  When he’d first met Gabrielle in the president’s office, her startled reaction to his presence had stunned him to momentary silence and then her seductive blush had ignited a lustful surge that had never abated, not even that one night she brought him to release.

  He wanted her to the point of physical pain, but satisfying his urge was no longer enough.

  Feeling his control weaken, Oltu rose and shot through the door, dismissing the guard on duty with a snapped command. He waited until the K’lahn was out of sight before heaving in a lungful of cool untainted air.

  It made no difference. He could still taste her lingering scent.

  Colonel Tennant appeared with a tray of food. Oltu had waited for the colonel to take a break before slipping into Gabrielle’s room; a confrontation would not have eased Gabrielle’s pain. Tennant’s expression tightened on seeing Oltu.

  Oltu dampened his resentment of the man’s suspicion. “She is much improved.”

  “She is?” Tennant frowned at the locked door. “Where’s the guard?”

  Oltu palmed the entry pad, his imprint overriding the lock. “I will have the lock encrypted to your bio-code until Gabrielle is recovered.”

  Surprise flashed in the colonel’s eyes.

  The door opened and Tennant placed a boot on the threshold, squaring his shoulders. “I think you should keep your distance.” He spoke quietly. “I haven’t seen Gabrielle so bad for a long time and I believe you care for her well-being, that’s why you’ve been avoiding her.”

  Tennant made it sound like a question but Oltu refused to confirm the man’s assumption. “She’s had this affliction before?” he asked instead.

  “A few times, when she’s distressed. This tribute thing you Qui have going, it’s confusing.” Tennant’s eyes darkened. “I don’t like it either.”

  The human’s hostility brought out Oltu’s scaling. “You understood the tribute system well enough when you arrested Jaden for delivery to my sister.”

  Tennant’s grip on the tray tightened. The air chilled. “General Jaden knew what he was doing.”

  Heat burned Oltu’s eyes. “Yes, he did.”

  Jaden’s duplicity had sullied the Qui Empire and threatened a long standing tradition. His devotion to Sonestra may have won his world freedom, joined Qui and humans in alliance, but that original deception still rankled; a prickly reminder that humans had uncovered a weakness, a vulnerability that undermined the Qui’s supremacy of their realm, and Oltu was not immune. Gabrielle had already brought him to his knees.

  Now he questioned his authority over his tributes.

  Oltu turned from Tennant and walked away, shifting into Qui form, vexed by the growing problem. He walked to his stateroom, dismissed Yulla and beckoned Saiorse follow him into his private chamber.

  He spoke K’lahn. “I wish to beat you.”

  She dropped to the thick-piled rug carpeting the floor. “My lord.”

  “Why do you accept my will?”

  “I serve you, my lord.”

  “And if you did not serve me? If you were not my tribute?”

  “Please, my lord, do not ask me such things.” Tears filled her eyes and he remembered Saiorse had left a lover behind on Dralexi.

  “I require this answer. If you grant me my desire because it pleases you to serve then you must walk away. However, if you wish for my beating, for my attention, for your pleasure, then you may stay.”

  Her eyes widened, her brow creased. She appeared agonized by the choice he gave her. “My lord,” she pleaded. “You make it impossible to fulfill my duty to you. I desire to fulfill my duty.”

  “You fulfill your duty every day, Saiorse. That will not change. Make your decision.”

  She moaned, scrabbled to her feet and fled his presence.

  Oltu watched her run, waited for his Qui to surge forth and chase her down, force her submission, punish her for imperfect devotion. His feet stayed planted where he stood. He recalled the excitement of the chase, the exhilarating satisfaction of catching his quarry, the dark erotic pleasure of taking his prize, and let loose a full-throated roar that reverberated through his chamber and out into the ship. Now his feet moved. He launched a scaled fist into the nearest wall, sinking a knuckle-indented hollow into the composite alloy.

  Pain blasted his hand and up to his shoulder.

  He hissed and growled, studied the broken fingers and cursed Gabrielle for ruining him. Only she could grant him the release he craved.

  Chapter Nine

  Gabrielle sat cross-legged in the middle of her huge bed and peeled a yellow barbed opru fruit Cale had procured from the ship’s supplies. She licked juice from between her fingers, moaned, and then sank her teeth into the sweet, tart flesh.

  Damn, opru came close to sex.

  Uncurling a leg, she slid off the bed and pushed a wall closet open with her elbow, still munching her breakfast. The last ship bulletin estimated three days to reach Dralexi, long enough to launch a charm offensive on the First Lord of Katar. Oltu brought Gabrielle to Dralexi to rescue her brother and the Qui Empress had widened the brief to secure the release of all humans from enforced labor. If she didn’t improve Oltu’s mood, their mission would start at a disadvantage and that would be her fault. Plus she owed Saiorse and Yulla the effort. Both tributes believed their worlds in jeopardy because of her.

  She pulled out dark slacks, selected a shirt and then swapped it for a V-neck shirt generous on the cleavage. Her door chimed. Pulling her silk robe around her, she called enter. Cale walked in, dressed in black camos and T-shirt. Gabrielle eyed him carefully, senses ultra-aware. He hadn’t shaved, his jaw shadowed, and every muscle in his body looked taut.

  “We need to talk.” He managed to sound evasive.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Coal black eyes pinned her down. “Before you do something stupid and things get outta hand.”

  He looked at her with hunger and her heart hammered. She knew this look. “Cale, I–”

  “Gaby, please, let me speak.” He approached, stopped three feet away, giving her his undivided attention in a way he hadn’t since before they broke up. “You said if I changed my mind...”

  Gabrielle’s hands shot to her mouth.

  “... and last night, I couldn’t bear seeing you in so much pain.”

  Last night? What about the night he left her? And the days and nights after that? Weeks of empty misery! “Cale, you caught me on the rebound, that’s what you said.” Her voice rose, painful memories flooding back. “That it wasn’t fair, to me, that you couldn’t live with yourself after what you did to Jaden.” She’d slept on the kitchen floor with an empty bottle of moonshine. Her father had just been elected President of the United Regions and was caught up in twenty-four hour talks with former President Johnson, Jaden had been sacrificed to the Qui, and Cale had dumped her like she’d turned radioactive overnight.

  �
��I was messed up. What went down with Jaden–”

  Gabrielle waved off the excuses. Oh, she got it. Cale too mired in guilt over Jaden to cope with a grownup relationship so he had broken her heart. She’d hidden the worse of the damage, but his crisis was over now and she was done with pretending. She jabbed the air. “Marriage scared you off. The moment I mentioned it you started to back away. That’s what happened. You didn’t love me. The timing was bad. We finished something that was never going to work. Why bring this all up again?”

  Why rake over the splinters of the best time of her life?

  A hard lump clogged her throat. The break up with Cale ached deep inside. She couldn’t hate him for it, his pain and confusion had been real, he cared deeply for her, that never changed, and so she’d vowed to keep secret the devastation of her life. She needed her friends and Cale was the best of them.

  She caught a shine in his eyes, his brow furrowed deep. The depth of his emotion, its rawness, stole her breath away. She rallied the will to resist her worst instincts.

  “I hurt you, Gaby, and seeing you in pain last night brought it all back and I want to rewind the clock, go back. There’s been no one since you. I’ve wanted to say something for a while, but then you met Oltu, and everyone could see the spark between you. I hated him, but he was such a shit I thought you’d realize that and see sense. I thought with more time...”

  “So you’re saying something now? Instead of like two weeks ago, or a month ago when the competition was far, far away!”

  “I’m telling you I love you, Gaby, before it’s too late, because you don’t know you have a choice, and you do. I love you! If I could take back our break up and protect you from all that hurt, I would, I swear.”

  Her heart soared as her resolve wavered. Cale loved her! He spoke the words she’d longed to hear from his lips.