“No? So, you offered to take her back to Earth?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you kidnapped her. What else did you do to make her mad if that wasn’t enough to send you scurrying for cover? Does she at least have good aim? I can’t hit the big lummox over there no matter how many things I throw.”
“Maggie has never thrown anything at me. She did strike me tonight though, which isn’t like her. She’s normally very sweet and quiet.”
Jillian nodded. “If you pissed off one of the quiet ones, then I’m surprised all she did was hit you. Did it at least hurt?”
“No, and I worried she might have broken her hand. Now she isn’t speaking to me.”
“Well, if kidnapping her didn’t piss her off, what did you do to make her so mad?” Jillian asked. “I have to know what’s going on before I can try to help you. And honestly, I don’t know that I should. Maybe your Maggie and I should ask for housing where we can bunk together and leave you two dumbasses out in the cold.”
He didn’t understand everything she said, but he caught the gist of it. “I kept something from her, something important. She thought that she couldn’t get pregnant if we mated, but there’s a slight chance that she can.”
Jillian’s jaw dropped and her gaze swung to Rorwick. “You can get us pregnant?”
She screamed in outrage and searched for something else to throw, but it seemed she was out of ammunition. It made Lathim wonder just what she and Rorwick had been up to for that bit of news to upset her so much. Had the two already mated? She’d been so sick, he thought it was doubtful, but that didn’t mean Rorwick hadn’t made his intentions clear.
“How do I fix things with my mate?” Lathim asked.
“You don’t. She needs time to process that you lied to her. If she’s giving you the silent treatment, be glad that’s all the punishment you’re getting. If it were me, I’d have threatened to cut off your balls.”
He winced and placed a hand over his cock, in case she was feeling bloodthirsty and decided practice on him before going after Rorwick. He pitied his friend if this was the mate he’d chosen. She was nothing like his sweet Maggie, although, it seemed even his mate had a temper when she was angered. He never should have listened to Liroz when the medic suggested that he not tell Maggie about the injection. He’d lost her trust and he didn’t know how to get it back.
“Will she ever forgive me?” Lathim asked.
Jillian shrugged. “I don’t know her so I can’t really answer that. If it were me, I’d want you to be scarce for a while. Is there a hunting party you could join for a few days? Or maybe get back on whatever ship brought us here and disappear for a while.”
The thought of leaving his mate made him sad, but if that’s what she needed in order to heal, in order to forgive him, then he would do it. He’d make sure someone checked on her often, in hopes that it was only him that she was angry with. Going back on a ship seemed like the best option. The Sphinx would be going on a short run. He just needed to make sure he was on board before it left. He wouldn’t be gone more than one of her Earth weeks, and maybe that would give her time for her temper to cool.
“Thank you, Jillian,” he said, rising to his feet. He motioned for Rorwick to follow him.
“Are you going to take her advice?” Rorwick asked.
“I think I will,” Lathim said. “But I need someone to provide meals for Maggie three times a day, and keep an eye on her.”
“Consider it done. If I need help watching over her, I’ll ask Sorus. I’m sure he would consider it an honor to help guard your Maggie.”
Lathim hurried home. He quickly packed and sought Maggie. He found her in the solarium and he paused inside the door, not certain if his presence would be welcome. But whether she wanted to talk to him or not, she needed to know that he would be gone for a little while. He was sure she’d welcome the chance to be away from him, if she was still as angry as she’d been before.
“Maggie,” he said softly. “I know you’re mad at me, but I need to talk to you.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “What is it, Lathim?”
“I’m going on a short trip on the Sphinx. I’ll be gone about one of your Earth weeks. Rorwick will provide meals for you while I’m gone, and you can go visit Jillian if you wish. If you need something, don’t hesitate to ask someone.”
“So that’s it? We argue and you take off?”
“I thought you might like some space. I’m sorry that I lied to you, and I’m even sorrier that you’re mad at me. I thought if I took a short trip, maybe it would give you some time to calm down. Just know that I would never do anything that would hurt you, Maggie.”
“You took away my free will, Lathim. You could have gotten me pregnant, knowing that I didn’t want a baby right now. That’s a pretty big betrayal. It’s not something I’m just going to get over.”
He nodded. “I’ll return soon and we can talk. Until then, know that I’ll be thinking of you every second that I’m gone.”
She snorted and turned away from him, presenting her back.
Lathim’s heart ached but he gave her the space she seemed to want. He left quietly and hurried to the Sphinx, joining their crew for the short jaunt to the Riley Space Station. He didn’t know what they were going after and he didn’t care. With some luck, they’d run into some pirates and he’d get to fight out his frustration. Anything would be better than the pain he felt at knowing he’d harmed his mate.
Chapter Eight
Maggie had spent the first three days holed up in the house, not wanting to talk to anyone. Even poor Rorwick got the silent treatment when he brought her meals, but on the fourth day, she realized it wasn’t very fair to be mad at the entire planet just because her mate was an asshole. When Rorwick came to check on her, she tried to be more pleasant.
“You claimed the human that was found in the life pod, didn’t you? That’s what the others said. Her name is Jillian, right?” Maggie asked.
He nodded. “Jillian is my mate. Why do you ask?”
“I was hoping I could go visit with her for a little bit. I haven’t had anyone to talk to for days, and it would be nice to talk to another human woman. I never really had a chance to interact with females much on my dad’s ship. It would be nice to have a friend right now,” Maggie said.
“You may come with me. Stay for the evening meal and then I’ll return you so you may rest. Be warned, my Jillian can be prickly.”
She smiled. “I take it you pissed her off like Lathim pissed me off?”
“If that means I made her angry, then yes.”
“You cyborgs just can’t help yourselves, can you?”
Rorwick didn’t answer but motioned for her to follow him. His home wasn’t very far away and the walk was short. When they entered his home, Maggie could hear a movie playing on his viewing screen. A redhead was munching on a piece of fruit as she watched a romantic comedy, but when Maggie walked into the room, Jillian smiled and patted the spot next to her.
“You must be Maggie.”
Maggie nodded. “I thought maybe we could visit for a little while. Rorwick offered to let me stay for dinner.”
“He’s probably hoping I won’t throw food at him if we have a guest.”
Maggie’s jaw dropped. “You throw food at him?”
“And anything else I can get my hands on. He’s insufferable. Did he tell you that he kidnapped me so I can make babies with him? I didn’t even know about the baby part until your mate stopped by the other day.”
“So, your mate lied to you too?” Maggie asked.
“Yeah, it would seem so. Rorwick made it clear that he’d taken me as his mate and expected sex, but he’d left out the part where he could knock me up. Maybe he was hoping if I was already pregnant, I wouldn’t be as angry.”
Was that what Lathim had thought?
Rorwick leaned against the doorway. “I didn’t lie to you. It just never came up.”
“Well, it came
up with Lathim and he still lied to me,” Maggie said.
“Do you know the one thing we want just as much as mates?” Rorwick asked. “We want families. Children. For ten years, women have run in fear of us. We’d thought we’d never have a chance to have a baby with someone, and now that Lathim has you, Maggie, he wants it all. I know how pleased he is that you’re his mate, how much he cares about you already, but he wants more. When you told him you don’t want children right now, did you stop to think that maybe it was something he’s wanted for a long time and you were asking him to put off his dreams?”
Maggie squirmed in her seat. “Well, no. Maybe. All right, so we’d discussed it a bit and I knew he wanted them, but if he wanted children so badly, why didn’t he just say so? Why did he try to trick me into getting pregnant?”
“Because he worried you would say no, and I’m guessing that he was right. If you’d known there was a chance for you to get pregnant, would you have pushed him away that night? Everyone on board the Mystic7 knew you hadn’t consummated your mating. Claiming you meant that he got to keep you.”
Maggie looked from Rorwick to Jillian and back again. “Are you trying to say that someone would have taken me from Lathim if we didn’t have sex?”
Rorwick shrugged. “It’s doubtful, as long as you chose to remain with him. But he likely thought you would leave him if he didn’t claim you. Lathim wanted you tied to him so you could never leave. You have no idea how lonely it is to know that no one wants you. For ten years, we’ve lived solitary lives with only each other for company, or the paid company of a whore, and even some of those wanted nothing to do with us.”
Maggie suddenly didn’t feel quite so angry with Lathim. If anything, she felt kind of bad. Yes, he’d lied to her and it was wrong on so many levels. He’d done something he knew she didn’t want. But she understood him a little better now. It wasn’t that he’d been trying to take something from her, it was that he was trying to hold onto something for him. She wished he would have just told her how he felt instead of telling what she wanted to hear. If he’d wanted children that badly, they could have talked about it. It took two people to be in a relationship, and she’d only been thinking of herself.
“You’re going to forgive him, aren’t you?” Jillian asked.
“Yeah, I think I am. I just wish he would have talked to me instead of making the decision on his own. If I’d known he wanted a baby that badly, I wouldn’t have just said no right away.”
“You really are one of the sweet, quiet ones, aren’t you?” Jillian asked.
“Maybe you could take notes from her,” Rorwick said before turning and walking away.
Jillian rolled her eyes. “I guess I haven’t been thinking of anyone other than me since I woke up in this strange place with a man who claimed to be my mate. I was so angry that I hadn’t been returned to Earth, that I was claimed like a piece of luggage, that I never stopped to ask why he’d do that.”
“I’m sorry about your baby,” Maggie said. “I’m sure with you mourning your child, that Rorwick won’t ask you to have another one right away. He seems nice.”
“The baby wasn’t mine,” Jillian said.
“Then, why did you have it in the life pod with you?” Maggie asked, brow furrowed.
“Because the guy I was being sold to was going to have the baby as a delicacy. I decided that taking a chance on the life pod supporting both of us was better than me being a slave and that baby being eaten. Who’s to say I wouldn’t have ended up on the menu too at some point?”
Maggie’s jaw dropped. “Who would eat a baby?”
“A Morvik. Nasty looking creatures. Although, to be honest, being on the menu would have been preferable to ending up in that thing’s bed.” Jillian shivered.
Rorwick came back into the room, a fierce look on his face clearly stating he’d heard everything. “Why was slave trading happening on a luxury liner?”
Jillian’s eyebrows rose. “If that thing started as a luxury liner, it wasn’t by the time I got on it. There were rooms of slaves being traded and sold. I was lucky to get to a life pod, and even luckier they didn’t come after me. Maybe they decided I was more trouble than I was worth and decided to cut their losses.”
“A Morvik was purchasing you?” Rorwick asked. “You’re certain?”
Jillian nodded. “I saw him, and felt his slimy tentacles grab my ass. Not to mention the noxious smell coming off that thing. Any fate was better than being sold to him. I don’t know why he wanted me, but if it was for sex, I’m doubly glad I got out of there.”
“You can’t begin to know how lucky you are,” Rorwick said. “Morviks mate with their slaves, and then pass them around to their friends. When the female’s mind snaps, they serve her for dinner.”
Jillian paled. “Good to know.”
“And you balk at having a baby with me?” Rorwick looked pissed. “Have I not treated you kindly? Have I not given you many of your Earth things to make you more comfortable here?”
Jillian held up a hand. “Now isn’t the time. Right now, let’s focus on Maggie, all right?”
He nodded and leaned against the wall.
“Is there a way to get Lathim home sooner?” Maggie asked.
“No,” Rorwick said. “The ship was going straight to the Riley Space Station and returning home. They were only docking there for a matter of hours. There’s not a way to get him here sooner.”
“All right. Then I guess I have a lot of waiting to do. It’s been four days, so I have another three to go.” Maggie sighed. “Do you think he’ll forgive me? I struck him before he left.”
Rorwick grinned. “Puny female, you couldn’t hurt him if you tried, not physically. You wounded his heart more than his jaw. I’m surprised you didn’t break your hand.”
“Lathim was worried about that, but looked it over and I guess it was fine. I wasn’t really in a frame of mind to listen to him right then. And now I wish that I had, maybe he’d have opened up and talked to me if I hadn’t been so angry.”
“I’m going to make the evening meal,” Rorwick said. “And after that, I’ll take you home, Maggie.”
When he left, there was a strange look on Jillian’s face. Almost a look of longing. Was it possible that she actually liked the big cyborg and just didn’t know how to react to him? Maybe coming today had solved two issues. Her fight with Lathim, and whatever problem Jillian had with Rorwick. Maybe Rorwick explaining more about their lives and their desires had opened Jillian’s eyes as well.
“So, I wonder when you’ll find out if you’re pregnant,” Jillian said. “With the creepy way they have of checking our vital signs and stuff, I wonder if they could hear a baby inside of you. Does it even have a heartbeat this soon?”
“I have no idea. I think their medics have special scanning capabilities that the others don’t, so it’s possible one of them could tell me. Do you think I should see one just in case?” Maggie asked.
“Wouldn’t hurt. You could ask Rorwick to take you before he takes you home tonight. Although, if you’re pregnant, I doubt that you’ll be allowed to stay in the house by yourself. If you fell or had an accident, there wouldn’t be anyone there to hear you.”
“Good point,” Maggie said. “So, I lose what little independence I have and find out if there’s a baby on board, or I wait until Lathim gets home and take a chance on something happening.”
“You’re going to the medic, aren’t you?” Jillian asked.
Maggie nodded. “I think it would be the best option. I don’t think Lathim would ever forgive me if something happened to the baby because I was too stubborn to get checked out. I’ll be lucky if he’s speaking to me when he gets home as it is. I must have really hurt his feelings with the way I was acting.”
Jillian smiled a little. “They’re massive, and can be a bit arrogant, but I think deep down they’re like teddy bears. Except with metal parts.”
“Mechanical teddy bears?” Maggie asked.
“
Yeah, something like that. Just don’t tell Rorwick I compared him to a stuffed animal. I don’t think his macho male pride could take the hit. It’s bad enough I’ve been throwing shit at him since I woke up and he refused to take me home. I guess I’ve been a bit of a bitch.”
“You woke up to a strange man on a strange world. I don’t think anyone faults you for reacting the way you did.”
“Maybe not,” Jillian said. “But I think I took it too far. Ever since I opened my eyes, all he’s wanted to do is help me. He feeds me, clothes me, brought me all kinds of trinkets he thought I might like. And to repay him, I’ve broken nearly everything in his home that wasn’t nailed down. Yeah. I’m a bitch.”
“Then maybe you can make it up to him, now that you know why he’s refused to take you back to Earth.” Maggie put her arm around Jillian. “It’s never too late to start over. And I have a feeling that Rorwick would be very receptive to whatever form of apology you offered. Especially if you used your tongue.”
Jillian cracked up and hugged Maggie back. “I think I’m going to like you. A lot.”
Rorwick called them to dinner. No one said much as they ate, and the tension between Jillian and Rorwick was palpable. Maggie wondered how long her new friend would hold out before welcoming the big cyborg into her bed. She didn’t miss the covert glances Jillian sent his way, or the perturbed expression on his face at every snippy comment that came out of Jillian’s mouth. She almost felt sorry for the cyborg because he’d definitely met his match.
Rorwick cleared the table after their meal then waited by the front door for her. Maggie hugged Jillian and promised to come see her again soon. When she reached Rorwick’s side, she placed her hand on his arm.
“Can I ask a favor?” Maggie asked.
“Is there something you need for your home?” Rorwick asked.
“No, I was hoping you would take me to the see the medic.”
His eyes widened and he looked her over from head to toe. “Did my fierce mate wound you when I wasn’t looking?”
“No, nothing like that. I’m not hurt. But I hoped that one of your medics could tell me if I’m pregnant.”
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