He wanted to hear Gwen admit that he had not acted as she described. He didn’t want to believe the demanding Siren male he’d kept leashed inside himself had claimed his mate while he was—wherever his spirit had been. He still wasn’t sure.
Gwen’s wrist unit went off again because she had forgotten to push the reset. She raised her chin and met Ania’s questioning look. “He doesn’t remember this week—or me—or what he did. Zade thinks I’m lying about us being completely mated.”
Ania looked at Dorian intently, easily reading his confusion. It had her mouth twitching. “Really? I would have thought that a male who solicited bonding from you twelve or thirteen times a day in exchange for leaving his room would be hard pressed to forget taking such extreme measures. Males are all the same—even Sirens evidently.”
Dorian flushed and turned to leave. “I’m going to look for Chiang. He can check me. His intuition is strong.”
“Yes it is, but Zade—that’s Doctor Chiang now, and he’s probably in his new quarters next door getting more acquainted with his new ensign,” Gwen reported, crossing her arms. “Do you feel you need an escort in case you check out again? Are you physically able to maneuver alone?”
“I feel fine—or at least I think I do. We’ll talk later—about everything,” Dorian said, tacking on the last statement.
Gwen lifted a hand. “Fine. Go without me. See if I care,” she said caustically. “I just sat with you in the meditation room for five freaking hours. You haven’t kissed me hello or said you were happy to see me or even said thanks for saving your sorry Siren ass. Maybe I’ll move back to my own damn quarters today since you obviously aren’t interested in me as a mate anymore.”
“Shades of Kellnor—will you shut up until I can think about all this? I don’t know what’s going on yet,” he demanded, striding to her and jerking her mouth up to his.
The contact was just as electric as it had been when he had claimed her the first time, when he kissed her for relief in the training room, when she had used that smart mouth for much more pleasant things. The kiss soon changed to profound gratitude that this caustic female was in his life.
As Dorian felt Gwen’s laughter echoing through him, he also finally saw the truth of everything she said in her aura. And she hadn’t been exaggerating. The female under his hands had so much of his energy in and around her that an ID scanner would have thought she was him. May the Creators forgive him if he hurt her, but he cursed them that he couldn’t remember the pleasure of her.
Dorian gripped the front of her shirt and set her firmly away before he acted exactly as she was daring him to do with the images of their connected bodies running through her head.
“When I get this figured out, we will make new memories and bind our arrangement in a suitable way that meets both our needs. Che’el locum nat. You have my promise that I will honor you as my mate, Commander Gwen Shenu Jet. And I think I’m going to ask Sarinnea to perform a Siren mating ceremony for us.”
Then he let go of Gwen and spoke to Ania before practically running out of Medical. “Good to see you survived your ordeal, whatever it was, old friend. When you are well, we will see if you find me so amusing on the mat.”
Ania laughed loudly at his threat. “Want to swear a Khalsa blood oath on that too?” she called after him.
Malachi grinned. “I don’t know what Lieutenant Zade said, but his energy gave me a great picture. Looks like you’re going to get another wedding night, Commander Jet. You may want to take a booster before you see him again.”
“What did Zade say? Those strange words. Was that a Khalsa curse?” Gwen demanded.
“In your case, perhaps you will consider it so before he’s done with the deed. It was a blood oath to bond with you,” Ania explained.
“Oh, good,” Gwen said more casually than she was feeling, tinkering with her wrist unit to keep herself from doing a happy dance. “It’s not my fault my Siren mate had a brain blip during our mating week. I’ve missed the last two bonding sessions he made me schedule. Maybe I’m a little cranky after six hours of going without a fix.”
Ania smiled broadly. “Watching you and Dorian work out your bonding arrangements is vastly entertaining. All Synar and I seem to do lately is fight.”
“Yeah, well try being a celibate demon. Then you can complain,” Malachi said, frowning.
Gwen smiled at Malachi. “I believe Boca is taken now,” she said. “Sorry about your luck.”
Malachi shrugged. “Probably just as well, she called me a ‘friend’. I’m still waiting on permission from Ania and Liam anyway. In the meantime, I’m thinking celibate thoughts.”
“The limitations of your physical existence is high on the list of things Liam and I fight about Malachi,” Ania said, her grin growing at his smile of understanding. He well knew the number one issue was Liam wanting children because Malachi wanted her to have them as well.
“Great to know you’re trying, but not very helpful without a decision,” Malachi said. “Fortunately, other things are going well. I think my host body’s legs are going to be okay. Chiang and I are going to order a real stasis machine that will fit my whole body comfortably and not let my legs atrophy. I swear I’ve worked more on injured bodies this week than any of the medics.”
“A healing demon,” Gwen remarked, shaking her head. “Boca was right about you.”
“Regarding what precisely?” Malachi asked, stopping at Gwen’s tone of awe.
“You’re a natural healer, Malachi. You should talk to Chiang about joining the Medical staff,” Gwen suggested. “If he says yes, I’ll support Ania in defending it to Synar.”
“Me—a healer?” Malachi said in shock, tilting his head as if that would make the label sound more logical. Then he looked at Ania. “Bet that would make me look good with the Creators. Redemption in record time. I must say it’s an intriguing suggestion.”
“I think how the Creators would view such a service would depend on what you do with those you heal,” Ania said with shrug.
Malachi rolled his eyes, imitating Gwen’s exaggerated way of doing so, and was pleased when the commander laughed. “When have I ever done anything to a creature on this ship that was not helpful? I live to serve those you do, Ania Looren.”
“What’s with you and the shrugging, Ania? You used to just make badass pronouncements. Now all you do is shrug,” Gwen said sharply. “I don’t like it. I prefer you to just be the confident wiseass you usually are.”
Ania sighed at Gwen’s comments. “Maybe I’m getting too old for all the drama everyone else seems to thrive on. And getting captured and stabbed didn’t help. Add in my mate’s attitude about me and Malachi…” She finished her statements with another shrug. Words were insufficient to define her struggles with Liam Synar.
“Fine. Mope for today, but tomorrow we’re starting Boca’s warrior training. Sit the bench if you have to, but be there to make sure I don’t hurt her,” Gwen said. “I’m putting her in with the ensigns that Jurek is training. I want to see what she knows.”
“I’ll be there,” Ania said. “Now leave me alone and let me rest.”
Chiang walked in just as Gwen was leaving. “Zade find you?” she asked.
“Yes, but I sent him to his mother. He was shocked a bit when I corroborated your story of his memory loss and what he was like during it,” Chiang said. “Just so you know, Boca and I talked. She knows I’m going on the mission with her. We worked out an agreement of how to handle it. I’m going to work on dialing down the device while I take the bridge watch this evening.”
“Thought Synar was taking the bridge,” Gwen said.
Chiang shook his head. “No, I’m doing it. I’m kicking his mate out of Medical. He’s coming to get her as soon as he’s free. Malachi will be released as well.”
They looked over at Ania, who was sleeping again. Malachi was walking quietly nearby, watching over her. His gaze lifted briefly to Chiang and Gwen.
“About time Liam did w
hat he should,” he said fiercely.
Gwen laughed, thinking the scowl looked as fierce on Malachi as it did on Liam. But she saw the way he watched the sleeping female with great affection.
“Malachi looks so much like Captain Synar when he’s upset,” Chiang remarked. “It’s eerie.”
“I’m not used to it yet either. Glad Synar is coming to get Ania. She’s depressed and could use a little mate pampering if you ask me,” Gwen said.
“Well you’d be the expert after the week you’ve spent trying to appease your Siren,” Chiang teased.
“Indeed,” Gwen said, mocking Dorian and making Chiang laugh. “How’s your love life, Doctor Chiang of Greggor?”
“In Earthling terms, I believe she and I got engaged this afternoon,” Chiang said. “When the mission is over, Boca has agreed to be my mate until I get tired of her.”
“Until you get tired of her? You lie. No female would agree to that,” Gwen said loudly, only to be shushed by Malachi.
Chiang laughed at Malachi’s glare but lowered his voice. “Boca and I have agreed some link between us is inevitable. We will share a mating connection just until she leaves for her training. We will part as friends and speak kindly of each other. Not all creatures wish for the volatile relationship you and Zade have, or for what is between Ania and the captain. Some of us just want our needs met and to live peacefully.”
“Chiang—that’s not what you really want, but I don’t have time to explain what I see in your energy to you. See me before you do anything stupid. Right now, I need go track down my mate,” Gwen said.
Chiang bowed his head to her, not bothering to hide his grin. “May you find equal happiness with the version of Zade who claims you next.”
“Oh bite me. You’re hot for a vicious warrior. Males start losing body parts when Boca gets angry,” Gwen told him.
“Warrior? I have yet to see evidence of that. She fainted on me when I scared her during an argument,” he protested.
“Boca did not faint,” Gwen denied flatly.
Chiang blinked at Gwen’s quick defense of Boca and her equally quick doubt of him. “Why would I lie about Boca fainting? And how could you doubt me after all we have shared?”
“I don’t know. I guess I can’t see a female who can pull knives from a dead body and wipe the goo off on her clothes fainting over an angry Greggor, no matter how loud he growls,” Gwen pressed.
They were both shushed loudly by Malachi again.
Gwen rolled her eyes. “Chiang, you’re as inflexible in your views as Synar. Come by the training room mid-morning and take a look at the real female.”
“Do not hurt Boca in training to prove anything to me. My thoughts are of no matter. She has already said she is going on the mission,” Chiang said. “Just…train her well so she can protect herself.”
“You’ll both be trained,” Gwen said, patting his shoulder. “And we’ll make sure we stay in contact somehow. I guess Synar doesn’t want to meet with us today after all?”
“He said it could wait until tomorrow,” Chiang agreed.
Gwen nodded and walked off to find Zade, thinking that just this morning, the horny Siren had still tracked her everywhere she went. Now it was like he was avoiding her—or at least wishing he could. The Liberator was too damn small for him to stay lost for long.
Chapter 19
Dorian sat with his face in his hands, contemplating what to do while his birth parent sighed heavily.
“Eli’oh, you’re being too critical of your actions—as usual,” Sarinnea said firmly. “Did Gwen seem upset? I can tell you she has not been so before now. Her crew whispers behind her back about how sweet she has been since you have returned.”
“I do not know what is truth. My head aches and my body is on fire. I can barely think in her presence, much less read her energy,” Dorian complained. “I don’t understand why she didn’t stop me.”
“An Earthling female stop a Siren male? A Siren’s mate stop him from claiming what he has made his in every way except physically? My child—there was no stopping you—or her, for that matter. Now stop brooding and admit the real problem,” she ordered, fist on her hip and glaring. “You’re upset because you don’t remember your first time with her.”
Dorian rose and stomped to the door of her room, turned back, and covered the distance in two steps. Sarinnea’s quarters weren’t even as big as his cage had been on Terris Rein.
“I’m upset because I’ve been using her as nothing more than…than…I cannot say the words and link them to her. It makes me ill to think I have abused her in such a manner,” Dorian declared with a swing of his long arm that Sarinnea had to duck because he was so close.
Sarinnea felt heat flood her face when the limit of her patience had been reached. Her answer to her child was a string of Siren swearing that had him cowering back and sliding out the desk chair to sit. She paced and lectured him on his Siren responsibilities to his mate, not letting him interrupt her.
When her temper was vented and her system had settled, she sighed and closed her eyes, returning to English because it served the higher purpose of slowing her thoughts.
“Dorian, look past your desire. For what purpose could the Creators have taken your memories? Was there a lesson to learn? Was it punishment? Was it to help Gwen in some manner? You are so caught up in what is not in your control to change, as are all things past, that I fear you are missing the point. Your mate—your very worthy mate, I might add—has accepted you, given herself over to you, and held nothing back. So stop your whining and go to her. Let go of your regret,” Sarinnea ordered.
Dorian took a deep breath, closed his eyes in return, and then bowed his head to the wisdom of his parent. It was the hardest concession he could remember making since the early days of his spiritual training.
“Thank you, Sarinnea. Will you perform a Siren mating ceremony for us later? Just for a few witnesses, not for the whole crew. I wish to make it formal before I—Sherelaq,” he swore. “On Earth, they call it a wedding. I want her to have one.”
Sarinnea sighed and ran a restless hand through her hair. “So long as we can do it today. I will also give my blessing. In fact, my wish to do so is much greater than with the other two females you mated.”
Dorian bowed his head again, relief sweeping through him. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome, child. Now go—see the female—find her and seek enough relief to function,” she ordered.
He headed for the door, barely noticing the male who leaned against the hallway outside. Dorian started to walk away, but something stopped him. When he turned back, the male straightened.
Walking back to stand in front of him, Dorian looked down on the Norblade male in wonder. First because he was able to so clearly read the male’s energy. But mostly because his birth parent had not mentioned the depth of her relationship to the male, even though Sarinnea’s energy marked him clearly as hers.
Dorian put out a hand. “Hello. I am Dorian Zade, Sarinnea’s child. It is a pleasure to meet my birth parent’s current partner.”
Jordon raised an eyebrow at the description the large, intimidating male put on his relationship to Sarinnea. But sensing no threat, he offered his hand. “I remember you quite well, Lieutenant. You do not remember helping rescue me?”
Dorian sighed at the further proof of his memory loss. “I remember being captured, then nothing more until today.”
Jordon nodded. “My name is Jordon Zelax. Your captors must have given you Argen Weed. It stifles higher thinking and somehow represses everything but your physical urges. Over time and continued use, memories are slowly erased. I was under its influence for many years myself. My last owner took me off of it because he expressly wanted to enjoy my discomfort at having to service a male.”
“Did your memories of lost time ever return?” Dorian asked, dropping the male’s hand when he realized he had been retaining it.
Jordon shook his head slowly. “No—but in my
case, it was a blessing. Of my fifteen years in slavery, I have only the last few to forget. Your birth parent has been most compassionate in trying to heal me before I return to my planet.”
“Sarinnea is a very compassionate Siren,” Dorian said, searching Jordon’s gaze for his true feelings about his parent.
“Sarinnea is an extraordinary female in many regards,” Jordon replied, holding his gaze but keeping his reactions in reserve. It was only because of his other commitments that he couldn’t share them with Sarinnea. Since he couldn’t share them with her, he certainly wasn’t going to share them with her son.
“Excuse me, Jordon. I must go find my mate—Gwen,” Dorian said, looking off.
Jordon smiled. “Yes—of course. Another extraordinary female. I have to say you’ve done a remarkable job of making the commander happy this week. I can’t imagine that’s an easy task for the burden of responsibilities your mate bears.”
Dorian raised an eyebrow. “Gwen’s been happy? I mean—she has seemed this way to you?”
“Yes,” Jordon replied, seeing the concern in the Siren male’s gaze and wishing to lighten it. “Especially when that wrist unit timer goes off and she tears away from what she’s doing to run to see you. Nothing prevents her. She must value you above all else.”
Dorian stared, swallowed hard at what Jordon was sharing because it humbled him further, grateful for the male perspective just the same. “I appreciate your compassionate words. They are—much needed right now.”
Jordon reached out and patted his arm. “It is very little kindness compared to my rescue. If there is anything more I can do, just let me know.”
“There is something, actually. Be good to Sarinnea. She is not as tough as she acts,” Dorian said with a blooming smile.
“Being good to Sarinnea is like breathing for me. It is both necessary and a pleasure. I will miss her when it is my time to leave,” Jordon said, his eyes glazed with the knowledge.
“You can choose to stay with her,” Dorian suggested
The Siren's Call (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) Page 21