by Erin Tate
Rolling, Joyce eased toward the edge of the bed, the sheet coming along for the ride. Except when she underestimated the distance and thump over the side she went. She grunted when her ass struck the ground, a hint of pain racing up her spine.
“Oww. Damn.” She rubbed the aching spot. Rubbed and pushed and noticed something. Her ass, the ass that’d she’d had since middle school and through her adult life, was much smaller than it had been.
Ignoring her fatigue, she shoved to her feet and dropped the sheet, letting it flutter to the ground while she stared at her butt.
Her flat butt.
Well, not flat, but there sure as hell wasn’t as much to her butt as there had been. Okay, she took a calming breath, somewhere along the line Resane told her she might lose a few pounds during her Needing. She would expend a lot of energy and wouldn’t want to stop for food. Fine.
But her ass? She liked her ass.
Oh, God.
Joyce turned her attention to her chest, focusing on her breasts, and released a scream. She couldn’t help it. They were gone!
Her slightly saggy boobs were even saggier and smaller and gone.
She cupped their weight, holding one in each hand, and estimated she’d lost at least three cup sizes. Three!
Oh, those aliens had some explaining to do. She’d long ago accepted her shape and was fucking proud of a handful of her features.
She had pretty eyes… before the aliens took them away.
She had smooth unblemished skin… before the aliens took that away.
She had a banging ass… before that disappeared.
She had amazing tits… before they took those too.
Joyce looked down her body, looking to see what else had changed. She wiggled her toes, seeing if she’d somehow magically lost those along with everything else. That was about the time she realized she could see her toes without effort.
Fine, she grumbled to herself, they get points for reducing the belly a little.
But her boobs!
“Kede! Get your bi-colored ass in here!” She raised her voice, sure that the man would hear her. He hadn’t been more than a room away through her Needing.
The rapid thump of his feet on the biopad reached her a split-second before he appeared in the doorway. He took one look at her and began stripping his clothes, tearing at his shirt and whipping it over his head.
He thought she wanted…
Joyce dropped one breast and held out a hand toward him. “Wait! I don’t wanna fuck, I wanna know what happened to my ass.”
She pointed at said ass and even wiggled her hips for good measure. Another wave of irritation flowed over her when she realized it didn’t jiggle nearly as well as it once had.
“Joyce?” Kede’s brow furrowed.
His question was immediately followed by Resane’s. “Kede, is she all right?”
Ha! Just who she wanted. “Resane! Get your lying ass in here.”
Kede snarled and rushed her just as Resane appeared in the doorway. “Joyce?”
“Avert your gaze!” her harau roared, Resane spun away, and she sighed.
“He’s seen it all, Kede. Besides, I need his help.”
“Are you leaking? Were you damaged? You said you would not lay upon the biobed again else I would have—”
Joyce placed her palm over his lips. “Hush. I’m fine. Mostly.” She peered around Kede. “Resane, would you like to tell the class where my T and A have gone?” Resane repeated the words to himself and she huffed. These males really needed to learn more Terran slang. “Tits and ass. My breasts and butt are gone.”
“You said she was in adequate health.” Resane accused and Kede stiffened and she sighed.
Again.
She nudged Kede.
He did not move.
She nudged again.
He nudged back.
“Kede, I need to talk to Resane.”
“You can speak from here.” Kede’s voice was gruff.
“My harau, I knew I’d lose a lot of weight, but this seems excessive. Please?”
Kede glared at her, but she wouldn’t be denied. It wasn’t like she’d ever been an alien before. How the hell was she supposed to know if this was normal?
“Put on clothing. He will not view you uncovered.”
She rolled her eyes. “You do realize he’s probably just gonna have me strip again, right?”
“He. Will. Not.”
His restrained violence, his possessive anger, got her hot. Damn vagina.
Joyce stroked his chest. “Okay. I’ll put on coverings and meet you both in the central room in five minutes.”
Kede grunted and then glared at Resane. The male snorted and turned his back, leaving the way he’d come. When her harau made no move to leave, she nudged him.
“You too. I’m not up for another round of boinking and being naked in a room with you is a sure trip to Sex Town.” She nudged him and this time he moved away. “Five minutes.”
His eyes sparkled, arousal filling his gaze. “Five minutes or I will return for you, my harae.”
As threats went, it wasn’t very effective since she was happy to drag her feet.
Then his gaze swept over her and she followed the path with her own attention and was reminded why seeing Resane was a necessity.
“Out. I’ll see you in five minutes.”
The big, bad male frowned and pouted like a youngling.
Joyce ignored him and padded toward the bathing chamber. She’d take care of business, dress, and then figure out how to get the junk in her truck back.
It took over five minutes to get everything done and Kede ended up hunting her down anyway. He watched her tug her baggy pants up her legs and then he swept her into his arms.
Of course, the moment she was nestled against him, she noticed his frown.
“What’s wrong?”
His frown deepened. “You do not fill my arms as you once did.”
“Finally,” she huffed. “That’s what I was telling you. My ass and boobs are gone. Something happened during the Needing and with me starting out a Terran, I’m not sure if this amount of weight loss is normal.”
Before the word normal left her lips, she was placed on Kede’s couch and he was back to barking orders at Resane. “Repair her!”
Joyce groaned. Bright light help her. “I’m fine.” Kede looked at her as if she had two heads. “Fine-ish then.”
Her harau pointed at her. “Fix her ish.”
A low chuckle came from across the room and it drew not only her attention but that of the other warriors in the room as well.
Warriors. Plural. As in, a lot of plurals. She recognized Yare, Hassee, and Resane of course. Then there was Moar and Suthta as well as a few of the others who’d accompanied them from first the command meeting room and then medical.
There were three she didn’t recognize and that didn’t include the male at the back of the room.
The male with eyes blacker than midnight. It was as if the darkness lived in the orbs and a shudder of unease overtook her.
“She is shaking, Commander.” That was Kede’s Second, Suthta.
And of course the words had Kede’s attention back on her, even more anxiety in his gaze. “What else is broken? Dammit, Resane.”
Another laugh from the unknown male. He pushed away from his position against the wall and moved forward. He was shorter than the warriors surrounding her, but despite his lack of height, he seemed even more deadly. His steps were silent, each step precise. His arms did not sway, his hips did not roll. She saw his feet connect with the biopad, but it was as if he floated across the ground.
“She’s not broken.” The man’s baritone battled the air.
He grew closer and Kede blocked his path. “Male, you claim to know of my harae’s condition. You presume much.”
The man’s gaze collided with Joyce’s. “You’re not injured, you’re scared.” The stranger jerked his head toward Kede. “Tell him you’re afraid, litt
le Toshan.”
It was Joyce’s turn to mouth a word. “Toshan?”
“You do not speak of that to her,” Kede snarled and while the other warriors shuffled back a step beneath his rage, the stranger chuckled. “She is Doshan.”
“She has to know the bullshit they’ll try to pull. What they’ve been pulling since Terra and Dosha collided. That’s the word they’ll use. She needs to hear it, prepare for it, and then fight back.” The black-eyed man focused on her, a cocky grin in place. “The punch wasn’t the best idea even if the asshole earned it.”
Joyce answered his grin with one of her own. “Fuck yeah, he did.”
“That is not an invitation,” her harau snarled.
The stranger snorted. “If you all are gonna get your way with this plan of yours, you’re gonna need to get a crash course on Terran slang and idioms. Your average female Terran is gonna throw that word around along with a handful of others. You’ll find some that refrain from those words, but in essence, it’s its own language. They’ll use it and your warriors need to get over the standard definitions.”
“Plan?” She spoke up, not bothering to address the man’s statements about Terran cursing.
Fuck yeah, they fucking cursed. It was the only way to get through to some people. Some only responded to anger and fuck politeness. Especially the “baristas” at Sunbucks. Just because half the planet was addicted to their product didn’t mean…
“A lot has happened since your Needing began and you have slept for twelve hours more.”
Damn, he must have rocked her world pretty hard. “What’s happened?”
And what did it mean for her?
“They’re not trying to take me again are they? Give me to the Terrans?” The tension within the room rose until it nearly suffocated her. “What?”
“Representatives from the Planetary Collective have arrived.”
Joyce’s breath caught. “And?”
“My harae, they…”
The stranger snorted. “How long has she been on this ship? How long did you pursue her?” The black-eyed male shook his head. “She’s Terran in her heart.”
“She’s Doshan,” Kede snarled and she realized he hadn’t said much that wasn’t a snarl lately.
“Biologically,” the man countered. “But she was raised on Terra, and on Terra no one sugar coats shit. There is not talking around the truth. You throw it on the ground and tell the lies to go fuck themselves. Good or bad, it’s out there.”
Kede glanced at her and she shrugged. Couldn’t really fight the truth. Her harau sighed and stepped back. “You can speak your truths from here.”
The man rolled his eyes and she didn’t wait for him to speak. “Who the hell are you and what do you know about this clusterfuck?”
“Sampson, ex-Terran special forces. I was sent in and didn’t come out.” He grinned, exposing stark white teeth. They contrasted with his darkly tanned skin and she met his black gaze. “They think I’m dead.”
“You were transitioned. But your eyes…”
Were black. Deep, dark, black. She felt as if she stared into the depths of the final darkness itself.
He shrugged. “Windows to the soul, huh? I’ve done a lot of bad things. Their little transition realized that. As for what happened… I think of it as getting my ass kicked and these fuckers didn’t wanna do the paperwork if I died and the blood was on their hands. They couldn’t care less about Terra’s opinion, but bright light forbid upper command found out.”
Sampson. Sampson. Sampson… She knew that name.
“I remember your name on one of Wardsen’s files. Your sex wasn’t filled in and he took the file and locked me out of your history before I could finish with it. You’re the reason only females are sent into space. They tried to send in a spy…”
Sampson chuckled. “Never said Terrans were the smartest aliens on the block.”
God knew they weren’t.
“You called me a Toshan?”
More snarling from Kede. “You’re Doshan.”
“Does he ever stop?” Sampson sighed.
“Not so much, no.” It felt good to joke with someone who got her flavor of humor.
“Toshan, or Terrans turned Doshan, are rare, but there are quite a few. You’re just the first Terran the Doshans know about.”
“But you’re…”
“But I stay on my happy little ship. The other females stay on their happy little ships. They are happily joined with warriors and it is kept quiet. Your abduction brought you onto Terra’s radar, which brought you to Dosha’s attention and because Kede will not hand you over, the Planetary Collective is digging its hands in.” Sampson crossed his arms over his chest. “They’ve made their own demands. Now you and Kede need to decide what you’re gonna do about it.”
“That is enough,” Kede hissed.
Bright light knew she loved him, but she wasn’t sure why right then.
The thought forced the air from her lungs and she gasped, fighting for oxygen. Did she really say that? Well, think that? Shit, fuck, damn, she had.
It took one wheezing cough and then Kede was at her side, Resane kneeling at her feet, his hands reaching for her.
She batted both males away, flailing her arms until they eased away. “I’m fine. Stop it. If I’m coughing, I’m breathing. Quit it.” Both men narrowed their eyes at her, but refrained from attempting to touch her. “What are our choices?”
“It is nothing, my harae,” Kede murmured.
She ignored the man and focused on Sampson. “Out with it.”
“It isn’t his place,” Kede snapped.
“You’re right. It’s yours. So tell me what kind of shit storm we’re in, already.”
“You will not allow me to handle this and save you from the stress?” Her snort was echoed by Sampson’s. Kede glared at the ex-Terran and leaned back, dragging her with him. “Everyone sit, we will discuss this.”
“Commander, it is your choice.” Moar’s confusion was written all over his face. “It is our place to accept orders and act as you demand.”
Kede shook his head. “No, as my harae has often reminded me, nothing good comes of taking away choices. While the command structure is important to warriors, there are also times when questions should be posed and answered. No one should decide another’s fate without offering a choice.”
Moar still seemed skeptical, but when the males slowly lowered to the ground or lounged on the other furniture, he joined them.
When quiet reigned and continued to blanket the room, Joyce spoke up. “Someone wanna start? What exactly is our sticking point? Because if it comes down to ‘hand Joyce over or keep her’ I vote for keeping me.”
“No, my harae, I will never give you up.” He pressed his lips to her head and she sighed. “Our dilemma is who should lead our caste as High Warrior.”
“High Warrior? I didn’t realize you guys had leadership. Where was his happy ass the other day?” she grumbled.
“We shall have one tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow? Why not today? I don’t understand.”
“Damn Doshans and their need to treat y’all with kid gloves.” Sampson shook his head. “They’re performing their own little coup. Tomorrow they’re giving the council, the Planetary Collective, and Terra an ultimatum. Let the warriors have representation in the council and back the fuck off or defend themselves. Tomorrow the caste gets a High Warrior or Dosha doesn’t have warriors. Any. Period.”
“Oh fuck,” she whispered and ignored Kede’s answering snarl at the males.
No, it really wasn’t an invitation.
“Why are you here?” She met Sampson’s gaze.
“To remind Terra why they really, really don’t want to fuck with Doshan warriors. Everyone has secrets and I know theirs.” Those midnight orbs flared with light. “I’ll remind them why they’re gonna walk away from the table tomorrow and later, when they’re needed, they’ll happily allow us to use them.”
“For w
hat?” She was pretty sure she didn’t want to know the answer.
“Females.” He practically purred the word.
“Oh, that’s so not happening.” She poked Kede. “That is not happening. Your warriors can’t go around kidnapping women.”
“No one mentioned kidnapping,” Sampson countered.
Yeah, just because the darkness damned male didn’t say the words, didn’t mean they didn’t hang in the air.
“No one is taking females from Terra. Am I understood?” She glared at every warrior in the room and included Kede in her Glarefest of Doom.
“As you say, my harae.”
Why did she feel like he wasn’t agreeing with her?
Chapter Twenty-three
Kede held Joyce tightly in his arms. He knew his words neared a lie. Neared but did not cross the dim line.
It would have to suffice for now. If what was discussed came to pass… the new High Warrior would have a difficult choice and a narrow beam on which to balance. He would represent their caste, represent each male within the room and those spread across the galaxy.
If they had their way… warriors would answer to none but the High Warrior. The male would deign to participate in council discussions, but the laws governing the males would be his to declare. It would require a Doshan of great strength of body and character to fill the position.
And they all stared at him as if he was the answer to their desires.
He was not sure if he were up to the task.
Joyce stirred in his embrace and he pressed his lips to her forehead once again. He could not keep his hands or lips to himself when she was near. More than one male watched their interaction with longing in their gaze. More than one stared at him as if the light rose and dimmed in his shadow.
He was the only warrior to claim and fight for his harae. He was the only one to earn such devotion that an entire ship of warriors was prepared to battle for his female’s safety. Even those brought by the council members joined in the political fight.
All for Joyce.
His strong, fierce, determined Joyce.
A low chime filled the room and he directed Vehly to grant the visitor entrance. He did not fear the males on his ship any longer. Each one swore their fealty to him once again. The system recording each pledge and testing the warrior’s truth.