by S. E. Smith
Cosmos listened to the explanation with disbelief. The guy thought Tink was his bond mate! His wife? He thought about the circles on Tink’s palm, could it be true? Looking at J’kar he didn’t think the guy was making this up. He had come, what millions of light-years, to find Tink.
“Would you mind if I scanned your palm?” Cosmos asked quietly.
J’kar jerked with surprise. He had not expected the man to react so calmly. Perhaps he misjudged the human male. Nodding his acceptance, he followed the man over to a device next to the computer console Brock was downloading information from. Placing his palm flat on the scanning device, he waited as the thin stream of light passed by up and down. Cosmos nodded to J’kar he could remove his palm before sitting in front of the computer screen.
Pressing a series of commands Cosmos asked out loud. “RITA, please analyze the scans and compare them to the ones on file.”
“Certainly dear. Done. They are a perfect match.” RITA responded almost immediately.
Cosmos knew even before he was done with the scan they would be but he needed the confirmation to satisfy his scientific self. Turning in the chair, he looked at the four men standing watching him.
“What happens if the male or female refuse to bond?” Cosmos asked.
Derik replied before J’kar could. “They cannot. To refuse to accept the bond would be death for both of them.”
“Death? What do you mean…death?” Cosmos asked incredulously.
J’kar answered this time. “Once the two recognize each other their bodies began to create chemicals making them dependent on each other. They need to see, touch…hear each other frequently. They can seldom be apart for any length of time. If they are apart to long, they begin to become emotionally unstable feeling the separation almost as if one half of them had died. Soon, they have no desire to live.”
“But, how can that happen if you only just met? I mean you and Tink were together for what - a total of a few minutes?” Cosmos asked as his mind sped through alternative solutions.
“It doesn’t matter. The bond was made.” J’kar said harshly. “Where is she?”
“I can take you to her but it has to be her choice. I won’t let you do anything to her if she doesn’t want it. Do you understand? I’ll kill your ass before I let you or anyone hurt her.” Cosmos said.
He had seen some of the things J’kar spoke of with Tink. He knew she was crying at night even when she thought he couldn’t hear her. RITA kept him informed. He also knew she had hardly eaten in the past week. Hell, if it hadn’t been for him forcing her to or her trying to hide her non-existent appetite from him she probably wouldn’t have eaten at all. Raking a hand through his hair he didn’t know if what he was about to do was right or wrong, he just knew he had to do something.
“She’s at the bar playing tonight. She plays there on Saturday nights. Tonight they were having a big birthday party for her boss at the garage. I was heading over that way before you guys showed up.” Cosmos stood up and shoved his hands in his pocket. “She won’t be home for several hours.”
“Then we go to where she is.” J’kar said. Nodding at the other men, they waited as Cosmos led the way out of the lab.
Chapter 13
The party was almost over by the time Cosmos, J’kar, Brock, Lan, and Derik arrived. They found a corner booth where they slid in. Jessie, a young waitress, came and took their orders. Cosmos didn’t know what Prime males drank so he just ordered a pitcher of his favorite homemade beer for everyone. Jessie smiled at Cosmos.
“I haven’t seen your friends before, Cosmos.” Jessie asked, smiling at Derik. The other guys were a little too intimidating for her taste but the youngest male was more than a piece of eye candy and too yummy to ignore. Derik smiled back. He could like this planet, he decided with a grin.
“They’re just visiting. How much longer is the party going to last?” Cosmos asked.
“Shouldn’t be too much longer. I heard Peggy say they needed to leave if they were going to get up in time to catch their flight tomorrow. I think Tink and the rest of the band are going to do one more set after that; then call it a night. I’ll be right back with your beer.” Jessie cast one more smile at Derik before she left.
“I could like this place!” Derik said excitedly as he looked around.
Tink was singing a duet with Mike. It was a love song dedicated to Pete and Peggy. Her sultry voice rolled over J’kar. He felt his hands tighten into fists when Mike wrapped his arm around Tink’s waist. As the song ended it took Lan and Brock both to keep him in his seat when Mike leaned down and kissed Tink on the lips. Cosmos watched as the two big men strained to keep their friend in his seat.
Grinning, he couldn’t resist jabbing the big man a little. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you? You better get over it, Tink is very affectionate. She hugs and kisses everyone!”
“Over my dead body!” J’kar growled never taking his eyes off of Tink.
Jessie came by and dropped off the pitcher of beer. Pouring each glass and making sure she leaned over to place Derik’s right in front of him giving him an eyeful of cleavage. She smiled a flirty smile before she left.
Derik picked up his drink, took a sip, and released a breath. “Wow. I love this planet. Beautiful, unattached women and sweet ambrosia.” He said before taking another long sip of the beer.
Cosmos laughed. “You wouldn’t if you didn’t look old enough to be in here. If you are under twenty-one, you wouldn’t be drinking that.”
J’kar vaguely listened as the men discussed the contents of the beer they were drinking. He had eyes only for the woman up on the stage singing. She picked up another instrument, similar to the one she left on his ship, and began singing another song. He noticed many of the people who had been sitting at a long table with colorful decorations on it began leaving. He deduced the older male and female were her friends, Pete and Peggy. A handful of males still remained. There were a few females mixed in with them. He let his gaze wander around the room. He had an uneasy feeling and wasn’t sure what the cause was. He let his gaze skim each person trying to decipher who could be a threat. His gaze stopped at two men sitting in a booth not far from the stage. The one on the right did not seem to put off unpleasant vibes but the light haired man did. J’kar focused in on the man. He did not like the way the man stared at Tink. He had a calculating look in his eye. He turned just then as if he felt J’kar’s stare. J’kar watched the man glance in his direction and frown. The booth J’kar and the others were sitting in was in a dark corner and J’kar felt certain the man couldn’t see him.
“This is one of my favorite songs. Tink does a really good job with it.” Cosmos said, distracting J’kar back to the conversation going on around him. J’kar focused again on his bond mate. His. He still had trouble believing he found her or she found him. J’kar watched as Tink swayed her hips back and forth as she sang. She was singing another love song. He watched as the lights on the stage reflected off the highlights in her hair and the twinkle from the diamonds around her neck and on her ears. She had her eyes closed as she sang.
He let her voice settle over him. He felt his body respond to the sound of her voice, hardening his groin, and sending shivers through him. He let his eyes devour her. He saw the slight sheen of sweat across her brow and glistening on her smooth stomach. He was fascinated with the gold chain she wore around her waist watching as it sparkled from the lights. As his eyes traveled lower he imaged what it would feel like to have her long legs wrapped around him. A light sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead. It took everything he had not to get up and carry her off to his warship, his world.
“Thank you for coming tonight. I hope you enjoyed your evening and ya’ll come on back!” Tink said as she finished her song. “Good night!” She added turning to the rest of the band for closing recognition.
“She needs to straighten up the equipment then we can go to her. Right now, we, meaning you guys, would draw to much attention if we approached her.�
�� Cosmos said motioning for the men with him to remain seated.
J’kar let out a soft growl of frustration. Hockta balmas, Hell’s balls, he thought. It seemed everyone and everything was trying to keep him from his bond mate. If he was on Baade, he would have thrown her over his shoulder, gone to his chambers and taken her. He watched as Tink laughed at something one of the band members said. Some of the men who were sitting at the long table came up to the stage and he watched as one of the men grabbed Tink around the waist and lifted her up into his arms. Gripping the table until his knuckles shown white, he watched as Tink laughed and gave the man a quick kiss. He only released his grip when he saw the man set her back down onto the stage and a petite woman come up and put her arms around the man, laughing. That was probably the only thing that saved the unsuspecting man’s life.
Cosmos leaned over and said quietly. “I told you, Tink is very affectionate. Don’t take it personal. She is a people-person who brightens up the room when she is in it.”
J’kar glanced at Cosmos before turning to look again at his bond mate. He watched as she interacted with all the people who came up to her. She had a smile on her face and laughed at some of the things they said, joking back. He could see how others seem to gravitate to her. He recognized an inner beauty in her. She seemed to glow from the inside out. He frowned when he saw the light haired man he observed earlier approach her. J’kar watched as Tink’s face lost its smiling glow. She was frowning at the man and talking to him in a quiet voice. There was a flash, almost too fast to notice, of anger in the man’s face and eyes before he turned away. J’kar’s eyes narrowed as he watched the man glance once more at Tink before he turned to talk to the man who was sitting with him earlier.
Tink couldn’t keep the irritation off her face as she turned away from ‘The Senator’s Boy.’ The nerve of the guy! When he approached her earlier she thought she had been perfectly clear she wanted nothing to do with him. Now, he thought he could tell her what to do. The scum thought he could tell her he wanted to sleep with her and actually thought she would! His, “I watched how you sang for me tonight and I want you. I’m going to fulfill your every fantasy tonight” bull-shit had her so mad she was surprised she hadn’t decked him on the spot.
Picking up the guitar she borrowed from the equipment room, Tink headed out the side entrance to the stage. It led around the back so band members could get to the equipment undetected if they needed to during a performance. Heading down the dark corridor Tink unlocked the door to the equipment room. It wasn’t real big, ten by ten, but everything was put up nicely so there was no clutter. Tink turned in surprise when she heard the door close and lock behind her. Blinking back the anger she felt she noticed Scott Bachman leaning against it.
Putting her hands on her hips, Tink narrowed her eyes and said in a tightly controlled voice, “Only band members are allowed in here Mr. Bachman. You need to leave now before I call security.”
Bachman laughed. “You mean the old woman who owns the place? She has her hands full cleaning up the mess from the birthday party. There’s no one to bother us.” He added with a nasty little grin.
“Listen, I don’t know what your problem is but let me spell this out to you in plain English so you can understand me. I. Am. Not. Interested. In. You. Got it? Was that slow enough and plain enough to sink into that stupid skull of yours?” Tink asked as she went to move around him. She was so turning off the neon sign on her forehead, she thought to herself.
As Tink moved to pass Bachman she was surprised to feel him grab her from behind. Gasping, she turned around and struggled to loosen his hands on her. Bachman leaned forward and laughed lightly in Tink’s ear.
“Not so high and mighty now, are you?” He whispered in her ear.
That was it! She had enough of the overbearing idiot’s idea of fun. Letting herself go slack she bent her knees slightly as she twisted around. She quickly rose up and tried to head-butt Bachman in the chin while bringing up her knee at the same time to hit him in the groin. What she hadn’t expected was for him to react so quickly. He turned at the last minute so her knee grazed his thigh and jerked his head back so she missed his chin entirely.
“Let me go, asshole.” Tink gritted out.
Bachman responded by pushing Tink back far enough to slap her across the face. The blow, combined with the backward push, was enough to knock Tink down. Tink laid stunned for a moment on the cold, concrete floor.
Raising a hand to her cheek, Tink looked at Bachman with disbelief. “Are you fucking nuts?” She asked furiously. Pushing herself off the floor, Tink charged Bachman.
Bachman slammed his fist into her side as she came at him. Tink’s breath slammed out of her at the impact of the fist to her ribs. She bent over sinking to the floor and gasped trying to suck in a breath to scream.
“No, no, love. No screaming. I don’t want any company. Once I’m done with you, you won’t have any air to scream again. You see, my daddy was afraid someone would try to kidnap me so he made sure I had plenty of training in martial arts. I’ve been watching you for weeks. You get up there and sing all those little love songs swaying that delicious little ass of yours. Then have the nerve to act like I am some pesky little parasite not worth your notice.” Bachman pressed against Tink’s bent back as she tried to get her breath, talking softly in her ear and rubbing against her. “I can’t wait to see how you take it. Do you scream when you come or just moan? You like it rough, I bet. I like to give it to a woman rough. I like listening to her scream.” He rubbed his groin against her ass.
Tink was trying to get enough air to tell him to go to hell. God, she could feel how much he was turned on by all the shit he was telling her. Tink had never been hit before or been in a situation like this and was for the first time in her life afraid. The room was far enough back no one would think to come back here until it was too late. She had to get away. Dragging in another shaky breath, she quickly dropped and rolled to her left. The move caused Bachman who had pressed most of his weight against her back to fall forward. Unable to stop his forward momentum with both hands because Tink knocked his left arm out from under him, he landed face first into the concrete. Tink continued rolling until she rolled into a shelf along the wall. Grabbing the shelf, she pulled herself up. Moving shakily towards the door, she tried to twist the lock with trembling fingers.
Bachman pushed himself off the floor pressing fingers to his bleeding nose and mouth. “You fucking bitch. You want to play, let’s play.”
Tink turned in time to kick out at him as he reached for her again. He grabbed her ankle pulling and twisting it as she cried out. He flung her away from the door watching as she hit the concrete floor hard. Tink cried out again when she hit the floor. The impact against her hip bone sent waves of pain flaring through her.
“You’ll never get away with this.” Tink hissed through the pain, tears blurring her vision. “You’ll get your ass kicked so bad there won’t be much for your daddy to put back together. And there is no way in hell he’ll be able to buy your way out of jail, not in this town.”
Bachman just grinned. “Not if there isn’t any evidence. Do you think you are the first girl that I’ve wanted who just seemed to disappear off the face of the Earth? No one suspects Senator Bachman’s perfect son.”
Tink’s eyes widened when she noticed the glint of insanity in Bachman’s eyes. He really believed he could do this and get away with it. Tink started to crab-walk backwards trying to put space between them. As he came closer she kicked out with her good leg striking him a glancing blow to the groin. She watched as his eyes glazed with pain and he sucked in a breath.
“Bitch. You’ll pay for that.” Bachman said as he bent over. Tink didn’t wait to see how he wanted her to pay. She pushed down the pain from her leg and hip and scrambled to a standing position lurching for the door again.
Tink was fumbling with the lock again when she was twisted around. She was pushed up against the wall next to the door. She reached up
to push against Bachman when she froze.