Maruvian Bride (Alien SciFi Romance) (Celestial Mates Book 5)

by C. J. Scarlett

  “Didn’t anyone advocate for you?”

  “Against a clan mother? You must understand, clan leaders are only outranked by their females. Since my father was clan leader, his mate was our clan mother. Her word was law. None would oppose her, for fear of being rendered clanless themselves.”

  “Aren’t there any rules to protect you?”

  “Clan mothers have total discretion to follow even their most whimsical emotions. Warriors sometimes get marginalized or de-clanned. No one gives intervention serious consideration, for keeping females satisfied is paramount. The clan sword handed down to me by my father was stripped from my back, and the entire clan shunned me. It’s of little import; as a warrior, I was trained to endure hardship and suffering.”

  “Still, that must have been difficult. Is that how you ended up in the military?”

  “The military conducts a lottery for the clanless. I went for almost a year before I entered the service. During that time, I slept outdoors and relied on handouts to survive. To be honest, if I’d not been fortunate enough to be allowed to take what personal possessions I could carry, I’d have died. Selling those few precious items kept me in food for weeks. Just when I was losing all hope of finding a way forward, my number came up. I consider myself fortunate. Many die clanless on my world.”

  “I’m glad you ended up on this vessel.”

  “Do you mind if I ask how you lost status on your world?”

  “I was an artist on Earth, one of the few properly trained at a university. When our ozone layer disintegrated, a solar flare hit Earth, and everything kind of went to hell in a handbasket.”

  “I’m not familiar with that term. I can guess that it was this event that precipitated Earth’s societal collapse.”

  “Yes. That was almost three years ago. At first, we were able to scrape by with our savings. Eventually, we resorted to selling off our possessions to the more fortunate, much as you described doing when you were de-clanned. The last two years, we were homeless. Much like the clanless on this ship, we lived in the seedy underbelly of the major underground cities. Instead of sharing tiny cubicles as your men do, we slept on the floor, scavenging for food. I became used to not being able to cleanse myself properly, wearing soiled clothing, and eating food left on their plates by others at eateries. Looking back, I think my sister and I only survived because we stuck together.”

  Daron glanced away, realizing that her experiences being so similar to his own affected him on a deep and profound level. No female should endure such hardship.

  “It was pretty bad. I got sick about a year ago. My sister gave me our full allotment of water to keep me from getting dehydrated. She drank from a polluted underground stream, and ended up with some kind of parasite. I feel guilty that she put my needs before her own.”

  “I know this may be of little consolation, but I’m glad that you both survived.”

  “Speaking of which, it’s a good thing they sent us to your ship. Your medical team saved her life. You should try to eat, before your food gets cold.”

  “Thank you for inviting me. I must admit the clanless probably present poorly compared to the other warriors. We’re given a small stipend, which most of us refuse to spend, even for cleansing or extra food rations. Our one hope of rejoining society is to save enough to purchase clanship. Sometimes, the less wealthy clans take on honorable former soldiers in exchange for much-needed credits.”

  “They don’t charge the females for cleansing or extra food.”

  “I should say not. Women are to be protected and well cared for.”

  “I did spend some of my stipend on art supplies.”

  “It’s good that you still practice your vocation.”

  Daron watched her push food around on her plate.

  “I was wondering if I could sketch you.”

  Taken aback, he glared at her. “Is this some kind of sick attempt at Earth humor?”

  Her eyes got perfectly round, as she froze with her eating utensil halfway to her mouth. “Of course not. What would make you think that?”

  “Handsome, high-status males with flawless skin are immortalized in art. Who would want to create a drawing of a scarred, clanless warrior?”

  Her face relaxed. “It’s not like that for humans. The best artists look for interesting and unique subject matter. Many are famous for painting the lined faces of our elders. Warriors with lots of scars would present an interesting challenge and help me develop my skills.”

  That made sense to his mind. “I see. If that is what you wish, I’ll make myself available.”

  Standing, she extended her hand. “Come, I’ll prepare you just the way I want.”

  He hadn’t expected it to happen so swiftly. Standing, he looked down at his empty plate. It was useless to wonder about her preparation. She was a female. Whatever she wanted, he was obligated to do.

  Lifting his chin, he slid his hand into hers. Touching her was nice. He didn’t think human females would be soft, warm, and sweet smelling. Shaking his head to clear his own stupid thoughts, he corrected his thinking. Of course, they would be alluring. It was the reason every warrior wanted one.

  He watched her start a shower and remove her clothing. As she shed the baggy garments, her smooth, white skin came into view. Daron had never even imagined such beauty existed in the verse. Realizing his mouth hung open, he snapped it shut again. She stopped undressing, leaving a small swath of cloth around her breasts and another covering her intimate parts.

  Reaching for him, she removed his uniform. Swallowing thickly, he allowed her to peel off everything down to his sarong. The thin, waterproof garment covered his privates, hiding from view the only part of his body not covered with scars. When she pulled him under the warm cascade of water, he froze as her hands rubbed cleansing foam over his body.

  Closing his eyes, it hurt to realize she probably thought of cleaning him as he had thought of cleansing his pet as a child. It was a thankless task but one that required doing, nonetheless. Confused about why such things mattered to him, he became aware that she was taking down his hair. Gently working cleansing foam through it several times, she finally rinsed it, along with the rest of his body.

  Turning his back, he quickly cleaned his privates and rinsed beneath the sarong. A blast of warm air had them both dry in no time. Leading him out into her sitting room, she grabbed something from a nearby drawer. Kneeling behind him on the settee, she worked the tangles out of his hair.

  “I was planning to just cut the knots out.” His comment offered the easiest solution to the problem.

  “That would be a shame. You have such nice hair. Plus, I like combing it.”

  Not believing that for one micron, he sighed. The little artist finished her task surprisingly fast. A moment later, she set up a stand with a huge old-fashioned sketch pad. He watched with no small amount of fascination as she sharpened her drawing implements and laid them out neatly.

  He tensed when she moved closer to him.

  “Relax. You have the easy part. Just lean over the armrest, and find a position that feels comfortable.”

  He complied with her request, though it felt incredibly awkward. She finished by draping a synthetic fur across his shoulder and down his side. Though he couldn’t see it in his mind’s eye, he felt certain she attempted some kind of artistic pose. As if on a whim, she moved several of the lighted balls around him and lowered the lights on his side of the room. Whatever she was up to, it was clear that she took her work seriously.

  Daron had to admit that he enjoyed watching the diminutive human moving around, making her preparations. Her long, light hair reminded him of the color of a seatil flower on his home world. No male who saw her undressed would mistake her for being a youngling. The fact that she scented of her quickly diminishing fertile phase messed with his head.

  Her head tilted from side to side as she glanced back and forth between him and the paper. Her eyes weren’t only sha
rp and assessing, they were a little admiring. Daron couldn’t imagine what about him drew the admiring look. He was all too aware that his body was a mess, and certainly nothing to draw the notice of a beautiful female.

  Chapter 4

  ~ Cassidy ~

  Cassidy’s Music Mix

  Getting shaken awake, Cassidy thought for a brief moment it might have been the handsome commander. Rolling over, she opened her eyes to her sister’s smiling face.

  Leaning over, the woman whispered, “Who’s the hottie?”

  Sitting up, she hurried over and pulled on a form suit. “His name is Commander Daron. He posed for me last night. I guess I must have lost track of time. When I looked up, it had been hours and he was fast asleep.”

  “Well, he has magnificent morning wood. Want me to leave and come back later?”

  Twirling around, she glared at Carolyn. “Of course not. You have a dirty mind.”

  “Let me guess. If a hot guy has morning wood while sleeping on your sofa, that requires a next level Cassidy investigation to determine the potential for…”

  “Shut the hell up already. Good grief, I’m not that bad.”

  “The hell you aren’t.”

  Stalking over to the laundry chute, she pulled down the access panel to retrieve his cleaned clothing. Sliding out his fresh uniform, she walked over to him, and shook him gently awake.

  “Come on, big guy. I don’t know what time you work, but I had your clothing cleaned.”

  “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you Miss Cassidy. Did you complete your drawing?”

  Shaking her head, she smoothed a wisp of hair off his face. “No. You’ll need to come back one or two more nights. How did you sleep?”

  Taking the uniform from her hands, he stood, allowing the blanket she’d covered him with the night before to fall away. “Remarkably well. The males of my line have always slept better when they have females to protect.”

  “You know that doesn’t make any sense, right? Get dressed, and I’ll make us a quick bite.”

  Smiling, he teased, “So eager to get rid of a scarred warrior once you no longer have use for him, I see.”

  Looking over her shoulder, she bit her bottom lip as she tried to find the words to explain. “More like I don’t want you to get in trouble for being late, so you can come again tonight.”

  “As you wish, pushy female.”

  He began wrapping his hair again and made a mess of it.

  Padding over to him, she entreated, “Stop. I’ve got this.”

  Grabbing her brush and a hair band, she pointed to a seat. He immediately sat down, which struck her as a little too accommodating.

  “One night and you have him trained.”

  She felt Daron jerk under her hands. His head snapped around to look in Carolyn’s direction. “Who are you?”

  Gently turning his head back around, she murmured, “My sister, and she doesn’t bite.”

  “I shouldn’t be here with one female, much less two.”

  “Stop whining. You’re with me and no one else.”

  Nodding, he agreed, “Until your drawing is complete.”

  “We’ll see. There, that’s much better.”

  Turning, he looked into the glassy surface of the wall; he seemed to admire his neat top knot a moment before speaking. “Thank you once again, Miss Cassidy. I must leave for my shift now. I have no time for food.”

  Tossing him a huge meat cookie, he grabbed it out of mid-air.

  “I’m impressed. That was a good catch.”

  “Hunger is a strong motivator to keep one’s food from the floor.”

  “Don’t I know it.” She had meant the comment to be playful and funny, but it had the opposite effect on the overly protective warrior.

  Stopping in mid-stride, he walked over to her. “Hard times and deprivation are now behind you, my new friend. You’ll have a warrior with means at your side soon enough.”

  “If you say so.”

  “You speak those words a lot.”

  Carolyn walked over as they watched the large warrior leave in much better shape than he’d arrived.

  “Well, that explains a lot.”

  Turning on her sister, she queried, “What?”

  “When you turned down Erin’s offer for a bring the house down, girl’s only party last night, I thought you were tired of having me around. Now, I find out that instead of me time, you’ve taken in a stray.”

  “That’s a shitty thing to say about a nice guy.”

  “Jesus, are you serious about him?”

  “I’m serious about unraveling the mystery. Do you know the clan leaders and their wives can simply toss anyone out on their ear? They don’t even need a reason. Once you’re de-clanned, you’re homeless and scrounging for food. Everyone’s so terrified of getting cast out, no one dares to speak up.”

  “Are you serious? That’s awful. Your commander is really kind of handsome when he’s all cleaned up.”

  “He’s not mine. Since I know what it’s like to be clanless, I want to help him. Something as simple as sharing a shower, and a meal makes a big difference to these guys. They’re all hoarding their credits, hoping to save up enough to buy their way into one of the poorer clans.”

  Scrubbing her hands over her face, Carolyn finally raised her head to make eye contact. “You’re doing the right thing, Cassidy. Even if we can only make their lives better for a few months that we’re aboard this vessel, we have to try.”

  “Daron was really sweet and accommodating. The military screens them, so I don’t think we have to worry about any bad apples.” Shrugging, she sank down into one of the large chairs. “I honestly don’t know what else to do. I’m not so happy with the way this mystery is unraveling, I can tell you that much.”

  “It seems like a really crappy, no-win situation for them.” Carolyn perked up. “I have an idea. Let’s spread the word to all the women. I don’t know exactly how many clanless there are, but I’ll bet we could comfort a lot of them during this voyage.”

  “Agreed. I hate to have to tell you this, but when we reach the Sylon home world, I’ll probably have a look at the other species. The way the Krylon treat their warriors bothers me. If they can treat each other with such casual disregard, how will they treat us when we can no longer bear their children?”

  Cassidy watched the understanding click onto her sister’s face. She commented dejectedly, “I might have a look at the clones. Someone said they’re blue.”

  “You’ve always been fond of blue.” Her voice sounded hallow and disheartened, even to her own ears. “Come on, Carolyn, let’s go to the dining hall and chat the women up.”

  “You got it, sis. There might even be a handsome, clanless diamond in the rough, waiting for me to polish him all up.”

  Smiling faintly, Cassidy followed her out the door. Halfway to the dining hall, Carolyn got shouldered roughly by the Earth Gov soldier.

  Cassidy stepped to her side. “Look where you’re going. You almost knocked her down.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t know the cargo could talk.” The man sneered at them, after glancing around to make sure no one else was around.

  “Why are you being such an ass?”

  “Cassidy, don’t.” Her sister’s hand grasped her arm imploringly.

  “Yea, little Cassie, don’t provoke the guy who’s trained to kill.”

  “Training someone to kill isn’t all that hard. Training them to be a decent human being must be the real challenge though, if your behavior is any indication.”

  The man took a menacing step towards them. Before he could get close enough to touch them, a huge, muscular body collided with him, sending him sprawling on his ass. An impossibly large human soldier positioned himself between them, staring down at the man, who now held his side.

  “What the actual fuck, captain?”

  “On your feet, you worthless sack of shit. Excuse the language, ladies.
”

  Cassidy was losing patience with the entire situation. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Captain Christopher Douglas, Earth Gov special scout for Operation Search and Deliver, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

  Carolyn rubbed her shoulder. “I guess that’s what they’re calling the resettlement operation.”

  “Grab that stupid fucker.” Two soldiers stepped forward, a male and a female. Each looked nearly as lethal at their captain. Hauling the man to his feet, they pulled him forward. “That’s two strikes, Tucker. One more and I shove you out the airlock my damn self.”

  The man’s belligerent attitude slipped away in an instant, replaced by naked fear. “You’d vent one of your own, over whores who aren’t even batting for the home team.”

  “The Krylons are the home team, you idiot. They’re saving our race from extinction and if you can’t get your racist attitude under control, I doubt you’ll even see our new home world. You wouldn’t be the first I’ve dealt with harshly.”

  “I heard you did that, but I just didn’t believe it.”

  “That makes you a slow learner, in addition to being a security risk.” Motioning to the guards, he jerked his chin towards the left. “Get him out of here. Keep him on lockdown for the next ten days.”

  Cassidy watched as the two soldiers perp-walked him down the corridor. “That was fairly heroic.”

  Shaking his head, the man replied gruffly, “I’ve been flying these friendly skies for coming up on six months. The job didn’t get any easier, so I got tougher. Good day to you ladies. Feel free to report that you were accosted by private stupid. I’ll be making a full report myself.”

  “Let me guess, it’s part of the treaty?”

  “You got that right. Have a nice day, ladies. You shouldn’t have any more problems with my soldiers. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask for me.”

  Hurrying towards the dining hall, they kept their heads down. “How’s the shoulder?”

  “Fine. I’m tougher than I look.”

  Grinning at Carolyn, she noted curtly, “I know that better than anyone. We’ll keep a lookout for private stupid.”