by Lolita Lopez
After taking one of the oranges and tucking it away in a pocket of her too-big gown, she pressed her ear to the door and listened carefully. Fairly confident the hallway was clear, she unlocked and opened the door slowly, holding her breath and hoping it wouldn’t squeak. She slipped through the small gap and into the hallway. The medic station was empty. She guessed the medics were doing their rounds and wondered how much time she had until someone noticed she was missing. Not long, she supposed, and hurried off to find Terror.
Uncertain where he was, she tried to pinpoint the area where the shouting originated. Choosing a hallway that seemed darker than the others, she crept along, staying close to the wall. None of the rooms she passed were occupied. Their doors were open and their interiors dark. She paused outside one empty room, noting the missing glass in the window and the door hanging from its hinges. Certain she was getting closed, she kept going.
At the very end of the hall, there was a faint glow of blue-white light through a frosted window. She couldn’t see inside, but she strongly suspected this was Terror’s room. Hoping he wouldn’t go berserk, she rapped her knuckles against his door before opening it. When she stepped inside, she found him sitting in a chair in the far corner, his face hidden in the shadows. True to his name, he struck fear in her heart as he leaned forward and revealed his scarred face and body in the shaft of light beaming down from above his bed.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he rasped, his single eye trained on her.
“I know,” she admitted softly and closed the door behind her. “But I am.”
Treating him like a wounded animal, she moved very deliberately, her steps slow and her arms at her sides. His gaze moved to the oxygen box she carried, and he frowned. “You’re wounded?”
She shook her head. “The mines have wrecked my lungs.”
A flash of sympathy crossed his face. “You never should have been in those mines.”
“But I was,” she replied simply. “It was the only life available to me.” Hesitating, she looked around the room for a place to sit. Finally deciding that the easiest way to talk to him would be to give him a sense of control, she folded her legs and sat on the floor in front of him, making herself small and unthreatening.
He stared down at her as if he couldn’t make sense of her. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to apologize for leaving you behind.”
Obviously taken aback, he asked harshly, “What?”
“When I was in the duct,” she explained, “I should have found a way to get you out of there. I shouldn’t have left you there for another night of their torture.”
He stared unnervingly. “You did the right thing. You aren’t a covert operative.”
“It doesn’t feel like I did the right thing.”
“That’s how you know it was right,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Doing the right thing is never easy. It’s always painful. It will always make you second-guess yourself.”
She tilted her head and studied him. “You must feel a lot of pain then.”
“I do.” He avoided her gaze and admitted, “My whole life has been nothing but pain.”
Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed his hand. He stiffened but didn’t tug free. He let her hold his hand and seemed fascinated by the sight of her paler skin on his. “I’m sorry, sir.”
In disbelief, he asked, “Where the fuck did they find a girl like you?”
“In a cabin in the woods without running water or electricity,” she answered with a small smile. She let go of his hand and reached into her pocket to retrieve the orange. She presented it to him. “It’s not much, but it’s like a taste of sunshine in the dark.”
He stared at the orange as if it had jogged some bittersweet memory. His hand trembled slightly as he took it. He brought the ripe fruit to his nose and inhaled the scent, his eye closing briefly as emotion overwhelmed him. His mouth twitched with what might have been the beginnings of a smile or maybe even a grimace. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sir.” Certain she had stayed about as long as he could handle, she rose to her feet and picked up the box. “If you need anything, I’m down the other hall, right across from the medic station. I can listen if you have something to say, or we can sit quietly together.”
He didn’t say anything. His one eye remained focused on the orange he held. Accepting that as her dismissal, she murmured, “Good night, sir.”
“Did you see anyone else in the mine?” he asked, his voice rough and raw.
“Only the other soldier,” she said. “The one who died.”
“Devious.”
“Yes. Him.”
He turned the orange around in his hands. “You didn’t see a woman? Young like you. Quiet. Silent. Deaf.”
“No.” Whoever this woman was, she seemed important to him. “Someone like that wouldn’t be hard to find on the mountain. People who are different are easy to remember. I could ask Miss Kay.”
“Who is Miss Kay?”
“She’s with the Red Feather. She’s the one who asked me if I wanted to work with your forces. She knows everyone and everything. If there’s a deaf woman on the mountain, she’ll know how to find her.”
He shook his head. “Leave it be.”
She nodded and left his room, wondering who the mystery woman was. Someone who had helped him? Someone he owed a debt? Thinking about the skin traders on the mountain, Brook had a bad feeling the woman may have ended up in the same situation she had been in before Cipher rescued her.
When she turned away from the door, she gasped sharply and froze. The biggest man she had ever seen stood a few feet away from her. He had the shocking white hair of the pureblooded sky warriors and wore a uniform different than Cipher’s. He looked important with all of the colorful bars and metallic adornments on his shirt. She noticed the wedding band glittering on his finger.
“My mate, Hallie, is from your planet.” He lifted his hand to show her the ring. “We married in the way of your people.” He lowered his hand. “Cipher will do the same for you if you ask him. He’s one of the best men on this ship. Loyal, honorable, respectful. He’ll be a good mate to you.”
“Yes, he will,” she agreed. She glanced back at the door to Terror’s room. “Am I in trouble, sir?”
The corner of his mouth lifted with a smile. “I think you are trouble. Cipher is going to have his hands full with you.”
Worried she had done something to put Cipher in jeopardy, she asked, “Is Cipher in trouble because of me?”
“No.” His gaze shifted to the door, and he frowned. “Terror is my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were children. He spoke more to words to you, a stranger, than he has to me since we rescued him.”
“Sometimes, it’s easier to tell things to a stranger,” she reasoned. Thinking of Terror’s haunted face, she added, “Everyone who knew him before he was taken walks in there expecting the old version of him, but that man doesn’t exist anymore. The man in there? The one I talked to? He’s a new man. Maybe he hasn’t even quite figured out how much he’s changed yet. Maybe he needs space. Away from familiar faces that are putting pressure on him to be someone he can’t be anymore.”
When he stared at her, silent and impassive, she worried she had massively overstepped. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—"
“No, you definitely should have,” he assured her. “You’ve got a big heart, Brook.” His expression turned tender and warm. “Hallie will absolutely love you.” He gestured to the hallway. “Come on. Let’s get you to back to Cipher before he wakes up and realizes you’ve escaped.”
She frowned. “I didn’t escape. I went for a walk.”
He chuckled at her response. When they turned the corner, she spotted Cipher hurrying out of the hospital room. His shirt was untucked from his pants, and he was hopping into his boots. His panicked expression changed to one of irritation as soon as he saw her being escorted back to the room.
Quickly straightening, h
e saluted the man now standing still next to her. “General.”
Oh, no. Oh, shit. What have I done?
“At ease, Cipher.” With amusement in his voice, the General said, “I think I found something that belongs to you.”
“Apologies, sir. It won’t happen again.” He pinned her in place with a look that made her squirm like a naughty child.
“I’m sure it will,” the General replied with a laugh. “This one has the same mischievous gleam in her eyes as Hallie. Get a collar on her, soldier.”
“Yes, sir.”
The general nodded at her before pivoting on his heel and returning to Terror’s room. She avoided Cipher’s intense stare as long as possible. When she did finally meet his gaze, she was surprised to see that he wasn’t angry with her. If anything, he looked relieved. He held out his hand, and she clasped it, letting him take her back into the hospital room.
As soon as the door was closed, he boxed her in against it, his hands on either side of her head, and leaned down to capture her mouth. She mewled as he kissed her, his tongue stabbing insistently against hers. When he broke away, he said, “I thought another man had taken you.”
Regret and guilt soured her belly. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Did you go see Terror?”
She nodded.
He sighed heavily. “I warned you that he was unstable.”
“He wasn’t unstable with me. We talked, and it was nice.”
“Just talked?”
“I gave him an orange?”
“An orange?”
“They’re tasty,” she defended herself. “I thought it might give him a few moments of enjoyment.”
“Brook,” he whispered and then kissed her again. “You sweet, sweet girl.”
She bit her lower lip. “Are you mad at me?”
“No.” He dragged her lip away from her teeth with his thumb. “I was scared, not angry. I’m frustrated that you left like that, but I trust that you won’t do something like this again.”
“I won’t,” she promised. “I won’t leave without telling you first.”
“Good.” He cupped the back of her neck and drew her in for a hug. With a smile in his voice, he added, “Maybe I should have tied you down after all.”
She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “The night’s still young.”
He groaned low. “Risk had better discharge you soon.”
Her heart raced at the thought of being alone with Cipher. She couldn’t get out of this hospital fast enough.
Chapter Nine
Swinging her legs back and forth from her perch on the edge of the hospital bed, Brook kept her hopeful gaze on the door of her hospital room. This morning, Risk had finally decided she was healthy enough to be discharged into her mate’s care.
She smiled giddily at the thought of finally seeing her new home. She had so many questions. What did home look like on a spaceship? So far, everything she had seen was bright, clean and sterile with lots of gleaming metal and shiny plastic.
Surely, their quarters weren’t so plain. How big would they be? Smaller than her cabin? Larger? And what kind of technology would there be?
She had already explored all the technology available in her hospital room. The tablet had been a revelation. She had never in her life had that many books at her fingertips. All the books she had read before now had been heavily used copies with soot-stained pages passed around the mine camps until they were falling apart. Most of them had been texts on mining or farming or survival, but there had been a handful of adventure stories and even once a romance. She had never dreamed of being able to visit a library. Now, she could hold an entire library in her hands and read whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.
Movement outside her room caught her attention. She straightened up and stopped swinging her legs when she realized it was Cipher. Unable to stop smiling, she greeted him a bit shyly when he stepped into her hospital room. “Hi.”
He grinned. “Hi.”
“You come here to break me out finally?”
“The warden has decided you’ve done your time, but he warned me you were anything but a model prisoner.”
“Sorry,” she said, blushing at the thought of the trouble she had caused two mornings ago when she had tried to figure out how the stickers on her chest relayed her heartbeat to the machine on the wall. “I didn’t mean to cause such a ruckus with their Code Blue or whatever it was.”
“I know you didn’t,” he said gently and crossed the distance between them. He dwarfed her even as she sat on the tall bed. Up here, in his world, she felt impossibly small. As if reading her mind, he said, “Risk has given you a nutritional plan to follow. He wants you to gain at least ten percent of your current body weight before—" He stopped abruptly and swallowed. “Well, let’s focus on the ten percent.”
“Before what?”
Cipher slowly lifted his hand until he cupped her face. His touch elicited a flutter of excitement in her belly. Her time in the infirmary had been somewhat akin to torture. The obvious desire between them burned brighter with each passing day. Their restrained kisses and curious touches left them both aching for more. Today—finally—they were going to have the privacy Cipher demanded they have the first time they were together.
“Before we try to have a baby,” he explained. His gaze searched her face as if trying to read her response. “If you want to have a baby,” he added. “We haven’t talked about that or what it means for our relationship but—"
She interrupted him by turning her face and kissing his palm. He inhaled sharply, and she smiled up at him. “I want to have a family. Someday,” she added. “With you.”
“Good,” he said roughly. “That’s what I want with you. If you decide to stay,” he amended. “You don’t have to stay. You can go. If you want. I won’t keep you against your will.”
Amused by his rambling, she gripped his big wrist in both her smaller hands. “I want to stay.”
“If you change your mind...” He hesitated. “It’s okay if you want to change your mind. It happens sometimes. There’s no pressure from me for you to stay. If you realize in a few weeks that you want to go to the colonies and live free and experience more of life, I’ll let you go. I won’t fight it.”
She had never imagined Cipher to be uncertain about anything. She sensed that what he wanted more than anything was for her to stay with him, to build a future and a family together. Yet, he seemed afraid to project those desires on her or to take away her ability to choose.
“I’m here because I want to be here, Cipher.” She hoped to reassure him. “If I change my mind, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
He exhaled a long, steady breath and nodded. “Good.” When she let go of his wrist, he ran his fingers down her bare arm. “You look beautiful in this dress.”
She blushed and spread her hands over the sunny fabric dotted with white flowers. “Thank you.”
“I tried to find something more similar to what you normally wear, but Naya didn’t have anything in her shop in the correct sizes. Dizzy offered to have you come by her studio sometime this week for measurements so she can make things for you.”
She hadn’t met the other wives yet, but Cipher had told her about them. She was eager to make new friends and hoped they would like her. “I like the dress. I haven’t worn one in a long time. It's nice to have something pretty and new.”
“You can have all the pretty, new things you want,” Cipher assured her. “After you’ve had time to adjust to life on the ship, I’ll have Dizzy or Naya take you down to the women’s only sector. You can shop and buy all the things you need.”
“I don’t need much,” she insisted. “I can make do.”
“I know you can.” He stroked her face. “You don’t have to make do anymore. I’ll take care of you now.”
She had to swallow down the emotion that welled up inside her. Wanting to be always honest
with him, she admitted, “I’ve wanted someone to take care of me for so long. I'm so tired of being strong and alone. I know I can take care of myself, but the thought of having someone else take care of me is like a dream.”
“You’ll be safe here with me, Brook,” he promised. “I’ll provide for you and any children we have. I’ll make sure you have what you need and more. I’ll take care of you—in every way.”
She met his dark gaze and understood he meant in every way. The idea of being stripped naked by him, tumbled into bed and shown what real pleasure was made her almost dizzy with excitement. She had heard enough rumors to know what happened in the bedrooms of the sky warriors. They did things. Naughty things. Decadent things. Dangerous things.
And she wanted to know all those things.
“I have something else I want you to wear.” Cipher reached into the pocket of his pants and retrieved a stark white collar with a shiny buckle. “May I?”
She had read the pamphlets and welcome guide for new brides. She knew exactly what the collar meant and why it was so important that she wear it for him. She supposed some women fought against it, maybe even hated it, but she couldn’t wait to feel it on her skin. She wanted to belong to him. She wanted everyone to know she was under his protection.
Wordlessly, she slid off the tall bed until the leather soles of her new slipper like shoes touched the cold floor. She presented her back to him and swept her long braid off of her neck and over her shoulder. Cipher stepped closer, and his body heat penetrated her back and made her want to lean into him. He draped the opened collar around her neck, placing it low enough that it wouldn’t irritate and buckled it with enough room for him to slide his finger under it.
His heavy hands rested on her shoulders, and he bent down, his breath tickling her skin before he placed tender kisses above and below the collar. “I will never harm you. I will never force you. I will never leave you behind. I will take care of you for the rest of our lives.”