Chapter 15

Lise

He kept an arm around me. One thick hand covered my waist and part of my hip as he propelled me through the street, past people going about their day, to a large stone structure. To his home. It was three stories and as imposing as a fortress. He opened the huge heavy door and gave me a light push inside.

He closed the door behind him and turned on me, eyebrows low and fierce. “What was that about?”

I wasn’t afraid of him. I crossed my arms and looked him dead in the eye. “He doesn’t like humans. I don’t think that medic was doing a good job.”

“Obviously, he was not,” he growled back. “That is why I’ve relieved him of his duties and now have the task of finding a new medic.”

“You could go outside, throw a rock and whoever it hit would do a better job than Gexor.”

He crossed his arms. “I’ve seen the test results. He’s tested blood, water, food, air—everything.”

“I was asking him to look at the water. Look at the blood samples and not just run them through scans and tests and machines,” I explained.

The warlord tilted his head and regarded me with curiosity. “What do you think we would find?”

I started to pace. It was something I always did when my brain was working faster than I could articulate. “Look. I could be wrong, but I have a theory. A few years ago on Earth, there was this medical breakthrough. A science team acquired microscopic chips—tech purchased from an advanced species—and when injected into the body, they could be programmed to do jobs. They could repair a tear in a heart or kill cancer cells. They even got them to fix someone’s aneurysm. And they just remained in the body, as insurance, in case anything else happened. It was remarkable, but over time, some horrible people figured out how to hack the repair chips. Instead of curing people, they could be used to kill them.

“We couldn’t run the story until much later, because it put a spotlight on those who had used this technology and they could be targeted by these hackers. It took doctors a while to figure out how to safely remove the chips and now they’re only used short-term for acute issues. The chips couldn’t be detected as a problem because they weren’t a problem. This situation reminds me a lot of that. So much so that I wonder if the origin of the technology is the same. That’s what I’ve been trying to find out.”

His brow was low, but not in anger. He stroked his chin. “Who did the scientists get these chips from?”

“That was never revealed,” I replied. “The scientists were always cagey about it. They may not even have known, if they worked through a dealer. It doesn’t matter right now. In talking to the women, and hearing they all have the same symptoms that came on at the same time, I think it’s vital that the water and the women’s blood are examined at to see if there are chips or some kind of tech causing these problems.”

“You should have brought this theory to me earlier,” he muttered.

“You were avoiding me.” I crossed my arms. “Instead of talking to me, you sent Dikon around to shadow me—yes, I know he was following me. I would have come to you if I had proof, which was why I needed Gexor to look at the blood and water under the scope.”

“I’m sorry to say our medic is accustomed to injured warriors. I didn’t know he was not willing to adapt to human physiology.”

“I think that’s why he did the bare minimum,” I said. “I was getting desperate, and I probably shouldn’t have pushed him so hard.”

“I’m glad you did.” Adrik strode up to me, standing close. “How did your scientists get the chips out of the patients?”

“They programmed them to exit during urination,” I replied. “But we don’t know for sure if this is the same thing. I suspect it might be, but there’s no way to know at this point.”

“There are two battle-ready vessels on our landing pads. I will consign their ship medics to this facility and have them look at the females’ blood immediately.”

Finally. The fight had gone out of me and I was suddenly feeling tired. I ran a hand over my hair. It was a mess. “Thank you, Warlord. I was planning on walking up to the top of the ridge and getting some water samples from up there.” I glanced up at him quickly. “If you’ll allow it.”

“The ridge is technically neutral territory, but both us and the Dessicans patrol it. We can go together. I will bring a contingent of guards.” His dark eyes searched mine. “What do you hope to find?”

“If the water has microscopic chips in it, it’s probably originated up there, possibly courtesy of your enemies. It’s not happening down river in Mitran territory, so the concentration of chips would be higher up there.” I looked up at him. He looked worn out, tired, and kind of done for the day. “That’s the only place where the water source is out of your control.”

A large hand came up. Fingertips brushed against my cheek, gently threaded into my hair. “You are extremely wise.”

“I think you called me that one time before, Warlord.”

He shook his head. “I am not a warlord to you.”

“While I’m here you are.” I gave him a little smile. “Unless you’re going to deport me back to Earth before my six months are up.”

His expression darkened. “If we cannot come to a solution here, I will be sending all human women out of the Thrail. Either back to Earth, if they wish, or to other Thrails.” His eyes softened, and there was a hint of defeat in them. “I will not put their lives at risk. Not for anything.”

“But that might mean the end of your Thrail.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders. “So be it. I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time. Six females are in the medical lab right now. If that number goes up, or Skrah forbid, there are deaths…” He looked away. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “The time is near to end this. And if it means the end of Thrail Tyvor, so be it.”

I placed a hand on his chest, moved and palpably feeling his sadness and frustration. “We’ve got to figure this out, Warlord. Before you send anyone away, let’s just—”

He covered my hand with his. “To you, I am Adrik. Just Adrik.”

My heart thumped hard in my chest. “Excuse me?”

His gaze did not budge. It stayed locked on mine. “I want you to call me Adrik. Not Pal-Adrik. Not warlord. Just Adrik.”

“But that’s…” Oh god, oh god. I felt like I was tumbling into his eyes and his voice, and there was nothing to hold onto. “Turn the flycam off,” I said in a strangled voice.

His eyes widened, as if suddenly remembering it was there. Then his hand flashed out. He snatched it out of the air and turned it off. He set it down on something—a table, a chair—I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I couldn’t see anything but him. We could’ve been floating in space for all I cared. The only thing I was aware of was the warlord—I mean, Adrik—standing so close to me that our bodies almost touched. Looking down on me as if I were the only person in the world who mattered.

“What is this?” I asked through a constricted throat.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he said. “So, hold still.”

I couldn’t have moved if a tornado went through this room. I was locked in place as his head lowered and his mouth brushed against mine. Full, sensual lips sealed over my mouth, and that was the end of any critical thinking.

I closed my eyes and my body turned to jelly. His arms came around me. One large hand boldly cupped my ass. The other flattened against my back, drawing me flush against his body. He was all hard muscles and heat and, good god, overwhelming.

I slipped my hands up around his shoulders and into the brakas that flowed from his head. They were light and a little spongy, so very, very different from hair. I wondered what he thought of me, and how different the hair growing out of my head must feel to him.

He moaned, slanted his head and deepened the kiss. I felt a thigh brush against mine, press against mine. The heavy, hard length of his cock was a hot rock against my belly. He smelled like steel and crisp air and a little bit like Besi’s barn. Altogether, it totally worked for me. I let out a little whimper and hitched one leg up to hook it around his thigh. My nipples were hard and sensitive. Need coiled between my legs. My blood quickened and heated.

He wrenched his mouth away from my lips and drew in a shaky breath. “Sweet Skrah, how I have wanted you,” he rasped out, against my neck.

“I’ve wanted you to,” I said. “But this…but we…”

“I know.” He stood up, pressed his lips to my forehead. His body was tight, his breath shallow, and I could feel the rapid thrum of his two hearts beneath my cheek as I rested it against his chest.

“I must ask you,” he said in a rough voice. “Have you experienced any of the symptoms that the other females here have?”

“No. I’ve only been here a short while.” I looked up at him. “The other women didn’t start to have any issues until they were here about three months.”

His thumb moved over my chin, tracing my jaw. “You will not be here long enough to experience any of it. I will not allow you to suffer, as I will not permit the others to suffer, either.”

“Well, let’s at least try to figure something out here,” I said. My stomach dropped. He couldn’t send me away now. Not when we might finally be onto something, and not when whatever this was, was happening between us.

“You’ve been here approximately two standard galactic weeks. Two more is all I will give you. After that, you must return home.” His words were even, but his eyes were agonized. “And no, I don’t want you to leave. Not in two weeks. Not in six months. Not at all.”

Well, that was a lot. Did the warlord of Thrail Tyvor just tell me that he wanted us to be together-together and in the same breath, tell me he’d be sending me back to Earth? I couldn’t even process all that at the moment. “Let’s just take one day as it comes and do our best to get to the bottom of this, okay?”

His gaze moved over my face with a blatantly proprietary look. “Agreed.”

“And when we solve this—and we will solve this—we’ll figure out the rest. And by the rest, I mean whatever is going on between you and me.”

“I know what is going on between you and me,” he said.

“And what would that be?”

“You’re meant to be mine. Yaran saw it. That’s why she gave you my mother’s necklace. She saw what I could not, that day.”

Holy shit, he was serious. “So, you and I are like the real deal to you. Like married. That’s how you see things?”

He raised one brow. “Don’t you?”

I stepped away, rubbing both hands over my face as if to try and clear some of the chaos going on inside my head. “I don’t know. Maybe. Courtships don’t go like this on Earth. We take a while to get to know one another and learn about one another. It doesn’t usually work quite on instincts like it seems to here.”

“That is why we have a policy of letting the human females approach Mitran males. We do not want them to be overwhelmed by attention they may not want.” He let out a chuckle and shook his head. “I violated those rules with you.”

“Well, you’re the warlord,” I said. “No woman here would approach you.”

“Really?” He looked curious. “Why not?”

“Have you looked at yourself?” I swept my hands up and down, encompassing his form. “Aside from being huge, because all you Mitrans are huge, you are very much a warlord. I wouldn’t call you approachable. And you’re kind of intimidating. No, actually, you’re very intimidating.”

He grinned at me, eyes glinting. “You do not seem intimidated by me.”

I laughed as he caught me around the waist and pulled me against him. “Not anymore. But you scared the shit out of me when I first met you.”

“I am glad you no longer find me scary.”

“Oh, you’re scary, Warlord.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, just loving the way he felt against me. “But I’m pretty scary too. Just ask Gexor.” I leaned up on tiptoes and pulled him down at the same time. I nipped his lower lip, kissed him, reveling in the feelings and sensations crashing through me.

I was not going to leave Mitra without bedding this male. That was the final word on it. Even if he sent me away, I was going to have this guy. I wasn’t usually like this. I had relationships. Real relationships. I wasn’t casual with my bed partners. Whether it was for one night, or for the rest of our lives, I wanted Adrik in my bed and in my life. He had already made his way into my heart.