Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Siroc

" T his isn't necessary." She glanced around my cavern chamber, her eyes wide and sparking with alarm.

I crossed my arms. "It is. Until we know what happened to you, you will stay with me."

"All the time?"

"Mostly, yes." In truth, I felt as uncertain as she looked. She pursed her lips and gazed around the chamber. I wondered what she thought of it. It was quite large and filled with an eclectic mix of furniture and decor added by the centuries of warlords who came before me. I had added little of my own in the seventeen years since I had claimed the warlord title. At the age of thirty-seven, I should have been mated, with little ones by now. And I would have been, if there were Mitran females to bond with. Unfortunately, a genetic malady had caused our birth rates to drop to dangerously low levels and no females birthed at all. As a consequence, most males went mateless. Until recently.

We had discovered that humans were biologically compatible with us. Many males had found mates through a tight, negotiated agreement with Earth that allowed for their females to come here and become Mitran citizens. Now, babies were being born. Little males and females with traits of both parents made the halls of the mountain Thrail ring with their squeals and laughter. There was no Mitran alive who did not smile at the sounds. We had a chance to survive. A chance for our species to regain its numbers.

But now, I had moved a human female who was not my mate into my quarters. She was something between a guest and a prisoner. There was no precedent for this. No protocol to follow.

"You'll have your own room through the door over there." I nodded to the room that had been a private dining chamber and entertaining lounge for when I hosted dignitaries and merchants from other planets.

Her fingers knotted together in front of her gray tunic and pants. "Is there a reason why I can't stay in the chambers I used to have?" She shrugged one bony shoulder. "It might help me to remember…something."

I shook my head slowly. "These are your quarters for now."

Her whole body seemed to slump and tense up at the same time. "What if I'm not comfortable living here with you?"

"It doesn't matter what you're comfortable with," I replied. "You're staying here for your own safety and for that of the Thrail."

Her interesting eyes flashed. They were a stunning blue-green ringed in gold. "You think I'm a danger?"

I ran my fingers through my brakas . "In truth, I don't know what you are."

She looked up at me, eyes searching mine. "Maybe I'm just a woman."

"Maybe you are," I replied, holding her probing gaze. "Maybe you're something more."

Her gaze fell away with a frown. "Or something less."

Without thinking, I placed a finger under her chin and raised it. "No. Never that."

"How do you know?" she asked.

I was in over my head with the direction of this conversation. My answer had been one of instinct, not fact. Speaking to this female felt like walking on the edge of a precipice—my next word could send me into oblivion. Being near her plucked at the threads of my control. My head felt light, as if I'd drank too much hakla ale. "Because there is fire in you. It kept you alive through what was done to you. You survived . Remember that when you think everything has been stripped from you."

What lay between us after that was a quiet so charged, I wished I could retract my words and say something less intense. Less honest. But my mouth said what my instincts told it to when it came to Jane. I lost the ability to choose my words around her.

"Thank you, Warlord." She cleared her throat and hugged her arms around herself.

"Please call me Siroc when we are alone," I said. "There is no point in formalities here."

"But I must call you Pal-Siroc or Warlord when we're not alone?"

"That is what everyone calls me in public," I replied.

Jane nodded to my large bed covered by a massive baska fur skin. "So, you sleep there, and I sleep through there." She pointed to the simple wooden door that led to her chamber. I'd had my dining table and chairs removed, and filled it with furniture from her previous room.

"Yes," I replied, glad to have the discussion move to mundane things. "The washroom is there. We share that."

"And when we're not sleeping, or in the bathroom, I am to go with you everywhere?" She raised one hairless brow, skeptically.

"Yes, unless I have trade negotiations or sensitive business to attend to."

"Am I permitted to do anything on my own?" she asked.

"Not yet." I cocked my head. "What would you do if you could?"

"I don't know. Find my way around again?"

"I will help you do that."

She sighed. "I would think you'd have better things to do."

"There is nothing more important for a warlord than protecting his people, and you are one of those people."

She made a sour face. "Maybe I'd be better off back on Earth."

"Authorities on your home planet have been informed of your situation," I said. "They believe it best for you to remain here until some answers can be found. However, they have also said that the decision ultimately rests with you. If you want to return to Earth, you will be quarantined for a time at a facility and studied before you can be released." I didn't like the thought of that. The human administrator I'd spoken to made it clear that Jane would be held for an indefinite period of time and wouldn't comment on the conditions of her confinement. That made me disinclined to encourage her return.

"What kind of facility?" She looked afraid of that, and with good reason.

"I wasn't given that information," I answered truthfully. "But if you wish to go, I will secure a transport for you. Leaving means you may never learn what happened to you during those missing six months."

She shuddered. "Maybe I shouldn't remember. Obviously, it wasn't pleasant. Besides, what Mitran would want to bond with me now? I am…" She gestured to herself with disgust.

"You're recovering from a horrific trauma." I straightened, annoyed with the suggestion that any Mitran would view her as unworthy to mate with. "No one would hold that against you."

"But you do." Her eyes flashed, revealing some of that fire I'd seen in her. It was intriguing and beautiful and utterly entrancing. "You're afraid I'm going to go nuclear on you, or something."

"I'm not afraid of that," I clarified. "But you cannot fault me for staying alert. That doesn't mean I hold it against you . You had no control over any of this."

"The doctor told me this too." She rubbed her forehead with a wince. "I've caused so many people so much trouble already."

"I can't imagine how strange it must be to not know yourself," I said, carefully. "Give yourself a chance to heal and let Urix continue treating you. You may remember who Jane was."

She blinked up at me and some of the tension eased from her face. I felt inordinately pleased with myself. Comfort was not a skill that was frequently required of me. I solved problems, gave orders, and kept the Thrail running, but seeing this female's eyes soften made me feel like I had just conquered a mountain. "Thank you, Warlord."

"It's just Siroc." I crossed my arms and nodded. "I'll leave you to your quarters."

Comfort was one thing. What to do in the aftermath of it, was another. Humans, at least the females in my Thrail, displayed comfort and soothing gestures frequently amongst each other. They seemed very fond of the act of hugging. Wrapping one's arms around another in an embrace was not a common Mitran trait. However, I was beginning to see males do it to their females.

I was not comfortable hugging Jane. For one thing, she looked too fragile to touch. And for another, I was far too aware of her already. When she was near, she had my attention. I did not want to know what the feel of her body was against mine. Because if I knew, I was likely never to forget, and there was the likelihood of wanting to feel it again. Everything about that felt wrong, considering how vulnerable a state she was in. No memories. A still-healing body. The uncertainty of why she'd been taken and altered as she was.

No. Embracing this female was an act to avoid.

The moment stretched a bit longer before she fidgeted a little, then turned towards her door. "Okay, I'm going in there." She pointed to her door and edged towards it, clearly wanting to be out of my company. I couldn't blame her. She went inside the sanctuary of her room, closing the door quietly behind her.

And I stood there, flexing my hands, opening and closing them, wondering why I felt a little out of breath. Weirdly exhilarated. The cliff dropped off before me, waiting for me to fall.