Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

KHORAHN

Smart female. Pretty female. My female, I thought.

I patted her shoulder then reached around her to clasp her under the knee. She didn't at first fight me when I lifted the leg. But she tensed mightily when I started moving it to the side, spreading her to straddle my lap.

Before she could move away or readjust the position, I leaned forward, pressing my chest to her back, and reached for the bowl. She froze, her breathing coming fast in her fear, as she stared at my hand and her food.

Giving her a moment to decide, I leaned away again and stroked my hand down her back.

"Nothing is hurting you. This is safe. You may eat."

I repeated myself, keeping my voice calm and my touch light as she trembled. Slowly the tension eased from her shoulders, and she dipped her spoon into her food.

While she cautiously ate, I breathed in her scent. The fear remained steady throughout the meal. However, her body loosened enough that she leaned slightly forward for each bite and back again while she chewed. The motion accentuated the way the cleft of her flank almost cradled my ambal through my pants. According to the data pic, humans needed to eat three to five times a flare. If she continued her gentle rocking against me, though, I'd feed her every arc until she was comfortable enough to do this without my pants on.

I might not live through it, but flek, I'd like to try.

When the spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl, I praised her with some more arm petting, eased her from my lap, and went to make her another bowl.

She watched my approach closely, her gaze shifting between my face and the bowl. Once again, she narrowed her eyes when I set the bowl and spoon out of her reach. We repeated the process with a bit more resistance on her part.

"Forgive me, my female. I know this frustrates you. You will understand soon. I swear. This is no game. I only mean to protect you and can't do that if you fear me. The fey don't acquire their females using fair methods. I'm afraid that means not all my methods can be fair to you. For that, I am truly sorry."

"I can feed myself," she said, trying to keep her legs closed.

"But that will not help you."

I patted her shoulder and continued to speak to her in low and slow tones until she gave in with an angry growl. The show of temper was a good sign, regardless of the elevation of fear in her scent.

This time, I waited until she started eating to ease my legs open. It widened her even farther. She swung her left elbow back into my ribs then stiffened.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before crying.

My chest ached, and I wanted nothing more than to gather her into my arms. But I knew this moment was too important. She'd struck out, fought back against me. Considering the way she'd looked when I'd found her, the Wsoau would have shocked or beaten her for such insolence.

I ran both hands over her upper arms.

"Come now. Feel what I'm doing. Does this hurt? No. I am proud of your strength. And you will need much more."

I widened my legs farther and shifted my hips back so her birthing sheath was likely fully exposed to the air. Through it all, I continued to pet her skin.

"You are strong. You will survive this. You will see that not everyone means to harm you."

A shuddering breath escaped her. It took several prexels for her to calm enough to resume eating.

When she emptied the second bowl, she immediately shifted positions, sitting across my lap and leaning into me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her until all the fear faded from her scent.

Once I knew she was calm, I eased her from my lap and cleaned up. She stayed close to me, watching how I placed the dirty bowl and spoon into the side of the sanitation unit. When I finished, I turned to her.

She looked up at me, a wary expression on her small face, then moved closer until she leaned against me. I ran my hands over her shoulders and head.

Testing her trust had seemed to tire her. I picked her up and carried her from the galley. However, when I opened the door to our sleeping quarters, she shook her head. Fear bloomed in her scent.

"I don't want to go in there."

I sighed and turned away from the space.

"If you are not ready for rest, I will not force you, small one."

Although I worried that the maintenance I needed to attend to would bore her, I took her to the cargo bay with me. She stayed close when I reluctantly released her but looked around with interest. Knowing she was safe enough, I went to the datapad while watching her as she wandered over to a drop bin.

"Command Korahn," I said, speaking to the ship's nav system, "prep life suit for verification."

One of the side panels opened, but I didn't pay attention to the life suit within. Instead, I watched my female carefully climb up onto the drop bin, flashing me the parts she otherwise desperately sought to hide from me. Turning, she settled that intriguing backside onto the bin's hard surface. Thankfully, I was meticulous about decontaminating them after each use.

Turning away from her, I stripped off my pants and put on the life suit. The nano-tech embedded material immediately adjusted to my form, molding to me like a second skin. The extra matter around the neckline moved upward, as designed, to cover my face. It started filtering the air I breathed. The thing had cost me a fortune but had saved my life more than once.

"No!"

I turned toward my female as she leapt from the bin and ran toward me. The way her hands tugged at the suit covering my chest surprised me, and I caught her up in my arms and did my best to assure her.

"You are safe, my fragile human. This life suit cannot hurt you. A few more prexels, and I will remove it. I swear."

She seemed to calm at the sound of my voice and pulled back from me, studying the suit. The scent of her fear faded, and she eased from my arms to walk around me, running her hands over the suit. It felt like a bare caress on my skin.

My ambal swelled with an influx of secretion.

"Diagnostic report." The suit rattled off its statistics, only audible to me inside the suit. As I'd anticipated, everything was in working order.

"Return to stasis."

The female wrapped her arms around my middle when my face reappeared. However, her joy faded as the suit continued to fall away, and she hurried back to her perch. Rather than watch me remove the suit, she studied the mounds of mineral waste.

I tugged my pants into place and took in her smooth legs, curved flanks, and trim midsection. The cargo bay had never held anything so precious as it did at that moment.

When I started toward the stack of waste, intent on shoveling it into the drop bins, she followed. She watched me work for a second then gestured at the waste.

"Can I touch them?"

I scooped up a handful and placed it in her hands.

"It won't hurt you," I promised when she kept looking up at me questioningly.

With a laugh, she scampered off to her drop bin.

And that's where I found her sleeping an arc later, the mineral waste still clutched in her hands. When I carefully lifted her to carry her back to our sleep bay, I saw she'd stuck a piece of waste into the odd indent she possessed in her midsection.

I glanced at the waste and shrugged to myself. If she liked it, I would set more aside for her.

She nuzzled against my sweat-coated chest, sending another rush of secretions to swell my ambal. Unfortunately, the next scent-marking would need to wait until she woke.