15. Chapter 15

Here I am, standing in the center of the training field, watching uzains train. If I were the captain of this spaceship, maybe I could walk off and be with Hazel.

But I'm not the captain and I better keep our fighters in their top shape.

I point at one of them, adjusting how he holds the battle axe and how he slashes. All of them completed the basic training before they were accepted on the ship. And we are uzains, we have been learning to fight almost right after we were born. But there is always something new to learn.

I take another turn to check the rest of them, making sure everyone is following.

What's Hazel doing?

There is a door upstairs, too, and she could have left from there. What if she runs into the captain again?

It will be better if I can stay with her. Or maybe I should have kept her somewhere close by, then I can keep an eye on her. But then these uzains will also look at her and they will be distracted.

I halt when I almost run into a pair with their training axes slashing at each other.

They stop and look at me. I clear my throat and pretend to be stopping them for a reason other than my own stupidity.

At least most of them know better than to challenge me, not like what I did to the captain.

When the session is finally over and I get to usher all the uzains out of the door, it feels like I can finally take a breath and be with my own mind for a bit.

"Zil." Hazel is here, and she is smiling. Ah... That warms my heart.

She chuckles when she gets even closer. I glance at the door, making sure no one is there, before I grab her into my arms. Her soft body is so good, and I miss her so much.

I only meant to claim her as my mate so I could be the one protecting her. Her scent lures me, but that has never been my plan. Yet...

She moans in my arms, against my chest. "Are you trying to choke me? Sweaty uzain."

Oh... right... I let go of her. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize."

"You looked like you were grumpy all through the training."

I guess I am when I can be spending time with her. "Can't help it, when I could be pinning you down and... Well, I mean, we can be doing something else." Maybe she isn't fine with me yet and I shouldn't mention what made her kick me off.

She pokes my chest and runs her finger along the markings on me. I stare at her, not knowing whether I should stop her. I don't mind that, and it feels nice. But at the same time, no one has ever studied my markings like that, not even myself.

I ask, "What's this about?"

"You are sweaty."

"Yes?" I suppose I am, even though I didn't do much. But maybe training them and fighting a few when the time calls for it made me sweat a bit.

She is still stroking my chest and I would much rather she stroke my cock. "Do all of you walk around half-naked like this?"

"What's the issue with this?"

"I mean, even when you get into battles?"

"We have armor. But that's for fighting only. Do you not like seeing me this way?"

She chuckles. "Oh, you look pretty good with those slashes and with the battleaxe."

"Really?" I tilt my head to the side. I think I like her even more now. "Tell me more. Tell me how amazing I am."

She laughs. "Love it when I stroke your ego? Fine. You look like a real leader. Look at how the uzains respect you. And you are so handsome when you are focused on it. Feels like you'll be the perfect one to protect me."

Fuck. She knows how to make it good.

She grins and snuggles to my chest. "You seem to be happy."

I stroke her hair, enjoying her soft body pressing against mine. "I know you are messing with me, but it still feels good."

I gasp when she moves her naughty hand and strokes my cock. She smirks even wider. "You'd think."

"What does this mean?" I want to pin her down and fuck her until she learns to stop teasing me. Sometimes, I hate how I want to keep doing the right thing and want her to want me.

She keeps running her hand up and down my cock, making me hard. I want her...

"Zil, look at how hard you get."

"That's because you keep stroking me. And, at the same time, I don't think you're ready for me. Otherwise..."

"You'll pin me down and fuck me already?"

"That's going to help with all the stress that comes with you."

She laughs and seems to be even happier. "Oh, are you sure about that?" She stands on her tiptoe and gets closer to my ear. "You know that I can take your cock well."

"But you weren't ready last night."

Her hand on my cock stops, which I hate. She can keep stroking me as she thinks. "Yeah... Maybe we should spend some more time with each other."

If we are just here to pretend to be each other's mate, there's no need to spend more time with each other. I hate to spend time and effort on things that are going to be over before I know it.

She leans into me, very inviting for me to keep holding her. She opens her mouth, but before she talks, there is a rumble. Her cheeks are a bright red in no time. "Well..."

"I told you to eat, but you didn't want the food and keep saying that you're fine." I scowl at her. She seems to hate our food, but I don't understand why. I've had better food than this when I was back there with Vrek. Serena made perfect doughnuts and the main dishes were also better, but these can't be that bad. I don't remember Serena having a problem with the food, either. She wasn't the biggest fan, but she did fine.

Hazel sighs. "I suppose we can try the food again."

"When you're hungry, you aren't picky."

"Are you always starving?"

"If you eat, you won't be starving."

"It makes no sense. If I eat, I won't be starving, but if I'm not starving, I won't eat."

"It makes a lot of sense."

"Except not. That's no way to live. Maybe that's why you're always grumpy with that ice-cold face."

"I'd rather eat you."

Her face pales. "Are you joking with me? Do uzains eat..."

"Oh, I'll be the only one eating you. I'm going to crack those legs open and eat you."

She groans and smacks my chest. "You scared me for a bit. But for real, I can't stand your food and I may die from starvation."

"You can just eat."

She winces as if I punched her in the stomach. "No way. I'll die. How about you give me some time in the kitchen and I'll figure out my meal."

I'm not someone who is good at cooking. I'm not trained for that. After meeting Serena, I have no doubt that some humans can put out great food. Now... she gets me hungry. Maybe she can make the tasty fishball with brown sauce again.

I nod. I think I can manage that. There should be a spare kitchen she can play in. "Do you have the ingredients, though?"

"Whatever you have in the kitchen, I bet I can make something better than what you tried to give me."

I huff at that. "I promise I'm trying to give you the best. My mate deserves the best."

She stares at me with wide eyes. She says nothing, but maybe she is giving that thought. My heart races at that. I'm not here to get her as my mate, even though I want that.

What am I doing?

Nothing has gone as planned...

I want to keep her safe, and I thought telling the captain that she was my mate would be the solution. Yet, staying in the same room with her and... She drives me crazy.

She shrugs. "I understand. You weren't the one cooking that kind of stuff anyway, otherwise, I'd be disappointed."

Wait... Does this mean if I want her as my mate, let's say if I even have that idea, will I have to get good at cooking? I suppose I can chop ingredients, but when it comes to actually cooking...

Her stomach grumbles again. She strokes her hair and looks away from me.

I pat her back. "Let's get going. I can't let my mate starve."

She purrs and snuggles to me again. I refuse to look around to find out whether someone is watching us. The longer I spend around her, the more I want her.

Igo into the smaller secondary kitchen, telling Hazel to wait outside. Inside the kitchen, it is a bit less frequented by the kitchen staff and it is pretty much another storage room for ingredients.

I turn on the light. This place looks clean and tidy. "Hazel, you can come in." There are a few packs of flour on the kitchen island, but nothing too bulky that I can't move on my own.

She peeks her head into the kitchen. "So... This place seems to be small to be cooking for everyone."

"This is a secondary kitchen. I think it is here to train new ones, but there haven't been new ones for a while. And there aren't a lot of situations that will make us use this place." I go to the stove and check the pots and pans. "But I think everything is usable."

"Okay..." She walks around and checks out the fridge and the cupboards. "I think I'll manage to get us edible food."

I still don't think her breakfast is that bad, but I'm not against better food. Maybe all humans are magical with food.

She points at a cupboard. "That one, open it for me, please?"

"Sure, my short and cute one." I think it is a good idea to bring her here. I go to her side and open it for her. She is so cute. I pat her head and she growls at me.

She punches my stomach, but maybe she is playing with me and doesn't mean to hurt me. Her punch tickles, which I don't mind. She hisses at me. "If you dare to pat my head again, I'll have no end with you. I'm not a kid anymore."

I smirk at that. "So? You are— Wait!" I jump backward when she kicks at my crotch. That's not very fun even if she isn't aiming at hurting me. She may not be strong, but getting kicked down there can never result in a single good thing. "Fine. I understand."

"Good." She turns back to the cupboard again. "Get me the sugar and salt. No, get me all the bags up there."

I do that for her. I don't think she needs everything. She has to be messing with me. When I put those on the kitchen island, she is picking knives on the other side of the kitchen. Watching her back as she flings the knives in her hands as if she is looking for the one that will be the best for stabbing, I'm not sure what to think.

Hm...

She finally decides on one. That's a rectangular one without a sharp front for stabbing. I don't know a thing about cooking, but that knife should be good for chopping. She heads to me with that knife and a large piece of wood. "Here, this will be for you."

"For me? I thought you were going to prepare food."

"Yes, but you are going to work with me. Unless you have a shift coming and the captain will tear off your horns if you don't go."

I roll my eyes at that. "No, he won't get to tear my horns. Don't you worry about that." My horns are my pride, and no one gets to touch them without my approval.

"Sure." She opens the fridge, doesn't seem to care about what I said. "Here." She puts carrots on the table, then she moves on to the potatoes in a large paper bag. She puts two potatoes on the table. "Let's get to work."

Except I don't know what she is trying to do...

She washes and gets the vegetables and whatever she needs ready and puts them all on the kitchen island for me. "Here, you will chop them into pieces."

"Pieces? What do you mean?"

She frowns at me. "Geez... You act like you've never been in a kitchen before and have never eaten a thing." She grabs the knife and I wince at her swift motion, which feels like she is going to chop me into pieces instead.

Within seconds, she has part of the carrot chopped. "Here, like this. Make all the carrots and potatoes similar in size to this and put them in the baskets to the side. We have more to do. Your ship doesn't have everything we need, but it's okay. I'll figure it out."

I pick up the pieces, which are a bit larger than my nose. I suppose I can do that. Chopping beings is easier. No one cares about the size of the pieces.