Page 17 of Rescuing Mara

“Whatever she told you, forget it. It is not the truth.”

“But…” I begin, but Lauren interrupts me again.

“Look,” she says, grabbing my hands. “Open yourself up, try to let him in. Have an open mind and look at the things he does, not only for you but also for others. O’Rec is a good, good man. If it wasn’t for him, D’Var would not be alive. He is my friend, just as much as he is my mates. You are his mate, which means that he will worship you, nobody will come before you, and he will always be there for you. He will protect you, and he will love you. And I am pretty sure he’s already half in love with you.”

I dip my gaze towards our entwined hands. “Sorry,” I whisper.

“Don’t be, it’s okay. I have a feeling you have a lot to learn about how people treat each other. The Sternotheri are not the best example, I’m afraid.”

I’m quiet, thinking through what she has just told me.

“So, for the mating…”

“That will happen when you are ready,” she declares.

I nod, thinking about Ananta’s order. After all, it’s not disobeying if he doesn’t expect me to jump him, right?

Lauren gets a weird look on her face, then looks at me. “Are we ready for company?”

I swallow a lump in my throat but nod again.

She smiles. “Excellent.”

Within a minute, the doors open, and O’Rec and his crewmates enter the room.

D’Var walks over to Lauren, hauls her against him, and smacks his lips against hers in a very intimate gesture. I am so fascinated by what’s happening that I don’t even notice O’Rec until he whispers in my ear.

“That is called a kiss.”

Quickly, I spin around to face him. “A kiss?”

He smiles gently at me, before he reaches out to touch me, then hesitates and pulls his hand back in. A pang of sorrow shooting through my chest.

“I am O’Rec,” he says.

I smile at him. “My name is Mara.”

“Marra,” he repeats, rolling the r in my name. I smile at him, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings by correcting him. Also, it gives me a strangely warm feeling. The way his deep voice caresses the syllables is a sharp contrast to the way Ananta used to yell my name.

The sound of objects clinking on the table makes me sit up straight and pay attention to what’s happening in the room. Lauren is handing out plates filled with food and has refilled my tea.

The males start eating immediately, leaving the room in silence for a couple of minutes. Lauren smiles, sitting on her mate’s lap and letting him feed her bits of his meal. She really seems happy with her mate, not at all what you would expect from a slave. She also doesn’t look very submissive to me.

I glance around the table, the big alien, T’Rak is the captain, I think. He seems scary, so I quickly look away. My gaze lands on O’Rec. He sits up straight, all his attention on eating his meal. I think he is the smallest of the three warriors, but his proud features make him the most handsome in my eyes. His nose is straight, his jaw square, and his eyes… Black pools with specks of light dancing in them, they almost look like stars…

He pauses to look up at me, and I blush at being caught starting. He just smiles and goes back to his meal, but I look down at my hands in my lap, too scared to look up.

“We are on a course towards Novarron,” a low, growly voice says, causing me to look up at the owner of the voice: the captain.

“Yes, we should be there in three days,” O’Rec says next to me.

“I can’t wait to see the planet your mom was born on,” Lauren says to D’Var before melting her lips to his again in this … kiss.

My curious brain kicks into overdrive. There are so many questions forming in my mind, but I’m afraid to say them out loud, scared of punishment.

“Have you ever been on another planet, Mara?” she asks me, and I quietly nod.

“I have never been on another planet. It’s so exciting!” she squeals. I smile. Her enthusiasm makes me relax a little bit.

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