Page 38 of Rescued By the Alien Bull Rider

“Scared shitless?” Darcy offered helpfully.

“I mean…”

“Well, if you don’t like the guy, and you’re truly scared of him, then maybe that’s that,” Magnolia said quietly.

“I don’t dislike him. And I’m not scared of him.”

I knew as soon as the words came out that they were true. I didn’t feel scared of Zohro, especially after learning how young he’d been when he got convicted, and after all the times he’d helped me so far. I just felt… Confused. I was so sure I’d been making the right choice by coming here. But now I had no fucking idea.

“He’s already helped me so much,” I said. “He saved me the first night here – twice. He got really badly hurt getting a charging bull away from me. He made sure a genka didn’t eat me. He basically lost his shit when I had a skin reaction to the grass, and he made me a really nice salve. And he… He accepted me.” I looked down at the curve of my stomach. “All of me. When nobody else did.”

“Then maybe you could focus on what Zohro does in the present,” Magnolia said with an encouraging bob of her head, “instead of what he’s done in the past.”

“If there’s anything I’ve learned,” Cherry added, “it’s that everybody’s got a story. Maybe, when he’s ready, Zohro will share his with you.”

Silar didn’t look convinced, but I hoped she was right. If I were going to truly feel at ease here, I’d need to know who Zohro killed, and why.

“Besides,” Tasha said, “you can always back out after the trial period.”

“Trial period?” I hadn’t heard about that before.

“It used to be thirty days,” Tasha explained, “but we’ve shortened it to two weeks. After two weeks of marriage, if a bride in the program wants to leave, the marriage is dissolved and her transportation off-world is fully paid-for. If it would make you more comfortable, Warden Tenn and I could stay here for a few days. He’s got the tent and some travel supplies in the storage compartment.” She lowered her voice so the others couldn’t hear. “And, even if you do choose to go after the trial period, I’d of course still be willing to get you connected to some social services on Elora Station after the two weeks are up.”

So I could leave for a shelter on Elora Station tonight. Or I could leave in two weeks. Neither option was particularly appealing.

But there was a third option…

Complete the trial. And choose to stay.

Forever.

Whatever I ended up doing two weeks from now, I at least felt certain of one thing tonight.

I wasn’t ready to leave Zabria Prinar One – or Zohro – just yet.

16

ZOHRO

When Tasha emerged from the house a great while later, I was certain she was about to tell me that they would arrange some kind of transport to take Jolene away.

Instead, she threw me tail over head when she said, “Jolene has agreed to proceed with the two-week trial period. That’s fourteen days.”

“Excellent,” Warden Tenn said, moving to his wife’s side and putting his arm around her waist. He squeezed her hip and looked at me. “That’s fourteen days you have to woo her, Zohro.”

Woo her?

No one had said anything about wooing.

I wouldn’t know how to woo someone if such an activity came with an instruction manual! I’d never been likeable, and I certainly hadn’t become more so while cut off from all decent society.

But at least it was something. She would not leave tonight. I had a chance, however miniscule.

“You look worried,” Tasha said, a pucker forming between her eyebrows.

“I am not worried,” I growled. “I am strategizing.”

“You are already off to a good start,” the warden said encouragingly, pointing his tail at the jamdildos I held between my claws. I’d worked ceaselessly over the evening to make them, using Jolene’s clothes on the clothesline for measurements and adding extra in the abdominal area. My stomach scrunched with hunger having not eaten since this morning.

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