Page 14 of Soliv Four
“Not so brave. I was terrified of becoming indigent. Few people ever come back from that. It’s only one step above a prison. Finding another job after that is next to impossible if you don’t know anyone in power. I didn’t.
“The agency seemed so thorough with their questions, psych eval, and DNA testing with the guarantee they would find my perfect mate.”
“This may sound strange, but I knew you were the one from the moment I saw you. The feeling was so strong, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
“Not strange at all. It’s called recognition by our ancient tribes. I felt it too,” he said.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what species are you. You look mostly human.”
“I am completely human. According to ancient legend, the gods started the species on Earth, then chose the best of them to colonize suitable planets throughout the universe. Some lines stayed pure, while others cross-bred with other humanoid species that were spacefaring before we were.”
“So, now a lot of those other species are part human?’
“Yes. It didn’t happen on Drapus, because we were spacefaring by the time, they found our planet.”
“You said you landed here because you were betrayed. How did that happen?”
“I command an elite covert military unit. We were assigned to rescue one of our diplomats held on a backwater planet in the Szeqart Empire. But it was a trap. I don’t know who the dead man was in the cell our diplomat was supposed to occupy. We were knocked out by a stun bomb and woke up naked in cells bound for here.”
“Sounds like they were waiting for you,” Angie said between bites. “This isn’t too bad for processed protein. Tastes almost like chicken---well, artificially grown chicken.”
“After our stint in the underground mines, this is almost like a recreation facility---except we have to kill people to keep our accommodations.”
“They make you fight to the death?” Angie looked horrified.
Tomak sighed, his expression grim. “Only in the championship matches. I’ve won six. It may be a sport for the management and viewers, but for us, it’s survival.”
“Well, I hope you will continue to survive.”
“I’ll do my best, now that I have more to live for,” Tomak said with an appreciative smile. The sex alone made it worth coming home. He didn’t say that, although she seemed to enjoy the sex. There was more to their budding relationship than that. “When we finish eating, I could show you around our little paradise here.”
“Right, paradise,” she laughed softly.
“The climate is pleasant, and the grounds well kept. I also want to introduce you to my team. One of them is on a hunt today, but I didn’t think you wanted to go watch that.”
“Maybe another time, watching the hunt. I want to see the rest of the place. We went straight from the shuttle to the barracks when we arrived, so we didn’t see anything.”
“It’s important to know your way around, in case you get stuck out on your own. But I can’t stress it enough that you should never go out of this room on your own.”
She gave him a look that seemed a bit annoyed.
“It’s not because I am that possessive, it’s because the other inmates have full range of this facility. If they catch you alone and decide to rape you, no one other than my men or me will stop them. Of course, I would kill every one of them. More important, I don’t want them to hurt you.”
Angie nodded. “I appreciate that. I’ve never done any physical fighting; maybe it’s a good time for me to learn some moves to defend myself… Just in case.”
“I am willing. We can start when I go back to training in a few more rotations. That’s how much time they allow for us to get acquainted,” Tomak told her.
“How generous. That must be why they gave me that sex drug; so, I would want sex right away.”
“We really didn’t need that, did we, my mate?” Tomak reached for her hand on the table.
She gave him a shy smile and put her hand in his, shaking her head. From the heat in his gaze, she surmised he remembered the passion they shared a few spans earlier. The memory made her breath hitch, and she felt the familiar ache from her nipples to her clit.
He gave her a sexy smirk as she tried not to squirm, knowing he could probably smell the wetness between her thighs.
Angie reached for her plastic tumbler of juice and brought it to her lips, gulping several swallows. “But you are going to show me this place first…?”
Tomak gave an exaggerated sigh, “As you wish,me’ara. Finish up, and we’ll go.”
