Page 19 of Her Alien Warrior
"If you feel any symptoms at all, you must tell me immediately. I'm required to remind you by law of assent that this subject gave her permission to use this offering for purposes of finding a bathing mate only, and should you feel any draw, you are to lock yourself in your rooms until the feeling passes or until permission has been granted to proceed. Do you understand these conditions? Your answer will be recorded by implant."
"I consent."
"Very well." Cenkal pinched my nose and I opened my mouth for him to rub the small drop of blood at my gums. It was to prevent me from smelling the blood first, which was unnecessary for someone like me, but he would follow protocol. Asthe liquid absorbed, my fangs lengthened, and Cenkal jerked his hand back, quickly reaching for his elder root spray, every medic had this on hand to knock out a warrior should they show signs of rut.
"Your eyes are dilating. Your breathing is labored, and this is the first time you've displayed immediate lowering of your cuspids," he said with fascination. Quickly, he snapped the glove off his hand and cautiously approached. "What are you feeling?" His elder root spray was readied, just in case.
My hearts thundered in my chest, and I was reminded of that same excitement I had when Renee allowed me to taste her skin, but stronger. My fangs throbbed, and I looked around the room as if I would find her standing there.
"Sou-el," he prompted once more, before he grabbed a disruptor instead of using the implants in his fingers. He extended the cylinder and shoved it in my mouth. My immediate response was to growl at him, and he laughed. Mumbling to himself he said, "Never thought I'd see the day. Incredible."
Cenkal worked on his private screens that only he could see in his eye implant, hands swiping away, and he chatted all the while, though I stopped listening to the words. My whole body tingled, and my epul throbbed, but it was not in that familiar ache of uncomfortable pain. I felt... like I hadn't just stayed up all night staring at a sleeping human but was a buzz with— Cenkal interrupted my thoughts to say what I had not, "Adrenaline spike! Sweet Horve's Vine, your glands are producing adrenaline!Fuck, fuck," he said excitedly as he paced back and forth, "What do I do? Should I spray you with elder root even though you're finally showing normal levels? No, it seems premature. What if I fuck this up? What if I spray you and it shocks your glands and damages them when they are finally working? But," he swiped his finger across my forehead, and I bared my teeth at him, feeling territorial for the first time. I did not wish for him to touch me. Only her. The only touch I craved was from Renee.
Where was she? I had to find her. Would it harm her for her to touch me? If I kept my tongue to myself, would she be okay with me tasting her with my fingers instead?
I stood up from the seat, my nostrils flaring.
"Remarkable," Cenkal said studying some results on his implant. "Even your enzymes are finally coming to the surface of your skin. You'll finally be able to heighten a mate's response by touch. These levels are promising, and—" He touched his finger to my skin again and I yanked back my hand, his touch was like a threat, a challenge, and my epul protruded more from my shoulders like I would fight him.
"Sou-el... your levels aren't balancing. I can't let you leave—" he said with worry.
I snarled, and knocked his hand before he had a chance to secure the elder spray. Cenkal fumbled with the canister before he clamped down on the nozzle, spraying himself in the face, "Fuck..." he said as he stared at me through the mist. He swipedthrough the air one final time, before he grabbed at the table for stability. The elder root would knock him out for a while in that high of a concentration. It wasn't until I reached the door that a notification on my implant initiated. The door slammed closed behind me, just as I reached the hall.
Every door I passed was triggered into a lockdown procedure, preventing me from entering any spaces on the ship that were not my living quarters. The lockdown on my permissions would stay in effect until the head of security, the commander, or the medic that initiated it, cleared me of suspected rut. Protocol would dictate that I should go to the holding cells and be restrained, but I felt perfectly rational, and of sound mind to simply lock myself in my quarters until the spike in adrenaline passed. All I needed was to relieve myself and get rid of the images of Renee panting in my arms as I licked her neck.
The salt of her skin was intoxicating, and I wanted nothing more than to sink my fangs into her flesh, marking her as mine, giving her my mark.
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my head. Drinking her blood was one thing but marking her was a violation of her consent. Humans did not have the same defenses a necia warrior had, leaving every inch of them exposed to our fangs. Commander Rokva kept armor plating around her neck to warn off mates, and her epul were specially designed to protect against unwelcomed mating marks without her withdrawing her epul. Toretract one's epul was an act of consent to be touched, to be marked, but humans did not have this feature.
Warriors gave a wide girth as they passed me in the halls, and I felt my hearts hammer louder in my ears as I got closer to my room.
As I stood in front of my door, I stilled. For a moment, I thought I felt more than my hearts beating, but dismissed it as hearing others in the hall nearby. My doors slid open and as I entered lockdown protocols engaged and there would be no leaving until I was cleared.
Renee's familiar scent wafted to my nose, and it seemed stronger than the lingering remnants of her sleep the rotation before. My eyes caught on her soft body as it jumped up, trying to reach the lever to bring down my bed. Then she turned, and I stared at those silver eyes that held every color in their depths and couldn't breathe.
Chapter eight
Renee
The amber in Sou-el's eyes was nothing but a ring of fire around black pupils like I'd been trapped into a vortex the moment I saw them. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think to explain why I'd been trying to get his bed out of the wall, instead of taking the couch. The excuse was on the tip of my tongue to say I was just going to grab one of the pillows, but I knew better. I wanted to bury my face in the fabric of where he slept and console myself for feeling attracted to an alien I hardly knew, who wanted nothing to do with me.
But there he was staring at me as he stalked forward. His epul were intimidating as they seemed to breathe with him, pulsating in and out of his skin. White silver hair flowed freely around his shoulders, no longer pinned back for work, appearing wind-swept like he had been running, or post workout. Even a sheen of sweat glistened on his skin. Neither of us spoke as he never once broke eye contact to lift his arm up, boxing me in against the wall that held his bed.
I gulped my nerves down. His exposed chest was close enough I could inhale the scent of him, that same smell I couldn't put a name to, but was wholly him and exactly what I was searching for when I tried to steal his pillow. A low rumble vibrated from his throat like he could sense what I was thinking. He was warning me that he wasn't interested in me that way, I knew that and it made my chest ache. I broke the eye contact then, looking away with a squeak.
Sou-el leaned down, his nose rubbing the top of my head as he chuffed. I didn't know what he was doing, but I couldn't bring myself to speak or move. My skin tingled in awareness of him, and my heart pounded in my ears. "Can't leave," he forced out.
I blinked in confusion and met his eyes again. All the amber in them was gone, his eyes were dilated.
"Desk drawer," he pleaded with me, his mouth parted as he panted, exposing his large fangs. I should have been scared, buta warmth built up in my stomach, and it spread between my thighs.
"Are you okay?" I asked, stunned. My hand lifting to touch his clammy skin. He was so hot, overly so.
"Desk," he repeated with a groan that seemed to vibrate down to my very bones, making me close my eyes as my body was lost to the way my muscles tensed with the husky noises he was making. Right, the desk, something was wrong with him, I berated myself for being so needy when he was clearly not okay. I forced myself to slip under his arm that he leaned his forehead against while heaving heavily against the wall. Glancing at him one last time, I watched as his fingers dug past the lever for the bed and the metal bent under the pressure. I rushed to the desk, and fumbled for the drawer, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked," I said in panic.
"Break it," he insisted as his other hand launched up and gripped the wall alongside his other, creating divots in the metal from his strength. He was breathing so heavy, and his shoulders quaked as his fingers dug down the wall like he was restraining himself. What was wrong with him?
