Page 29 of Her Alien Warrior
"And should she choose me, you will capitulate her contract?"
"I would love nothing more than for you to prove that humans are not universally adaptable to matings. Or better yet, General Sou-el, it would please me greatly to know that a bond is not simply a matter of proximity and procreation."
"That is why you chose humans with mates, and with spawnlings. They have mated, and their body's necessity for procreation will not be as strong as humans in their prime," I surmised.
"You will make a fine research commander soon enough, Sou-el. I look forward to seeing the results of our experiment. Meet me at common lab phase two testing at sector 53."
The young general, soon to be commander in his own right, was very intelligent for his age, and I shouldn't have been surprised that he had planned ahead on what kind of humans were accepted on this research ship. I was merely a general of the research itself, and not given purview into the selection process, but only given a group of subjects with an outline of what kinds of questions could be answered within shorter experimental windows. Until I was promoted to Commander of Research I would not have full access to initiating my own theories. For a warrior so young to be leading a project like this was impressive, but he was asking me to suspend my belief that she was my mate, and prove it outside of traditional ritual of our tribe.
And I had only until we reached Trillume to convince my mate that we were meant to be together, while also challenging her previous mate's claim to her. A difficult task for the strongest of warriors, made more difficult with not knowing what it was that humans valued in their mates beyond data collected from obscure reports on the human species.
Not even humans had a full grasp on their own mating rituals. So much contradicting data that boiled down to a theory of proximity, pheromones, and familiarity. Of which, I am told I will have a limited amount of time, and unable to use the second, while the third was based on layering the others overtime I did not have. Yet I agreed, as there was no other alternative to gaining access to her within the time we had.
When I arrived at sector 53, General Tensel was waiting for me, and ushered me inside one of the attached rooms to the common area Renee resided in. I was strapped down to a chair, blindfolded, and sprayed down with what I assumed were pheromone blockers.
Then I smelled her enter.
General Tensel's disembodied voice echoed in the room across the intercom unit, "You have as much time as you would like to speak with the warrior in the room. He cannot see you, and it is advised not to touch him, but you are welcome to if you wish. He does not know who you are, and however much time you give him, he will be required to spend that same amount of time with another when you leave."
Horve's vine, I cursed. General Tensel was going to force me to have another human to prove his theories when I had no desire to have anyone other than Renee. He may not have said that was who was in the room, but I knew her scent intimately, but she wouldn't know who I am, if she was blindfolded as well, and she certainly couldn't smell me after being sprayed.
"Okay," she said nervously, but her voice sounded different... altered. They put a modulator on her.
"Do not be afraid," I wanted to assure her, and let her know it was me, but even my voice was not the same, and cursed the restraint around my neck that included a modulatorwithin.
General Tensel continued, "Part of this experiment is not revealing your identity, but you may discuss anything else. The cameras will be turned off, should either of your discussions include names the cameras will resume, and you will be asked to start again with another subject."
He was making this more difficult by the breath. I wanted her to know who I was, to know that I had come for her.
"Are you comfortable?" she asked, and I wondered if she was blindfolded or if she could see who I was? As she showed the same concern for me that she did with the experiment she viewed in my office.
"The restraints are for your comfort," I explained again in the same manner I had before, "we agree to this precaution so you do not fear touching us, as our epul can be intimidating to humans."
It may not have been exactly my voice, but I would hope she could see the similarities of my speech patterns.
"You agreed to see if you could bond with a human?" she asked with irritation, and I could smile if that was jealousy in her tone, but I schooled my features to neutral before replying.
"Just one human," I clarified. "I am of the belief that I've met my mate, but I'm required to prove this theory by having no reaction to other stimuli and earning the honor of marking her."
Her scent became stronger, and then I felt her touch at the base of my epul, just as the other human had done with the warrior in my own experiment. Was she seeing if I would reactthe same as he had? My nostrils flared with her scent, but with the sheen of nanobots protecting my skin from her and her from me, I wouldn't have the same reaction to her unless she touched beneath my clothes where the mist did not reach.
"So as long as you don't react, then she'll be your mate?"
I nodded, but again didn't know for sure if she was blindfolded as well, so I added, "Yes."
"Awfully bold of you to assume," she sounded... amused, and I couldn't be sure if that was a good or bad thing for humans. For a warrior, being amused while proving honor was considered an insult. This would indicate a steep mountain trial with low probability of success. Very rarely did a warrior come back from a Rakture with a mate that insulted him beforehand. They would return bloody from battle that was not part of a mating ritual but one of reclaiming lost honor.
I would not do such a thing with Renee. If she did not see me as worthy, then I would wait until I'd gained enough honor to try again. And if she denied me again? I didn't care to think on it, because I would lose all title, honor and begin anew within my tribe to seek out a mate that had already rejected me and fail again.
Many have banished themselves after such a blow.
"Necia warriors spend their lives working for honor within our tribe. It is not an assumption for us. It is only the young and desperate that assume."
"Okay," she conceded,her breath inches from my face. If I were not strapped to this chair, with a restraint around my neck, I'd pull her to me. "Then, prove to your mate that you can't react to anyone but her."
This was a dangerous game, I thought, as her finger trailed down my chest with no reaction. If I respond to her touch, then she could say I responded to someone I wasn't certain was her. If I don't respond, then I've proven to her that we are not mates. With the spray insulating my skin, all I have is her smell, and she can't see the way my eyes would dilate for her with a blindfold on.
"How would you like to prove that?" I asked, a possessive growl easy to come at the thought of having her touch me.
