Page 33 of Her Alien Warrior
Nervous, I explained, "Commander Rokva told me about how warriors used to wear tokens of blood in their hair." I had already stripped a bit of black cloth from my clothes to braid a ribbon to attach the bead to, but hadn't added my blood yet.
"I'd be honored," he said before his tongue licked out, tingling my skin, and pressure dug into my palm as his lips closed over. A soft pull made me lightheaded, and I whimpered, falling against his chest as he drank from me. He kissed my hand, and delicately grabbed the bead and pressed it against the puncture, filling the offering. It didn't hurt at all.
"I only grazed your skin with the tip of my fang at a percise angle similar to what humans call a papercut. It should heal much quicker than other wounds. Will you braid this into my hair?" He closed the bead and ribbon into my palm, and I heard him shift to kneel while he leaned his head against my stomach. I took a few strands of hair and braided the ribbon in, with a smile plastered to my face.
I didn't know what would come of allowing him to pursue me as a mate, but for a little while, I enjoyed feeling wanted, and a tiny bit of hope bloomed in my heart.
Chapter thirteen
General Sou-el
Iwaited in the lounge, my eye catching on every new arrival, waiting for one of them to be Renee. It was foolish to think she would come the first rotation after confessing that I believed we should trust that we both see our truths, and are meant to be together, but slowly, I would bridge that gap between us. My eyes shot up once more to be disappointed in the face that wasn't hers scanning the lounge. General Tensel walked in with an air of confidence and a smile that could make any warrior kneel to serve before his eyes landed on me.
"General," a warriorcooed as he passed, her legs parting in invitation. The lounge was one of the places on the ship where it wasn't uncommon to walk in on warriors bathing each other. With his status, and his promotion to commander soon, he had his pick of any warrior on this ship.
He smiled at her and with a soft chuckle that had the warrior biting her lip, he replied politely, "I've already bathed today, Ginva." She nodded with disappointment and closed her legs lest another warrior think she's inviting them to bathe. "I'm in Rakturan. It is a time of celebration," he called out to the room and warriors cheered. It was then that I spotted the leathers braided through his hair with a mate's offering, and his words repeated in my mind how he bathed already. The bead dangling from his auburn strands was similar in coloring, red. An offering of blood for him to keep near and become accustomed to their scent.
He didn't say Rakture... he said Rakturan, his mate was previously mated. Rakture was a duel of the hearts, either against a competing mate, or to prove yourself to your future unne bond.
My hearts beat wildly against my ribcage and an uncontrollable urge to fight surfaced within me. Whose blood did he take?
General Tensel took that moment, as I gripped the table about to leave, to sit across from me with that insufferable smirk.
My nostrils flared, smelling her on him. Renee? I looked to the doors to the lounge expecting to see her there, but she wasnot there, and my eyes shot to him, then to the offering in his hair.
I forced myself to calm and asked, "I did not realize you were eager to mate so early in your service. Who is the lucky warrior?"
"I'm glad you asked, Sou-el," he dropped titles once more like we were friends. "She is quite special. Unafraid, her words so pleasantly free, and blessed by the goddess our biomarkers are compatible. I have no need for a mate eager for spawn, as you pointed out, I'm still very early in my career, and she will be a refreshing first mate for the remainder of her life."
My grip bent the edge of the table, the only sign of my annoyance.
"A human then," was all I had to say to prompt him further. He would mate a human he was merely 'compatible' with to amuse him for the remainder of her days, until he outlived her, then chose a new mate. At least he was honorable enough to accept mating a human through their lifespan, but he had no misgivings that his blood would prolong her life, that they would bond so completely their lifespans would merge. They were compatible, that was all, and he found her to be refreshing to talk to. It was true, many warriors were not casual with him, giving him respect, and not speaking freely with him, as I would now do.
"You've dishonored me, Tensel, and you know what you've done."
Istood from the table; the edges bent where I grasped them to restrain myself from harming the future commander of this ship.
"You should be praising this turn of events in our study, Sou-el. The data would not be accurate to offer a rival mating that was less than the one presented to her. A general soon to be promoted to commander, there was no other warrior that fit the study's need to confirm that humans with the gene marker are highly compatible across our species having nothing to do with status or first contact, but simply proximity. She has your blood in her system, I could smell you on her, but blindfolded, she still responded to me, offered me her hand, then her blood."
I growled in warning, other warrior's attention shifted in our direction to see what would happen. Fighting in the lounge was prohibited, but we could take this to the dueling hall. Through gritted teeth I had to ask, "Did you give her your blood, knowing she did not know who you were?"
"Of course not, I'm not an ancient beast," his comment was deliberate as he smiled at me. His unspoken words, like you, rang through my head. It was true, I had been blinded by my increasing adrenaline when I was locked in a room with her. Acting on instinct, I cut myself for her, which was not against our customs when courting a mate, but she was human. There were laws protecting weaker species, their bodies were not designed as ours were, so laws were made even before humans, for warriors that survived into tribal initiation but did not havethe capability of withstanding normal mating customs were protected by law, and by extension any species that did not have epul had to be courted with consent unaltered by first blood.
Many times, we resort to the Rakture custom of having the other species duel us, if they win then they are shown capable of making us bleed, and therefore capable of consenting to bath in their victory of drinking our blood.
I had drawn my own blood for her, and first blood was not consented by traditional Rakture, mating duel.
Seeing the guilt on me, he continued, "As she has provided me with her own offering, I am within my right to give her my blood, but as I did not accept her offering merely to prove my theory, I will be courting her as tradition dictates, and removing all claim her Earthly mate may have over her. I will gift her my blood in a token that she may choose to take for herself without being lured by its scent or after having absorbed my enzymes, free of influence. I will, of course, tell her what necia blood can do to a human, how it can manipulate their body into reacting regardless of actual interest in a future."
He was telling me this, because that was what I had done to her. She deserved to know, but that wasn't all it was to me. I stopped myself, and even though her blood had been neutralized in my system, I still saw our future together. This would be yet another blow to her trust in us. She was already speaking of how our bodies lied to us, and she was right, because as her eyes and ears were blinded, she gave General Tensel her offering.
I controlled my features, and plastered a fake smile of my own as I looked down at him still sitting so relaxed and confident before me. "Do not fool yourself into thinking that offering was meant for you," I told him plainly, ignoring that he would soon be my superior. Regardless of our titles being the same, a commander of the ship was always higher than a commander of research within the tribe.
He shook his head, that smile lifting to show me his fangs. His hand lifted to pinch the ribbon in his hair and brought the offering to his nose and inhaled deeply. It was like salt to an open wound as he enjoyed what was not his to take. "I'm on suppressants to prevent rut, but I can feel my glands activating regardless with her blood in my system. My enzymes are adapting to bring her more pleasure when she asks me to bathe her."
I growled, and he stood from his chair in challenge.
"I will take her in front of our tribe," he taunted, "for all to hear her screams." My blood boiled, but if I fought him here, he would win. I would be restrained for punishment while he was free to continue proving to her that he was more honorable than me as a mate. If I were a normal warrior, I would have already attacked him, but I knew I would lose in a fight right now, more likely to bleed out than to prove anything of worth.
