Page 54 of Radakk's Mate
If I confessed everything, would he forgive me? Would he understand? Would he help me learn what happened to my mother? I think of how Captain Warren had trembled during the meeting in the docking bay. Surely Emperor Radakk could threaten the worldship captain and force him to reveal the truth.
“Are you all right, Thalia?” He places a hand on my shoulder and peers down at me with concern gleaming in his dark purple eyes.
“Oh, I’m fine. Just very thankful and overwhelmed.” Lies, more lies. “I look forward to speaking with my friends soon.” I make to get up, but he applies pressure to my shoulder and forces me to remain seated. My stomach flips.
“Why don’t you go ahead and set up some time slots to speak with your friends?” He taps the screen and it illuminates.
Shit shit shit. I fumble for a response as he presses the first button, the one that connects to an operator. He steps back, crosses his arms over his chest, and watches, apparently not intending to give me any privacy whatsoever.
I focus on the screen and force a smile when an elderly woman’s face appears. I give her Mandy’s name, as well as two coworker’s names, and I soon have three calls scheduled during the next week.
“If your friends are unable to make any of these meetings, someone will contact you to reschedule,” the woman says with a bright smile.
After ending the call, I turn in my chair to face Emperor Radakk, my legs so weak I’m not sure I could stand on my own. I pray he’s not around when I speak with Mandy and my coworkers.
It’s going to be awkward as fuck talking to them anyway. I mean, I barely know Mandy and I’ve always held my coworkers at a distance.
What will the three women think when they learn I want to speak with them? Will they even show up?
Doesn’t matter, I tell myself. All that matters is contacting Captain Warren and getting him to spill the secrets about my mother. The second Emperor Radakk leaves me alone, I plan to call the captain.
“Barring any emergencies, my schedule is clear for the rest of the day.” He caresses a hand through my hair as his eyes glimmer with heat, and a glance at his crotch shows a massive bulge. “I plan to spend the rest of the day claiming you, little empress, nourishing you, and feasting on the slickness between your thighs.”
Warmth pulses in my center, and my breaths become rapid and shallow. Before I can respond, he lifts me in his arms and carries me into his bedroom.
Chapter35
RADAKK
I enterthe medical bay and glance around, searching for Doctor Groaa. I don’t know the male very well, but I received a message from him earlier in the day requesting a meeting.
As I walk down the main corridor of the facility, he appears in a doorway and inclines his head deeply. “Emperor Radakk, thank you for coming.”
“Doctor Groaa.” I nod and give him an expectant look.
He appears somewhat bewildered, and his eyes are also gleaming with excitement. For a moment, hope fills me that perhaps he’s about to deliver good news concerning Doctor Zahhn’s tests on theRorrsa, though I harbor doubts my friend would ask a doctor I barely know to be his messenger, and that hope just as quickly fades.
“Please, come inside, Emperor.” Doctor Groaa gestures for me to enter his office, and I oblige. The door zips shut behind us and we take our seats. He peers at me from across a cluttered desk, and his look of bewilderment increases.
“Has something happened?” I venture.
The doctor nods and mutters to himself, then shakes his head as though to dispel unwanted thoughts. “We didn’t think it was possible.” His eyes gleam brighter, and he shakes his head again. “All the tests we ran said it couldn’t happen, yet ithashappened. Which means it will likely happen again and again.”
I straighten in my seat and can’t restrain a glare. I have no idea what the doctor is rambling about, but if he doesn’t reveal his news soon, I might lose what little patience I have left. When I’d departed my quarters earlier, Thalia and I hadn’t been on good terms. We’d argued over her desire to explore theHaxxal. I’d almost spanked her for her rebelliousness and refusal to drop the subject. Almost. If she resurrects the argument upon my return, I resolve that she’ll go over my knee for a lengthy disciplinary session. When it comes to her safety, I will take no chances.
“Doctor Groaa,” I say, “would you please explain why you’ve requested a meeting with me. I am a busy male and have several other appointments today, as well as a trip to theEarrnascheduled.”
“Heartbonds,” he blurts, waving his hands in the air. “Heartbonds. It is possible for a Darrvason male and a human female to share a true mating bond. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
I stare at the doctor in stunned disbelief, and I find myself stroking the ancestral markings on my left arm through my long-sleeved shirt. “Are you certain?” I can’t contain the hope that swells within me. It’s a bursting joy unlike anything I’ve ever experience. If Thalia and I could share a heartbond, we would understand one another better. We would share a deep, everlasting intimacy.
“Yes,” Doctor Groaa says, “I am certain. I was called to Admiral Tornn’s quarters yesterday because his mate was experiencing severe itching on her upper arms. I examined her but found nothing wrong, but while I was waiting to speak with the admiral in private, his ancestral markings began appearing on her arms. Furthermore, the admiral has developed a fever and he’s in the throes of a mating frenzy. I have ordered him to remain in his quarters with his mate until his fever cools and the mating bond finishes forming.”
I think back on the preceding days with Thalia, and hope continues building within me. More than once, I’ve noticed her scratching her upper arms. I pray it means what I now think it means. I send up plea after plea to the Star Gods. “Have any other Darrvason-human couples reported the formation of a heartbond?”
“Not yet,” the doctor replies, “but I think it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.” He leans forward on his desk and laces his fingers together, his entire body vibrating with excitement.
“Refresh my memory. Once the first ancestral marking appears on a female, how long does it take for the remaining symbols to appear? What I mean is, how long will the mating frenzy last?” It’s been so long since one of our males claimed a female, I have forgotten almost all I know about the formation of heartbonds. I was a young male, only eighteen, when the last available Darrvason female was claimed. And since that time, the few children born have been males. Not a single girl child.
