My arms pressed against my nipples and I felt the rings and the gems Tark had put there. They were still there!
“Are you sure you’re all right?” the FBI agent asked.
“I just transported from Trion, so please give me a minute to adjust. I would assume that I am the only person to return since the program is traditionally one-way.”
“It is,” the man confirmed. “We programmed your transport so that you would arrive in the courthouse—as you can tell from the room we’re in—and dressed appropriately for the hearing.”
That explained the rings and the gems. The man didn’t know what the Trion customs were, what Tark had done to me, therefore he didn’t know they needed to be removed on transport back. He assumed I just needed to be put into the correct clothes for the trial, nothing more.
I was relieved actually, for the nipple rings, the gems, were all that I had left of Tark. I was on the opposite side of the galaxy from him and there was nothing I could do about it.
“I’m fine. If I could have a glass of water, then we can go over whatever you need me to say. Then I’d like to go home.”
I was going to cry, but I swallowed back the tears. I couldn’t cry now, in front of these men. I couldn’t let them know that I’d fallen for my match, that I wanted to stay on Trion. It didn’t matter now. I was going to do the right thing, put the man behind bars, and then I would return to work and get on with my life.
* * *
A week later, the trial was over. The man had been found guilty and sent to prison. His sentencing would occur in the next few months, but my part was done. Since I wasn’t actually Evelyn Day, my personal record never showed the fake conviction and my sentencing to the bride program. Instead of returning to my life as I’d suspected—and I’d been told would happen before I left for Trion—I’d been put into the witness protection program. The threat to my life h
ad not gone away when the trial was over. The man had put a price on my head and I was not safe.
The FBI agent dumped me in a small town in Iowa with a new name, unable to practice medicine. I was given a job as a school librarian. I missed Tark keenly, night and day. I lay in bed at night—in a strange new home—and played with the gems on my nipple rings. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get them to vibrate. I refused to remove them, for they were a part of me. I only had to wear padded bras and be cautious in my shirt selection, otherwise no one knew. I had no intention of sharing them, for what could I say?
They were mine. Mine and Tark’s, and they were private. My pussy was still bare. I’d originally thought I’d been shaved, but after the few days on Trion and the time back on Earth, none of the hair between my legs had grown back. I touched myself there and just like with the stimspheres, no matter how I played with my clit, I could not climax. I needed Tark.
All of the men on Earth seemed so small, so weak in comparison. I found I used Tark as a basis for the perfect man and not one person I knew, or met, or came across in the grocery store matched up.
I had no friends in my new life. I had no family, since both of my parents had died when I was young. I was alone and sad and I felt as if a piece of me was missing. I was the same person I’d been before I witnessed the murder, but stepping back—or off-planet—made me see what my life here had been like. And that barren existence was a far cry from what I wanted it to be. Before Tark, work had been my life. When I’d left Earth, I barely had real friends, no family.
I wanted Tark. I needed him so intensely that I was willing to give up Earth for him. I touched myself, circling my fingers over my clit, heating my body as I thought of my mate, wishing it was his hand and his mouth on me. As he’d said, my pleasure belonged to him, so as I felt arousal, I cried out in desperation for his touch. Then I cried my heart out.
Something had to be done. I had to get back to Tark and I knew just the person to talk to.
* * *
“Enter.”
At my shout, the flap opened and Mara and Davish were escorted into my tent. Mara looked returned to health. Her cheeks were full of color, her hair a long mane down her back. Her shift dress was free of blood and the modest robe she wore over it shielded most of her body from my gaze.
Not that it was needed. Nothing about the woman appealed to me. She was attractive enough and she was Davish’s mate, but I didn’t like her lithe build, her small breasts, the usual dour expression. I wanted Eva.
It had only been a day since she had literally slipped through my fingers, transported back to Earth. I felt empty and hollow, as if a part of me had been yanked and taken with her across the vast expanse of space that separated us.
“High councilor, we came to bid your mate many thanks.” Davish looked about the room for her. If he’d taken Mara from the harem, he knew Eva was not there.
“You are both well?” I asked.
“Yes, high councilor,” Mara whispered as Davish nodded.
“Good. While your visit is appreciated, my mate is not here.”
They both frowned in confusion.
“She was transported back to Earth.”
Mara looked shocked. “Was it because of me? I was… unkind to her.” She looked embarrassed about it, ashamed even. “I made her angry, which upset you. Your denial of her is my fault.”
She lowered herself to her knees and dipped her head.