He lifted a hand to cup my face. “There are many worthy warriors here. He is one of them. As I have no second, many will attempt to gain your attention. It is not an offense to me if they are bold. It would please me to make sure you are happy with the choice. As long as the male you choose is a worthy warrior and protector, I would be honored to accept him as a second.”
“That guy just grabbed his cock through his pants, showed me he was hard for me. That doesn’t bother you?”
“It bothers you?” His light gaze roamed over my face, paused as if he were feeling my answer.
I wasn’t interested in the warrior. I wasn’t interested in anyone on the
spaceship but Trist. But this was new. I was with one mate and I got to pick out a second one? In front of him? I felt like a swinger. “I’m supposed to choose?”
Panic welled up from nowhere and I couldn’t get any air into my lungs. That was too much. I didn’t want that. That wasn’t why I was here. His arms came around me even as my head shook violently. “No. I don’t want to. I don’t know any of them. I’m sure the warrior over there is nice and all, but no. I don’t…” The fresh wounds inflicted by Brax rose within me like lava burning my insides to ash. “I’m not good at choosing men, Trist. The men I choose always hurt me. That’s why I went through the Brides Program.”
Anger rose within him at my words as did a protective rage that—rather than make me fear him—made me melt into his arms. His hand stroked my hair as he settled me against him. His hand moved from my ass to the small of my back to hold me close. “Hush, mate. I will take care of it. I will choose a worthy male to be your second.”
The moment the words left his mouth, I relaxed in relief. Thank god. I didn’t want that kind of pressure. I didn’t know any of these warriors. I’d never met any aliens, other than on Trion, and that hardly counted. Yes, the Trions were bigger than humans and kinky as hell, but they didn’t have tentacles or purple penises or weird limbs. Not that Trist did either. But aliens in general, were big, hot, dominant men who loved to fuck their women into submission.
Trist and Commander Zakar were the first alien aliens I’d spoken to. I barely knew anything about Prillon Prime, or this battleship, or the warriors who served here. I knew Trist was mine and he would protect me. And I held on to that knowledge with a mind-numbing strength I hadn’t realized I possessed. He was mine. I didn’t want to choose an alien I barely knew as a second mate when Trist had been fighting and serving with these warriors for years. I would trust his judgment. I knew he would take care of me. I could feel his resolve, his devotion. His obsessive need to care for me. And it made me feel content for the first time in my life. Safe. Settled. “I don’t care who you choose, Trist. I trust your choice. I only care that you are mine.”
His low rumble hit me moments before his emotions made me want to clutch at my chest. I’d pleased him. Not simply pleased him, the pain that came to me through the collars was old, an ache within him that I’d somehow broken open.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
His arms tightened. “Sometimes things must break before they can heal.”
I thought of Brax and knew exactly what he meant.
Commander Zakar stood and turned to Trist. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Captain, but I need you to take a look at this.”
Trist nodded and wrapped my hand in his, pulling me along behind him. With the male attention I was getting, I was glad not to be separated from him.
“What is it?”
“We have lost contact with cargo ship 564.” A very large male I assumed was one of the Atlan beasts stood next to an officer running some kind of scanner. It didn’t look like radar that I’d seen in the movies. More like a three-dimensional, full color projection of the ship and the space all around us—behind a screen. So cool. I’d never seen anything like it.
Trist tensed, his hand tightened on mine and I felt something shoot through the collar before he shut it down, cold, and I felt nothing. “How long?”
The Atlan checked the screen. “Two hours.”
Commander Zakar no longer looked like a friendly male, but a warrior ready to rip someone into a dozen pieces and watch them bleed. “And the last scout patrol?”
“Gone, sir. Nothing for the last twenty minutes.”
“Gods be damned.” Commander Zakar looked at the Atlan. “Get a ReCon team over there, now. Full Atlan contingent for protection.” He turned to Trist. “I want every ship in the group reporting in every fifteen minutes. If they are one minute late, I want to know about it.”
“Yes, sir.” Trist turned to the male who’d been showing me his... equipment. “Send out the order. Fifteen minute checks, no exceptions. I’m taking my mate to our quarters. I’ll return shortly.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Trist turned to me. “I have to take you back. I’m sorry, Miranda. I must work.”
The entire command deck was so full of tension I was getting nauseated just standing there. “What’s going on?”
“Our people are disappearing,” he said simply. “This is the third ship to go silent in the last two days.”
I frowned. How did a ship disappear from space? It’s not like there was any place for it to hide. “Disappearing? How? That doesn’t make sense.”
He kissed me quickly on the lips and pulled me into the hallway, explaining as we walked, his pace quick. “The Hive. They have developed some kind of cloaking technology and we can’t detect their craft. They must be boarding our ships and taking our people right out from under us.”
I hurried alongside him. “That’s terrible. I’ll get something to eat, take a nap. Read. I’ll be fine for as long as they need you.”