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He nodded, understanding she had raised her status in Earth’s society through her own intelligence, effort, and resourcefulness. He admired that. “Then you are worthy of me.”
Lou grunted in dismay.Well, that didn’t go as planned.
A chime sounded. Yas’kihn turned to answer the door and accepted a tray loaded with food from the eight-legged domestic robot. When the robot, relieved of its burden, minced away, he turned toward the gaunt human female. Her gaze was fixed on the tray.
Lou’s eyes widened when he set it on a small table beside the chair.Good grief, if that’s the reduced rations, how much does this guy eat?
Yas’kihn plucked Louella from the chair, ignoring her squeal of surprise and her demand to be put down. He sat, plopping her on his lap. She squirmed and wriggled, but he held her firmly in place.
“Be still. I will feed you.”
“I can feed myself.”
“It is my duty and honor to care for your needs.” He speared a bite-sized chunk of what looked to be a soft white cheese on the tip of one claw and held it to her lips. “Eat.”
“I can feed myself,” she insisted.
“But I take pleasure in feeding you. Now eat.”
Be practical, she reminded herself and obediently parted her lips. He placed the chunk on her tongue. Her lips wrapped around his fingertip as she drew the morsel off the tip of his claw. It wasn’t cheese. A mild flavor of tarragon and lemon and cream filled her mouth as she chewed. When she opened her mouth to tell him she liked that particular food, whatever it was, he pushed another morsel between her lips. That one was spicy, a little too spicy for her tastes.
“Water,” she gasped.
He held a tall, slender tumbler to her lips and she drank, grateful for the pure, refreshing liquid. She’d had little clean water to drink in far too long.
When he offered the spicy food to her again, she pressed her lips together and shook her head. Through trial and error she sampled several foods, some of which were obviously meat, and only two of which were obviously fruit or vegetables. There was no cheese. The rest she decided she did not want to know what they were, as long as her body could tolerate the unfamiliar foodstuffs.
“No more, thank you. I’m full,” she said all too soon. As hungry as she’d been, she was surprised at how quickly her stomach filled.
“I would have you drink two more swallows of this,” he said, holding a different cup to her lips.
“What is it?”
“It is a nutritional beverage that hydrates.”
Lou opened her mouth and let him tilt the cup to dribble a mouthful of the cool, refreshing liquid over her tongue. She swallowed and complied with his gentle demand that she imbibe one more mouthful.
With the tender care a mother might take with her newborn baby, Yas’kihn wiped her mouth. He rose to his feet with a tensile strength that awed her, considering he still held her cradled against his body.
“Do you need to relieve yourself?” he asked as he drew back the covers on the bed.
She sighed. “No.”Not yet.
“Very well,” he replied and laid her on the bed, then pulled the covers over her. “Sleep, pretty spark, and know that you are safe.”
“Don’t call me sparky,” she muttered as her eyelids drifted shut.
Yas’kihn took a step back, watching the woman’s breathing ease and deepen as, for the first time in over a solar orbit, she slept without fear. The warship’s gentle vibration beneath the soles of his feet alerted him to its acceleration. He glanced out the window to see the change in angle of the view of the distant stars. Closer than the stars were bits of charred debris floating past, all that remained of the Sivuul mothership. The sight made him smile, baring sharply pointed teeth.
Diverting his attention to the human female lying on his bed, he took a deep breath, savoring the warm, sweet scent of her. She smelled better, sweeter, more delicious—moreappealing—than any of the human women who’d rejected his suit during the bride games. He found himself glad the other women had found other mates, because he wanted this one. He found himself in the strange position of finding himself grateful she had been abducted by the Sivuul, else she might have been claimed by another male already. He could not fathom any other male choosing another over her.
“General Superior, please come to the bridge,” the public address system resounded. Superior acoustics eliminated any reverberation or echoes within the ship, enabling announcements and orders to be pitched at a conversational volume.
“On my way,” he replied, knowing the ship’s audio system would pick up the quietly spoken words and relay them back to the bridge.
With one last glance at Louella, he left his quarters. The ship’s personnel gave him a wide berth as he prowled the corridors and entered the bridge.
“Captain?”
