Page 34 of Trained as His Mate

Quaia scowled. She hated the slight disappointment that made her stomach sink. Why would he send Avalar? Was this a salvage mission? Or was he too scared to face her after what had just happened? The thought of Torian being scared of anything made her smirk. But she couldn’t just send Avalar away.

“Come in,” she muttered.

The hatch slid open. Avalar stood alone behind it, a soft smile on her face.

Quaia stepped aside to let her in. She walked over to the pedestal she used as a bed and sat down, pulling the robe tighter against her chest. “Why have you come?” she asked, trying to sound as calm and aloof as she could.

Avalar stepped into the compartment and the hatch slid shut behind her. “Captain Torian asked me to speak with you,” she said.

Quaia sniffed. “Of course.”

Avalar’s smile tightened. “Might I sit down?” she asked.

“Please,” Quaia said, gesturing at a seat. She had to wonder if Torian had told Avalar anything about their tryst. The thought brought heat to her cheeks. She’d always prided herself on not caring what the hell anyone thought of her. Why should she care what Avalar knew? Because you acted like a child. She swatted the thought away.

Avalar took the offered seat and placed her hands in her lap. “I hope your… activities today were not too strenuous?”

Quaia maintained her bored expression and shrugged. “No more or less than all the other bullshit.” Avalar winced at the curse word, but otherwise smiled pleasantly.

“Captain Torian has instructed me to inform you that he has received word that the inspection commission your High Mother requested will be arriving within the cycle,” she said quietly.

The news jolted Quaia out of her put-on stoicism. She did her best not to let her reaction show on her face. “Oh?” she said, glancing off to the side.

“Given the news, he has requested you join him for his late meal.”

Quaia raised an eyebrow. “Requested?” she asked.

Avalar hesitated for a moment. “He made it very clear that attending was to be your choice. If you have the inclination, he would very much appreciate the pleasure of your company. If you are not so inclined, you are free to dine by yourself in your quarters. Those were his words.”

As much as she fought it, her spirit soared, taking to the air with such suddenness she almost felt ashamed of herself. The wall she had tried to build crumbled, almost immediately, and she even felt like a whiff of his scent entered her nostrils, overpowering her.

He had the power to send two guardsmen to her quarters and escort her to his. He’d sent Avalar instead. And with a request, not an order. The whole debacle from earlier came flooding back. Maybe he really had meant what he’d said? Maybe he really did mean to make her his?

Her first instinct was to send Avalar back with a firm ‘no.’ She’d just spent a cycle’s supply of water trying to cleanse herself of the memory of sex with Torian, and any feelings she had about it. Her head was telling her forget it.

The nagging ache in the center of her chest was yelling something else entirely. Avalar shifting in her seat made Quaia realize she was running out of time to make a decision.

“I would offer an opinion, if that would not offend you?” Avalar said.

“Of course not,” Quaia said, her tone more muted, less defiant.

“I hope we can keep this between ourselves?”

Quaia sighed. Avalar was obviously trying to be kind. Being a bitch was no way to thank her. “Of course we can,” she said, her expression softening.

“Captain Torian has not been himself since we arrived,” Avalar said.

Quaia cast a sideways glance at her.

“Specifically, he has not been the same since his first meeting with you,” Avalar explained.

A frothy warmth started in Quaia’s stomach. She tried desperately to resist it, but it was like an animal, growing with each second. When Avalar didn’t continue speaking, Quaia realized she was waiting to hear if she wanted to know more.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked, unable to bring herself to lay out her feelings to an alien female she barely knew.

This seemed to be exactly what Avalar was seeking; the pleasure of it was apparent on her face. She leaned forward with a smile. “I wanted to tell you that I have always found Captain Torian to be an exemplary citizen of the Federation. He is not only principled, but a voice of moral authority to which the current emperor always gives careful consideration.”

“I’m sure he is,” Quaia said, annoyed. That wasn’t what she had wanted to hear at all.

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