Assigned a Mate(7)

He helped me to my feet and I swayed, the chain dangling from my breasts shifting as well. I stood on what felt like a sheet of thin gray flooring. It did not cover the entire space, for sand ringed it all the way to the walls. Sand? Were we in the desert? Was that why it was warm, why their skin was so nicely tanned? The sight of my bare feet next to three sets of boots looked odd.

The walls were opaque. Lights on stands around the room cast a soft glow.

I put my free hand up to stop the motion. He steadied me as I tilted my head back, way back, to meet his gaze. “What… what are you going to do with me?”

His dark eyes searched my face, then moved lower down my body. I flushed, knowing he—and the others—could see everything.

“You are the first we have seen from Earth and I must have a closer look.” The doctor’s gaze roved over my body just as Tark’s had, but he made me feel… exposed and dirty. I knew that look. Lecherous men, it seemed, were not limited to Earth.

I moved to stand slightly behind Tark, using him as a shield. His scent lifted from his shirt and it was intoxicating. Clean, sharp and with a hint of something mysterious. Whatever it was, I liked it. Was it because we’d been matched?

“I do not need to be examined and you most certainly won’t have a closer look. I am well, or they would not have sent me. I am also not a science experiment. I am a mate.” I tipped my chin up and firmed my voice, but I was at the mercy of these men. I had no idea if the term mate held any sort of status on Trion, but surely no man would allow another to examine his mate for enjoyment alone.

I didn’t look up, but I could see that Tark glanced from me to the two men before me.

“You allow her to speak to me in such a way?” Bron asked Tark, his expression venomous toward me.

Tark’s other hand clenched into a fist. “Shall I allow you to examine my mate with a cock stand in your pants?”

The man shifted himself and had the decency to look embarrassed.

Tark lifted his hand in a dismissive wave and I felt more than heard a growl deep in his chest. “Goran, take him out of here. I will check my mate on my own.”

Goran nodded and grabbed the doctor’s arm, tugging him away. With one last narrowed glance over his shoulder, Bron was led out of the tent through a flap on the far wall. I briefly saw the shapes of other tents, but the view was quickly blocked once again.

Now alone with me, Tark turned to look down on me, a towering warrior hungry for his bride. I couldn’t believe this man was my mate. While I’d dreamed of finding someone special, it was quite different to know in advance that he was the one. There was no dating, no courtship to discover common interests and compatibility. It was actually very unnerving. Add to that, I was on a new planet halfway across the galaxy!

I could hear things through the thin walls: voices, odd mechanical noises, unusual sounds that had to come from animals. Perhaps horses? What kind of animals did they have on Trion?

“What Bron said is true. You are not to speak to him in such a way.”

My eyes widened. “He wasn’t acting as a doctor should,” I countered.

He took a moment, as if considering. “You are new here and therefore I will take that into account regarding your punishment.”

“Punish—”

He raised a hand and cut me off. “Impertinence is not allowed.”

I frowned. “He was the one who was impertinent.”

Tark rolled his shoulders back and appeared to have grown an inch. “Who is being impertinent now?”

He took two steps with his long legs to a simple, short bench. It appeared to be made of wood, but I had no idea if that was true. Did they even have trees on Trion?

When he sat down, he held out his hand. “Come.”

I looked at his fingers, long and blunt, but did not move. “Why?”

“I will give you your first lesson about Trion.”

That seemed reasonable considering I had only been on the planet for about five minutes. I closed the distance between us. Before I knew what had happened, he grabbed me about the waist and placed me over his lap. I was not a small woman and he did the maneuvering as if I were a petite waif.

My hips were over his hard thighs, my upper body bent toward the gray flooring, my breasts hanging down. The chain that dangled between them brushed against the floor. My toes touched the floor and I tried to push up.

“What are you doing?” I cried, the blood rushing to my head. “Let me up!”

Tark placed a warm hand at the small of my back to hold me on his lap and as I tried to kick, he hooked my ankles with one of his legs.

“Settle, gara. I expected you to have a punishment lesson soon enough, but not this quickly.”