Hannah was trembling in my arms and when I looked down at her face, I saw that her eyes were closed. “Hannah, you can open your eyes. It’s over.”
“Wow. I was asleep last time. That felt like riding the down side of a rollercoaster that never stops.”
“What is a rollercoaster?” I wanted to know her, to understand her, but it was like she was speaking another language, like she was from another world. Which she was. My heart felt heavy with the thought, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.
“Welcome, commander! Lady Deston.” Captain Hendry and his mate stood at the edge of the transport.
Hannah turned in my arms and I let her go. “Anne!” The women hugged and Anne pulled out of Hannah’s arms with a warm smile. “Come, Hannah. I want to show you around. I’ve heard so much about you from my daughter. She loves you already.” The women exited the room and I watched Hannah until the door slid closed behind the women.
“I assume my mate will be protected on board your ship, captain?”
He grinned at me. “Two of my best men will be three steps behind them.”
“Good.” I stepped from the platform and we greeted each other in the way of warriors, our forearms pressed together as our arms locked in friendship. “Now, where’s the alcohol?”
Hendry laughed at me. “Drink all you want, commander, it won’t do you any good. My ship will simply pull the poison from your blood as fast as you can drink it.”
I sighed. Sometimes, I really hated technology. I remembered the days of my youth, when I could actually drink myself into a stupor. “I know. Damn it anyway.”
He thumped me on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere we can talk about that pretty little mate of yours.”
I followed him to the command deck of his ship, then inside the small, attached war room very similar to mine. We were alone.
“Talk to me, Zane. What the hell has you so desperate you’ve come over here to ask me for advice?”
As uncomfortable as this conversation made me feel, it was the reason I’d come to this ship. I needed help winning my Hannah’s heart, and no matter how gentle and considerate I tried to be with her, no matter how much pleasure I gave her, she kept her heart from me. “She is my match. I saw the reports myself. Nearly one hundred percent compatibility. But she chooses my second, and turns away from me. She is afraid of me. Dare says she senses I am holding back. She never lets down her guard. I know I scare her, but the more I try to rein myself in, the worse it gets.”
Hendry sat down at the head of the meeting table and watched me as I paced the room. “And what else does Dare have to say about it?”
“That she lost her parents and was poorly used by men on her world. Dare says I need to talk to her more, to tell her about my more dominant ways.”
As an old and trusted friend, he knew of my baser proclivities. He had them too.
Hendry crossed his arms and leaned back, watching me. “But you decide for her what she needs or doesn’t need?”
I ran my hands through my hair with a growl. “I don’t know what she needs. Nothing feels right. She’s so small! I have never met another human, other than your Anne. I don’t know their culture or their customs. I fear I will break her.”
Hendry chuckled. “May I speak freely, commander?”
I slumped down in the chair next to him. “Please. Tell me how to deal with these human females.”
Hendry chuckled. “Hannah’s not the problem, Zane. You are.”
“What?”
“You’re the one who is holding back. You are the one rejecting your mate.”
I opened my mouth to deny his bullshit, but he lifted his hand. “Hear me out.”
“Make it good, Hendry, or I might decide to gut you and walk away.” The captain raised a brow, but didn’t rise to the bait. We’d been friends for many years, and I honestly wanted to hear what he had to say.
“She’s your match, Zane. Yours. What does that mean?”
“I don’t know, and I’m going to lose her in less than a week if I don’t figure it out.”
“Do you remember my claiming ceremony?”
Oh, yes. I remembered. He’d fucked Anne hard and fast, both he and his second rutting into her like wild animals as she’d whimpered and screamed and begged them both for more. I’d been one of his inner circle, one of those lucky enough to witness the claiming and pledge my life and sword to their joining.
Hendry looked me dead in the eye. “I fucked Anne. My second took her as I restrained her, as I spanked her bare ass. We shared her body like two wild animals. I held her throat and I tied her down and I fucked her until she couldn’t remember her own name.”