Daahn Rising (22 page)

Another cube disappeared into his mouth. Miri savored the overlapping flavors, aware that her body was more than passably aroused.

Again, Daahn waited for her to take the food. Miri did so, but the commander stroked his tongue along hers, scattering the shredded meat through both of their mouths.

His hand circled the back of her neck, and one finger rested on her mating stripe. Their tongues entwined, sending pleasant waves along Miri’s thighs. Her eyes slid shut.

A swift move later, she was seated across Daahn’s thighs, his cock pressing to the outside of her leg. He stroked at her mating stripe, his large hands overlapping the edge to caress the line of her shoulders and neck as well, inflaming her.

Their mouths parted, and Miri swallowed the meat she’d retained, fighting the need to gasp for breath. She could taste his musk, feel his arousal.

“Miri?” he rasped out.

“I am certain a Dominant doesn’t feed his young that way.”

“No. Not that way,” he agreed. “But you are hardly my child.”

There seemed no safe answer to that.

A cube of meat touched her lips, and Miri parted them to take it. The next few bites passed in a similar manner.

Daahn’s tongue stroked at her lower lip, likely cleaning away a drop of blood. Still, she opened for him.

He surged inside, exploring, scenting her... inside and out. His hands ranged over her body, taking her measure. He pressed at her abdomen, and she shied, gasping into his mouth. As much as she wanted his touch, she didn’t want anyone or anything touching that spot.

Daahn’s mouth left hers, seeking out the beads of
Zhigaaah
he’d raised. His breath fanned over her throat. Then his tongue was there, bathing the pheromone from her body. He stroked his lips along to pick up more. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent, fisting her hair.

She didn’t protest it. Visions of Commander Daahn buried to the hilt inside her danced behind her closed eyes.

His head came up, and she forced her eyes open, abruptly aware of his fingers lying against the heat between her thighs, stroking idly. His eye slits were narrowed to near invisibility.

Daahn licked his lips slowly, with a meaning that wasn’t lost on her. His cock was hard and long, ready to thrust home inside her. By all the constellations in the night sky, she wanted him there.

“Will you eat, Miri?”

“Eat?” Her mind moved slowly. He was feeding her. Whatever else it had become, he’d set out to feed her. “Yes, I’ll eat.”

His eyes closed. “Then you should.” Daahn set her aside, distancing himself. He pushed the half-empty platter of meat between them. After a moment of hesitation, he stood and headed for the door, putting his darkened glasses on.

He stopped, a step away from his goal. “I expect you to order a platter no less than twice a day. Three times would be better, but your body may not take to that change quickly. It... it will be difficult for you, but to be healthy, you have to start eating fruits and vegetables. We can typically do without grains, but the rest is necessary.”

Miri forced a hitching breath back as best she could, nursing old hurts and new. “I understand, Commander.”

That’s what Daahn was... another Dominant in authority who didn’t want her. When all was said and done, was there a difference between a
Xxan-Dree
trainer and a human commander?

As if in answer, he knocked for the guard and then walked out the door.

Chapter Four

Aleeks cursed himself solidly as he made his way back to Miri’s cell. He had no right to do this. No matter how much he wanted her, there was little question that she had no idea what was happening between them.

He’d had to leave her earlier. The alternative would have been to follow his Xxanian blood and screw her on the closest flat surface, which would have been the floor of her cell.

Even now, Aleeks’s senses were muddied and his endocrine system in a firestorm. Miri was potent, so potent that changing and washing his clothing, wiping down his gear and showering hadn’t erased the effects of her
Zhigaaah
from his mind and drives. Every atom in his body screamed at him to bind Miri to him, and given much more time with her, he was going to do precisely that.

He nodded to the evening guard on the way past and pushed the door open at the first indication of the
click
. His gaze swung from the empty bed to the wash station. In the time it took her to startle, Aleeks had slammed the door behind him and was halfway across the room to her.

Miri turned from the mirror, nude from the waist up, wide-eyed, pulling her shirt up to cover her palm-sized breasts. She half tripped away from him, coming up against the far wall with an audible
smack
of skin to metal. Her gaze cycled between the door and his expression, as if she was weighing her odds of escaping him.

Aleeks took her arm, guiding her away from the wall and to the sink again. He ran his hand over the discolorations on her back, wincing at the telltale heat radiating off them and the ridges of scar tissue. She didn’t move and barely breathed as he examined the healing bruises.

“They did this to you?” he demanded. “The Xxan? Master S’sie?”
No wonder she killed him.

Miri didn’t reply. She held herself rigid, as if she expected more blows to rain down.

Aleeks stifled the urge to shake an answer out of her. “Why didn’t you ask for medical attention? You have that right, whether the injuries were done in our care or not.”

“I’m not sick,” she replied weakly.

“That’s all you’ve had medical aid for?” Why that should surprise him was a mystery.

“That and broken bones,” she confirmed.

His ridge plates came up. Aleeks couldn’t have stopped them if he wanted to.

Miri stared at them and swallowed hard. “What else would require —”

“Stop,” he ordered.

She started to sink to her knees, and he grasped her by her arms, dragging her back up. Aleeks ignored her little gasp of fear, pulling the shirt from her hands.

Miri crossed her arms over her breasts. He draped the shirt around her body and held it up for her, shaking it in silent order. She eased one arm away from her chest and slid it into the waiting sleeve, then the other, baring her breasts and bruised ribs to him. Aleeks scooped her up in his arms and headed for the door.

Miri pulled the shirt closed around her body, shaking her head. “Commander Daahn, this is not necessary,” she pleaded.

“Knock,” he instructed her.

She raised a shaking hand and knocked, burying her face in his chest before the door opened.

Aleeks’s primary cock came up hard and fast at that move. He was a Dominant, and she was turning to him for protection. The fact that it was protection from light was immaterial to him. It was a rush he enjoyed.

The guard looked from Miri to Aleeks in concern.

“Your glasses,” Aleeks ordered. “And inform Med Call that we are on our way.”

The guard didn’t question Aleeks further. He slid the standard-issue dark glasses from the pouch on his belt and settled them carefully onto Miri’s lap. She pushed them on but didn’t look around at the corridor; her face stayed hidden in Aleeks’s chest.

He strode toward Med Call, the guard opening the cell block door for him, then rushing back to comm ahead.

****

Dr. Geery looked up from the bed she was preparing for them. “What is it, Commander Daahn?” she inquired.

Miri stiffened at that question.

“Be still,” Aleeks growled at her. He settled Miri on the bed. “I want a full workup, and I want it now.” He should have done this upon her arrival. The delay... the oversight was inexcusable.

Geery raised an eyebrow. “If you would,” she hinted, motioning to the exam room door.

Aleeks leaned against the wall, making it clear that he was staying.

The doctor darkened a few shades, and she cleared her throat before she started speaking. “Is this acceptable to you, Johns?” Geery asked.

“She prefers ‘Miri,’” Aleeks informed her.

Geery ignored him. “Is his presence acceptable, or do you wish privacy?”

Miri stammered out an answer, probably scenting an ally in the other woman. “I wish to be left in peace in my cell.”

“Unacceptable,” Aleeks snapped...literally. His teeth
clicked
in warning as he clenched his jaw shut.

Miri shrugged. “Then you can do what you like.”

“I can force him to leave,” Geery continued.

Aleeks tensed for a fight.

Miri glanced up at him, seemingly assessing his state of mind. She lowered her face in a partially submissive show. “Let him stay.”

Geery nodded her agreement. “Very well. I’ll start with blood tests.”

Miri snarled but made no move to interfere with or evade the draws.

Geery placed them in the analyzer, then reached for the shirt. She fingered the open front, shooting Aleeks a look that demanded an answer.

“It was already off,” he defended himself.

She stripped the shirt off her patient, then pressed lightly at a bruise over Miri’s rib cage. “You’re very underweight, and...” Geery turned away and grabbed down a sheet, then covered Miri with it. “Take off the pants and hand them to me.”

Miri didn’t hesitate to do as ordered.

Geery set up a scan plate. “Lie still. This won’t hurt.”

As ordered, Miri held still for the slowly moving plate.

The doctor started reading off the results. “Two old fractures of the parietal plate, one of the frontal, just over the sinus cavity, cheekbones, nose... By the stars! Jaw, upper and lower.”

Miri didn’t react to any of it. She stared at the ceiling, her expression unreadable.

“Scapula...
both
of... Oh, my. The humerus of the right arm, radius of the same. First, second... six ribs, multiple times? Damn it, these types of injuries are no accident, and some of them are fairly fresh.”

Miri clenched her jaw.

Geery glanced at the screen, then did a double take. She pulled up at her side of the sheet, settling her hands over Miri’s abdomen. Miri winced but didn’t cry out.

She did cry out! Earlier, when I landed over her, she did. What did I miss?

“Who did this?” Geery demanded. “With what?”

Miri said nothing.

The doctor looked to Aleeks for an answer.

“The Xxan. I would imagine it was one named Master S’sie.” It was possible that it was her
seir
or one of the others she’d targeted, but Aleeks was banking on S’sie.

As if in confirmation, Miri shuddered.

Geery startled at the movement, looking to her patient then back to Aleeks. “Why?”

“Why, what?” he challenged in return. “As yet, you haven’t told me what you’ve found.”

Geery darkened. “Someone has induced a blunt trauma to her abdomen so severe that Miri may have lost one ovary in the aftermath.”

Aleeks fisted his hands in impotent rage. “What can be done?”

“Luckily, her body has already healed much of the damage. Luckily
,
because it seems no one treated her for it. I can heal the rest.”

“How long ago?” he asked.

“Several weeks, I would say. It had to be agonizing for her.”

“Finish your examination.”

Geery didn’t question him. “Broken fingers, left wrist... left femur, tibia and fibula on both sides, tarsals...” She reached up and pressed a button on the main console without looking at it. The screen before her changed. “She’s malnourished, an —” Geery bit at her lower lip.

“And, what?” he prompted.

“Anemic. How does someone who eats nothing but meat —”

Aleeks stared her down.

Geery flushed in anger. “I take it Miri was starved?”

“As a matter of course.” His extended ridge plates made his voice rough, but forcing them back was currently beyond his abilities.

She nodded grimly. “Her hormones are also off, even for a crossbreed. They are seriously off balance. Can you explain it?”

“Reproductive?” he asked.

Geery nodded.

“How long have you been blue, Miri?” He knew from experience with his sister that it often took more than a month to settle into a smooth transition.

At first, he was certain she meant to remain silent.

When it emerged, her voice was cold and clipped. “Several weeks, I would say.” Her eyes challenged him.

Aleeks’s blood ran cold in understanding.

Chapter Five

Miri shifted, swallowing down the urge to vomit. For hours, they’d poured drugs and nutrients into her system. She’d attempted to eat the foods Dr. Geery claimed she needed. She’d even endured the healing of Master S’sie’s attack. The only positive move had been that Geery had dimmed the entire Med Call to a comfortable level for her, so Miri had been able to dispose of the dark glasses.

For a precious time, she’d felt better than she could remember ever feeling in her life. But now, she felt like her entrails were being seared inside her.

She kicked the blankets away, hot and uncomfortable beneath them. Even the light knit gown she wore irritated her. Miri wanted to be naked and immersed in water.

With that thought firmly in mind, she eased off the bed and staggered toward the door, collapsing to her knees after a few steps. Master S’sie’s voice echoed in her mind, telling her she was useless, weak, unappealing. Miri reached a hand toward the corridor, trying to stay conscious long enough to crawl to a water source.

Daahn’s arms encircled her, and he drew Miri to his chest, enveloping her in his delicious scent. She wanted to taste his spice, to feel it burn on her sensitive tongue.

One cool hand stroked along her cheek, and he brushed his lips along her mating stripe. His tongue sampled, teased, wrung a moan from her.

“Daahn, release her,” Geery demanded.

“She’s fevering.”

Miri fisted her hand in his shirt, hoping he’d take her to water. He would know. He had to know that she needed the soothing effects.