Brida Pact (7 page)

Her face turned red with embarrassment. He had seen her
buying enough toilet paper to stock the Duggars. “Why were you there?”

“We’ve been running shuttles down to Earth to acclimate to
human culture. Most Phaetons simply ride in a big black automobile to watch the
way your society runs. When we did the same, we noticed many people heading to
that large warehouse and were curious to see what they were doing there.”
Smiling slightly, he quirked his eyebrow up. “Most people did not notice us.
Some asked for us to sign paper, which we did not understand.”

Poppy couldn’t help but giggle at the vision that created.
“They probably thought you were famous. I actually thought you were a rock star
until I saw you on TV.”

Now he seemed entirely confused, so before he could ask what
she meant, Poppy continued, “The leather pants made you look like someone
famous, that and the long hair.” She couldn’t help but brush the tips of his
hair that were resting on his broad shoulders.

She glanced to the side of the room where Pixie was eating
some cookies while staring at her as if she were watching a movie. Turning
slightly away from Wheaton, Poppy mouthed,
Cut it out
, which made Pixie
laugh and shovel another cookie into her mouth while she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Soooo…” Poppy didn’t quite know what to say as she gazed up
into Wheaton’s eyes.

“Would you like to sit and have a beverage? They placed food
items in here for us to eat while waiting for you.”

He placed his hand on her back to guide her to one of the
chairs at the table. Poppy felt the heat from his large hand above her waist
and goose bumps popped up on her arms. Holy cow that was electric. He moved the
chair out for her to sit and sat in the one next to it, but moved closer and
leaned forward as if he were going to tell her a secret. She angled her head so
she could hear him better when she realized he was simply breathing her in. Her
eyes closed as she tilted even closer to his mouth.

“You smell wonderful…and your hair, it appears so soft. May
I touch it?” His nose was now pressing against the side of her neck and their
chairs were as close as they could be.

“Well, it seems only fair…I touched yours.” Grateful she’d
left her hair down today, she nodded while trying to swallow past the dry lump
in her throat. She heard a soft sound and realized it was a whimper that had
come from her.

Instead of him simply touching her hair, which was what
she’d expected, he put his hand on the back of her neck and threaded his
fingers into the strands at her nape. Giving it a slight tug, he pulled her
head back and moved his nose down her neck, causing her to let out a noise she
hadn’t heard herself make before. Whimpering? Since when did she whimper?

Another noise, this time coming from him, had her opening
her eyes.

“Did you just growl at me?” she whispered.

“I rumbled. It’s a sound our race makes when we have certain
emotions,” he said in a husky voice.

“Your rumble sounded an awful lot like a growl.” Poppy’s
lips were almost touching his, they were so close.

“I am sorry if I scared you. We don’t have much physical
contact unless we are training or in combat. I find touching you, even just
your hair…arousing.” He licked his lips while staring at hers.

Poppy felt as if they were in a bubble of their own inside
the large conference room. She could hear the buzz of the lights overhead and
also her sister talking to Valerie. Every once in a while she could hear
Dathrow murmur something but it all seemed fuzzy, almost as if they were
huddled together in a dimly lit bar instead of in a brightly lit boardroom.

“Wheaton. Wheaton!” Dathrow was now standing behind their
chairs. “I have been trying to get your attention for a couple moments now.
Your cheeks seem flushed. Are you feeling well? We can have a Brakken ready a medi-unit
for our arrival on Squadron One if needed.” Dathrow seemed more like a
concerned parent wanting to hover over a sick child than the warrior she’d
first seen him as.

Wheaton slowly untangled his fingers from her nape and with
one last neck squeeze, he rolled his chair back and cleared his throat.

“I apologize, Dathrow. I was speaking with Poppy and trying
to measure our compatibility.” He reached up to rub his neck.

“Well, you guys were compatible as fuck from where I was
standing.”

Pixie of course took that moment to pipe up.

“Wheaton, I need your mark on these papers for the trial
period to begin. Valerie will collect Poppy’s mark and then we need to leave.
Apparently the knowledge of our presence has been leaked and the angry people
out front have grown louder.” Dathrow motioned Wheaton away and Pixie plopped
into the chair that Wheaton had vacated.

“Holy shit, Pops. I thought he was licking your neck from
where I was standing. And I’m pretty sure I saw your eyes roll into the back of
your head.” She looked at Valerie and smiled. “I guess we don’t have to worry
about them being attracted to each other now, do we?”

“Nope, I don’t think that’s going to be an issue at all.
Poppy, did he steal your ability to speak? You’ve been sitting there with your mouth
open since we interrupted your…moment.” Valerie placed a hand on Poppy’s
shoulder, about to give it a little shake.

“No, I’m fine. I’ve never felt anything like that before.
Ever. Like
ever
ever. I think he blew my circuits there for a minute.
Did you hear him growl? It literally made me shiver. I need some cold water.”
Poppy sat there stunned and fanned her face with a hand.

She had never felt that type of physical response to anyone
in the past. It had almost felt that if he breathed on her a bit more, she
could’ve had an orgasm then and there. She felt so overwhelmed that she could
probably start laughing hysterically any time now. The only thing that stopped
her was the fact Wheaton and Dathrow were talking but still watching the women
from their side of the room. Meeting Wheaton’s eyes from the distance, she
smiled at him and when he smiled back, she couldn’t help but let her smile
grow.

“Well, my mind’s made up. Let’s sign this stuff and get my
trial going.” Poppy had a huge smile on her face by the time she signed the
trial forms.

Pixie sat there tapping her fingers on the table while Poppy
signed the forms to leave Earth. It hit her all of a sudden that her sister was
actually doing this.
Poppy was leaving.
And she wouldn’t be coming back
if that hunky warrior had anything to say about it. She didn’t want to be
selfish, but that’s exactly how she felt. Pixie looked at her sister—really
looked at her. Poppy had smiled more and seemed more alive in the past fifteen
minutes than Pixie had seen her act in the past two years. She knew about the
dismal dates Poppy had sat through: since they were sisters they talked about
everything. Wine had a way of making sisters talk pretty openly, including the
fact Poppy had become way too attached to her vibrator and she was sad that her
friends were getting married and having babies while she sat at home and
watched the History Channel. Speaking of babies…

“What about my future niece or nephew? Will I ever get to
see them? Hug them?” Pixie asked in a sad voice.

Valerie crossed to stand behind Pixie and put a comforting
hand on her shoulder.

“Pixie, they have a system similar to Skype so you’ll be
able to talk to your sister by video whenever she’s available. Also, we’re
trying to work out the kinks regarding family visiting. I’m sure you can tell
that security is a major issue but maybe we can work out some sort of pass for
you to visit if the match works out and you want to visit Poppy and her family.
I’m actually unsure if Poppy will be on the ship once the trial passes if she
decides to enter the spousal contract. From what I gather, they may go back to
their home world to live if he isn’t needed for diplomatic missions on the
squadron. I can find that info out for you as soon as possible though.”

Pixie and Poppy stared at each other, the papers forgotten.
Pixie reached for her sister’s hand and held it in a tight grip.

“I love you, sis. I’ll support you no matter what you decide
but I’m going to miss you like hell.”

Tears were now falling down Pixie’s cheeks and Poppy could
feel hers start to fall as well.

“I love you too, Pix. I’m so excited about this but I know
this isn’t easy for you. I’ll make sure that I try to call you as much as
possible and I’ll talk to Wheaton about you being involved with our family, if
that actually happens.” Poppy smiled. “I have a really good feeling about this
though. It’s as if my entire body lit up when he touched me.”

“I could see that from the cookie bar, Poppy. I’m pretty
sure everyone in the room could see that,” Pixie said with a wry grin. “Well,
let’s not waste any more time… It’s time for your future to start, sis.”

On the shuttle ride up to what she assumed was Squadron One,
Poppy had tears running down her face. She was probably a runny-nosed mess considering
how much she was sniffling. Even she had to admit she wasn’t a pretty crier.
Their departure had been anticlimactic. Her car had been brought around by
Valerie and unloaded in a guarded lot where a shuttle was waiting disguised
with a cloaking device. Wheaton had not touched her again except for a guiding
hand on her back when she’d hesitated while walking.

Dathrow, who had been following the couple, strapped himself
into a chair behind them while Wheaton worked on something similar to a tablet
computer. He hadn’t spoken to her since their close encounter in the boardroom.
She assumed he might have been embarrassed by his strong physical reaction
since Pixie had used their goodbyes to tease him about some growling she had
heard. She’d also whispered something when walking by him to leave the room
after ten minutes of hugging and clinging tightly to Poppy.

Poppy hadn’t been able to hear the exchange since Valerie
had distracted her with questions about her luggage. She would have to ask him
about that when they had a moment. The last thing she needed was Pixie
threatening to cut off a body part or something along those lines. Her sister’s
overprotective instincts were something Poppy was familiar with. Pixie had once
been suspended from school for cold cocking one of Poppy’s tormentors in their
school cafeteria. Following the knockout punch, she had then dumped the
contents of his food tray onto his prone body before walking away like a boss.
The scene had been both terrifying and amusing at the same time. Poor Simon had
never been able to recover his manly reputation after being felled by a girl
almost a foot shorter than he was. Glancing at Wheaton, Poppy grimaced. She
definitely needed to talk to him and find out what her sister had said.

As the shuttle moved toward Squadron One, Poppy peered out
the window in the front of the ship. Watching clouds move past in what seemed
like puffs of smoke, she felt her stomach drop when they reached high enough
that darkness eclipsed her view. Pretty soon the sky was lit with stars and
Earth was behind them. A pang of uncertainty hit her. Had she made the right
choice? Glancing around the shuttle at the men beside her, she realized it was
too late to change her mind now.

As the ship docked on Squadron One, Poppy reached for
Wheaton’s hand but he turned away and started speaking to the pilot. She wasn’t
sure why she had reached for him, except everything seemed so foreign she felt
she wanted to cling to something, or someone, even a little bit familiar. After
a couple moments, Wheaton walked out through a door, leaving Poppy to pick up
the duffel she carried with her. Deciding that she wasn’t going to stand there
watching his retreating back, she turned to the other man standing with her.
Dathrow stood with his hands crossed behind his back, quietly studying her.

“Poppy, please follow me. I will take you to your quarters
to settle in,” Dathrow stated.

“Ummm…where’s he going?” Poppy finally asked as Dathrow
started walking quickly out an automatic door.

“He is going to a meeting. He will be back to your quarters
when his business is finished.” Dathrow was now moving very quickly down a lit
hallway. Everything seemed extremely bright, as if it was lit by bright-blue
bulbs. The gleaming walls were reflecting light to the point of making her eyes
hurt slightly. Poppy struggled to keep up with her fast-moving companion while
her eyes adjusted. The hallways were like something right out of a movie.
Everything was so shiny and the smooth metal corridor had to be a bitch to keep
clean. Remembering her disastrous experience with stainless steel appliances
was enough to make her cringe when she caught her reflection on the walls.

Their walk was spent in complete silence. Dathrow did not
explain where they were walking or what they were passing. He simply moved
silently, barely letting her keep pace with his long strides. Taking an
elevator to another level, Dathrow turned and waved his hand at a door. Poppy
watched the movement with curious eyes. She didn’t see any type of handle on
the door itself and wondered how it opened. It took Poppy a minute to figure
out he had been moving his wrist over an almost unnoticeable pad next to the
opening. Catching a glimpse of the silver band around his wrist light up, she
realized it was acting as a remote to the door when the pad blinked with the
same color light. Interesting. Hands-free entry. No wonder there were no
fingerprints on the walls or other doors she had seen.

Dathrow gestured to his wrist when he caught Poppy’s curious
glance. “Wheaton will be back later to take you to get your band fitted. He
suggested you watch the videos he has loaded onto his viewer to learn some of
our history and culture.”

Poppy stepped inside the room and turned around to ask how
to do that when the door swished closed and she was alone.

“Well shit,” she said to the empty room. “What the fuck do I
do now?”

Exploring the quarters, she found the bathroom with a shower
that seemed fairly easy to use. After setting out her toiletries in the small
space, she walked back to the living area. The apartment consisted of two
rooms. The living room had a small kitchen with a peninsula coming out from the
wall to separate it from the main area. On one side of the room was a small
white leather couch and the opposite wall was blank with a large screen flanked
by electronics.

“Okay…video…video…where could you be?” Talking to herself
was apparently going to be her only company this evening so she might as well
go for broke. “Helloooo….maybe this button. Nope. Maybe this one? Nope.”
Pushing random buttons on the wall was probably not the smartest thing to do on
a spaceship, but things didn’t seem to be blowing up so she was going to keep
going. “How about this one? Ah ha! Score.”

A video system popped up onto the blank wall space opposite
the couch and she wondered if it was touch screen or there was a remote. After
fiddling with the wall, she figured out it was some type of touch screen.
Everything was marked with odd symbols, so she hit the one that was listed
first. A movie was starting up so she sat down and got comfy. Then she almost
fell off the slick white couch. Holy shit! This was porn! And not even good
porn, but really cheesy, cheap porn. How could a woman function with
fingernails that long? Okay, wrong video.
Way
wrong video. Selecting
another movie, she found yet another porno. Seriously? What was wrong with this
guy? Apparently he had the libido of a teenage boy if all these videos were
pornos. By her count she had another fifty to go.

Twenty-five videos later, she found something that appeared
to be a history program. This must have been what he was talking about, because
the men resembled some of the warriors she had seen on the Intake Center
screen. Unfortunately for her it wasn’t in English, so she wasn’t going to get
anywhere by watching this. Well that was a total fail. After an hour had passed
and she had nothing to do, she took a fleece blanket out of her duffel and
snuggled in with her e-reader and iPod.

She awoke to the feeling she was floating and realized
someone was carrying her. Smelling leather and sunshine, she understood Wheaton
was back and carrying her into the bedroom. She must have fallen asleep while
reading. How much time had passed? As she became more awake, she realized she
was actually pretty hungry.

“Food,” she said in a sleepy voice, patting Wheaton’s
shoulder.

“Food? Did you not eat?” He stopped walking toward the
bedroom.

“How the hell would I have eaten? I was left here not
knowing what to do and couldn’t figure out how anything would work. Where’s the
fucking fridge?”

“I apologize. I meant to return sooner. The meetings kept me
longer than I planned.” He turned around, carried her back to the living room
and sat her down. “Stay and I will get you food.”

He turned and busied himself at a small counter. Poppy took
this time to try to clear the cobwebs from her head. Watching him move was like
watching a dance. He was extremely large but moved silently back and forth at
the small counter. No movements seemed to be wasted. Wheaton turned toward her
with a plate piled high with french fries and a cold sandwich.

Wheaton was hoping to distract Poppy with food while he
figured out how to explain his earlier absence. When he had left her after the
ship had docked, he could tell she was directing anger his way. On the ride to
Squadron One, she had reached for his hand at one point and he had felt almost
frozen in place. His earlier episode—when he had nuzzled her neck and
rumbled—had been so out of character for him it was enough to cause him concern
and he had decided to visit the med center to have a scan run to make sure he
had not contracted an Earth disease during his visit.

Her tears on the flight to the ship had upset him, which
added to the fear that something was wrong. When she had reached for his hand
and he had felt a warm tingle followed by his chest feeling heavy, he had
quickly found a med pad and placed a request for a regen bed immediately. When
he had left Dathrow to take care of his new bride, Wheaton had gone to get
scanned from head to toe. The regen bed had come back showing normal scans on
all fronts, so he was stumped as to what was happening. At the very least it
was disconcerting.

“You have regular food here?” she asked, taking the plate
from him. Apparently she was hungrier than she had thought. She practically
snatched it from him as if she hadn’t eaten in a week.

“Yes, we took classes to become familiar with common human
foods. We have a generator that will make almost any food item once it knows
the base components. We just have to assemble it when complete. Once you get
your band, I will program your favorites so the generator will know what you
desire.” Wheaton sat next to her on the small couch and watched her eat.

“Dathrow mentioned a band, but I don’t understand why I need
one,” she said between bites.

Wheaton held up his arm and showed her the silver wristband
that was thicker than a bangle but narrower than a cuff that graced his wrist.
She saw small colored lights blink off and on.

“All of the brides will have a band on their wrists similar
to this one. It is your identification and will also give access to portions of
the ship.” He added, “It will let others know you have been matched and mated
so you will not be approached by single males searching for a mate.”

Now her stomach was full, Poppy was unsure what to do. She
almost wished she had more to eat so she could keep her hands and mouth busy.
“What was your meeting about?” she asked.

“Nothing to concern you. Would you like to start physical
relations now?” he said, standing up and reaching out his hand to assist her.

“Wait, what? Physical relations? We barely know each other…”
Poppy turned red and the now lead weight of the sandwich she’d wolfed down made
her feel sick.

“You seemed eager for my touch earlier, and I did not think
humans needed to know each other for sexual intercourse.” Wheaton seemed
confused and placed his hands on his hips. No doubt according to everything
he’d studied, this was the point where clothes came off and the physical
contact started. She let her face tell him he’d assumed wrong. In a big way.

Poppy stood up and mimicked his stance. Then she poked out a
finger and pointed it at his chest.

“Hold your horses there, buster. I may have acted…receptive…yeah,
receptive
earlier, but I don’t sleep with strangers. You’re pretty much
a stranger. I mean, hell, you just left me here. What am I saying? It wasn’t
even you who walked me here, it was that Dathrow guy and all of a sudden you’re
done with your ‘meetings’ so you want sex? Well that isn’t going to happen
tonight!” Her voice started getting louder and she was literally poking
Wheaton’s chest.

“You are angry that I left? I explained that I had a
meeting.” Wheaton obviously had no idea how pissed she was getting, because he
then added, “Do you want sex or not?”

Hell. No. She stepped back to put space between them, and
basically to also get away from the temptation to stroke the chest she had been
poking just a second earlier.

“That would be a no. We will not be having sex until I
figure out if I like you or not. And speaking of sex, what the hell are you
doing with all that porn on your TV?”

“The sex videos are educational. We believed humans were
aware of the lack of females on our planet. Were you not told?” He raised an
eyebrow in her direction.

“Of course we were told! I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t
need women. I just meant, that’s a
lot
of porn,” she huffed out. Poppy
had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation and she was pretty
tired.

“Also, those are
not
educational. Granted I’m not one
who’s had really good sex but all those people are faking it. At least I’m
pretty sure the women are. They don’t look like they’re enjoying it at all.
It’s completely unrealistic!”

“I do not understand. That sex is not real?” He really did
seem stumped and was staring at the blank wall as if it was going to give him
answers.

“Wheaton….those are people paid to have sex for
entertainment. It’s all about the sex part. Not kissing or cuddling or….well…anything
really that a woman would want. I mean, some of the stuff is probably nice but
those women there are acting. Those moans are most likely not real.”

Oh boy, if she was going to have to be the lead once it came
down to them actually consummating this thing, then it would be like the blind
leading the blind. Her experience with an actual living breathing male was
fairly limited and she had never been able to climax during intercourse. Most
of the time it had been afterward, either by herself or with the help of the
men she had slept with using her trusty bullet vibrator on her.