Knight in Shining Alien?: Athrian Warriors Book One (8 page)

“Well, it can be done in stages, but why would a couple want that? When you find your Cordisa, everything else fades into the background. She consumes your thoughts and actions. Only in times like now, when Jarrek must concentrate on killing Varill does a bonding get postponed or broken up into sections.”

Sidhawk tried to explain the process, but knew he was doing a poor job. He could not understand why she asked if it could be broken up, until he realized that perhaps she worried that Jarrek did not want to bond her to him. That is why he mentioned that only in this situation it could happen. He could definitely help ease her mind if that was the case.

“I assure you Hailey, Jarrek is quite anxious to complete your bonding. Only because he wants to protect you is he not with you here now.” Sidhawk smiled to her, quite pleased with himself that he could ease her worry.

Hailey looked at him and said, “Then I better figure out how to keep from getting bonded.”

That wiped the smile right off of his face. Surely, he misunderstood her. The language was a little tough. Perhaps his translator was malfunctioning. As he was about to question her, the comm rang and Jarrek requested their presence on the bridge.

She was quite impressed with the ship as Sidhawk led her down the corridor to the elevator that he called a lift. The floor was a soft cushion of a rubbery like substance. It apparently was waterproof and fire proof. It also was self-cleaning. Apparently, the rubber was actually skin that sucked up dirt or anything that fell on it to nourish itself. It would consume the trash and uneaten meals from the crew. She didn't ask what it secreted as its waste. Some things are better unknown and unasked.

The walls were a lemony yellow and quite soothing. When she questioned Sidhawk about the color choice, his answer certainly surprised her. Yellow was a traditional color to give a couple who had just given birth to a child so they associated the color with babies, which helped the big bad warriors relax. Necessary when you have thousands crammed inside a metal ship, no matter how vast. It may have been quite a long while since they had even witnessed a child's birth, but the color still worked.

The lift was so smooth she never felt it move. They had stepped in and the door had closed. Sidhawk had said bridge and then a few moments later the door opened again. Walking onto the bridge with Sidhawk, she remembered that these warriors had seen her violation and she was both embarrassed and angry.

They all looked at her, and all though no one said anything about what they had seen, she felt compelled to add her own warning to these men. Raising her chin, she looked over the room and said very clearly, “I will castrate any man here who mentions what they have seen in the message from Varill. I don't care what you think of me because of it, but you will not repeat those thoughts. If I find out, I will make it my personal mission to see you live a life of pain and agony. I will make sure that before Jarrek kills you, you will pray to all the gods you had kept your tongue still. If for some reason you do not understand the word castrate, let me tell you just what that means. Your male sac, the one that holds the testicles, and the sperm needed for procreation is tied and then cut off in this process. It helps male animals lose their aggression. I however, will not just cut off your man sac but your rod as well. I hope I am understood.”

Hailey watched as many of them grabbed their crotch and kept her laugh inside her head. They all vowed silence and bowed to her. Hailey then glanced around for Jarrek. “Where is his high and mighty self?”

Jarrek, who had been coming out of his conference room, saw Hailey stop just inside the entrance. He was about to go to her side and lead her to his conference room, when she lifted her chin and threatened his men. His chest swelled with pride at her actions, and he winced when she defined her term of castrate. Of course, he would help her if his men hurt her feelings, but he was male and could not help but not cringe in sympathy at the thought. Most of his men covered their manhood from even the suggestion.

“I am here little bird.” Jarrek called out and went to take her in his arms. He was proud that his men all vowed to keep the message private, not that he had a doubt, but they could have been offended at her accusation.

“Why would you call me high? I know that I am mighty and I am glad that you recognize that, but I do not think I understand your meaning. Come into the conference room and we can make some plans.” Jarrek said as he led her away.

Hailey looked back at Sidhawk and said, “Don't you think you should come with me and tell them what you know.” She had no problem throwing Sidhawk into the hot seat. Jarrek probably wouldn't like her explanation of high and mighty so she needed Sidhawk to deflect his ire.

“You have information, warrior Barion? You will join me now and explain.” Jarrek ordered with narrowed eyes. He had always thought Sidhawk to be a good influence on Kirrek, but if he were holding out, he would have to rethink that and have him watched.

“Jeez Jarrek, don't take that tone with Sid. This tone right there is why I called you high and mighty. It means someone who thinks more of himself than is prudent or warranted, very bossy and domineering.” Hailey told Jarrek, surprised that he would treat his brother's lover like that. She tried to ignore the guffaws coming from the men behind and in front of her when she told Jarrek the definition.

“It is fine Hailey. Of course I will come and give my information to my Prince.” Sidhawk told Hailey.

Looking to Jarrek, he continued with, “When I had completed my study I would have let either Kirrek or you know first, Commander. I did not realize this was something that needed immediate sharing, until I was talking with your Cordisa over a meal. Unfortunately, she had not gotten to finish that meal when summoned here. If you could have some provisions brought up for her I will tell you all I know.”

Sidhawk promised his Prince. If Jarrek was angry with him, he was happy to answer any questions put to him. He was touched though, that Hailey defended him. She was going to make and excellent Queen.

“I have provisions set on the table, as I was unaware if she had gotten a chance to eat or not. I was originally going to call for her in two hours. Giving her plenty of time to see some of the ship and have a meal. However, new developments are pushing for action sooner rather than later. I give you apologies Sidhawk; I would have had you come in as well as unfortunately, one of those developments involves my hot-headed brother.” Jarrek advised as he led them into the room and secured the door. There were five warriors seated around a table laden with a banquet of food. They were silent as Jarrek led her and Sidhawk into the room and she wondered if she needed to repeat her warning to these men or if they had heard her through the open door. Although she doubted it, as they all had little smiles on their faces as they tried to contain their laughter from her berating Jarrek.

“Goddess, save me.” Sidhawk whispered. Louder he said, “Let me guess. He did not wait around for a clear plan to be made, but took two or three men on a stealth mission that failed? He is either dead or being tortured and held for your good behavior?”

He bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Goddesses save him from ignorant, hotheaded, sexy, pain-in-the-ass warriors. He did not know how much more of this he could take. They had a deep love, true, but he was tired of watching Kirrek try to kill himself.

Jarrek seated Hailey and began to put together a plate for her to eat, trying to give Sidhawk a minute to collect himself, as he had regrettably called the situation correctly. “Try this vishna. I have a home on our moon that makes this concoction. Careful though. I had Sameth check if you could eat all of this, as I did not wish to poison you and he said that your body will tolerate all of this, but that the vishna may affect your libido and inhibitions.” Jarrek told her and took a seat next to her.

“Hailey, go ahead and start eating and I will go around the room and introduce you to the others I have gathered here.”

Jarrek cleared his throat and began. “Starting to your right, I would like to introduce to you, Warrior first class, Bruthus M'et Fornon. He is a stealth pilot and captain of his own team of fighter pilots. Next to him, you have Warrior second class, Marthos R'et Barion, cousin to me and younger brother to Sameth. He is an experienced sniper and usually covers us on our missions.”

Before Jarrek moved forward with the next introduction, Marthos broke in with, “That is probably why you were captured Commander. However, I guess you still got lucky, since you met this captivating creature. If you need any help kicking his ass, you call me and let me know beautiful woman. I will be happy to help.” Marthos winked at her and let her know with his eyes, he liked what he saw.

Jarrek growled low in his throat at the look in his cousin’s eye. “Marthos you may not live long enough to keep that oath. Keep your heated eyes off my Hailey or I will remove them.”

Pulling Hailey's chair a little closer to his, he continued. “Moving on, we have twin brothers, Warriors first class, and expert assassins Heathrick and Shemrick G'el Trion. Each warrior raised his hand to his heart and gave her a small bow from the waist. I can only tell them apart by calling their names. Whomever lifts his head first is usually Heathrick. They do not say much, but that works, as they need to be invisible enough to get close to the enemy. Finally, I would like to introduce you to Elite Warrior Rometho Q'el Trindon. He is an expert in explosives and older brother to Loku, who is my second in command. He is the best we have and I wanted you to meet him.”

Jarrek finished the introductions, and then turned back to Sidhawk. “If you are ready warrior Barion, perhaps we can start with what information you gave to my Cordisa?”

Hailey ate from the plate that Jarrek had filled for her, and let her gaze wander over all the warriors that he had introduced as Sidhawk went through all the information he had managed to learn about the Krakill.

She had heard the most important part, to her situation anyway, and wanted to try to file the faces of these warriors in her head while the introductions were fresh in her mind. They were all huge even seated and wearing the same version of uniform as Jarrek, but they all looked so different. Drinking deeply of her wine, or vishna, as Jarrek called it she began looking them over in the manner that Jarrek introduced them.

Bruthus looked the oldest; although how she was supposed to know for sure, with how long they lived, she would never know. He was the one that had the most lines on his face though. Being a captain of a group of fighter pilot's must be stressful if the lines were any indication. He had obsidian and copper eyes that didn't shine like Jarrek's did. Truthfully, he looked a little sad. He had very short hair that hugged his scalp and didn't look over a half-inch long.  His forehead had deep worry or pain lines, but his brows were the most interesting feature on his face. He had one brow that arched perfectly and one that looked cut in half where an inch wide scar dissected it. It ended just under his right eye in a round scar like the end of an exclamation point. His nose was bumpy and scarred over. His lower lip was fuller than his upper lip, but his mouth wasn't very wide. Lines dug into his mouth giving him a pinched expression. It was an interesting face, but he needed someone who could help erase the tension and pain.

Sameth's brother Marthos was a bit of a clown with his flirting and trying to get under his cousins skin. He may think she was sexy, but he would never act on it. Those who spent a lot of time joking were covering up something else. Make people laugh to hide the hurt, or make them dismiss what the real problem was. She would keep an eye on Marthos to see if there was something, she could do to help him. Like Sameth, his hair was a golden-blonde, although he wore his in intricate braids pulled away from his face. His eyes were also like Sameth’s with their shimmering obsidian and gold, but the glint in his eyes was more serious and did not make her relax.

The twins were a type of gorgeous that anyone would describe in bold, capital letters. Words like “Sex Walking!” or “Panty Melting!” even “Orgasms 'R Us!” fit them. How they could be assassins was beyond her. They would stand out where ever they went. Dark blonde hair with brown and auburn highlights brushed their broad shoulders with muscles that strained their suit. They were the first of their kind that had eyes that were a little more familiar to her. They had a deep turquoise color almost as hypnotizing as Jarrek's.  They could put any Hollywood bad boy to shame. A full brow rose above those turquoise eyes outlined in a thin line of black as if to highlight just how unique they really were. They had long straight noses, with full, lick-able, kissable lips. She was quite glad that Jarrek couldn't read her mind as she was seriously wondering what she would look like between them. She squirmed a little in her seat, hoping that she wouldn't leave a wet spot when she stood up. She noticed that the only way to tell them apart was what hand they used. Heathrick favored his left hand and Shemrick favored his right. They had given her the heart salute with bow that all these warriors favored when Jarrek introduced them.

Rometho was the last warrior introduced, but he was still a gorgeous man. His hair was in a more traditional style. If she were on earth, she wouldn't be surprised to find him on the cover of Forbes or GQ. His black hair parted to the right and back off his forehead. His brows only had a slight arch and his lashes were the thickest she had seen among those she had met. It made his obsidian and rust colored eyes look darker than they probably were, giving him a smoldering, sexy look. His lips were full, with the bottom just a little plumper. It was like he wore a permanent come fuck me look. He wasn't as thickly muscled as the twins were, but he was still quite muscular. He was another one that left her panting and wondering what he would look like naked. She was turning into quite the slut and loving it. Sidhawk was finished with his Intel and she hoped that there wasn't anything crucial for her to know in there.