Tracking Trisha (11 page)

Kelan ran his hands through his hair and rested his head against his palms as he leaned forward in his seat. He thought if he could kiss her into submission she would finally see things from his point of view. His dragon was more than ready to initiate the dragon’s fire mating; but, when he tried to grab her she shrank away from him with a startled cry. His dragon had been too close to the surface and she was not used to seeing him. His symbiosis took offense to Kelan and his dragon scaring Trisha, shifting into a pytheon, a large, six limbed creature found in the deep forests of their planet. It attacked Kelan, wrapping large bands of gold around his waist and dumping him and his dragon naked out in the corridor outside his living quarters. Then, the damn thing had the nerve to refuse to let him back in for some clothes. It was only Trisha’s compassion that allowed him a pair of pants, which she threw out the door the minute his symbiosis cracked it open, hitting him in the face with them. Before he could even pull the damn things down, the door closed again sealing him out.

Kelan was simmering with anger and frustration. He was left with two choices: stand in the corridor and look like a fool or go and kill his older brother. The second choice sounded much, much better. After the looks of disbelief he kept receiving from the warriors who passed him by in the corridors, not to mention the two guards stationed outside his living quarters who were not even trying to contain their amusement, he could use the physical release of beating on someone, namely Zoran. Unfortunately, his older brother was occupied with his true mate at the moment. Since killing his brother was going to have to wait, he decided to head to the commander’s quarters off the bridge where he stored some spare clothes for when he couldn’t get back to his living quarters. He just stepped off the lift when Jarak caught up with him. It seems Trelon’s mate was at it again. This time their communication’s system was down due to an overload of requests for his younger brother’s Personal Virtual Companion holovids. Jarak took one look at Kelan and shook his head. Kelan was standing barefoot in front of him wearing nothing more than a pair of pants and a pained expression. Jarak didn’t even bother asking what he should do. He just threw his arms up in the air in resignation and said he would take care of it.

For the first time in his long life, Kelan didn’t know what to do. Throwing his head back, he stared up at the ceiling wondering how his life had gotten so complicated. It used to be so simple before, get laid when he felt the need, attack the bad guys, and kick some ass on occasion. Was that to much to ask? Kelan thought in frustration.

Don’t want simple. Want my mate, no one else
. His dragon grumbled bad-temperedly.

I want her too but you heard and saw her. She is being stubborn.
Kelan growled back in frustration.

Take her anyway. Claim her. I want to bite. NOW.
His dragon responded pacing back and forth impatiently under his skin.

Kelan growled out again as he looked down at the scales rippling up and down his arms. He fought for control. Even if he wanted to do what his dragon suggested, he couldn’t. His damn symbiosis wasn’t letting either one of them near Trisha right now. The visions it was sending him was tearing him up inside. He wanted to go to her, to hold her. He could feel her emotional pain. The only consolation he had was her physical pain was no longer an issue. With a muttered curse, Kelan stood up and headed for the door. Maybe there were some warriors working out in the training room. Since he couldn’t beat either one of his brothers up right now, maybe he could beat up some of the new warriors on board.

Trisha stood looking at the closed door. She was in total confusion and it was pissing her off. She was always in control. Her dad taught her that to lose control could mean the difference between life and death. Not that she was really in a life or death situation right now. She was more in a battle of wills, she thought with a grin. She would get home to her dad one way or another. It had been years, she thought distractedly as she moved towards the bathroom, since she had felt this alive. Not since before her accident. Trisha looked at Bio who was back into the shape of the big, droopy-eyed puppy dog with an amused smile.

“Does he know just how evil you really are?” Trisha asked humorously. “Those images you are sending him are totally bogus.” The symbiosis, Bio, just snickered and wagged its enormous tail back and forth.

“I guess us girls really do need to stick together. You just make things up to your heart’s content until he feels so bad we’ll both have him eating out of our hands.” Trisha giggled.

Trisha was trying not to laugh at the images the symbiosis next to her was making up and sending to Kelan.
Kelan,
Trisha thought with a silly smile.
God, for an alien he sure could kiss and those muscles…just WOW.
After Bio tossed Kelan out into the corridor naked as a jaybird, Trisha started planning her next strategy. He said can’t; not won’t. Well, she was a ‘can’ kind of girl. Whenever anyone told her she couldn’t do something, she made it her mission to do just the opposite. She laughed quietly as she remembered being told she would never make it in the space program because of her accident. Well, poop-on-them! She was so far in space she was a black hole in their you-know-what! Trisha thought with a contented sigh. Now all she needed to do was fufill her promise to her dad to take him with her!

Trisha's thoughts were jerked back to the present when she caught sight of her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her stomach. Her fingers lightly traced over the flat, smooth surface that had been covered in a scattering of scars. She let her eyes wander up to her shoulder where there was supposed to be another long, ribbon of scars from where her collar bone had shattered. Trisha turned her arms looking for the incisions where the surgeons inserted the metal rods to her wrists and forearm. Trembling, she continued her scrutiny looking at all the places where the surgeons worked on her battered and broken body. The pain was not the only thing gone, so were all the scars. In their place was soft, smooth, undamaged skin.
Trisha looked at Bio who was l
ying in the doorway of the bathroom silently watching her.

"You did this, didn't you? You were able to fix me when no one else could." Trisha asked softly in disbelief. Tears shimmered in her eyes when she felt warmth enfold her as Bio sent waves of comfort through her.
Oh, daddy, I wish you could see me whole again.
Trisha thought as she continued to stare in disbelief at her image.

Kelan rubbed his shoulder where one of the warriors got in a lucky punch. He probably shouldn’t have tackled six at one time but he was feeling like a challenge. He was getting to old for this, he thought dismally as he stared into his near empty cup. Kelan pulled another bottle towards him. He was on his fifth bottle of prized Curizan wine. He left the training room earlier under Jarak’s disapproving eye, making his way up to the dining area. Before he left, Jarak informed him in no uncertain terms that he was tired of Kelan, Trelon, and those infuriating females. They were sending all of his men to medical and he was running short of personnel. By the time Kelan made it up to the dining area, word had already spread about his head bashing down in the training room. After most of the men hurried out of the room when he came in, Kelan decided to pick a back table away from everyone. Now, he was slowly drinking himself into oblivion. He was just pouring himself another glass of wine when his brother Zoran came in.

“I do not know what to do,
Kelan.” Zoran began as he grabbed the bottle away from Kelan and poured himself a tall glass of wine
.
Kelan sort of heard what his brother was saying, something about fading away…blah, blah, blah. It was too much for his sodden brain to really absorb. Kelan frowned, wasn’t he supposed to do something to his older brother?
Oh yeah, I was supposed to kill him,
Kelan thought with a wobbly smirk. Kelan reached for another bottle since Zoran had taken his. He would kill him later. It took to much energy to do it right now. Kelan poured some more wine in his cup and a little on the table. Shrugging his shoulders, he focused on trying to connect his cup with his mouth.

“I am ready to take them all back!” Kelan slurred
out slowly
.

He frowned.
No, he wasn’t ready to take them all back. He was going to keep the one called Trisha. She was his. He just needed to show her. Now, the other ones he would take back in a heartbeat, especially Trelon’s mate. No,
he frowned again,
not Trelon’s mate. Trelon needed her. He would take the other two back. But if he did that then his mate and Trelon’s mate would want to go back so he couldn’t take them back either.
Kelan felt a groan escape him.
Damn, he was going to have to keep them too,
he thought in despair.
His warship
and his men
would never make it home in one piece.
Kelan raised a blurry-eyed glare at Zoran. It was all Zoran’s fault!

“
I have had it with her…them. They are bossy, opinionated, stubborn…” Kelan hiccupped
in the middle of his accusation
, “…beautiful and too damn sexy.”

Zoran frowned
down at Kelan. He had never seen his brother lose control like this in all the years they were together. Before Zoran
could
think of a
reply, Trelon came in growling
and muttering
under his breath.

“I need a drink.”
Trelon said casting a look that sent daggers at Zoran. Trelon grabbed the bottle of wine Kelan had just pulled towards him and drank deeply from it before he pointed a finger at Zoran and let loose all his pent-up hostilities towards him
.

Wiping a hand across his mouth, he growled, “I’m going to kill me a tiny human female with red and purple hair. I’m going to rip her apart, burn her to ash, and then put her back together again so I can do it over and over until she begs for mercy.”

It took everything inside Kelan not to join Trelon when Zoran had the nerve to ask,
“What is wrong?”
He could have given Zoran a list that would have lasted to the next century. What was wrong was he was hornier than hell and except for using his own hand, he wasn’t getting any! His dragon was ready to take him over and destroy the ship if that was what it took to get to his mate, his symbiosis was sending him erotic images of Trisha in the cleansing room bathing, and he was stuck beating the shit out of the greenhorns on board the ship since his own older brother was too tied up with his mate to take the beating he deserved! Then, to top it off, he was too damn drunk to beat the shit out of Zoran when he finally had the nerve to make an appearance. Life was not fair and it was beginning to piss him off royally, self-discipline be damned. He wanted his mate!

“Wrong? Wrong, he asks.” Trelon growled pointing the bottle at Zoran. “I’ll tell you what is wrong. You landed on a damn planet of females who would drive any male to distraction then act like it is the male’s fault! No, you
couldn’t
land on a planet where our symbiosis would want to kill the female and our dragon would find them repulsive. No, you
had
to land on a planet where my symbiosis is so infatuated with the female it does every damn thing she asks regardless of what I say and my dragon is so horny it is about ready to disembowel me if I don’t claim her before another male does, only I can’t catch her long enough to do so.”

“You to
o?” Kelan slurred before giving Trelon a blurry-eyed frown
.
There was two of him. When did Trelon clone himself? Kelan thought in confusion.
“My female refuses to even acknowledge me as a male. All she does is quote her name, rank, and some awful number I can’t remember. She insists I take her home. My symbiosis is sleeping with her like it is her new pet sending me images of her stroking and scratching it and talking nonsense while me and my dragon get to suffer.” Kelan grunted as his head fell forward.
He probably shouldn’t have drunk that last bottle of wine.
“She even said if I wanted to stay in my dragon form she would scratch my belly but she wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole.”
Kelan’s dragon liked that idea a lot at the time and was still mad at Kelan for refusing to shift.