Alien Commander's Chosen Complete Collection Page 5

  “Until certain aspects of your presence are untangled,” Hassee shot Kede a glare, “they have been directed to retain their distance.”

  She kept the sheet secure around her and rubbed her forehead with her free hand. “Untangled?”

  “Yes, Terra has requested you be returned.”

  Oh, hell no.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not happy about being here, but I won’t return to the surface. If you can’t allow me to act as an ambassador, I’ll do something else. Anything else.”

  “Anything?” Kede’s voice was deep and sexy and she really hated that a single purr had her thinking about solid surface and how much weight it could hold.

  She was mad at him, dammit.

  “No, I’ll do anything, but I won’t do that.”

  “Come, Ambassador Enner. If you wish to stay, the Vehly welcomes your presence.” Hassee stepped aside and gestured toward the doorway. “I will obtain a download of Terra’s training manual and you can begin your studies at your leisure. There are no other Choosings scheduled for two months.”

  Joyce stepped forward and then immediately shuffled backward. “And clothing?”

  “And clothing. You will have to resign yourself to warrior garb for now and appropriate coverings will be obtained.” Hassee’s voice was coaxing and soothing and she realized he was probably working his negotiating ambassador mojo on her.

  Good thing she didn’t care.

  A private place. Clothes. Food. God, she was such a stress eater and she prayed they had ice cream. Or chocolate. Or anything loaded with sugar and caffeine. The longer she was on the Vehly, the less she cared how her comfort foods entered her.

  Nodding, she shuffled forward, careful to keep the sheet tight against her body. She tugged it closer, wrapping and tucking as she moved. She didn’t want to expose herself any more than necessary. It didn’t matter that Kede had seen everything already. The point was he wouldn’t see it again.

  Unless he apologized and made her life on the Vehly a little better.

  It didn’t take long to travel the handful of feet to her new quarters. The biopad beneath her feet was soft and comfortable against her soles. She did not miss her shoes quite so much. Hell, she might decide to go barefoot whenever she could.

  Hassee paused beside the door and a wave of his hand had a pad sliding from the wall. He pressed a few buttons and then turned to her. “Place you palm here. It will code the room to you and will only grant officers and myself access.”

  Yeah, she was good with being able to lock her room up, but the officers…

  “You can’t limit access any further? I mean, I know you, Kede, Yare, and Resane. I’m not a big fan of Kede at the moment,” she was not ruling out future fangirling of the large, gorgeous male. “But everyone? That’s just…” She shuddered, thinking of all the things that could happen to a woman on a starship with two thousand males. “How many officers do you have?”

  Hassee frowned and Yare answered, “Four hundred thirty-seven including Ambassador Martins and excluding yourself.”

  So, four hundred thirty-six horny guys with access to her space. “Yeah, that’s too many.” She refocused on Hassee. “You, Yare, Resane, and Kede. I don’t even want him to have access, but he’s the big guy here. As long as you can promise he won’t enter without permission…” At Hassee’s nod, she continued. “Then you four are it.”

  “It is for your protection, Ambassador Enner.” Yare’s soothing voice reached her and she fought her irritation.

  “Look, I get where you’re coming from, but look at it from my perspective for a minute. I wasn’t prepared to come here and do this job. I wasn’t prepared to wake up naked after being stripped by your ship’s commander. So, for this, I want four people to have access. That’s it.”

  Yare opened his mouth as if to protest again, but Hassee spoke over the male. “As you wish, Ambassador Enner.”

  “But Hassee—” Yare objected.

  “The Doshans adhere to a female’s wish as long as it does not hinder or harm our efforts to protect her.” Hassee’s words whipped through the air and she released the breath she hadn’t realized she held. “Now, Ambassador Enner, please place your palm on the pad and then we shall leave you.”

  Leave her? As in alone? Hell, sign her up for that.

  She reached forward and placed her hand where he indicated and a soft ding filled the air. That was immediately followed by the doors parting for them. She carefully stepped into her new home, easing through the doorway and into the space that’d be hers for… however long.

  Joyce was faced with more gray. More and more and more gray. And it didn’t seem like she’d be able to spruce up the place since Terra wouldn’t allow the Doshans to retrieve her belongings.

  Yare and Hassee followed her inside. Yare directed her toward a small table and chair that held a large tray. He explained the heating elements that had kept the food warm while she’d been absent. He also went over what’d been prepared for her.

  It didn’t look half bad. Well, some of it anyway. It didn’t look like the man had a good grasp of pizza, but the chicken soup looked okay.

  “If it is not to your liking, please let me know and I shall look for appropriate resi-pees.” The Terran word on his Doshan tongue sounded odd, but she got the point.

  “Are you the only one who cooks? I mean, I assume you cook-cook and don’t just use a generator to make all this stuff.” She gestured toward the food.

  “I am the Chief Preparer.” He drew himself up to his full height, chest puffed out. “When we are in orbit and have access, I prepare the ship’s meals. I can obtain whatever you desire.”

  She desired doing something other than studying the Doshan handbook and hiding from the males on the ship. “Could you use help?”

  Yare frowned. “Help?”

  “Yeah, you know, help. I’ve worked at restaurants as a waitress. A short order cook a time or two. And I’ve been cooking for myself since I was kicked out of foster care. I mean, nothing fancy, but I can. If no one else is coming on board for two months…” Shock and disgust painted Yare’s features and she realized her dreams of being more than a lump on a log was quickly disappearing. “Never mind.”

  Joyce took a deep breath and pasted a smile on her face as she spoke to Hassee. “Thank you for showing me to my quarters. If you just show me how to access the Doshan guidebook and let me know when I can expect clothing, I’ll let you both get back to your jobs.”

  “Ambassador Enner…” Hassee furrowed his brow and she realized he’d been calling her by her “title” and she hadn’t been doing the same.

  Breech of etiquette and policy number one. Hell, who was she kidding, she was sure that once she dug into the guide, she’d discover she violated a hundred rules.

  Maybe they’d shoot her out of an airlock rather than return her to the planet’s surface. It would be a quicker death.

  “I apologize for being short with you, Ambassador Haspava. I look forward to reading the guide and ensuring I learn the proper way to interact with the Doshan males. The last thing I want to do is cause greater disturbance.”

  There, that had to be all politically correct and shit. Er, stuff.

  Yare frowned, Hassee—Ambassador Haspava—narrowed his eyes, and Joyce wondered what she’d done now.

  “As you wish, Ambassador Enner.” Hassee tilted his head in acknowledgement and turned toward the door. He paused just before he exited, steps stuttering, and then turned back to her. “Communications located the Terran-Doshan guide. He indicated there were a few inconsistencies, but not enough to cause problems. I shall show you how to access the information and then leave you to your studies.”

  Studies. Great.

  But it was this or her head being blown off.

  * * *

  Kede fought his desires to follow Joyce and simply stood beside his door, waiting for his fellow officers—and friends—to return.

  The waiting would destroy him. Then
again, Hassee and Yare may simply separate his head from his body and save the council or Planetary Collective the trouble.

  He was sure Yare and Hassee noted the same problem as he, but he would let the two males point out the obvious rather than bring it to their attention.

  A soft ding announced their request for entrance and he immediately granted it. “Enter.”

  Hassee was the first through the door, his rage palpable and growing with each breath. Kede braced himself for the attack. He’d purposefully left himself unarmed. He would not test the darkness in his friend’s heart.

  Hassee came after him with fists, pouncing and pinning Kede in one sweep.

  He still did not counter the male’s moves. The arm across his throat was expected. It would weaken him while also ensuring his attention. If Hassee had words of Joyce, he would not let his focus stray, even without the forearm holding him captive.

  “You are not fit to lead this ship,” Hassee hissed and Kede could not disagree. “Do you know what you’ve done? What you’ve jeopardized? We have been walking upon a rope and you hold the heated blade against it.”

  Kede’s lungs burned and begged for air, his body fighting his desire to remain passive. If his friend sent him to the bright light for his actions, so be it.

  His cawk led him astray and consigned Joyce to… he would not think on it, he would not speak the words. For now, the only parties aware of her status were the three males in the room and Resane. He was doubly thankful the medico had dispensed with his assistant for Joyce’s exam.

  The medico stated Terrans required pry-va-see during examinations.

  Kede was not one to disagree.

  Hassee’s weight faltered and sweet air filled his body. It was enough to keep him conscious should the male press hard once again. His friend jerked again and he dimly realized Yare was removing the ambassador from Kede.

  “Hassee, you’re not allowed to kill him. It would upset his House. They would have to suffer through his younger brother being Holder of House and the boy still has not earned his blades.” Yare did have a point. He hoped Hassee would listen.

  Kede did not want to die today. Not when it meant all his property would go to his younger brother and that… included Joyce. His gut clenched, a pack of futhide trampling his insides.

  Hassee spat and jumped away from Kede in a rush. “You live only because I would not wish your brother on your House or Ambassador Enner.” His friend pinched the bridge of his nose. “How could you do such a thing, Kede? I have done nothing but smooth frustrated tempers since you left the surface. The squawking director demands her return.”

  “No,” Kede snarled.

  Hassee gave him a flat look. “It is not up to you.”

  “I claimed her.”

  “And I can take her back. Fortunately for you, she wishes to remain on the ship though the bright light alone understands her reasoning,” Hassee drawled.

  Kede rolled to his feet and rose to his full height. “She believes me to be sexy.”

  “And I believe you to be dumber than Dosha’s dirt, but that does not make it so.”

  Kede ignored Hassee and looked to Yare. “Is she well in her quarters?”

  “Yes,” he nodded. “And no.”

  Kede frowned. “I do not understand.”

  Yare raised his eyebrows. “Neither does she.”

  “I don’t…”

  Yare sighed. “Kede, when do you pluck loshee from the tree?”

  Now Kede sighed. Yare and his preparer analogies. “I do not know, Yare. Perhaps you should tell me and save us time.”

  “When it has been prepared. When it has grown and flourished and become what we best need. Then it is removed and presented.” Yare must have seen Kede’s confusion. “Kede, she was not ready. She was never prepared. It is as if you took a loshee seed and presented it to the world as a fit meal. You believe it to be perfect while the rest of Dosha believes you took one too many blades to the head. And even still, you ask us to pretend it is not a loshee seed that you own.”

  Kede bristled. “I am Kede Tria, Commander of the Vehly and Holder of my House. I have never taken more than—”

  Yare threw his hands in the air. “Hassee, you tell him.”

  Hassee would not meet his gaze. “You have destroyed the life she knew, Kede Tria.” His friend said Kede’s name as if it were a curse. “And now we must teach her how to live in a world she never imagined.”

  “She is intelligent. She will learn.” Kede pushed on, attempting to convince himself he had not damaged her beyond repair.

  “How do you know this? The director tells me she is only trained on the most menial tasks and those were difficult for her,” Hassee countered.

  Kede shook his head. “You know the director lies. He has two mouths.” He grimaced. “He is worse than our own high council.”

  “Oh, we will not mention our high council,” Hassee warned him.

  “Yare,” he turned to his other friend. “I will ask Resane of her health and intelligence, but what do you see when you look upon Joyce?”

  Kede ignored Hassee’s glare when he referred to Joyce as, well, Joyce. Yare was the closest thing to a caretaker that a warrior could be. Warriors were trained from the age of eight with a singular purpose. Once that schooling was at an end and positions were assigned, some males laid down their blades and accepted other duties. Yare would deny it to his last breath, but Kede knew the male enjoyed preparing foods for other warriors.

  “I believe the director has an incorrect assessment of her. She did not hesitate to make demands for her safety and seemed to understand my instructions regarding her sustenance.” Yare looked to Hassee. “She asked questions about the system’s operation, but she was able to perform the functions you showed her.” At Hassee’s nod, Yare continued. “She does not seem, as the Terrans say, stupid.”

  “Then she is not.” Kede looked to Hassee.

  “No, she is not.” The ambassador sighed. “That does not change the fact that she is designated as your property, Kede. She cannot retain that status.”

  He knew that. The words did not need to be repeated to him. She could remain his property or she could… leave him.

  Kede did not believe he could let her go. Not when his body craved her. Not when he looked at her and saw a future he’d never dared think, even in his dreams.

  Chapter Five

  Joyce flicked through page after page. Or rather, screen after screen. She skimmed the information presented to her. There was history, language, and social structure. She sorta skipped over the geography. Half the time she didn’t know which way was north and she’d lived in the same city her whole life. Nah, she could move along.

  Another flick, another topic skipped. She was looking for ship’s hierarchy and Technicolor eye explanations, please.

  Flick, flack and fluck… and then there was…

  Doshan Male Physiology

  Huh. Well, she supposed if the women didn’t travel, the information was unnecessary.

  She snared a potato chip that looked more like a quarter of a potato than a chip, and took a nibble. With her free hand, she dug into the section, reading the lines presented to her.

  Their bodies were fairly close copies of Terran’s. Oh, they were more muscular (yum), but for the most part they were like close cousins. Their biggest differences came in their eye colors which designated their futures.

  Of course, thinking about colors had her thinking of a certain purple and blue eyed Doshan.

  And the fact that, biologically, he was a male of great strength and honor. Though where kidnapping fit in the grand scheme of honor, she wasn’t sure.

  Shaking her head, she kept digging into the explanations of the various colors. Green for healing and growth and then paired with violet made for very good medicos.

  Like Resane.

  Yare’s burnt orange and teal represented his understanding and calm nature that also had him wanting to nurture others. A perfect pair for a pr
eparer.

  Purple and blue… Trust and wisdom for Hassee and she realized those hues fit him very well.

  Huh. Too bad Terrans didn’t have the same thing going on. Oh, they had the occasional person with two different colored eyes, but it was a genetic anomaly that parents were quick to “correct” through genetic manipulation.

  She delved back into the explanations of colors, how the strength of the hues meant varying degrees of those traits and how green paired with blue meant one thing, but green paired with pale blue meant another and… She had no idea how anyone figured out how to speak to someone when they spent a good half hour deciding if the guy’s eye color was teal or teal-green.

  And then there was how they even developed the different colors and how it was tied to their souls and… yeah.

  She got the concept at its base, but there was just so much information.

  No wonder ambassador hopefuls trained for six months and the Doshans weren’t allowed to just pick someone off the street.

  Oh, wait, they weren’t allowed to do that and did anyway. Huh.

  Joyce tugged her sheet tighter, rewrapping herself and tucking the end beneath the folds. She hoped Hassee hadn’t forgotten about her clothes. Not that she was cold or uncomfortable, but she’d feel better wearing something that wouldn’t fall off if she sneezed.

  She skimmed the next page that detailed their own brand of genetic testing combined with observation to determine if a male was a member of the societal castes or the warrior caste. Truly, the only thing most people were concerned with was identifying and segregating warriors as soon as possible.

  Her heart went out to those young boys. They were tested and then taken at eight years old, ripped from the lives they’d known and then shoved into a new cage filled with battles and bruises and bleeding…

  How could the Planetary Collective or Dosha believe that, that, that their process was right?

  She… was pissed on their behalf, dammit. She knew now that the whole ship was staffed by warriors. Essentially, if a man got on a ship, he was a warrior. They may not wield a blade today, but they knew how and their biology kept them on the edge twenty-four seven.