“You just happened to be in the middle of a group fight, standing between a volatile man and the elevator? Just an unlucky coincidence, I suppose,” I say, skepticism dripping from my words.
“Ugh,” Trinh huffs. “It’s not my fault that asshole was eavesdropping. I had no idea we weren’t alone.”
“Why don’t we all head to my office, and you can tell me what happened? I’m sure the chancellor will want a report on the incident from both your perspectives,” I suggest, dropping the pretend anger from my voice. I don’t want to make Sara uncomfortable or scared by my demeanor. I have often smelled fear and discomfort from her in the past, so I am always careful around her. I have noticed since her mating to the general that she seems bolder and more assertive.
I’m not worried about frightening Trinh. I can’t imagine what could scare her.
I lead the two of them to my office, telling L’Wrayth to make sure we are uninterrupted unless it is a member of the command council.
Haltingly, they explain how Trinh was apprising Sara of what occurred between herself and Vorto. The two women had no idea the fighter pilot Harrison was nearby and eavesdropping. They believed they were alone. Harrison confronted them, demanding to know if Vorto was “a gray-skinned and silver-eyed asshole alien”. Thankfully, some of Harrison’s fellow pilots were nearby and quickly stepped in to intervene. Events spiraled out of control from there when Harrison decided he needed to murder Vorto and tried to head to the ground floor to enact his crazed plan. I don’t know how Harrison thought he would get to Vorto. His palm print would need to have the proper security clearance for the elevator to take him to the bottom floor. I don’t imagine he was thinking very clearly at that point.
I quickly type up what happened from Sara and Trinh’s perspectives before sending the report off to the command council.
As I send off my statement, I see that I have a preliminary report from the general explaining Harrison’s irrational behavior. It turns out that an arm of the Earth First terrorist group recruited Harrison’s younger brother. After participating in attack on a healing center on Earth, he was arrested. The brother, barely considered an adult by human standards, told Harrison that a grey-skinned, silver-eyed alien convinced the group that human women were being trafficked through the facility against their will. The alien, who could only be Vorto, said Cerasteans were using the healing centers to kidnap human women and turn them into sex slaves. I shake my head at the thought. Do these idiots not know that we now have a waiting list of women wanting to join the Bride Program?
In the attack on the facility, two human security guards were severely injured. If the men hadn’t been at a healing center, they might have died from their wounds. Harrison’s brother now faces a lengthy prison sentence for his terrorist activities.
After I give them a recap of the report, I school my face into a hard mask despite my amusement at how both women remind me of contrite children. “You both need to be more careful when discussing matters of a sensitive nature.”
“We’re sorry. We had no idea he was lurking. I thought we were alone,” Trinh apologizes, sounding sincerely repentant for once.
“I feel bad for Harrison. If I were him, I’d want to kill Vorto too,” Sara interjects. “Frankly, I kinda want to beat him up for what he did to D’Annon. I mean, I’m glad the influence of the queen is wearing off and that he feels bad about what he did. But I’m not sure I can forgive him yet. I could have easily lost D’Annon because of him and Queen Diamalla.”
“Don’t discount what he did to you too,” Trinh murmurs, patting Sara’s hand reassuringly. “You have every right to be angry. I told him you might never forgive him and how he had to accept that possibility.”
“Yeah, but it’s what he did to D’Annon that I can’t seem to get past. I can’t forgive him for hurting my mate.”
“I completely understand. If someone hurt L’Corte, I would probably try to murder them,” Trinh says, patting Sara’s hand.
Trinh doesn’t realize what she said for a second too long.
Sara’s mouth drops open, but no words come forth. Turning her head, she looks between Trinh and me with big, owlish eyes while Trinh starts to stammer.
“Uh, what I meant was –” Trinh tries to say, but I raise a quelling hand.
“Sara, I believe that wraps up everything we needed to discuss. Would you mind heading out? I need to speak with Trinh. Alone.” I don’t look away from Trinh to address Sara properly. I can feel a predatory grin start to spread across my face.
Sara hustles out of the room, throwing a quick “Bye!” over her shoulder as she dashes away. I glance over to watch as she passes by a startled L’Wrayth, trailing the twin scents of excitement and glee behind her before my office door closes, shutting Trinh and me off from the rest of the ship.
As soon as the door closes, Trinh says, “Okay, so what I meant was –”
“I know what you meant. I feel the same way.”
I’ve rarely seen Trinh at a loss for words, without a ready reply, a glib joke, or a quick comeback in her arsenal. Her mind is lively, always ready for battle and play. But she has finally been rendered mute.I never thought I’d witness the day. I can’t hold back a grin. Her silence won’t last long. I can already see her mentally recovering and gearing up to banter with me, preparing for battle, just how I like her.
I stand up from my desk and stalk towards Trinh. Leaning over her seated position, I rest my hands on her chair’s armrests, caging her with my arms.
“I already think of you as my mate. I have for a while now. I want you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” I say, making sure she can’t mistake the sincerity in my eyes.
“Men don’t normally jump into a lifetime commitment before the first date,” she says with a smirk.
“We’ve been on a date.”
“No we haven’t!” Trinh giggles, shaking her head at me.
“In the storage room this morning,” I remind her.
“That was not a date!” Trinh gasps indignantly.
