Page 1 of His to Mate

1

What was the date?

Some month, some day, 2025. Was it the end of April? Or maybe it was May? It could even possibly be July.

Ann searched around in her brain, calculated weeks and months, but still couldn’t think of what the exact date might be. It didn’t really matter, she supposed, but it would be nice to have an idea. Then she could calculate… things.

She rested her elbows on the fine mahogany secretary in the study and put her head in her hands. She could always make a new calendar up or go by the one that Rager and his people brought with them.

“What are you up to in here, Ann?” Rager’s voice cut into her thoughts and she turned with a smile.

“I’m trying to figure out what today is. I’ve lost track of the date, somehow.” She held her face up for his kiss and paused when he stroked her cheek with his thumb. He had on his uniform still, but the gloves were gone, and she felt the smooth touch of his skin against hers with delight.

Those orange eyes of his glowed for a second before the flare died down and he smiled. “Why do you need to know what the date is?”

“I don’t, really. I just like to keep track of things and knowing the date helps with that.”

“What kind of things?” The cat-like eyes that so distracted her narrowed now and traced down to her lips.

“Like when the plants will produce food, when it might start cooling off. Will it cool off?” She stopped checking things off on her fingers and tilted her head. “Has what you’ve done changed the climate in a permanent way? Will it always be this warm or will we have seasons?”

“There will be seasons, just like there will be tides. Things won’t be exactly the same as they were before your cataclysm, but they will be… similar.” He finally moved away and went to sit on the black leather sofa in front of the fireplace. They kept the fires going out of habit from the cold days, and because it helped drive up electricity consumption.

The newly restored power plants produced far too much electricity. So, they’d all been advised to burn fires in at least one room and to keep the air conditioners on. Ann liked the fires, because it was a tie to their old life, to the days when survival was all that mattered. She went to the fire now, to stir the glowing embers that had once been trees into a pile before she put new wood on to catch alight instantly.

“Good, I like having seasons.” She felt the familiar tug to go back to where he stood, to wheedle her way into his embrace if she had to. She’d learned to control it, a little, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was little more than a puddle at his feet. That’s what happened every single day since they’d married.

She craved him like she craved air, and it was far more than just a momentary need that could be soothed with a soft touch or a kiss. She had this drive, this instinct to take everything from him that she could, while she gave everything she had in return. He felt it too, although he was a lot better at hiding it than she was.

“What are we having for dinner tonight?” he asked as he came up behind her.

She stood up, smoothed down the lines of the dark blue linen dress she wore, a creation that swirled flirtatiously around her ankles, and tilted her head back to look up at him. “A vegetarian dish I found in an old recipe book. It looks really good, and we had all of the ingredients, so I asked that to be made for us.”

“Hm, alright. That would use fewer resources than constantly relying on meat, I suppose.” He went to the area behind the sofa and poured himself a glass of scotch. “Want one?”

“No, thank you. I haven’t eaten in a while; it will go straight to my head.”

“Maybe I want it to, my sweet.” He looked over at her with that smirky glint in his eye, and she knew his control had slipped.

“Not before dinner.” She gave him a mock glare and went back to the secretary to sit down. It was all part of the game, however. To test him, to see how long he could resist before he took her, the way he wanted to. The way she wanted him to.

“Fine, not before dinner.” He stretched out the long length of his legs before he crossed them at the ankles. “But as soon as dinner has finished…”

Ann glanced at him from beneath her lashes, a smug smile on her lips. “As soon as dinner has finished.”

“Good. Now, how is your family?” He let his head fall back on the couch as if he didn’t really care, but she could see by the way his head tilted towards her that he did. He was just a very tired man.

“They’re fine.” She had gone back to see her mother earlier in the day, but she hadn’t seen Rex or Amanda, only her mother. “She’s had the tomato plants put in and she’s got plans for more. We’ll have vegetables coming out of our ears before long.”

Ann picked her pen back up and began to draw lines on a blank sheet of paper. Seven columns, four rows, that’s all she needed for now. How to start though? She thought about it for a moment, tapped the edge of the pen against her jaw, and then wrote in the day her last period happened, two weeks ago. Which meant she was due for another one in two more weeks.

I’m not stupid, she thought, as she looked down at her calendar. She knew what the rhythm method was, and how to calculate when she could become pregnant. The problem was, she had no way to prevent it at the moment, other than that method. When you couldn’t say no, because your body wouldn’t let you, well, the chances were high that she’d become pregnant quickly.

Was she pregnant even now? Surely, not. She’d like to get to know the man a little before they made it to that stage. With a sigh, she looked down at the paper. She knew her duty to this alien overlord was to breed, that was her sole purpose, really. Trying to deny that would just be stupid. Something she wasn’t.

If it happened, it happened, she decided, and put the paper in the fire. If only she felt as cavalier as that though. Her face twisted and for a moment, she thought she might cry. Maybe she didn’t need to know the date so much, after all.

“What’s wrong, Ann?” Rager asked from behind her, and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. With a twist of her neck and a roll of her eyes, the tears that had threatened were gone and she turned to him with a smile on her face.