A Desconian Marriage of Convenience (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

Jenelle smiled at the natural way Baylen had of putting people at ease. They’d gathered in the dining hall for coffee and chatter, and a small group of women had circled Baylen and thrown dozens of questions his way. He’d answered them all openly and honestly with a smile on his face. He’d even spent time offering some of the different viewpoints that Desconian people held. Not all people participated in voyeurism, some actually called it distasteful, but none tried to stop others from having the choice.

Baylen must have noticed a reaction she’d missed, because he excused himself, moved to a table not far away, and asked one of the women if she would like to join their conversation. She glanced at the woman sitting beside her and shook her head with a haughty disdain. Considering their conversation earlier this morning, it probably hadn’t been all that hard to identify the two women she’d been talking about, but Jenelle was interested to see that he’d approached the more vocal of the two.

It wasn’t until she glanced at her friend nervously that Jenelle realized which one really held the opinions. She was very grateful for Baylen’s insight. In this case the strategy of “divide and conquer” was probably a good one, so she moved to distract the other woman as Baylen finally convinced his target to join the conversation at the other table.

Without her vocal mouthpiece spouting opinions for her, the other woman settled for glaring at everyone. Fortunately, thanks to Baylen’s casual, friendly attitude the other women were happy to ignore her. By the time lunchtime came around the rest of the women were actively asking questions of their own. Completely comfortable surrounded by people he’d never met before, Baylen entertained and charmed the entire room into seeing Descon and its people in a whole different light.

Many women who’d seemed fearful of the things they’d been told about the Desconian lifestyle were suddenly more comfortable with the idea of exploring new options. Hopefully, they’d now have the confidence to meet Desconian couples via the fertility council.

“He’s definitely a charmer,” Tosh said as he came in the door behind her.

“That he is,” she said as she watched yet another question come out of a woman who’d barely said two words until today.

“I often wonder why he didn’t marry a couple of women. He’s certainly got a personality women respond to.”

“Perhaps now that the marriage laws have been changed, you, Jax and Baylen might consider claiming a mubella of your own.”

Tosh grinned. “Only if you’re the one we’re claiming.”

“As if,” she said, shoulder bumping him the way she’d seen other Desconian friends do. She really hoped it hid her sudden fluster. Tosh was only joking. He, Baylen, and Jax were just her friends. Just friends. She wasn’t a good candidate for a mubella, and she wouldn’t hurt any of them by seeming to want more.

Now if she could only stop herself from dreaming it.

* * * *

Jax came into the door of his apartment and smiled at the laugher he could hear coming from the kitchen. For years he’d believed his life with Baylen and Tosh was absolutely perfect, but Jenelle had become such an integral part of their homelife that he could barely imagine life without her.

It made him think about things he hadn’t considered in a very long time.

“Good news,” Tosh said as Jax stepped into the kitchen. Considering the general direction of his thoughts, he felt confused for just a moment. Tosh smiled and reached over to cover Jenelle’s hand with his own. “Jenelle has decided to get the scars on her back fixed.”

“That’s great news,” Jax said after a slight hesitation. Baylen gave him a strange look, but neither Tosh nor Jenelle seemed to notice. “Have you made the appointments?”

“I have,” Tosh said, sounding maybe a little smug. When Jenelle had finally let them see the awful scars, it had only been to try and convince them that they weren’t all that bad. Several of them had left deep gouges, the rest were stark white lines against her pale skin, but far from convincing them to back off it had made them more determined than ever to help her. She’d been punished for something that she should never have been punished for. Carrying the scars would always overshadow any sexual compulsion she might feel. That simply wasn’t acceptable.

“When?” It was probably a little silly, especially considering that she knew Tosh and Baylen far better than she knew him, but he wanted to be there for her.

“Day after tomorrow.”

He grinned. He had a security briefing that morning but the rest of the day off. He was about to offer to accompany her but then hesitated when he realized that Jenelle probably wouldn’t need or want him there. Tosh was a doctor and Baylen a close friend. Surely she’d prefer either of them.

But Baylen did what he always did—read him easily.

“Would it be possible to get the afternoon off, Jax? As I understand it, Jenelle will need plenty of rest afterward, and since I’ll be busy creating a masterpiece dinner to celebrate, it would be really handy to have you around to help.”

“Not a problem,” Jax said with a soft smile for Baylen. “I already have the afternoon off.”

“Perfect,” Tosh said.

“I don’t want to cause a fuss,” Jenelle whispered, looking concerned. The woman seemed embarrassed, but he wasn’t sure it translated to not wanting him around when she was recovering. Unfortunately he wasn’t certain that the opposite was true either. But again Baylen seemed to understand far more than Jax did.

“Nonsense. It’s not a fuss. We’re your friends. This is what friends do.”

And just as Jax was beginning to worry that she might deny them the chance to help, she gave him a sweet smile and nodded.

* * * *

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Tosh said as he shook Jenelle gently, “but duty calls.”

She’d slept well for the past several weeks, the nightmares almost gone since the procedure to remove the scars on her back. Just the decision to move past what had happened on Earth seemed to have helped Jenelle get a decent night’s sleep. Unfortunately, she’d started suggesting now the nightmares were gone that perhaps she should move back to her room in the compound. None of them wanted her to go, but they were fast running out of excuses.

It annoyed him to have to wake her from a peaceful slumber, but as always she roused quickly, sitting up in bed to look at him. “How many?”

He grimaced, almost too overwhelmed by the numbers to say it out loud. Whatever was happening on Earth was getting worse. “Six ships with nearly a thousand passengers each.”

“What?” she exclaimed as she threw the covers back and started dragging on clothes. “Do we know anything about them?”

“Only that they left Earth by choice.” Unlike the creepy traffickers who’d been trying to sell expelled human women to Descon authorities, these six ships seemed to be refugees seeking safe harbor. She glanced at Jax and Baylen, who were also pulling on their clothes. “They’ve called many of the royal guard in to assist with security.” He glanced over and gave Baylen an affectionate smile. “Bay is going to stick to you like glue just in case Jax and I get pulled away.”

She looked like she might protest—she’d been doing this for months without a personal bodyguard, and Katarnia’s staff were well trained—but this time there were simply too many unknown people to deal with. Just because a ship said it was full of refugees, that didn’t make it so. With Earth and Descon having a long history of political differences, it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that someone might decide to target the planet offering refuge to displaced humans.

They managed to get ready quickly and thanks to Jax’s status as a royal guard made it to the spaceport in record time. Katarnia looked relieved to see her.

“What have we got?” Jax asked immediately.

“More than we can handle, unfortunately,” she said and then quickly filled them in on the details.

“Men, women, and children?” Jenelle asked as Katarnia’s explanation finally began to sink in. “Actual families?”

“We’re not sure,” Katarnia said as she led them to the only ship they’d allowed to land on the planet so far. The rest remained in synchronous orbit and were being closely monitored by the planet’s security. “Many seem to have been the victims of abuse. None on this ship have language translators implanted. We can’t even figure out if they came here on purpose or arrived accidentally.”

Baylen slipped his hand into Jenelle’s, squeezing lightly as they stepped into the cargo bay of a ship that seemed barely spaceworthy. She held his hand tightly, grateful for the silent reminder that she wasn’t alone. Jax and Tosh flanked them, as did several other guards, but it was the fear and misery that seemed to have soaked into the deck plating that had her heart pounding like she’d run a marathon.

Many of the inhabitants cringed in fear as they passed, but one young woman stood her ground. Hoping that she was their best chance to get some answers, Jenelle touched Jax’s arm and indicated where she wanted to go. He nodded in approval and let her lead the way. Grateful for his understanding of the situation—the woman would likely have been terrified if she’d been confronted by such a large man—Jenelle didn’t miss the fact that he stayed close enough to dive in front of her if things became dangerous.

“Hi, I’m Jenelle,” she said, hoping that the woman was calm enough to realize she was speaking the standard Earth language.

“Ally,” she said, keeping her eyes on Jenelle and seeming to ignore—by sheer force of will—the guards and other men standing around them.

“Ally, can you tell me what’s happening here? How did you come to be on this ship?”

“I paid for my passage,” she said, sounding a little bit defensive. “They told us there was a chance at a better life on Descon.”

“That’s true,” Jenelle said with a soft smile, hoping it really was still true. With the massive number of people on the ships that had just arrived, it was possible that things were about to change. Human women were welcomed because of their ability to produce healthy offspring, but she had no idea how the authorities were going to react to human men and actual families.

Katarnia leaned over and very quietly whispered a question into her ear. Jenelle quickly translated it for Ally. “Can you tell us who you paid? Was it a single person? Or perhaps a business or group of people?”

“We had to pay cash as we boarded the ship.” She glanced around the area as if confirming in her own mind what she was about to say. “I can’t see any of them on board. I don’t think they actually got on the ship before we lifted off.”

“Are you alone, Ally?” Jenelle asked quietly, concerned for the woman who seemed underfed and, despite her courage, achingly vulnerable. She shook her head, but it wasn’t until she took a step back that Jenelle realized there was a young child sleeping in the pile of clothing on the ground behind her. “Yours?”

“He stays with me,” she said sharply. “He’s my son. He stays with me. I won’t let you take him.”

“It’s okay. No one is going to take your son, Ally,” Jenelle said, absolutely meaning it as a promise. Too many human parents abandoned their children on Earth. There was no way Jenelle was going to let this woman be separated from her child, no matter what the Desconian authorities might try to say on the matter. “This is Tosh. He’s a good friend of mine and a doctor. Will you let him implant a language translator? It would be just like the one I have.” She swept her hair back and showed the woman the small disc implanted under the skin behind her ear. “It takes only a few minutes and will let you understand the Desconian language.”

“Does it hurt?”

“No,” Jenelle said, remembering the procedure she’d had done many months ago. “Tosh, is it safe enough to implant it here?”

Tosh glanced around the area and nodded his head. “It’s not ideal conditions, but it shouldn’t be a problem as long as I can set up a sterile area.”

* * * *

Hours later Baylen still held Jenelle’s hand in his own, partly as comfort for her and partly for himself. The stories that the passengers were telling seemed to get worse with each one. Tosh and Jax had been called away but were thankfully still in the same cargo bay. Jenelle had only managed to speak to a small percentage of the people aboard this ship, but it seemed pretty obvious that someone on Earth was taking advantage of desperate people. Some of the amounts paid by the refugees had been staggering, but they’d found three among them who had paid almost nothing. Apparently, even people-smugglers had the occasional bout of conscience.

One such case had been a young girl still battered and bruised by a vicious attack, yet she’d stood ready to protect a child even younger than herself. The other had been a young man too injured to communicate very well. Tosh had sedated him and had him moved to a medical ward for fluids and observation.

“I’ve called several of the human women who arrived on the same ship as Jenelle,” Katarnia said to Baylen as Jenelle spoke to yet another woman covered in bruises. “They’re on their way here with their partners. They’ll be able to take over for a while. Why don’t you take Jenelle home? Maybe get her to sleep some.”

He nodded his head, wanting nothing more than to take Jenelle away from such awful suffering. “Is it always like this?” he asked quietly.

“Mostly,” Katarnia said as she nodded. “Just not usually on such a large scale.” She glanced around the room, despair crossing her face for a moment before she dragged the professionalism common to a royal guard back into place. “I think it’s a fairly safe bet that the other five ships are full of similar stories.” One of the soldiers called her over. She nodded and took a step in his direction but turned back to reiterate her suggestion. “Take Jenelle home for a while. She’ll do no good if she works herself into exhaustion.”