Chevon's Mate (9 page)

“You never have to worry about
me saying
anything,
”
she said. “I’m pro ending the
war,
not anything else.” And she would fight tooth and nail for Chevon.

“We have several plans in place, and unfolding. Depending on
what happens has us tossing one out and shifting our focus. It is a necessity
to be able to adjust quickly when dealing with skilled liars who have no
compunctions about throwing us all into the fire to save themselves and their
cohorts. We tread carefully but steadily. One day soon it will all come to a
head and this will end.” Petr hugged Samantha to himself while looking into the
other woman’s eyes. “I only pray we all are here to see the end and whatever
might come next.”

Laura nodded in silent
agreement.

“I do, too. I want to spend
more time with my niece and
nephew,
”
Samantha muttered. “I miss those cutie pies.”

“Soon,” Petr told her.

“Come on, we should go get some food, and I want to take you
on a tour. Petr’s crew won
’
t bother us, so you don
’
t need to have that worried look on your face,” Chevon said,
turning toward Laura.

She said goodbye to Petr and
Samantha, then slipped her hand into Chevon’s and gave
his
a squeeze. “Is the layout of this ship
similar to yours?” she asked as they moved into the outer hall to begin their
jaunt.

“Nearly identical. There are a
few small differences but nothing in the public areas. Our engine room is laid
out slightly differently. The command
deck
and our bay layout
is
different as well. Beyond that everything is identical. It makes it easier for
the crews when they cycle through different rotations under different
commanding officers to get around.

“Let’s feed you before we start our walk.
We’re almost
to
the dining hall. I should probably warn you that there are some odd items on
the menu here. The chefs have been working to recreate some of the dishes
Samantha preferred back home. Some are successful, others…”
Chevon
pulled a face and shuddered.

Opening the doors to the dining
hall,
he waved her
inside
and followed her to the buffet
line. “Anything with a blue marker is to indicate it is a replication of some
item from Samantha’s home world. Everything else is Imarian. The ones with the
red markers are likely hotter than you would like, so avoid those foods.”

“I
’
d really like to try some of her things. I’m intrigued by
whatever her people might have eaten.”

Chevon
reached around
her
and pulled off a couple items, setting them on her tray. “Start with those two
first, and we’ll go from there. They’re the tamest of what the crew has been
working to recreate which is out here today. If you like
these,
we can find something else for
you to try.”

“Thank you.”

Setting a cup on her tray, he put a second on his own, then
collected a decanter of juice for them to share. “Choose a table, little mate.”

She picked a table near the
corner so that they both could have a back to the wall. It was a bit unnerving
to be around others right now but she would survive it. “You are so good to
me,” she told him as he poured her a drink.

“I know, I am a gem.”
Grinning,
he shook out his
napkin
. “It’s amazing someone had not
attempted to snatch me up.”

“
Well,
I’m glad, because I think it would
have broken my heart to have to walk away from you because you already had a
wife and family,” she admitted. She would not have torn apart a family,
soul-bonded mate or not.

“I could never be with someone
I knew wasn’t right for me. My
parents
and
Bryerly’s
both had arranged marriages. More strategic than romantic by a long shot. There
was no love between either couple, although I think
Bryerly’s
parents at least respected one
another
and tried to help each other often. Mine seem bound and determined to do
whatever they can to undermine each other.”

“I’m sorry. Speaking of your parents, what are they going to
think of you being with me?” she asked with a bit of fear that she could hear
in her own voice. “Are they going to accept me?”

“We never concern ourselves to
whatever my parents might think.
Bryerly
is the only one whose opinion I actually take into consideration. The rest of
my family have no bearing on my
life
or anyone in it. They lost that right a long time ago.” Laura heard anger, old
and firm, in his tone.

“Do you want to talk to me about it?” She found herself
reaching out to touch him. “Share your burdens with me, Chevon.”

“Later, in private, little mate. But I will say this. My
parents can’t stand the fact I am more influential than they will ever be, and
I did it all without them, and without trying.”

She leaned in to press her lips
to his cheek. “As long as your life is yours, that’s all that matters.
And
as long as you are happy with me,” she
said with a laugh.

“I’ve fully accepted you,
little mate. All you are, and with every
quirk
you may have. All I need in my life is
my soul-bonded
mate
and my cousin. That is family enough for me.
At least,
until
there are children that will
come of
one of the two unions. Then
our family will grow and be truly amazing.”

“Agreed.” She leaned in and brushed her cheek to his once
more before she pulled back so that they could settle in. “I can’t wait to see
what a child we would create together would look like.”

“It will be a perfect blend, I
’
m sure. The Great Spirits would not dare to disappoint after
all they have put us both through to get us to this point.” Lifting his cup, he
tipped it her way before taking a sip.

She smiled, then began eating
slowly, fully aware that there were more than a few people watching them. She
hated the fact that there were still people watching them,
but at least
it wasn’t as bad as it could
be if they were on Chevon’s ship. Being as they were on Petr’s ship, they were
able to be free to touch and not worry about others carrying tales around. “I’m
happy that we are at least able to be out with this crew and not worried about
it.”

“Petr’s own mate is something
of an unusual occurrence. The crew is naturally
curious about us,
but they will not make a fuss.
You also need to remember that his sister is mated to a Craegin male. For most
here this is the usual turn of events, and they are just checking out the new
person.”

“I’m glad.” She knew she was lucky that Chevon had someone
like Petr on his side. “She is quite unusual, isn’t she?” Her meeting with
Samantha had been brief, but she did like the woman. “Now, no more chatting,
more eating so that we can go and do something fun.”

He gave a soft
snort
and shook his head. “I would like to
point out for the record that I was eating. Then my lovely little mate made a
comment that required an answer.” He lifted up his eating utensil and slid more
food into his mouth with a smug expression.

She moved so that she could
bump her shoulder to his, then continued to eat. When they were both finished
eating, she said, “What can we do next? I would like to explore the ship, if
that’s okay?”

Chevon nodded. “If Petr needs us it will not take much to
find us. Do you know where you
’
d like to go?” he asked. Standing, he gathered up all their
dishes, then took everything to the containers outside the kitchen.

“I’d like to check out their hydroponics bay so that we can
maybe walk around barefoot in the grasses? I think it would be fun to simply
spend a day where nothing is planned, where we just do whatever comes first to
us.”

“Whatever you want, little
mate.” Hooking his arm through
hers,
Chevon led her out into the corridor and toward the lift. “We’ll do the
hydroponics bay first and go from there. You can walk around in the grasses to
your heart’s content.”

“Only if you
’
re walking around barefoot with me. Time to loosen up just a
small bit, my sweet man. Time for us to just be a couple and enjoy life
together.”

“You know I can’t deny you
anything,” he said. In the
lift,
he nodded to a couple crew members who shot her a look and even gave her smiles
before wiping them away in the presence of a commanding officer.

“Admit it, you have a good time with me, don’t you?” she
asked with a grin. She was leaning into Chevon, noticing that he placed himself
between her and the men. She wondered if he realized that he did that to
protect her.

“I always do, Laura.” The crew members got off two floors
later, and one even gave her a wave. “I
’
ll need to have a word with that young man later. Flirting with
my soul-bond mate right in front of me. I think he needs some horribly menial
task for a few shifts.”

“I seriously doubt that he was
flirting with
me,
”
she told him with a shake of her head. “So you can rest assured he
was just
friendly.” Besides, it wasn’t
as if anyone could ever compare to Chevon. No one would take his place in her
life, ever.

“Hmm.” He slid his arm around
her
waist
and hugged her tight. The
doors opened on their floor, and he guided her out.
Chevon
kept her close to his side
during their walk to the hydroponics bay, only letting her loose once they were
inside.

She slipped her shoes off when she entered the room and
looked back at him. “Come on, take off your boots and come play in the grass
with me? Can you lock the doors?”

Giving her
a nod,
he went to the control panel. A couple moments later she
heard the metallic
clank
that indicated the locks had been engaged. Once
that was done Chevon sat down on a bench to remove his boots and socks before
following her up onto the grass of one of the larger sections.

Laura turned around so that she could look at Chevon and
smiled. “See, it’s lovely to feel the grass under your feet, isn’t it?” She
wiggled her toes in the thick, lush grass. “Do you know if there is anyone else
in here with us?”

Chevon
gave her a look before glancing around. “I have no idea. It wasn’t a
requirement to check
before
sealing the doors. If there is someone else in
here,
I hope they announce themselves
before
you give
in to
that look in your eye. Maybe
you should check first,” he suggested.

“You do know me so well, don’t
you?” She laughed. She moved away from him and called out, “Is there anyone in
here with us?
If so,
you should show yourself here now before Chevon beats you black and blue.”

“Why am I the one who has to beat them? I came in here to
watch you walk through the grass and got talked into joining you. Now you
’
re saying that I will be beating
up Petr’s crew?” He paused as if to consider this. “I don’t know, Laura, Petr
might also have something to say about his crew showing up looking roughed up.”

“Right, so don’t rough them up so much as show them the way
to the door?”

“I don’t know if that is much
of an incentive for them to leave. They now know they will not get roughed up,
just shoved out the door.
Whoever
is in here, should there be anyone, no longer feels the need to leave. If they
are
caught,
they know my soft-hearted little mate will not allow me to break bones or even
bruise them.”

She heard some rustling, then
snorted when two crewmen suddenly appeared and headed for the door with their
heads down.

She nearly burst out laughing when they couldn’t get through
the door. Which made sense, given Chevon would have used his command codes to
lock it. Both crew members appeared to be getting mildly frantic. One even
seemed to be looking for another way out, when Chevon finally muttered
something she didn’t understand under his breath and moved to let them out.

He was so cute when he was
frustrated. Once they were finally
alone,
she grinned. “Well, what do you think? Do you believe that they were the last
two or do you think we have more prying eyes in here watching us?”