Dazz (6 page)

Chloe

As she drifted off into a happy, peaceful sleep, she felt as though she belonged; she now had a home.

The next morning, she woke up alone.  His side of the bed felt cold to the touch, which had her frowning.  Where was he?  When did he leave?  Her happy feeling from the night before was now replaced with dread.  Did he regret mating her?

With a sigh, she decided to shower, dress, and then find some food.  Her stomach rumbled, letting her know the last was a good idea because it was hungry.

Dressing in a standard black jumpsuit she found in Dazz’s closet, she headed out in search of the Dining Hall.  When the door slid open, she almost ran right into an Azziarin.  When he didn’t move, or say anything, Chloe just stepped around him in search of the place to eat.

“Female, stop!” he ordered.  Whatever, she was already in a bad mood.  “I said, stop!” he said as he raced to get in front of her.

“What?” she asked after she turned to face him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”  His face held a stern look.

“To get some food.  Please move.”  She crossed her arms, mimicking him while they had a standoff in the corridor.

“Please return to your quarters.  I’ll have food delivered,” he said in a not so nice, commanding tone.

“No, I think I’ll eat in the Dining Hall, but thank you for offering room service.”  His eyes widened, not that Chloe cared.  When she went to step around him, he blocked her way.  “I’m warning you,” she said.  When he stood there like a tree, strong and unbending, she sighed. 

With a straight shot, her heel connected with his knee, making him grab it in pain.  Chloe didn’t stop there.  She finished the move with a right hook to the chin, effectively knocking him to the ground.
Damn, that hurt!
she thought as she casually walked past him, continuing on her way to the Dining Hall as if nothing had every happened.

After a lot of searching, and asking questions, she found what she was looking for.  Even though it was packed with Azziarins, she didn’t care.  She got in line with the rest of them.  She noticed that many of them sniffed, and then their eyes widened in surprise.  Maybe they knew that she and Dazz had mated; he did say that her scent had changed.

Sitting down at the table, only one male approached her.

“Mind if I join you?”  She waved for him to sit.  “Thank you,” he said.  “You probably don’t remember me, but my name is Zanne.  I was working with Stavven in Sick Bay when you had an allergic reaction.  It’s nice to see you’ve had a full recovery.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember much about that time.  Thank you for helping me, though.”

“You are most welcome,” when he smiled at Chloe, she returned it even though something felt
off
.  She couldn’t explain it, but she felt a little uncomfortable around him for some reason.  As they both ate, Chloe engaged him with idle chitchat, at least until Dazz showed up. 

The first thing she noticed was that Zanne closed up when Dazz strolled up and took a seat beside her.  How odd that they didn’t at least acknowledge each other.  Hmmm…interesting.

“Chloe, what are you doing here?”  Dazz asked in his commanding tone.

“I woke up alone, and after showering, I was hungry so I thought I’d get something to eat.  What are you doing here?” she asked sweetly, batting her eyes at him.

“If you had let me know, I would’ve been happy to accompany you here.  You shouldn’t be by yourself.”  For some reason, that rubbed her the wrong way.

“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, thank you very much.  Besides, the brute outside my door demanded that I return to your quarters.  I’m not a prisoner and I refuse to be treated as one!”

For the first time, Dazz looked around.  He had forgotten about Sakku, who was nowhere in sight.  “Where is your guard now?”

“Guard?” she laughed.  “You mean my warden?  He’s probably still lying on the floor where I left him.”

She hid her smirk as she watched Dazz rub his face in frustration.  “He is not your warden, Chloe.  Sakku is your guard.  He is supposed to accompany you when you leave our quarters.”

“Well, he didn’t.  All he did was demand that I go back inside.  He doesn’t like me very much, Dazz.” 

“I’ll have a talk with him.”  She shrugged, still a little irritated with both him and the guard.

“Where were you this morning?” she asked, eating another bite of food.

“I had duties to attend to.”  She heard the distance in his voice, and even though it really bothered her, she didn’t let on.

“Having second thoughts about mating me, huh?”  She wasn’t prepared for how much the silence would hurt.  When he didn’t reply, she went back to eating her food.  Tears glistened in her eyes as she quickly looked down at her tray.  Before letting one fall, she closed her eyes and told herself she didn’t need him.  She’d been fine before she met him, and she’d be fine now.

“Chloe,” Dazz said while staring at her.

She took a deep breath, straightened her spine, and then gave him a little smile.  “It’s fine, Dazz.  You have a good day at work, and I’ll see you later.”  She disposed of her tray and walked out of the Dining Hall, leaving Dazz sitting there.

Dazz

Word reached Dazz that a female was in the Dining Hall.  Of course, he knew it was his mate. 
Mate
, he thought as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea.  After mating her, he’d been happy…until she told him of Earth’s culture.  He’d spent a restless night trying to figure out what to do.  He liked Chloe very much, but he also cared about Sassha and Britt.  According to Chloe, he would have to choose.

As he entered the Dining Hall, he spotted Chloe sitting with Zanne, and it immediately set him on edge.  He didn’t like seeing her talk to another male, which was crazy.

When she’d asked if he regretted mating her, he’d tried to pick the correct words to convey the turmoil churning inside, but she’d taken his silence as confirmation.  Dazz didn’t want to have this particular conversation in front of an audience.  He not only heard the distance in her voice, but it was palpable in the air.  He could actually feel her pulling away from him.

When she’d told him to have a good day and she’d see him later, he sat there as she walked away.  Deciding to go after her, he headed toward his quarters, but his com-unit beeped and Sakku’s angry voice boomed over the link.

“Commander.”

“What is it Sakku?”

“Can I meet you in your Ready Room?”

“I’m on my way.”  Dazz headed in the opposite direction, away from his quarters, and away from Chloe.  He was thinking over the situation when he spotted Sakku pacing, and ushered him into the room.

“Commander, I…”

“I met Chloe in the Dining Hall.  She said that you refused to let her leave and ordered her back inside my quarters.  Is that so?”

“Yes, Commander,” Sakku said in an official tone.

Dazz sighed as he looked at his best friend.  “Sakku, we’ve been friends a long time.  What’s really going on?” Dazz waited patiently for Sakku to speak.

After a few standard minutes, he finally said, “I’m just not happy that you mated her.”

“Because she’s from Earth, or because of Sassha?”  Dazz stood with his arms crossed, gauging the words of his friend.

Sakku finally relaxed his stance and said, “Because of Sassha.  She was one of my favorite cousins growing up, and I just know that this will hurt her.”

“I understand.  I’ll admit, I’m a little worried, too.  Chloe informed me last night that Earth custom demands that the female
and
the male remain faithful to each other.”

“Wait…what?  Are you joking?”

“I wish I were, but no…I’m not.”

“What happens if you are not faithful to her---you know, because of Sassha and Britt?”

“According to her customs, she can leave me and find one who will be faithful.”

“Do you think she would actually do it?” 

Dazz laughed, but it held no humor.  “In a heartbeat.”  After a few standard moments of silence, he asked, “We’ve been friends a very long time.  Will you try to get along with my mate?  I can’t go back and undo the mating, and to be honest, I wouldn’t want to.  But when the time comes, I will talk to Sassha and Britt, explain things as gently as possible.”  Saying it aloud made Dazz realize that he really didn’t want to give Chloe up, even if it meant giving up his consorts.  For the first time that standard day, he smiled.

“I’ll try, for you.  It won’t be easy, and not just because of Sassha.”  At Dazz’s confused look, he added, “She’s a female and I’m a trained soldier.  She caught me unaware and took me down in two moves…two!”

Dazz’s boisterous laugh echoed on the walls.  “She is amazing, isn’t she?”  Shaking his head he added, “Don’t beat yourself up too badly!  Her father was also an elite soldier and taught her to fight.”

“Well, he did a great job,” Sakku mumbled.

After Sakku returned to his post, Dazz finished up some work, answered questions by com-unit, went over reports.  As time passed, he knew he needed to talk with Chloe.  He felt terrible for leaving her alone all day.

Walking into his quarters, he was unprepared for the scene before him.  Chloe was sitting on the small couch drinking a mug Fire’s Breath.

“Chloe, what are you doing?” he said as he walked over and tried to take the mug away from her.

“Drinking whiskey,” she slurred just a little.

“How much have you had?” he asked, disbelief clear in his voice.  The females on Azziar would never try such a strong drink!

“I don’t know, I lost count.”  She took another sip.

He walked over and picked up the once-full but now half-empty bottle of Fire’s Breath.  “You drank all this?”

“Well, I didn’t have anything else to do while I waited here… by myself.”

Dazz grimaced; he felt guilty for not coming to her sooner.  He hadn’t even showed her around the
Defender
. He vowed to change things and talk to her when she sobered. Since she’d been drinking, he decided that now was not the time to address the mating issue.

“If you regret mating me, you can always take me back to Earth.  Nobody will ever know, and you’ll be free to take another mate,” she said, her eyes averted as she took another drink.

“Let’s talk about this later, when your thoughts are clear.”

“Actually, let’s talk about this now,” she replied in a no-nonsense tone.

He didn’t want to have this conversation with her while she was inebriated, but he knew she wouldn’t let it go.  “I do want you as my mate,” Dazz said as he sat down beside her and took her hand in his.

“But…” she prodded.

“But…it’s complicated,” he sighed.  “When you told me about your culture, I realized it was much different than ours, especially when it comes to mating.”

“How so?”  She sat staring at the floor.

“We do mate for life, but we also have…” he hesitated.

“Have what?”  Her eyes darted to his before finding the floor once again.

“We also have consorts who live with us.”  There, he’d said it.  It was finally in the open.  He glanced at her and wished he hadn’t.  His strong-willed female had tears and hurt shining in her beautiful eyes.

“You have girlfriends living with you at home, and you want them to continue living with us?”

When she put it like that, in that tone, it didn’t sound as good.  “That is our culture.”

“Who is living in your house right now?”  Her eyes found the floor once again and it made something in his chest clench.

“Sassha and Britt have been with me for three standard years.”

“You love them?” she whispered.

“Love?  I never thought about it.  I care for them, yes.”

Without looking at him, she asked, “And you want them to continue to live with us?”

“That’s how it works on my planet…and it would be ideal.  I don’t want to hurt them.”

“I see,” she said and then turned her sharp- laser eyes on him.  He started at the fire that burned within them.  He’d never seen that look on a female’s face.  “Do you know how that would make me feel, to see you with one of them?  To have to watch it everyday?”

He’d never really thought about it before.  “No, not really.”

Dazz didn’t like the grin that spread across her determined face as she said, “Let me show you.”

She jumped off the couch and briskly walked to the door, Dazz following closely behind.  When she stepped into the corridor, he stayed on her heels, wondering where she was headed.

Sakku was walking their way, and when Chloe stepped in front of him, he abruptly stopped.  His eyes quickly darted to Dazz’s and then back to Chloe.

“Hey, you!”  Chloe said as she addressed Sakku.  “Lean over.”  When he did her bidding, she grabbed his face with both hands and forcefully pressed her lips to his.  When he gasped in surprise, she thrust her tongue inside his mouth as she continued her onslaught.

Two hands gripped her hips as Dazz tore her away from Sakku.  Looking at his friend, he yelled, “GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I KILL YOU!”  His face held a look that promised a painful death.

Dazz threw Chloe over his shoulder and carried her back to his quarters.  Rage consumed him, and he had to fight the urge to run back and kill his friend.  When the door slid shut, he set Chloe on her feet and turned furious eyes on her.  She matched him with her own.  “Did you enjoy that display?” she spat at him.

“You will never…ever touch another male!” Dazz roared.

“And that’s how I feel about you having consorts!  I promise, if I stay there---with your consorts---I WILL KILL THEM!  And maybe even you, too!”

Dazz paced the room.  He’d never given much thought about how the females felt about sharing one male, but if it was anything like the way he’d felt when Chloe kissed Sakku, it was gut-wrenching and he didn’t want her to feel that way. 

Chloe drove him crazy at times, excited him, intrigued him on an intellectual level, and had a warrior’s spirit. 

He came to a halt and stood unbending as he faced her.  “You will never touch another male!”

She matched his stance as they faced off.  “You will never touch another female!”  Her voice just as unbending as his as she stood toe to toe with him.

After a brief staring contest, Dazz said, “Agreed!”  His voice remained firm, the rage still churning inside with the need to remind her who she belongs with.

“Agreed!” she replied, and Dazz closed the gap between them.

He took her lips in a hard, passionate kiss, trying to replace the last image that kept replaying inside his mind.  His strong, sure hand went to the back of her head and gripped her hair, keeping her exactly where he wanted her.

Breaking the kiss, he grabbed the front of her jumpsuit and split it right down the middle, leaving her standing there exposed for his view.  She did the same to his, and then he scooped her up in his strong, muscled arms and carried her to the bed.  After making sure she was ready for him, he surged forward with one, long hard thrust; giving her everything he had, making her take it.

“Oh, Dazz, that feels so good,” she moaned.

Dazz slowly withdrew before forcefully surging forward again and again. When she roared out her release, he quickly followed, and then they started again…