Alien Commander (Zerconian Warriors Book 11) Page 7

  They didn’t? Why not? She looked over at Toriq. Okay, so he wasn’t the greatest conversationalist. And he was hard to read. But didn’t he have friends? Family?

  “I didn’t know what you liked. So I had them send a bit of everything.”

  “Thank you, that’s so sweet…” She turned, but he was gone. That was weird.

  But he quickly returned and wrapped a light blanket around her shoulders. It was so soft she couldn’t resist rubbing her cheek against it.

  “So you don’t get cold.”

  Sophie stared at him in shock as he took a seat across from her. He reached for a plate and started to fill it. Then he paused as though just realizing that she was staring at him.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, it’s just…” When was the last time someone took care of her like this? Sure, Saffron looked out for her, but that was different. Like everything, Saffron tackled things head-on with a savage ferocity.

  And Saffron wasn’t a sexy, gorgeous man.

  “I’m not used to someone looking after me, I guess.”

  He was silent for a moment then his gaze dropped to her stomach. Sophie placed her hand on her stomach. “The father…he’s not a good man.”

  “Oh.”

  Oh? What did that mean? “I thought perhaps he had died.”

  “No. If wishes were horses, huh?” she said with a hint of bitterness.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Just a silly earther saying. I’m glad he’s out of my life and will never have a chance to get near my baby.”

  Toriq nodded. He gestured to the food. “Do you require something else?”

  “No.” She looked at the food, then at him. “No, it’s perfect.”

  And despite everything, it was.

  Chapter Eight

  Toriq lay on the lounging chair and stared out the window at the stars twinkling brightly.

  He’d finally done it. Laid claim to Sophie. He’d told her it was to protect her. But he acknowledged that he had other, more selfish reasons.

  He wanted her. And knowing she was sleeping in the other room was almost more torture than he could take. It was bad enough to realize she was his mate and not claim her.

  But it was infinitely worse to claim her and not touch her.

  His body raged with arousal, his cock ached so much he couldn’t sleep, could barely think for the need filling him. And she lay in the next room, with no idea of the thoughts running through his head. Thoughts of stripping her naked and licking her, touching her, tasting her.

  She’d probably be terrified if she did.

  Finally, he stood. If he couldn’t sleep, then he might as well be doing something. Any other night, he would have gone to the training arena. Plenty of other warriors would be there; sometimes the only way their kind rested was after a lot of physical exertion.

  But Toriq needed to keep a close watch on Sophie. Not that he thought she would run, but there were still questions to be answered. He stretched, trying to ease aching muscles.

  At first, the noise was so quiet, he thought he might have imagined it. Then came a louder cry.

  It was coming from the sleeping room. Sophie!

  He raced into the sleeping room, coming to a stop as he saw her thrashing on the masic.

  “Sophie?”

  No answer. As he grew closer, he saw her eyes were still closed. She was trapped in her dream, a terrifying dream if the way she cried out again was any indication.

  “No! No! Don’t hurt me!” The terror in her voice made him freeze. Then he sat next to her. He had to help her. But how?

  Gingerly, he grasped hold of her shoulders and gave her a small shake. “Sophie, wake up!”

  “No! No!” She slammed her fists against him, but he ignored the small smacks. They barely even registered.

  “Sophie, you will wake up. Now.” He injected enough command in his voice to ensure he was obeyed.

  “No!” She arched her back, almost dislodging his hold on her.

  “Lights on low,” he demanded.

  Soft light filled the room, and he noticed the tears tracking down her pale cheeks.

  Enough.

  He lifted her slightly, shaking her hard. “Sophie. Wake up. Now.”

  Her eyes opened, and she gasped in air, then screamed.

  Toriq let go of her and jumped from the masic as she lay panting, crying. Her eyes were wide, terrified.

  “Sophie. I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you.”

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath then opened them again, staring up at him. “Toriq?”

  “Yes. I heard you crying out in your sleep. You sounded afraid. I had to shake you slightly to wake you up. Did I hurt you?” Had he used too much strength?

  “Hurt me? No, no. I just thought you were him.”

  “Who?”

  “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” She closed her eyes, taking deep, even breaths.

  Sophie felt the moment Toriq left the room—not that he made any sound; the man was as silent as a ghost. But she could no longer feel him close to her. Tears filled her eyes, and she willed them away.

  No more tears. No more crying.

  It was time that Maxwell stopped having such a hold on her. God, she couldn’t believe she’d woken Toriq up with her nightmares. No wonder he’d abruptly left. He was probably already asleep again. Unfortunately, from past experiences, she knew she wouldn’t fall asleep again.

  “Here.”

  She opened her eyes, startled as he reappeared.

  “I am sorry for starting you. I will try to move more loudly.”

  She actually smiled. “It’s okay. I think a herd of cattle would have startled me right now. I thought you’d gone back to sleep.” She looked at the glass of water he held. “That’s for me?”

  “You were leaking fluids. You need to rehydrate.”

  Leaking fluids? Did he mean tears? She’d never heard them described like that before, even by other Zerconians. Although they all seemed to have one thing in common, tears made them panic.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry I woke you.”

  She sat up and grabbed the glass of water from him. As her fingers touched his, a shot of electricity raced through her body, and she gasped. Toriq stepped back, looking slightly startled.

  Sophie sighed softly. It was more than obvious from his reluctance to touch her that he wasn’t attracted to her sexually. She was too skinny for him. Then there was her pregnancy, that would turn most men off, right?

  “You didn’t.”

  “Hmm?”

  “You didn’t wake me up. I could not sleep.”

  “Oh. Does that happen often?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  Her lips twitched. “You like one-word answers, don’t you?”

  His eyes widened. “Yes.” Then he paused. “I do.”

  She snorted. “Two words, that’s better. What do you usually do when you can’t sleep?”

  “I exert myself physically.”

  Suddenly images filled her mind of him naked, in bed, with another woman. She swallowed heavily, trying to tell herself that wasn’t jealousy she felt.

  “Not always.”

  “Oh.”

  “Sometimes I go to the training arena. There will usually be other warriors willing to fight.”

  Relief filled her. So he wasn’t talking about that sort of physical activity. Really, Sophie, your mind is in the gutter.

  “Zerconian males are very physical. We are not good at expressing ourselves in any way except physically.”

  “No, I’ve kind of seen that.” She finished the glass and reluctantly set it down.

  “I will leave you to rest.”

  “Wait.” He stilled. Crap. What could she say to keep him here? Because right now, she really didn’t want to be alone.

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t want to be alone.” Shit. That wasn’t what she’d intended to say. Couldn’t she come up with some excuse that didn’t make
her feel like a needy wimp? “Never mind. Forget I said that. You sure you don’t want to sleep in here? I’m smaller than you, I’d be happy to sleep on the lounger.” She moved to the edge of the masic and swung her legs out.

  Toriq moved forward but came to a stop before touching her. “You are not sleeping on a lounger.”

  “But I’m much shorter than you are. It’s practically the size of a single bed back home. I’ll be more than comfortable, and you need your rest.”

  “You need your rest more. And I would not rest with my mate sleeping on a lounger.” He sounded outraged. Great, so now she’d offended him.

  Way to go, Sophie.

  “Maybe you could sleep here as well.”

  Oh hell. She really needed to start vetting her words before she just blurted them out.

  Toriq stared down at her in complete shock. His mouth opened then closed.

  “Not like that,” she said hastily. It was obvious that he really didn’t want that from her. And that wasn’t hurt she felt, it was relief.

  Uh-huh, it really was.

  She should be relieved that he didn’t want sex. After all, they didn’t know each other, and he was much bigger than she was. She didn’t even see how they would fit. Not if he was this big all…over. She licked her lips at that thought.

  “I don’t mean that we should sleep together. Just that we should sleep together. You understand?”

  Toriq stared down at the small female who was his mate. Understand? No, he did not. He was getting used to not fully comprehending these humans when they spoke, but he should make an effort to understand his own mate, should he not?

  She wanted him to sleep with her. But not sleep with her.

  That made no sense at all.

  “Oh God, I’m making no sense, am I? I’m a babbling idiot. It’s just that I’m nervous and unsure and after these nightmares, I never sleep. I think the lack of sleep is getting to me, you know?”

  She seemed to need some sort of response from him, so he nodded, hoping that was the correct reply. The small smile she gave him filled him with relief. All right, so perhaps he was getting better at understanding human speech.

  “You wish me to sleep with you.”

  “Yes. But just sleep.” Her cheeks blushed red. “I know we have to complete the mating, but I-I’m not quite ready yet. You must think I'm really selfish. But I never really thought I would find a mate. I know eventually we have to have sex or we’ll both get a bit crazed. But I’m not ready to do that tonight. Is that okay?”

  His brain scrambled to keep up. “Yes.”

  Her smile widened. So that was the correct response again.

  “Then you’ll just sleep with me? I know we don’t know each other, but everyone has told me that once you guys give your word, you mean it. And I’ll give you my word too, of course.”

  Her word. Right. “Yes.”

  Right again. He was better at this than he thought.

  “Good.” She scooted over and patted the masic. “So I promise not to jump your bones. I’ll stick to my side of the bed, and you stick to yours. Do you want me to put pillows down the middle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.”

  Was that disappointment on her face? But then she nodded with a smile. “Yes, you’re right. After all, you don’t know that I’ll keep my word and it gives us both a bit of added protection.”

  She thought he needed protection from her? This was all confusing, but he simply watched as she moved to the storage area and grabbed some more pillows. Finally, he managed to rouse himself from his thoughts as she started to carry them back to the masic. He lifted them from her arms.

  “You should not be carrying things.”

  “They’re pillows. They don’t weigh much.”

  “You should not be carrying things,” he reiterated and placed the pillows on the masic.

  Sophie stared at him for a moment then she climbed onto the masic and arranged the pillows from top to bottom. She placed them over towards one side, then pointed at the large section of the masic.

  “Your side. My side. See?” She looked so happy that he forced himself to nod like he knew what she spoke of. When she curled up on the smaller side of the masic, he realized that she wished him to lie on the other side.

  The pillows were some sort of barrier. Did she really think they would work if he wished to touch her? Of course not, Sophie was not simple-minded. This was more of a gesture, he guessed.

  “Toriq? Are you going to lie down?”

  “Yes.” But before he did, he moved the pillows into the center of the masic.

  She sat up. “Oh, but I don’t need as much room as you do.”

  “It will be equal.” He lay on his back and closed his eyes. Her scent enveloped him, and his body tightened, his cock impossibly hardening further. Knowing she was asleep in the next room, and lying next to her on the same masic were two different things entirely.

  “Oh. Okay. Night, Toriq.”

  “Sleep.” That might have been a bit abrupt, but he was working hard to ignore that she lay so close, not to feel the small movements as she rolled over, the small noises she made as she snuggled into the masic.

  “Toriq?”

  “Yes,” he bit out.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For believing in me. For protecting me. For taking care of me.”

  What sort of life had she led where she thought she had to thank him for those things? She should have been cherished and protected from the moment she was born.

  “It is my duty.”

  “Oh.” There was a pause. “Well, thank you, anyway. Even if it was just out of duty, I still appreciate it.”

  Toriq grimaced, realizing he had said the wrong thing again. This is why he stuck to one word answers. It made life much simpler.

  Chapter Nine

  Sophie was feeling even more awkward the next morning as she sat in the small dining area in Toriq’s house, and she hadn’t thought that was possible. She was still smarting a little over his words last night.

  But of course, he was looking after her out of duty. What other reason would there be? It wasn’t like they were having a raging love affair. She should feel relief over that, that this wasn’t based on love and passion.

  Lord knew she’d never had much luck in those departments.

  “Did you make this?” she asked, staring at the abundance of food once more.

  “No. I had them bring us another selection.”

  “This is a lot of food, Toriq. Honestly, you don’t need to go to such lengths for me. I’m not a big breakfast eater anyway. A piece of fruit is fine for me. I’m not fussy.”

  “Moroco bought over more of the vitamin mix for you. I have placed it in the cooling unit.” He stood before she could tell him she’d fetch it.

  When she’d woken this morning, he’d already left. She guessed he was an early riser, whereas she liked to lounge in bed for a bit before she got up. This morning she’d taken even longer than usual, trying to get her scattered thoughts into order.

  When she’d realized he’d waited to have breakfast until she had risen, she’d felt horribly guilty. It had to take a lot of food to fuel a body that big and yet he’d waited on her.

  Out of duty.

  But did duty extend to taking care of her so thoroughly? She took the glass he handed her with a grimace. She hadn’t suffered from morning sickness since her first trimester ended, but looking at this disgusting concoction definitely had her stomach rolling.

  She pinched her nose closed and took a sip. She grimaced. “How long do I have to take this for?”

  “It is for your health. You must take it as long as it is necessary.”

  “Have you tried it?” she asked. “Here.” She held out the glass.

  “It is for you.” He looked at the glass like it was a snake about to strike.

  “Huh!” She pointed a finger at him. “See! You don’t want to taste it any more than I
do because you know it’s disgusting too.”

  Reaching out, he took the glass from her. Again, that shock of awareness ran up across her skin. She gasped slightly as her nipples tightened.

  Okay, then. That was intense.

  Toriq took a sip then he placed the glass down, his gaze unchanged.

  “See? Gross, right?”

  “It is not the worst thing I have tasted. Nor the best. But it will make you healthy.” He moved the glass across the table, not handing it to her, as though he didn’t wish to risk touching her again.

  Sophie sighed, but she forced herself to sip from the disgusting drink as she ate something pale green that tasted a little like apricots. “Why is it that things that are good for you always taste awful? Why can’t they taste like ice cream or chocolate?”

  “I have heard of this chocolate. The Empress is obsessed with it.”

  She smiled. “I know. I think everyone on the planet knows about her chocolate addiction. So, what’s the plan for today?”

  He glanced down at his communicator. “As soon as you are ready, we go to the palace. The Emperor wishes to speak to you again.”

  “Right. Well, guess it’s like a bandage, right? Best just to rip it off and get it over and done with. I’ll get cleaned up then we can go.”

  ***

  Toriq watched Sophie carefully as they made their way down to the palace. He had wanted to order a shuttle to carry her to the palace, but she’d refused.

  “Relax, Toriq. I’m fine. It’s good for me to get some exercise.”

  He wasn’t so sure, and he realized he had a number of questions about her care that he needed to address with Moroco.

  “So will just the Emperor be there or others as well?”

  “I believe Koran will be there also. And Moroco.”

  “Moroco? Why would he be there?”

  “Because I asked for him to be.”

  She stopped and turned to look up at him. “You did? Why?”

  “I will not have your health put at risk. If he believes you are growing stressed, then I will put an end to the questioning.”

  “You will?”

  “Yes.” Of course. Nothing was more important than her health.

  Reaching out, she patted his arm. He was too surprised to move away and then before he could react, she’d pulled her hand back.