Page 8 of A Mate for Vasek (Tallean Mercenaries #11)

Vasek

Vasek returned to his desk to find that Dawn had already separated everything into little piles.

There was a pile for anything that needed to be sanitized, a pile of tools, and the unused pieces of artificial skin were back in their packages.

Everything else she didn’t recognize was lined up in a neat little row.

“Thank you. This is very helpful.”

Perhaps having an assistant wouldn’t be so bad after all.

He immediately shoved the thought away. He couldn’t keep her as an assistant because he couldn’t be spraying down his environment with olfactinull for the rest of his life.

Or could he? He wondered if there was any research done on the long-term effects.

Was this perhaps the way to thwart the mating curse?

He could never lose his mate if he never developed a mate bond.

And since a mate bond required him to recognize his mate by scent, removing his ability to smell would solve the problem.

He’d never considered that option before since smell and sight were a Tallean’s best tools.

But giving up such a vital component of his senses wouldn’t be so bad if it was reversible.

He quickly disinfected his tools and opened his cabinets to put his supplies back.

He almost felt bad shoving the neatly corralled items back into the jumble of mess.

He often took only what he needed to meet his clients.

And while his field setup was relatively organized, his shuttle’s cabinets had become a dumping ground for all the equipment, supplies, and tools he'd ever collected.

It had never really bothered him before, but now he was a bit embarrassed that another living soul had to witness it.

“Hungry?” he asked.

Dawn nodded, then said, “Yes, sir.”

Which had him frowning. He didn’t like honorifics, but he understood that she probably did it out of habit.

“It’s just Vasek.” He opened another cabinet.

This one was much better organized. He kept pouches of water and other drinks lined up on one side and food bars on the other.

He also had a fruit replicator and preferred to eat from that, but the food replicator reused the serving containers and utensils.

He only had a few sets and he hadn’t gotten around to collecting and returning those to the unit for cleaning yet.

“Which one do you want?”

Dawn eyed the rows of boxes of bars. “I don’t know. I usually don’t get the normal bars.”

Vasek grabbed the one most favored by youngsters. It was still his favorite despite all these years. “You’ll like this one.”

They shared a dinner of meal bars and water. Vasek felt bad that this was all he could offer her this first evening, but Dawn seemed to enjoy her food. The setting sun and the parade of colors it provided must have helped. She couldn’t finish the whole bar, and Vasek was happy to eat the leftovers.

But it was clear that just helping him and sharing a meal was already tiring her out again.

Dawn yawned. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m so tired again.”

“This is normal,” Vasek explained. “Your body, in conjunction with a medication, is busy clearing out the toxin and fighting the bacteria in your system. You should sleep again.”

“But it’s late.” She looked out at the night sky.

The sun had set during their meal, and the inky black now twinkled with the first stars of the night.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not understanding her statement.

“You need to sleep too. I shouldn’t sleep on your bed.”

Was she afraid he’d force himself on her in the night? He frowned. “You’re safe from me, I will not ask for anything you do not want to give.”

“Thank you. I believe you.” She hesitated a moment, then added, “But usually my owners do not let me stay on the bed because it could trigger a mate bond. It’s why Kotch always preferred his Fiete females.”

Technically, the Fietes were also capable of forming mate bonds with Talleans, but it was very rare.

So rare that some people thought the reports of matings were either just a rumor, or a desperate mind tricking the body, or even just plain lies.

With humans however, it was as if their bodies couldn’t tell they were a different species at all.

And they were so close biologically, in fact, that it was possible for them to procreate with just a teeny, tiny nudge from a doctor in the form of fertility enhancements.

Vasek found it entertaining that they’d both been worried about the same thing. But with the olfactinull in the air, they were safe.

“We don’t need to worry about that. Sleep. I will join you when I’m finished scanning my networks.”

Dawn wrinkled her nose but nodded, before disappearing into the facilities to prepare for bed.

Vasek settled down with his portable personal computer to scan the broadcasts for anything he might need to know.

Despite not enjoying interaction with others unless he had to for work, he liked being up to date with the happenings in and around both New Rhea and Vosthea.

At first, he’d thought it was because it was necessary to his survival, but he’d since come to terms with the fact that he simply enjoyed it.

It was a hobby. He liked being in the know.

Recently, he’d also added Reka 5 to his radar.

That colony had gotten bigger over the years and was now impossible to ignore.

According to his sources, Reka 5 had recently added one new colonist, a human named Cami, to their roster, then promptly lost her when she joined the New Horizon as an official crew member.

Vasek had worked on Cami just recently, reprogramming a chip to say that she belonged to a male named Berus, and for anyone finding her to return her to the New Horizon for a reward.

News like that seemed trivial at first, until one realized who captained the ship.

Captain Uzzar might seem unassuming, a little older and past his prime, but Vasek knew that he was actually Ulrek, one of the Dominion’s most wanted in disguise.

It might as well be a public secret at this point, considering many of the port officials already knew but kept the secret since Ulrek made them more credits in the long run alive and free than otherwise.

Not to mention, the former Dominion captain had enough allies out here that anyone who gave him up would find themselves rather dead in a very short time.

There wasn’t any news of what happened to Bakum yet. But then, it was probably too early.

Satisfied for now, he got ready for bed.

He found Dawn curled up against the wall, barely taking up any space.

There was plenty of space for him. She’d left the single pillow for him, probably afraid to take it.

Perhaps he could stop by the depot on the way back to pick up another for her for their trip to Vosthea.

He climbed into bed, careful not to wake her, and ordered his shuttle to turn off the lights and turn off the view screen so the morning sun would not wake them. Then, with Dawn's tiny form curled up next to him. Vasek closed his eyes and slept next to a female for the very first time.

***

Vasek woke to Dawn plastered against him, a leg thrown haphazardly over his body.

She was using him as a body pillow, and he was holding her back.

She was snoring softly, and despite his initial reaction to shove her away, he couldn’t.

He inhaled, trying to see if he needed to spray the olfactinull again, but he still couldn’t smell anything. That meant he was safe.

This was actually quite nice.

Was this how it felt to have someone special in his life?

He’d never been curious about it because he’d known it wasn’t something he could have, but he was glad he had the opportunity to experience some form of it, no matter how mild.

He knew that lying with a female was nothing like lying with his mate, but he could imagine and pretend.

He wasn’t a stranger to the pleasures of the flesh, but he always kept his distance, preferring to leave immediately after his conquests. He also never slept with the same female twice. Of course, he’d been extremely forthright with the females he’d spent time with.

Tallean culture was very lax when it came to sex. And since mate bonds usually did not form unless there was physical intimacy, often in the form of sex, many young Talleans hopped from bed to bed in a bid to find their mates. But a decent percentage of them were like Vasek: just there to have fun.

So Vasek wasn’t lacking bed partners. But if he had to admit, only to himself, he was lonely. But then, he’d known all his life that he would be. His sire had warned him repeatedly, and every story that had come in about his uncles hammered it home. And of course, there was Ranek.

Was what Vasek was feeling now with Dawn a tiny taste of what his brother had felt before the rejection from his mate had driven him crazy?

Vasek thought of the last time he’d seen his brother. What a disaster!

He’d become so dangerous that the Dominion had to lock him up. The only reason they’d spared his life was because he’d been their sire’s son, and their sire had been highly decorated in the Dominion military.

Was Ranek still rotting in a cell somewhere in an inner planet prison?

Vasek felt a twinge of guilt for leaving him there until he remembered the brother he knew growing up was gone, replaced by rage and nothing else. If he ever forgot, all he had to do was look at his missing hand.

Dawn made a soft moaning sound in her sleep that had him wondering exactly just what type of dream she was having. Just because he could not smell her did not mean that his body didn’t react to her, especially when her leg moved, brushing up against his crotch.

Then she was nuzzling his chest. But humans didn’t nuzzle. Not the same way Talleans did.

Starved of intimacy for so long, Vasek couldn’t help but bend his head to nuzzle the top of her head, the side of her head, her ear.

He knew the moment she woke. But instead of shying away, she tilted her head and caught his lips with hers. His eyes went wide at the sudden thrill that shot through him. This was the human kiss he’d heard about. It was like a mouth mating, and his cock was immediately hard.

He “kissed” her back, swiping his tongue over her lips. Even without his sense of smell, she was delicious, and the swipe turned into a thrust as he plunged into her mouth. She moaned, the sound making his cock throb and twitch under her leg, which was still thrown around his hips.

They were both breathless when their lips finally parted.

Yes, Vasek quite enjoyed this kissing mouth-to-mouth. Too bad he’d never be able to experience it safely with all his senses intact.

As if only now aware of what was happening, Dawn gasped.

“I’m sorry. I was dreaming, and—” She gasped. “My leg!” She pulled her leg back. “I didn’t realize.”

“It’s… I enjoyed the kiss.” Wow, that sounded more awkward than it had in his head. “We sleep now.” That was even worse.

What was happening to him? Vasek had never enjoyed dealing with social situations, but he’d never been bad at them either. This was not like him, and he didn’t trust it. Was it possible for bonds to form without his sense of smell despite all the research?

Then, suddenly deciding that sleeping with Dawn in his arms was too much of a risk, even with the olfactinull in the air, he turned to face away from her. She did the same and curled up into herself again.

Maybe it would be a good idea to pick up an extra mat for her after all.