The stench of Jessie’s physical pain soon faded as Leigh sedated her. Looch made no movements towards Jessie or his brother. All he could do was stand there. For the first time in his life, he was scared. He was scared for his ayah, scared Jessie would never recover from whatever she’d suffered at the hands of those males, scared she wouldn’t accept him, scared she wouldn’t accept his brother, just…scared. He was a man of action, not a coward. He was a warrior. Warriors were never scared. Warriors instilled fear into those who deserved their wrath. Warriors accepted things they couldn’t change.

With a heavy heart, Looch looked to Leigh for guidance. He knew his brother would have answers. Leigh was always the level headed one in the family. Although Leigh and Looch would rule together as the new kings when their fathers walked with the Goddess, Looch was the oldest and a warrior, making him the protector of the planet. Leigh took care of the day to day operations and made decisions affecting the livelihood and safety of the planet. Needless to say, Looch valued his brother’s council. Leigh was sensible and pragmatic, whereas Looch was headstrong and impulsive. Being sensible did not make Leigh any less of a warrior. In fact, in some cases, it made him a better warrior. Leigh would weigh all options before acting, which made him a deadly strategist.

Leigh turned to see his brother’s eyes, but before he could address his brother, he had to take care of Sloane. Turning back to Sloane’s tear-filled eyes he said, “Jessie will be fine now. I’ve implanted the translator so we won’t have any more misunderstandings. She just needs her rest. I’ll have Lyon and Lian take you to their quarters where several others of your party are already staying. Either Looch or I’ll come and get you when we’re ready, until then, you’ll stay with the others. We will be transporting Jessie to our quarters on the ship where she’ll be more comfortable. Looch and I’ll take care of her there.”

Sloane looked at Lyon and Lian, then back to Leigh. Lyon and Lian looked like they were about to devour her. Sloane turned a cautious eye back to Leigh and said in the sweetest voice possible, “Although I appreciate your offer, I must decline. I came to check on Jessie, and from the looks of it, I need to stay with her.”

“I assure you, Looch and I will take care of our ayah.” Leigh said with pride.

“What does that even mean Leigh? What’s an ayah?” Sloane hurried to say.

“A translation you’d understand is she’s our miracle. She is ours. Our mate, life partner, companion, bonded.” Leigh replied.

Sloane was speechless. She just kept looking back and forth between Looch, Leigh, and Jessie. She didn’t know what to think. Was he saying he and Looch were going to marry Jessie? All three of them? Is that what did it for these guys? Then Sloane’s thoughts and eyes drifted back to Lyon and Lian’s hungry looks. Is that what they wanted? Surely not.

When Sloane finally found her voice, she squared her shoulders and looked at Leigh in the eyes and said “And how exactly do you know that? I don’t know what kind of screwed up society you have on your planet, but she’s the one to decide whether she’s married, not you. You can’t just snap your fingers and have it be true.”

Looch came to stand with Leigh across the healing unit from Sloane. He wanted to hold his ayah and was tired of the banter. “I’m commander of this ship, and although I don’t need to explain myself to you, I’ll do you the courtesy of explaining a little bit about our culture since you’ll be living there soon.” Gesturing to Leigh and himself Looch explained, “All Arenian males are born with a mark or symbol if you will. We know she is our bonded by her sweet scent. All Arenian males know their mate by scent. When an Arenian female realizes her mates, a symbol encompassing all her male’s marks will form on her body. Something your culture would call a tattoo. In most cases, it’s a symbol of some sort. Now that you’re aware, you’ll go with Lyon and Lian to their cabin. I understand your concern for her but, if we were going to hurt her, we wouldn’t have bothered to bring her on the ship. You have my word no harm will come to her or any female for that matter.” Looch motioned for Lyon and Lian. They flanked each side of Sloane, dwarfing her. Sloane looked at both Looch and Leigh, knowing she wasn’t going to win this battle. She didn’t say a word as Lyon and Lian escorted her out the door towards their cabin.

After a while in the healing unit, Looch wrapped a large sheet around Jessie, picked her up and proceeded to take her towards their cabin. After walking down several corridors, cradling his precious Jessie in his arms, Looch was a little reluctant to let her go, but he gently laid her down on the enormous bed in their cabin. Looch and Leigh took a seat in the sleeping chamber and watched over Jessie. “Brother.” They said in unison while looking at each other with a knowing smile. Looch held his hand up to silence Leigh. “I would like to know how long Jessie will be sedated.”

“It’s hard to say Looch. She’s extremely exhausted physically and emotionally. She needs to heal and may be unresponsive for several hours.” Looch nodded and focused his attention on Jessie. “Looch, don’t fret, she’ll accept us both. Jessie is a little broken right now. Her family is probably gone; she was protecting and providing for as many females as she could save and has seen horrific things which are going to stay locked in her memory forever. Body scans I took in the healing bay show many fractures and wounds. She has fought many battles and will make a strong queen.”

“When it comes to you brother, I’m not a jealous man, but she clung to you in the healing ward. She sought out you for comfort. She accepts you, Leigh. How can I not worry? I’m a warrior. She’ll think of me as any other male on her planet, and rightly so, I’m a killer.”

Leigh gave Looch a lopsided smile. “Give her time my brother. No matter what you think, she’s a warrior at heart. You may have more in common than you think.”

“Do we even know if the Earth females will develop the mark or is it something which happens only to Arenian females?”

Leigh’s comlink chirped and was needed in the healing unit as a fresh group of females have been brought to the Solace for healing. Although Leigh didn’t want to leave Jessie, he was the master healer and responsible for all. “I don’t know Looch, but for now I must go, brother. I need to help calibrate all equipment to make sure it will treat the females. Keep an eye on our ayah. I’ll return soon.”

Looch turned to Leigh before he left and said, “Thank you brother, for everything.”

When Leigh left the cabin, Looch stripped down and carefully got into bed beside Jessie. He lay there content, stroking her hair and watching her steady shallow breaths fill her lungs. He sent a prayer to the Goddess that Jessie would accept them both. He knew from the information he’d researched, bonding with two males wasn’t the Earthling way. Most of the population of Earth was one male and one female. 

Jessie was so slight. He couldn’t grasp how this small female could be a warrior. She saved females and led them to safety. She took risks to protect others. She thought of others before herself. Leigh was right. Jessie would make a beautiful queen. Aside from their mother, very few females left on Arenia would have thought of others as they mainly think of themselves.

Looch could stand it no more. He carefully positioned Jessie in his arms so he could hold her. Looch tried calming her whenever she whimpered with a bad dream. He would kiss her temple and continue to stroke her hair. He couldn’t remember a time where he was this pleased. If he walked with the Goddess tonight, he’d die happy. With that thought, he drifted off to sleep with his ayah carefully tucked in his arms.

~~~~~~~~

As Jessie started to become aware of her surroundings, she knew two things for sure. One, she felt rested. Two, her body felt the best it had in months. As she did a mental check of her body she had one more realization. Someone was holding her. Jessie tried not to panic as she realized it wasn’t just anyone, it was a male someone judging by the huge erection digging into her backside. Mystery man’s scent was heavy in the air. He smelled like her favorite cologne, Drakkar. Although she felt warm and safe, she wasn’t taking any chances. She still had her sports bra and underwear on so she was thankful for the small things in life.

Jessie slowly scanned her surroundings with her eyes, careful not to move her head. Of what she could see, she was in an enormous room with high ceilings, warm red colors, soft lighting and some weird types of weapons on the walls. Although she was never formally trained in martial arts weapons, she did see one weapon she recognized on the wall to be something she dabbled with in the past.   

Jessie started to carefully untangle herself from this beast of a man who she thought was sleeping. All of a sudden the man freely let go of her, which put Jessie in panic mode. She quickly scrambled from the bed, turned around readying herself for a fight. What she wasn’t expecting were the handsome emerald green eyes staring back at her. Jessie couldn’t believe it. She was looking at a dark-haired, golden-skinned, Greek god. The man sat up on the enormous bed and sheet fell to his waist almost giving her a glimpse of his manhood. He was huge with muscles bulging and dark golden skin tight with sinew.

Looch made no move towards Jessie. She’d been through enough. He must earn her trust. “Jessie, calm. I’ll not harm you.” Jessie took quick strides towards the door and tried to open it. Looch quickly said, “It’s locked for your safety.”

Jessie whirled around and shouted, “Open it!”

“I cannot Jessie. You must stay in the cabin.”

It just registered he knew her name. “How do you know my name and better yet who the hell are you?”

“My name is Commander Looch Aren, and I’m commander of this ship. I know your name because your friends told me.”

“Where are they? What did you do to them? I’ll kill you if you hurt them. Wait...I remember you. You were staring at me when I was in the hospital.” Jessie looked almost pained in thought. “Sloane was there. She was with you. The doctor helped me. Sloane helped me. Y-you roared like a bear. Wait a minute, why can I understand you?” Jessie finally cried out. “Oh God, what did you do with Sloane? She’s been through enough. She’s very sick. She needs help.” Jessie’s memories started to spew from her mouth. 

The commander made a slight movement to get up, and Jessie was on full alert grabbing the Bo staff she recognized earlier from the wall and wielded it as an extension of her arm.

Looch was very impressed. “Jessie, all is well. Your friends are safe. I didn’t know Sloane was sick. We will help her. I don’t want to fight with you. Put the anook down.”

When Jessie made no move to strike, Looch finally rose from the bed to his full height, with no modesty of his current aroused state. His nakedness must’ve shocked Jessie because she couldn’t take her eyes off his manhood. After a bit, Looch stepped towards Jessie, and with lightning speed, Jessie struck him in the shoulder with the Bo staff. “Molinka, that stung.” Looch thought.

Pointing to his fully erect member with the Bo staff, Jessie said, “Look, Commander, I don’t want to fight either, but if you don’t let me out of this room I’m going to sever that appendage from your body with this Bo staff.”  

Even though Jessie was much smaller than himself, he knew she’d try to make good on her promise, but he needed to try and calm her down. “My state of undress is making you uncomfortable, let me dress, and we will talk Jessie.”

Not wanting to lose her advantage Jessie flatly stated, “I think we’re fine just the way we are.”

As Looch moved towards Jessie and started to say “My brother will be he-,“ Jessie cut him off with a quick slap of the anook to his other shoulder with a loud thwack. Looch hissed his displeasure. Looch made another move towards Jessie and assessed her stance with the anook. As predicted she took another swing at him, but Looch was ready and caught it in his hand, then jerked Jessie off balance and into his arms.

Jessie immediately countered by turning her back to him as he manipulated her into a bear hug. She quickly placed her feet on the wall and pushed off with all her might. The action made him step back, but he did not loosen his grip on Jessie. His ayah was quick and resourceful, but her disadvantage was her slight weight. Most Arenian males were a great deal taller and broader in mass than the Earth males. Looch knew she was a great warrior but had not fought an opponent of his size. Looch immediately lay down on the bed with her and entangled her legs with his, essentially pinning her against him.

Jessie struggled and struggled, but couldn’t get out of his hold. “Let me go!” Jessie hissed through clenched teeth.

“Calm yourself, Jessie. I’m not hurting you. I need you to listen to me.” Looch stated coolly. 

Jessie hated being bested, but he was right. He wasn’t hurting her, not like Mac did. “What did you do to him?”

It wasn’t something Looch was expecting to hear from Jessie. In fact, it angered him to think of another male laying claim to Jessie. She was theirs. Looch took a deep breath and let it out. “If you’ll calm yourself and listen to me I’ll explain everything.”

“Fine. Let me go.”

“You don’t seem calm my ayah. In fact, I can smell your rage. I won’t release you until I know you’re calm. Your strikes with the anook, sting.” He chuckled.

“Is he laughing?” Thought Jessie. It was a warm deep chuckle, an almost infectious laugh. Jessie started to giggle thinking of what it would look like if someone walked in on her and the very naked, very aroused commander Looch. The more she thought about it, the more she laughed. She’d not laughed in a very long time.

Looch surely was walking with the Goddess. He’d never heard such a charming laugh in all his life. He made her laugh. The more she laughed, the more relaxed she became. Looch finally released her. She continued to laugh, and Looch smiled at her.

When her laughter finally subsided Jessie realized she was sitting in bed with a naked man. He made no effort to get dressed. He just sat there unabashed and stared at her. When he finally did speak she wasn’t expecting what came out of his mouth, “You are so beautiful.”

Jessie cleared her throat and turned her head to the side, “Thank you. Do you mind getting dressed now? You’re very…distracting.”

After looking at Jessie for several more moments, Looch moved from the bed and started putting on his clothes. He turned around and said, “Jessie, if you want to know what happened and how you ended up here I’ll tell you, but I would like to spare you the details as it may be difficult for you.”

“Believe me when I say the things running through my head are probably far worse than the reality. Please tell me Commander Looch.”

Looch sighed then explained how Marie had led him to her friends and they all came to be on the Solace. Jessie was silent for a long time. She finally took a deep breath and asked Looch, “What happened to Mac?”

Looch was immediately defensive and ask Jessie “Who is Mac?”

“Mac is the one who was trying to kill me.” Jessie whispered not looking at Looch.

While sitting on the bed with Jessie, Looch straightened his torso, sticking out his chest and said flatly, “I killed him. I made it as painless as possible. There was no saving him Jessie. I’m truly sorry.”

Jessie nodded shakily and with tears quietly streaming down her face said, “I understand. It’s just…he was a good man before getting sick with MEDS. Oh God, poor Mac.” She wailed and grabbed onto Looch hugging him. Looch didn’t know what to do. His ayah was in pain. Pain he’d caused by recounting the details of what had happened.  He just sat there holding her.

Jessie managed to say between sobs, “He saved Riley and me you know. When MEDS hit our town, Riley and I were drinking at his bar that night.” Jessie calmed herself and recalled how Mac had saved her.