Chapter Fourteen
As he led her through their suite, he remembered something crucial. Many of the Odyssey females were at the med-bay in town for testing. He wasn’t ready to disclose the fact her ship was in space dock, or the rest of her teammates were being matched to Primarian males even as they spoke.
Kerr stopped long enough to order Janus to have the healer meet them in the small examination room downstairs right away. He’d almost forgotten it existed. Included in the planning when the capital was built long ago, the small private clinic had been designated for use by the Princep’s family and capital staff when needed. It was very rarely used.
Arriving before Jarlan, who had to come from a few blocks away, Kerr lifted Eva onto the exam table.
She eyed the stirrups while frowning. “I didn’t get to clean up. He can’t possibly want to examine me with, well…you, still inside.”
“We’ll wait to find out when he gets here.”
“Find out what?” Jarlan asked from the doorway, considering them both closely. “I was told it was urgent and teleported here, but you both look as right as uladite. Is one of you ill?” His gaze shot to Eva. “Or breeding?” His warm, pleased smile lit up the room. “You would make the fourth in the past two days, Prima. One was a false alarm, but it spurred me into action. I’ve had to scramble to come up with a human pregnancy test.” He pulled out his hand-held communicator. “If this has prompted your visit, I’ll have to send for a different analyzer. I don’t have any with the new parameters stocked here.”
With a sharply indrawn breath, Eva whispered, “Two of my shipmates are pregnant?”
Jarlan frowned. “Yes, we just found out today. Isn’t this why you’re here?”
“Sadly, no,” Kerr replied, “quite the opposite. We have some concerns Eva isn’t progressing through the transformation like the others, and we want you to find out why.”
“How do you mean?” Kerr stepped aside to allow the physic closer and watched as he raised Eva’s chin with his hand and examined her eyes, skin, and hair. He also swept aside the blonde waves at her nape and lightly touched her skin.
“Have you had a burning sensation here?”
“She has,” Kerr said. “The first time after the breaching it was extremely uncomfortable. It eased in the days that followed and has since nearly disappeared. But as you can see, there are no changes…and there is no sign of my marking.”
“You’ve been intimate, regularly?” Jarlan asked flatly.
Eva flushed at the very personal question.
Even in a medical exam, she was timid about her body’s functions, which, for a scientist, was surprising. Any other time, he would have found this amusing. “A minimum of three times each day. Four times within twenty-four cycles of the initial breaching.”
“Is that standard operating procedure?” she demanded irritably.
Moving his hand to her thigh, he squeezed in warning. “There is no such thing, Eva. I am merely clarifying for Jarlan we have been intimate and often.”
Jarlan inclined his head, appearing thoughtful. “It shows there is intense desire. Is it sated easily?”
“No,” Kerr replied. “I want her again a minute after I spend inside her. And she ignites like a flame at my touch.”
She squirmed beneath both men’s intense scrutiny. Jarlan turned and opened a cabinet, returning to her with a transparent cup. “Urine sample, please.”
Almost leaping off the table in her haste to get down, she looked around, searching for another door. Kerr walked to the only one in the room, opened it then angled his head to the right. “The last door at the end of the corridor.”
Slipping past him, she scurried down the hall.
“Do you have signs of mate fever, Kerr? The distraction, the yearning to be near her, the all-encompassing need to breed her?”
He turned in the doorway and met the physic’s gaze. “When I’m apart from her for more than a few cycles, I ache, my stomach churns, and I can’t think straight. And I’m hard as stone around the clock. I’ve moved into the office upstairs because of it. The symptoms from such a brief separation are why I know there isn’t a mistake. Eva is not convinced.”
“This is very curious. The only other couple having difficulty is—”
“Ram and Eryn. I know. Eva is concerned the tests are in error, comparing herself to Eryn, who also hasn’t shown signs of a transformation. She wants me to send them back.”
“Out of the question. The bonding has begun.”
“I know this. Even if it hadn’t, she’s not going back.”
Jarlan tapped his finger against his chin, immersed in thought. “A partial bonding, or perhaps it’s merely a delayed transformation. With these humans, I suppose anomalies are expected.”
He glanced down the hall, but she wasn’t on her way back yet. “Don’t let Eva hear you call her an ‘anomaly.’ She’s oversensitive as it is.”
“Irritability could be a sign.”
“Or a natural response to being captured, taken from all she’s ever known, and mated to the leader of a far-off planet. The leader part seems to heighten her annoyance.”
“Why?”
“This is something she will have to explain.”
“Hmm…interesting complex creatures, these humans. I’ll need to run more tests.”
Kerr heard the soft footsteps in the hall and watched her return, noting how her cheeks blazed with color as she hid the container behind her back. Jarlan dug through drawers and cabinets, gathering his testing supplies, and spoke aloud his plan on how to proceed.
“Let’s repeat the compatibility test just in case, although I’ve never heard of an error in nearly two decades. Then I’ll want to complete a full mating panel. I’ll need to collect samples of fluids from you both.”
A foot shy of the door, Eva skidded to a halt, her crimson cheeks turning suddenly pale. Although hardly in a lighthearted mood, he smiled softly at her expression, refraining from telling her he told her so.
Pausing outside the door, she bent forward, peering into the small room where Jarlan was holding a compatibility test wand, running a calibration. Kerr cleared his throat. The healer shifted, setting his equipment aside upon seeing Eva’s dread-filled expression.
“Sorry, Prima. I’ll make this as quick and painless as possible. Help her out of her dress, Kerr, then onto the table. And I’ll need you out of your shirt.”
Clasping her hand, he tugged her inside, noticing her jump when the door whooshed shut behind them.
“Easy,” he murmured as he pulled her in front of him.
“I’ll take that.” Jarlan removed the forgotten cup from her other hand.
Kerr squeezed her shoulders, disliking her skittishness. But putting off the inevitable would only add to her anxiety. “Best to get to it, anisa meo. Raise your arms.”
Glancing at Jarlan, who had his back turned as he prepared, Eva obeyed, allowing him to strip her bare. He then lifted her by the waist onto the table and covered her with the linen sheet provided to protect her modesty. As he removed his shirt, she looked up at him, her mouth unusually tight, her body tense with apprehension. Kerr leaned over her, drawing close, his chest and shoulders blocking out everything behind him.
“I know this isn’t pleasant, little one, but you agree we need answers, yes?”
Gripping his forearms with trembling fingers, she clung to him. “Will you stay with me?”
He took her hand, and laid her palm flat on his bare chest, directly over his heart. Covering it with his, he held it there. “You’re my mate, sprite. I know and feel it here, without scientific tests and measurements. Where would I be except by your side, especially when you’re distressed?”
Blinking rapidly, she flipped her hand over and intertwined their fingers. “Thank you, Kerr.”
“Princep? Prima?” Jarlan stood at her shoulder, a swab in each hand. “Open,” he ordered, holding one to her lips first. When she obeyed, he swiped the inside of her cheek, repeating the process with the second swab on Kerr.
“Easy enough,” the physic murmured while moving away.
Holding her gaze, Kerr stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, as Jarlan positioned her legs with knees bent and spread wide.
“I’m going to use the wand now, Eva. The same kind your mate used on you the first time.”
She flinched. “Wait.” Her fingers grip his tight, while her other hand came up to his forearm, her nails biting into him as she realized a moment of panic. “Can you do it? Like the first time?”
“Sprite, you must know it is torture for me to even think of another male touching you—in any capacity—but he is our best healer, a professional.”
Closing her eyes, she bit her lower lip as she visibly struggled to control her anxiety. “I know I’m acting silly,” she conceded as she took a steadying breath. “It’s not like I haven’t been to the doctor before.”
“We must let him do this to remove your doubts and help us move on with the transformation.” At her nod of assent, Kerr gave the order to Jarlan in a low tone, “See to it.”
While gripping him tight, she closed her eyes. For Kerr, watching her endure the internal examination took an eternity. With more at stake now that his heart was committed, he felt a tightness invade his chest when the series of beeps sounded and announced the analysis completed.
In a moment, Jarlan gave them the results. “99.58.”
“Higher than the first time,” Kerr replied, with a rush of relief. From all the bonding signs he’d been experiencing, the positive results weren’t surprising. Nonetheless, Eva’s persistent fears—and the unusually slow progression of their bonding—had instilled his own nagging doubts.
“No wonder I always feel like I’m burning up,” Eva muttered.
He drew back slightly, puzzled by her odd response as Jarlan commented, “Your initial test results are confirmed, Kerr.”
“Then what is the problem?” He kept his tone calm while he gently stroked Eva’s cheek, not wanting to rile her before they were done.
“Let me collect the other samples and complete the testing. I should have all the results by morning.”
She cracked open one eye and looked at Jarlan who had stood up. “What other samples?”
“Blood analysis. And I’ll need sufficient bonding fluids.”
“Bonding fluids?”
“Saliva—which is already done—along with sweat, and your orgasmic fluid.”
She jerked, coming up on her elbows, both eyes flying open. “You’re not serious!”
“Very much so. There isn’t a physical barrier, so we need to rule out other adverse reactions, or a problem with the way Kerr’s seed interacts with your fluids, or if a sensitivity is impeding synthesis.”
“Can we get to the how instead of the why?” Kerr inquired, his patience waning. “Before we called upon you, we joined. You’ll find both fluids inside Eva.”
“Kerr!”
He ignored her objection, as did Jarlan when he clarified, “I need isolated individual samples which means they can’t have been intermixed.”
Ready to get this done, he nodded. “Give me the receptacles, and I will collect them myself.”
Eva groaned, both hands covering her face.
“Let me make myself clear. They must be completely isolated, which means Eva will need to be cleansed of your fluids.” He held up a liquid-filled bottle with a nozzle attachment.
“I can do that.”
“And,” Jarlan added. “Each fresh specimen cannot be contaminated by saliva or the lubricating fluids of the other.”
“It will need to be manually expressed,” Kerr concluded.
“Exactly.”
“Oh, my god!” Eva groaned as she yanked the sheet up and covered her head.
“Mate, it will be fine.” His reassurance didn’t help.
“Here is a cup for you, Kerr. And…” Jarlan held up two items. “Considering her usual, uh, copiousness, will you require swabs or a tube?”
“How much do you need?” Kerr sized up both.
“A good size sample will be preferable.”
“The tube, definitely.”
“Kill me now!” she moaned from beneath the sheet.
Jarlan flashed a grin. “Are they all so timid about natural bodily functions?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to compare notes with Trask and get back to you.”
“Don’t you dare!” came her muffled response.
The physic clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.” Then Jarlan left the room.
Kerr waited for the panels to slide shut. “He’s gone, Eva. Come out.”
“No. I’m too embarrassed.”
He pulled on the sheet and a tug of war ensued, which of course, he won. When her red face emerged, he brushed the tangled hair from her face. “I have no intention of comparing notes with anyone. I was teasing.”
“This entire process is humiliating.”
“There is no reason for it to be. It’s only you and me now.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I can do it. Not here, with the doctor waiting. I’m too tense.”
Moving closer, he whispered, “Focus only on me,” as he trailed his lips over her cheek.
***
He made it sound easy. Even with the power of Kerr’s persuasion directed full force at her, Eva doubted she could focus on anything other than the most awkward and embarrassing doctor’s appointment of her life. But she’d try.
With a gentle touch and speaking in a deep soothing tone, Kerr quickly took care of step one, the cleansing, though she insisted she could do it herself.
“I’m here; all the supplies are within reach, no sense delaying the sample collection while you go back down the hall.” By the time he told her this, he had folded two thick towels and tucked them under her hips.
Next, he warmed the bottle of solution Jarlan had provided then, while he inserted it and let it do its job, he rubbed her leg with his big, warm hand while talking with her about her garden.
In no time, Kerr was drying her off a fluffy towel and ready to move on to step two.
He returned to his position at her head, leaned over her, propped on an elbow as before, and gazed down at her with his disarming gold eyes.
“Ready to get this done, sprite?”
“Yes, we need answers.”
He bent his head close until his gorgeous face was all she could see, and murmured, “There’s my brave mate.”
Then, he kissed her, his mouth as addictive as the most potent drug. His lips full and warm, applied the perfect amount of pressure as they demanded a response. She opened eagerly for him, and his talented tongue sent desire rippling through her, making the room and the world around it fade away.
She moaned as his mouth slid down her jaw, briefly kissed the pulse point at the side of her throat and moved lower. The ends of his hair held back by a band at his neck brushed her shoulder and chest. Tempted, as always, to see it long and loose, Eva pulled the constraining tie free and watched as the shining black strands swept over his shoulders. Thicker and softer than her own, she threaded her fingers in the silk of it and sighed. She felt his breath on her breast and thought she heard him chuckle, but no longer cared if he did or not when he captured a nipple between his teeth. She almost came off the bed when he worried it gently while lashing it from the inside with his tongue.
While his mouth was busy, his hand wasn’t idle, sliding flat over her belly and between her raised legs, still bent in an open position. His fingers slid over her mound and delved between her thighs, stroking skin that had dampened with the first brush of his lips.
“Kerr,” she groaned in a broken whisper as his fingers grazed her clit.
“I want you, mate.” He left one breast and moved to the other, licking and swirling around the peak with his hot tongue. “No matter when or where, the silk of your skin, the taste of your lips, your scent which is mine and now a part of you; everything about you arouses me.”
He opened his pants and guided her hand to his rigid shaft. Instinctively, her fingers curled around him, firmly squeezing as she stroked up and down the length. At the same time, his fingers moved into her channel, and his thumb circled her clit, spurring her rising need.
Lifting his head from her breast, he gazed down at her, the gleaming, liquid gold mesmerizing in its intensity and filled with a wealth of emotion.
He claimed her mouth again, urging her to “Let go,” in a whisper against her lips. Combined with the rhythmic thrumming of his thumb on her clit and his fingers gliding steadily inside her, she went soaring. Kerr, who still had his head in it enough to perform his task, withdrew his fingers and replaced them with the tube, right as her back arched and a shudder shook her body. His thumb stayed focused on her clit, drawing it out for several more pulse beasts as she came, huskily calling his name.
He smothered the sound with hungry kisses. When she came down, she was grateful, knowing Jarlan was nearby. His mouth moved gently over hers, for another few seconds, while she savored her release, then he pulled away.
“I need to see to this. Be right back.”
Both languid and disconcerted over orgasming in a medical exam room, Eva’s face heated as she watched him quickly cap the tube.
When he turned back, he held up the cup, raised one black brow, and gave her a look that said, “My turn.” He hopped up with her on the table, straddling her hips. Intending for her to be a part of this, as he’d been for her, he found her hand once again and curled it around his rigid shaft. With his hand covering hers, he guided her into the motion and pressure he preferred. Then, he leaned over her, reclaiming her mouth, as the two of them worked his shaft in a rapid tempo until he tensed over her.
He groaned loudly and rose above her, his hair falling in a wild swirl around his shoulders. His face grew taut in concentration, and Eva got to watch the beautiful, mesmerizing show as his orgasm hit, even if the culmination was him emptying himself into a cup.
When he was spent, he sat back on his heels and her thighs, and stared down at her, sighing as his body relaxed. His eyes met hers, and he smiled ruefully. “Not the most romantic of encounters between us, eh, mate?”
She looked around. “I don’t know. Add a few candles, soft music, some of your vilo, and I might not mind being manually expressed.” She giggled, but it turned into a full-throated laugh when he stared at her in surprise.
He shook his head and stretched his long arm out to set his specimen on the tray on the counter, then returned to her quickly. Bending over her again, he slipped his hands under her then caught her smiling lips in a breathless kiss.
A knock sounded at the door. “Your pardon, but if you’re finished,” Jarlan called, “Those samples need immediate processing while they’re viable.”
“Oh my god, he heard you!”
“Just me?”
“Yes, you, uh, culminate very loudly.”
Not the least bit self-conscious, he chuckled at her choice of words. “It is a sign of my great satisfaction with my mate.”
With another deeply stirring kiss, he dismounted. After he pulled up his pants, he helped her into her dress. Once covered, and after they’d each quickly finger combed the other’s hair, Kerr opened the door.
“Are we done?” he demanded of Jarlan who waited patiently, lounging against the wall across the way.
“All but the bloodletting.”
“Great,” Kerr grumbled, stepping aside for the man to enter.
The healer laughed and glanced over at where she sat, cheeks hot and feeling awkward again. He seemed to think nothing of it as if couples had sex in his exam rooms every day.
“Be prepared to hold Kerr’s hand during this last part, Prima.”
“Why…is that?”
Jarlan shook his head slowly, a glint in his lavender eyes. “Our big, powerful Princep has a fear of needles.”
“You’re teasing.”
“Am I?” The physic’s lips twitching slightly.
“Kerr, is this true?” Never having seen him other than composed and confident—the times she’d pushed him to the limits at the formal dinners the exception—she was amazed he had a fear of anything.
He shrugged as he joined her on the table, wrapping a long arm around her neck and hauling her close. Her face tipped up in surprise. “Perhaps kisses will ease my fears and make me a braver patient.”
“Something I’m not about to provide,” Jarlan deadpanned as he cleaned off the inside bend of Kerr’s elbow and wrapped a metal cuff around it. He raised a tool resembling a weapon more than a medical device and inserted it into an opening over the large veins in the crook of his arm. She didn’t see any needles or anything sharp, but it looked intimidating and painful. She swallowed.
“What is it?”
“A hemeosmotic quantifier.”
“Will it hurt?”
“Not if you hold his hand and distract him. Maybe he won’t faint this time.”
“Oh my God! He fainted?”
“If this works you’ll need to accompany him for all his checkups and assist.”
“Time to ease my fears, anisa meo.” Kerr nudged her chin up. “I have a different kind of distraction than holding hands in mind.” He pressed his lips to hers, and an instant later, a whooshing sound echoed through the room. Barely three seconds passed when Jarlan announced, “Done.”
“That’s it?” she asked.
“Didn’t feel a thing,” Kerr said with a grin, winking at her. “Your kisses are a miracle cure. Let me return the favor.”
As his fingers threaded into her hair, holding her captive for another mind-numbing kiss, Jarlan took her wrist and extended her arm. Vaguely, she felt something cold on her skin, but nothing more as Kerr took hungry possession of her mouth with his lips and insistent tongue.
“It’s all over, sprite,” he murmured when he raised his head after several moments had passed.
She stared at him as his words clicked. Then she raised her arm and examined it. “It didn’t hurt at all.”
“Mmm… Without my kisses, can you be sure?”
Suspicious, she looked from him to Jarlan, who stood at the counter, busy with the tubes, swabs and vials, a broad smile on his face. “Wait. You said hemeosmotic. Osmosis means diffusion through a membrane. Your device obtained the blood without using needles, didn’t it?” She shoved at Kerr’s shoulder. “You were both teasing me.”
“The quantifier looks much more frightening than it is. Many of my patients react negatively at the sight of it, so we use conversation, a shiny toy, or a silly song to keep them from looking at the scary gun.”
Kerr settled his lips against her temple while he added to the explanation. “This trick of distraction was to set you at ease, mate. I thought you’d had enough frights at the hands of barbarians for one day.”
Still working, Jarlan chuckled. She looked back at Kerr, knowing he wasn’t only talking about scary looking quantifiers. His tender smile brought one out in her.
“Thank you. Most of this made me nervous.”
“I know, but thanks aren’t necessary, sprite. I’ll always take care of you.” He asked of the physic, “Now, are we done here?”
“Yes, Princep. I should have the results in the morning.”
“Excellent.” Kerr lifted her from the table and, with her hand in his, walked to the door. “I’ll expect to hear from you then.”