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  “So I could have taken my cell phone?” She gave a jagged little laugh that made the tightness in his chest worse. “Thanks but even though they have awesome coverage, I don’t think my cell provider can handle long distance calls from outside the freaking planet.”

  “Be that as it may, I would not have tried to stop you from taking it,” Six said quietly.

  “No, but you’re perfectly fine with dragging me away from everyone I love and taking me to some planet in a distant solar system where I’ll never see them again.”

  “Actually, my world is located in a whole other galaxy from yours,” he corrected her. “And the Claiming Period is only for one lunar month.”

  “Only one month?” She turned to him, looking suddenly suspicious.

  Six nodded. “One month.”

  “But if I go with you, even for just a month, everyone I love will be dead by the time I get back,” she protested. “I might have chosen social work as my major but that wasn’t because I couldn’t do the hard sciences—I made an A in physics. Even traveling at light speed it would take so long to get to another star—let alone another galaxy—that everyone I love will be long dead and gone by the time I get back. If I ever do get back,” she added darkly.

  Six began to see why she was so worried.

  “I understand your concern. But don’t be afraid—we will not be traveling to my planet using linear flight. We will fold space which allows us to emerge in my sector of the universe almost at the same time that we leave yours. And the same will be true in reverse.”

  “So…we can go there instantly and come back instantly without losing any time?” Mei-Li asked uncertainly.

  He nodded. “Exactly.”

  “And the Claiming Period is only a month?”

  “One lunar month,” he repeated, nodding.

  “Whose month?” she asked, sounding suddenly suspicious. “Because I know that, for instance on Venus, a day is longer than a year because the planet rotates around on its axis a lot slower than Earth does. So if the months on your planet—on Z4—are five of my Earth years long or something like that—”

  “Actually, I believe our solar month is somewhat shorter than the one you have on this planet,” Six said. “Your calendar usually has a cycle of twenty-eight to thirty-one solar days, does it not?”

  “Yes,” Mei-Li said cautiously. “And yours is shorter?”

  He nodded. “We have two natural satellites or moons on Z4. Depending on their phases, we divide our year into thirteen or fourteen lunar units or months, as you call them. Not twelve, as you do.”

  He was glad now he had taken the time to learn a bit about Earth, although he still wished he had been permitted to spend some time on the Mother Ship learning human customs. If he had, Mei-Li might not be looking at him so mistrustfully right now. Was she really so unhappy that he had incapacitated the violent male that attacked her? Six couldn’t understand why this should upset her so, but who could understand anything to do with emotions?

  “Okay,” Mei-Li said at last. “But what happens when the month is up? Do I…have to stay with you forever? I mean, I’ve heard all about how the, uh, Kindred persuade the girls they take to stay with them on the, uh, Mother Ship…”

  Her voice sounded strange and tight and his ocular scanner indicated she had elevated breathing and heart rate. Six glanced at her and saw that her cheeks were flushed and she was biting her lip. What emotion could that facial expression signal? Was she worried? Scared? Embarrassed?

  “What is concerning you?” he asked. “Forgive me but I have difficulty interpreting emotions as I have none myself.”

  “What, none at all?” She shook her head. “Commander Sylvan said something about you Dark Kindred not having feelings but I thought he just meant you were stoic or repressed or—”

  “We have no emotions,” Six assured her. “Thanks to this.” He tapped the small silver and black button at the back of his neck.

  “What is that?” Mei-Li asked. “And how does it keep you from having feelings?”

  “An emotion damper enhancement. It allows me to live without the inconvenience of emotions through a complex interaction with my brain and neurochemicals. But you never answered my question. What are you feeling and why?”

  “Why should I tell you? Why do you even want to know?” She looked away.

  Six opened his mouth but he didn’t have an answer for her. Why should he care about what emotions she experienced? Actually, he shouldn’t. And yet…he still didn’t want her to have negative feelings about him. It was foolish but undeniable—he wished for her good opinion. And so far it seemed he was doing a poor job at earning it.

  He looked back at the controls and realized they were far enough from Earth now that they ought to be out of the immediate range of the Mother Ship. He could send a signal at any moment to alert the medical barge back by Z4 to fold space and open the rift. Yet, he didn’t want to do that yet, for several reasons.

  Mei-Li was still unsettled for one thing—he could tell by the set of her shoulders as much as the elevated levels on his scanner that she was having strong emotions—almost certainly negative ones. If he’d had a sniffer with him, he could have been certain exactly what she was feeling…but no, that would be a disaster.

  Mei-Li’s intense emotions would have sent a sniffer into immediate overload and caused it to try an immediate purge. Six frowned to himself. He would have to be certain that the dispensation for her emotional state was in a prominent place. It would be important for her safety once they went to the surface of Z4. First, however, they had to go to the medical barges to get her enhanced.

  He wondered what sort of enhancement she would choose—somehow he doubted it would be an emotion damper although that would be the logical choice. In his recent encounters with Feelers, it seemed that those with emotions preferred to keep them, no matter how many difficulties they caused.

  Mei-Li moved slightly and made a muffled noise of pain, reminding Six of the second reason he didn’t want to fold space to Z4 yet. She was injured and he wanted to tend her wound. Of course, he could wait until they reached the medical barge and allow a Tolleg to heal her. Tollegs were a race of natural surgeons the Dark Kindred employed to staff the medical barges where they offered free medical care in exchange for DNA. But somehow, Six didn’t want to do that. He wanted to tend to her himself—to treat her injuries and ease her pain with his own hands.

  He frowned to himself. He worried about her injuries and he didn’t want her to have a negative opinion of him. In a very short time, this little female had become very important to him. Why?

  It’s simply the Kindred instinct again, he told himself. The urge to care for and protect the female I am claiming—that’s all.

  Another glance at Mei-Li’s stiff bearing and the way she was turned as far from him as she could get made him wonder if she was willing to be treated. Well, she would at least have to let him examine the wound—he couldn’t allow her pain to continue—not when he could stop it. But was there any way to put her at ease so that she would be amenable to his treatment? A way to allay her fear and distrust?

  Suddenly, Six had an idea.

  * * * * *

  Mei-Li stiffened when the big Kindred first got up from the pilot’s chair but he didn’t make any moves towards her. Instead, he went past her, into the back of the ship which was much bigger than it had at first appeared. Mei-Li wondered what he was doing back there but she was too proud and too angry to ask.

  She stared out the windshield at the front of the ship at the cold blackness of space, feeling sick with uncertainty. Part of it was fear for the kids on her caseload. She knew Claudia would deal them out to other caseworkers and take as many onto her own load as possible but Mei-Li still worried about Kristen and her sister and all the others that depended on her.

  That was the fear she allowed herself to admit anyway. In the back of her mind, she was wondering how far exactly Six was taking her. Also, would he ever br
ing her back? He had never answered her question about what happened when their month together was up and Mei-Li was afraid to ask again. Would he let her go back to Earth? Back home? She doubted it.

  Though the Claiming Period was only a month, the girls who got called up to the Kindred Mother Ship almost never came back—why should it be any different for her? Also, what exactly was going to happen to her during that one month? She and every other girl she knew had heard the rumors of wild Kindred sex. Just thinking of that, imagining being with Six that way, made her shiver. He was so huge and she hadn’t been with anyone in so long she was practically a virgin again. He would probably split her in half if they—

  Her embarrassing thoughts were interrupted when Six suddenly appeared before her, holding a bowl of blue liquid and some supplies in his hands.

  “Oh, you scared me!” Mei-Li put a hand to her pounding heart.

  He bowed his head. “Forgive me. I did not mean to startle you.”

  “I’m fine.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and did a double take—there was something different about him. Suddenly she saw it—he had taken off the bulky, black metal armor he always wore. It was the first time she had seen him without it since he was always wearing it, even in the dreams they had shared. “You changed!” she exclaimed. “You took off your armor.”

  “My exoskeleton,” he said, nodding. “I was told by another Earth female that you might find it frightening. I would not have worn it during your claiming except I thought I might have to go into a combat situation and I wished to be prepared. Here on my ship we are safe and so I removed it. Do you find it…pleasing?”

  Mei-Li looked him up and down. He was still huge, even without the armor and he still had the red scope thing over one eye and the one metal hand but somehow he looked more human now. Well, he really wasn’t human at all so maybe approachable was a better word. Which was to say, he looked a little less like a killer robot from the future sent to eradicate her and her unborn children.

  As for “pleasing…”

  Pleasing isn’t exactly the word I’d use, whispered a little voice in her brain. Try mouthwatering.

  Mei-Li had to admit it was true. Even with the red eye and the metal hand, there was no denying that Six had a killer body. The plain black shirt he was wearing emphasized his broad, muscular shoulders and chest and clung close enough to his torso to show that he had abs of steel. The muscular yumminess didn’t stop at the waist, either. He had on tight, black leather trousers that proved he didn’t skip leg day—in fact, one of his thighs was probably the same diameter as her waist. He really was huge.

  Huge everywhere, whispered the little voice as she noticed the bulge in his trousers. Was Six happy to see her or was that his normal size? Because if he was that big when he wasn’t even hard—

  “Did I mistake the matter in removing my exoskeleton?”

  His deep voice made her jump and Mei-Li realized she had been sitting there, mesmerized by his crotch. She jerked her eyes back up to his, feeling her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

  “I, um, no. No, this is much better,” she said quickly. “Um, thanks, I guess.”

  “You are welcome. Your claiming was obviously more stressful for you than I had anticipated. If there is anything else I can do to ease your discomfort with this situation, please tell me.”

  The words, “Take me home,” trembled on her lips but Mei-Li didn’t say them. Somehow she knew that particular request wasn’t one he would be willing to grant.

  “Speaking of easing your discomfort, I must tend to your injury,” Six said. He knelt before her, in the space between the pilot’s and the passenger’s seats. Placing the bowl of liquid and the handful of supplies he was holding on the ground, he looked up at her. “Turn towards me please.”

  “What? No—it’s fine, really. I’ll deal with it myself, later.” Rather than extending her wounded knee to him, Mei-Li drew it closer to her body. Unfortunately, this caused a bolt of pain to shoot through her leg and she gasped.

  “Come, Mei-Li, let me see your injury.” He held out a hand to her—the non-metal one—patiently. There was a little frown on his face that told her he was prepared to wait there all day if necessary.

  Reluctantly, she scooted around to face him and extended her leg.

  “All right, but it’s really fine.”

  “I will be the judge of that.”

  She was still wearing the skirt that went with her dove gray suit though it was looking a lot worse for the wear right now—in fact, her entire outfit was ripped and torn and dirty and bloodstained. Not that I’ll probably ever get to wear it in court again. Or go to court at all, she reminded herself ruefully.

  Six took her left leg—the injured one—in one hand, cradling her ankle in his large, warm palm as he bent to examine her wound. Mei-Li looked too and was appalled by what she saw.

  The wound in her knee was much deeper than she’d at first thought. It was a gaping gash on the inside of her leg, just above and to the side of her kneecap. It had bled a lot and streaks of gore ran down the inside of her calf and over her ankle and the sole of her foot.

  “That…looks bad,” she whispered, feeling her stomach do a slow, forward roll. She generally didn’t mind the sight of blood unless it was her own. But seeing the huge, ugly wound on her knee that was still seeping crimson made her feel light-headed and ill.

  Six shook his head. “Actually, you were fortunate. If the injury had extended more to the posterior region of your knee, you might have severed major arteries or tendons. As it is, I believe all you need is to have this wound cleaned and some sealant applied.”

  “Oh, good,” Mei-Li said, trying to sound normal. “I can handle that—where’s the bathroom?”

  He frowned. “Did I not tell you that I would be taking care of you from now on? Please sit back and allow me to treat you.”

  “But—” Mei-Li started. A stern look from Six made her bite her lip and stop protesting. “All right,” she said. “Though I don’t understand why you want to do this.”

  “It is necessary. And…I do not wish for you to be in pain.” He bent to his task, dipping some kind of white sponge in the bowl of blue liquid and running it over her knee and leg. Everywhere it touched, the dried blood instantly disappeared—apparently absorbed by the strange, furry sponge which began to take on its color.

  Gradually, Mei-Li found herself relaxing. She had been afraid it would sting but instead, the liquid was soothing. Also, she couldn’t help noticing that the big Kindred’s touch was exceptionally gentle, especially when he ran the sponge over the gash on the inside of her knee. His hands were warm too—even the metal one, which surprised her.

  He kept his gaze down, intent on the task of cleaning her up so Mei-Li felt free to study his face. He had strong features with a sharp, aquiline nose, a square jaw, and high cheekbones that looked carved out of granite. His one normal eye was steel gray that seemed to flash silver at times—he also had surprisingly long eyelashes for a guy, she noticed. He had a thin upper lip that looked stern but his bottom lip was full. It softened his features and made him look a little less intimidating.

  All in all it was a serious face. Strong but not cruel. Not the face of a serial killer or a sociopath, which was what she had feared when she watched him break Randy Dungston’s bones on her front porch. And yet, he had done exactly that with callous disregard for the suffering he had caused. Had he really been acting for her benefit, mistakenly thinking it would make her feel better? Was it his lack of emotions—his lack of empathy—that had made him think she would welcome such a sight?

  Mei-Li was inclined to think so. And yet, the big Kindred wasn’t acting like he had no empathy now. He was sliding the sponge gently over her leg, from the sole of her foot all the way up to her knee and almost to her inner thigh. There was an intent look on his stern features and his big hands had a remarkably soothing touch. For a moment she had an impulse to reach out and run her fingers through his thick, dark bro
wn hair. It had always been slicked straight back to show his high forehead in her dreams but now it was slightly rumpled which had the effect of making him look less severe.

  She was actually reaching out to him when she realized what she was doing and drew her hand back quickly. What was wrong with her? And why was Six acting this way?

  It occurred to her that he couldn’t have been more careful if she was a helpless baby that had suddenly been put in his care. Was that how he saw her? As a child that needed to be protected and watched over? Or was there something else going on here? Why was he being so careful with her? Why did he care if she was hurt?

  “Why do you care?” she whispered, speaking her questions aloud.

  “What do you mean?” Six looked up at her.

  “If you have no emotions, why do you care if I’m in pain?” Mei-Li raised an eyebrow at him.

  His frown deepened. “And as I said before, it is a Kindred instinct to heal and protect the female he is claiming.”

  “That’s no answer,” she objected. “Instinct doesn’t cover everything.”

  “It does in this case.” He looked back down, concentrating on her knee.

  “But you’re being so…so gentle.” Mei-Li supposed she ought to let it drop but she just couldn’t. “So…different from the way you acted before.”

  “You mean from when I was disabling your attacker?”

  “Disabling?” Mei-Li gave a dry little laugh. “Crippling is more like it.”

  “I would much rather have killed him.” He looked up at her, meeting her eyes directly. “I would have killed him if you had not objected so strongly.”

  The cold way he said it made Mei-Li swallow hard. It made a dry clicking sound in the back of her throat.

  “I believe you,” she whispered. “But…could you really kill so easily? With absolutely no feeling about it? No remorse?”

  “I told you, I have no emotions. But even if I did, I would feel no remorse for killing a male who had threatened and hurt you.” He gestured down at her knee. “He shed your blood. If I had done as I wished, his own would have flowed like a river until he was bled dry.”