AI Era: [REDUX] The Captain's Commander

Projecting deep satisfaction, he replied, "You chose."

Briefly, I rubbed my neck where he left the Vox Claiming bruise, "Right." I couldn't hide my eagerness as I flipped the catches and opened it to see: nothing. A little bit of dust had gathered inside, but that was it. Confused, I asked, "What is this?"

Wero swirled his finger in the air, "Activating Nanobots. If you had opened it before I touched you, you would have had to marry me immediately before they made you deathly ill. Sex isn't absolutely required for marriage, though traditional."

I couldn't help but find him cute as I looked at him quizzically disturbed. That statement had a number of details of immediate concern. I glanced around the air, "I know this isn't how you treat all detainees. What make me so special?"

"You don't want to go back," he answered as I stiffened, "Not once I had the Fortuna." He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear reminding me of that desperate moment in the cargo bay. "Your reactions were all wrong for a criminal who'd been caught." He leaned in and kissed my lips, a meaningful light pressure, "And while I could tell you recognized me, it wasn't in horror or power-hungry." He kissed me deeply, while lightly running his hand across the part of my neck where he left his Claim. "And you're incredibly sexy, so I can't tell you how happy I am that I can't let you go."

As I thought about the danger I was in, Am in, my damnable libido revved back up. "I was in trouble the minute I walked up to you."

"Limped up to me. And that's right." He snagged the monitor from the shelf and kissed me on the temple muttering, "Lets get your leg fixed."

I stared at him with raised brows.

Tapping through the monitor's screen, he didn't look at me while replying to the facial expression he knew I was making, "When I saw the footage from the pirate fight, I couldn't believe you didn't get hurt worse. You helped distract and disrupt the attack with street fighting, no military training. As you limped back to your ship, wasn't sure if I was more proud or pissed-off terrified. There." Turning to look me in the eyes, he snagged my hand and kissed it. "The nanobots have been ordered to mend your leg."

I looked at his monitor, at my leg, and smiled, "Ice pack or orgasms. I like the way you think, Thadeus." I got up, kissed him briefly, and went to the bathroom to clean up a little.

Wero's eyes glinted as he glanced back down at the monitor, checking something.

I looked at myself in the mirror before returning. I looked happy. And the collar had changed color; it used to be neon orange, and now it was bronze, virtually indistinguishable from a small necklace. When I reemerged, he ushered me to sit on the bunk with him. "How about a round of cards now?"

I bit my lip to hold in a grin. Picking up the deck he had put down, I shuffled them expertly, a trick I had to learn in the casino on Kickerillo Space Station. "Let's deal," I smiled in my best card shark grin, soft and tempestuous.

Wero's facial expression was pure satisfaction. "That's what I told you in the cargo bay."

I looked at him thinking about kissing him. Reading me, he leaned forward and kissed me. "When you said I wasn't playing the game I thought I was, I should have recognized you and beat a quick retreat." I dealt the cards.

"Exhausted and injured, you didn't stand a chance." He picked up his hand.

"So what do you want to bet, handsome?" I batted my eyes at him over the edge of my cards.

"Anything you want from the Fortuna within reason."

"As much as I appreciate the gesture here," I tugged on my boxers, "I'll go for clothes."

"I'm not a monster," he earnestly responded, "We're going to transfer your clothes and mementos when we get into dock."

"Soon?"

"You're staying aboard. This is just to supply the Fortuna."

"How are you going to deal with the complaint Salem police are going to get? About your possession of the Fortuna. You know my people are going to react."

"Former people. You're mine now." A zing rushed through from my ears to my womb. My eyes widened as what-it-meant to be Claimed hit. "And that's what I'll tell the police. So what are you planning to bet?"

I gazed at him and sighed. "You know I like risk." He looked at me sharply and fondly. "Sex."

He made a secret, holding-back smile.

I put on my game face. "Two or three cards?"

He stared at me, "Two. No three."

I pulled the cards from just under the top. He didn't catch the slight of hand. "Dealer will take two." For the hand I drew, I needed the card that I'd secreted to the bottom of the deck while shuffling. Needless to say, I won. "House wins. I think I would like..."

"Wires, did my woman cheat at this game?"

"Yes, Commander. The cards were not dealt in sequence and the shuffling was non-random."

Wero narrowed his eyes at me as I smiled and batted my eyes at him. His erection stood back up to attention. Dropping the cards on the ground, he swooped in and pinned me to the bunk. His erection was pressed right where I wanted it, but blocked by a thin layer of material. "You make me crazy, Diana. Earlier you said you didn't recognize me at first." Dropping his mouth to my neck again, he drew his lips over the Claim's bruising. "Tell me."

"No, but I should have; you were so controlled. I couldn't believe I had to keep pushing you to react." I closed my eyes enjoying the sensation.

He applied another stinging suction just under my jaw. "You got a reaction now."

He'd be entering me, with plenty of lubrication, if it weren't for his boxers. My breath escaped in a soft moan. "If you want me to stop cheating, this is the wrong encouragement."

He lifted his head, and I opened my eyes to gaze into his. "Is it now?" he murmured.

I just told him how much I wanted him. Light caught the depths in his eyes showing me echoes of his thoughts. He wanted me to tell him what I thought about him. "You constantly surprise me, and are incredibly sexy in your overbearing mode. You make me happy even when I'm trying to frustrate you."

His breath caressed my face as he studied me for several seconds. "Good." He briefly kissed me then continued, "From now on, I deal the cards. And your bet stays the same."

Grinning, I gazed at him, the man who was always restrained and fair, unless it involved courting me, and I fell in love with him a little bit further. "Alright, Thadeus." He kissed me with longing and then let me up. I still beat him at the next poker game, but Wires confirmed that it was fair this time.

"What would you like brought over?" he asked curiously.

"My tea stash. Your men couldn't possibly have eaten that." I rubbed my face tiredly.

"You got it. Feeling tired again?" he watched me concerned.

"Yes," I yawned. "But I'm having fun."

He ordered to Wires, "Lights dim," and urged me to lay down with him on the bunk, "You still look exhausted, and I was up hours during the attack on the Fortuna. Let's take a nap."

"You're still naked," I pointed out easing down next to him.

"Optimistic, more like," he replied with a slow grin.

"That first time you kissed me earlier," I wondered, "What were you thinking?"

"You're not going to escape my Claim, but when we get intimate has to be your choice." He pulled the blanket over my shoulder while encouraging me to tuck in against his frame. "While everything I was doing kept getting you aroused, I needed to see how attracted you are to me."

I lifted my sore leg and laid it on top of his. He rumbled happily. "I knew who you were as soon as I heard your name," I told him. He made a surprised sound. "I've been fascinated with you ever since I read your file as part of an Academy assignment. And fascinated as in I liked you despite thinking it was somehow disloyal."

His arm around me flexed tugging me tighter into him, "Really." He kissed me longingly, hungrily.

"If I had recognized you from your photo, might have been able to avoid arrest by the crew who highjacked the Fortuna," I continued, "You just looked familiar, but I review a lot of criminal files so knew there was something conspicuous about you, at least." I internally acknowledged that that situation could have gotten me killed.

His heart beat a little harder under my hand. "I had a plan B to rescue you, but I'm glad we didn't have to do it." He turned his head to stare at me, brushing his fingers along my cheekbones, "How did you get a doctored photo into Orlean's identity database or is that a new thing they're doing? I couldn't believe the facial recog missed you when we double checked your badge against our database on Orlean officials."

I grinned, "That was part planned, part serendipity. The day of the photos, I was subtly threatened by..." my parents, Ex-parents, I thought while hesitating. Wero's eyes darkened with concern, so I finished in a rush, "...ex-family, and took a blow to my nose in the dojo. It was deliberate; I didn't block because I hated that I looked like them. On top of the swelling, and crookedness of my nose, I also pulled in my lips a bit."

"You will tell me about this after we leave Salem station." He kissed my cheek. I knew why; he didn't want it to be interrupted when we talked. After a pause, he told me, "When we get back to the fleet ship, our quarters will be tight at first until my family status gets registered." I opened my mouth confused about the neck bruising versus marriage. Then I closed it; the Vox Claim is supposed to mean intent, but marriage wasn't official with just that. Wero must have been assuming he'll convince me to make love along the way. With two more poker hands and no cheating, he was probably right. "We'll stay on my assignment to contain piracy, but after seeing that video, you're not going to do any fieldwork on the frontline. You're sticking with me, going through the aftermath for clues."

I snorted and lifted my head to gaze at him hopefully. He was going to keep me on my job? Sort of. Away from the action. Because he noticed all the screw-ups. I put my head back down on his shoulder. "Fighting's messy. You're going to get hurt, and nobody is perfect." I looked down at my hand on his chest. His own hand rested next to mine, almost touching.

"When you shot the art fixture down, the panel that came with it almost took off your ear." He tugged on the ear in question affectionately. "I had to keep reminding myself that you were alive, whole, safe, with Wires watching you. When you gallop-limped away in the end, I was ready to haul you into the med bay, but my Lieutenant pointed out your retreat while attempting to hide in the chaos didn't go unnoticed."

I raised my head to look in his face. His expression was tense; I apparently dodged something else really bad. Admittedly at the time my focus was to get PAL to gum up the station and block any spaceships from leaving, but apparently something else got stirred up in the mayhem.

"Stanners."

My jaw dropped. There were other merchants putting up resistance with me. Three others specifically, and they moved in sequence, like a brutally efficient machine. As I tried to clear the bystanders, they were the only ones who covered me. Law enforcement was tied down under fire. I put my head back down on him. "I'm glad you got to me first." I don't question why he just put a Vox Claim on me. Stanners were unshakable when they picked a woman to pursue, and only recognized forms of marriage would make them hesitate.

"You're mine, Diana," he murmured, kissing me on the head.

I realized Claiming went both ways. "And you're mine, Thadeus," I replied, smiling. He rumbled happily. A few minutes later I wondered, "How did I get away from the Stanners?"

"They were waiting for you to get back off your spaceship. Chasing the pirates as they fled caught them by surprise." After a pause he added, "I wouldn't have been surprised."

"I wonder what would have happened if you dropped me off on Salem," I mused.

"Wouldn't have happened," he grumbled. "I was holding on to you until the video came in. Once the Stanners entered the picture, I would have made it look like you had a choice between them or me. And then done everything in my power to get you to choose correctly."

"Would have picked you." I snorted sleepily, "After enjoying your persuasion."

"You were mine when I first saw you. Just took a little while to figure out in what way," he murmured. Where my hand touched his, I widened my fingers to slip his fingers between mine.

An exhausted, contented silence settled between us. I listened to Wero's heart beating steadily, his deep breathing, felt his warmth wherever he was touching me. Unbelievably, I realized he was exactly what I needed: a man who stabilized, balanced me. Glowing, deliriously happy, the specter of sleep settled on me just when I thought I was never going to be able to rest.

Kidnapped From Detention

In the morning, I woke in Wero's arms, his arm wrapped around me and my head on his chest. Yet he was rapidly, gently displacing me as he told his communicator, "Where?"

"2 in the Launching Port..." the response dissolved into static. Wero magically got a shock-stick in his hand. Damn weapon I could have used was hidden in the frame of the bed.

Beyond the door Wires beeped through a blown out speaker as I stumbled off the bunk. "Electromagnetic pulse," I snapped, fully awake, high on adrenaline, and looking around for anything to use for defense.

"Bloody intel..." Wero shoved me under the bunk just before the door lock exploded onto the floor. A masked invader forced his way in slamming the door open.

I frantically looked around for something to fight with. Of course it was bare down here. Unless I had a hope of attacking with paper cuts from the cards.

"Where's the girl?" the invader's voice rumbled through an air mask.

Woman! I thought, while debating how I could help out down here, besides just staying out of the way.

Wero replied, "Wrong ship, dumbass." I quickly peeked as he swung the shock stick; he was using it like a rapier. I inhaled in relief. The invader was shooting non-lethal stuns. Kidnapping contract. Then my brain caught up to who exactly this guy seemed to be looking for.

A yell of pain came from the invader when Wero made contact, "You can't take me out with that, the power is too low."

A furious series of volleys followed, grunts interspersed with stunner fire. Each time they made contact, I looked for an opening to stick out my leg to trip the invader up without doing the same to Wero.

The man finally yelled, "You son of a bitch! It's set for her isn't it." He growled deep, threatening, "She's here."

Wero's reply was a dark bellow that made me jerk in surprise, "SHE'S MINE!" It reverberated in the room, he was so loud.

A meaty impact followed. They grunted and struggled as I watched the fight devolve to hand-to-hand battling. The stunner went off. Wero fell to the floor unconscious.

My breath left me as I stared into his face. His personality was gone, leaving me to stare upon the shell of my lover. Protecting me, my hero had fallen. I burned as my chest tightened, anger thrumming like a drum. I didn't move. I knew Wero would want me to stay out of sight.

The invader headed to the bathroom softly calling, "Captain?"

I was trapped here stupidly hoping he'd move on without looking in the only other logical place I could be. As his footsteps came back, he stepped over Wero. Paused. I could almost hear him think about first kicking my Intended and second asking himself where Wero would stick me. Then the man's feet continued. He didn't do anything to Wero, thank goodness.

He approached the bunk. Stopped. Then got down on his knees. I couldn't see his face through the airmask, but I could tell he was relieved. "There you are."

I snatched his mask, intending to pull it off. And he shot me with his stunner. It stung with a sharp pain only, its being a weak stun. He must have adjusted the setting while looking for me. So while I couldn't move, I was still conscious and could see everything going on. His hands gently tugged me out from under the bunk. With a groan of soreness, he snatched me up in his arms. "I've got her," he said into his comm.

No! I thought, horrified at being kidnapped. Again. I really didn't like thinking about the Orange System, but I got them good in the end. The fucking Space Ranger job was starting to look like a dangerous addiction. Which was when I noticed something missing; this wasn't turning me on at all.

The emergency alarm began blaring as the invader carried me through FastFreight's corridors. My kidnapper continued, "Don't worry, I got him...He was in her cabin..." At the launching port connection from the cargo hold, we passed through temporary weightlessness with two others. I realized that while the FastFreight's airlock was being guarded, the invaders attached their spaceship to the side when proximity alarms would constantly be going off. I listened as the conversation continued.

"He wasn't dressed and got me several times with a shock stick at low power."

"For her? What the hell?!! He has a reputation for following the rules."

"Take her to the med bay for a full scan."

The new spaceship smelled different, different men, and I was carried to a med-bay. The conversation sounded indignant about Wero's treatment of me. I hoped that meant relative physical safety. I struggled to control my eyes, to be able to focus as I was carried through the attacker's spaceship.

"Secure for acceleration," I heard over the speaker while being placed on a stiff bed. The man who carried me pulled off his breathing mask as he pinned me down under hyperacceleration netting. I recognized his face. He was one of the merchants fighting the pirates with me.

My adrenaline reacted automatically, Stanners! I noticed the invader's eyes widen for a moment; he gently turned my head to get a good look at my neck. It was the side Wero bruised with his Claim. Please, I tried to say to him, I want to go back to Thadeus. Just let me go.

But he wouldn't hear me until the stun wore off, all I could do was think really hard at these people. The man inspecting me tapped his comm, "Mumbas, we've got a problem." His voice was a little rough.

A rumble came through in response, "Claimed? That fast?"

"Yeah, several times. There's not just the one mark," the man replied.

"Any shock stick marks?" Mumbas asked.

The man sighed with relief, "No, I did a quick inspection while securing the netting."

"He's going to go ballistic," a third voice commented.

The man then ran his fingers carefully along my collar. "And he's tracking. Best go with the contract."

I internally warmed as I listened to their conversation. Wero's coming.

As hyperacceleration pressed me into the netting, the Stanner minding me finally told me what was going on, "Ranger Steele, you are safe. We're taking you to Ranger HQ. I'm Cyril. Please think of yourself as a long lost sister while you're with us." Their med bay smelled antiseptic and rarely occupied. I wished I wasn't here either.

When the acceleration ended, Cyril looked at me apologetically, "Sorry about stunning you, sister; you know we had to. You'll be able to talk in about a half hour and move again shortly after that."

I thought at him a nod in response. Stunning the victim in a rescue operation was standard procedure for any kidnapping. In case they attacked you or something.

After the next hyperacceleration commenced, he continued, "We're planning to hand you off to Orlean, and Captain Wero will have to deal with them." I internally cringed picturing the impending conflict. Orlean HQ would just fire on any Vox spaceship demanding one of their citizens to be handed over. Then I caught myself; Wero's smart, controlled. One of the Alerts involved his brother getting injured, and he crushed the Orlean offensive attack long enough to get him to safety. Then he stopped when he could have pressed the advantage. Of course the Alert didn't mention that last part; I sussed it out of the details. I was rescuing a merchant's wife from slave traders at that time, crawling through a pipeline of the most awful ooze a planetary ecosystem could manufacture.