The Space Marshal's Captive

ter with reports on the situation on Novador, which included the joyous news that the Federation had abandoned its plans to enforce the Stratum system on other planets. It had also agreed to bring an end to martial law. Those announcements abated the growing uprisings and brought stability. Mason also added amusing anecdotes about his students’ exploits. She in turn updated him on her trial, which had gone better than she’d expected and her renewed studies in biomedical engineering. She hoped to find work in a local hospital, but for the time being the terms of her probation prevented her from doing much. The one thing she couldn’t bring herself to mention was the reason the court had been lenient. She needed to explain it to his face.

Gradually, as she and Mason adapted to a long-distance relationship, he wrote of his deepest feelings and desires. The control he’d come to expect over her life remained in a subtler form. He inquired whether she masturbated, about her sensual needs and her fantasies. He required her to write them out in graphic detail. Initially, it was a challenging request, but she’d come to enjoy those moments alone when she composed her favorite naughty scenes and transmitted her imaginings via a private communication channel. Mason always complimented her on her vivid descriptions, implying he found them arousing.

So why the doubt—not once had he said he wouldn’t come back for her. She kicked a stone and leaned against a tree, sheltering from the sun with one hand on her swollen belly, stroking it rhythmically.

He emerged from behind a palm tree and at first, she thought it was a mirage brought on by the heat. A trick of the light. Trying to see through the haze, she squinted as he approached. Tall. Broad about the shoulders. Pale skin. Tattoos on his bare arms. It had to be him!

With a whoop of joy, she tossed aside her hat and attempted to run toward him. It was rather futile and she ended up waddling. Instead, he picked up speed and halted a few paces away from her. Staring at her belly, his face was remarkably composed. She’d expected him to be shocked at her condition.

“You’re pregnant,” Mason acknowledged.

She nodded. “It’s yours.” Of course it was; she’d not shown the slightest interest in any other man. “I didn’t tell anyone about you, because you’re a marshal and it might ruin your reputation… So I said it was somebody I’d met casually in the Relief Corps, nobody special…” Her parents hadn’t appeared convinced by her explanation. However, they were too pleased at having her safe and home to demand the truth from her.

“I’m not a marshal anymore.” He stepped closer, narrowing the gap.

His pale eyes searched her face and she flinched slightly. As reunions went, it wasn’t going well. He’d not kissed her or even touched her. She’d omitted the truth in her letters, yes, but she had her reasons.

“I didn’t want to involve you, not until I knew…” She couldn’t admit she’d held doubts.

“That I would come back?” He tut-tutted loudly. But when she looked up at him, he wasn’t cross, more bemused by her shameful admission. “That’s why you kept it a secret from me. I don’t blame you,” he added quickly.

“But, I was starting to lose faith and I feel terrible about it. I’d convinced myself, if you couldn’t come,” she hiccoughed, “then our child would be a memory of you and I would love him, or her, as much as I love you.”

“Yes, you lied to me and your family, but perhaps for honorable reasons, I agree. You were protecting me.” The corner of his lips twitched nervously. “However, it is no surprise that you carry my child. I mated with you that last time we had sex. I planted my seed—it is our custom on Ixzar for the male to control fertility, and I hoped, like you, if things went wrong with my plans, you would have something of me by your side forever.”

Her heartbeats fluttered with excitement. Her condition was no accident and he also had feared that he would not be allowed to find her.

“The Federation lauded you—”

He interrupted her with a slight shrug. “They were offering me all kinds of incentives to stay.” He rested his hands on her belly and he gave a joyous grin of delight as he felt the baby move in her belly. “Wow, a kicker.”

She giggled. “Very active. Keeps me awake all hours.”

“Can’t have that. You need plenty of rest, young lady.”

She loved hearing him speak like that, all demanding and stern; it tightened her nipples into hard pebbles and her stomach knotted around the baby, like an embrace.

“Yes, sir,” she said sweetly.

He hesitated. “So, what will your parents think when you tell them the truth about me?”

She knew exactly what her parents wanted; they’d raised her. “They believe in marriage. But I can’t tell them that I’m already… mated to a man from Ixzar who wants me as his slave-wife,” she stuttered. They would be mortified if she told them she was joining a Stratum.

“Slave-wife?” He rested his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “Oh, sweetheart. Did you think that I would come here and marry you like that? I’ve learned so much about myself, about being in a relationship and what it means to find a compatible mate. Before I met you, I put conformity above all else. Back on Novador, I’ve thought long and hard about us. I need your obedience, your love and devotion, but I won’t make you a slave to them. Marry me for love and nothing else. So will you, Jade, marry me?”

He trailed his palms down her bare arms and held both of her hands in his, waiting for her reply.

She’d learned much about herself, too and she was capable of so much more than she’d ever realized. “Yes. Yes, Mason, I’ll marry you. I will be all those things you desire and I will try to be a good wife for you.”

He lowered his lips to kiss hers, gently at first, then with a passion she’d missed, before finally relinquishing her tingling mouth with a low sigh. “Phew. Because I’ve accepted a job here on Malimor. I’m the new chief of police. I gather Malimor’s police are a little lax in their protocols. I’ve been tasked with tightening things up.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief and she thumped his arms with mock indignation. “You kept that secret!”

“It was only confirmed on route and it forms part of my negotiations to have your records expunged. Being a celebrity has its advantages—I had some leverage, more than I anticipated. The Federation offered me this post and in return, your arrest warrant is withdrawn. As far as they are concerned, you never actually managed to smuggle a thing.”

“Which,” she nodded in agreement, trying hard not to laugh, “is true. Thank goodness I flunked that.” She snuggled closer to him, nestling the bump between them. “So I can leave Malimor if we wanted? I like that idea. One day, when our children are older, we can go exploring. You can be the captain and I’ll be the chief engineer and the kids can learn all about our galaxy, including the ice planet, Ixzar. And snow.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I like the sound of that. Will you follow me wherever I go, Jade?”