Mastered by the Zandians (Zandian Brides 3) - Page 47
“Mirelle. Seriously?” She jumps to her feet. “Amber. Look.” She grabs her friend by the arm. “Mother Earth, she did it. You did it.”
“Once you taught me how to redo the circuits, it was the next logical step to adjust the caps.”
“It’s genius.” She lowers her voice. “Mykl is going to die.”
“He might even smile once.” Amber grins.
Kianna bursts into laughter. “Oh, stars, that would be the planet rotation, wouldn't it?” She glances across the dome and her face turns pink, a little bit. “It would take more than a technological breakthrough to make that one respond.”
“I thought I was the only one he hated.” I follow her gaze. Something about knowing he’s cold to the other humans? It makes me feel connected to them. Less alone.
“Oh, he doesn’t hate us.” She corrects. “He’s just really old school Zandian. Shows no emotion. They develop their sensitive side a bit more once they bond with humans. So far, he’s avoided that at all costs.” She nibbles her lip.
“Hmmm.”
“What does that mean?” She crosses her arms, but I see her sneak a little glance across the dome.
“It means someone wants a mate.” I sing it like a little song.
“Shhh! Stop! He can hear like, I don’t know. For miles.”
“Might be good for him.”
“What’s good for him is that.” She touches my comm. “I can’t believe you did this. This is amazing.”
“I learn fast. I knew I’d do it once I got going.”
“But you never had this kind of tech on Jesel?”
I shake my head. “No. I wish we had. I could have…” I sigh. Touch the cuff around my wrist.
“Does that hurt?” She extends one finger. When I nod my permission, she runs it along the metal.
“No. Not physically.”
“Do your mates ever let you take it off?”
“At home, sometimes. At nights.” I flush. Sometimes they add more cuffs, and anchor me down, arms, and legs, and pleasure me for hours. Until we’re all exhausted with passion and bliss. They have me addicted to them. Makes it easier to be away from home.
Mykl gestures from across the room.
“Oh, the new project!” Amber’s voice is eager. “Let’s go.”
But when I stand to join them, she shakes her head.
“No, you can’t.” She touches my arm, soft. “I’m sorry. It’s...classified. Outside of your cuff range. It’s something for the new fighter systems.”
“Oh.” I nod. “Sure, I see. I’ll just keep doing...this.”
My chest tightens as I watch them across the room, heads bent down. My fingers itch to work on the newest tech, too. And by rights, if it came down to pure skill, they should choose me! This isn’t the first thing I’ve fixed. My brags to my mates were not wrong; I’ve actually fixed some errors and made improvements. But still they don’t trust me with the more sensitive things. Mykl, I can tell, barely wants me around even now that I’m making huge improvements to their work flow and systems. He doesn’t trust me.
I can’t blame him because the truth is that I’m still looking out for opportunities. To do what, I don’t know. But I’m restless, and I’m not settled here, and my blood burns to take, to seize, and then to escape back to Jesel, to my work. It’s still not within possibility, but every new freedom I earn here brings me that much closer.
Chapter 13
Mirelle
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