Free Saved by Venom: 3 (Grabbed) by Lolita Lopez

didn’t doubt that he was sincere about all the things he had promised her when he knelt in the snow.
    Venom traced the ugly scars on her throat. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d been treated on the Indefatigable after you were wounded in the bombing?”
    She shrugged. “I assumed it was obvious. How else would I have survived these types of injuries? I mean, there are some underground doctors in The City but none of them have trauma training.”
    He ran his fingertip along a gnarly bump. “Do you know who brought you onto the ship?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t have any memories of my time in that ship’s hospital. They used heavy sedation to force accelerated healing on me. They dropped me back on Calyx in my father’s care while I was still sedated. I think they had me up here for like a week.”
    Venom looked annoyed. “They just sent you back like that? What if you’d had complications?”
    “There was a medical team in The City center but I recovered without any problems.”
    He let his hand fall from her neck. “Did your mother work in the embassy?”
    “No. Why?”
    “I wondered why you were extended the courtesy of our medical care. I understood that most of your people who were injured in the bombing refused our offers of aid. Did they take you because you were so young?”
    Dizzy hesitated and picked at the edge of the crisp gray sheet covering her lower half. She didn’t want to lie to him, not at the very beginning of their relationship. However bizarrely it had begun it felt as though it had long-term potential. She didn’t want an untruth between them this early in the game.
    Finally she sighed and admitted, “My mother was having an affair with one of the men at the embassy. One of your men. I didn’t know it until about a week before the bombing when I heard my parents arguing about it. I started following her to see what made this other guy so special that she’d break up our family and then…well.” She touched her neck. “I woke up back in my bed at home almost ten days later.”
    “I see.”
    Feeling the need to defend her mother’s memory, she added, “My mom was a good woman. She loved me and she was such a great mother to me. She fought to have a career and was incredibly successful at it. Everyone loved her and—”
    “Dizzy.” He spoke firmly but gently. “I’m not judging her.” He tapped her hand. “Did you know who the man was?”
    She frowned at him. “Why are you asking all these questions about my mom’s affair?”
    “I’m sorry.” He held up his hand. “I shouldn’t pry. It’s the tactician in me. I want to know all the angles.”
    “Look, even I don’t know all the angles behind that story. Frankly I don’t want to know them. Whatever my mother was doing was really none of my business. She’s gone now. None of that matters anymore.”
    Venom remained silent for a few long moments before tipping her chin. “You hungry?”
    “What?” His question took her off guard.
    “It’s almost dinnertime. Would you like to eat?”
    She hadn’t had a bite since breakfast with Ella. The thought of her best friend sent pangs of sadness through her. Venom must have seen it on her face because he asked, “What’s wrong?”
    “My friend,” she said. “I just realized I’m probably never going to see Ella again.”
    “Why would you think that?”
    “Well…I understood that most brides who are taken never have contact with Calyx.”
    “That’s not true. We try to establish contact between new mates and their families whenever possible. So long as your friend passes a background check I don’t have any issue with you maintaining regular contact with her.”
    “How?”
    “We have a mail service now. Paper letters,” he explained. “We have couriers who route them to your planet. There’s also a new face-to-face visitation program. Relatives and friends from Calyx go through a background check for approval and then we bring them to the