Free Adira's Mate by April Zyon

what, and you’ll
have things you will never allow me to do to you. That I doubt will ever
change, but the future is fluid so I can’t say that with any certainty.”
    She nodded. That actually made a
good bit of sense to her. “And when is it that we would draw up this contract?
Once we’ve been picked up by your friend?” She hoped it was his friend, at
least. “Another question, and this is totally a different topic, but what will
happen to my crawler? While I trust you, I honestly would feel better if your
people couldn’t go through and download the medical files that I have. I don’t
want this to be used against them. I hope you understand?”
    “ We can draw it up at any time
once we finish going through the rules, and my general expectations. Once I’ve
done my part I fully expect you to have your say on everything too. I may be a
Dominant, but I’m not a dictator. As to the crawler, it will likely be used to
scrap metal, the hard to get parts pulled out, and whatever’s left junked or
recycled, depending. We can wipe all the banks if you wish, or if you’d prefer
we can download the data for you to keep with you for the future. I will never,
ever ask you to reveal anything you are not comfortable with, Adira . Especially anything about your
people. I may ask you questions from time to time, but you always have
the right to refuse to answer. Are we clear?”
    “ Thank you for that.” She couldn’t
tell him enough just how much she wanted him and how much his words meant to
her. “I’m happy that we will have a training or adjustment period as we learn
each other. It means that we will be able to learn each other’s quirks while
learning each other.”
    “ Precisely,” he said softly. A
double beep sounded suddenly. Fintan frowned and
looked around before his eyes went wide. “I need to get up. That’s a message
coming through. Hopefully it’s Bracken telling me he’s coming to rescue us from
this tiny ship. Up, if you would.”
    She shifted and moved, rose to
her feet, and nodded. She watched him as he moved, the
predator’s grace that he had in spades once more making her realize how lucky
she was to have him in her life. In the cockpit he waved her back out of sight,
a slightly amused look moving over his face for a moment. Once she was tucked
out of sight he pulled up the message, only it wasn’t a message, but a live
communication. Likely a good thing he’d had her duck out of the way. “Bracken,
you old goat herder, it is you.”
    “ Fintan ?” the other male’s voice sounded
stunned. “I thought for sure command was playing a foul joke on me when they
sent the message along. It’s damn good to see you, old friend. Though the clothing leaves much to be desired.”
    “ Beggars must not be choosy, old
friend. Now, bring this beast aboard so I can have a real shower and change
into something more comfortable.”
    “ It will take us a few moments
yet. We will be in position soon, and then pull you aboard. Hold tight.”
    A few more words passed between
the men before Fintan turned the communications off.
“Apparently my luck has changed for the better since meeting you, Adira . But now we need to do whatever you wish with the
medical logs. Do you want to purge them, or save them so you have them later?”
    “ Purge them. Anything that is
there in the logs is in my memory.” She looked to him and felt real fear. She
moved closer to him. “I hope that they don’t try to force us apart. If they do,
know that you were worth whatever price I have to pay.”
    He cupped her face in his hands,
tipping her up to look at him. “They may try, but they will fail. Bracken will
back my decision once he understands it. There will be no price for you to pay, Adira . None. Do you
understand? None. You are mine. Now let’s purge the
memory from the system, and then we will get pulled on board the destroyer. Say
nothing when we leave the ship, and stay slightly behind me, but close to