When she responded, he heard the tears in her sweet voice. That meant more to him than anything. "I miss you, Talyn. I really wish I could see you."
Not half as much as he wished he could see someone who didn't look at him with disdain and scorn. Someone who didn't treat him like the unwanted maggot that had somehow found its way into their favorite meal.
Only Felicia had ever welcomed him. Even if she was faking it, he was desperate enough to be grateful.
Felicia waited so long for a response that she was beginning to think they'd been disconnected. Finally, he sent over a picture of himself smiling bashfully. The dark red and black of his uniform caused his eyes to glow bright white in the dim light of the spartan room where he appeared to be lying on a small industrial cot. "Miss you, too."
She traced the lines of his face on the screen. "I'm so glad you finally had a chance to call. Have I told you how handsome you are?"
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are. Extremely gorgeous. Utterly lickable. Sexy. Hotter than any male I've ever seen, in the flesh or on-screen. I would love to be there to eat you up, from the tips of your toes, all the way to your delectable lips." She sighed happily. "I can't get the taste of you out of my mind. Or the feeling of you holding or touching me. Every night, I go to sleep imagining that I'm bathing you again. Only this time we get to finish what we started, and I get to nibble all of you while you lie in my bed."
"Mmm."
She arched her brow at the deep growl in his throat. "Are you okay, sweetie?"
"Mmm-hmmm." He sucked his breath in sharply, then let out an elongated groan.
Heat burned her face as she realized what was going on. "Did you just...?"
"Yeah," he said breathlessly. "Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because you sound embarrassed and I didn't mean to do that to you. But I do appreciate your help. I really needed that." He sent her another photo.
"You look very relaxed now."
"I am. But I'd rather have done that with you actually participating."
"Me, too." She snapped another picture of herself pouting at him.
He sent over a video request.
Accepting it, she smiled as she saw his face in live time. "Hey, handsome."
"Gods, you're beautiful. Is everything okay with the condo?"
"Only one thing would make it better."
"What?"
"You being here."
His bashful smile made her heart race. "Did the school get their payment?"
"They did. Thank you."
"Any time." He grimaced as that familiar buzzing started. "My time in the locker's up. I have to go. I'll see you when I can."
"Miss you, Talyn!"
"Miss you, too, baby." He hung up.
Her lips quivered as she stared at the blank screen, hating it. How could she ache so much for someone she barely knew? Yet there was no denying what she felt. Or how deeply.
Holding the link to her heart, she drew a ragged breath as she glanced around the luxury Talyn provided for her. He spared no expense when it came to her needs and comfort. It wasn't fair that she was allowed to live here on his money, while he was forced to endure hell to pay for it all.
She'd never been one to suffer injustice, and this really pissed her off. All the assholes in the universe and a male so decent was punished for not being selfish. It was so wrong.
Felicia brushed her hand over her contact list and hesitated as she saw her half brother's name there. She never really spoke to that side of her family--they were too mocking for that, and she'd never asked a favor before.
Would it upset Talyn if she did?
There was no way of knowing. For everything she felt toward him, she didn't really know him well enough to guess how he'd react to her interference with his life.
Given his size and strength, the last thing she wanted to do was anger him.
Not willing to risk it, she turned the link off. For now, she'd leave it as it was. But if Talyn's CO didn't shape up and treat him right soon, she would call Lorens and see what she could do to help Talyn.
*
Talyn paused as he walked past the jewelry counter in the BX. After his call with Felicia, he'd come in on his way to the barracks to replace the flight boots that were starting to rub his heel, and to pick up a new brass kit and charges for his blasters.
While he'd known the jewelry section was here, he'd never paid attention to it before.
But in the small case in front of him was a collection of the hugging heart rings that were a popular gift pilots bought for their partners. A larger silver heart was wound around a smaller gold one, as if hugging or protecting it. One in particular was made of pale pink gold and encrusted with diamonds. For some reason, he thought Felicia might like it. It just looked soft and warm. Petite.
Like her.
"Major," the clerk greeted him as she approached from the other side of the counter. "May I be of service?"
Talyn started to walk on, but he couldn't quite do it. "I was just looking at the rings."
She smiled brightly. "Ah, yes. The Remember Me ring. You know, they're said to be good luck. It's why they're our biggest seller."
"How so?"
She reached into the case to pull out the display. "You give one to your special lady to keep, and so long as she wears it, it'll bring you safely home to her arms."
Talyn smiled at the thought as he reached for the one that had caught his attention. Up close, it appeared rather large. Felicia had tiny, graceful hands. "I don't know what her size is."
"I can give you a voucher and she can take it to any jeweler for sizing."
He held it out to her. "I should like this one, then."
"Very good. I just need to see your ID."
Pulling out his wallet, he flipped it open and held his badge toward her.
She gasped the moment her gaze fell to the black card that was bisected diagonally with a burgundy stripe. She recoiled from his badge as if it were poisonous. "I'm sorry, Major Batur. I can't sell this to you." She immediately returned the ring to the display and locked it in the case.
Confused, he scowled at her. "I don't understand."
She gestured toward his card. "You're a lack-Vest bastard. Your kind can't buy a ring, for anyone. If I sold that to you, we'd both be arrested."
Hurt and stunned, he stared at her in disbelief. "I have a legal contract with my lady."
Her jaw dropped as if she couldn't believe it. She quickly snapped her lips together. "It doesn't matter. It's against the law to allow a lack-Vest to buy a ring. For anyone," she repeated harshly.
Feeling slapped and humiliated, Talyn watched as she quickly sidled over to another counter to help a giddy male and female who were there to pick out pledge rings.
Something he'd never be able to legally do. That reality hit him like a kick in the crotch.
As he walked away, anger scalded every molecule of his being. He'd always hated showing his ID. Since they were color-coded, all anyone had to do was see that his was black and they instantly knew his caste. Now that same damn card kept him from buying Felicia a simple gift.
This is bullshit!
"Major?"
Talyn hesitated at the sound of an older male's call as he moved to cut off Talyn's path to the register. He just glared at the older male.
"I overheard you with Vyra, and I'm very sorry about the law."
Really don't want to fucking relive this. He was humiliated enough.
"Excuse me." Talyn started around the male.
He cut his path off again and gave him a fatherly smile. "I'm a big fan of yours, Major. And since we can't allow you to buy a ring, I wanted to show this to you. If you want it, I'll discount the price by half."
Still pissed, Talyn looked down to see a pretty hugging heart necklace that matched the ring he'd wanted to buy.
"I can even waive the courier fee for its delivery. If your lady lives here in Eris, I could get it to her to
night."
Pressing his lips together, Talyn picked the necklace up to see it better.
"It has the same legend of bringing good luck. A lot of pilots send these to their mothers and wives, instead of the rings."
Talyn wanted to throw it on the ground and stomp it. But the laws weren't this male's fault. And there was no need in depriving Felicia of something she'd like because his own feelings had been hurt.
If it made her smile, it would be worth it.
He returned the box to the clerk. "Thank you. I'll take it. Her condo is in Brooksyn, North Eris."
"Very good. I'll see it to her in less than two hours."
Talyn nodded before he went to pay for it. But still the burn was in his blood. A simmering heat that only increased once he returned to his barracks and saw that someone had placed a collar and leash on his locker with a black card attached to it. Ha, ha. Real fucking funny. You'd think by now the prank would have grown as old for them as it was for him. Even so, he knew better than to feed into their juvenile shit.
Grinding his teeth, he picked it up without comment and stored his purchases.
He grabbed a towel and started for the showers.
"It's not mongrel time, Batur. There's Vested in the latrine."
Biting back a nasty retort, Talyn returned to his bunk to wait while he listened to the others talking about their future plans.
With nothing else to do, he pulled out his link and started running stats on his next Ring opponent.
"You okay, Pinara?" one of the captains asked.
Talyn glanced over at the major who was a year older than him. The male was a cousin to the female pilot, Syndrome, who flew in Talyn's squad.
Fidgeting, Pinara kept shining his brass, and looking around as if waiting for something bad to happen. "Fine."
Yeah, he was lying his ass off. But like everyone else here, Talyn knew what that word meant. Something had gone down with the higher-ups and the major wasn't at liberty to talk about it.
Pinara looked over and caught Talyn's gaze. "What you staring at, mongrel?"
Without a word, Talyn returned his attention to his link. As he was logging on, five provosts came in and surrounded Pinara.
"Major, you are to be remanded into custody."
Pinara went pale. "For what?"
They didn't say as they cuffed him and hauled him out.
Silence echoed in the barracks as everyone tried to hide how disturbed they were over this. It could have been any of them, and they knew it.
Normally, it was Talyn who was singled out for trumped-up, bullshit infractions and punishment. Made him wonder what the high-caste Pinara had done to get on Anatole's bad side.
"WAR's right--"
"Bite it!"
Talyn scowled at the hushed exchange between two of his bunkmates. WAR was an antigovernment organization that had sprung up against the tadara and her family. For years now, they'd been trying to overthrow her.
Anyone found with their paraphernalia or with any ties to their group was summarily seized and executed. Without trial.
"Batur!"
Talyn grimaced at the sharp bark. Rising to his feet, he saluted the OOD. "Sir?"
"Cover Pinara's patrol. He was to fly in fifteen."
Talyn started to remind him that he was already seventeen hours over his patrol quota for the week, but then the OOD would know that even better than Talyn did.
"Yes, sir."
As he moved to reach for his flight suit, he heard Pinara's wingman, Mannan Xu, curse.
"Why am I being punished? I don't want to fly with a lack-Vest. Do you know who my parents are?"
The OOD glared at the major. "Insubordination?"
"No, sir."
"Then head out. With Batur."
Xu cut a glare at Talyn to let him know how much he hated being stuck with him.
No joy for me, either, punk.
As soon as he was changed, Talyn went to do preflight in their hangar. When he neared his fighter, Xu cornered him.
"You better remember your place, dog. Behind me, cleaning up after your superiors."
A tic started in Talyn's jaw. He wanted to punch the bastard so badly that it was all he could do to refrain. But he knew from experience that if he spoke a word, he'd lose what little free time he had, and this prick wasn't worth it.
Think of Felicia. He had a reason now to stay out of the brig and off reports. Not one of them was worth the additional patrol time.
Eye on the goal, Batur.
And that was a beautiful female who finally made him feel like something more than the dirt underneath their feet.
*
It'd been over a month since Felicia had last seen Talyn at his fight. As punishment for winning, he hadn't even been allowed to have visitors on base or to leave it for meals. His CO had kept him on total lockdown. He hadn't even been able to call her again during his rec time.
While she'd left voice notes for him every day, all she'd received as responses were very brief text messages back.
And random gifts that had come to the condo.
One of them was the beautiful double-heart necklace that he'd sent, which was around her neck. It'd come within a few hours of her hanging up the last time they'd spoken, and she hadn't taken it off since.
Kind of stupid, but it somehow made her feel closer to him. And she'd kept the small card that he'd sent with it.
Thank you for today, Gre Couranatara.
~T
The great lady of my heart. Every time she read that, it brought tears to her eyes.
Her link buzzed. Frowning, she picked it up and glanced at it, expecting a message from her mother.
It was Talyn.
Hey. What are you doing?
She typed back to him. Studying.
Are you at the condo?
Wow. This was the longest conversation they'd had since their failed attempt at sexting. I am. Where are you?
The elevator binged behind her. Turning on the couch, she was just about to call security when Talyn stepped out. Joy erupted through her as she let out a happy cry and shot off the couch toward the foyer.
"Talyn!" She launched herself into his arms.
Laughing, he held her against him. He buried his hand in her hair and pressed his cheek to hers. "Hi."
"I can't believe you're finally here! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"I wasn't sure I'd be able to until an hour ago. Even then, I kept waiting for my TL to be canceled."
She squeezed him even tighter. "I almost went out tonight. I'm so glad I didn't."
Talyn savored those words and the sensation of her body wrapped around his. He'd been dreaming of this every single night since he first saw her photo. "How have you been?"
"Fine. Everyone here's really nice. But I've missed you like crazy!" To his disappointment, she slid her legs down from around his waist to stand in front of him. Taking his hand, she led him into the condo. "Are you hungry?"
Yes, but not for food. "I ate earlier."
She narrowed her gaze on him. "How much earlier?"
"Lunch."
Rolling her eyes, she took him toward the kitchen. "This isn't how I wanted to greet you on our first night together."
"It works for me. I can't imagine any better reception." Except maybe her being naked when he came in.
Yeah, that would have been the only improvement.
As if she heard that thought, she glanced at him over her shoulder. "I was going to be in the red negligee I sent you a picture of."
"Yeah, okay, that might have been better. But the shorts and tee are nice, too. Much better in reality than what I had imagined when last we spoke."
Biting her lip, she shook her head at him. "I don't even have makeup on."
"You're still the most beautiful female I've ever seen."
She stepped toward him to kiss his lips. "You keep sweet-talking me like that and you're bound to get lucky tonight."
Talyn smiled bashfull
y at her teasing. "It's so good to see you, Felicia." Even better was being around someone who actually talked to him like a sentient being and didn't order him about like a dog.
She kissed him again. "Why don't you take a minute to get comfy and I'll heat you up something real fast? I bought some street clothes for you and put them in the closet and dresser. There's even sweatpants for you."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
He stole one more kiss before he went to change.
Felicia smiled at his hot, seductive lope. She couldn't wait to take a bite of that lush, ripped body. And tonight was finally the night. Her hands shook with anticipation.
Honestly, she wished she'd had a little warning. This wasn't how she wanted to seduce him the first time. But at least she wouldn't have to wait any longer.
As soon as she had a plate warmed, she went to find him. She had no idea why he hadn't returned.
Until she entered the bedroom.
Wearing only the pants to his uniform, he was sound asleep on the bed. She was slightly offended until she got close enough to see the deep welts and bruises on his arms and back. The marks on his chest. Tears blinded her as she realized just how badly he'd been mistreated.
She set the plate on the nightstand before she reached to cup his cheek. "Talyn?"
He sighed in his sleep, but didn't stir. If anything, he seemed to go deeper into his dreams.
The poor thing was exhausted. Wishing she could make it better, she pulled out another blanket and used it to cover his body.
Feeling for him, she curled up at his back and held him close while he slept. How unfair that he was spending all this money for her and had yet to get the very thing he'd paid for. No wonder he told everyone she was his girlfriend. That was much more true of their relationship than companion and patron.
Brushing her hand through his braids, she wished she could give him the life he deserved.
Yet he never complained about anything.
Not once had he even hinted about how badly they treated him at work. Rather, he'd sent her little notes asking how she was doing. If she needed anything. Telling her that he was thinking of her. When she'd asked how he was doing, he'd responded with either generic or missing you.
Nothing else.
But then, he was a Ring fighter and had been one half of his life. Having someone routinely beat the utter hell out of him was normal. Yet for all that, he wasn't the beast others accused him of. There was a kindness in him that was unfathomable to her.