After talking about what might be needed for the women’svisits, Poppy realized it was getting late. Tamin and Rodin had finished uptheir paperwork, or in their case, tablet work. While she had been takinginventory, there had been a couple warriors who had come in to be treated forvarious sparring injuries. During both of those occasions, Poppy had beenshielded from the warriors’ questioning glances, and the men were moved quicklythrough the med center. It was obvious that the doctors took her protectionvery seriously.
Stretching from where she sat on the floor organizing a lowshelf, she stood and swung her arms over her head to get her blood movingagain. Her bracelet caught her eye as she moved. It was blinking! She scurriedover to the wall to check the system for a message. How the hell had she missedit flashing?
“Poppy, I apologize for today. I spoke with Dathrow earlierand he said that you were going to the med center to work…I am glad you arestaying busy.” Wheaton’s voice paused on the recording as if he were unsure howto continue. “It seems that my work with the Council will prevent me fromjoining you for our normal evening meal. I am sorry but will speak with you assoon as I am able to. Just remember what I told you when we were lasttogether.”
Poppy realized she was on the verge of crying as the messageended. Why the hell was she so weepy? When she’d been in previousrelationships, going a couple days without seeing her boyfriend had never beenan issue. She wondered if the fact Hannah was taking her place in the apartmentwas bothering her more than she’d originally thought. It wasn’t that she didn’ttrust Wheaton. Over the last couple weeks she’d felt closer to Wheaton thanshe’d ever felt toward a man. He had become an anchor in her strange new homeand she felt somewhat lost without him. It didn’t help that he had actedpossessively toward her and she hadn’t learned much about her new surroundingsbefore this whole mess started. She could see his point. She was one of a fewwomen on a ship of a couple thousand men. Men who didn’t have female companionship.She would have been an idiot to not see the danger in that situation. But nowthat Wheaton wasn’t here by her side, she felt as if she’d lost her lifepreserver. Leaning on Dathrow and now Tamin and Rodin had been a little hardsince she hadn’t really had much contact with any of them prior to a few daysago. Lucky for everyone that she made friends quickly, she thought.
Deciding she should get back and figure out dinner and maybea movie, she spoke with Tamin about getting an escort to her quarters. It wasat that moment Rodin came in with a couple bleeding warriors. Apparentlysparring sessions were pretty intense on this ship. The men appeared as ifthey’d been in an ultimate fighting championship and she figured they’d need abit of time in the regen beds. Grimacing at the angle of one of the men’s armshanging limply at his side, she quickly got out of their way.
Rodin tried messaging Dathrow for an escort but had no luck.It seemed as if she would be stuck in the med center for a while. Poppy was gettingcomfortable when she heard Rodin say her name.
“Poppy, this is Behyr,” he said, gesturing at the tall,grim-faced man beside him.
Behyr was an extremely large warrior, mighty fierce with hislong dreadlocks and somber face. He was actually very striking in appearance.If she could compare him to anyone, it would be that guy from Game ofThrones who married the dragon lady. He was big, with long hair andpiercing eyes and didn’t crack a smile or soften his face at all during theirintroduction. The only thing he was missing was the war paint and naked chest.Both of which, she was honest enough to admit, she wouldn’t mind seeing.
“Bear, as in the animal?” she asked. Sticking herhand out for a handshake, she was surprised to be met with a gentle grasp.
“It is spelled differently in your alphabet but pronouncedthe same,” he said in a deep voice that fit the packaging perfectly.
“Nice to meet you, Behyr.” Poppy smiled up at the big guy,then over at Rodin. Why was he choosing now to introduce her to another warriorwhen he had seemed to act as a barrier to the ones who had come in all daylong?
“Behyr has consented to walk you back to your quarters. Heis a senior Skrammon warrior and has guarded Wheaton on missions when needed.Is this acceptable?” Rodin asked.
“Ummm sure,” she said with a slight hesitation. If Rodintrusted this guy then she should too, right? Maybe his being so much bigger wasthrowing her off. She had seen some Skrammon warriors in passing but this wasthe first time she’d actually talked to one and she could see why this was thewarrior breed. Behyr was intimidating as hell.
“I already contacted Dathrow and he explained he was caughtup in a meeting and unable to leave. He is the one who sent Behyr for yourescort,” Rodin said with a reassuring smile when he noticed Poppy staring atthe large man.
“If you would rather wait for me to be available, I shouldbe able to walk you back in the next hour or so. We have a couple warriors withbroken bones we need to get started in the regen beds.”
“Yeah, I saw the guy with the hanging arm. Don’t mind me,I’ve just never met a Skrammon before and was taken off guard by thedifferences between the warriors.” She glanced up at Behyr and smiled. “Comeon, big guy. I’m starving and my back hurts from organizing those shelves. Ihaven’t been this sore since I decided I was going to start a garden. Now Iremember why my plants died.” Rubbing her back to ease
