“Ironically, I’m in med school. Entering my second year. I just passed my PT licensing exams a month ago.”
“Congratulations.”
She was stunned by his sincerity. Especially since it was something he’d wanted to do and had been denied the opportunity. “Thank you. And by the way, I really appreciate your understanding about my class schedule.” He could have been a real pain over it. All the others had been. Some were even blatantly rude – wanting to know why a whore had to go to school with decent Andarions.
Instead, Talyn had been more than accommodating, which was one of the primary reasons she’d considered him as her patron.
“I respect anyone who goes to university. My mom had a hard time going with me when I was a kid. It took her twice as long to graduate as it should have. If you need anything extra for class, just let me know. I don’t want you to have to struggle like my mother did.” He paid for their food while she finished eating.
His armband went off.
Silencing it, he rose to his feet. “I have to get back for check-in.”
“I thought you had an hour and a half for lunch?”
“My CO shortens it sometimes.” Now, she heard the defiant anger underlying his words.
Yeah, there was no missing the furious tic in his jaw or the flashing bloodlust in his white eyes. He wanted his CO’s throat. But he didn’t say a word about it as he led her back to his airbike.
She returned to base with him. “Would you mind if I went to your match tomorrow?”
His expression was a mask of shocked incredulity. “Really?”
She nodded. “Your mom won’t mind, will she?”
He scowled as if her question baffled him. “My mom?”
“That you have your companion at a fight with her?”
“Oh… No, my mother never attends my fights.”
Again, she was shocked by his answer. How could a champion fighter’s mother not attend his events? “Never?”
He shook his head as if it was totally normal. “She doesn’t like to see me bleed.” His mood lightened a bit as he winked at her. “What kind of selfish mom is she, right?”
She laughed at his warped humor. “So who goes for you?”
“My trainer and manager.”
“And?” she asked.
“My trainer and manager.” He said that so emotionlessly that she knew he didn’t expect anyone else. The loneliness of his life made her ache. He truly had no one. No wonder he didn’t treat her like other patrons treated their companions. He had no real understanding of Andarion relationships.
Or even family, it seemed.
Felicia pulled his head down until his forehead touched hers. “I will be there for you, Talyn.”
He inclined his head respectfully to her. “I shall leave a family pass for you at the box office. It’ll get you in the back with me, before and after the fight.” He cupped her face in his hand. “May I kiss you?”
“Of course.”
He brushed his hand through her curls before he slowly lowered his lips to hers.
Felicia trembled at the gentleness of his kiss. She shivered as his tongue swept against hers. When he pulled back, she smiled up at him. “I’m glad you’re my first kiss.”
“And I’m glad you’re mine.”
It wasn’t until he’d walked away that she realized he meant that she was his first kiss, too. Not that she was his mistress. Warmth spread through her, even though a part of her was still a little scared of him. He was so much more than she’d ever hoped to find.
Like him, because of her parents’ actions, she had limited options for a spouse and career. The only reason she’d been allowed into med school was because her mother was a distant cousin to the former tadar, and her father was a very high-ranking advisor to the current tadara, and while her parents were unmarried, her father did acknowledge her as his.
At least on occasion.
That allowed her many more options for careers, but it put her at an extreme disadvantage when negotiating marriage. It was why she’d followed her mother into companionship. At least as a companion, she had some control over her future.
Normally, companions were sought by older males whose wives had died or were injured, and they didn’t want to damage or complicate the lineages of their existing children with a new marriage.
Or they wanted companions for things, usually perverse, their wives refused to do for them. Sadly, those males treated their companions like paid whores. Expected them to be at their beck and call, and completely subservient