The Breeding Experiment - Laurann Dohner Page 0,33
permission. From what I overheard, I’m going to guess that the scan they took must have indicated you’d had sex. Am I right?”
“Gnaw didn’t force me. The Elth were going to kill me if we didn’t do as they demanded. They’d have sent in the next woman, which they’d already determined would be my baby sister, and then killed her if he still refused. I had to practically plead with him to do what we did together. He took care of me, and he didn’t hurt me once. I swear. He hates what happened in that cell between us, but he did it to keep me alive. Don’t let them punish Gnaw, please!”
Dr. Brick nodded. “I won’t. This is what you need to do—refuse treatment.”
That advice stunned Darla.
“These medical shuttles are slow, since they don’t want to injure the patients more by destabilizing the gravity already in place by flying them too fast. We’ve run out of time though, since we’re entering the docking bay of Defcon Red right now. Medical teams are going to rush inside soon. Can you stand?”
Darla took a deep breath and scooted off the edge of the padded surface, standing slowly. Her injured thigh throbbed a little, but it held her weight. “Yes.”
Dr. Brick helped her wrap the blanket around her body. “Stick with me. I’m going to walk you out of here and right to your cabin.”
“I haven’t been assigned one yet. I’m a new-hire. I’ve never been on the ship before.”
“Shit,” Dr. Brick muttered. “Okay. We’ll go with Plan B. That’s the two of us going to my lab. If another doctor tries to take over, demand outright that I’m the only one you want treating you. Don’t allow them to bully you. It’s your right to choose.”
“Okay.” That sounded reasonable to Darla.
“I can pull rank as the A.R.S. because a Veslor is involved, but it will help if you demand to stick with me.”
“Thank you.” Darla forced a smile at her sister. Becky was staring at them from across the shuttle. “What about my sister?”
“Let her go with another team for treatment.”
Chapter Eight
“You need food and uninterrupted rest,” Maith diagnosed. “I am glad you are in such good health, Gnaw. I feared the Elth would have done much worse to you.”
Gnaw stood naked in the bathroom after his examination from their grouping’s medic. “May I shower now?”
“Please do. You need one. Dead Elth isn’t pleasant to my senses.”
He got into the shower. The hot water relaxed him a bit while he scrubbed his body and washed his hair. Maith closed the bathroom door as he left, giving him privacy. He welcomed the alone time, knowing full well it wouldn’t last long. His grouping would want to know everything that had happened to him. Those details would include Darla.
The door opened minutes later. “Drak and Roth have gone to gather food for us,” Maith called loudly. “I’ve brought you fresh clothing. Roth isn’t certain how long it will be before Clark returns and the humans will demand to speak to you.”
Gnaw shut off the water and began drying his body. “I will get some sleep first.”
“Roth doesn’t believe they’ll allow that much time to pass. The humans were very agitated that one of their shuttles were stolen. To repeat Abby, ‘it’s a huge deal.’”
He grumbled but stepped out of the shower, dressing in the pants and shirt placed on the counter. Maith watched his every move, obviously concerned.
“I am well. The Elth allowed us short resting periods, and we had access to planet surface covering they deemed fit as food.”
Maith hissed. “They only fed you vegetation?”
“Yes.”
“The Elth are fools. I’m glad we were able to kill so many of them while retrieving you.” He stepped closer to Gnaw. “Do you wish to speak about the female? You copulated with her. Her scent is gone now, but it was there before you washed it away. I remember how Roth wasn’t pleased when Drak felt attraction to Abby. We’re alone, if you feel like speaking without his possible disapproval. Did you grow an emotional attachment to her?”
Gnaw sighed, feeling exhausted. He really didn’t want to speak about Darla but his grouping needed to know everything. “My feelings are confused. Her name is Darla, and she’s a brave female. I refused to copulate with her when the Elth ordered me to. She calmed my rage enough to hear her logical reasoning. Her life was in jeopardy, and they would have sent in other females after she