The Breeding Experiment - Laurann Dohner Page 0,48

seen Darla. They’d felt like the longest of his life. It was even difficult for him to sleep now, without her securely in his arms, and he worried about her constantly. Was she happy on Defcon Red? Were human males treating her with respect?

Jealousy reared inside him, too. What if one of the males became interested in copulating with her?

Pure rage reared suddenly—and an irrational urge to tear apart any male who approached her, limb by limb.

“Gnaw?”

He stared at his grouping leader. “Can you have Abby contact her today?”

Roth nodded, giving his shoulders another squeeze before he stood, releasing him. “After our training session ends.” His nostrils flared as he inhaled. “Your emotions are unstable. You are excused from sparring with the humans. Why don’t you return to our home?”

“Try to make your sleeping room more appealing, in case Darla agrees to see you tonight. Abby said we are so neat that our spaces don’t appear lived in. That can make humans uncomfortable,” Drak shared. “Order more pillows for your bed. You’ve seen what Abby has done to ours.”

Gnaw made a mental note to do just that. Abby did seem to like many pillows at the top of the bed she shared with Drak.

“Go,” Roth urged. “I’ll tell Clark that you need a few more days before you’re back on duty. He will understand.”

Gnaw got up and gave a nod to his grouping, striding out of the training room. He felt the stares of humans but ignored them as he left.

Excitement increased his pace. He hoped that Darla would come to his home. He’d take her into his sleeping room to give them privacy. They could talk and spend time together.

At that thought, his rod began to stiffen.

He groaned, ordering his body to calm. There would be no copulating. Humans weren’t like Veslors. He didn’t need to demonstrate his skill as a lover again to convince her to become his mate. Instead, he needed to study United Earth culture on how to lure a female into accepting a male.

He had a plan. Now he only had to implement it.

* * * * *

Darla’s head pounded and she felt hot. She raised her hand, wiping her brow. Only there wasn’t any sweat. Her forehead just felt warmer than it should be. She glanced up at the artificial sunny sky above her. Then she checked her exposed skin. It wasn’t red from sunburn.

“Are you okay?”

She dropped her hand and turned. “I’m getting a headache. I guess it’s going to take some time adjusting to their growing bulbs.”

Becky frowned. “I feel fine.” Her sister came closer. “You look flushed. Maybe you should ask Joseph if you can leave an hour early. That’s all that’s left on our shift. I can finish watering this section myself.”

“I’m not going to do that. This is our first day. It would give a bad impression. We need these jobs.”

Becky came closer and reached out, pressing her palm to her forehead. Her eyes widened. “You feel warm.”

“It’s just the new kind of heat bulbs. They keep it warmer in here than what we’re used to, since they’re on while we work.”

“Does your throat hurt?”

“No. I just have a headache.” Darla backed away.

“You should go see that doctor. Dad had a bad cold a few weeks ago, remember? Maybe you caught it. He had to take medicine when he got a sinus infection. That caused him to have headaches, too.”

“I’m not getting a cold. It’s just a stress headache. If it doesn’t go away soon, I’ll contact Jessa to take a look at me. Let’s just finish our shift. I probably just need some sleep. I haven’t gotten a lot of that lately. My body is rundown.”

Her sister sighed. “Fine. But promise that you’ll go see your new doctor friend if it gets worse.”

“I promise.” Darla turned around and withdrew a device she kept in one of her pockets. She moved to the next row of plants that needed attention and double checked their moisture level. It was a little low. She tapped on the sprinklers. Sensors would automatically shut them off when the moisture level was perfect. She moved to the next row, which didn’t need to be watered.

Working in a fleet garden was way easier than in a greenhouse, where most of the work had been manual labor. Joseph had explained that computers couldn’t visually inspect plants because sometimes sensors failed. It’s why they needed live workers tending everything. Machines also weren’t good for harvesting most of