I drowned in my own agony, cursing my life choices, regretting locking Galenor in the bathroom because no one had come to claim him that day, checked my bank account balance about ten times to see if there was any possible way to quit my job, then started cleaning the room and putting all my energy into scrubbing old paint residue I had found in a corner behind the nightstand I wasn’t using.
A knock on the door stopped the regular motion I had exerted for about ten minutes on the exact same surface, without caring that the paint marks had vanished a while back.
“Go away!” I shouted through the door, then rose to find the tablet and checked the time, counting the minutes until it would finally be time for bed.
The knock persisted, making it clear it wouldn’t go away until I opened. So, with a deep sigh and my nerves stretched beyond their limit, I did.
“What?” I snapped, my regard slipping to those chiselled abs, fully covered in sweat.
“I’m bored,” the fae frowned with a reprimand, as if his situation was entirely my fault.
“So?” I tilted my head back, unsure of why exactly he felt the need to give me that information.
“Aren’t you supposed to entertain me?” he folded his arms across his chest and leaned on the door frame, expectantly.
“Excuse me?” My eyes bulged out so much it was a wonder they remained in their sockets.
“Aren’t you here for my entertainment?” he spoke slowly, pronouncing every syllable as if I was, once again, an idiot.
“What the fuck?” I frowned, amazed by the nerve on this man. Male. Prick.
Clearly my amazement did nothing to dissuade his idea, because Galenor remained there pinned to the door and towering over me as if I’d start dancing ballet or something.
“Listen buddy, just because this mission is weird as fuck, doesn’t mean I have to deal with your entitled-ass bullshit, okay?” I found myself raising a finger in the air to tell him off, but it was too late to back down, so I continued. “Go exercise or something, find your own things to do and stop pestering me.”
“I already did,” Galenor pointed to his abs and sweaty torso as if the subject in question was already obvious. His ability to heal was a marvel my mind had still to understand, his skin looking completely smooth and silky, far off from the fishnet collecting dagger marks from the night before.
“Okay, so…what is it that you want then?”
“Spend some time with me? Talk?” his viridescent irises gazed at me, pleading for attention. How long had he been alone for? How many days or weeks with no one to talk to, apart from the days where he had to be beaten up for information? This time, he was willing to offer a part of himself for free. I would be a fool to reject his offer.
“Okay, I nodded, grateful that he was finally willing to have a chat, that I finally found the moment to progress this assignment. “What would you like to talk about?”
“I would like to tell you,” Galenor purred at me, eyes glinting with mischief, “all the positions I would like to fuck you in. I think it would be —”
I shut the door in his face and made sure he heard the lock turning in twice.
“Fuck you, faerie,” I shouted through the door.
“Likewise, muffin,” he groaned back.
I wondered how my day could possibly get worse and as soon as I opened my eyes and felt the familiar cramps, I knew the answer. My period just decided to drop.
Kill me with a stick, why don’t you? I really didn’t fancy thirty-six hours of pain, not when I had to deal with the fae next door, improve my mood and not get accidentally fired from the job I’d put my life and soul into.
Hurrying to the bathroom, I placed my behind on the toilet and let the blood drip as I tried to form a mental picture that would settle me enough to get through the day and a half that I had to have my period every month. For health reasons.
We were injected with various types of hormones since we were kids, to either help us develop muscle, keep us from accidental pregnancies or keep our mood and behaviour in check. I even insisted on getting extra hormones to remove the inconvenience of a period completely, but the medical department were adamant about the health risks.
And anyway, a day and a half was much better than the full week other women had to deal with.
Let us think logically, Ellyana,I tried to settle myself and squeeze out as much blood as I could along with my morning pee. I had tampons, I had painkillers, I could get in a hot shower and ease out the pain. One thing I did not have, was patience. Or will to deal with Gale’s shit again.
I had decided to go back to calling him Gale, I didn’t want the closeness that knowing his full name offered, not when the subject in question tried to compete for the Prick of the Day award. PDD didn’t seem to respond to the follow up messages I sent, indirectly telling me that I was here as a nurse. To keep Gale from dying and to bring him food.
Which annoyed the hell out of me. I was a talented captain, I worked intelligence for the majority of my life and had always met my KPIs ahead of term and with the least amount of resources.
I had befriended enemies, I got information about incoming operations and was even interviewed about my skills and technicalities. I was supposed to be the youngest female major of my unit, probably of my region and I was a kick ass woman.
