them. Her fickle hormones were already turning against her. Flooding her blood stream and making certain she noticed little details about her male companions. Those embers of evolution encoded right into her genes, the damn things had been blissfully dormant but now it appeared her allotment of mercy had been exceeded. The Resource Department’s tests had dumped her right into close quarters with the sort of males who she found too
attractive for her own good. During a competition, she could focus and avoid the issue. Cohabitating with them was going to be a much more difficult test of her composure.
Living among females was nice and uncomplicated. You trained hard and indulged in friendly companionship. Men ruined that balance just by being male. They caused a chain reaction in the body that spelled disaster for any woman who wanted to keep her brain from becoming a slave to her uterus.
“You seem to have missed a few lessons in manners.” The commander walked towards her with solid steps as his dark gaze cut into her. “Snorting is not an appropriate response to any officer.”
Jala very precisely looked at the top of her arm. When a man joined Interlink force, his service number was laser inscribed on his left shoulder. Not that she could actually see her arm through the insulated suit but the commander’s face tightened as he understood her gesture.
“It appears I didn’t register to follow your dictates. That’s too bad for you.” Her words sounded spiteful but she refused to care. Their approach was too certain, their words too full of their own authority over her. The walls were pressing in on her as she struggled to just breathe, her lungs felt too heavy to inflate. She felt like was a puppy at a pet store as it was boxed and sent home with whoever had paid the price for it. Forever expected to wait upon the whim of the owner for morsels of affection as well as the most basic of necessities. It was a humble position for a woman who had been so close to earning a living as the master and owner of her own school.
“What in the cosmos is that?” Sion’s hand snaked up the pants she wore to clasp around her calf. Her legs were bent with both feet up on the bench she sat on because she’d been rubbing her knee. She hadn’t checked to make sure the fabric was pushed all the way back to her foot. Sion had sat on the other side of her feet and she’d left them there to keep the man from getting too close. That meant he could see up the baggy leg of the suit and his medically trained eye instantly found the brown bruising decorating her leg.
He shoved the fabric up her leg as his eyes examined her. His face tightened with rage as he identified the severity of the injury.
“Why wasn’t this treated?”
“Because it didn’t matter once I’d lost my final match because of it. Let go of my leg.” She tried to yank her limb out of his grasp. His fingers tightened as he aimed harsh disapproval at her.
“Do you have some kind of fetish for pain?” Sion asked the question in a whisper-soft voice. He was almost afraid to hear her answer. There were rumors about Estrokos liking rough handling. Her little rosy nipples weren’t pierced but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy other kinds of pain. Any female who drove herself hard enough to reach her senior year had to be able to work through pain, and it was possible that her decades of training had warped her senses until Jala considered it enjoyable. His hand was stroking her foot. Jala frowned as the firm strokes felt amazing while they worked at the throbbing agony that gripped her limb. The strength he had in that hand was amazing. It made her want to melt into a puddle and just enjoy the motion of his fingers. Comfort wasn’t something she was used to getting from anyone but herself. Only little girls got tender attention, but once they began to grow up, each Estroko student was expected to appear strong no matter what personal pain they might be
attractive for her own good. During a competition, she could focus and avoid the issue. Cohabitating with them was going to be a much more difficult test of her composure.
Living among females was nice and uncomplicated. You trained hard and indulged in friendly companionship. Men ruined that balance just by being male. They caused a chain reaction in the body that spelled disaster for any woman who wanted to keep her brain from becoming a slave to her uterus.
“You seem to have missed a few lessons in manners.” The commander walked towards her with solid steps as his dark gaze cut into her. “Snorting is not an appropriate response to any officer.”
Jala very precisely looked at the top of her arm. When a man joined Interlink force, his service number was laser inscribed on his left shoulder. Not that she could actually see her arm through the insulated suit but the commander’s face tightened as he understood her gesture.
“It appears I didn’t register to follow your dictates. That’s too bad for you.” Her words sounded spiteful but she refused to care. Their approach was too certain, their words too full of their own authority over her. The walls were pressing in on her as she struggled to just breathe, her lungs felt too heavy to inflate. She felt like was a puppy at a pet store as it was boxed and sent home with whoever had paid the price for it. Forever expected to wait upon the whim of the owner for morsels of affection as well as the most basic of necessities. It was a humble position for a woman who had been so close to earning a living as the master and owner of her own school.
“What in the cosmos is that?” Sion’s hand snaked up the pants she wore to clasp around her calf. Her legs were bent with both feet up on the bench she sat on because she’d been rubbing her knee. She hadn’t checked to make sure the fabric was pushed all the way back to her foot. Sion had sat on the other side of her feet and she’d left them there to keep the man from getting too close. That meant he could see up the baggy leg of the suit and his medically trained eye instantly found the brown bruising decorating her leg.
He shoved the fabric up her leg as his eyes examined her. His face tightened with rage as he identified the severity of the injury.
“Why wasn’t this treated?”
“Because it didn’t matter once I’d lost my final match because of it. Let go of my leg.” She tried to yank her limb out of his grasp. His fingers tightened as he aimed harsh disapproval at her.
“Do you have some kind of fetish for pain?” Sion asked the question in a whisper-soft voice. He was almost afraid to hear her answer. There were rumors about Estrokos liking rough handling. Her little rosy nipples weren’t pierced but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy other kinds of pain. Any female who drove herself hard enough to reach her senior year had to be able to work through pain, and it was possible that her decades of training had warped her senses until Jala considered it enjoyable. His hand was stroking her foot. Jala frowned as the firm strokes felt amazing while they worked at the throbbing agony that gripped her limb. The strength he had in that hand was amazing. It made her want to melt into a puddle and just enjoy the motion of his fingers. Comfort wasn’t something she was used to getting from anyone but herself. Only little girls got tender attention, but once they began to grow up, each Estroko student was expected to appear strong no matter what personal pain they might be
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