Page 11 of Loaned to the Leonid Knight

“Is this going to delay the start of my protocol?”

Marcus shrugged. “Not drastically. We have a few days of wiggle room, and if you need more time to decide, it can be delayed until the next cycle. Gideon would be welcome to stay the entire length of the program, or he could shuttle back and forth. I think he ought to stay if you want to build a friendly relationship with him. If it’s uh—more clinical, then it could be over shortly, and he could be on his way. He could come back inthe next cycle if this one was unsuccessful. May I be frank, and perhaps a little bit more personal than is customary?”

Sasha swallowed. “Okay?”

“I hope you two hit it off and become great friends, Sasha. The boosters have a very powerful effect, and it would be nice for you to have someone here to take care of you, to get the proper treatment a Queen in her heat deserves.”

Sasha nodded, feeling as though the “heat” had begun right then. She’d read all about it, seen media about the procedure and the impacts it had, talked to Layla and Abi... At the time, it hadn’t seemed very important. She’d experienced the occasional feeling of attraction, even “horniness,” and every lover she’d ever had had been enough to spoil those urges. “I’ll be fine, with or without someone.”

“All right. I just... Well, human ovulation usually lasts for a much shorter window, and the feelings are fleeting. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Eh, hopefully it takes the first time, and that’ll be the end of it.”

Marcus gave her a quizzical look. “Well. Perhaps. Everyone is different. I’d better go. We have another batch of applicants to screen, and when Gideon arrives, I’ll be monitoring him as he recovers from hypersleep.”

“Is there anything I should do?”

“Rest. Read. Uh. I... Well, you’ve read all the materials. I’ll leave you to it.”

Marcus walked from her quarters with a little wave.

“Leave me to what?” Sasha muttered after the sliding silvery doors sealed behind him. What material had she read? What was he going to say?

She shrugged it off, chewing her thumbnail as she began to pace. Sasha was more worried about meeting this stranger. Shehad at least read Farhet’s profile and seen his picture. She could ask Marcus if she could do the same for Gideon.

“What good would that do?” she muttered, forcefully flinging her hand from her mouth. She hadn’t bitten her nails in almost six weeks. She wasn’t going to start now. “I saw the picture, read up on the last match, and that turned out to be a disaster. I’ll just be blunt with this guy. I’ll say, “Be honest. If you don’t like me or the way I look, say so. Let’s decide if we can tough it out anyway. Let’s see if we can be mature for the literal good of the Felid race.”

Her other hand made its way to her lips, forefinger tapping her teeth, which was better than biting the nail down to the nub, she supposed. Someone was depending on her.

Why did I think I could do this? No one has ever depended on me. I never had anyone to depend on, either, not since abuela passed...

Because you had a chance to earn a lot of money doing it, that’s why. Because you get away from the slums and the dead-end jobs, something you could never afford before, even when Abuela was alive.

Her eyes prickled suddenly, and she brushed her wrist across them, scowling. No tears. No time for that.

You’d better rein in your emotions, Sasha, and do it now, before they pump you full of drugs that’ll make you horny—well, that might make other women horny.

Not me. You have to like sex to crave it.

How would you know?argued a snide little voice in her head.

She stopped in front of the mirror, horrified to see how flushed her face was, how red and blotchy she looked from holding in tears of frustration, confusion, and most of all, loneliness.

No one to depend on you, no family left, no real friends back home... She could talk to Abi or Kaylee.

And let them see you’re an unstable emotional wreck?

Sasha didn’t give herself permission to acknowledge that the whole situation was new and overwhelming, or that her experience with Farhet and the shock of this “surrogate sperm donor” would all be perfectly acceptable reasons to feel upset. Some would say a good cry was just what she needed.

To her, crying meant weakness, and weakness meant danger. Being taken advantage of. Losing things you couldn’t afford to lose.

Like this job.

She sat on the bed, breathing shakily in through her nose and out through her mouth, nibbling on her nails as she forced the tears to stay below the surface.

GIDEON WOKE UP TO Afrowning Leonid face above his.

“Gideon?” the graying Leonid asked.