“You love him.”
“Yes.” There was no point denying it. “But love isn’t enough. He deserves more than I can give him.”
“You protected him when no one else would. That is more than most receive.”
“But it’s not enough for a whole life.” She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold despite the warmth of the cabin. “Even if I could keep him safe on Earth, he would always be alone.”
He looked down at Mikoz again, and she could see the war raging behind his careful control. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough.
“I could take him.”
Her heart started beating too fast.
“What?”
“I could raise him and teach him our ways.” He paused, his tail lashing once. “If you trust me with him.”
Did she? She studied his face, searching for any sign of insincerity or ulterior motive. But all she saw was a male standing at the edge of a precipice, terrified and determined at the same time.
“You’ve lost a child before,” she said quietly. Not a question.
His jaw tightened. “Yes.”
“And you think taking Mikoz would help?”
“I think…” He stopped, visibly struggling for words. “I think this child deserves someone who will die before letting harm come to him. And I can be that person.”
“Even though it might break you?”
“I am already broken. This will not change that.”
The honesty in those words made her chest ache. She looked down at Mikoz, peacefully asleep, unaware that his future was being decided in hushed voices above his head. Could she do this? Could she hand over the child she loved to a male she barely knew, no matter how much she felt as if she could trust him?
But what was the alternative?
“What about your job?” she asked, gesturing vaguely at the ship surrounding them. “You can’t bring him up on board.”
“I would leave,” he said immediately. “I would build him a home.”
She believed him, she just wasn’t quite ready to give up her son.
“I need to think about it.”
“I understand.”
She moved closer to the bed, reaching down to adjust Mikoz’s blanket even though it didn’t need adjusting. Her fingers brushed against Selik’s hand, and that same electric awareness shot through her. He must have felt it too because his tail wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. Not forcefully, but firmly enough that she couldn’t pretend to ignore it.
“Selik—”
“I will not pressure you,” he said, his voice soft. “But you should know that I feel drawn to you in a way that should not be possible.”
“Why not?”
“We are taught that a Cire male can only mate with a Cire female. That we cannot experience… satisfaction with anyone else. But I am responding to you.”
His tail gently pulled her even closer and her breath caught as the enormous ridge of his erection brushed against her stomach.
He wants me.
