She was right. This bond was as real as anything he’d ever experienced. More real, perhaps, than his first mating had been. Kessa had been a good match, a good friend and a suitable partner chosen through family connections and cultural expectations. What he felt for Corinne transcended all of that. This was the raw, primal recognition of a soul that complemented his own.
“I love you,” he said, the words emerging with surprising ease. “I know it is too soon, that we have only known each other a short time, but I love you with everything I am.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “I love you too. God help me, I think I’ve loved you since the moment you caught me on that hillside.”
He kissed her again, but despite his happiness, he knew that their problems were not over. The Council would not approve of this relationship. A human mate and a Cire infant who should not exist? They would consider it their duty to intervene, to separate his family and return Mikoz to Ciresia where he could be raised “properly” among his own kind.
Over my dead body.
“I need to return to the children,” she said reluctantly, making no move to actually leave. “They’ll be waking soon and Anya will panic if I’m not there.”
“I know.” He pulled out carefully, mourning the loss of their connection, and helped her sit up. Her tunic was crumpled on the floor and her panties were beyond repair. He grabbed a blanket from his bunk and wrapped it around her shoulders. “But before you go, I need you to understand something.”
She looked up at him with those expressive eyes, and his heart clenched at how much he’d come to care for this brave, fierce woman.
“The Council will not approve of us,” he said bluntly. “They will see our bond as impossible or false. They will want to take Mikoz to be raised on Ciresia. They will do everything in their power to separate us.”
“Then we don’t tell them.”
“Eventually they will discover the truth. Tarak suspects others on the ship already know about Mikoz.”
“So we leave.” She said it with calm certainty, as if abandoning everything he’d built was a simple solution. “You said you’d been looking for a quiet world where we could settle. We go there, the four of us, and we build a life away from the Council’s interference.”
“You would give up the chance to return to Earth? To bring Anya home to her own people?”
“I would give up anything to keep this family together, and I’m sure that Anya will agree.” She cupped his face between her hands. “Earth stopped being home the moment we were taken. You and the children—you’re my home now. We’ll find somewhere safe where Anya can grow up and Mikoz can be himself and we can just be without constantly looking over our shoulders.”
The fierce protectiveness in her voice made his chest tighten. She meant every word. She would walk away from her entire world to keep their family intact.
“I will find a way,” he promised. “I will locate a safe haven where we can build a life together without Council interference. It may take time, but I swear to you, I will not let anyone separate us.”
“I trust you.” She kissed him softly. “Now help me find something to wear that isn’t a blanket so I can sneak back to the children without traumatizing anyone who sees me in the corridor.”
He rummaged through his storage locker and found an old training tunic that would dwarf her small frame but at least cover the essentials. She pulled it on, the hem falling to mid-thigh and the shoulders hanging halfway down her arms. She looked absurd and adorable and thoroughly ravished.
“Perfect,” she said with a grin. “Very inconspicuous.”
“Perhaps you should keep the blanket as well.”
She laughed, the sound warming him from the inside. “I’ll risk it. But you owe me new underwear.”
“I will procure an entire wardrobe of undergarments if it pleases you.”
“Just some basic clothes would be fine.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him one more time. “I love you, Selik dar’Tacharan. Remember that when things get complicated.”
“I love you, Corinne.” He pulled her close, breathing in her scent—now mixed with his own in a way that satisfied something primal inside him. “And I will move worlds to keep you safe.”
She slipped out of his office, checking the corridor first to make sure no one would see her sneaking back to her quarters in the middle of the night. He watched until she disappeared around the corner, then sank onto his desk chair with a groan.
What had he done?
No—wrong question. He knew exactly what he’d done. He’d claimed a mate, forged a bond that transcended species and defied everything his people believed possible. The real question was what he would do next to protect her and the children from the consequences.
His terminal chimed with an incoming message. He glanced at the screen and saw Tarak’s designation flashing. Unusual for his second to contact him in the middle of the night cycle unless something had gone wrong.
He accepted the call and Tarak’s concerned face filled the screen.
“Commander. My apologies for the late hour, but we have a situation.”
