“It’s more than anyone else has given me in a very long time.”
He covered her hand with his, those big fingers impossibly gentle. For a long moment, they stayed like that, suspended in a space that felt separate from the cell walls and the locked door and everything else that should have made this impossible.
Then Robbie wailed again, louder this time, and the moment broke.
“I’ll be back tonight,” Becsul said, heading towards the door. “If you want me to be.”
If you want me to be.Such a simple question. Such a complicated answer.
“Yes,” she said, and watched joy flicker across his alien features. “I want you to be.”
He was at the door when she spoke again, the words tumbling out before she could second-guess them.
“Becsul? About the compatibility thing. Veyalor’s theory about the mate bond.”
He turned back, waiting.
“I think—” She took a breath, steadying herself. “I think he might be right.”
His eyes widened, and for an instant she saw him stripped of all his careful control—saw the hope and wonder and fierce, desperate longing that he’d been trying so hard to hide. Then the mask slid back into place.
“Tonight,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “We’ll talk more tonight.”
The door closed behind him, and she let out a shaky breath.
What was she doing? What was shefeeling?
She looked down at her son, now fussing impatiently against her shoulder, and thought about Vijay Patel. About her parents’ disappointment. About all the years she’d spent telling herselfshe didn’t need anyone, that she could build a life alone, and that love was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
And now here she was, in an alien prison cell, falling for her captor.
Falling. The word felt inadequate. This wasn’t falling—it was something more like drowning, like being swept away by a current too strong to fight. Every time she told herself to pull back, to protect herself, he did something that cracked her defenses wide open.
He hadn’t tried to kiss her today. He hadn’t pushed for anything physical. He’d simply sat with her, talked with her, and looked at her like she was the most valuable thing in the universe. And that, somehow, was worse. She could have resisted seduction. She didn’t know how to resist beingseen.
Robbie’s cries finally penetrated her spiraling thoughts, and she shifted him to a more comfortable position, guiding him towards her breast. He latched on eagerly, his small body relaxing as he fed.
“What do you think, little one?” she whispered. “Am I making a terrible mistake?”
Robbie, predictably, had no answer. He just kept nursing, content and oblivious to his mother’s emotional turmoil.
Probably a mistake,she thought.Almost definitely a mistake.
But somehow, she found she didn’t care.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“The bond is progressing faster than I anticipated.”
Veyalor’s words slithered through the sterile air of the laboratory, accompanied by the soft click of claws against a datapad. Becsul stood rigid before the doctor’s workstation, watching the scientist scroll through what he assumed were observations about Melissa. About the two of them.
“Her cortisol levels have dropped significantly since you began your regular visits. Her heart rate elevation when you enter the room is consistent with the attraction response. And the infant shows marked improvement in temperament when you’re present.” Veyalor looked up, his pale yellow eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “The first past of Pagalan’s theory appears to be vindicated—you can form a mate bond with a non-Cire female. That argues that the second part of his theory is also correct.”
His tail twitched nervously, betraying the tension he was fighting to conceal. “What does this mean for the experiment?”
“It means we can proceed to the next phase.” Veyalor set down the datapad and rose from his seat, moving towards a wallof refrigerated storage units that Becsul had carefully avoided examining too closely. “I’ve been analyzing your genetic profile alongside hers. The compatibility markers are exceptional—better than I’d hoped. If the bond continues to strengthen, we should be ready to begin the insemination procedure within the week.”
Within the week.
