“Yes.”
Inside, I pump a fist in the air. We could go anywhere if I end up with him. “Then you can do what you want.”
He nods and downs a fair portion of the beer. “I can. I was removed from service for refusing an arranged bond. They gave me options, but I wanted to choose a mate who felt right, a mutual bond.”
“Service? So you’re a soldier?” I ask.
Aura draws in a deep breath. “We are called Rogues. Our duty is to our motherships but also to our allies. Nebs attacked Vinym just days ago. I was there with my crew.”
I stare at the swirling metallic colors of my drink. It definitely looks cosmic. “Uh— Just to be sure— I’m not drinking some nebula’s baby, am I?”
Aura chuckles. “What?”
I point to the glass. “Looks like someone bottled a nebula.”
“Maybe in the Cicarron system.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve never left orbit. Worked on ships here and at Catalyst Five. That’s it.”
Aura licks his lips and smiles at me like he can’t wait to show me the universe. “Cicarron is like that river, only metal flake that flowslike water. It coats everything, and you almost can’t get it out. My ship went in with three others on a rescue mission. Only my ship came out.”
“I’m sorry.”
He hangs his head. “It’s just the nature of space and war. The smartest and toughest survive. But when they survive, they come out of it two ways, cocky as shit or very aware of their mortality. I am the latter. But there are many nebulae and galaxies that make even me breathless to bear witness to them. I would love to show you sometime.”
“I’d like that.”
Aura gingerly takes my wrist and tenderly runs a purple finger along a thread of my bodyweb. “Tell me more about this.”
After a sip of my fruity drink, I covertly study his high-tech wristband. “It was a choice to help me keep my job and build a future in the ship thruster engineering field. I have gauntlets, too, but they were taken because ABR considered them weapons. I paid for the suit, not the gauntlets. But I did pay for the upgrades because I wired them up myself.
“And thanks for defending me, by the way. Not having my defense weapons was unnerving.”
Aura rests my arm back on the table and slides his fingers into mine. “I saw you fight that Listhaetis and knew you didn’t want him. But he also needed to be removed from the race because he’s dangerous. A lot of species forget their heads when mating urges take over. Even mine. I just knew the moment I saw you that I couldn’t let anyone hurt you.”
His skin is hot against mine. The occasional spark leaves his hands and finds its way into the web that wraps down my fingers. “Most humans look at me like I’m a freak. When I saw your species in the catalog, I thought if anyone might be comfortable with me, it’d be you. But I understand if you want to look for someone else. I know I look like an aged-out stripper who’s trying too hard.”
A smile cracks on his face. “I think you’re perfect the way you are.”
I’m not so sure.There has to be something that will eventually turn him away, make him want someone else, or just walk away.But I try to be optimistic and enjoy the moment while it lasts. At least I could have a good memory to hang onto. “Anyway, I didn’t expect anyone to be interested in this.” I wave a hand over my body. “So if you change your mind and want someone else—”
Aura lifts my hand, isolates my index finger, draws it into his mouth, and curls his electric tongue around it. He watches me closely as the tingles spread through my skin and tense the muscles in my forearm.
The soft, wet heat of his affection makes me swallow my doubts and resist a pant as my heart sprints in my chest. He draws my wrist to his nose, inhales me deeply, and rumbles, “You saw the orb, yes?”
“Y-yes.”
Aura shifts on the cushion, making the leather squeak softly. He leans in close to my ear until I can feel his warm breath on my neck and the electricity of him prickling my skin. “We are meant to be together. My Storm has decided. I have made up my mind.Wehave chosen you.
“Now it’s up toyouto pick me or someone else. I won’t try to convince you to be with me. My life is not easy. And now you’ve got me thinking about all the Amphirans who disappeared without warning. But I won’t back down even if it comes with a lot of risk. I will do anything for you.”
He sweeps his nose up and down my neck like he can’t get enough of my scent. “But I am fighting a battle back home. I understand ifyoudon’t wantme. There are a lot of reasons other males would suit you better. They are gentler, safer.”
But I don’t want those things. I don’t want safe because it’s ultimately boring. I want a mate who can’t keep their hands off of me because I think it’s the only way I’ll believe they want me.
“I want a new life, Aura. I want to leave here. I have skills. I can adapt them. I can help. I am useful.”
“Those are great things,” he says. “But what matters most to my kind is loyalty.”
