“Good,” he whispered, and then he kissed her.
It was a different kiss than usual. Not the teasing foreplay they’d fallen into the habit of sharing, nor the passionate embrace that had started all this. This kiss held something deeper, a promise that made her heart ache. His lips moved against hers tenderly, and she melted into it, savoring the sweetness that seemed so at odds with the dangerous male she’d come to know.
Then Ari squirmed in Emma’s arms, breaking the spell, and Doren’s expression shifted back to his usual sardonic mask.
“Come on, then. Let’s go meet my friends.”
The hatch opened, and Emma’s first breath of Sherae’s air was a revelation. It was warm and humid, carrying the salt-sweet scent of the ocean mixed with something floral and utterly alien. She stood at the top of the ramp, Ari in her arms, and let herself absorb the kiss of the tropical breeze on her skin, the cry of unfamiliar birds, and the distant crash of waves against the cliff below.
I’m on an alien planet,she thought with sudden, dizzying wonder.An actual alien planet.
It wasn’t that she’d forgotten her circumstances, but there was a vast difference between knowing intellectually that she was no longer on Earth and actually standing on alien soil with alien air in her lungs and an alien ocean stretching to the horizon.
“Doren.”
The voice was deep enough to vibrate in her chest, and she looked up to see a massive male emerging from the building. He was at least seven feet tall, with shoulders that could have blocked a doorway, and deep blue skin. A wild tangle of white hair was interwoven with dozens of tiny braids decorated with small metal beads, and his face had a fierce, angular quality that reminded her of a Viking warrior.
“Athtar.” Doren stepped forward to clasp the larger male’s forearm. “You look well.”
“You look like shit,” Athtar growled, frowning. “What the fuck happened to you? I heard the fucking Grorn attacked the Ithyian ship you were fucking foolish enough to investigate.”
“I know. I was there.”
“Of course you were.” Athtar’s pale blue eyes swept over Doren, then shifted to her and Ari. His expression didn’t change, but something in his posture sharpened. “You’ve picked up passengers.”
“It’s a long story.”
“It’s always a fucking long story.” Athtar studied her with an intensity that made her want to step back, but she held her ground. After everything she’d been through, she refused to be intimidated by a large blue male with an attitude problem.
“I’m Emma,” she said, lifting her chin. “And this is Ari.”
To her surprise he just laughed and shook his head.
“A human female. I should have fucking known.”
She frowned at him, but before she could say anything a woman appeared in the doorway behind Athtar—an obviously human woman. She was tall and thin, with short dark hair and intelligent eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, and her face was alight with curiosity.
“Oh!” She spotted Emma and hurried forward, half-stumbling as she slipped past Athtar. “Another human! Athtar didn’t mention you were coming, but then he never tells me anything until I pry it out of him. I’m Faith, by the way, it’s so good to meet you?—”
The rush of words came to halt as Faith spotted Ari. “Is that... is that a baby?”
“This is Ari,” she said, shifting so Faith could see the infant’s face. “She’s... well, it’s complicated.”
“Is she Aurelian?” Faith asked, adjusting her glasses as she leaned in for a closer look. “They’re incredibly rare. Where did you find her?”
“Ithyian slave ship,” Doren said flatly. “The Grorn were after her. How did you know she was Aurelian?”
“I’ve been tracing genetic markers trying to identify possible Key species.” Faith’s expression shifted from sharpened. “Is that why the Grorn were after her? Is she one of them?”
“We think so.”
“Holy shit.”
The curse sounded incongruous coming from such an academic-looking woman, and she suddenly found herself smiling. There was something immediately likeable about Faith—a warmth beneath the scientific curiosity that made Emma feel oddly at home.
“Maybe we should take this inside,” Athtar rumbled. “Before Doren fucking falls over. He looks like he hasn’t slept in a week.”
“I’ve slept plenty.”
