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She placed the remnants on the table. “I can have this repaired.”
Marius moved toward her and put his hands on her shoulders. “No one is going to care that you broke this tablet. No one. And I’ll see that it gets repaired. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Her throat seized all on its own. Gabriel had asked the only really important question and she didn’t know how to answer it.
She turned toward him and settled her hands on his arms, just below the shoulders. “I want to stay, but—”
“You’re having doubts, a lot of them. I can feel it.”
“Marius, I want to say something and I need you to really hear me and believe. Apart from whether I decide to stay with you or not, I’m in love with you. I swear I fell hard even when
I thought you were a hallucination. I don’t honestly know how that’s possible because I’ve never been a big believer in love at first sight. Not really.
“And over the past several days, since we’ve been together, you’ve proven yourself repeatedly. I trust you with all my heart—more than any other man I’ve ever known.” She drew in a deep breath, then swallowed hard. “But the work I do isn’t just a profession, it’s a calling, maybe in the same way you were called to battle on behalf of your world. I just can’t feel good about walking away from the commitments I’ve made. Does that make sense?”
Marius had grown very still and for the first time since she’d held the blood-chain in her hand, she couldn’t read him, she couldn’t sense what he was feeling.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for him to respond.
Finally Marius offered her a smile and even had a glimmer in his eyes. “Actually, I have a suggestion.”
“You do?”
He nodded. “Well, since I’ve already made the decision that I will do whatever it takes to have you in my life, what if I got a sweet apartment in the Cascade system, not far from Seattle? It’s a bit pricey, but I can afford it. And I’m sure, if I worked hard, I could find the same setup, or build one, in Malaysia. How long do you plan on doing your fieldwork?”
“A year. At least. Maybe more if I feel the need.” Her throat once more seized. “You’d really do this for me?”
He took her in his arms. “In a goddamn, righteous, fucking heartbeat. I’m in love with you, Shayna, all that you are, not just how you might fit into my life. I know how important getting your doctorate is to you, your education, and your hope one day to teach.”
“But in my world, not yours. I realize that I could have a place here.” She gestured at the stack of tablets. “Just working with these could be a lifetime’s effort. But my calling is to the human world. We have so much that needs to be done in our civilization worldwide and I’ve come to believe that not much will get accomplished without people like me who work hard to really understand each culture. With that understanding, real progress can be made. Without it, it’s like trying to dig a trench using soup spoons.” She took a deep breath. “Can you live with that?”
He smiled and smoothed her hair away from her face. “Shayna, you helped my world get rid of its biggest threat in the last millennium. I’m telling you that if you told me that the only way we could be together is if I stood on my head the rest of my life, I’d do it. I’d be crazy not to.”
She blinked a couple of times. “You really are serious.”
“Damn straight I am. But I should warn you that if you leave, I’ll come knocking on your apartment door. I’d bring flowers, thousands of them, bottles of wine, chocolate by the ton, anything you desired to try to win you over.” He lowered his voice. “I’d bring you books, too, lots of books, on anthropology, history, science. I’d even steal some of these tablets and put them on your doorstep just to get you to open the door for me. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Tears burned her eyes. She grabbed his vest at the shoulders and tugged a couple of times, then slid her arms around his neck and held him tight. He did that thing he often did, rubbing his hand up and down her back, comforting her.
“Shayna, I’m teasing you about coming after you. Say the word, and I’ll take you home and you’ll never see me again. But I want you to know how grateful I am for who you are. This time with you has been incredibly healing for me, something I didn’t expect when Rumy sent me to Seattle because you had the highest score on the computer game he designed. You brought so much into my life that had nothing to do with either Daniel or the extinction weapon. For that, you will always have my undying loyalty. If you ever need anything, you have but to ask and I’ll come running.”
* * *
Marius held himself in check, utilizing the tight control he’d learned from living as long as he had. He felt so much right now that he had to work extremely hard to keep his emotions from swamping Shayna. He didn’t want to say too much or too little. Sometimes the war was won holding tight to the middle ground and letting the moment breathe.
Finally she drew back and said, “I trust you, Marius. If you truly believe you can do what you’ve said, that we could have a cave apartment somewhere near Seattle, that I can pursue my studies or anything else I feel is important, then I’m all yours.”
Marius didn’t realize he’d levitated with Shayna in his arms until he hit his head on the cavern ceiling. “Ow.”
Shayna laughed. “I did the same thing. Remember? That happened in Sweden.”
He searched her eyes, his heart so full he couldn’t speak.
Instead, he kissed her. Hard. And as soon as she parted her lips, he slid his tongue inside, thrusting and making all kinds of promises.
When he drew back, her beautiful sexy scent filled the air, a perfect match to his own need to take her to bed and make love with her.
As he slowly levitated back down to the floor, he realized Shayna’s emotions were as euphoric as his own, as though a fog lived in her mind. She kept stroking his neck, his shoulders, his pecs, and pushing her fingers beneath his vest at an awkward angle. She was as anxious as he was to get down to business.
