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“That doesn’t count,” he told her, spinning around. “It’s just coffee.”
“It counts to me,” she laughed. “I use a pod-bot.”
The look of horror on his handsome face made her laugh again.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he decided, turning back to the refrigerator, and giving her a fantastic view of his broad shoulders and muscular back.
She smiled to herself as he started pulling vegetables and eggs out of the fridge. It was easy to envision lazy, light-filled mornings like this one, relaxing in the kitchen and enjoying breakfast and good company.
It’s not real,she reminded herself sternly.It’s not forever.
But if there was a baby, that would be forever. Tiago would have a daily reminder of her, even if she were worlds away.
Suddenly, she had a vision in her mind of their child, with his green eyes and beautiful golden horns peeking out of dark hair like hers.
Something wrenched inside her, and it was all she could do not to weep.
How could she leave that child behind?
In that moment, success felt like it would be even more painful than failure.
“You okay?” he asked, stepping over to her with a mug of steaming coffee. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I’m fine,” she managed, taking it. “I guess I’m just a little tired.”
“I wore you out, huh?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.
He was standing so close.
Her body responded instantly, blood rushing to her cheeks, a delicious shiver going down her spine.
“You sure you need breakfast, Alexis?” he murmured, reaching out to stroke her cheek.
A ding sounded from his bracelet, breaking the hum between them.
“The eggs,” he said, jogging back around the table to tend to their breakfast.
The scent of the eggs and sizzling vegetables in the pan next to them was incredible. Her stomach rumbled happily, reminding her in uncertain terms that this was much better than a protein bar.
I’ll worry about going home later,she told herself.For now, I’ll do what Dr. Pan said and have fun.
Over at the stove, humming over the eggs, Tiago was gigantic, godlike, and happy as a child.
She smiled indulgently at the big Maltaffian. If he could relax, so could she.
12
OBERON
Oberon scanned the readings of Alexis’s vitals twice more before backing them up and filing them.
Though of course Dr. Pan was right, and day-one gestations were all but unheard-of for Maltaffian matchings, he was still just a little disappointed at today’s result.
The instant connection between the fighter and the dancer had been easily measurable through heart rate, hormone levels and a sense of prediction Oberon had picked up in the last few weeks.
He was certain thesensewas merely an imperceptible early background data analysis, but he associated it with the biological termgut instinct.
Oberon didn’t have an actual gut, but he was very sure that if he did, it would have told him immediately that Alexis and Tiago were a perfect match.
