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“So the ruler of the Tangle is a female in your universe?” Sylvania asked.
Nox nodded. “It is much like Yonnie Six, which is a female ruled planet.”
Commander Sylvania looked shocked.
“Yonnie Six? We avoid that world—it is a cruel place, run by evil males who want nothing but to subjugate and dominate women. Females have no rights there—they are nothing but property to be bought and sold and abused!”
“It’s the opposite in our universe,” Seline assured her. “Women rule there. In fact, I play the part of a Mistress myself, in order to interact with the Yonnites. Nox, here, plays the part of my bodyslave,” she added, nodding at Nox.
“So you don’t mind being submissive to your female?” Commander Sylvania asked Nox, looking extremely interested.
Nox shrugged.
“I do whatever I have to in order to keep Seline safe—I am her Protector.”
“It seems you’re more than that.” Sylvania raised her eyebrows. “Or am I misreading the situation?”
Nox saw Seline’s cheeks get pink and she nodded shyly.
“This mission has brought us together,” she admitted, squeezing Nox’s hand. “We’re, uh, hoping to get Bonded once we get back to our own universe.”
“There is no ‘hoping’ about it,” Nox said firmly. “We are going to be Bonded as soon as we are home and it is safe to do so.”
Commander Sylvania frowned.
“I don’t want to throw cold water over your new love, but have you considered the fact that when you go back to your own universe, you might lose or forget the things that happened in this one?”
“What?” Seline’s face went pale. “Why would that happen?” She turned to Nox. “That can’t happen—can it?”
Nox frowned.
“I would hope not, but I’m afraid that Commander Sylvania has a point—any time you go skipping through the multiverse, anything is possible. It’s also possible that the Far Box might move us back in time as well as space and return us to the exact moment that we left, so that none of what we have been through in the past few days will have happened.”
“But I don’t want that!” Seline exclaimed, clutching his arm. “I don’t want to lose you Nox—to lose what we have together!”
“It probably won’t happen,” Commander Sylvania said quickly, obviously wanting to comfort her. “It’s just that no one knows much about how the Far Box works. I’m sorry if my suggestion upset you.”
“We can always stay here, in this universe, if you would prefer,” Nox told her, wanting to give her options. “The Mother Ship is an agreeable place to live in any universe.”
“Yes—of course you’d be welcome,” Sylvania said quickly.
“But my parents and my family and all my best friends are in our own universe,” Seline said, looking upset. “They might not even be in this universe. Or else they might have been enslaved or even…even killed by the Scourge!”
“Then I am afraid this is a chance we will have to take if we want to get back to our universe,” Nox told her. “There is no other way—you cannot have the reward without the risk.”
Seline nibbled her lower lip, a habit she had when thinking hard. At last she sighed.
“Then…I guess it’s a risk we’ll have to take.” She squeezed Nox’s hand hard. “I just hope we don’t lose or forget each other.”
“We won’t,” Nox assured her. He cupped her cheek in his other hand and looked into her eyes. “I could never forget what you have come to mean to me, Seline. Or how you taught me to feel.”
“Oh, Nox!” She lifted her face and Nox bent down to give her a gentle kiss. The feeling of love—that protective possessiveness mixed with tenderness and affection—swelled inside him and made his entire body feel warm and tingly.
One of the most interesting things about emotions, he thought distractedly, was the way they had an actual physical effect on one’s body. The way that the soft press of Seline’s lips against his own could make his shaft hard and his hands itch to caress her soft skin and full curves…
Commander Sylvania cleared her throat, which brought him back to the present and he pulled reluctantly away from the kiss.
“Forgive us,” he said to her and Seline murmured,
“Sorry,” as her cheeks got pink with embarrassment again.
“It’s quite all right—it is very clear to me that the two of you have what most of us here aboard the Mother Ship want,” Commander Sylvania told them. “In fact, I wonder if the Goddess might have allowed you to be diverted to our universe in order to alert us about Earth, where we could possibly find mates.”
“It is not impossible,” Nox said thoughtfully. “I have heard it said that the Mother of All Life works in ways that are incomprehensible to most of us mere mortals.”
“That she does.” Commander Sylvania leaned her elbows on her desk and steepled her long fingers—exactly the way Commander Sylvan often did back in their own universe, Nox thought. “For now, I think we need to concentrate on getting the two of you home,” she said. “Is there anything special we need to do to make that happen?”
