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“The reason they’re expensive is they telepathically bond with a person.” Raxnor’s sharp eyes darted back and forth between me and the alien cat. “Only one person.”
“So it really just spoke in my mind?”
He nodded.
It picked me? Tears prickled my eyes.
“Me no it! Me a girl!”She pranced over to me and headbutted my thigh, poking me with her horns.
“Oww!” I laughed. “Okay, you’re a girl. What’s your name?”
“No have one.”
I reached out and rubbed under her chin, and her eyes slitted as she began to purr. Her long purple fur felt wonderfully soft. “How about Lila? It’s Spanish for lilac, which is a pretty flower and a purple color. You’re pretty and you’re purple.”
“Lila. Me like!”Her purring ratcheted up a notch, and she nuzzled at my fingers.
I went melty inside. I’d never had a pet before—never been able to afford the extra food or the special license—but the kids in TV shows and movies had always had cats or dogs who loved them no matter what they did.
Raxnor said, “We’ve stopped for as long as we can. We need to move.”
I gave Lila one last scratch and stood.
Raxnor used his good arm to swing the pack up onto his back. “Can you drape one piece of the stealth material around me?”
I arranged one sheet of the fabric around him. “How long is your arm going to be numb?”
He twitched the fingers of his left hand a fraction of an inch and grunted. “Another hour or so.”
The fabric had structural rods that activated by touch, so once I had it in position, he tapped at it, and it made a cloak-like thing that remained in place around his neck instead of sliding off.
Then I put the other piece on, and he activated mine as well. We looked like we were wearing big gold and green ponchos. Raxnor touched them again, and the fabric changed, becoming orange at the bottom and the gold of the tree trunks higher up. Now, instead of blending with the treetops overhead, it matched the colors around us.Stealth fabric, Sof!
“What about our heads?” I asked.
“The fabric will shield most of our biosignatures, body heat, etc. We’ll look like a small animal to any shuttle flying overhead.” He frowned, staring off into the trees. “It’s not going to be a short walk. I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for!” I touched the back of his hand, and he met my eyes. “Thank you.”
Warm emotion flashed through his eyes, and his tail slid from under his poncho to touch my calf.
I swayed forward, ready to throw my arms around him in a hug.
CHAPTER SIX
Raxnor
I had to fight my every instinct to step away from the temptation of my soul’s breath. The need to start the mating heat and bond us together thrummed in my veins. On my home world, my people never had to wait. They met their fated mate, and both were immediately swept up in the mating heat. We even had rooms set aside in public spaces, so no couple ever had to go far.
Hyoo-mons did not work like this. They needed patience and wooing.
And my mate deserved whatever she wanted, no matter what my body urged.
“I will go first. Ask the kreecat to watch for danger behind us.”
A flash of hurt confusion crossed Zo-Fee’s pretty features, and I hated that I had caused it. Yet as much as I longed to mate her, another instinct warred in my chest, my heart beating out a constant two-note rhythm. Protect. Protect. Protect.
I spun away from her and set off, shortening my steps so she could keep up. I had not lied. We had a long trek to get far enough away from the senator’s land to risk calling Tark for pick up.
