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“What did you learn from the interviews yesterday?” Yas’kihn asked.
Louella shook her head and asked, “Was that really more than half of the mated females in the capital city?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, there really aren’t many of them.”
“I told you we are desperate to save our species. We will not tolerate any harm to our females. It’s in our best interests to keep them happy and healthy.”
She sighed. “You were right. They’re happy and they’re healthy.” She glared at him. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“No,” he replied. She gaped in surprise. He continued, “I wanted you to see the evidence then make your decision. Do not impose your culture upon Ahn’hudin; we are not human.”
Louella bowed her head, finally accepting the truth. “You’re right; we are not human.” She said nothing about humanity having many disparate cultures on Earth. Instead, she said, “Why the small throne for me?”
He reached out to stroke his palm over the short growth of black curls sprouting from her scalp. “Because you are my mate and I love you. I would see you both healthy and happy.”
His hand slid down to cup her face. Louella turned her cheek to kiss his palm.
“I do listen to you, pretty spark. Much of what you say has merit, but change to any culture must be accepted. It cannot be imposed.”
She sighed as his hand fell away and rested on the table. “Thank you.”
“I have spoken with your government on Earth about your brother, Zerius.”
Louella’s eyes widened in surprise. “And?”
Yas’kihn said nothing of the disparaging report regarding her brother, but merely said, “They will send him here and we will help him find purpose.”
“Thank you, Jax!” she squealed. “I love you, too. So much!”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Tears pricked her eyes and she blinked them back. Nodding, she admitted her responsibility within their relationship. “I know bringing Zerius here isn’t what this planet needs and that youdolisten to me, youdocare about what I want. And I know I’ve got to give a little, too.” She rose from her chair and moved around the table to wrap her arms around him. “I don’t like being apart from you. I love you, Jax.”
He gave her a close-lipped smile. “I like it when you call me Jax. It is your name for me and therefore precious.”
Overwhelmed with remorse, Louella picked up his big hand and kissed his palm again. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears. “I’m sorry, Jax. I’msosorry.”
He framed her face with both of his hands, gently tilting her face toward his. “We learn from the past but do not live in it. Let us go forward with what we have learned and listen to each other.”
Louella tore herself from his light grasp and flung herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and sobbed. Jax enveloped her into his embrace and held her until the sobs subsided.
Sniffling, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “I have cried more in the last few months—since I got pregnant—than ever before, even when I was kidnapped by the Sivuul.”
Jax nuzzled her neck and kissed the tender skin. She sighed and tilted her head to give him better access.
“I’ve missed you,” she said. “I’ve missed your touch.”
He kissed her neck and inhaled the scent of her finely scaled skin. His hands stroked down her arms to rest on the flare of her hips.
“Jax,” she moaned as her libido began to burn.
He inhaled her scent again, savoring her arousal, and licked the tender skin beneath her ear.
“Pretty spark,” he said, sliding one hand down to the swell of their unborn child.
“Hmm?”
“I want you, but I do not want to harm you.”
