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Numb. She’d grown so damn numb to the world. It was the only way to survive, really. If she let any of her disappointment in, it would bury her.
Next time, she told herself, as she so often did. If reincarnation exists, then next time let me be braver. I’ll do things differently. I promise.
Matehood would be different. If he recognized a mate, they’d be bound together for life. He could be as possessive as he wanted since everyone would chalk it up to his mating instinct.
Heleax didn’t turn away with a blush like Gamso. He slid his body on the chair until he was facing her fully. “You should know by now that in our culture, many will follow through when a female flirts.” Lucy straightened a bit. His tone wasn’t playful, but it wasn’t angry either. “Promises, promises,” she muttered into her glass.
Damn, she was glad she wasn’t “you.” That person was about to have a very unpleasant day if the bulging stiff muscles of this man had anything to say about it.
“My body had a response the same way it does when I see a cheese curd double bacon burger on the menu. I may like it, but it doesn’t mean it’s healthy for me to eat.
“Make her understand,” he grunted at the female guard. “I think that’s your job. Do better,” Daunet answered without an ounce of warmth in her voice.
“Where are you going?” she called after him. “The doctor.” Maxu held up his injured hand without turning to look back at Daunet. “Need to make sure my vaccinations protect me against rabid humans.”
“She’s the other half of my soul! Formal introductions are trivial.” Rita chuckled. “I would have thought you’d be eager to know the other half of your soul.”
“Do I replay old fights in my head and torture myself over how I should have done them differently? I’m a woman. Of course I do.” The other women in the group chuckled.
“Meg. Will you face me?” Her jaw tightened. Was he asking? Calmly? “Please.” She could almost feel the effort it had taken him to push that one word out.
“Stop flailing, or I’ll throw you over my shoulder.” “You wouldn’t.” He shot her a dark grin. “Wouldn’t plant your pert ass right next to my face? It’s all I want to do. Just give me a reason.”
“Oh no. They weren’t able to fix the scars?” Wait, that didn’t make any sense. The doctors and technology here could fix almost anything. His gaze turned heated as he studied the teeth marks on his hand. “I asked them not to. I enjoy seeing them.” Meg’s breath caught in her throat. Was that hot or psychotic?
“Being stalked from city to city makes me lose my appetite.” Maxu shrugged and pulled her plate toward him with a grin. “Well, stalking makes me rather hungry. We’re a perfect pair.”
Meg was an annoying buzz in his head. She supposed that was fair. After all, she’d likened Maxu to a tumor. Regardless, the word struck a sensitive chord.
“But you know I don’t have feelings for you. I don’t like you. I clearly don’t love you.” His lips fell at that. Seafoam-green eyes glided over her body, assessing something, but she didn’t know what. He tipped his head, seeming to reach some conclusion. His hand and her pillow returned to rest on the side of her head, and he leaned in close. “I bet I could fuck your love into reality, little mate.”
“They’re…” His voice died out, and he let out a long breath before continuing. “They make you feel less out of reach. By being surrounded by your things, I can imagine I’m surrounded by you.”
She tugged until he finally bent forward, brows drawn in confusion. “Thank you for tonight. Really, thank you.” She kissed his cheek, then joined her friends. When she looked back, his neck was still bent, frozen in place, and staring after her. With an embarrassed glance over his shoulder, he cleared his throat and straightened, a light blush on his cheeks.
“Hear me, Meg,” Maxu growled. “You have no husband. You are not married. And unless you want that male found and gutted, you won’t speak another word of it.”
Meg winced at the light and curled into the darkness of his chest. The muscles in his right arm were screaming, but he refused to lower his hand. It was blocking a small portion of the sun, and he’d sooner face the Goddess’s wrath than allow the offending rays of the morning to wake his female before she was ready.
Meg raised her hands to the spray of falling water, lifted her face to the sky, and screamed. Her knees bent as though she were squeezing every bit of oxygen she had out of her body. Closing his eyes, Maxu roared to the sky as well. When he glanced back at Meg as he sucked in a breath, her face had changed. Her eyes were squinted shut, her mouth no longer holding the hint of a smile. Skin red and blotchy, she shrieked with all her might, releasing something he couldn’t see.
With a feigned pained sigh, she asked, “Maxu, did you kidnap me for a date?” “Yes.” He nodded without any hesitation.
Maxu didn’t understand his mate, but perhaps she was right. If she needed to hear about all the trivialities of his life to feel connected to him, then he’d reveal them all. Gripping her around the waist, he hauled her forward until her legs were draped over one thigh. “I was born in the city of Tremanta, the fifth child of my Traxian mother.” Meg grinned up at him before resting her head on his chest.
Meg played him song after song, explaining the words when his translator couldn’t communicate their meaning, and sighed out a sweet sound of contentment when the thing she called a playlist ended.
His whispers didn’t stop, though. He told her how smart and confident and capable he found her to be. How incredible she was. If he said it enough, perhaps it would leak into her subconscious and overshadow the harm her family had caused. He whispered all the things she should’ve been told her whole life, hoping the words played out in her dreams. And before he shut his eyes, he admitted how deeply he loved her.
Meg’s legs burned from her weird squat, her toes cramping. At the end of all this, she’d at least come out with a newfound respect for spies everywhere.
“I’ve fallen in love with you. Neither of us can die until I’ve forced you to fall in love with me too.” Inflating like a balloon, she beamed at him. “I knew I loved you the moment you chose not to torture someone for me.” He smirked. “And if I’m honest,” she rested her palm on his chest, “long before that.”
Meg’s brows furrowed. “Damn. I didn’t realize my guard was Superwoman.” “Well, this isn’t really the time, but…” Tara shot Meg a wide grin. “She’s feeling a little stronger today.” It took Meg’s tired brain a moment to catch up, but then her gaze locked on to Daunet’s hands. Bright blue mating marks were visible under splotches of red blood. “Congratulations,” she shouted.
The sob she released on a breath had Maxu’s throat going dry. “The Queen is dead.”
“One day, things will be normal again. I promise you.” “You don’t know that.” She smiled at him anyway, loving the certainty in his deep voice. “I do know. You won’t be happy until your people are safe. And the only thing I want is for you to be happy. So, I know. If I must steal every single human and hide them away or ferry them back to Earth, I’ll do it just to see you glow again.”
