She dropped her hands from her sides. “Pretty close. It means I see their faces; it’s why sometimes I can’t sleep. It’s strange because you can’t always tell when it will happen. But when it does, your body goes weak and you can’t breathe, and you see every horrible thing, but you can’t close your eyes. And you want it to go away, but only your mind knows when it will leave.”
He nodded solemnly. His other two hands cupped her hips and rubbed soothing circles into the sides of her legs.Why is he so kind?The guilt of yelling at him stung. She took hold of his head. Leaning forward, she kissed his brow. Her voice left her throat with a rasp, “I’m sorry I was cruel.”
“Pain is cruel,” he purred, tugging her till she stood between his thighs and every inch of her legs was pressed to his torso. His face rested against her stomach for a long moment. After an eternity, he climbed to his feet, keeping her pressed against him. “My mate, are you…”
She tilted her head, staring up at him with confusion. “What?”
“Are you traumatized of me? Scared of me?” He glanced to the floor past her shoulders. Her mouth fell open. He gripped her, but the strength wasn’t there like it usually was. “You said you forgave me for my mishap with your crew, but is the reason you left our bed because I frighten you?”
“No!” She choked on her own tongue, rushing to grab his face and make him look at her. “Xexis, it’s not you. I promise. I left the bed because of me, and I’ll never do it again.”
“I will not force my mate to stay in a bed—”
“Xexis,” she warned.
He finally met her gaze again. She melted, stroking his cheek with her thumb. He exhaled, “You have turned me in squares again.”
“Which side are you facing this time?”Aphrodite teased through a teary eyed curl of her lips. He smiled softly, only a twinge of crinkle near his eyes and his pincers softened. “Xexis, I’m not scared of you. For starters, I wouldn’t allow you to lay with me if I was scared of you. I wouldn’t openly hold or touch you, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you. My fear comes from seeing their faces, and the worst one…came from Danny. You didn’t even kill Max.”
“Ah, the one with the knife and the skinny one.” He hugged her tighter. She tossed her arms around him once more. Their foreheads pressed together. It softened the tension of the room.
“I’m sure Reevar told you, but I was lingering over the science labs that night because I was worrying about meeting the Korzavic, and that I wasn’t good enough, and the humans, even though you told me not to worry…” He laughed as she trailed off.
“My mate will make her head explode from all the thoughts inside it. My mate can tell me when she is worried.”
“But you were sleeping.”
“And I am Kannatch, if I wish to sleep more, who will stop me?”
She snorted, shaking her head. His face warmed again. The smile reached his eyes. His pincers happily wiggled as he laughed.Jovial. She squeezed him tight. The fear was gone. The terror and bone-chilling pain was gone.For now.She couldn’t cure the trauma, it would be with her, like he said. But his arms around her made it significantly better.
Aphrodite snuggled into him and laid her head on his chest. Xexis held her, stroking a hand against her back. She caught a flash of light and saw her drone bobbing near the glass dome around them. Buddy scanned the glass with a soft white light.Wait…what is that?Buddy chirped and whirled in a circle as he bounced along the room.
She whispered against Xexis’ shirt, “I think my drone has become sentient.”
“The droid is oddly personable.” He stopped stroking her back.
“I’ll have to figure it out, but for now…I’ve got some human diplomacy to do.”
Xexis furrowed his brows.Yeah, just you know, the thing I’m super good at.Aphrodite pulled her data pad off his belt where he’d attached it. Buddy zipped to her side. She eyed him, “Hey,unfortunately, I need the regular screen back. I’ve got a call with an angry captain to take.”
Buddy gave a sad, electronic gurgle before the neutral command screen on her data pad cleared.
“Who is calling my mate angrily? I shall not stand for it,” Xexis huffed.
“Then sit,” she retorted.
Xexis eyed her. She flashed him a cheeky grin before returning to her tech. He didn’t seem to like her answer. He ripped the pair of them to the ground, leaving no room for complaints.He did what I told him to do.Xexis settled her into his lap.I should have seen that coming.She rolled her eyes at the pleased look on his face. Getting comfortable, she returned to data pad. The second it loaded; another call came through.They’re watching my data pad.
“Prepare yourself,” she breathed before accepting the video call. “Captain Smith.”
Chapter Twenty:
Theshort,bald-headed,gray-bearded,scowling white man on the screen before her was not a sight for sore eyes. In fact, if she had never seen his face again, she might have been happy. He was in his usual pearly military jacket decorated with black edges and shiny metals. Stood before the lens, his attention was on Aphrodite first then it moved to the shadow looming over her shoulder. His eyes widened. “That had better not be what I think it is.”
“Captain Winrow Smith, this is Xexis.Kannatchto theVroskrowz, and my mate.” She glanced up to her drone, buddy, bobbing over their heads.
Smith’s left eye twitched. “I had better be having a stroke.”
