Despite our circumstances, he turns to me and smiles.
“Your voice is even more beautiful when I can understand what you’re saying.”
18
the jewels
“Just a few secondsof swimming and we’ll be in the pod. Don’t worry!” I tell my scared human mate.
She nods, drawing a deep breath into her lungs. The guard reaches out to assist her down into the water, but I bare my fangs at him with a hiss.
“Watch yourself,” he says. “I’m only assisting the female, so we might avoid injuries. I have no desire to touch her beyond that.”
The officer holds his hand up, revealing the same purple mating mark that Leeenuh is hiding.
“Be gentle with her. Restraints or not, I will kill you if you hurt her,” I say boldly.
“Understood,” he says, unsurprised at my protectiveness.
“Hey, I’ll be okay, Kitaico. Take some deep breaths. I can handle myself.” Leeenuh tries to reassure me.
So I do my best to stuff down the urge to bite out the guard’s throat. He has a mate, and Leeenuh isn’t scared.
We have bigger things to worry about right now, anyway.
I jump into the sea and make my way to the airlock of the secondary pod. The elders have already returned to their vehicle.
When I turn, kicking my legs to pivot in the water, I see Leeenuh. She’s being held by the guard at arm’s length, as he’s trying desperately not to touch her any more than necessary. Her eyes are shut tight, and her cheeks are puffed large with air.
Once they’ve both made it all the way into the airlock, the guard depresses a button on the control panel. The hatch door clicks shut and saltwater rushes out of the chamber as the air is forced in. Leeenuh stumbles forward, adjusting to the pressure, and falls into my chest. I steady her, wishing my arms were free. But as she rights herself, I kiss her forehead, earning a stern look from the guard.
“Refrain from touching the female, hopeful,” he barks as he opens the second hatch into the seating area of the pod.
He guides Leeenuh to a chair before shoving me into one facing hers.
The guard, blessedly, sits as far on the other side of the small cabin as he can.
“Kitaico,” Leeenuh whispers, drawing my attention back to her, “is everything still going to be okay? I mean, I guess we don’t need to worry about the exile now… but seeing you in cuffs has me worried.”
She furrows her brow as I shift uncomfortably in my seat. My arms are behind my back, the position not allowing me to sit naturally.
“Trust me and try to let me handle things from now on.” I know it has to be hard for her to contain her conversation. She’s not been understood for so long.
“I…I’m just being honest. I don’t think honesty can hurt us in this situation, can it? Are you mad at me?” she asks softly.
“No, sweet Leeenuh, you deserve to speak the truth…I just don’t want to be separated from you. We need to explain—” I look at the guard, who's now engrossed in something on his datapad, and lower my voice. “Your mark.”
“I mean, it happened. It was an accident, but I’m not upset that it did. My experiences with other species in space haven’t been good.” She rubs the mark through the makeshift bandage. My blood pressure spikes, thinking of anyone being cruel to the female across from me. How anyone could fathom doing anything but cherishing her is a mystery to me.
She is divine.
“But you, you are the exception. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could see myself”—she mouths the word mated before continuing—“to an alien stranger…but I know you now. I know that you’ll care for me no matter what and that your lack of a mark means nothing. We belong together. I fought it at first, thinking it was a, er, chemical response. But it’s deeper than that, Kitaico. I think this thing between us could work.” Her eyes are wet as she talks.
“Do you mean it, Leeenuh?” Hope wells in my chest. Could someone as wonderful as Leeenuh be who I’ve been fated for?
“It’s Lena,” she says with a chuckle.
Lena.
