Jess had dated guys and aliens alike back on Ker at the sanctuary. She told me it was her way of feeling alive. I thought it was her way of forgetting. I’d gone the opposite way, retreating, desperately craving silence, and still not feeling safe, even though I knew I was. The Kertinal weren’t all bad, and most were very polite and respectful. When Jess seemed settled with Jared, I thought I’d come here to work on my own happiness, and it was finally happening. With Jeltom.
Was it backward to fall in love first, to declare that love, and onlythendo the dating? Maybe, but I didn’t regret saying it. It felt like we’d leaped past what Jess had and straight into blissful matrimony. Now I wanted the sexy bits, the warm nights, and yes, the dinner.
“Go take your shower. I’ll set the table and clean up by the barn myself,” he said. I saw the way his hand twitched toward the gun holstered on his thigh and knew he was going to make a round of the farm to check the shield too. He just didn’t say that because he didn’t want me to worry. I watched him head for the door and couldn’t resist tugging on his long braid to remind him to kiss me before he left. That had us both smiling as we hurried through our tasks.
By the time we sat down for that dinner we’d both been looking forward to all day, it was already late, and full dark had fallen. My stomach rumbled anxiously, but it wasn’t really the food I was anticipating. This might not be a restaurant, but it still felt like the first real date I had gone on since… well, ever, really. Back on the colony world I’d grown up on, survival had been all anyone could think of. Dating—let alone with chocolate, flowers, and dinner—was an impossible dream from the entertainment feeds.
The first few bites, we were both quiet, and it reminded me of that first time he ate with me. We were both awkward again, as if we’d just met and didn’t know what to say. I opened my mouth twice to ask a question, while he kept his focus on the food he’d arranged and ate. Then I found myself laughing abruptly at how silly that was. “Look at us, we were shockingly fine in that fight, and now we’re a pair of silly ninnies who’ve lost their tongues.”
He cocked his head to the side, and the elegant points of his ears seemed to twitch. He didn’t say it out loud, but I saw him mouth the word “ninny” with a confounded expression on his face. I guess that didn’t translate very well. Reaching across the table, I folded my hand around his long, calloused fingers. “Never mind that,” I said, before he could make that the topic of conversation—and I had absolutely no clue what the origin of the silly word was. “I think it’s customary we ask questions about each other, get to know one another. It’s my first time too.”
He was being a typical guy when the words “First time” made him grin like he’d just won the lottery. I guessed it was a species-wide thing for males to enjoy having sole claim to their girl. It was still a concept I was struggling to wrap my head around because I’d been alone for so long.
“Then tell me how you ended up on Llykhe, Mariska. I want to know everything.” I could tell he meant it because he leaned in across the table, his food forgotten, fork dangling from his hand. He had eyes only for me, and that could have felt awkward, but it made me feel so seen that I couldn’t be anything but honest.
“I was born on a very poor colony planet in the UAR. It was mostly humans working hard in factories and mines, that kind of place, you know?” He nodded as if he understood, but I was pretty sure that there were no worlds like that in the Aderian empire. I didn’t think there were worlds that poor and badly managed with the Kertinal, either.
“Food was scarce, and I didn’t really get a chance at a formal education, so there weren’t many options for the future. Either I worked in a factory, or I worked in a mine, or worse… a brothel.” I pulled a face as I recalled my sister firmly recommending thatpath for me, just because I was smaller of stature than her and would probably not fare well doing hard physical labor.
Jeltom was out of his seat and had circled the table before I could blink. Then he was lifting me out of my brand-new chair, handmade by him, and settling me back down in his lap. Sideways against him, I could now either rest my head on his shoulder or tip it back and look at the strong angle of his jaw. He was gritting his teeth very firmly together, but he didn’t say anything. “Sorry, I guess this isn’t the best dinner conversation,” I apologized. “Perhaps we should change the topic.”
“No,” he said. “This is what made you who you are, and I wanted to know. I want to know what makes you tick, what scars you bear, and how to make them better.” But a silence fell again—this time warmer, softer—as he cradled me safely in the shelter of his arms. We both nibbled on the flat, reddish bread that had come with dinner for a while, and I focused on those flavors as I searched for the courage to continue.
“So, you see, I didn’t have anyone back home to celebrate Valentine’s with. It was a struggle to survive, let alone think about the future. Then one day, my youngest sibling got sick, and I knew he’d die if he didn’t get medicine. So I stole it, because there was no way we could afford it.” I shrugged, for a brief moment assuming he knew what that meant. How could he, though? Humans weren’t exactly scarce in the Zeta Quadrant, but theywerequite a rarity, and the Aderian government had barely any contact with the UAR at all.
The pasta-like dish on my plate was too good an excuse, so I stuffed myself with a few bites and dragged his plate across the table so he could hold me and do the same. He was very patientas he waited for me to collect my thoughts. “The UAR claims to execute every criminal, but really, they just put us in stasis and shipped us here. That’s what I was told when the Kertinal rescued us a few years ago.”
“I heard about that, it was big news at the time. Some escaped gladiators supposedly tipped off the Kertinal authorities to your location shortly after you entered the quadrant.” Jeltom stroked his hand down my spine, then shifted his now-empty plate away and once again gave me all his focus. I liked how steady he was, how safe he made me feel, and how casually he shared his affection. He was not afraid to touch me, to hold me, or to let me know how he felt. He was guarded but not closed, and as much as I’d tried and failed to ask him out, I could learn from that. Opening up was hard.
“Yeah, that was us, me and the others. My friend Jess is still at the Sanctuary the Kertinal created for us, but to me, that place felt so much like a prison: gray, dreary, crowded. Once my friend was happy, I knew I needed to escape, so I applied for sanctuary with the Aderians.” I gestured at the roof over our heads, as if to indicate that the rest was history, but I could tell he still had questions. His brow was furrowed as he glanced around, and I knew he was recalling the neglect. To me, this had seemed like home, but to him, this place had been a mess.
“They screwed up,” he said, confirming my suspicions. “Someone should have come out here to check the status of the farm before they granted you the land. Somehow that got overlooked, or they never would have put you in a home with a failing pressing machine and a broken shield generator. That could have gotten you killed, and that’s unforgivable.”
He did not say that even if that hadn’t miraculously happened, he felt like I’d been doomed to fail my contract—to make this place run a profit in two years, when all my machines were failing or broken. I hadn’t seen it that way, but I could see it now, how that wasn’t fair. Compared to what I’d been used to back on my colony world, everything had looked so good that I’d been certain the failure was mine. It had never even crossed my mind to complain.
“Thankfully, I found you in that saloon, huh? And thankfully, I decided that one time not to take no for an answer,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. He laughed, and I basked in the sound, delighted that my silent, stoic protector had begun to loosen up enough to laugh and smile. “Your turn, how did you get shot?” I asked, once his laughter had petered out and we’d settled back into the seat together, his arms around me in a snug cuddle, my legs dangling over the side.
“Ah, I was assisting in some research on Radin. My friend Danitalin was trying to find a cure for the damage Roka production pollution causes. Unfortunately, there was an interested party that wasn’t afraid to step over bodies to get it.” He paused, then nodded at the faint glow of orange light outside the kitchen window, the energy net the shield generator had stretched over my land. “Koratalin is one of the crimelords that runs the underworld in the Zeta Quadrant. She also happens to be Danitalin’s half-sister.”
He let that information sink in for a moment, and I struggled to grasp the enormity of what he’d told me. That sweet Aderian lady I’d seen on his comm, actually the sister of that spiteful woman who had threatened to shoot me and kill Jeltom earlier today? I couldn’t see it.
“Her men infiltrated our security detail, took us hostage, and forced us to finish the work. Thankfully, the Aderian government acted fast for once and hired the mercenaries of the Varakartoom to rescue us. They were just a tad too late to prevent me from getting shot when we tried to escape.” He touched his shoulder as if it ached, but I knew he was just remembering. “Their doctor is very good; I was lucky.”
He was, and now I was determined to prove just how lucky both of us were for having survived what we had. What a miracle that we’d found each other across vast distances of space, to meet here on Llykhe—right in his hometown, of all places. “And this true mate thing? You really believe that?”
“I know it’s true, Mariska. I love you, and we were meant to be from the start. Nothing would have kept me from your side the moment you stepped into that saloon and I caught your scent. Nothing.” Then he kissed me, and it was a good thing I’d never gotten around to making that dessert.
He lifted me into his arms—an easy task, since I was already in his lap—and then he strode with purpose from the kitchen. With his shoulder, he pushed my bedroom door open, and then I found myself on the bed, tangled in clothing and limbs. We rolled, kissed, and Jeltom bumped his head when the bed proved to be a tad too small for him. That didn’t matter, we’d make this work. “Yes,” I moaned against his lips. “I’m yours, mate, protector.” His smile grew, I could feel it against my skin, when I added, “My Valentine.”
Chapter 16
Mariska
Making love to an Aderian was not the same as having sex with a human man. Having sex with Jeltom, now that was next level, for lack of a better description. I was not prepared for the slow, reverent kind of assault he’d make on my senses: from the careful way he undressed me, to the strokes of his calloused hands and silky tongue. Every touch was another fan to the flames, another way to drive my desire higher. And he refused to be rushed.
I clawed at the smooth, anthracite skin on his shoulders and briefly touched the scars that marked his recent near-death. The rest of him was a work of art, all muscle and shimmering skin, not an ounce of fat. All of him was smooth too, with no body hair except for that long braid that tempted me to grip it and hold on.
“So pretty,” he growled against the hollow of my throat. His hands seemed eager to shape the heavy weight of my breasts and equally tempted to smooth over the pudgy softness of my hips. I knew I was short and stocky, that the fat on my bones sat around my waist like a soft band, but he did not seem to care. In fact, he seemed to like how soft I was everywhere. Perhaps the slow seduction was an exploration, and I shouldn’t be impatient. I just wanted to explore too.
