Narrowing my eyes, I pierce Adam with my best glare. “Oh, are we making jokes now? For the record, I will strangle anyone who tries to feed me worms, and that includes you, Mr. Murder-Chameleon.” I love his joke, though, and even more, the fact that he made one. I wonder why last time, it took him days to even start talking and now, he’s making jokes after one round of sex. His condition is truly a mystery to me, but at least it’s clear that my presence has a positive effect on him. If I need to have sex with him every time he slips into a primal state, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. For the betterment of alienkind, of course.
There’s a hushed discussion, snippets of it drifting to us through the speakers. “We will provide you with anything you need, Mr. Collins,” the doctor tells me. “But, um, we were wondering if…” There’s a muted “just say it,” before the doctor continues, “If Professor Rizven would allow us to scan him? We don’t want to intrude on your privacy but this…this is a breakthrough for our entire species, and we, um, we need to gather as much data as possible.”
“Professor, huh?” I mouth at Adam, who gives me a shrug, as if he either doesn’t know what that means or he’s embarrassed by it. “I love smart guys,” I tell him before returning to the doctor’s question. “Look, I empathize with the need to study a chronic illness and search for a cure better than anyone, trust me, but I don’t think Professor Rizven is ready for that yet.” I can’t help but grin as I say it. It’s so damn hot.
Cocking a brow at Adam, I’m relieved to see him nod. I noticed how he stiffened when the doctor mentioned scanning, and I assumed it was because he wasn’t ready to face other people, but I didn’t want to presume. “Yeah, we’re definitely not ready yet. Maybe if you have some idiot-proof device someone like mecould operate, I could use it on him, but we’re not ready for other people yet.”
“Of course! Yes! That would be great! I, uh, I will get a handheld scanner ready, along with the other things you requested. My apologies for the lack of amenities in the room, but we were worried Professor might, um, injure himself. And, um, Mr. Collins? If your brother asks—”
I roll my eyes. “Tell him I’m fine and to stop being a fucking cockblocker.” In a lower voice, though I don’t doubt whoever’s listening can still hear me, I say, “This guy is kinda awkward, isn’t he? He sounds like a teenager rather than a doctor or scientist, or whatever he’s supposed to be.”
Adam pulls me against his chest. “He’s nervous. I…”
“Hey. Don’t do that. Whatever you did, or tried to do, you weren’t yourself. It’s not your fault.”
Nuzzling my hair, Adam inhales deeply before sighing. “I’m dangerous, Jaime. Perhaps you shouldn’t—”
“Don’t even say that. I’m not leaving. Even at your worst, you never hurt me, Adam. I’m beginning to think you only went feral because you were worried about me, and then we were separated for three days.” It’s awfully cocky of me to presume my mere presence cured his affliction, but it’s the only theory I’ve come up with that makes sense. “Fortunately, the solution to that is simple. You said forever.” I hesitate. “Or…was it just sex talk? It’s okay if it was, or if you, like, I don’t know, remembered you had someone before…”
“No, Jaime. Only you. Forever.”
“Works for me,” I reply, smiling tenderly.
The moment is interrupted by a door chime. The nervous doctor speaks through the speakers again. “We aren’t supposed to open the door while the force field is down, but I think it’s safe?”
I wrap my arms around Adam, as if I could physically stop him from lunging at the strangers if he chose to. “Is it okay, Adam? They won’t come inside, just push some stuff through the door and then leave,” I reiterate, both for Adam’s sake and to remind the doctor what to do.
Adam gives a jerky nod. “It’s okay.”
Chapter 32
Adam
“It’sokay,”Isay,though deep down I’m not sure it is. The fog still rolls through my mind, unwilling to give up its control over me, and I worry about what will happen if it takes over again. Jaime’s scent keeps it at bay, so I stay curled around him, inhaling him like he’s my personal medicine, but what kind of solution is that? How can I force him to spend the rest of his life shackled to an unstable, dangerous creature? Even if, for some miraculous reason, I wasn’t dangerous to him directly, what about everyone else?
People on this ship are right to be wary of me. Given the chance, I would have killed every last one of them. I don’t feel the urge now, only mortifying shame, but who’s to say it won’t return when Jaime inevitably gets fed up with me?
What kind of life can I have, anyway? I’m grateful for the reprieve I’ve been given, and once I’m certain it won’t put them at risk, I’ll be more than willing to help the doctors and scientists figure out what caused my remission. However, I don’t see any future for myself other than endless lab tests and being locked up like the dangerous criminal I am. I can’t sentence Jaime to that kind of life.
“Okay,” Jaime calls to the young doctor watching us through the camera. The fog swells at the thought of him listening to the private moment I shared with Jaime just minutes ago, but I force it back. They’re just worried about Jaime’s safety. They’ve been listening to make sure I wasn’t tearing him apart. “You can open the door. We’re on the far side of the room if you want to activate the force field, but I don’t think it will be necessary.”
The door slides open and I warily take in the scents drifting through. It isn’t a Wehdi on the other side of the door. “Your brother,” I whisper to Jaime.
He chuckles. “Of course he is. Steven? Don’t come inside.”
“Yeah, don’t worry.” Steven is a little taller, more muscular version of Jaime, with much shorter head fur.Hair. He leans around the doorframe to peer inside, then immediately averts his eyes when he notices Jaime’s state of undress. “Nope. Don’t need to see that. Just came to make sure you’re still alive and bring you this stuff.” He pushes a stack of items through the door before narrowing his eyes at me. “Hi. I’m Steven. If you hurt my brother, I will kill you.”
“I will not hurt Jaime,” I say, preparing the words in my head before I say them out loud to make sure I sound as coherent as possible.
“Huh, he really does speak,” Steven mutters under his breath before continuing out loud. “That’s good. Have fun, you two. I’d tell you to use protection but—”
Jaime groans. “Get lost, Steven.”
Laughing, Steven touches the door control panel, sealing us in the bare room once again. Dread mixes with shame as I study the deep claw marks on the walls. Galaxies… They should have put me down like an animal.
“Stop that,” Jaime whispers, leaning in to kiss me. “That wasn’t you.”
Except it was. Still, I don’t want to see Jaime sad, so I push my grim thoughts aside and focus on what Steven brought us. I keep Jaime in my arms, unwilling to set him on the cold floor when he doesn’t even have clothes. His second skin. I chuckle as I remember the shock of seeing Jaime’s clothes for the first time. It seems silly now, with most of my memories returned, but back then, it was truly baffling.
