"I thought your programming prevented you from getting emotional."
"The-Ansystems, those like me, are supposed to function with more feeling. Operate while taking advantage more of the emotional construct of logic."
"So that you're thinking with your heart and not always your head?"
"Yes."
"What unlocked it?"
"You."
She blinked. "How in the universe did I do it?"
"I care about you. More than I have cared about others. I know not what it is, only that it burns strong inside me. The Craving--"
"What is the Craving?"
"It is physical desires. At least, I thought it was just physical want that we Rhimodians have. Like many humanoid races, we yearn for sexual release. The Craving is an overwhelming longing that burns when we find an appealing partner. Much of our programming controls it and keeps it at bay. Part of what the Makers designed for us."
"But it's more than just physical desire?"
"So it would seem. I have had Cravings for other females before. But what I feel around you is far more powerful."
"How does that have anything to do with your exploding?"
"The Craving, paired with my other, more emotional protocols, fed off the feelings I had when I saw you hurt and shoved to the ground."
"But I still don't understand."
Kian took her hand. "You evoke more emotions in me than any other being I’ve met. I cannot explain other than I do not want to think of an existence without you in it in some form. I feel that your presence has made me a better being."
The words hit her like an asteroid.
And oh, what a wonderful one.
She squeezed his hand. "You really must be careful saying things like that. You will have women falling in love with you every time you have one of these cravings." The words came out light, she hoped, and flippant because if she didn't speak carefully herself, she would reveal that he had just melted her heart.
"I would not."
"Why not? Most males want women falling in love with them all over the galaxy." She pulled her hand away and stood up. Putting space between them seemed wise because she didn't think the emotional buildup developing was the best idea.
Despite all they'd been through, it seemed rather silly for a relationship to develop simply due to the extreme circumstances, especially during a negotiation.
Kian stood as well. "I would not say these things to anyone else."
She walked over to a window with a frosted glass pane, blurring the dark cityscape of Sol-3 with its twinkles of light. If she let herself believe it, the image resembled the vastness of the sky above the Terran Empire homeworld. Yet, it was foreign. She was in an alien world.
Terrans did silly things on alien worlds.
She had to keep her wits about her. "You shouldn't want to. Those are serious phrases. Many females would consider them binding."
"And?"
She looked at him. "Do you want to be bound to women all over the galaxy?"
"No." He strode toward her. "Just you."
“You don’t even know what that means, why—”
