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Cowes slapped him on the shoulder. “You do okay, too. I can’t stop. I’ve had notification of a new diplomatic mission in need of us. Let me know if there’s any change in Rane’s condition.” He nodded at Nell before leaving the room.

“For a boss, he’s not such a bad guy.” Kwon studied the canvases. “That one’s new.” He pointed to the black charcoal sketch of a woman dancing with her arms flung over her head.

“How can you tell?” Nell smiled to herself. It was a drawing of her.

“I see the passion in the lines. Rane always says I have no eye for his art, but I’m getting better.”

“Will Rane be happy he can come back to his advisor position?”

“Sure. Rane pretends he hates it, but he likes to make a difference. He needs to figure out the balance; that’s all. His art and his work. So long as he can come to a compromise with Cowes, everything will figure itself out.”

“He will. Rane doesn’t like letting people down. It’s why he’s in here.”

Kwon shook his head. “No more berating yourself. Rane didn’t have to exhaust himself by fighting that Passista. He underestimated how strong she was, and he wasn’t taking care of himself.”

“He was protecting me.”

“Why wouldn’t he? He’s crazy about you.”

Nell’s cheeks flushed. “We like each other. It’s early days.”

Kwon chuckled. “Early days for you. An Olickie doesn’t use his ability every day on one person and not be affected. He’s bonded with you.”

Nell’s eyes widened. “He never said anything about bonding.”

“You’re a gorgeous, smart, attentive female. It’s not going to be any hardship for him to be bonded to you.” Kwon tilted his head. “So long as you want him, too.”

Nell’s tongue traced across her lips. She wanted Rane so badly her heart ached every time she thought about a future with him.

Kwon chuckled. “You humans are so easy to read. When he wakes up, tell him how you feel. We don’t like to push ourselves on anyone in case we get accused of manipulating them. He’ll hold back until you make the first move. If you want to make it, make it. Rane will wait around for you as long as he needs to, but that might not be the kind thing to do to him.”

Nell nodded. “I’ll give it some thought. Thanks.”

“I should get out of here. If we’ve got a new mission coming in, the boss will be riding my butt to get on the case. Give Rane a big sloppy kiss from me when he wakes up.”

Nell smiled as Kwon left the room. She linked her fingers more tightly with Rane’s and gripped his hand. “You should have told me. I didn’t realize that was what we were doing.” Would it have made any difference? She doubted it. Nell’s mind had been in such turmoil when she believed she’d been abducted, she’d have used anything to get some respite.

That left her feeling guilty. She’d used Rane, and he hadn’t objected once. Well, he’d been cautious in the beginning. He should have been. The use of his ability on her had joined them, bonding him to her, and she didn’t even know it.

Nell leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to make it up to you. You will have the time of your life, but you need to wake up first.”

Rane’s eyes remained closed.

Nell chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at his deflated neck frill. He’d told her not to touch it. It was only meant to be stimulated by loved ones.

While she’d been waiting for him to open his eyes, she’d done some research into Olickie behavior. Their neck frills were a big deal, and used as part of the mating ritual, along with their humming ability. Olickie females would stroke the neck frill in a certain way to invite and stimulate contact from a potential mate.

In return, the male would display for her as he hummed, to show how ideal he was for her.

Nell placed her hand on his collarbone. Maybe she could touch it for a second. It might be the stimulation he needed. He could be waiting for a sign to show him it was safe to wake up.

Nell’s wrist comm signaled a message. She opened it and saw it was from Vegas.

Checking in to see how things are going. There’s no hurry to come back to the office. Take your time. And if Diadora sends you any mean messages, ignore them. Just a warning: she’s got something in mind for you when you get back.

Nell frowned. What did Diadora want with her? Their paths rarely crossed, and she was happy about that. Nell worked directly under Vegas and often used her as a shield against Diadora and her rants about productivity.

She messaged back.