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His grip on her shoulder tightened. “On rare occasions, when Lillips are not able to get on, they live apart. They must meet once a month and attend counselling sessions in the hope of finding a resolution. Other than that, they don’t need to see each other. But neither party can join with anyone else. If they do and sign a new mate contract, they’ll face time in prison.”

Sinead nodded slowly. She had no plans to get hitched anytime soon. “Once a month. That will be okay. It will be easy enough to see each other once a month without raising too many suspicions.”

Talyn sighed. “No, there’s more to it than that. If you attempt to break this contract, you must go before the Lillip High Council and explain yourself. The hearing takes four weeks.”

She groaned, and the tears trapped on her lashes ran down her cheeks. “I can’t risk that. If my boss finds out I’m involved in a month-long hearing about our inappropriate match, I’ll be in so much trouble. I can’t hide the fact I’m speaking to your High Council for a month.”

“It’s an intensive process. They probe your thoughts and feelings and cross-examine you as to why you believe the partnering will not be satisfactory.”

“It’s not satisfactory because I didn’t know what I was signing up to,” Sinead said. “That must count for something.”

Talyn sighed. “They’ll say you had the contract in front of you and were capable of reading it if you chose to do so. You chose not to.”

She sat up straight, irritation sparking through her. “We got our wires crossed. You’ll back me up, won’t you?”

Talyn pulled her closer to his side. “I thought you understood. I see now that’s not the case.”

“So, you’ll help me?”

He was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to give up on this so quickly.”

“Why not? There’s nothing to give up. We don’t know each other.”

Talyn was quiet again. “Because being around you might change my life.”

She huffed out a breath. “Being connected to you will definitely change mine. I’ll lose my job and have to move out of my quarters because I can’t afford them. No one will hire me; Diadora will make sure about that. She has a scary amount of clout on Prodigy. I’ll have to leave the station. I’ll have to leave behind my friends.”

Talyn tilted her chin up with a finger and brushed a stray tear from her cheek. “I won’t let anything bad happen. If your boss is as terrible as you say she is, we’ll figure out something. You’re my mate. I’ll provide for you.”

Sinead swallowed a sob. “I’ve always provided for myself.”

“It’s time you let somebody else do it for you.” Talyn lowered his head and kissed the tear tracks down her cheeks.

She gasped at the intimate touch of his lips.

Talyn pulled back and stared into her eyes. “Don’t be sad, Sinead. Be happy. This is a good thing.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he covered it with his lips.

A wave of sweetness and calm covered her, streaming out from that kiss and flowing over her head. It felt like magic.

As their kiss deepened, she wrapped an arm around Talyn and drew him closer. This was incredible. Just his touch, his lips on hers, washed everything dark away. The scary voices and angry words that filtered around her head were gone. She felt alive and bright and happy. She felt like laughing but instead wrapped her other arm around Talyn and twisted in her seat until she was pressed against his chest.

She couldn’t let go. She couldn’t lose this. If Talyn did this to her with a simple kiss, imagine what it would be like to have his naked body on top of her, taking her and filling her with so much joy.

Her breath hitched as her tongue met Talyn’s. She couldn’t give this up. This felt like a drug that made you feel amazing and had no side-effects. She really hoped he came with no side-effects.

Talyn’s hands ran down her back and splayed at the base of her spine, pulling her even closer.

Sinead wanted this. She wanted this more than anything. Could she pay the price? Could she stay joined to Talyn for the rest of her life?

A flicker of doubt made her draw back. She stared up at him, her breath shaky and her heart racing.

Talyn looked equally stunned as he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “That was...” He shook his head as if words failed him.

“I know,” she whispered.

His gaze was on her lips. “I have a solution to our problem.”