by Susan Hayes
Aria shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”
Haley didn’t believe that, and she was about to say so when Tarjen dropped a bombshell. “I think I know where Piper is. If I am correct, then she is safe.”
She listened quietly as Aria and her mate spoke. It was hard to believe what she was hearing, but Tarjen seemed entirely sincere. Apparently, Piper had taken up with another alien named Radek. And he was…a dragon? She started to giggle and couldn’t stop, not even when Aria broke off to glare at her.
“This isn’t funny!”
Haley finally got her laughter under control enough to reply. “Oh honey, it is. You just can’t see it yet. Of all the men in the galaxy, only your sister could snag herself a damned dragon.”
Aria ignored her and started peppering Tarjen with questions again, and the answers just kept getting more entertaining. Radek was an ice dragon, with scales and wings and a frosty breath weapon of some kind. Things were just getting interesting when both Aria and Tarjen looked past her, and a familiar voice rang through the air.
“Why is it you insist on defying my every instruction, otama? You are supposed to be in our quarters, resting before the Scorching takes hold again.” Torel had found her.
“And I’ll be there soon, but I had to find Aria.” She turned to smile at Torel, who looked as if he’d caught her with her hand in a giant jar of cookies. “Torel, this is Aria. Aria, this is Torel, my, uh mate.” She almost launched into an explanation of how this mating wasn’t permanent, and she’d be going back to Earth in a few days, but now didn’t seem to be the time. Aria was clearly going with Tarjen, which meant that pretty soon, she’d be losing her best friend to her new life.
Torel and Tarjen exchanged a few words of congratulations, and then Torel spun on his heel, pulled her close, and lifted her into his arms like she was a wayward child. “Say goodbye to your friend now. You are going back to bed, and this time I will personally see to it that you don’t leave it again until I give you permission.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You are not the boss of me. Mate, not master, remember?”
He didn’t answer with words, he simply cocked an arrogant brow and growled low in his throat. Damn, she loved it when he did that.
She leaned back to wave at Aria. “I think we’re going, now. We’ll talk soon, and don’t worry about Pi. That girl can take care of herself. I’ll see you after this Scorching thing finally wears off. Bye!”
“I thought we agreed that you were staying in bed to rest?” Torel sounded equally amused and annoyed as he carried her back to his room.
“I agreed it was a good idea, but I really wanted to see Aria. She’s my best friend, and I wanted to know she was okay. Did you get what you needed from your office?”
“I have what I need, yes. And I learned that Eva, the last human patient in our medical center, is finally recovering. I thought you’d like to know.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Torel continued. “Now you know that Aria is fine, will you promise me there’ll be no more covert departures from our quarters?”
“I’ll make you that promise if you make me one. You agree not to tell me to stay in bed if and when one of my friends needs me.” She didn’t acknowledge that he’d refer to his rooms as ‘theirs,’ or how much she liked hearing him say it.
“Agreed. And if you wish to go anywhere, I’d like to accompany you.”
“You would? Why? Are there parts of this ship I shouldn’t see?”
“You’re welcome to see any part of the ship you wish. Once the Scorching is over, I’ll give you a tour if you like.”
Confusion struck. “I’d like that, but I don’t understand why you’d want to accompany me if there’s nothing I can’t see.”
He muttered something in Pyrosian and walked faster, glowering at a uniformed male who happened to be passing by.
“If you’re going to grumble, could you do it in English?”
“I want to go with you because I don’t like the way other males are looking at you. They should respect the fact you are a mated female, but some of them…”
“I’ve seen less than a dozen males since I left to find Aria, and that includes you and Tarjen. You have no reason to be jealous, Tor.” She wasn’t going to tell him she hadn’t even noticed the other men. He was the only one she wanted, and that scared the hell out of her.
His expression turned stormy. “I’m not jealous. Well, I am, but it’s not a choice. It’s the Scorching.”
“You sure?” She was goading him, and she didn’t know why. Maybe because she wanted him to feel jealous. Wanted him to care about her, even if this wasn’t going anywhere. This Scorching thing was messing with her head as well as her sex drive.
“I’m sure it is the Scorching that is making me act this way.” Torel cradled Haley close to his chest and tried to calm himself as they approached the door to his quarters. He hadn’t liked returning to an empty room. It felt wrong. As if someone had simultaneously turned up the gravity while dimming the lights. He hadn’t needed to ask the computer where his errant mate had gone. He could sense her presence calling to him. The bond between them was getting stronger by the hour. Despite what he’d just told Haley, he wasn’t sure his jealousy was entirely the fault of the Scorching. It felt more permanent than that.
He was starting to question if they would be able to go their separate ways when the Scorching ended. When he’d suggested it to her, he’d believed it would be a simple matter. But now he wasn’t so sure. He needed to study their mating more, applying what he’d learned of human biology and how it was affected by Pyrosian genetics. That was why he’d gone to his office earlier. Some of the information he needed wasn’t on any database, it was contained in antique books and handwritten notes from researchers long since gone from the world.
Haley was quiet until they got back to their quarters. It wasn’t until he set her back on her feet near the bed that she spoke again. “Do you know anything about Romaki dragons?”
He stilled. “A little. Why? And where did you even hear of them?”
“Tarjen said that my friend Piper is most likely with one right now, which is why no one can find them. I have questions.”
“I could try and answer your questions, but I think you’d get better information from the ship’s database. All I really know is that there two clans, fire, and snow. They are isolated, and believe that to leave their planet would result in the loss of their…” He paused to remember the word he needed. “Their magic.”
She inhaled sharply. “Magic is real?”
He snapped his fingers, summoning a small ball of bright flames. “Very real. There is no science that can explain this ability. It is a gift from the Gods.”
“Right. I put the whole, ‘you can summon fire’ thing out of my mind. It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around, you know?”
“It’s strange for me, too, and I knew it would happen if I ever mated.”
“Still trying to wrap my head around that little fact, too. I’m mated. To an alien from another planet.” She moved in closer, setting her hand on his bicep and smiling up at him, her golden eyes glowing with desire, now. “And a very sexy mate, too. If you put out that fire of yours, Tor, I think we can start a different kind of fire in that nice, comfy bed of yours.”
He closed his fist around the flame, snuffing it out. “I thought you wanted to know about the Romaki?”
“I do. Later. Right now, I can feel the Scorching starting to burn again, and I want to enjoy it while it lasts. My friends are okay. Your last human patient is going to recover. We don’t have anything left to worry about. Which means we can relax and let go. The real world and all its worries will be waiting for us soon enough.”
She was right. They had another cycle until the Scorching ended. By then, he might have created enough memories to last until the next time he came to Earth. Or maybe, it might give him enough time to find a way to tempt her to stay with him. He
hadn’t wanted a mate, but now that he’d met Haley, he wasn’t sure he had the strength to keep his promise and let her go.
Chapter Six
Haley roused from sleep grudgingly at first, but when she reached for Torel and only found an empty bed, she sat up fast and looked around in confusion. “Torel?”
He was always there when she woke, either asleep beside her, reading, or watching her with a look of wonder. She liked waking up like that. Liked it more than she cared to admit, in fact.
“I knew I shouldn’t have set the lights so bright. I did not want to wake you. You need more sleep.” Torel was standing near the bed, dressed in the same type of uniform she’d seen him in the first time they had met. The dark material was trimmed in red, and there were gold markings of some kind on his collar, as well as an insignia over his heart.
“You’re kinda overdressed for someone who isn’t allowed to be on duty,” she said.
Torel moved in close and bent down to kiss her forehead. “I’ve been called out for an emergency. I didn’t want to wake you, but I left a note for when you woke up.”
Sure enough, there was a data pad beside her pillow with a few words displayed on the screen.
“You should have woken me.” Emergency or not, she didn’t like the idea of him sneaking out of their bed. Even if it wasn’t really theirs and this wasn’t a permanent thing and she wasn’t falling for him…shit. Guilt and denial washed over her, dousing her anger in an icy wave. Falling for Torel meant betraying Jeff’s memory. She wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t.
Torel stood up and stepped back, his jaw set in a stubborn line she’d come to know too well. “It was my determination that you needed to sleep. I don’t have time to discuss this with you right now.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
“I hope you can save him.”
He didn’t look back, but as he passed through the door, she heard his answer. “So do I.”
The feel of the room changed the second she was alone. It was too quiet, too empty, and even the temperature felt cooler, like Torel had taken all the warmth with him when he left. She rose from the bed and pulled on the first thing she found, which happened to be one of Torel’s shirts. She breathed in his scent and immediately felt less alone. “Nope, no good.”
If just catching Torel’s scent was enough to affect her emotional state, she was in trouble. She stripped naked again and went to the closet to find something else to wear. She selected a pair of pants and a top from the items Torel had brought for her. They were made of a soft, thick, grey and red fabric that reminded her of well-worn flannel pajamas. Perfect.
Once she was dressed, she sat down in one of the chairs and stared out at Earth, trying to gather her thoughts. It wasn’t easy. The Scorching was still making it hard to think clearly. She started by reminding herself where she belonged. It wasn’t difficult to do when her planet was right in front of her, a blue and green jewel spinning in the dark expanse. “That’s home,” she reminded herself. “That’s where your job is, your home, your family. That’s where Jeff’s buried.”
Saying Jeff’s name brought another flood of guilt. He was supposed to be the love of her life. The one she would spend forever with. How could that be true if she was also supposed to be Torel’s mate? Hell, she didn’t even know if they were mates. Not really. The sex was epic, and she liked spending time with Torel, but that was hardly confirmation she was supposed to be with him for the rest of her life.
She was supposed to have spent the rest of her life with Jeff. He was her rock, the only one who encouraged her to do more than what was expected of her. “I miss you,” the words tumbled out before she could stop them, and so did the tears. “Dammit, if you hadn’t died, none of this would be happening! You were supposed to stay with me. We made a promise to each other, and now you’re gone, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my life!” She closed her eyes and clenched her fists against the rage and pain that had been part of her life every day since she’d buried Jeff. Tears scalded her face, but they didn’t bring answers or peace.
When the emotional storm finally passed, she wiped her eyes, took several centering breaths, and went to the bathing room to find a cloth and cold water. If Torel saw her like this, he’d know something was wrong, and he was the last man in the world—or the galaxy – she wanted to talk to about her feelings. At least until she figured out what the hell her feelings were.
When she had repaired most of the damage, she wandered back to the main room, too restless to stay still and too tired to do much else. Pouring herself a glass of water, she headed back to her chair. “Computer, do you have anything on the Romaki Dragon Clans that is translated into English?”
“Nothing like that exists in my database. I can translate something for you, however.”
“I just want to know the basics. How long will it take?”
“Only a few minutes. Would you like me to begin?”
“Please.”
Since she had a little time, she sat in the chair Torel had used earlier and picked up one of the textbooks he’d brought back from his office. It was nothing but text, but she flipped through the pages anyway. Apart from a few symbols that marked the doors and panels on the ship, it was the first time she’d seen the Pyrosian language in written form. That got boring quickly, so she picked up one of his tablets and tapped the screen the same way she’d seen Torel do it. The tablet activated immediately, and she stared at the image on the screen. It was an anatomy diagram of a female. Most of the labels were in Pyrosian, but there were a few handwritten notes attached to the image, and some of them included words she recognized. Human. Female. Breeding. What the hell? She started reading, trying to make sense of what little she could make out. A few more flips and she found medical texts in English, along with more handwritten notes that were a mix of both languages. She still didn’t understand everything, but she grasped enough to know what she was looking at. This was fertility and genetic research. Lots of it, along with a stack of information and notes about how the genetic matching worked, and how it might be increased to allow for more human women to be matched to Pyrosian males.
The computer announced it had translated her information on the Romaki, but instead of reading that, she continued, enlisting the computers’ help to translate Torel’s research. She expected it to refuse, or claim the work was classified, but instead the ship’s computer merely complied with each request, providing printed copies of everything she asked for.
The more she read, the more she questioned everything Torel had told her. Were she and the other women being tricked somehow, convinced they were destined to love someone from another planet just to ensure the Pyrosian race survived? She hadn’t been able to focus since meeting Torel--was that part of it, too? Was this the reason she was betraying her vows to Jeff and falling for someone she barely knew?
It made a terrible kind of sense.
Torel watched the bio-monitor and prayed to the Gods for a sign. A blip. A flutter. Any indication that Keth was responding to treatment. He had tried everything he knew and few more things that he’d invented on the fly, but so far, none of it had worked.
“I don’t understand,” Ista, his second in command, murmured as she stared at the readouts. They had moved Keth to one of the small private rooms so none of the other patients would know how serious things were. “There’s no reason he shouldn’t be awake. We’ve run every test twice, and there’s nothing on any of the scans.”
“My first mentor used to say that medicine can only do so much, the rest is up to the patient. If he wants to come back, he will.”
Ista nodded. “If he doesn’t…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. It wasn’t necessary. They both knew what would happen if he didn’t recover. Eva was awake and already in the thrall of the Scorching. They were almost out of time to save them both. The bond was just too strong. His own bond was so powerful that even now, he couldn’t go for more than a few seconds without
thinking about Haley. If he focused, he could sense her presence. She was awake and unhappy, but there was nothing he could do about that right now. He had to focus on the problem in front of him, which was damned difficult when all he wanted was to think about her. Be with her. Hold her. He groaned. “By the flames, that’s it! I am an akinu for not thinking of it sooner.”
“Sir?” Ista gave him a confused look.
“Get his mate in here. Now.”
To her credit, Ista didn’t hesitate. She dashed back to the main room and seconds later she was issuing orders to the others.
Torel stayed where he was, still watching the monitors. “Don’t give up your life spark, yet. Your mate needs you, Keth. Without you, she will suffer and likely die.”
It only took a few minutes for Eva to arrive. She was on her feet, though Ista was beside her, helping her along. A medi-droid hovered nearby to monitor her bio-signs.
The moment Eva saw Keth, she gasped, crossed the room to his side, and then gripped his hand in hers. “He’s the one that saved me? This is Keth? My…” she stumbled over her next word. “…mate?”
“He is. And now, we need you to save him,” Torel said.
Eva looked up, frowning. “What can I do?”
“You’re already doing it. Hold his hand. Tell him you’re here. Talk to him.”
“How’s that going to save him?”
“You’re his mate. The one he has waited his entire life to find. If there’s anything that will keep him here, it’s you.” Every word he uttered made him regret how he’d handled things with Haley. He’d lied to himself, and to her, about their bond. She was his mate, and he had done everything he could to deny it. Instead of welcoming her, he’d pretended his life hadn’t altered trajectory the moment she’d initiated the Spark.