That female! How was he supposed to make it through a week with her? He scanned his bedroom, looking for something to break. The wooden chairs in the corner would shatter nicely. He hissed out a calming breath—no. Destruction of a Sauven home they’d been kind enough to offer up would not help anything.
Auzed paced back and forth in the room, wishing he weren’t hundreds of feet from the forest floor. What he wouldn’t give for a run right now. Or a gym. Or a lake. Anything to get out some of this aggression. The conversation he’d had with the Queen rang through his mind again. She’d begun by reassuring him she’d revealed nothing to the regents when they’d contacted her. She’d also explained she was solidifying his alibi even now. Contacting the two soldiers he’d been searching with earlier that day and apprising them of the situation.
A bellow built in his throat at the shame of it. She would have to reveal he’d gotten himself in trouble, and she would have to urge them to lie for him if necessary. Their superior! What an embarrassment.
He dropped to the ground and began a round of vigorous push-ups, his teeth grinding together. He focused on his breathing and attempted to see things from Alejandra’s side, even though his mind was screaming she was the cause of all his problems at the moment.
She’d asked him what would’ve happened if she hadn’t lied. Truthfully, he couldn’t be sure, but in his heart, he knew what the sentence would’ve been, and it grated against his nerves to know she’d assumed right yet again. The Sauvenians took their laws and their borders very seriously. In the aid of a female or not, their judgment would’ve been harsh.
Her lie might very well have been the one thing that could keep him out of trouble. But only if they could make it through this. And only if his Queen could make sure he wasn’t swayed.
His arms shook as he pushed his body harder and harder. If he really sought to blame someone, he should be blaming the Queen. She’d asked him to enter Sauven illegally, after all.
Auzed was a bit concerned with how willing his Queen was to lie. A part of him wanted to believe her actions were selfless. But another part of him, a part that’d learned strategy during his time as an intergalactic soldier, wondered if doing whatever she could to gather the humans and feed into their requests wasn’t more of a power play than anything else. Who would be more powerful in a world slowly dying of infertility than the leader who housed and protected the humans?
He shook off the thought. Even if she were gathering power, she was still allowing the humans to live more freely than they would in other cities, so he supposed her actions could still be considered honorable.
Turning and lowering to his back, he shut his eyes and practiced some breathing control. Alejandra had offered to marry him. The muscles of his body, now cooling down, shot tight in an instant. Despite everything he stood for, he’d wanted to take her up on her proposition. Even knowing she was only offering out of guilt. Even knowing she didn’t fully understand what their marriages were. And even knowing she had a male of her own back on Earth.
Her personality irked. She was unpredictable and emotional and couldn’t take anything seriously enough, but…she sparked something in him. And his baser side whispered that he should take advantage.
The regents had given them a proposition, though. They wanted to expose her to their people in the hopes she’d be recognized and any outrage at letting a human slip through their fingers would be quelled. He’d need to watch from the sidelines as all manner of Clecanians attempted to charm her away. What if someone did recognize her as their mate?
The regents would be so overjoyed that they’d likely forget all about him and he’d be free to go back home. She’d remain here, of course, but with a mate. A flare of jealousy lit in his chest, but he brushed it away, sure it was just his want of a mate and not of Alejandra in particular.
Yes, bringing her out to socialize with everyone was his best bet. With any luck, she’d meet her mate and he could go back to his well-ordered life. But he’d need to act like he cared. Any male would if others were blatantly flirting with their future wife, a human at that. He’d need to act as if the attention she received angered him. Thinking back to the furtive looks Noito had given her had his hands fisting. He might not have to fake it at all.
A part of him did want her. The lie they were in together had him feeling more protective than usual. He just had to make sure he didn’t let himself get too attached. She wasn’t really his in any way. She was a human under his care, the same as the others at the Pearl Temple. Nothing more.
He thought about her quietly getting drunk on the floor below him and groaned. No way to care for her if she stumbled drunkenly off the side of the house. Rising, he headed downstairs and promised himself his now-cooled and controlled temper would remain so. For the next week, a level head would be paramount.
When he reached the main floor, he scanned the room. His stomach clenched when he didn’t see her. He searched all the corners she might have crawled into, then walked outside, praying she hadn’t fallen into the net below. Although the regents had claimed they were free to move about Sauven, they hadn’t provided them with any travel platforms. He’d have no way to retrieve her if she’d fallen.
It was only after he spotted her sitting on the edge of the round porch that circled the house that he realized how hard his heart had been beating in his chest.
She’d changed into silky white shorts and a matching shirt. She must not have realized how formal the attire was. The shimmering top was asymmetrical. Cut long in the back to cover a Sauvenian’s tail and angled up to a high hem in the front. If she lifted her arms, the bottoms of her breasts would peek out. Blood pulsed to his shaft at the thought.
Her dark hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, and healthy warmth seemed to light her skin from the inside while the lights of Sauven twinkled in the distance behind her. Fuck, she was beautiful. Something in his chest expanded, and he took a few quick breaths to calm himself before walking toward her.
If she noticed him, she didn’t show it. She just sat there with her legs dangling off the side of the porch, sipping from the bottle and humming a soft tune. When he reached her, she silently held the bottle up to him.
With a sigh, he sank beside her and took a small swig.
“Is it day or night?” She tilted her head toward the treetops. The movement made her hair drape down her back and exposed the curve of her neck.
He quickly looked away. “Early evening, I’d say.”
“How can you tell? Because of those lights inside?”
She observed so much. It continued to surprise him. While she quipped and bounced around, seemingly uncaring of the world around her, she was actually taking in and processing everything. “Yes.”
Scuffling from above had him leaping to the ready, but he slumped back down when he spotted Wilson settled on the sloped roof above them.
A small grin played at her lips, but she said nothing.
“Your tuey doesn’t seem to like me much,” he grumbled.
She grinned and peered at him sidelong. “That’s ’cause you always look like you’re preparing to go into battle. Maybe if you relaxed a bit, she wouldn’t be so uptight. Just look at this.” She gestured to the gently glowing city sprawled all around them.
In direct opposition to her observation, his shoulders tensed. He leaned back on his palms and gazed out at the view in an attempt to relax, but he couldn’t understand it. How did people sit and stare like this? It was a waste of time. If he were home right now, he could be accomplishing so much. His legs itched to rise and patrol the porch, but he forced himself to remain still.
“A for effort,” she mumbled, her lips twitching.
He only grunted and took another small sip of the alcohol. He couldn’t tell exactly what flavor the liquid was, but he decided that would be his last taste.
“What is this whole thing about mates? You mentioned it before, and you said Noito was trying to ‘recognize’ me, and the regents said something about it too.” She continued to gaze into the distance, but he could tell by the tightness around her eyes that she was far from relaxed. “What does it mean?”
“Historically, our people have had the ability to recognize a mate. Someone who you’ll bond with and spend your life with. Sort of like Wilson there”—he nodded toward the tuey sleeping on the roof—“but in a romantic way. There’s a reaction that occurs. A mated pair are linked to each other inextricably. Mating all but died out when the plague hit, though. There hadn’t been a report of mating marks appearing on a Clecanian’s hands in centuries. Not until the humans arrived.”
“That’s why he was checking his hands,” Alex said softly. Her eyes were unfocused, like she was dazed, having this conversation while also listening in from afar.
Auzed leaned forward, his brows creased in concern. “Are you alright?”
She took a deep breath and peered at him with a weak smile. “No.”
The sadness in her eyes jabbed at his insides. What was he supposed to say to that? Of course she wasn’t alright.
At length, she cleared her throat and spoke. “If those are the CliffsNotes, then what’s the real meaning? Everyone is tense. Everyone looks at me like I’m something sparkly they want to take home—except for you, that is. Don’t just tell me the facts, tell me the reality of my situation…please.” She studied him, her piercing dark-brown eyes searching his face for the truth.
Auzed clenched his jaw, trying to decide whether to soften his words or not. “That may be because on some level you are. For hundreds of years, every person on this planet has grieved the loss of matehood. We’ve worked so hard to get to a place of peace, to a system that works, but it doesn’t mean it’s perfect or that most of our people are happy. You…humans…are the key to fixing that. Males could finally be judged for more than their ability to please a female. Females could finally let down the walls they’ve built. Clecanians, like Relli, wouldn’t be shunned and mocked for their choice to remain with the one they loved. So, are you something sparkly they all want? Yes and no. They don’t want you—they want what you can do, what you represent.”
A smile suddenly broke out over her face, and she let out a derisive hoot of laughter.
“What?” This female made no sense. On the verge of tears one minute and laughing the next.
“I’m just…I’m livid. Beyond angry that some fuckers took me and who knows how many other women from Earth just ’cause they could. For a damn experiment.” She looked at him and shook her head, still smiling. “But if everything you’ve told me about this place is true? If that’s what this world is like? I mean…” Her brows rose. “I get it. I hate it. But I get it.”
“You get it?”
She chuckled under her breath and swung her legs back and forth over the ledge. “Yeah. I get it. This place sucks. What’s happening to you guys sucks. And even though they’re bastards and should be stampeded Jumanji style, I understand why they did it. Desperation. And the worst part of all?” she practically shouted before laughing again. “They succeeded. It doesn’t make it right, but they found what they were looking for. Wow, Auzzy. What a fucking nightmare for humans, and what a fucking blessing for you lot.”
Auzed clenched his jaw as her nickname for him skittered over his shoulders. He wished she’d stop using it. The familiarity of it made his insides heat, but he wasn’t sure if it was in irritation or…something else. He suspected that even if he gave her leave to use his common nickname, Zed, she’d still refuse to use it.
“They broke intergalactic law and imprisoned hundreds of races before they ever found humans. They don’t deserve any understanding,” he shot back.
“I mean, that’s how I feel, but I can understand someone from here not feeling that way. They’ve basically saved your people, haven’t they? It seems to me that if they hadn’t done what they did, you’d continue to slowly go extinct. And as you said, it wouldn’t even be a good ride out.”
Auzed shifted in his seat, growing uncomfortable. He enjoyed black and white. Gray areas were too complicated. He held out the bottle to her, hoping the alcohol would interrupt her musings.
She chuckled again and took a swig. Luckily for him, the questions that followed fell within safer territory. They talked seriously for hours, just as he’d wanted. He explained everything he could think to explain. The reasons she wasn’t allowed to return to Earth. The ceremony in Tremanta, husbandry schools, The Intergalactic Alliance and their function among the planets belonging to the alliance. The roles of Clecanians males, females, and all who fell between and outside.
As she lay on her back staring up at the dark undersides of leaves, he recounted the history of their planet and the planet they’d inhabited before. He could’ve stopped there, but something about the way she gazed at him, the softness and interest in her eyes, pushed him to find more to say.
He thought of everything he could, no matter how innocuous, just to linger on the dim porch, inhaling her scent and watching her lids start to grow heavy. When the only thing left he could think of was information about himself, he stopped.
She turned her head, the alcohol making her movements sluggish. He ground his teeth against the urge to ask her about herself. What her planet was like, what her life was like. Where she’d gotten that gold ring she kept twirling around her finger.
Most Clecanian females wouldn’t answer such questions when asked, and he knew why. It formed an attachment. A bond that hurt to cut. He couldn’t allow himself to form that bond with Alejandra. He already felt too drawn to her as it was. Better to keep things need-to-know.
She raised an arm to cover her yawn, and her shirt lifted slightly.
His gaze lingered on the smooth skin covering her ribcage just a little too long before he tore it away. “We should get some sleep.”
“What about Wilson?” She remained lying and scrunched her forehead upside down until she spotted the tuey.
“She’ll come in if she wants. Wilson may be bonded to you, but she’s still lived the majority of her life as a wild creature.” Standing, he held out a hand to help her up. When her soft palm slid into his, electricity crackled under his skin.
They silently walked into the house, then stood together on the lift.
With an abrupt “Good night,” he turned to his room, but she gripped his forearm, halting him.
She stared up at him and swallowed. “Look, I know I haven’t said it, but…I am sorry. You’re right. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just made a snap decision. It was naïve of me to think I knew better.”
Auzed shifted from side to side. Females didn’t apologize like this. He didn’t know how to react. Any anger he still had with her fizzled out, but flashing warnings blared in their place. He needed more distance and for her to act more like a Clecanian female.
He pulled his arm out of her reach and straightened his shoulders. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow, and I’ll make sure to load your language into the home so you can control the lift.”
Her brows knit together, but then she nodded, as if the brisk tone he’d used was understandable. “Alright. Good night, Auzzy—sorry, Auzed.” She gave him a brief, apologetic smile, then disappeared into her room.
The grimace pulling his mouth tight remained in place far too long. Why did he suddenly dislike the sound of his proper name?
