THREE
“YOU’RE JOKING, RIGHT?” Lainey asked, eyes widened almost comically, immediately after Cecelia finished her story.
Erin chimed in next, albeit hesitantly, “He’s your…mate? Like your husband, or something?”
“You got married to an alien in a week?” Lainey burst out.
Taylor watched, her heart throbbing in her throat, as Cecelia took their shock in stride. The brunette said, “Yes. Basically.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Lainey asked, softening her voice, but only slightly. “They’ve brainwashed you! Do you even realize how nuts this sounds?”
“Look,” Cecelia bit out, “I know how crazy this all seems. There are some moments where I can’t even believe it myself, but I haven’t been brainwashed, okay? I’m in love with him.” Cecelia sighed, trying to get her obvious frustration under control. “I first saw him when Privanax took me from this very room. And the moment I did…it’s—it’s hard to explain. I never believed in love at first sight, but there was something there. This undeniable connection. And he felt it too and later, he told me that they call it the awakening. Luxirians have something called an Instinct and it guides them to their fated mates. And the first time that they see their mates, their dormant Instinct comes alive. That’s what happened to Rixavox.”
Taylor bit her lip, rubbing her hands up and down her arms because goosebumps had spread over her skin. Immediately, her mind flashed to the gray-eyed alien.
“And even though we obviously don’t have this Instinct,” Cecelia continued softly, “I just…knew. I can’t even describe the feeling.”
Taylor looked down to the floor, feeling on the verge of panic. Because she had the sense that she knew exactly what the brunette was talking about…about that strange connection, that dizzying, confusing pull to another being.
Cecelia gave a half-embarrassed smile to the group of women huddled around her. “I mean…I literally fainted after I saw him. It was just overwhelming. And he’s just so…so…wonderful. I feel like I’ve known him all my life.”
Bianca reached out to touch her arm. “You look happy, Cecelia. I’m glad for you, even if it’s taken all of us by surprise.”
“Thank you,” Cecelia murmured back. She did look happy. Glowingly happy. And not to mention healthy.
“And the cancer…” Erin chimed in, “It’s truly gone?”
“Yes,” Cecelia said softly. “It doesn’t show up on Privanax’s scans. And I just feel that it’s gone. I don’t need any tests to know my own body.”
“And what about the bitch that was poisoning you?” Lainey asked, getting over her initial surprise. “What happened to her?”
Cecelia sobered, her smile fading. “That’s part of the reason why Rixavox and I are here. Vaxa’an, the leader of Luxiria, has ordered a trial for what she did. It’s taking place in a couple days.”
“What do you think will happen to her?” Crystal asked.
Cecelia blew out a breath. “It’s hard to say. Rixavox thinks that she’ll be exiled.”
“They’d exile one of their own?” Crystal asked, seemingly surprised. “For you?”
“Luxirians don’t have a lot of tolerance for crimes against others. Rixavox told me that if males harm females, their punishment is worse and is usually execution,” Cecelia explained softly, eliciting a few gasps from the group. “They believe that harming a female is the worst possible crime. And apparently, that goes for human females as well.”
“Well,” Lainey muttered, “at least we don’t have to worry about them abusing us while we’re here. It still doesn’t explain why they’ve kept us locked up though.”
Cecelia bit her lip before replying, “Vaxa’an will be sending you all home very soon.”
“Really?” Bianca gasped out, her face breaking into a radiant smile. “Please tell me you’re not joking.”
“He is. They are outfitting a space ship even now and loading it with supplies,” Cecelia said. “You could leave as early as tomorrow, if the fueling completes in time.”
Taylor felt her breath hitch and she looked around the group of women, excitement showing on all of their faces.
But it was Lainey who suddenly asked, “Wait, why are you talking like you’re not coming back home with us?”
All heads swiveled back towards Cecelia when she said simply, “Because I’m not.”
“Cecelia, seriously, you can’t just stay here!” Lainey argued. “Your home is back on Earth.”
“My home is here now,” Cecelia corrected softly, “with my mate. I could never imagine leaving him. I would never want to.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Lainey bit out, “Luxirian dick must be pretty amazing, considering that not one, but three human women are now staying behind!”
Kate and Beks, two other human women who had come to see them, were also ‘mated’ with Luxirians and were choosing to stay behind apparently. Kate was even pregnant.
Cecelia flushed at Lainey’s crude words, but then said, “Well, he is amazing in that department, but that’s not why I’m staying behind.”
“You can’t expect us to leave you here,” Lainey continued. “What if this is a mistake? It’s the honeymoon phase right now, but what happens in five, ten, twenty years from now?”
“You don’t think I’ve thought about this already?” Cecelia cried, looking at all of them. “Rixavox and I are blood bonded. Leaving him would be like ripping a piece of myself away. And you can’t really understand what that’s like until you’ve experienced it yourself.”
Blood bonded? Taylor thought, her eyebrows furrowing.
“I’m not saying that transitioning to living here will be easy,” Cecelia said. “It will be hard. I’m giving up my life on Earth, but it’s because I believe in what Rixavox and I have. And I would never be reckless with my future unless I was completely sure of it. And my future? He’s definitely in it, for the long haul.”
The group went silent, probably all sensing what Taylor did: that Cecelia was serious about her man and wouldn’t be leaving his side. Taylor recalled the look that the alien male—who she now knew was Rixavox—gave Cecelia before she’d come to greet them all not too long ago. Even then, she knew what that look meant.
It was love, desire, happiness, all rolled into one sweltering gaze.
“My staying here doesn’t change anything for you,” Cecelia continued after a lengthy pause. “The reason why they kept you sequestered was because Vaxa’an didn’t want any of the males’ Instincts to awaken if they saw you. He was waiting for my return to send us all back to Earth, but now that I’m staying, there’s no reason for you to be delayed.”
Taylor’s heart gave another nervous flutter as she thought, But what happens if one of their Instincts has already awakened?
Again, those searing cloudy gray eyes came into her mind’s eye. Taylor shivered, her nipples pebbling under her shirt even though the room was warm.
No, no, no, she thought, grappling with control. It was nothing. She was just a little stir-crazy and imagining things that weren’t there.
Yes. That was it.
Trying her best to relax, Taylor couldn’t help but ask, “So, you think we’re leaving tomorrow?”
The sooner, the better, as far as she was concerned.
* * *
When Vikan slowly ascended from his drugged stupor, the Luxirian silver moon was bright overhead, casting shadows into his sparse dwelling.
His first thought was of the human female and he felt a jolt of panic, afraid that he’d been passed out for longer than anticipated. It was a gut reaction and therefore, his newly awakened Instinct’s reaction. It was a need to be close to his fated mate, so that he could foster a bond between them, tying her to him as steadily as she was tying him to her.
Vikan squeezed his eyes shut, his temple giving a faint pound. The last of the yikava had not quite worn off yet, but it would soon.
Frustrated shame washed over him when he realized his cock was pulsing and hard, evidence of the erotic dreams of the human female. Vikan grit his jaw, but ignored his lusts as best as he could.
Ever since Nitav’s death, Vikan had been celibate, uninterested in sex and mating, which was unusual for a Luxirian male in his prime. Luxirians celebrated sex, revered it. It was strange that a warrior, especially one of his rank and station, would go so long without mating partners, but Vikan could not bring himself to take another female. He had wanted to stay true to Nitav, even after her departure from that world.
Vikan pushed up from the central hub fire pit on shaking, weak limbs, a brief after-effect of the yikava. It was dark in his dwelling, the fire long extinguished. He listened carefully to the silence, to the soft wind whistling past his dwelling and loneliness hit him so hard that it took him by surprise.
His legs gave out and he tumbled back against the cushions. Pressing his palms into his eyes, he rubbed them, torn, needful, grim.
And for the first time, he gave himself permission to think of what a fated mate meant.
He wasn’t blind. He saw the happiness of Vaxa’an with Kat. He knew Lihvan would do anything for his mate, Beks. And now Rixavox, who had once said he couldn’t imagine being with only one female, could not fathom his existence without his Sessela and saw only her.
Would his life be equally changed by the human female that his Instinct had awakened for? He didn’t know. But Vikan was beginning to suspect that what Vaxa’an had said was true…that he underestimated the power and pull of a fated mate and the will of his Instinct.
He had been faithful to Nitav since the span that he’d met her. Now, over ten rotations later, all it took was half of a lunar cycle in the human’s presence to make Vikan consider another future, another choice than the life he’d been prepared to lead, one of empty dwellings with only his Ambassador duties to fulfill him and give him purpose. And yikava.
Vikan took in a deep, greedy pull of air. It was cooler in his dwelling now than it’d been when he’d fallen asleep, but it still felt like he was suffocating under the weight of air.
Because in that moment, Vikan made a decision.
The Fates had gifted him with a mate. He would forever regret not exploring what that meant. Would he truly be able to stomach the thought of letting her go without even knowing her name? Without knowing her scent or the warmth of her touch or the sound of her voice?
Grim realization hit him just as his Instinct prowled in his chest, sensing what went unspoken.
He…didn’t think he’d be able to let her go without trying to establish a connection.
Vaxa’an’s deadline had lit the fire that now burned through him because he knew he wouldn’t have much time. Even if he went to her right then, Vaxa’an intended to begin their return journey when the twin suns rose.
Vikan blew out a breath. It wasn’t enough time.
Clenching his fists together, his mind worked frantically, finally breaking the yikava’s hold over him.
He stilled when a ridiculous, reckless idea came to him. One that Vaxa’an would punish him for later, but one that would ensure Vikan had ample time to learn about his fated mate, his luxiva.
There were too many possibilities for his plan to go awry. At the same time, Vikan recognized he didn’t have too many options.
Quickly, he grasped on that strand of his possible future, making up his mind. He would deal with the consequences afterwards. A short moment later, he bathed his body in the wash room of his dwelling and dressed in a fresh tunic and leg coverings, stuffing the rest of his meager belongings that he’d brought with him to the Golden City in his travel sack.
He wouldn’t be returning, at least for a short while, because he intended to steal his mate away before Vaxa’an got the chance to take her from him forever.