Chapter 7
Didn’t he hear a word I said? It was strange; I could feel his love and affection grow. He didn’t look at me with disgust. He did look sad, but not because of the choices I made. Maybe it was more because of the choices that I thought I had to make. I needed to survive, and then once I realized how stupid I was, it was too late. I was sucked into the life on the street. I lived it and breathed it. I’d learned a lot, and I had suffered a lot. After the nearly five years it was hard to go straight and narrow. I’d been clean for a couple of months before I was picked to be a foreign exchange student as part of the Uoria Program.
“I thought maybe getting away from all the problems for three months would help me heal. I thought I would save me from myself.”
“It was smart, but apparently we need to watch incoming ships from now on. We need to make sure everyone who is supposed to be here is accounted for, and we need to keep better communication with those we interact with from your home.”
“It’s not your fault you know.”
“It is though. How did we not know we were missing someone? If we would have known, you wouldn’t have been held for two months. How the hell didn’t I know? You’re my mate for fuck’s sake. I should have sensed you sooner.”
I pulled him to me. He was angry with himself. “Hey, it’s not your fault. Now you know those—Klimnu are even sneakier than you thought. Now you know you need to have more warriors guarding the area and up your security. It’s not a big deal. I survived.”
He shook his head. “No thanks to us. If it weren’t for Eliana saving you…”
I kissed him to shut him up. I wouldn’t let him beat himself up over a mistake. He didn’t judge me for my past stupidity so I could forgive him and his species for not realizing I was supposed to be studying their land. It was a mistake I knew they wouldn’t ever let happen again.
He kissed me back slowly at first until I nipped his lip then he added more pressure. I knew my lips would be bruised and swollen but I loved it. He pulled back before we ended up staying in bed all day.
“I want to know more than just your body, Leia.”
The words froze me. I pulled back with a dazed expression. I hadn’t realized what I was doing until that moment. I was treating him how I did with the other men. I thought I always had to be sexual. That wasn’t my life anymore. “It’s going to take some getting used to,” I whispered and blushed.
He gripped my chin forcing my eyes to his. “It’s okay sweetheart. I’ll show you what real love is. You’ll never mistake me for any of those other men you were with. And trust me when I tell you, there will be no other men. There will be no drugs, and there will be no abuse. You are my world now. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re happy.”
I felt the tears again and groaned before wiping them away and laughing. “You’ve got to stop being so sweet. I’m an emotional wreck, and I certainly don’t deserve someone like you, but I’ll do my best to be worthy of you.”
He glared at me and his orange eyes flared. This time it wasn’t due to arousal. I could feel his anger spread through my body.
“You are worthy and you do deserve me. You deserve happiness just like everyone else.”
I would try to believe him, but it wouldn’t be as easy as he made it sound. Five years was a long time to erase, but for him I’d try even harder.
“Tell me about you.”
He smiled. “I was a punk for a long time. I’m the younger brother, and Pyra was always golden. He was perfect at everything. He is also pretty powerful like our dad. I did a lot of things trying to get him into trouble. Then as adults he slept his way through all of the females. So I did the same. There isn’t one Denynso woman here, that isn’t family, that hasn’t been with us both. It was like a competition. He always won, and then when Eden came something in him changed. I was jealous, but also not. She’s feisty and she has also been turned into a Denynso. Something we never knew was possible. She’s carrying my niece or nephew, and I love her to death, but she is one crazy emotional woman. Our females get angry. They don’t usually cry. Eden cries all the time. It took us all some time to get used to seeing tears.”
I laughed. “Women are emotional period. We like to cry. It helps us let out the emotions we aren’t’ willing or ready to talk about. I never cried a lot, I used other means to express. I have a lot of anger, a lot of grief. I never had a chance to mourn my mom because my dad couldn’t bear to look at me. I look just like her, and I was a daily reminder of the woman he lost. But still I was 17 and he should have taken care of me instead of kicking me out.”
“Have you seen him at all?”
“I tried when I got clean, but I didn’t know if it would set me back, and I had worked too hard. Then I came here and got taken.”
“Maybe you’d like to go see him?”
“Not now. I’m too much of a wreck. I want to have my life together before I see him. I want to show him that even though he threw me away that I still ended up okay. Seeing him now—would only disappoint him more.”
“Whatever you want.”
“I want to meet your family.”
He sighed. “I wanted you to myself for the day, but if you want that’s fine. Mom is going to be thrilled. She helped with washing you up and stuff. I didn’t feel right.”
“I know. She seems like a very kind woman. She talked to me the whole time.”
“Shit, I keep forgetting you were aware the whole time. That’s so strange.”
“I know.” I smiled and for the first time in a long while it was real. I didn’t force it, and it felt good. Maybe this was exactly where I was supposed to be to be healed. I had been taken for a reason. I spent days trapped inside of myself, even then. Those creatures took everything I feared and played my own memories against me. I was in my own personal hell for 57 longs days. I still couldn’t believe it. This all felt like a sweet dream.