After Sevani had left, any remnants of the teasing and arousal left from my intimate moment with Khrel had dissipated. He scowled as the door closed behind the Elder and stomped back into the living room, sinking onto one of the chairs nearest the fireplace. It was rather difficult to believe I had been pushed up against that wall less than a half hour ago.

“What does that mean?” I asked him immediately. “The ‘rich punishment’ and ‘being rid of your human-watching duties’ parts?”

“I cannot be certain,” he said, dropping his head into his hands, “but I believe it means my Elder would not stop the Council from imprisoning me for my transgressions.”

My skin prickled at the thought, and my heart skipped with a breath of fear. The lurching in my belly I’d felt when I’d realized I was trapped in a Novai cage inside their camp returned, but it was now with concern for Khrel rather than myself. I shook my head, and my hair fell in bungled strands around my face. “No,” I protested. “They can’t do that. You killed those Novai because they attacked, and you assaulted that one tonight because…” My voice died off as I realized I didn’t have an appropriate justification to offer him.

He lifted his head to look at me. “Because you were in danger,” he said softly.

I nodded, though a lilt of emotion brought a small lump into my throat. “Yes,” I agreed. “Because I was in danger. That’s not a reason to punish somebody.”

“The Elders have not been known for their morality lately,” Khrel said. The sheen on his silver hair from the rising sun seemed to wink at me as he sighed heavily. “It is only to right their moral wrongs that they agreed to allow the Novai to send a group of colonists here at all. Had the Council not felt so guilty for what they had brought upon the humans, or perhaps even what they had been doing before the humans were ever brought to our attention, there would be no Novai here at all.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” I pointed out. “The Novai came here in the first place because they wanted somewhere to settle, didn’t they?”

Khrel considered me for a moment. “Yes, I suppose that is true,” he admitted. “But it does not matter. What has happened is done, and I must face whatever discipline is deemed prudent.”

“You’re too willing to bend to them!” I cried. For a long time, I had believed the Elders held too much power and the Albaterrans were little more than blind followers. It was one thing to feel that way as an outsider, an onlooker, but it was another matter entirely now that I was so deeply invested.

“The Elders are the ultimate authority, Lena,” Khrel said firmly. “It is their job to ensure the safety and well-being of all A’li-uud. If they consider me a threat to our race or the others they have allowed here, they will remove me from society. I cannot begrudge them that.”

“Of course you can,” I snapped. It angered me to see him, this strong War Chief who had just stood up for me to his beloved Elder, so easily resigning himself to an unjust fate. “I know you’re conditioned to believe the Elders are the end-all be-all, but that’s only true because everyone allows it to be. Trust me: humans disobey and overthrow their governments all the time.”

He smiled wryly. “Yes, and there is a reason Albaterra runs much more smoothly than Earth.”

I sighed. He had a point. Then again, it still didn’t make any sense to punish someone for defending helpless people. Was killing a killer above reproach? Maybe not to many, maybe not even to me before I’d been the potential victim. But, now that I had, I firmly believed that, yes, Khrel’s actions were not only justified, but the right thing to do, and the notion that he would be punished for doing the right thing didn’t sit well with me.

“You must be tired,” he said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts.

I was, but my worry had overtaken the tiredness enough that I was able to put it out of my mind. “I’m fine,” I said.

“Come.” He stood and held out his hand. “To bed with you.”

“But I don’t want—”

“Must I remind you of the talk we had?” he asked dangerously, his eyebrows rising and his eyes sparkling. “About disobeying me again?”

A lick of lust creased through my core, and I pictured us in bed together with the sun beginning to poke through the window. “All right,” I agreed. “I’ll go to bed.”

I extended my hand and placed it in his proffered one. His strong, capable fingers closed around mine, and he gently pulled me to my feet. I felt my nipples stiffening beneath my shirt with the onset of new arousal as I realized he was using the hand he’d slid inside my shorts, and I tried to ignore the way the fabric at my crotch clung to my folds with moisture. When we reached my bedroom, he straightened the blankets for me and pulled them back neatly.

“In,” he commanded.

I lowered myself onto the mattress, which was surprisingly springy despite being made from completely alien materials that resembled human mattresses in no way other than in shape. He started to drape the covers back over me, but I stopped him by grabbing a handful and looking up at him through my lashes.

“Aren’t you going to lie down too?” I asked hopefully.

He quirked a brow. “Do you wish me to lie down?” I nodded, and the corners of his lips turned upward. “Then, I shall.”

As he slid beside me, I felt his heat radiating against my skin. I hadn’t realized I was chilly until I pressed myself against him, but my body curled into his as if I’d been freezing. He tugged the blankets up around us before skimming an arm around my waist, pulling me to him until there wasn’t a fraction of space between us.

“Get some good rest,” he murmured against my hair.

“What are we going to do about the Council?” I asked, a yawn overtaking my words until they were basically gibberish.

Khrel seemed to understand me anyway. “Do not worry yourself,” he said. “I have something in mind. You must sleep now.”

“What’s your plan?” I turned my face to look at him over my shoulder, and he looked back at me with a mixture of amusement at my persistence and irritation at my disobedience, but he answered.

“Tomorrow, we will see Vi’den.”