Page 168 of The Edge of Dawn

Jade could hardly believe they were back already, but she was overjoyed that her life wouldn’t be as different as she’d thought.

Just a little different.

After all, Dragek, Tarak, and the rest of the Kordolians were here to stay. They’d discovered humans and their compatibility with Kordolians.

There was no going back.

But after all that had happened—the threats to Earth, the attempt to change the timeline, the subterfuge of their enemies who had gone so far as to collude with other humans—Tarak wasn’t taking any chances.

Apparently, he’d put the Federation government on notice.

He was appointing his own people to run Earth, and that pretty much consisted of them.

The human mates.

The women she’d met over the past week or so.

Abbey—Tarak’s wife—had sought her out and warmly welcomed her into the fold.

She wasn’t at all what Jade had been expecting.

In contrast to the formidable and calculating General Tarak, Abbey was surprisingly down-to-earth. She was unguarded and quirky; not afraid to speak her mind or go up against her terribly intimidating husband when she disagreed with him.

Jade had instantly liked her. She’d liked the other women she’d met, too. They were all different in their own ways, but they were genuine. They’d welcomed her with open arms.

They were all so very… human.

Ordinary people, just like her.

And yet, they were all so very comfortable being with the extraordinary.

They certainly weren’t afraid or brainwashed like the stories in the media had made them out to be.

Neither was she.

She knew exactly what she’d gotten herself into, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dragek was an extraordinary being, just like the otherworldly warriors of the First Division. He was inhumanly strong, fast, and deadly. He wielded his psychic power with terrifying precision.

Unlike her, who was still clumsy and uncertain—she had a long way to go when it came to learning how to use her ka’qui.

Suddenly, she felt him—hand on her waist; warm breath feathering the side of her neck—before his soft, tender lips planted a kiss there, sending a ripple of anticipation down her spine.

He’d come out of nowhere, as silent as darkness, as inevitable as the passing of time itself.

On a subconscious level, she’d probably sensed him—his aura was imprinted on her like a tattoo—but she’d been so immersed in the beauty of her surroundings that he’d simply become part of the tapestry, like the warmth of the sun or the tender caress of the dry desert wind.

She hadn’t even flinched.

He was a part of her now. She never needed to be tense or guarded around him.

“You’re here,” he murmured, resting his cheek against her hair. “They were looking for you—the women. They are arranging some sort of human thing—high tea, they call it.”

Jade laughed. In the middle of the desert—on a vast station that had been turned into a highly fortified Kordolian military base, with alien structures popping up everywhere and a mysterious network of tunnels stretching underground—a bunch of humans were going to be having high tea.

She was sure there would be scones with jam and cream, as well as cucumber sandwiches.

How bloody delightful.

---