Page 18 of Doom

Once more, my woman silenced her fears. My respect and admiration for her grew another notch. While she checked on her patients one last time, I contacted Legion again. He confirmed the church group had been successfully evacuated. This was at least one good bit of news to give Victoria.

“Good night, friend. Thanks for looking after my woman,” I told Stran.

He bumped his snout against my hand and projected a psychic image of Victoria and me embracing on the grand plaza of Khepri, my homeworld.

“Yes. She is my soulmate. When the war ends, I will ask her to come back home with me.”

Stran bumped my hand again and tapped the floor with his tail twice to signal his approval. Although his disapproval wouldn’t have changed my plans, it warmed my hearts that my long-time companion should also feel affectionate and protective towards the female I intended to spend the rest of my life with.

When Victoria returned, we agreed to sleep upstairs; I didn’t want to be trapped in a basement in case of trouble. In order to share the cloak, we had to sleep in close contact. I was pleasantly surprised my Red didn’t make a fuss about it, appearing relieved instead. She didn’t even balk when I remained naked, with my attachments within arm’s reach should I need to prepare for battle quickly.

Following my example, and to my great chagrin, Victoria also opted to go to bed battle ready—meaning fully clothed in her case—switching into a fresh pair of black leggings and a t-shirt. At least she left her hair down, and my desire to have her silken locks draped over my chest finally came true. Despite her shyness, my woman didn’t appear to feel awkward as we climbed into the bed she’d been using for the past couple of weeks. It was twin-size and more than a little cramped for my six-foot-eight, two-hundred-fifty-pound frame. But it was ideal for cuddling my mate.

I activated the cloak, which shimmered around us. Victoria looked at it before turning her stunning blue eyes towards me. She leaned on her elbow, studying my features as if she were seeing me for the first time. Reaching for my face, she slowly traced her index finger over the scar that ran from the scales which formed my eyebrow to the side of my temple.

“A Kryptid mouth dart,” I said. “A couple millimeters to the left and he would have taken my eye out.”

She bit her bottom lip, and I suppressed the urge to kiss her, focusing instead on the burning feel of her hand tracing my other scars. One by one, I described how I’d acquired them. Her apparent ease with our closeness pleased me tremendously. Despite the faint—but delicious—aroma of her underlying arousal, curiosity and not lust drove this unabashed exploration.

She frowned, her palm resting over my chest. Leaning down, Victoria pressed her ear to my chest and stiffened.

“Your heartbeat is strange,” she said, looking up at me with concern.

I smiled and brushed her hair aside with two fingers. “It’s not. I have two hearts.”

Victoria’s lips parted in shock then her eyes filled with wonder. She stared at my chest as if she could see my hearts through skin and tissue.

“Tell me about your species,” Victoria asked with genuine curiosity. “You said you were genetically engineered. But can you give me specifics?”

I hesitated. Although she was my soulmate, we didn’t divulge much about our secrets with planets that hadn’t joined the Coalition.

“Xian Warrior genetics are spliced from a large number of creatures,” I explained. “The main splice is human, which explains our default appearance being so similar to your people’s. For the most part, our organs and reproductive systems are comparable—and compatible.” I’d said that last part in a neutral, matter-of-fact fashion but shifted my vision to study her reaction through her aura. As I’d hoped, it shimmered with joy. “My scales and golden skin come from Gomenzi Dragons, another major splice for us.”

“Dragons? As in the giant, flying, fire-breathing creatures of folklore?” Victoria asked, flabbergasted.

I chuckled. “Yes, as in the fantasy creatures of human lore. Those bone spikes on my shoulders and along my spine are also inherited from them.”

“Do you breathe fire?”

I laughed out loud. “No, my Red. I do not breathe fire, and sadly, I do not fly either. Those weren’t the traits Dr. Xi wanted us to inherit from them.”

“Oh?” she asked.

“Gomenzi Dragons have special psychic dispositions which are a key asset for us. They gave us our telepathic abilities and made us unconditionally devoted and loyal to those we consider our people.”

“Do you consider us your people?” Victoria asked.

“Yes. We are forty percent human. Our DNA demands we protect you at all cost. For the rest, we have traces of various predators and lethal creatures for specific defensive or offensive traits.”

“So, you’re all created in vitro and grown in incubators? You can’t originate from natural birth?”

“Well … Created in vitro, yes, then carried by surrogate mothers until our souls spark, and then transferred into an incubator until birth. There haven’t been any natural births to date, but technically, it should be possible. Some of my brothers—whom you met earlier—and I, were the first Warriors successfully born from our incubators thirty-two years ago. Until today, we feared we might be defective and unable to reproduce naturally.”

Her eyes widened. “Until today? Why? What happened?”

“Xian Warriors mate for life—another trait we’ve inherited from the Gomenzi Dragons. In thirty-two years, despite traveling the galaxy from one war to another, none of my brothers have ever met their soulmates.”

“Well, you haven’t really had a chance to get to know the females you met,” she argued.

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