Page 47 of An Alien for Her Heart

“Hello,” the new female is finally released by Eleanor and she casts her attention at me and Zynar. “I’m Donna.”

“Zynar.” I point at my siblingkin. “Varek.” I point at myself.

This female is undoubtedly human, but her pigment is darker than Eleanor and Catherine’s. Her nose is slightly wider. Her mane a different texture. It’s like proof my female has come from a varied, wonderful planet. A planet she’s dying to return to and one she would head for the moment it became possible.

It’s a lot to give up for someone like me.

“Donna Johnson has accepted the farm provided by the Initiative,” the Saffion says, his voice surprisingly distinct despite the revelry around us. “Like you, Eleanor, she has had less than stellar mates back on your home planet and—”

“Boy, if you don’t stop exposing all my business.” The female called Donna gives the Saffion a stern look, but there’s a grin on her face. “We’ve been through a lot. We can always catch up later.” She waves a dismissive hand. “I love music, so if you’re up for it…” She does a strange thing with her eyes, closing one for a click while the other remains open. “Let’s go dance!”

Eleanor lets out a whoop before reaching for Zynar with one arm and pulling him her way. I take a step back, suddenly unsure of what in the frakk is happening. I’m not the only one, the Saffion ends up at my side, a similar perplexed look causing one of his ears to tilt forward while the other remains straight. He doesn’t get to remain there for long though. The new female arrival grabs his arm.

“Xarion, I’m the only one without a mate, so you’re with me!” She declares. The Saffion stutters, both ears standing straight before he’s tugged into the throng behind Eleanor and Zynar.

That leaves only me and Catherine behind and my stunned expression turns to her. That human…thinks we are mates? A purr starts in my throat that I fight to control. I fail, because Catherine looks up at me with a hesitant smile, but a real smile nonetheless.

“Guess we should follow them.” Her tongue appears, barely visible as she licks her lips. “I think I agree with Donna. I need a drink.”

I let her walk ahead of me in the direction the others went, my eyes on her back and an insistent surge of want growing within me. We find the others just as they stop a Zalgonite with trays of brew. Reaching for two, I offer one to Catherine. Electricity shoots up my arms at the briefest touch of her digits on my claw as she takes the drink.

A sip and her eyes light up again. “Mm, this tastes like really expensive wine.” I am not sure how the drink will make her complain, but she looks surprised by her realization. She takes another sip before turning to the other humans. Their conversation is almost too fast to keep track of as they comment on whining, all swirling the brew in the metallic bulbs before taking more sips.

Catherine smiles, and the mask fades away. She sips the brew, and she speaks to the other humans while I forget I have a drink in my own claw. I am content simply watching her and when they all finish their bulbs and stop another Zalgonite for more, I realize Catherine needed this. She needed to come to the festival. She needed to be around her kind.

As the clicks pass, the straight line of her shoulders sinks as if the tension in her bones drains away. A soft breeze sends tendrils of her hair flying around her soft face, an elegant arm rising to brush them away as she continues speaking to the other two females. I glance at Zynar to find his focus on hiskahlin the same way my focus is on Catherine. We stand around them likeguards, preventing the sway of the crowd from disturbing their conversation. Protecting them from rowdy revelers. Even the Saffion, a bored expression on his face, is standing guard, too.

These females are ours to protect.

Except whatever’s growing inside me is telling me to do other things. The longer I watch Catherine, the more I need her. We are standing close enough that should she step back, she will bump into me and the hard thing at the center of my trouse. Gulping back the entire bulb of the drink, I try to calm my nerves. I fail. The brew simply sets my lifeblood on fire.

The Saffion beside us suddenly does another bow, bidding the females goodbye. “I will return Donna to her farm once this revelry is over.” He brushes invisible dust from his coat. “Until then.” He dips his head in dismissal before his focus suddenly slides to Catherine. “I must say, your integration with Varek is also quite commendable, Catherine Rose Richmond. If you should find companionship with him, the Initiative would be doubly pleased.”

Even with the noise around us, it feels like all goes silent. Catherine’s eyes have widened and so have Eleanor’s. The female called Donna has a strange look on her face, brows lifted as her gaze shifts among us. “I’m no expert on alien customs, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how you wingman, buddy.”

“I’m…not an avian.” The Saffion casts a confused look to her.

“That’s not what I meant, Xar.” Donna shakes her head, a laugh in her throat. “Ladies.” Her eyes widen even more. “Shall we dance?”

“Dance?” Eleanor speaks too loudly, as if trying to distract from what the Saffion said. “Cheese on a string, yes!” She reaches for Zynar again, tugging him along after the new female as they head toward the Raki who have changed their ensemble to a more upbeat melody. The revelers all around us move fasterto the beat and Zynar shoots a glance back at me with a grin and a shrug.

The female named Donna has stopped in front of the Raki. She moves her body in a way that is so natural and fluid with the beat it’s like she’s heard these melodies before. Laughter peels from Eleanor as she grips Zynar and tugs him against her back as she sways her body, too. She leans back against him as his arms wrap around her and he tugs her tighter against him, her eyes filled with an emotion I’ve only dreamt of seeing from my own female. Mykahl.

The hardness that had been growing in my shaft dies as something twists deep inside me—that long-felt loss and loneliness rearing its head. My throat tightens, the shadows chasing me when my gaze finally falls back to Catherine. She’s watching me, gaze unreadable again, and I quickly shield her from mine, sliding on that mask that I usually wear. Because I don’t want her to see my pain. I don’t want her to feel it.

“Would you like to dance?” My voice sounds gruff, as gruff as those other times, and I groan inwardly. I have made little progress. Maybe this is my chance to get closer to her. But my chances are shot when Catherine shakes her head.

“I think I need to sit for a moment,” she whispers. “But you can go dance, if you like. Please, don’t let me stop you. I just…need a moment.”

She tries to look through the crowd, probably to find a place to sit, but if she thinks I am letting her out of my sight for a single moment, she’s mistaken. As if I didn’t have more of a reason to keep her close, I notice the moment a few other Kari shift closer to the Raki to watch the dancers—or rather, the human, mykahlesta, and my siblingkin. Everyone knows who they are, the Kari who has found a mate, and they are interested. They watch Zynar and Eleanor with a wanting, a hunger, that I feel deep in my soul. And they watch the new female, Donna, too. Even asI become aware of this, I lock eyes with a Kari looking my way. LookingCatherine’sway.

She’s mine.

I block his view of her as I gesture off to the side where the crowd is thin. “There are seats over there.”

Catherine nods, her eyes grateful as she heads in that direction. I follow at her back, grateful when the Kari watching her loses sight of her in the crowd as she sits on a low bench. I collapse beside her and silence envelopes us both. I’m not sure what to say.

“Enjoying the festival?”

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