Page 60 of An Alien for the Future

I pause, my gaze meeting his. His eyes are open now, head tilted back as those golden orbs fix on me. He’s not smiling either, but there’s something in his gaze, a warmth, a wonder, that makes my heart soar.

I lean closer, my voice dropping to a whisper, my lips brushing against his brow.

“?? A love that conquers all my fear… ??”

The last note hangs in the air, a promise and a plea. I pull back, searching his face, waiting for his reaction.

Tovan doesn’t speak, but his grip tightens on my thigh, and his gaze, burning with an intensity that makes my knees weak, holds me captive.

And in that moment, as the stars begin to twinkle in the twilight sky, I know, with a certainty that goes beyond words, that this alien warrior has heard my song.

And he’s listening.

“I’m going to do it,” I whisper and it feels like the air stalls between us.

Tovan’s throat moves but he remains silent.

“The test,” I continue. “The blood sample. I’m going to do it tomorrow.”

His throat moves again.

He doesn’t have to say anything. We both know what this means. After tomorrow, we’ll either be together, or we’ll break apart.

The weight of it all is almost too much, and I release a soft breath through my nose. Because, looking at this Kari male sitting between my legs, allowing me to braid his hair as if it’s a very natural thing he’s always done, I know that whatever happens tomorrow, I’ll still be happy for this.

Happy I got to experience even a moment of this.

This peace.

Tovan’s grip tightens on my thigh, and I see a flicker of something in his eyes, a mix of hope and fear, that mirrors the storm raging within my own heart.

I give him a soft smile and readjust his head as I finish the braid in silence. He puts his comm away and it’s like neither of us is breathing. Now there’s a big question mark between us and I don’t know what the future holds.

I open my mouth and close it. Words that mean too much on my tongue.

I want to tell him I’ve fallen in love with him. That despite the rocky start, I can’t imagine not being with him anymore. But I can’t. I can’t say all that. Not with that test looming before us. Not with the chance that I might open my heart one last time and lose it all.

Just as I finish the braid, the lights from a transport break the growing dusk.

Tovan sits up straighter, immediately alert, and so am I. If it’s another stranger…

But as the transport comes to a stop, Tovan’s shoulders relax.

I can already tell it isn’t Eleanor or Catherine, but Tovan’s lax in alertness soothes some of my caution. “You know them?”

“Aye. It is Arnak.”

Oh, his friend.

I sit up a little straighter. This is the closest person to Tovan’s family that I’ll ever meet and although I’m a grown-ass woman, a skitter of nervousness goes through me, anyway. Only moreproof of how much this alien has come to mean to me. But that nervousness quickly turns to confusion as the Kari male hops out of the transport and twin bunny ears follow behind him. “Xarion?”

The sight of Xarion’s bunny ears bobbing behind Arnak’s imposing figure is so unexpected that, for a moment, I wonder if I’m hallucinating. But no, there they are, clear as day in the fading light.

Tovan rises to his feet, his massive frame blocking my view for a moment. I can feel the tension radiating off him now, a stark contrast to his relaxed state just moments ago. He stands watching them as they walk into the yard.

“Arnak,” Tovan’s deep voice rumbles. “And the Saffion. What brings you here?”

Arnak’s gaze flicks from Tovan to me. He’s a bit shorter than Tovan, not as thick, but still imposing as hell. He studies Tovan for a moment, his expression unreadable. “We need to talk, old friend. It is…urgent.”

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