Page 30 of Gravel and Grit

Of course she is exhausted. We need to take better care of her.

We have taken wonderful care of her! Has she been shot even once? Isshe terrified or bleeding everywhere? No. We are obviously naturally skilledat Earthian safekeeping.

To prove it, he moved with the utmost care and very gently got to his knees, then lowered her to the ground, so she was lying on her side. He grabbed the blanket she’d thoughtfully procured and covered her, tucking it around her like she was a burrito—his favorite Earthian fare, aside from candy. When he was finished, only her face was left exposed.

He stayed there, kneeling over her, and watched her sleep for a moment until the distinct feeling of being a creeper, as she put it, hit him. Grimacing, he got up and busied himself making a fire and packing up the food she’d taken out before he settled across the fire from her to work on tweaking the cell phone he’d taken. He wanted to be able to listen in on the soldiers so he’d have a warning if they managed to pick up their trail.

While making a tracker gave him difficulties, he was more experienced with radios. He’d been modifying and using them for decades in order to monitor the frequency the rescue beacon operated on, so he’d be ready when it fell from orbit. Cell phones were basically complicated radios, he reasoned.

Experience or not, he would’ve been more successful at actually making progress if he didn’t spend at least half his time staring at her instead of concentrating on the task at hand.

He knew his initial rationalization that his mating gland reacted because of an allergy was illogical but, more than that, he no longer wanted it to be true. He liked her.

She was… incredible.

Courageous, intelligent, outspoken, beautiful, witty, and amusing. Aside from not being Khargal—which he found himself caring about less and less the more he was around her—she was everything he’d ever fantasized his mate would be. Even more encouraging, not only did she not think he was ugly, she said she found him attractive. If she’d been Khargal, she would not have thought so.

On the off chance he found his true mate after all these years, Zaek had known he would have to rely on his other qualities to charm her. Everyone said you fell instantly in love the moment you met yourHondassa, but he knew that was not always the case. His dam told him of her initial doubts when she met his sire but that he’d eventually won her over.

The real problem, other than convincing her she wanted an alien as a mate and also wanted to go with him to a planet she’d never seen or heard of, was that he had no idea if his mating fluid would work on her for the long term. Petronus, Roc’s sire, found a true mate among the Earthians, but she’d died birthing Roc. Petronus’dassahadn’t been enough to save her.

The thought of falling in love with Mira, of becoming her mate, only for her to die was absolutely terrifying.

Unwilling to contemplate that any further, he concentrated on the cell phone and stubbornly put it out of his mind. Surely, if he could persuade her

to go to Duras with him, their scientists could develop some solution.

Some time later, an animal thoughtfully screeched to warn the other forest inhabitants that sunrise was imminent. Unfortunately, its timing was off. There were hours left until daylight and all the overeager animal accomplished was to scare the hell out of Mira. Zaek jerked with surprise when she shot upright with a gasp, like someone had just electrocuted her.

She glanced around wildly, but calmed when she spotted him staring at her from across the fire.

“How long was I asleep?” she asked around a yawn, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms.

“The sun will not be up for hours yet,” he rumbled, eyeing her hair in wonder, utterly confused as to how it had managed to become so unruly in such a short time.

We will just have to brush it again.

“Have you slept?”

“No.”

“You should. I’ll keep watch,” she offered, already sitting up as if it were decided.

“I am fine. You should sleep more.”

“Nuh uh, I insist. You’re the one doing most of the work here, so we need you to be well rested.”

“Really, I am—”

“What if you fall asleep while flying and we plummet to a bloody, gruesome death because you were stubborn?” At the look of horror that spread over his face she cocked a brow and nodded. “Exactly.”

He grumbled but obediently laid down when she knee-walked around the fire to him. He allowed her to cover him with the blanket, but he didn’t sleep.

Instead, he watched her through his lashes while she made a trip to the woods then returned and ate a quick snack before starting to work on the beacon.

Though he could tell she was still tired, she worked diligently… with the exception of the periodic glances she threw his way.

Those looks got progressively longer until she stopped working altogether

---