Page 56 of The Alien's Private Redemption

"Practice what?" Angela was confused and slightly horrified that he'd been able to read her thoughts.

"Getting dressed. And you were projecting. I have tried to refrain from reading your thoughts since you seem to be coherent and not in crisis."

"Ah. Sorry." She blushed hard and hot.

"There is nothing to be sorry for. I am concerned that you don't seem to have many shields. It will be the first thing we start with."

"I'm confused," Angela admitted.

Zoric shifted on the stool. "I started too far into the plan. I apologize."

"There's a plan?" she asked. "Maybe you should start at the beginning."

He smiled. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. Hello, Private McBride, my name is Zoric, and I have been sent here to help the human authorities in an attempt to help heal the rift between our peoples. I am here, specifically, to see what I can do to help you."

Angela nodded. "Hello, Zoric, it's a pleasure to meet you. How and why have you been asked to help me? I'm not important enough to warrant outside intervention in my case."

"You're wrong," he said. "But I know I can't convince you of that. Instead, I'll tell you that my initial intentions have very little bearing on how we will be moving forward."

She swallowed hard. "What changed?"

"You did." His eyes held hers for several intense minutes before he looked away. He spoke slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully. "Or, actually, what happened when I walked into this facility did. Before anyone could show me to where you were being interrogated, I felt your distress, and then I felt your body start to shut down. I'm told my behavior was…aggressive."

"And then you came in and stopped the interrogation."

He shook his head. "I broke through the door and pulled you up into my arms until I could feel your flesh beneath my claws. Our bond snapped into place like someone setting a broken bone and the first thing I did was force you to breathe."

"You came looking for me," she said.

"I could not let you go," he admitted. "Not then, and not ever again. And I must apologize."

Angela frowned at him and leaned forward. "Why would you apologize for keeping me alive? I wanted to live."

"The methods I used…" he trailed off and she watched the emotions play over his face.

When she'd first seen him, she didn't think it was possible for his face to be so expressive. He was a strangely beautiful combination of a human and some kind of lizard, with surprisingly supple lips, and expressive eyes.

"What was wrong with the methods you used?" This was the most information she'd gotten from anyone since she'd been arrested. If he was willing to keep talking, she'd keep asking questions. Maybe she'd even get some answers.

Zoric gave her a wry smile. "They are at least part of what I am here to make amends for. My people believe there is a perfect match for them somewhere, and if they're lucky, they'll meet them in their lifetime. When that happens, a bond will form between them that allows them to speak without words, to feel what the other feels, and to make physical proximity to the other person a source of joy and contentment."

Angela shivered and remembered what he'd said about her projecting at him. "That sounds a little creepy," she admitted.

"It's a beautiful thing, and signals what should be a lifetime of happiness," Zoric argued, then paused. "However, my people also discovered that, with the right person, that bond could be forced. Once it was, both of them would need the other one to live. And they would only feel happiness, even if everything else in them was screaming in pain and horror."

"And you forced that bond with me?" she asked. From what he said, she should be terrified from what had happened but she wasn't.

"I'm afraid I must have," he answered. "To save you as quickly and thoroughly as I did, the bond had to be immediate, and deep enough to be permanent."

Angela nodded. "I thought you said it felt like someone setting a broken bone when you created the bond."

"To me, it did," Zoric acknowledged. "But I had reason to believe that my ability to bond with a human woman had been broken beyond repair. To create one with you healed something in me that I thought destroyed."

"And saved my life," Angela pursued. "I'm not afraid of you. Or of our bond. I'm not even sure I believe we have one, yet."

"Will you allow me to prove it?" he asked.

"Yes, please," she said. Something else occurred to her, so she put up her hand and added, "Gently, if you can. I've been through enough trauma over the last few days."

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