Page 38 of Needed in the Night
Mikas.
CHAPTER 14
MIKAS
Isla stared up at me,her lovely violet eyes wide and expression suddenly vulnerable for one of the few times since we had met.
“Oh,” she said and sat down hard.
If there had not been a couch behind her, she might have ended up sitting on the floor—or nearly so, as I would have caught her. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap as if attempting to hide how they trembled.
I did something I had longed to do for what seemed like an eternity: I knelt in front of her.
“May I touch your hand?” I asked.
She took a shaky breath. “Yes.”
Moving cautiously so I did not startle her, I covered her much-smaller hands with my own. Her skin felt like silk against my rougher, scaly flesh. The intimacy of this touch made my hearts flutter.
“The last time we were in this room, my scent told you I feel safe here,” Isla said, with a wry smile that faded all too quickly.Her gaze searched my face. “Between that and all the offerings of berries and brandy and the fact you’re kneeling in front of me, I suppose I know what’s going on. But why don’t you tell me, so there’s no misunderstanding?”
I had never seen any sign that she understood the significance of providing her food and drink, but perhaps she had just now realized those gestures were more than mere politeness. And if she knew that on Fortusia a true mate knelt before their beloved, she now suspected the secret I had harbored for so long.
She did not seem angry, dismayed, or repulsed, which was an enormous relief. Her wide eyes, shaking hands, and sweet scent revealed how dumbfounded and flustered she was.
“I believe you are my true mate,” I said, my throat so tight that my voice was hoarse. “Or rather, in my hearts and soul I know you to be.”
Her little gasp and the shimmer of tears in her eyes made my hands tighten on hers.
“Do you know about Fortusian physiology?” I asked, keeping my tone gentle. “Should I explain?”
She swallowed audibly. “I know about true mates. I’m not an expert,” she added quickly. “But I understand what that means. Your body recognized me as biologically compatible.”
“It is more than that,” I said. “Biological compatibility is only part of the call of a true mate. Our physiology draws us to one whose entire being compliments and resonates with our own in every way, and for whom we offer the same comfort. I think of it less as biological compatibility and more as…” I hesitated.
“Like what?” Isla prompted.
The soldier I had once been, and still was to some degree, protested that I was baring my belly and throat to this woman as I had never done with anyone. Before I met Isla, I could not have imagined doing so, much less going to my knees without asecond thought with all my hopes and dreams hanging on her every look and word.
I had not chosen to go to war, or to be injured in battle, or to be shipped home with a medal of valor worth no more than the materials used to make it, but Ihadchosen a quiet life tending bar in Onat’ras, subsisting on tips and living in a small apartment alone with my memories. Had I not done so, I would not have been present when a rainbow-haired human woman came in early one afternoon hoping for an audition. If that did not prove the power of choices, I did not know what would.
And so I chose to speak the truth, and only the truth, to Isla, with my hearts pounding so hard they threatened to escape my ribcage.
“Happiness,” I said. “Contentment and safety. And peace.”
Gently, she withdrew her hands from mine and leaned forward, her forearms resting on her thighs.
“You’re a smart man,” she said, with a faint smile. “Observant. Well-trained. And on top of that, your senses tell you a lot about me. So it won’t be any surprise to hear I’ve never had any of those things you’re offering.”
No, it was not a surprise to hear the depths of her loneliness and pain, but my hearts ached all the same.
“What have you known?” I asked, as if I had not already guessed.
“Mostly fear and danger.” She flexed her right wrist. A small but deadly dagger dropped into her palm. She spun it several times without needing to look at it.
In the middle of the third spin, my hand shot out and took the dagger away.
“Nicely done, Mikas.” She glanced at my palm, where a thin line of green blood welled. “You caught some of the blade, though.”
