Page 37 of Her Alien Prince
Bending to one knee, Loric bowed, lowering his head. "I offer to be sired, and will accept whatever offspring she may carry. I will care for them as they were my own. What is mine is hers, and what is hers is mine until the moon collects my dust."
"So be it," Almder accepted his offer. Trent didn't even bother to turn his attention away from her to see Loric's heartfelt proposal to be Luan's life partner, regardless of who she mates with. While Loric was confessing his love, I was pining for a guy that had literally just agreed to send his whole fleet of warships to scour the system for Luan to be his mate, not even caring that she might say no, or that she'd never stay on Krelis with him.
That’s how dedicated he was to his hive.
Knowing he was doing what he had to do for peace didn't make things any easier. Who was I to get in the way of Estreldez's only hope for survival? If I came forward as a queen of Krelis, prepared to dethrone Queen Kai, I couldn't possibly beg Almder to still accept the peace treaty... How could she trust that a half-krelin she was prepared to neuter would advocate for Estreldez the same way Luan would? A mate bond with me wouldn't solidify peace between our species.
I knew that. I repeated it to myself over and over again, but I couldn't get him out of my head. A little voice kept saying,find a way. With a warring storm dispersing the thought with the wind.
The deal between my Almder and Trent was solidified, and any chance I thought I had at finding another way to save our planets without Trent mating with Luan vanished before my eyes. I was in a daze as I was shuffled out of the alcove among all the warriors that had been part of the search for Luan across the palace. Plans were discussed about how soon Trent's warships would be dispatched to retrieve Luan, and what they would do if met with opposition from King Sylve.
King Sylve, his name triggered me to wake from my daze, and I realized by this point we were at the transport deck, and I had boarded a shuttle to launch towards Trent's personal ship. I hadn't realized I'd made the decision, but my feet walked of their own accord, and they weren't going to leave me behind.
Finally finding my voice once more I told Trent, "If King Sylve is involved, you can't send all your warships to find her, you'll leave this sector unguarded."
"I'm aware," he stated simply, unconcerned with what I was worried about.
"Not only would Estreldez be in danger if his plan was to lure your warships away, but so would Krelis," I tried to re-explain with more emphasis.
"That would be true, if I were doing as you said." I blinked at him with confusion muddling my thoughts. An uncomfortable state that was becoming all too familiar.
"But you just told Almder you were going to send the whole Krelis Horde to bring your mate to Krelis," I said, exasperated.
He patted the seat next to him, as the shuttle's engines roared to life, and I found myself flopping into the seat without a thought. When had we made it to the shuttle? I had blindly been following until my mind woke with a start at the mention of King Sylve and the danger that posed.
Trent smiled and leaned in close. "That is exactly what I am doing." He paused, a smolder in his golden eyes as he added with a seductive lick of his lips, "My Kansa."
"What does that even mean," I questioned with irritation at how my cheeks turned green with embarassment, despite not fully understanding what he was saying, but the way he said it had my blood heating. I had heard him say it before when we were in the garden, and my legs were wrapped around his head, my cheeks burned at the memory, but I wasn't sure what the nickname meant for a krelin.
"Do you remember when I told you why our horns are called kan?"
I nodded. "It means to sense, and I've felt it, the vibrations of everything around me."
"Yes, and sa in krel means soul. You, Mabel, are felt in my soul." He pressed his horns against my forehead, connecting with my own kan, and I shivered with an indescribable sensation rushing through to the tips of my toes. "My mate. My Kansa."
My eyes widened. Did he call me his mate? I heard it in my head, but he didn't say it. His lips were unmoving as I stared at him. I only wished he had, right? I melted into his touch, and for a moment, I let myself believe I wasn't imagining this whole thing and thought,mine.
"If you'll have me," he said. Had he heard my thoughts?
My lower lip trembled. "You're not running after Luan?" I mean, of course, we had to save her, but that's not what I meant.
"Not directly, no. And not without you."
"Just to be clear, you're—"
"Taking you to Krelis as my mate, while I have warships posted across the sector to search for Luan. If King Sylve has her, a direct approach is not going to help her, we'll have to infiltrate Necias Delta Fal. I was planning on arranging for a meeting with him anyways to incentivize a collaboration for when the trill arrive. All of this takes time to implement and prepare. Meanwhile, I'd like to show you the mating caves of Kai Mountain."
He tucked a bit of my black hair behind my ear, then slid his fingers behind my neck to lift my lips to meet his. He paused with a sliver of air between us, my heart slammed in my chest, a painful longing burning to be completed.
"Do you accept?" he asked, nipping at my lip, before I wrapped my arms around him, and our teeth clashed instead of being romantically entangled in the kiss that I was anticipating. Wrinkling my nose from the sharp knock, I groaned. He chuckled, and I smiled unable to help the happiness swelling within me, but not quite over my embarrassment. Slowly, he lifted my chin back to gently press our lips together, recalibrating, and my whole body hummed.
Between breaths I repeated, "Yes." Then kissed him again.Yes, yes, yes,I thought. I started to reach down his pants, when he stopped my hand. I pulled away in confusion, blinking up at him. I thought he had asked me to be his mate, and he was holding my hand in his, preventing me from touching every part of him now that I knew he was mine.
But did I?
Was he?
"It's okay that you haven't fully accepted me yet, but all of me is yours when you do. I can wait."
