Page 15 of Chieftain
Bronze brows drew together, but there was amusement sparkling in his eyes. “How old are you?”
He obviously didn't get the Earth lesson on etiquette regarding asking a woman’s age. “I’m sixty Earth years old,” I admitted begrudgingly.
A rolling rumble escaped his lips, causing the muscles underneath my fingertips to tremble. Khaion was laughing. The deep, rich sound rolled over my body, causing all sorts of delicious tingles.
"That is not so old," he said after a moment. "I have seen one hundred and eighty-two of what your species calls a year.”
“Remind me to get your skincare routine." I quipped, aggravated at his amusement. "If looking younger is why we can’t return to Earth, we can pretend to have plastic surgery or claim to be related to the Kardashians.”
“Kar-dash-ee-an?" Khaion pronounced slowly, looking utterly adorable in the process. My hand remained in the center of his chest. I resisted the urge to cuddle closer, knowing my southern grandmother would fly down from heaven and slap me for being too forward.
“The Garoot Healer does more than affect how you look.” Khaion’s face twisted as though the words lay bitter on his tongue. “It prolongs your life span and makes you more adaptable to living in space. There are other alterations with women, such as the ability to breed with other species.”
The image in my head caused bile to rise in my throat. “Please stop. The idea of popping out a hairless four-boob cat-baby makes me nauseous.”
A fierce determination flashed across Khaion’s face. "The Trogvyk will never touch you again.” I couldn't tear my gaze from his golden eyes. They shimmered in a sea of cobalt, fierce and protective. How Khaion looked at me sparked a fire in my stomach, turning my blood into lava. Nobody had ever looked at me this way—like I was something extraordinary and precious to cherish and protect. Rick never looked at me this way, not in our entire twenty-nine years of marriage.
“If we can’t go home, where will we go?” I whispered. The words seemed to echo within the small pod with mocking torment.
“There is a human settlement on Tau Ceti where your kind has been rehomed for the last one hundred years. It is safe there.”
"Hundred years? You mean to tell me aliens have been kidnapping people from Earth for over a hundred years?"
“Humans are considered a great prize in the galaxy.” Khaion's smile was heavy. "Historically, what kept humans safe was that it took many light years of travel to reach your galaxy. A century ago, an explosion in the Reinaald nebula created a wormhole behind your dwarf planet, linking your galaxy with others, which made travel to Earth easier.”
"A wormhole behind Pluto," I murmured. The only things I knew about wormholes, star systems, and space, generally, came from that high school science class… and Star Wars.
Khaion’s hand rested on my shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze. “In the Planetary Alliance, putting a human through the Garoot Healer is illegal. A crime punishable by death. Still, it is done to raise your value as a slave. If we manage to stop the slavers during abductions before any alteration can be made to your body, humans are returned to Earth with their memory wiped, so the incident seems nothing more than a bad dream. Once you are altered by the healer, it is deemed hazardous to others on your planet. It is against Alliance regulations to return a human that has been altered to Earth."
“So that's it. I'll never return to Earth again?” The words came out harshly. When the cat-woman told me it was impossible to go home, I thought she was lying. The exact words coming from Khaion were sobering. So much for theget the hell back homepart of the plan. Now it was finding my friends—that's all that mattered. If we were together, we could deal with whatever this alien world threw at us. I had to find them.
“I am sorry tiny human.”
Khaion’s soft voice preceded an ever-so-gentle caress of his fingertip on my jawline. The touch said everything his voice didn’t.I am here. I will help you. Trust me.
Trust.
How fucked up is that the first man I think I can trust isn't even human. I could trust my sons, but they were light-years away.
Dammit!
Why hadn't I insisted they visit over the Easter holiday? The last time they were in my house at the same time was Christmas. I would never again see the boyish grins or hear thewordMomsaid in exasperation when I nagged about something inane. I'd never see them rolling around my floor, wrestling and laughing. I wouldn't be there for weddings. I wouldn’t be there for grandchildren.
I wouldn’t be there!
The sobs came out of nowhere, sounds of rage and grief shaking my body. Beside me, Khaion tensed, then massive arms pulled me close, and a large hand gently pressed my head to his chest.
"It will be all right tiny human. I am here. I will protect you and help you find your friends. You will be safe with me.”
Deep in my soul, I knew those were the truest words ever spoken to me.
Chapter 6
Khaion
It felt right.
Not the hot, salty wetness flowing down her cheeks. I didn't like that. I knew they were called tears, a way the humans—especially human women—expressed strong emotion. I wished never to see tears on her beautiful face again.
