Page 12 of Crush
While Ollie said good night to the Earther women and waved, maybe a little shyly, at the orcs, Adeline watched indulgently. “He’s taking this so well,” she murmured.
“A testament to your care and upbringing of him,” he said.
She glanced at him. “Thank you for that. Sometimes I’ve had to wonder…”
He waited a moment, then another but she did not go on. “You wonder if the darkness and dangers of space is the right choice.”
She made the Earther laughing sound that was becoming familiar to him, but it was rougher than before, with a jagged edge. “Oh no, I’m very sure leaving Earth was the right thing to do.” She replaced the harsh sound with a wavering breath. “My ex-husband, Ollie’s father, threatened to take him away from me.”
Teq straightened to his full height, half flaring his carapace defensively. “We will not let that happen.”
Adeline looked up at him, her gaze flickering over his shape which must seem so alien to her, but instead of flinching again, this time she smiled, and it was neither hesitant nor sweet but fierce. “Thank you for that too. But for all his riches and connections, Robert wouldn’t have been able to get a spaceship. Also, he’s dead.”
Teq tilted his head. “Did you kill him?”
She clamped her hands over her mouth, and he wasn’t sure what the gesture entailed, but her eyes glinted with what he suspected was more ferocity. “Is it terrible to say that I wish I could say yes?” she mumbled past her fingers.
“No, not terrible. Orcs are very protective of their hatchlings too. Anyone who tried to separate a hatchling from us would find themselves circling a black hole without a ship.”
She let her hand drop. “My ex was…not a good man.”
“But you were his wife-mate?”
“It was expected,” she said with a twist to her soft mouth. “Sort of like you orcs have social and occupational distinctions like crusher or apex or assay, on Earth we have tax brackets. Robert’s family and mine were alike in a way that seemed to make the dating and mating inevitable. He wasn’t any happier than I was, but when eventually I said we should divorce—end our contract—he became very angry.” Her hand fluttered up again, as if defying the gravity of her self-control, her fingers covering her cheek in deflection.
Teq couldn’t keep the snarl from his voice. “He hurt you.”
She straightened her spine in a way that promised a lethal crushing. “He never touched Ollie. At least he never did that. But after Robert hit me… It had to be over. Oliver couldn’t grow up thinking that was okay, not ever.” But then she averted her gaze. “I did everything I could to get away, followed all the rules, just like I always had. But there was really no one to help me, and I felt so alone.”
“You did get away,” he pointed out.
She shook her head. “He made a mistake, and hurt some people, financially this time. And they had the power to do what I couldn’t. He went to prison. It wouldn’t have been for long, but he put his hands on someone else there—and they were not as weak as I was.”
Teq was silent for a long moment. He had been in danger many times but never in a situation where he didn’t have some power over the outcome. “That must have been difficult for you and for Oliver, even if you gained your freedom.”
“Robert’s family wanted to see more of Ollie. I never liked that they encouraged Robert when he got involved in those shady deals, but I thought I should share some time with Oliver since I knew how distraught his parents were, losingtheirson. I couldn’t even imagine that myself.” She shook her head. “But then they threatened to take Oliver away from me, saying I was so wrecked by Robert’s death—emotionally and financially—that I could no longer be a good mother.” She made a noise in her throat even angrier than his. “When I found out about the IDA, I didn’t even care that it sounded impossible, I only wanted to get away.”
Teq gazed down at her. “You may be small and squishy, but you are very strong.”
She was laughing as Ollie rushed back to her. “What’s so funny?” he demanded. “Did Teq tell you a knock-knock joke or something?”
“No joke,” she said. “I’m just laughing because…because life is funny sometimes.”
Finally, she ate her half of the dewdrop. Teq did the same.
And though nowhere in the crusher handbook—not that such a thing existed—did it say he was in charge of anyone’s new life, Teq guided them solicitously through theDeepWanderto their quarters and made sure they knew how everything worked before retreating to the door.
“Should you need anything…”
“We just hit the call button there,” Ollie said, repeating the instructions Teq had provided.
Teq found himself glancing at Adeline again. “Yes, that.” He wanted to say more, and they all had universal translators so anything he said should make sense. And yet somehow, it was all muddled up within him, so he just tilted his head and stepped backward into the empty hall.
Chapter 6
A big hand with too many fingers reached for her, splaying between her breasts. Was it holding her up…or down?
And which did she want it to be?
