Page 108 of Invasive Species
“You sound unsure about that.” I lay my hand flat on his chest, feeling the pounding heartbeats just under the surface. Strong and sure. “Can’t you feel it?”
He nods, eyes tracking mine. A slight flicker of uncertainty peeks out at me. Gara, being vulnerable.
“Why don’t you believe it?”
“We can’t measure it on any of the sensors?—”
I hold up my hand, then tap his chest. “This is all the sensor or scanner or read out or whatever you or I need. We’ll feel our way through this chaos, okay? Together.”
His face clears. “Very well. Together.”
The warm bubble expands, and I grin at him. “Jizz that heals is fucking incredible, pun intended.” My mind zips ten steps forward, as always. “Can it fix… everything?”
Gara’s super perception picks up on my tone immediately. “What do you refer to?”
“My ADHD. Maybe it’ll be, like, super permanent ritalin or something, and I can be normal.”
His arms tighten around me. “Your mind makes you who you are.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’d be great to be able to function,” I press. “People take medicine to help, you know.”
“Do you?” He tilts his head. “I’m not reading any so far, and I can’t smell anything.”
“I don’t, no. I forget to.” I close my stinging eyes, battling back tears. Even though I try to stay upbeat, it's hard walking through life being different. “It’d be nice to be normal sometimes. You know. Get stuff done by myself.”
He strokes my cheek. “Arra-bellah, I hope I’ve helped you organize your ideas and plans for the barn. I’d be honored to help you all the days of our lives, in any way you need. If you feel you need support, whatever that may be, I’m here, and I’ll work tirelessly with you to discover what works best for you. But please don’t think you need curing, Arra-bellah.”
Each word is a salve repairing the little cracks and digs I’d endured all throughout my life. He loves and accepts me, my weaknesses as well as my strengths, ADHD and all.
I relax against him, tiredness trickling up my limbs. Although I'd slept for what felt like weeks, a marathon sex session is still grueling and definitely warrants a snack and a nap.
My eyes slide closed, cheek pressing to the rush and release of his breath and two sets of beating hearts in a lulling rhythm.
Until a purple alien thumps onto the balcony next to us.
THIRTY-FOUR
GARA
Grabbing Arra-bellah,I spin us around so my body shields her and ease her down on the cushioned moss. A growl rips from me at the intrusion while we're so vulnerable, but it’s cut off when the Parthiastock wraps his fist around my throat.
“Selthiastock, designation G43RA, you were sentenced to exile,” he says slowly, as my windpipe slowly crushes in his grasp. “For returning, you’re now sentenced to euthanization, effective immediately.”
No! I claw at his immovable hand. If I’m killed while I'm inside her, my knotting juice won't heal Arra-bellah but be back to hurting her, her immune system correctly identifying me as alien and attacking. She'll die.
My little firecracker underneath me lets out a blood-curdling yell, slashing her fingers at the Parthiastock. The iron scent of blood fills the air as her nails tear on his diamond hard scales, and his eyes widen at the female attacking him.
He lets go immediately, backing away, and I suck in several life-giving breaths, my nanites leaping into action to ease my aching neck muscles.
The door slides open to more Parthiastocks, and I cover Arra-bellah's nudity with my own body. I need to protect and defend her, but, as I just learned, I defeat diseases, not law keepers.
By finishing the knot, then the flickering mate bond between us will solidify. I can feel it, a spark in my chest, a pulse between each of my heartbeats. Her pulse. I’d never dreamed of such a thing existing, and now it does, I want to protect it with everything I am, but if—when—I die, she’ll feel it.
I have to decide. Let the mate bond form and allow the knotting to finish and cure her, or have them kill me now to spare her the pain.
I choose.
“I have to finish this, or she dies,” I tell them loudly in Olorian. “Euthanize me once the knot releases.” And in the meanwhile, I’ll do everything I can to resist forming a bond with her.
