Page 62 of Owned By Two

I couldn’t imagine a warmer welcome from my fated mate.

I beamed ear to ear at the feel of her in my arms as I wrapped myself around her, closing my eyes and squeezing her tight.

I felt the warmth of her, the softness beneath my fingers, the silkiness of her hair on my cheek as I brushed myself against it, and the knowledge that so long as I drew breath, I wouldneveragain allow us to be parted.

She drew back and looked up at me. “How… How did you find me? I never thought we would see each other again!”

I smiled down at her and hooked a finger into a miniature claw and stroked her cheek. “You didn’t think I would just let you go that easily, did you?”

Evidently, she did, but I was glad to see her pleasure at seeing me back in her presence.

She didn’t have to react that way.

There was a dourness in the room — not that those feelings came from either of us— but from the figure slowly approaching from the doorway Lizzy had entered from.

I recognized him as a member of my own species, although his skin was pale and tinted with yellow, which immediately identified him as coming from the Southern Quadrant.

His eyes were intense and shone with obvious intelligence.

He dressed like an office worker from, well, anywhere.

I immediately felt my muscles tense — perhaps in reaction to his own impressive physique that mirrored my own.

I had larger arms than him but he had the superior height and I thought it would be interesting to see which of us would best the other if it came to a Duel…

“Blor,” Lizzy said, motioning toward the other male. “This is Uhti.”

“Uhti,” I said, repeating the name even though it made me want to spit. “It’s an… honor to meet you.”

I didn’t extend my arm in the traditional Elkik greeting, but he did — after a pause.

I looked at it and didn’t want to take it — nor to touch this beast that I had taken a strange instant dislike to.

But I glanced at Lizzy, who wore a warm smile on her lips.

If she wanted me to be kind to this creature… then so be it.

I took Uhti’s arm and we seized each other’s upper forearms tight in the traditional embrace.

We each squeezed hard — harder than necessary.

We were sizing each other up, deciding which was the bigger, stronger male…

We stared at each other and didn’t let up, glaring as if we were about to come to blows, and if Lizzy hadn’t been there, perhaps we would have.

“Uhti worked as the assistant for my father,” she said.

“Your father?” I said, my focus broken.

Uhti took my sudden loss of concentration as a sign he had won our invisible battle but I was too distracted by Lizzy to care.

“But I thought your father was dead?” I blurted.

“He is,” Lizzy said sadly.

“Then I doubt your father needs an assistant now.”

Lizzy blinked rapidly, taken aback by my brusqueness and I immediately regretted my outburst.

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