Tears filled her eyes. Kelsey didn’t even bother to blink them back. She was overwhelmed. Earth had screwed her over, but Crath was giving her a way to not only ensure her government paid for its crimes, but also save countless women from suffering her fate. Or worse. At least she’d been rescued from the Cristos.
“Yes. Let’s do that. Please.”
He smiled. “We will start tomorrow by contacting my direct supervisors and demand a meeting of all planet leaders in the alliance. You can tell them what you endured, and I will convince them of the threat of war. All of them hate and fear the Cristos. We will do this, my Kelsey.”
In that moment, Kelsey knew she’d already fallen in love with him. How could she not?
“I love you,” she whispered.
Crath suddenly lunged and took her flat to the bed, his mouth on hers. She parted her lips to deepen his kiss, eager and hungry for it. Kelsey tore at his shirt, wanting skin. He growled, tearing at her clothing too.
Loud chimes sounded. Kelsey barely heard them. All she wanted was to have Crath inside her.
A sudden screeching noise had them jerking apart and covering their ears. It was loud enough to hurt. Gasping for air and confused, Kelsey didn’t know what was happening.
The noise stopped and another chime sounded.
“I am going to hurt whoever is doing this,” Crath snarled, rolling away from her and off the bed.
“What’s going on? Are we under attack? Did the Cristos find us?”
“No. Wrong alarm. That is my family.” Crath stalked to the communications device he’d used earlier to speak to Nara and turned it on. “What is so important? I was bonding with my Kelsey. She just admitted to loving me. We are not joining you for the meal. Leave us alone,” he snarled.
Kelsey was relieved that they weren’t under attack. She climbed off the bed.
“Open a vid screen now. We just received a recorded message from Marrow but we can’t make sense of it,” a deep male voice snarled back. “The transmission was untraceable. Cavas thinks it is coded, that it may be something you taught her.”
Kelsey rushed to Crath. Marrow was the one who’d gone after Nexis. She watched as he reached up and tapped the wall. Small doors opened to show a screen that instantly displayed the face of a feline-looking male.
“Show it to me, Cathian,” Crath ordered.
Cathian’s face blinked out and an alien woman with thin brown fur covering her skin appeared instead. Some of her lower face didn’t show since she was too close to the camera. When she spoke, it was a whisper. “Remember Karwo? It is similar. I realized it before it was too late. I’m on this until the end.”
The woman’s face blinked out to utter black.
A second later, Cathian’s face reappeared. “Tell me you understand that, Crath. Too late for what?”
“I do. It’s a mission I shared details about with Marrow. I was sent to Delplutis to search for a kidnapper. The criminal had kidnapped the four young males in line for the Paxell throne. I found Karwo, and when I saw a chance to steal the young from him, I did so—but the males began to howl in despair when I promised to return them to their home planet.”
Crath cleared his throat. “The Paxell king didn’t want to step aside after they matured. Knowing the strongest would take his place, he’d tried to murder them instead. Karwo was actually their protector, and he had taken them away to survive long enough to return to their planet as adults.”
“That’s terrible,” Kelsey muttered. “How old were these kids?”
Crath glanced at her. “Eight. The king would have been pressured into breeding more males after a time, if the first heirs were never found. Paxell mature at twenty. He planned to give himself more time to rule his race. I returned the males to their protector and helped Karwo find a safe place to raise them.”
“Marrow isn’t dealing with kidnapped young. She went after a Titan female who had been sold to a Parri slaver.” Cathian looked angry. “Why would she send that message? What does it mean? She was supposed to go onto that ship, subdue the slaver, and return to us with that female.”
Crath seemed lost in his thoughts.
“Best guess,” Kelsey whispered. “What do you think her message means?”
Crath held her gaze. “I went into that mission with facts that didn’t turn out to be true. The situation was something else entirely. I told her I stayed with Karwo and the young males until I was certain they were safe.” He looked at Cathian. “To the end is the code I gave to my supervisor when forced to drop out of contact. When I was in danger and could not risk being tracked. Marrow won’t be contacting us again until whoever she is protecting is safe.”
Cathian backed away from the camera and glared at someone out of sight. “Keep trying to track where that signal came from. We need to find her. She needs our help.” The screen blanked.
Crath pulled Kelsey into his arms. “This is worrisome, but Marrow will keep your friend safe, no matter what is happening.”
She nodded. “That’s what you keep saying.”
“It is true.” He studied her eyes. “You said words of love for me.”
“I did.”
“You have my heart, my Kelsey. It is yours. I am going to convince you to become my life-lock.” He paused. “My wife.”
“Yes.”
“You have learned that I am a male who won’t accept failure. You will agree one day.”
“I mean…yes. I agree. I’ll marry you. Life-lock you. Whatever we call it.”
Surprise widened his beautiful blue eyes almost comically.
She laughed. “I’ve fallen in love with you. You’re sexy, funny, smart, partly annoying…but you make up for it in other ways. I can’t imagine life without you in it anymore. So yes.”
It was his turn to surprise her when he scooped her up in his arms and quickly walked toward the door, exiting their cabin. Kelsey wrapped her arms around his neck. “Where are we going? Dinner?”
“Medical. I’m not chancing you changing your mind. It will be a painless procedure that will bond us. You’ll carry my scent so all males know we belong together.”
“I remember you mentioning that. I’m okay with it.”
“After, I will secure us inside our cabin, strip you bare and feed from you. I know what a honeymoon is. Pleasure will be yours for days. It will give everyone on The Vorge time to plan our marriage ceremony to appease your Earth customs.”
She laughed, resting her head against his shoulder as he carried her down the corridor to the lift. “I don’t want a wedding. You’re all I need. You can put me down, though. I’m not going to run away.”
“I like having you in my arms.” He had to stop to wait for the lift. His gaze locked with hers. “I will make you happy.”
“You already do.”
The lift doors opened and he stepped inside, smiling. Kelsey was too. She might not have chosen to have her life turned upside down, but she was suddenly glad it had. She’d never have met Crath otherwise…or known what happiness awaited her far out in space.
A grin split her face as Crath hurried his pace after they exited the lift. He was almost running with her in his arms toward medical. It amused her that he wanted to claim her fast, alien style, before she could change her mind. Not that she was going to.