“We know it,” Gaze said quietly. He swiped at his own eyes as well. “Come, Brother,” he told Bound. “We must not detain our Lady any further. She needs to go home and so do we—GrandSire will be wondering where we’ve been and why we never delivered our latest shipment.”
Bound didn’t answer, but he did follow his brother as Gaze left the ship. As the two of them disembarked, he threw a look over his shoulder that made Lexi’s tears start up all over again. There was so much hurt in that look—so much love and longing that it pierced her heart and for a moment she almost shouted, “Wait—come back!”
But then the moment passed. The ramp of her own ship lifted, sealing the hull again and she watched as the two big Kindred walked over to their own vessel. After inspecting it thoroughly, they went inside and the engines roared to life. The sleek silver ship rose smoothly into the air, hovered for a moment, and then shot out into space.
Lexi swiped at her eyes again as she watched it go. Gaze and Bound were gone and now she had to get back to her old life.
THIRTY-TWO
“We never shoulda let her go,” Bound growled, glaring at the viewscreen, at the spot where Alexa’s ship had been moments before. “When in the Seven Hells are we ever gonna find a female like her again? We shoulda’ took the chance while we had it.”
“What chance?” Gaze demanded in exasperation. “You heard her, Bound—she didn’t want us. We couldn’t make her bond with us.”
“Well, we shoulda’ tried harder to persuade her,” the Dark Twin said stubbornly. “We three belong together—I know it! We shouldn’ta let her go so easy.”
Gaze shook his head.
“In the end, it had to be her choice,” he said sadly. “You said yourself that if the Goddess willed for the three of us to be together, nothing could stand in our way.” He shrugged. “I guess it just…wasn’t her will.”
“I don’t believe that—I’ll never believe that,” Bound insisted. “Angel was the one female she had for us and we just flew away from her. We’re damn fools, Gaze, and that’s all there is to it.”
Gaze didn’t answer. He didn’t feel foolish, but he was heartbroken. He had been hoping, right up until the end, that Alexa would change her mind and decide that the three of them should stay together. But the fact that she had been willing to watch them walk out of her life proved it wasn’t so.
Alexa was gone and she wasn’t coming back.
THIRTY-THREE
“Grettah, I’m here! I’m back!”
Lexi was so excited to be back in her bakery that she didn’t even change clothes first. She ran right into the little low building filled with the scent of baking bread and rising yeast wearing the elaborate Yonnie Six outfit she’d worn to meet the Sacred Seven.
She inhaled the familiar, comforting smells and looked at the familiar surroundings—the long table where they mixed the dough and the proofing racks and the ovens where everything was baked—and waited to feel the warm, subtle joy she always felt when she came into the bakery each morning.
But the feeling didn’t come—or when it did, it was muted. Yes, she was happy to be back—she’d missed her bakery terribly. Many nights, lying alone in the vast bed in the huge, richly decorated penthouse she’d longed for the rustic simplicity she had left behind.
However, for the last few nights, she hadn’t been alone. Closing her eyes, she remembered the feeling of four long, muscular arms encircling her and the feeling of big, male bodies against her own.
No, stop that! You have to stop, she told herself sternly. You made your choice, now live with it!
Lifting her chin determinedly, she went to find her assistant, Grettah, who had been running the bakery for her while she was dealing with her inheritance on Yonnie Six. She knew that Grettah would be glad to see her—she’d probably been terribly busy during the past six months, trying to do everything herself.
But Lexi didn’t find her assistant until she came out into the sales floor of the bakery. Grettah was standing behind the counter, ringing up a purchase. There was a line of customers and a woman who looked to be around Grettah’s age or a bit younger standing right beside her, fetching what each customer ordered so that she could ring it up.
Lexi stopped short, surprised to see both the line of customers and the new assistant. They were usually never this busy on a mid-week day! And what was that new spice she detected in the air? Something sweet and exotic—where was it coming from?
“Grettah?” she asked, stepping into the room. Immediately all eyes were on her.
Grettah turned her head at the sound of her name and then did a double take when she saw Lexi.
“Boss?” she gasped. “Are you home then? And whatever are you wearing?”
Too late, Lexi realized that the faintly glowing blue dress that had been so modest by Yonnie Six standards was both bizarre and terribly immodest for her own home planet. Why, every one of her customers could see her panties! What had she been thinking?
You weren’t thinking—you were just so excited to get home you rushed right in like a Gorzian bull in a fragile artwork shop! snapped the little voice in her head.
“Er, yes I’m back. I’ll wait until you’re finished.” Lexi gave an awkward little wave and ducked back into the work area. After a few more minutes, Grettah came back to meet her with the other woman in tow.
“It’s good to have you back, Boss,” she said to Lexi. “Er, you must have come straight from Yonnie Six, eh?”
“Yes, I did.” Lexi cleared her throat. “And who might this be?” she asked, nodding to the new assistant.
“Oh, this is Clemmie. I hope you don’t mind—I took her on part time because things were getting so hectic around here with just me,” Grettah explained. “Clemmie, do me a favor and go straighten the shelves,” she added, giving the new woman a meaningful look.
The assistant gave Lexi and her glowing, immodest dress a wide-eyed once over and then nodded and scuttled back to the front of the shop.
“Are you back for good then?” Grettah asked Lexi. “Got everything straightened out about your Great Aunt’s estate?”
“I finally did, yes.” Lexi nodded. She had called the Estate Agent on the way home and instructed her to put Trindall Tower on the market and send the proceeds to her charity on the main moon of Zetta Prime. She had no intention of staying there now and, in fact, no intention of ever going back to Yonnie Six again.
“Well, good!” Grettah said heartily, but Lexi thought her smile looked rather forced.
“Er, I know I look kind of strange,” she said awkwardly, nodding down at her outfit. “This is how you have to dress on Yonnie Six if you want anyone to take you seriously.”
“Oh, right—of course.” Grettah nodded, still looking uncomfortable.
Lexi frowned. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing, only I hope you won’t mind if we keep Clemmie on, even now that you’re back,” Grettah blurted. “She’s got a natural knack for the work—it’s her sim’bal spice buns the customers have been coming for, at all hours of the day! And besides, we’re kind of…seeing each other,” she added in a low voice.