I follow him down the hall, kind of in love with all the beautiful greenery in the house. It really does make the place seem like a paradise. I think of my small farm, atop a rocky crag covered in flowers, and my puny little homestead house. “You must have been really rich to afford this place,” I comment.
He just grunts. “Land is cheap out here. Why do you think they give it away to humans?”
“Ouch.”
He glances over his shoulder. “I did not mean it like that.”
“I mean, you have a point. No one on this end of the universe seems to like humans much. I’ve definitely learned that the hard way.”
The big alien pauses at the doorway and looks over at me. “No one will ever threaten you again, Kim. This I promise you.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He nods and then opens the door to the bedroom and I am…not prepared for the size of the bed in there. It’s literally bigger than my bedroom in my last apartment, just an enormous platform with pillows tossed all over it and a raised, cushiony side to prevent you from rolling out. It’s like…an enormous bowl you’re meant to sleep in, and now I can see that a praxiian family could fit in there. There’s room for at least seven big adults.
And there’s plenty of room for me and Nassakth both. Does that mean I’m going to invite him to stay?
No, no it does not. He offered to sleep in the hall and I am going to take him up on it, because I am not letting an alien push me around again. “Nice place,” I comment, moving forward to touch the leaf of a pale green, spiky plant in the corner. Other than the bed and a gigantic window on one side of the room, there’s not a lot here. It’s literally just for sleeping. There’s two doors along the far wall, probably closets.
“The private bathing room is here,” Nassakth says, moving to a door that I thought was a second closet.
He opens the door and I gasp in surprise—and delight—at the sight of the bathroom. It looks like something from a Turkish palace, with a huge, sunken tub as big as a kiddie pool, more greenery, and a trickling fountain set into the wall. “Holy crap, this is lovely.”
“Praxiians are fond of bathing pools. I spared no expense.”
They are? In a way, I suppose it makes sense. Tigers like swimming, don’t they? I think of my own crappy little cleanser box, which uses sonic beams to clean my skin. It’s nice enough, but it’s nothing like this little indoor paradise. “Are you sure you want to hand all this over to me?” I ask him, uncertain. “I don’t want to displace you.”
His eyes light up. “You wish to share?”
“No, I didn’t say that — I mean, I can go back to my farm.”
Nassakth shakes his head. “No, Kim. You are mine now. I am going to keep you.”
“Platonically,” I tell him, even as I blush.
He chuckles. “Yes. Platonically.” He gestures at the large room. “Please make yourself at home. We can go to your farm tomorrow and pick up some of your things, and set up perimeter droids to keep things safe.”
“That sounds good.” I know it’s still early in the day, but I’m utterly exhausted. I need to sit down and process everything that’s happened to me so far and a nap sounds like just the ticket.
The big alien nods at me. “There is food in the kitchen. Help yourself.” He pauses, gazing down at me, as if he wants to say more. He doesn’t, though. He just nods one more time, turns on his heel, and walks down the hall.
I’m alone in a stranger’s house.
I shut the door behind me and fasten the locking mechanisms, even though I know they’re probably coded to his prints and won’t stop a thing. It makes me feel better. More secure. I eye the enormous bed and take my shoes off, then climb in.
It’s…weird. I crawl forward, not sure if I should sleep in the middle of the bed like a pepperoni in the center of a pizza, or if I should move to one of the sides? I lie flat on my back, and then flop around a few times, trying to get comfortable. I roll into a divot, and suddenly it smells a bit masculine and earthy, and I realize this must be where the praxiian sleeps.
Nassakth, I remind myself.
Even though it’s been less than a day, I need to think of him as a person. As a friend. As someone to trust.
The thought’s a little terrifying. It’s been so long since I’ve trusted anyone.
So far, though, Nassakth has been more than fair. He’s been nice. Courteous. I remember him opening my door. I remember him quietly correcting the clerk who married us when the man didn’t see the point of our mating. He gave me half his property.
He stayed in stun-cuffs all night when he could have snapped them and wrung my neck.
And he never touched me, even when out of his head with the noli.
I rub my hand, thinking about how he licked at my palm as if his life depended on it. As if, well, it were other parts of my anatomy and he was trying desperately to make me come.
I squeeze my thighs tightly together at that thought.
18
NASSAKTH
There is no pleasure quite like the knowledge that one’s mate is sleeping in one’s bed. It does not matter to me that she isn’t ready to share it just yet. She knows my intentions. She knows I plan on keeping her.
And she said she would like a baby.
I would like nothing more than to give her one.
I rake my hand over my face, messing fur tufts, and try to clear my head of the thought of Kim underneath me, looking up at me with anticipation. That is a dream right now, and until she learns to trust me, it will remain a dream.
So…I must make her feel safe and secure in this new life we are starting together. I want to learn about her, to decipher her past so I can determine the best way for us to move forward. It is clear she has experienced bad things that have made her wary despite her generally innocent, trusting nature. I decide I must be honest with her at all times, and show her that I am not to fear.
The brutal Nassakth, Arena Scourge of Askorthi Prime, is not the same Nassakth that she married. I am different now. I am retired. I have no desire to rip anyone’s throat out…unless they threaten my mate. But she does not need to see that side of me. I will show her kind, wealthy Nassakth who merely wishes a pretty human companion to spend his days with…and to spend his nights impregnating.
The thought makes me sweat. Perhaps I have not worked all of the noli out of my system yet, because I need a few moments to calm down. I move to the window and gaze out at the fields, at the rolling land and the large trees I had imported from a distant world and transplanted here because Risda III does not have many forests. I have done much to make this quiet place my home, and I have wanted for nothing, desired nothing beyond what I have…until I saw her.
Now I must win her.
Winning Kim’s heart is not like winning an arena battle. Violence and brute force will not help my cause. Cunning, though…I can be cunning.
I must show her what a good mate I can be.
Rubbing my hands, I race to the kitchen to see what I can cook my pretty mate for an evening meal. Fresh meat, I decide, with veg from the gardens. A nice Kessian wine.
I will be charming and smooth and I will brush my tail for her again…and she will be unable to resist.