Sasha’s lips on his were like magic. She was silk in his hands and her kiss restored him just like that sweet rain from years ago.
“Shaa kouvi…” she whispered. He kissed her again, the heat between them rising. His hands gripped her firmly and she squirmed in his hold. Whelon had to fight a moment of arousal so strong his vision wavered for a few moments.
“What brings you here?” he asked in wonder.
“I knew you would be here.” She shrugged and put a hand over her heart, the other resting over his. “I just knew.”
Whelon shook his head. Her sweet smile and warm blue eyes were the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his lifetime. He was so touched by her presence that he truly had no words.
“Let’s get to work.” She winked as she cocked her head toward the examination room. He grinned and nodded. He had come to Farthing Street for a reason and he could not enjoy his mate while these humans suffered.
For the first few hours they were so busy they could barely spare a moment to speak to on another. Sasha impressed him with her efficient manner and by always putting the patient first. At moments, he felt he must argue—when an overbearing family member tried to refuse treatment or when someone argued about a certain medicine.
His Sasha did not argue. She smiled, put a hand on their arm and agreed with them. Then, within five minutes of conversation, she turned them around until they agreed with her. Then they happily accepted treatment.
“How do you do that?” Whelon questioned in amazement. “It is like you have a touch of magic.”
She had just convinced a very rough and dangerous man to have his finger amputated. He had almost lost it in a factory accident and the infection was slowly killing him. He had gone from trying to attack Whelon to quietly accepting the laser knife and stitches.
Sasha shrugged as she laid out fresh sterile covers for the portable ryaapir unit, preparing it for the next patient. “It’s part of what made me a celebrity,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I was always good at influencing people. It’s what made me a better newscaster than actress. I do okay with acting, but my strength has always been opinion pieces.” She shrugged again. “Mother’s always exploited it as best she can.”
Whelon bit down hard on his tongue. He had nothing good to say about the woman who birthed Sasha, so he chose to stay silent.
“I’ve always loved being on TV,” Sasha continued wistfully. “But I don’t want to just sit there and put panic into people. If my face and voice are going to be known, I also want to be trustworthy. Then I can really change things and do some good.”
Whelon nodded slowly as he prepared some syringes. He had never truly thought about the power of celebrity in the past, but it made sense to him now. Sasha was so alluring that with only her eyes and voice, she could convince people of just about anything.
The Preor need her, he realized. The Preor need her to report that she is safe and happy with us. People do trust her. It is the only way to repair the damage done by her mother.
“Sasha,” he murmured gently, moving over to stroke her midnight hair. “Won’t you come and visit the ship or the tower? I would love for you to meet the other human-Preor mates. I think you would have a lot to talk about.”
“I’d like to,” she agreed hesitantly.
“Then come with me now. We can leave Kyrin in charge of medical and Radoo responsible for food and keeping the peace for a couple of hours.” He was desperate to get her alone, and even more frantic that she should come with him to see his world. He truly believed that once he showed her everything, she would never want to return.
“I don’t know…”
“How about an inside scoop?” The words were unfamiliar to him, the Knowing giving him human words to help her agree, but he had a vague idea of what they meant. “Interview the other mates. Imagine that footage for your show!”
Her eyes brightened and he knew he had her.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But just a few hours.”
“Great!” He practically bounced over to her, wrapping her in his arms and wings. She laughed and reached up to stroke one of his wing lines, sending a bolt of pleasure ricocheting through his body.
“Careful,” he murmured and she winked playfully.
They headed out the front of the building to one of the shuttles parked in the cul-de-sac. For a few moments, as he helped Sasha stride up the plank to the shuttle, Whelon’s world was perfect.
As Sasha entered the short flight, he heard a commotion behind him. Some instinct kept him moving and he jumped into the shuttle, slamming his palm against the controls to seal the hatch in his wake.
Yet he wasn’t fast enough. He spied a crowd of media crew charging them with cameras at the ready. Over the commotion, he heard Sasha’s mother screaming.
“Stop them! They’re stealing my daughter!”
Chapter Nineteen
As the shuttle rumbled and shook during takeoff, Sasha peered out one of the viewports and spied a crowd of people gathering below. She assumed it was merely the local residents gathered to watch the shuttle depart and didn’t think much of the small crowd around where they’d launched.
Her attention was immediately snared by the contours of the clouds and the definition of the sky. She had flown in planes before, but never this high above main cloud cover. She shivered with excitement to see the tops of the clouds and Whelon reached over to take her hand.
She turned to him, a smile pulling at her lips and the rightness of the moment flowing through her in a gentle wave. To be here, with this male—it was where she belonged. In
