“Yes.” N’Ashtar’s face hardened. “He perished during the rescue.”
“Oh, babe…” I wrapped my arms around him and just hugged him tightly. He seemed bemused by the gesture, patting my back in the sort of soothing gesture you used on children or distant acquaintances. “I’m so sorry.”
“Hetta met with a healer in Kohta, who confirmed she was pregnant,” N’Ashtar continued, although he didn’t really seem torn up over the loss of his brother. I added that to the long list of things to investigate later, when I had time to delve into politics.
“Oh.” I blinked. My hand went to my middle, my mind suddenly consumed with thoughts of carrying N’Ashtar’s child. The happiness threatened to sour when I was reminded of his status in the tribe, but I was a diplomat. I would be the good wife of a chief-to-be, if he wanted me.
“You are amazing, my Dana,” N’Ashtar murmured, gently tilting me onto my back, kissing from my mouth to my neck. “You are the strongest of all females, and your bravery is unbeatable.”
Giddiness threatened to strangle me. “I bet you say that to all the ladies.” Inwardly I winced at myself, because really, I didn’t need to brush away compliments like I always had. But it was habit, something that had been expected among women of my social status. Yet things were different here.
At that moment, I understood how Hetta felt, or at least part of it. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss home (although that was debatable), it was that there was a freedom to our continued existence on Thoheria that could not be found anywhere else. That freedom was standing right in front of me and staring at me, perplexed.
“I do not say that to other females,” N’Ashtar said. There was a slight frown on his face. “There are no other females for me, my Dana. Just you.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it, trying to figure out how to say that to N’Ashtar. I was going to have to start thinking in more literal terms if I wanted to be correctly interpreted by my future people.
Fear mixed with apprehension low in my stomach at the thought of claiming the N’Akron as mine. That was what they would be, right, if I got together with the prince of their main tribe? I didn’t have a complete understanding of their social structure, but I knew N’Ashtar’s role was an important one. As a diplomat, I had plenty of experience navigating that sort of thing.
Really, N’Ashtar could have done a lot worse than me.
Then he was kissing me again, stroking a clawed fingertip over one pert nipple through my shirt. I was still wearing my outfit from the ship, and it was starting to wear in certain places now. If I had been anywhere on Earth, I would have worried about it becoming see through, but here? Here, the sand would get anywhere anyway, and someone catching a glimpse of my tits was the last of my worries.
I hated the part of my mind that wouldn’t completely relax, the one that questioned it all. I put my hand over his on my chest, waiting until he met my eyes. “What if this changes everything?” Could we survive that? Could our friendship, the truce between our people, survive the change?
So many questions, so few answers.
15
N’Ashtar
What if this changes everything? my sweet Dana had asked. Did she not yet understand that that was the point?
“Everything already has changed,” I murmured to her, letting my tongue taste the curve of her ear. Everything had changed the moment I met her, the moment our lives had become entwined. “I’ve known since the first time we met, the first time we argued, that you were mine.”
She blinked at me, although I could smell a flash of her arousal. I bit back a groan. Then her cheeks turned a brilliant pink. “You mean it?” Her words were suspicious, although I wasn’t sure why. Did she expect this to be a practical joke? Humans were strange. The N’Akron would never treat something of the ilk like a joke.
“Of course.” I tasted the pale skin of her neck, wondered what she tasted like elsewhere.
Dana’s grin was embarrassed. “If you think a couple cute words are gonna get me to spread my legs, you’ve got another thing coming.”
I did not want to think about what had happened to my Dana to make her so cautious. Instead I wanted to take care of her, hold her close, ensure that no one ever harmed her. “You are strong and brave, and I almost lost you. I cannot let that happen.”
One of her soft human hands stroked across my brow ridges, and when I risked a glance at her face, there was tender concern in her eyes. “You won’t lose me.”
I nuzzled into the skin of her palms, letting my third eyelids close for a brief moment. “You cannot promise that.”
She was quiet after that, because she did know she couldn’t promise. Thoheria was a dangerous world, and now that we were being hunted by the Caterri, things were even more volatile. Dana was not incapable of taking care of herself, but she was only human.
Giving her palms a quick lick, I went for her shirt, gently pulling it over her head and leaving her bare. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was scowling at something, her cheeks that same pink again for whatever reason.
Entranced by her enlarged mammary glands, I could not understand why she sought to hide them. Were they not a fine example of how she could look after young, provide them with much milk until they were weaned? Humans seemed to have many hang-ups that I did
