“We wouldn’t be bonded.”
My heart pounded. “If we weren’t, would you not want to be with me anymore?”
“No,” he growled. “I will always want to be with you.”
I trailed my thumb across his cheekbone, then down his straight nose, finding his full lips. “Then we run away. I have no idea what we’ll do for money, but we’ll figure it out.”
He waved off my concern. “My father can’t disown or cut me off, even if he wants to. We’d have to live on my allowance and what little money I have, but we’d be fine. I even have a house on the planet Tatq. It’s on the beach and quite beautiful.”
“Sounds lovely,” I remarked. Rich people were really something else.
“I’ll still call you husband.”
“I’ll still call you babe, as long as you don’t mind.”
“I like it.”
I moved to kiss him. Maybe he could chase away my headache in another way, but Kal said something to kill the mood.
“If my father doesn’t reaffirm our mating, we won’t be able to have kids.”
“Kids?” I squeaked. I’d never thought about having kids in the future. NAID had told me not long after I’d been abducted that Kal and I could have children if we wanted.
“Yes. Children. Do you not want children?”
“I don’t know.” After my crappy childhood with my grandparents, I never wanted to do the same thing to a child. It was an easy promise to keep if I never had any kids. “Do you?”
“I do.”
I snuggled closer because I needed physical reassurance from him. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“I will always choose you, my Seth.”
His words didn’t make me feel better; instead, they sent a wave of guilt crashing over me. Kal shouldn’t have to sacrifice his dream for me. Kids were often a deal breaker for relationships, but our relationship wasn’t typical. We’d basically gotten married without talking, and we were soulmates.
“I need time to think about it,” I said. “My childhood was less than ideal.”
“There’s no rush. You can have whatever time you need, and if you don’t want children, it’s fine. I promise. You are the only thing in the universe I can’t live without.”
Chapter 44
Making a request.
I clutched my touchstone, weaving through the crowd of the marketplace to meet Wyn for lunch. Urgg was busy today, leaving the two of us alone, which was kind of perfect. NAID had spoken to Dr. Qinlin about Wyn joining NAID’s independence project. The doctor hadn’t been opposed. She’d merely said Wyn was adequate, and a recommendation from me would guarantee his invitation.
So it was up to Wyn. If he wanted me to, I would offer my recommendation, and if he didn’t, I would let it go. I loved the idea of him staying on Kal’s, and soon to be my, planet.Living in a new place was overwhelming enough, and I imagined relocating to a new planet was a thousand times worse. Having someone familiar besides Kal and NAID would be nice.
I lowered onto the stool next to Wyn in his favorite restaurant. It sold a variety of noodle soups that reminded me of ramen, but the noodle texture was closer to hair. The noodlescouldbe hair for all I knew, but I didn’t dare ask.
“Seth,” Wyn said, gripping my wrist with his tail in greeting. “I already ordered. I didn’t think you’d mind. I got you the same thing you always get.”
I liked predictable things. I rarely ordered something new once I found a food or drink I enjoyed. “Thanks. How’s the phase variance?”
His tail thrashed. “It’s floating around the ship, which makes no sense. It shouldn’t be able to travel from system to system, but it does. I’m beginning to believe there might be something else at work.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure, but I have sent multiple reports to my superior. It could be because the ship is unfinished and there’s a system-wide coding error. When we dock on Tailyn, the space station orbiting Tamkolvanloknol, it will have to be purged.”
