Tanin already figured that. It was why he was mentally making a place for both females in his head. A future where they both fit. Garnet wasn’t half a person, but she was eternally and inextricably linked to this other person. If he wanted her, he had to have Goldie with him as well.
“I don’t hide behind her anymore,” Garnet continued, giving him a determined grin. “I stand in front of her now. And I always will. This guy isn’t just coming after me. He’s coming after my sister too. He doesn’t see a difference between us. But if he only takes one, I got to tell you, I’m willing to give up myself if it means protecting her.”
Tanin understood what she was saying. She wasn’t just impressing upon him how much she loved Goldie. She was warning him. If it came to it, she absolutely would sacrifice herself for Goldie’s safety.
“Go ahead,” he told her calmly.
She cocked her head curiously. “You’re not going to discourage me?”
“Not at all. She means that much to you, that you’d be willing to trade your life for hers. Do it. If it comes to that. Make that trade. I’ll deal with everything else.”
Her head came back up and she gave him a searching look. “And what if I get the chance to kill him? Am I allowed to take it?”
“Not without my permission.”
“Do I have your permission?”
“Only if you or Goldie are in imminent and immediate danger.”
“What if I do it anyway?”
It was his turn to give her a long, searching look. “You would disobey me?”
Her chin went up. “What if I did?”
“You will not.”
“But if I did?”
He leaned in close, putting his lips to her ear. “Then, I will deal with it. And once I have, you will be punished. And I will re-teach you the rules.”
She was shivering again. Her eyes flashing with desire as he stood straight. Approval filling his gaze as he looked at her.
Yes. The hesitancy had faded. She was open to him. Then-
“Done, captain,” Alred spoke up, interjecting.
Tanin looked back their way as Goldie was sitting up on the side of the scanner bed. “Well? What did you find?”
“Goldie possesses all of her adult teeth, including the set that humans typically have removed. She also has an uncommon but not rare or harmful variation of the arteries branching off her aorta. But I still do not detect a tracker. Garnet, if you would lie down so we could check you?”
She nodded eagerly and the females swapped places. Garnet laid down on the scanner and, to Tanin’s surprise, Goldie came to stand beside him. He gave her a quick look as Alred took Garnet through the same slow scan. Checking every part of her thoroughly.
And, to Tanin’s surprise, he wasn’t quite comfortable with it.
He was reminded, suddenly, that Alred was still a male. More than that, he was a male that had an interest in a female that looked exactly like Garnet. And now, he was getting a look at every part of her, from the skin down. Everything.
No, Tanin did not like that at all.
“So serious.”
His gaze darted only briefly to Goldie who was grinning at him knowingly. He didn’t need to ask for clarification as to what she meant.
“She’s a big softie, you know,” she continued, her voice laced with affection. “She acts tough and like things don’t bother her, but I know they do. Even when she tries to hide it from me. I sometimes go with it, because it makes her feel better to think it makes me feel better.”
Tanin made a sound in his throat. One of amusement with a hint of incredulity. “It seems like a rather long way to go about comforting each other.”
“A little.” Goldie admitted with a shrug. “But that’s just what happens when you love someone. You do anything for them. Even lie. Even pretend to believe a lie. I suppose, someone like you wouldn’t really know anything about that, huh?”
