I tried not to. A humorless chuckle rumbles through my chest. Gods know, I tried. Even when she accepted I could never love her and agreed to go to Pamia. My heart was trying to tell me what astupid motherfuckerI was. And still I didn’t listen.
It took coming here and knowing I would leave without her. It took her giving me her body and her heart for me to realize what I was losing. That I can’t walk away from her.
Caging her in my arms, I press my nose into her hair and inhale, dragging her scent so deep into my lungs that it can never escape. In the morning, I’ll fuck her again, and again and again. However many times it takes until we’re both sated, and then I’ll take her back to the shuttle, and we’ll find theShade.
Stroking her hair back from where it’s fallen across her face, my heart clenches at the sight of her. Her cheeks are rosy, and my scent clings to her skin, making my cock twitch to be inside her again. I consider waking her, but instead I roll to the side and ease myself out from under her.
Annah’s brow furrows, and she rolls to her side, curling herself into the warm spot I vacated without waking. My lips twitch at the thought she would seek my warmth, my scent, even in her sleep.
My Annah. My little mate.
Sliding from the bed, I leave her only long enough to use the eliminator. When I return, I slide the covers out from under her before easing into the bed, tucking her back against my chest and pulling the blanket over us. As her warmth seeps into my bones, I sigh with contentment.
Three soft knocks sound on the door.
My eyes snap open, and I strain my ears in the silence that follows. Had I heard something? Or was my mind playing tricks?
Several seconds tick by, and the light knocking comes again.
Beside me, Annah sleeps on as I disentangle myself from her. After tucking the blanket around her so she doesn't get cold, I pull on my pants and head for the door.
Angling my body to block the view into the room, I ease the door open a crack to find a hooded figure standing in the hallway. The figure has a heavy cloak draped across its shoulders and fastened closed, with a deep cowl pulled low, obscuring its face.
"Is it just you?" I ask, glancing into the hall but not seeing anyone.
"Yes,” the stranger says. "Did you get my card?"
Sliding my hand into my back pocket, I pull out the room card and hold it up, trapped between my first and middle finger. I wasn’t sure what to think of the directions scrawled across the back. But now they are starting to make a little more sense.
“What does your message mean?”
“We have a screening and were notified when your…partnertriggered the message." The stranger shifts, trying to see around me. “May I speak with her?"
"No." Folding my arms across my chest, my tail snaps back and forth.
The stranger huffs but doesn't seem surprised to be refused. Nor put off by my posturing. "Then follow the instructions on the card and bring her with you."
"Why should I do that?"
"I came by earlier, but you were—uh—busy." The stranger shifts from foot to foot before taking a step closer. Its hooded head turns to look down the hallway then focuses on me before dropping its voice. "She must mean something to you. There’s only one reason a human arrives on Pamia, and that's for safety."
"How did you know—" I snap my mouth shut before I say more. Leveling a severe look at the stranger, I ask, "Why should we trust you?"
The stranger looks down the hall again and then looks up, just enough to show me a flash of familiar eyes in a familiar face. "Follow the instructions on the card,” the stranger says as it backs away from the door. "And bring her with you."
It turns on its heel and vanishes around a corner.
Long after the stranger has gone, I lean in the doorway of our room. My heart is pounding in my chest, and my guts are roiling, because everything has changed. Everything and yet nothing.
Annah does not know I changed my mind about leaving her on Pamia, and now she won’t. I was being foolish when I thought I could keep her. That we could have a life. I was being selfish, thinking she might be better off with me.
So I will let her go because it’s what is best for her.
20
Anna
“Annah.” Something soft tickles the side of my face. When I try to brush it away, Rovos catches my fingers and presses them to his soft lips. “Annah, it’s time to wake.”
