Water sprays from the waterfall, misting above even the placid surface where I wade us both in.
Ni-Kee makes a small noise in her throat, her nose scrunching up as she stares up at me, blinking slowly.
I need her to recover. My heart pounds against my chest, and it’s not only from the sprint to the falls.
My shoulders are tense with worry, and I study her pretty human face.
“Is it helping? The water should dissolve the toxin. Drink some,” I say, scooping up a handful.
Her lips press against my palm, and I scoop it into her mouth. She drinks, and drinks, and finally, her limpid gaze turns to one of realization, followed by swift horror.
She detaches herself from my chest, her pink tongue darting out of her mouth.
I steel myself for whatever is to come. I have faced down hundreds of enemies. I have torn spines from their bodies and roared in fury as their blood sprayed me.
And still, I am afraid of what this little human is about to say, as if she holds my whole heart in her claw-less hands.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NIKI
It’s like waking up from a dream. Ice cold water sluices over me, helping to cool the blisters the stupid snails burned across my skin. It washes away most of the pain, and all of the lust, leaving me wrung out as a moldy dishrag.
And mortified.
Draz stares at me, his expression pinched, diamond-pupil eyes scanning me.
My favorite phrase is at the tip of my tongue, but no way in hell am I about to utter ‘fuck me’ in front of him.
Again.
I scrub a hand over my steaming face, peek at him through my fingers, and immediately plunge under the water.
Bubbles stream from my nose. I’m going to stay under as long as my lungs can take it.
Holy hell, I have never been so embarrassed in my life. The things I said to Draz… I don’t think I’ve ever said anything out loud like that to anyone, even jokingly.
The big Suevan already thinks I’m his, and then I got hit with what must have been some kind of libido enhancer from the snail goop and begged him to plow me. I groan, the noise muffled under the water, my face buried in my hands.
My pussy aches, overstimulated and sore from all the personal attention I just gave it.
My lungs burn, begging for air, and still I stay under. Okay. I need to get a grip on myself. So far I’ve cried about my circumstance, was near hypothermia, then managed to hurt myself by using a sacred snail as a projectile weapon.
Clearly, I need Draz if I’m going to survive this damn planet.
Shame rockets through me. I definitely just yelled that I needed him sexually, too.
Despite how fucked the Federation played this treaty and my crew, I’m still an officer. I’m still the captain of my ship, in charge of the women’s lives they’ve trusted me with. And in charge of getting the defensive tech that Earth needs. I’m not going to leave Earth high and dry. No matter how furious I am with the Federation, I couldn’t live with myself if the deal with the Suevans fell through. And the Suevans didn’t even do anything wrong.
I break the surface of the water, inhaling deeply, and then submerging again immediately.
Draz has been kind, caring, and competent. He even made me laugh. He could have taken advantage of me and seeing as how I was begging him for it, I’m shocked he didn’t. He has as much riding on this marriage as I do. The Suevans are looking at extinction, and I just offered my body up on a silver platter.
Hell, if they wanted to just get us pregnant and use us as broodmares, they could’ve slipped us snail gunk at the mating ritual and taken advantage of my whole crew easily.
But they didn’t.
Draz is… honorable. More honorable than the Federation even. Bitterness coats my tongue at the traitorous thought, but I know it’s true.
I will do my duty.
I will make the best of a totally fucked situation. It could be much, much, worse. Draz will be an effective ally, and maybe even a good friend.
I run my fingers along my braid, then pause. Braid? When did I braid my hair? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s time to swallow my pride, apologize, and act like the captain I am. I’m a strong, intelligent woman, and I am going to make it work.
Surfacing, I wipe the water from my eyes and suck in a huge breath.
Draz is still in front of me, his head cocked to one side, his eyes analytical and appraising. My breath catches. The scar down his face is so brutal, and it’s not the only one. This Suevan has been through it, and despite his gentle touch with me, he’s clearly a fighter. Despite the scars, the scales, or maybe because of them, he’s breathtaking. There’s a beauty to his muscled form, to his face. Now that I’m somewhat used to the difference in his features, the snail-goop high wearing off, I can fully acknowledge that Draz is compelling. Good-looking. Handsome, even.
I blow out a breath, gritting my teeth.
I need him on my side, and I need to be professional about it. No matter what he thinks I am to him, I’m on Sueva for a purpose. To make sure Earth gets the interplanetary defense system.
“Draz, I owe you an apology.”
He shakes his head, the gesture apparently universal. His long black hair slides across one shoulder as he does so, and it looks so different than mine. What does it feel like, I wonder?
I shake my own head, like that will clear it, and for a moment, we’re both shaking our heads. It strikes me as funny, and I bite my cheeks, holding in an inappropriate laugh.
“I do. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I wasn’t myself, not at all.”
“Ni-Kee—” he starts, but I hold up a hand and continue.
“And I also want to say thank you. And I mean it. You saved my life last night, more than once. You got me out of a bad situation, with your separatist attack, and then you kept me from hypothermia. And today, you could have…” I swallow, a tingle of fear working down my backbone. “You could have violated my person and my trust, and you didn’t.”
His features are thunderous. “I would never hurt you, my mate. Your trust means the worlds to me.”
My heart squeezes. Water swirls around us, the falls thundering behind us. The zoleh curls up on where Draz must have dropped my clothes, its two fluffy tails wrapped around it. Only two eyes are visible, and it watches us with preternatural awareness.
“I am grateful to you, nonetheless.”
He takes a step closer, and I’d have to be blind not to notice the way his muscles ripple, the clear water lapping around his abdomen.
“I live for your gratitude,” he tells me, and when he reaches out a finger, running the rough pad of it over my cheekbone, I don’t flinch away. Alarms of warning blare in my head, but for a moment… for a moment, maybe I like it. Maybe I lean into it.
His touch is warm, and strangely comforting.
I could do worse than this kind and strong Suevan.
The strange thought flits through my head, and I blink up at the huge alien. The sunlight glints off the water beading down his torso. My throat bobs, and I avert my eyes, out of sorts.