Adira's Mate (5 page)

Chapter Five

A soft beeping sound tugged at
her until she let out a groan. The alarm was going off, the one she’d set the
night before so she could get up and make them breakfast. It was all about
routine in space,
Adira
knew. Didn’t mean she wanted
to get up, though. She was warm, so very warm.

When the very warm male shifted
under her,
Adira’s
eyes snapped open and she
automatically turned off the alarm. She was in the arms of the male that had
taken her to free himself. She was being held tightly against his chest and it
felt right. What she had been trying to figure out snapped inside of her head,
and she stared down at him in shock. Oh heavens, she was really, really
screwed. She had thought she was before but now, holy mother, she was in so far
over her head. “It’s time to wake,” she said when he muttered something in his
language, something that the cochlear translators didn’t know how to translate.
“We should be close to needing to make another course change.”

Her mind was whirling. How was
this possible? How could this
Craegin
be the other
half of her soul, the missing part of her being? This wasn’t good.
At all.

His head rotated on the pillow
until he could see the time on the alarm. “We still have two hours before it’s
required.” He looked to her again, lifting a hand to brush her hair back behind
her ear with a gentle touch, the calluses on his fingers scraping lightly to
the shell of her ear. “Got tired of being squished in the middle of the night,
did you?” he asked. When she blinked down at him, Fin tipped his head slightly.
“I told you it would be a very tight fit on this bunk. They were not made for
Craegin
males.”

“
Right, yes, that’s what it is.”
She knew, though, that wasn’t it so much as it was her soul calling to his, her
body needing a closer contact with
his.
Oh hell. She
was already starting to merge with him, and when they got to his home world and
she was tossed into prison or whatever they did with her, it would hurt him as
well. Not good. She needed to make sure that he didn’t touch her. It might
lessen the
affect
on him when they killed her.
“Right, so if we have to take another rest time I will sleep in medical on one
of the medical bay beds.” Damn, that hurt to say! “I think that I need a drink.
You can continue to rest. I’m going to go and get a drink and begin a meal for
us for when you are ready to rise.” She needed to get away from him. Had to,
before he realized what was happening and hated her even more.

His arm around her waist
tightened, and the free hand caught her chin. Gently he turned her head until
they were looking at one another, practically nose to nose. “You’re keeping
something from me,
Adira
. Why are you suddenly so
skittish again? You were nervous when I first took you, but you seemed to relax
a lot until the moment you woke up. Why?”

“
I relaxed because I was
sleeping?” Okay, so even she wasn’t convinced in what she had said. “I don’t
know what you mean. I’m just waking and I always feel all out of sorts when I
first wake up.” Which was true, but this was completely different.

“
You’re lying to me,” he said
quietly. He didn’t sound angry at least, but oddly she picked up disappointment
in his voice. She had to wonder if he even knew it was in his tone. “You were
relaxed prior to us going to sleep. You were nervous about us sharing the bunk,
but you fell asleep easily, which means you trust me on some level. So why lie
now?”

“
Because you will not like what I
have to say,” she admitted and ducked her head slightly. It wasn’t that she
didn’t trust him, quite the opposite actually, but she was worried that he
would be very angry with her.

“
Well I’m not getting any happier
with you stonewalling me,
Adira
. Say what you need to
say if you would. I’d rather know than be left in the dark. I’ve had too much
of that of late, and have had my fill. Say it,” he demanded, tipping her chin
back up slightly.

She
stiffened. “
My
people, the
Imarian
people, have something called
soul bonding. It’s a belief that out in the universe there is one soul that
matches yours, one that will fill the holes in your soul as you fill the ones
in theirs. From the moment I met you I knew that there was something, but
honestly at first I was too afraid because of the situation to realize what it
might be, but now
…
” She shook her head and took a
deep breath. “Holy mother, now I know. You are the missing part of my soul.
That’s why I relaxed so much around you. That’s why I’ve been oddly drawn to
you. It’s because you are my anchor and I’ve waited for you my entire life.”

He stared at her without blinking
for a long time. “
Krathle
-tri
Vox
,” he
said quietly. “The
Craegin
have the same thing, but
in our language it means the catching of souls. It’s a way of two souls bonding
together slowly, first with touch, and then the final piece is with sex.” She
could see his jaw clench slightly before he blew out a soft breath.
“Didn’t think that would happen.”

“
Yeah.
I can feel our souls merging
already, that’s why I wanted to get up. When your people decide that I should
pay for my people’s crimes, I don’t want you hurt by my death. We should limit
our contact so that our souls don’t bond too closely, so that you aren’t
harmed.” She was a realist and knew what was waiting for her. Heavens, even if
she had gone back she would die because of killing one of the guards.

“
You’ve been compromised anyway,”
he said. “Your disappearance would have been noted, and much too coincidentally
in time with my own escape. They will rightly assume I took you, which means I
could have tortured you for information critical to your people. Not that I
have, or would, but they would assume the worst. You’d never be free again,
Adira
. At least if you come with me there is a chance to
have a life.” He paused, as if to allow the words he had spoken to her thus far
to sink in. Then he added, “If you are willing to complete the bonding.”

“
Your people would never accept
that.” Heavens, her body had heated up just at his deep voice as he’d whispered
the last part of his words, about completing the bond. “I feel the draw to you,
deeply, Fin, but this can’t be what you want. Is it? Don’t you have a wife or
girlfriend or significant other back home, waiting for your return?” Her hand
moved to his neck, her thumb stroking over his tanned flesh. Each touch, skin
to skin, brought them closer together but she couldn’t seem to mind it at all.

“
I’ve never had the urge to
marry,” he said. “Without family there was never the push to do so either. My
only responsibility has been to the Cortege.” His hand slid to cup her cheek,
his thumb rubbing slowly over her lower lip as he stared up at her. “The
universe decides what is best for us. Who am I to argue with that?”

“
This is driving me crazy.” She
spoke, her tongue darting out and touching his thumb that was over her lower
lip. “Each time you touch me, each time you speak, I want this. I’m pulled to
you. I need you. You are filling my soul.” She nipped his thumb with her teeth.
“And what happens to you if we complete the bond? How will your people accept
this? Will you be in trouble if you bond with me?”

“
I can’t say there will not be
repercussions, but they will be minor. What you need to understand is that I
know exactly what to expect. But it isn’t only my choice,
Adira
.
You have to be willing to put up with some discomfort for a time, living on a
strange world, learning a new culture, and living with a practical stranger.”
Suddenly he sat up, putting them face to face as she straddled his lap. “Think
about that for a time while you prepare our morning meal. I’ll make the course
adjustment early, and then we can talk more.”

She nodded. Before she left his
lap, though, she said, “I’m perfectly fine with learning you as we are
together, but you need to understand that I won’t be left behind. Where you go,
I will go as well. If this is something that we go into, this is what you need
to know about me. I won’t be left behind. Think about that while I’m making our
morning meal?” she asked. Then, simply because she couldn’t help herself, she
leaned in and quickly brushed her lips to his. She was utterly fascinated with
his lips and had to know how they felt. She was stunned to learn that the
sensations of his lips to her were incredible.

He pulled her back to him, a hand
on the back of her neck to hold her close.
Fintan
took the kiss deeper, his tongue sliding over hers as he tasted her slowly.
After a time he released her. “Go,” he urged quietly. “I’ll meet you in the
kitchenette once I’ve altered the course.”

She got up without another word.
That kiss had rocked her to the soles of her feet. The kiss had shifted
something inside of her and she felt the connection drawing even tighter
between them. Holy mother, if sex was what it would take to complete the bond
between them, then she would never survive this.

****

Adira
was in the kitchenette and had
just finished preparing their morning meal when he came back. “You’re just in
time,” she told him. “It’s ready, I hope you are hungry?”

He came up behind her, the heat
of him at her back as he reached around her to take the plate.
“Very hungry.
I feel like I’ll never quite be full again.
The scientists and their guard dogs were not overly concerned if we missed a
meal or two at any time. We always knew when we’d be going to their sterile
rooms because we wouldn’t be fed for a full day. They didn’t wish us to aspirate,
and end up dying on them. That would ruin their results.”

“
Heavens.”
She turned and put her hands on
his chest once more. “No more missed meals for you, okay? I will do all that I
can in order to try to make amends, not because I have to and not because I was
party to what happened to you, but because it hurts me to see the effects of
what they did to you.” She noticed that he hadn’t said
her people
and for that she was beyond thankful. “I want to make
things better for you. It’s my right as the other half of your soul, right?”

“
So you still wish to proceed?” he
asked. At her slow nod he put his free hand on her hip and squeezed.
“Good, because I do as well.
It won’t be easy, that much you
need to know right now. There will be a lot of anger toward you, but there is a
ritual that will occur when we return to my home world that will ensure none
can speak against you, us. You don’t need to know about it, not yet. Later,
though, you will know.” Leaning in, he kissed her hard and fast.

When he pulled back she was
panting. “I want this with you. Whatever it is that we have to do, I will do
it. I don’t expect for your people to accept me without anger and even hatred.
Just as long as we will be together?”

“
We will,” he said. “I wouldn’t
leave you behind anyway. Who knows what trouble you could get yourself into if
left to your own devices. For now, though, we need to eat. We’ll have to land
on an abandoned moon post to change the codes on the beacons. Otherwise we’ll
be shot down long before we make it in close enough to be picked up by one of
the destroyers.”

“
Right, being shot down is a very
bad thing indeed,” she said with a grin. “Sit. Eat?” She moved slightly and
took a seat, then picked up her utensil so that she could begin to eat with
him.

He settled down into his seat
with the plate and began to eat. She noted, not for the first time, he had
impeccable table manners. He ate slowly, but at a steady pace. Occasionally he
paused to wipe his mouth and take a drink from the cup of water before him.

Once they had finished their
meal, she allowed him to help her clean up. It was actually very nice that he
was there helping her with the cleanup for two reasons. The first one was
obvious; she wasn’t used to anyone assisting her with cleanup, and two, because
it meant that they were finished sooner than if she did it alone. With that
done she leaned against the wall and asked him, “How long until we are picked
up by one of your carriers?” Her hand moved to his chest when he stepped
closer, not to push him away but to pull him closer.

“
Hopefully not until we have the
transponders changed out. If we don’t we’ll be shot down. We’re still squawking
an
Imarian
code, not something we want as we get
deeper into
Craegin
space. I’ve kept our path away
from the satellites and patrols. But we can’t keep zig-
zagging
around. So we’ll stop on a moon, change out the codes, and then we’ll head in
to meet with a destroyer. Hopefully it’s one where I know the colonel,
otherwise it will get interesting fast. I’m hoping for a friend, and colleague,
but with how my luck has been I’m thinking it will be my worst enemy. Outside
that lab, I mean.”