The dark abyss of worry inside me closes, just a little, at the thought.

I wrap my hands around his neck, smiling up at him and fluttering my eyelashes.

“Draz… have there ever been any female Suevan warlords?”

He barks out a laugh. “Of course, there have. You have such strange ideas about us, my mate.”

Good.

I like that answer very much.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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DRAZ

Ni-kee’s braid bobs in front of me, her shoulder just ahead of mine. The jungle sings with life around us, the air growing thinner the further up the mountain we trek. Here, the foliage isn’t as dense, but I keep my energy edged knife in hand.

A crossbow dangles from my mate’s hand, and I am glad she knows how to use it.

I do not like how close the Crigomar are. It baffles me that they would leave their lands and follow the Suevans up into the higher elevations. It is unheard of.

Something must be driving them higher. Whether latent instinct or newly manufactured, I know not.

But I do know that we need to get to Edrobaz as quickly as we can. My heart yearns to show my mate the city, to let her marvel at the architecture and art, at all the fine things that await her here on Sueva.

It will be hard to show her that if the Crigomar continue to track us at the rate they are.

I have no proof that is what they are doing, not exactly… but I have a feeling.

And years on the battlefield has taught me to listen to that instinct, so on we press, higher and higher up the mountain, until each breath is sharp and cold.

“Do you need rest, my heart?”

She shakes her head, her long braid swinging. “No.”

Her face is set with determination, and though worry claws through me, her eyes are clear and her breathing is steady.

“How much longer?”

I squint at the patch of sky overhead, the asteroid belt clearly visible against the deep blue. “A day. Maybe more, if I have taken us too far off course.”

“Are we off course?”

“Not that I can tell.”

“Okay, then,” she says. “Let’s get to it.”

My heart swells. This woman is stronger than I ever would have imagined. As frail and delicate as her body is compared to mine, she has the heart and mind of a warrior twice her size.

“We can rest if you have the need, Ni-Kee,” I offer softly.

“Nope. Don’t need to. Tell me about your city. About Edrobaz.”

I grin, reaching for her hand. When she squeezes mine back, satisfaction and pleasure roll through me.

“It is not as grand as some of the other cities, but I like it all the better for that. We are not a city of scientists, or even warriors, though we have both. We are a city of artists. There is much I cannot wait to show you.”

“Artists? Really?”

“Yes. If we were Lidolan, we would likely have already been found by their technology. But Lidolan is a month away on foot, though only a day by Levoz.”

“Levoz?”

“A ship. It sails through the skies, very quickly. I forget so easily how unfamiliar you are with Sueva. It’s strange, considering how I feel you have slotted into my life like a piece that’s been missing as long as I’ve breathed.”

She squeezes my hand, and her smile is sunlight on my senses.

“You say the most romantic things.”

“They are all true,” I tell her.

She draws one arm around me, then presses her cheek against my chest, holding me tight.

“No one’s ever made me feel like you do,” she says softly, her voice the merest caress against my senses.

“Good,” I say simply, kissing the top of her head. “I would have to kill them if you did.”

She snorts, pushing against me with a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

I watch her for a moment, and she turns back, her eyebrows raised.

“You’re serious.”

“Of course, I am serious. I will not stand for a competitor for your attention.”

“Okay then,” she says, her voice strangled. “Glad we cleared that up.”

Now curiosity winds through me. “Did you have many suitors on Earth?”

“No,” she says fervently, her braid swinging in earnest now. “Definitely not.”

“Then human males are even more foolish than I imagined.” With a hand on the small of her back, I guide her slightly left, tracking closer to Edrobaz. “I find I am less and less impressed with the world you left behind.”

Which makes me glad. How can she miss Earth when Sueva holds so many more opportunities for her? Surely her team will see reason, as well. And then we can negotiate for more brides, willing this time, until Edrobaz and Lidolan and all the cities run rampant with the sounds of children’s feet and ring with their laughter.

I want that so badly. For myself, and for my people.

“Earth isn’t perfect,” she says softly, moving more quickly up the mountainside in the direction I pushed her in. “But it’s my home.”

I wince. That was poorly done.

Not that I am wrong, of course. Still, perhaps I should take a different tactic.

“Would you like to hear about my house?” I ask her. I cannot wait to see her in it, decked out in something more befitting a Suevan warlord’s bride than the lackluster uniform she wears now. I cannot wait to see her sprawled in my bed, her legs spread and her sex glistening for me.

My cock grows hard at the vision, and I bite back a groan.

Will I ever have enough of this woman? I do not think so.

“I didn’t have a house,” she says instead, her fingers twitching on her crossbow. “I had an apartment with Gen, in the city. I loved it. We always joked that we didn’t really live there, of course. As officers we could live off base, but we spent so much time on missions or at work that we were rarely there. But it was my space, and hers, and it was our sanctuary. I had a plant I got, too, one that wasn’t supposed to need a lot of care, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to give it too much time, until I got back. I had a new bedding set picked out, too, and I was going to reward myself with it and a bunch of candy when I got back from this mission. I guess my plant is probably going to die now.” Her voice is heavy, and her shoulders droop.

“I will get you a new plant.”

A heavy sigh gusts out of her. “Thank you. It’s not about the plant.”

“We can commission an artist to make whatever bedding you like,” I tell her. “Anything you want, I will make it happen for you.” I do not like how sad she sounds now, and it makes me feel helpless. Angry.

She still does not see the depth of my feelings for her. What wouldn’t I do to show her?

Anything. Anything.

And she is right, I realize, whacking at a plant that dared wave too close to her slender leg. Her crew and companions are likely even more obstinate and stressed than my sweet mate, especially if they have not bonded with their mates.

The sooner we get to Edrobaz, the better.

In the meantime, I will make my mate as comfortable as I can. I will pamper her and shower her with affection. Maybe I can even find some more of the can-dee berries she likes so much. That will bring a smile to her face, at least.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

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NIKI

I’m not myself. For all the resting I’ve done the last three days, on top of the four days I apparently spent completely passed out, my arms and legs feel like lead, my lungs like deflated balloons.

Worry creases Draz’s handsome face, his forehead bunching every time I glance at him. The Crigomar roars are further now, but from this altitude, I can see the jungle canopy shake whenever one makes that monstrous sound.

Draz is one of the scariest badasses I’ve ever been around, and he doesn’t want to fuck around with the creatures. We have state of the art alien tech—an energy knife and my crossbow fitted with plas grenade rounds— and he still doesn’t want us anywhere near them.