“No,” I tell her, nuzzling the nape of her neck, drinking her in. “Do not apologize.”

She snuggles closer, throwing an arm over my neck. I like her like this—sleepy and loose-limbed, soft and sweet. I like her in all moods. She’s a summer day, golden sunshine and humor, hot sun and passion, a sudden storm breaking in the afternoon, the warm night holding close in a dark embrace.

“Do your dreams trouble you often?” I ask her, worried. Worried, and furious at the Roth, for all my impotent wrath will do to help her now. If I see another Roth ever again, I’ll rip their spine out and give it to her as a gift.

“I mean, it’s not a big deal,” she says softly, her voice already thick with sleep again. I have run my poor mate ragged.

“It is to me.” I smooth her hair away from her face, luxuriating in her presence.

“It’s over. It’s over,” she repeats, and I wonder if she’s telling me, or if she’s simply reassuring herself.

I hate them even more for what they did to her, and for what they did to her people. What they did to Suevans and the other species at our settlements was terrible, but we had the technology and numbers to repel them.

The humans were sorely outclassed.

And here is the outcome of it: my sweet Gen, lax with sleep beside me, sold into our marriage by a government who would do anything to stop the Roth from attacking again.

At least I know our shipment is well on its way to Earth.

“I will not allow it to happen again, my love,” I tell her, holding her tighter.

She sighs against me.

“I vow it on the goddess herself. I will not allow the Roth to ravage another planet like they did Earth.”

A flock of birds flings itself into the dawn sky, silhouetted black against the rising sun.

I tuck my Gen under my chin and watch them fly, wishing we could sprout wings and do the same, so that my female could be safe.

I cannot fail her again. I cannot be the reason she wakes in the night, screaming her fears into the dark.

I will not allow it.

Sleep finally claims me again, but it’s restless despite the blessed female in my arms.

When we wake again, the sun’s hot in the sky above.

Gen stretches long, yawning and blinking. A sheen of sweat dots her brow, and she sits up slowly, rubbing her neck.

“Why are you staring at me?” she asks, shoving my shoulder playfully. At least, I think it’s playful. Maybe it is a hard shove for her.

“Because you are the most miraculous thing I have ever seen.”

Her cheeks flush pink, and a low growl slips out of my throat. “When you turn that color, it makes me ravenous for you. For all your parts that are that same color.”

She gives me a coy smile, her arm crossed over her chest, hiding her breasts from me.

“Do not hide those.”

“I need to find my bra.”

“Is that what you call it?”

She tilts her head at me. “You don’t have that word? It’s like…” She jiggles her breasts, and my cock immediately stands at attention. “It holds them down. Keeps them from bouncing around, you know? It hurts when they move too much.”

“I like when they move,” I say, only half-paying attention to what she’s said.

A small laugh ripples out of her, her cute furry eyebrows darting upward. “I’m sure you do. But if we have to run… it doesn’t feel good.”

“I want you to feel good,” I say sincerely.

“Me too, dude.” Sighing, she stands, then her eyes go wide as she looks back at me. “You ripped my underwear off. I have no panties.”

“Does that—” I motion to her cunt. “—hurt when you run, too?”

Her cheeks suck in, an expression I now recognize as her trying not to laugh “No. No, it doesn’t, but I don’t want to be completely naked in the jungle.”

“Completely naked?” I stare at her for a long second, then remember how I found her. Leaking water and crying, wearing only the tiniest scraps of fabric. “What happened to your shoes? You cannot run in the jungle without shoes.”

“I don’t have a massive tail, Kanuz. They would have weighed me down in the water. My pants, too. Surviving in the moment seemed smarter than bringing all that shit with me.”

I blow out a breath, frustrated at myself all over again for putting her in this situation, where she had to choose between nudity and survival. Not that I am upset she is nude.

No, quite the opposite.

But her skin is too fragile to be exposed to the elements, and her little feet will surely be hurt by stepping on things.

“I am sorry,” I tell her, my heart heavy.

“Why? You didn’t summon that giant tentacle monster. You didn’t drop me here and force me to marry you.”

My fangs bite into my lower lip, my molars grinding together at her words. “Is that how you feel?”

Sure, I know now that she was, in fact, tricked into marrying me, and as reprehensible as that is, I am a prince. I am handsome, and I brought her pleasure and smiles.

My stomach sinks.

“Kanuz, wait, I like you. A lot. I was… terrified that something happened to you.” Her words turn thick, her eyes welling with more emotion water. “But yeah, I was forced here under false pretenses. I’m not going to lie to you about that to make you feel better.”

I stand and walk over to where my pants lie in a clump on the ground. “Here,” I say, my voice rough and gravelly. “Take mine.”

“Kanuz, stop.” Her expression is pained, and I long to soothe her, to rub it away with kisses.

But she’s right. She is completely correct. She was forced to marry me, tricked by her own people. And I have taken advantage of her most cruelly. Her survival was dependent upon me, and now?

Now all she wants is to cover her body.

The least I can give her is that.

“Kanuz, they’re going to be huge,” she says. “And don’t. Don’t act like that.”

“I am not acting like anything.”

“You’re being weird.” She purses her lips, her eyes welling with water again. “Is it because we had sex?”

I want to tell her no. But of course, she is right. It is because we had sex. Because I took something that she wasn’t ready to give. She might have said yes, but she didn’t say yes to being my wife… nor my mate.

Nausea turns my stomach. “Put on the pants, Gen.”

She sniffs, and my heart aches as I realize she’s leaking water from her eyes again. “What happened to being your flower?” Her voice is tight, and shock jolts through me as I realize I’ve hurt her.

Which means… she does like me. And I’m pushing her away.

“I am being an idiot lunch.” I sigh, rubbing my neck.

Gen sniffs, then laughs, wiping her eyes with her hands. “Idiot sandwich.” Her small hands clasp my larger ones, and the pants fall, forgotten, to the ground. “And yes, you are, Kanuz. I wouldn’t have had sex with you if I didn’t want to. And I did very much want to have sex with you. Would I have chosen to marry you after being in your august presence for five minutes? No, because I am not an idiot sandwich… And as awful as the last few weeks have been, you’ve been the only bright spot. You have kept us safe, and fed, and made me laugh more times than I can count. Don’t push me away because I’m angry that the Federation took my choice away. It doesn’t mean I’m not choosing you right now.”

“I feel foolish,” I admit. “I am sad that you did not choose to come here and be mine. But I understand your anger. Would you choose to marry me again? Now that you know me?”

She blows out a breath, tilting her chin up and staring me down in her frank, no nonsense way. “Out of all the males that were there, Prince Kanuz of Sueva, I am glad you chose me to be your princess and your wife.”

It’s not an answer, not really, but perhaps it was unfair for me to ask that of her.

So instead of pressing her more, I push down my sadness and draw her to me, kissing her firmly. She makes a small noise of pleasure, and I don’t care if she would marry me or not.