Not until we rid our planet of the scourge that fell upon us.

But I am alive.

I am alive because of only one reason and he is before me right now.

A breath shudders from me and Fer’ro’s gaze moves down my arms.

At this moment, I want to feel that life flowing through me.

Before I can reconsider, I tilt my chin upward.

“Fer’ro…” I whisper. “Don’t be alarmed but…”

FER’RO

Adee’ra licks my face and shock tears through me so much that I stiffen against her.

For a moment, she pauses, hesitant, before her lids flutter closed and I watch that little pink tongue of hers stretch towards my mouth.

She licks me again and my sazi surges, fighting to extrude.

Just what is she doing?

Is this a hyu’man ritual?

She is cleansing me with her mouth?

I am not sure what she is doing, but I do not dare to move.

I could not move if I wanted to.

All my senses are focused on the warm wetness of the little organ flicking against my lips and with a groan, I dare to open my mouth.

She pauses for a second before her tongue darts in and…I THRUM.

It is so deep, the air within the little cocoon feels charged, and when Adee’ra mouth closes over mine every line of thought leaves my brain.

She is eating me.

Such a thing shouldn’t make me excited, but I find myself gripping her tighter, wanting her to continue.

I will gladly be her meal.

My fangs drip with need and when her tongue tentatively flicks over one of them, my sazi surges so hard it does extrude a little. Enough for me to arch away from her for if it touches her core, the little control I have left will not be enough to stop me from claiming her right here, by the corpse of a fallen Scrit.

That thought dims the urges somehow…but Adee’ra’s tongue is insistent.

Her mouth rubs against mine and a whimper leaves her lips.

I am already in love with this hyu’man ritual.

Whatever gods we are worshipping right now, I pledge to adopt them as my own.

As her tongue flicks into my mouth some more, I slowly move mine forward.

It is bigger than hers. Longer. Thicker. Coarser.

I do not want to scare her with it, but I want to…taste her everywhere.

She trembles against me when our tongues make contact and another whimper leaves her throat.

This scent…

This sweet, spicy flavor…

Adee’ra’s need.

As our tongues flick against each other I bask in her scent.

She might not know it yet and I don’t know if she will accept it…

I have left Edooria…but I think I have found my new home.

With her.

The symbiotes sensed it long before I did or even could.

That is why I was drawn to her from the very start.

Adee’ra is my perfect mate—a phenomenon that hasn’t happened among Vullan-kind for eons.

And as she opens up to me…as I taste her…I know He’rox was right.

He might be insane…a maniac…but he was right…

This is the start of a new era.

Chapter Thirty-Three

ADIRA

As I break the kiss and open my eyes, there’s a fire in Fer’ro’s gaze that I’ve never seen before.

It feels like it is engulfing me but the flames do not burn.

Instead, they surround me with warmth and protection.

But I’ve done it again.

Something sexual when I have no idea what is happening between us.

The way this alien affects me…

Does he know I’m burning for him?

That between my thighs is hot and soaking wet just at the feel of his tongue in my mouth…just at remembering what happened between us in his quarters…

My cheeks grow warm and I pull my gaze away from the fire.

“They are waiting for us,” he says.

At the same time, the ba’clan slowly return to our skin and the sky reappears above us.

We are surrounded.

Several Vullan have formed a circle around us and I scramble to rise, my cheeks burning even hotter.

Fuck.

Had they been there all along?

Could they see what we just did?

Their eyes are on me, as usual, and as we stand, they do the most curious thing.

Each and every one of them kneels at our feet, their foreheads on the ground.

My eyes dart around.

Off in the corner of my gaze, huddled together, are the three women I’d seen within the Scrit’s belly, and very near to us lays the huge machine itself.

But I do not understand why the Vullan are kneeling.

It is the first time I have seen them so submissive.

We have won. Is that why?

“Why are they kneeling?” I whisper to Fer’ro. “Are they showing their respect to you?”

“No.” He turns to look at me and his gaze blazes through me so much that I hold my breath. “They are showing respect to you.”

My eyes bug out then and I grip my chest with one hand. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You have gained their respect. It is an honor to be under your command.”

I have to blink several times because this just went from zero to one hundred.

“My what?”

“You made a decision while in that Scrit. One that put you in danger. You went ahead with a plan even though it could have cost you your life. You faced the Gryken head on. You put your life on the line for all of us.”

And then Fer’ro does something that makes my heart lurch.

I watch, spellbound, as he falls to his knees before me too, his forehead touching the earth at my feet.

“For the Vullan,” he says, “you have made the ultimate sacrifice. We are forever indebted to you.”

I stare at them.

I really don’t know what to say.

I don’t deserve this—any of this—for doing something stupid.

Yes, it might have worked, but I’m no hero.

I open my mouth to say this when I pause.

My ba’clan pulse against me and I remember what I was thinking just moments before while cocooned with Fer’ro.

This is no longer just my fight. It’s no longer Earth’s fight.

It’s their fight too.

They’re not only thanking me for what I did, they’re thanking me for trusting them.

I swallow my pride, my preconceived notions, my doubt…

These big aliens need to know that they are accepted here.

“It is an honor to be seen in such a light by such brave warriors. I couldn’t have done anything without your help.” My gaze moves over each and every one of them. “Thank you.”

I don’t know if what I said is enough.

It certainly doesn’t encompass the weight of the feelings in my chest.

But as the Vullan rise, I do not feel so on edge by their stares anymore.

They see me as one of them.

And as I look from them to myself, to the ba’clan coating me…I realize that, maybe, I’ve become more like them than I first realized.

Maybe, I’m not entirely human anymore.

ADIRA

The three women we rescued huddle on the floor of the lift as it rises through the sky toward the still-cloaked ship.

Their gaze is on the tall aliens around them.

All of the Vullan have their chins tilted to the air, as if something reeks in here.

The females smell. They haven’t washed in a long time. But the scent isn’t that bad.

As their frightened gazes lock on to the aliens around us though, even I can sense their fear, and when they look at me, there is a definite distrust in their gazes.

I’m smaller, skinnier, obviously not alien, but with my symbiotes, I look like the Vullan.

And to them, the Vullan are the enemy.

They do not yet know they are rescued.

It was a good idea that they’d transported the Gryken to the ship directly after capturing it. Even I didn’t see the monster.

And that’s a good thing.