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XAREX

Despite the mental barrier he had erected between them, Xarex still found that he could feel the emotions of his mate through their new link.

When she was feeling so anxious about her daughter, it was difficult for him to keep from going to her. However , he made himself stay away—he had hurt her enough already.

Then later, when he felt her relief, he wished he could be there to share in her joy. Clearly the Bloom had healed Anna —he wished he could see the look on Nora’s lovely face knowing that her daughter was saved. But again, he had already decided that he needed to leave her alone. He told himself this was just another sign that their agreement was over. Hadn’t she said that after Anna was healed they would go their separate ways?

But the hardest test came when he felt her loneliness and caught a glimpse of her thoughts—she wondered where he was. It made him think…was she actually not angry and upset with him for what he had done on Primus Nine ? Did she actually miss him?

It doesn’t matter if she misses you or not—you don’t deserve her. Not after the way you acted, the way you took her so roughly, he told himself sternly.

And so, though it was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life, he didn’t let himself go to her. Instead , he lay alone in his bed—the bed he’d shared with his wife only the night before—and did his best to sleep.