Page 30

Ihaven’t been back since the construction was done, but Lochdon has for long enough to drop off his things. They sit in a jumble near the door, bags half open, and there is a single frame on the wall. It flickers with the glowing image of us from the day he officially asked me to be his mate.

It’s not home yet, but it will be.

He presses me against the wall, kissing me like he needs to know I’m really here. His body holds mine to the panels as two of his hands go to my wrists, holding them above my head. The other two trace the shape of my body.

And I kiss him back just as fiercely.

When he finally comes up for air, he slowly lets me slide down to the floor.

“You okay?” I ask him.

He nods, but I’m not sure I believe him. “Do you think you can explain to me what just happened?”

He grimaces. “Yes… but I’ll have to go back a few weeks.”

“Weeks?”

“Almost a month.” He takes my hand and leads me to the couch—our couch. “He was on Galanta when I petitioned to make you my mate.”

He’s explained the process a few times, and I still only really understand the later steps.

“Terjen objected.” He glowers at the far wall.

That wasn’t part of the process… at least, not how he explained it. “He could do that?”

“No. But he demanded to voice the objection anyway and the elders humored him.”

“What was his reasoning?” What could he possibly think?

“I hadn’t brought you to the clan to see if you preferred one of them over me.”

I snort, slapping my hand over my face. “I’m sorry. That’s just so ridiculous.”

“A very long time ago, that was the way that things were done.”

Shifting on my knees and moving closer to him, I say, “Well, I certainly wouldn’t have preferred him.”

His smile is a soft, pinched slant. “I can’t really blame him for wanting you.”

“I can. And I will.” I brush my fingers through his hair. “I can’t imagine being with anyone else like this. I don’t want to be with anyone else like this. I chose you. It doesn’t matter how many of your clan are put in front of me. I’ll choose you every time.”

He kisses me, holding me so tightly to him I feel like I’m going to pop.

I want to pop.

But he hasn’t finished telling me. “What happened next?”

“The elders dismissed his objection and granted my petition. I thought that was the end of it. Their word is law, after all.”

He takes a deep breath and looks down at his hands. “I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since.”

I ask something that’s only just occurred to me. “How did he find out where I work?”

Lochdon grimaces, his teeth showing—fangs and all. “The petition documents included it. Because of Phantom’s rules about access to Earth, they had to.”

“Oh. Okay.” With my understanding that I’m off limits to the clan after we’re mated, and my soon to be widely known no-other-Glantanians policy at Phantom’s, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“I don’t know exactly what he planned to do, but,” he exhales and heavily drops his forehead to mine. “I’m glad Phantom was there to make sure we didn’t find out.”

“Me too.” I move into his lap and nudge his face up with my nose. “And if you hadn’t come home today, I would still be fine. He wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

“I know.” He kisses me. “But I still hate it.”

A sharp chirping echoes overhead and he flinches at the sound. “Sorry, I’ll adjust that so it doesn’t pierce our ears every time we get a message. Opodean hearing frequencies are different.”

“The one who showed up today, is he who you bought this place from?”

“Yeah. Sirin’s in charge of the whole station, but he’s also one of Phantom’s patrons, so… I have a feeling they have more power in that business relationship than Sirin would admit.”

I slide from his lap and watch as he goes to a large control panel near the door, tapping and swiping through a dozen commands.

I’ll learn how to use that later.

“They’ve banned Terjen from the station,” Lochdon says.

“They can do that?”

“Like I said, Phantom has more pull than anyone has a right to… this time, it works in our favor.”

“How?” I think I know, but I ask anyway.

“Terjen’s been banned because Phantom demanded it for the safety of all of their employees.”

“Ah.” I don’t think it had anything to do with anyone else, but I’m okay with him bending the truth a little in this instance.

“Are you going to get into trouble?” I ask.

“No. They’ve classified it as an internal Glantanian matter. The station is going to ignore it.”

“Good. I’d hate for you to get kicked off station, too… especially since we haven’t had a chance to enjoy our tub yet.”

His smile quirks to the side and he picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder as he heads for the bathroom. “Let’s change that.”