“His partner, Katherine, was my human wife—”
Fireworks of information exploded in her mind. Why hadn’t she put the two together when Oliver said his partner’s name was Katherine? Because she was arguing with Oliver, that’s why. Aroc was in pain. Not pain, something was off about him today.
“Aroc, if you’ve found a mate and want me to stop coming up here…”
His arm tensed under her fingers. “Do you want to leave?” He started walking while holding her hand on his arm.
“Do you want me to leave?” She asked instead, uncertain if she could answer his question without a lump forming in her throat.
“No…”
That surprised her. She’d always known she was a physical stand in, a presence in his life he missed, and that was fine when she was terrified he’d come to Earth and find her if she didn’t return to help with Norese. So why did it bother her now? Because, she adored the big handsome ogre towering over her.
“I enjoy having you up here, Sadie.” He stopped walking long enough to change the music on the wall controls to a soft cello. “I’ve told you that many times throughout the year.”
There was so much more in that comment she was missing, when the true picture opened before her mind’s eye. “Aroc Farkus, look at me,” she said, angling him to her.
He ducked his face down to hers bringing them inches apart. “Yes, Sadie.”
Her pulse ramped up with his closeness. She played with Norese’s leg to compose herself. “Oliver doesn’t know Norese survived, does he?”
“Why would he?”
And there was the missing link to this dysfunctional situation. “Aroc, did he ever hurt Katherine, physically or emotionally?”
“He attempted to poison her view of me every chance he got,” he shot back.
“Obviously it didn’t work and it’s not working on me. And Norese loves you too much for it to work on her. Let him meet Norese and see what you and Katherine made together.”
“No—and you will never tell him...Sadie Ochi Alexander—never!”
Feeling hot, she dragged down the zipper on her uniform to let the lapels fall back. Aroc had delivered a solid warning she’d obey…for now.
The vein in his neck pulsed under her fingers now stroking over the prominent cord. Even with that brash statement, something far deeper than friendship formed between them.
“Is it too warm in here for you tonight, Sadie? Norese has picked up your desire to melt my clothes to my body, cranking the warmers to 70, complaining she’s cold.”
Was that a gesture of peace? Yes.
“Actually, the temperature’s perfect.” She followed him down another long hallway. It was a maze in there flanked by a tall eight-foot window every ten feet. Wrapped along one-eighth of the station, it held the sensation of walking through an art gallery, the view into outer space framed by the windows. “One more question. I’m not versed on karuntian marriage protocol. Can a captain mate a human? I didn’t know that was allowed.”
“I was captain before I met Katherine, and her being human has no official bearing on my selection of a mate as long as she understands and abides our ways,” he told her. “Katherine stood up for one of my males in a trial once…”
“And you two hit it off and began dating.”
The slight nod of his head answered her question. “After that another male challenged my choice…”
“And you killed him…” came out in a rush slipping beyond her control. She stopped, ashamed her tone came out callous when Aroc was sincere in everything he did.
Resting a shoulder to the upholstered wall, she closed a hand over his forearm, waiting for his eyes to meet hers. When they did, she saw the hurt. “I didn’t mean it the way it came out. It’s—”
He caressed her cheek. “Nothing crosses these lips unless you want them to, Detective. You just didn’t like the sound of your words once they made it back to your ears.” Then his mouth brushed across hers in a slow delicate dance of compassion and newness. His firm lips were warm, his mesmerizing eyes were open, full of hunger and desire she’d never witnessed before. Feral, his touch was covetous, selfish in the way he took his time to enjoy the quivers he worked to the surface. When they were barely touching, a slow swipe of his tongue across her bottom lip broke the connection, leaving her breathless.
Aroc kissed her.
“I killed defending my right to choose my mate, Sadie. Living by that same creed, I protect my relationship with you, making certain nothing or no one jeopardizes what we’ve worked so long to accomplish.”
Sadie smoothed a finger over the moisture on her mouth. “Why did you do that?”
“Because it’s long overdue between us.”
Tasting his kiss on her lips, Sadie pushed away from the wall. She lifted Norese from his arms, setting her on the floor to stare out of one of the windows longingly. Was that how Norese waited for her to return every week? That nearly broke Sadie’s heart. Aroc’s hand warmed her back. She shared stolen glances from one another to Norese tapping on the window.
“At night, before bed, she stands on her tip-toe, her arms braced on the sill in the window to wave down to you on Earth. She loves you, Sadie.”
Twining a lock of Norese’s hair around her finger, Sadie watched the thick tresses recoil into soft ringlets as she let go. “I love her, too. It’s impossible not to love such a sweet child, with an incredible personality.”
He added his hand to hers stroking through the thick curls.
“She’s sweet, Sadie,” he said in a lingering tone she fought not to read more into more than he’d meant, “Because she has you in her life.”
That was too heavy. Changing the subject, she said, “On my way up here today, I ran into a colleague, inquiring as to future positions for humans on this station.”
He drew in a breath deep enough to press his sculpted pectoral muscles out from under his vest. She tore her gaze away to look past him until her pulse slowed. “That’s impossible. There’s not enough trust between us and them to work side by side.”
Which had he seen her as? An us or a them…alien or human?
“Don’t close your mind to the idea, Aroc. Sit on it for a while before you make a final decision.” She hesitated then said; “Anyway, the young lady expressed a sexual interest in Montage, which a lot of women do after seeing him on the shared beach.”
That tugged a smile to his lips. “Montage has tolerance for you, Sadie. That’s all.”
“That’s because you threatened to remove his brain from his skull if he ever hurt me.” She closed her hand around his, leading the big guy down the wide hallway toward his dining space.
“Sadie,” he said giving her a downward glance. “Have you ever been truly afraid of me?”
Her eyes widened on her upturned face, as they crossed into the dining alcove to the replicator. “I think scared was a better description of how I felt around you.”
Aroc placed Norese in her chair securing her strap across her lap as she had a tendency to want to crawl up on the table and sit in the center.
“Where’d that come from?” she asked, setting a plate of protein steak, peas, and rutabagas in front of him. She reached across the table handing Norese her little drinking cup, watching her enjoy the cold milk. Sadie tucked her hair behind her ear and let her eyes meet Aroc anticipating his answer. When he didn’t answer, she asked a question. “Would you rather I still flinched under your touch or shrink from your gruff surly tone when you’re sleepy?”
The tendon in his neck stood out taut under the burgundy flesh when he rested his temple on his palm to stare at her, his elbow propped on the table. “I’ve spoiled you,” he said. “You fear nothing, not even me, the head of the karuntee clan.”
She couldn’t suppress the laughter bubbling up into her throat. “That’s not true.” She licked her drying lips with the tip of her tongue in an effort not to croak out the words. “I’m terrified of the power you hold over me, just being you.”
The chair moved as Aroc released a tired breath, steepling his fingers over his dinner plate and piercing her with a serious stare. “Is that why you’re spending the weekend with me instead of Cantrell, because of our agreement?”
“Why would you ask that? There’s nothing outside of physical attraction between Commander Cantrell and me. And he’s white and I’m black and I don’t feel like dealing with prejudice glares anymore.”
His gaze falls to the pulse in her throat, making her incredibly uncomfortable. “If there were no taboos on the two of you becoming a couple, would you go to him?”
That’s the last thing she wanted to hear from his mouth.
She set her fork down and gave him a pointed stare. “Seeing as you’re trying to get rid of me, I’ll be honest. You’re the barrier holding me back, regardless of the views on Earth,” she confessed more to herself than him. Picking up the serving spoon, Sadie scooped out a serving of bright green peas. Piling them on Norese’s plate, she watched her manipulate the vegetables into her mouth with the little spoon. That made her smile.
“Me—” he refuted her words on a groan. “Explain your words, Ochi!”
She gestured a hand between them over the table touching his hand. “This here, our special arrangement makes life complicated and adding another relationship isn’t something I can handle.”
He sighed in deep concentration, eyeing her and making her squirm. What would he say to her comment? “I look forward to your weekly visits and no, I don’t want you adding a relationship to your life.” His focus became ardent. “Our situation has grown since we first met and I think it’s time we address it.”
That gave her a chill. He’d never made any serious advances toward her since their first and only time having sex. Even curled up in bed, he’d only held her insisting she wore a nightshirt.
She pushed away from the table to punch in an order for an aspirin from the replicator. Downing the capsules, she returned to the table to empty her glass of water.
“Forget about Oliver for now. I’m tired of talking about him.” She needed to burn off the lust riding her body and her mind, until even the scent of him made her feel full. Remembering the ache of him inside her body, stretching and opening her when he took her in the shower, moistened her mouth.
“I said I look forward to your visits, Sadie. I don’t think Oliver would appreciate the woman you are inside.”
She inhaled deeply squirming on her seat. “I don’t think Oliver wants the woman on the inside. He’s too caught up in the packaging.”
Aroc’s lids lowered, feeding her heat she hadn’t known he felt. “Both are worth admiring, Sadie. I live with them every week. It takes courage to see the woman past her beauty.”
“That’s a profound statement. I’ll have to remember that.” What was happening? “I was thinking, I’d like for you to teach me to fight.”
He sat up. “Why?”
“Why do I want to protect myself—you have to ask,” she challenged. “Afraid I’ll beat you, Captain?”
He didn’t crack a smile, while he studied her features, down her shoulders, to her hand where he lifted her fingers, turning them over before folding them into a fist. She felt small and delicate under his touch.
“You have a good strong grip. I can work with that… Okay, I’ll teach you myself.” He released her hand. “Now answer my question—why do you think our relationship complicated?”
His question was a challenge to reveal her feelings, or perhaps he’d revealed his true desire. Uncomfortable under his now intimate stare, she felt a hint of confusion tugging at her heartstrings by the intensity of his question. They’d shared their lives for so many months now; she felt a sense of loss thinking about never seeing him again. What would she do without her weekends with Aroc?
“Are you saying I’m free, Aroc?”
“If I release, you, would you continue visiting Norese?”
“Is that what you want…end our arrangement?” The edge of her glass bumped her teeth as she took a drink; uncertain she was ready to hear his answer. If he said
yes, you’re free
. That should make her happy…should. On the other hand, if he said no, she’d spend the next eternity pretending her heart didn’t burn every time she came within ten feet of him. Those sincere dark eyes shot through with hits of burgundy, bored into her, drinking her down. Two choices kept her on the edge of telling the truth or continuing living the lie.
“I haven’t decided,” he answered sincerely, by the expressionless face. “Norese loves her time with you. It’s the female connection I can’t provide.”
“I think we both should stop using that child as an excuse to be friends. My visits stopped being about the agreement a long time ago, Aroc.”
She didn’t move when his knuckle grazed her bottom lip, tracing the curve with the tip of his thumb, slowly seducing her boneless. “Have you ever been afraid of me other than when we had sex that one time?”
That stunned her thinking of how he’d set her body to blaze in the shower, leaving her limp and sated for days. “You thought it scared me?” she chuckled. “I guess I was overly emotional that month, but what we did was nothing short of beautiful.”
He drew in a breath, showing she’d shocked him. “You cried in the shower. I thought I’d hurt you, or turned you off by this alien body.”
She smacked her lips on a drawn out sigh. “Aroc, please, a blind woman would regain her sight if you stood before her naked. It’s why the females aren’t fully on board with me visiting you. They think we’re having sex. And that I get to spend time alone with you and Norese.” Sadie placed a palm to her heart. “I cried as an emotional release. Theresa and I had just buried our parents when you kidnapped me and I guess when you hugged me I fell apart.”