AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her scowl deepens. “No.”
I am relieved until I recall that humans do not need to find their mate to have younglings.
“What of younglings?”
“Younglings? You mean children? No. No children either. This is all pristine.” She pats her stomach, glowering at me.
“Good,” I say, and her expression turns disgusted. I am unsure what I have said to displease her, so I choose my next words carefully, make sure to speak them clearly. “I am glad youhave not been forced to leave younglings behind. That would be an extreme cruelty, even for Mercenia.”
The disgust evaporates, confusion replacing it.
“That wouldn’t have bothered you? If I already had kids?”
“See, you are already concerned about what bothers me,” I say. “Perhaps you are not so set against having me as your mate as you think.”
I grin at her to make it clear I am only teasing. She gives me an unimpressed look, but her expression softens within the space of a breath.
“It wouldn’t have bothered you?” she repeats.
“Of course it would have. Separating a mother from her younglings is a terrible thing.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about me. Being second-hand goods.”
Again, the dreamspace has to work to make her words make sense to me. I have the advantage of the knowledge of all my mated brothers before me, and it is still difficult sometimes to understand her true meaning.
“You speak of yourself as if you are an object to be traded,” I say.
“You call me ‘yours’,” she fires back, bright irritation flashing in her eyes. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
“I would not trade you.” I let a little heat come into my voice, so she knows I am serious, truthful. “That suggests that you are of low value to me, something I could just give away. If you understand one thing in all our conversations, let it be this - you are mine and I am yours and there is nothing I could be given on this world or any other that could persuade me to part with you.”
Her lips part in a soft, round shape, putting the thought of human kisses in my headspace. The urge to slant my mouth over hers, to learn her taste, is overwhelming. But before I can do something very unwise, I feel a strange sensation - a sort offlickering at the edges of my vision. The dreamspace starting to unravel.
“Forget your human ways of thinking about things,” I say, making my voice softer, gentler, though urgency bleeds through. “Especially all the ways in which you have been told you have no value. You are not an object to be traded, mostly because you are not an object at all. You are a person with thoughts in your headspace, feelings in your heartspace, just as I am. We might be different, my Angie, but Lina has chosen us for each other, and that means that you are the most important thing to me. My mate, my linasha.”
I get to my feet and so does she. Because I desire there to be nothing between us, the low table vanishes, and I take a step forward, daring to reach out a hand, brush a strand of her hair out of her face. It feels impossibly soft beneath my fingertips.
“You will wake soon, and I will be away, working with my brothers. If I could stay, see you in the waking world first, then know that I would. But it is an important task I have been set. The future and safety of the tribe may well depend on it, and I would not neglect that. You are important to me, but if the tribe is not safe, then I cannot keep you safe. I hope this is something you can understand. That you will not think too ill of me for my absence.”
She makes a strange sort of sound, like a strangled gasp, but no protest. I lower my hand, step back. Give her just a little more space.
“You should take the time while I am gone to speak with your sisters. Ask any questions you might have. Tell them of what we have discussed and test the truth of my answers so you can be sure I have not misled you in anything.”
Her brow furrows, her eyes hardening a little. “There isn’t some rule against that?”
I shrug. “Only the rules of your own comfort.”
“And what about your comfort?”
I know she does not ask out of concern for my comfort. She looks for a trap, her whole body bristling defensively in anticipation of one.
Grinning, I lean close to her. “Tell them every little detail if you wish. Do not fear for my pride. My brothers and sisters will tell you I have plenty enough for it to suffer a little bruising without permanent damage.”
“I don’t need to speak to anyone to know that’s true,” she says, a hint of fire flashing in her eyes.
I’m laughing as the dreamspace disintegrates around us, and grinning still as I open my eyes to the waking world.
CHAPTER TEN
