Page 180 of Alien Burn

“I love you,” she said.

He kissed her before answering, slowly enough to feel her smile against his mouth.

“I love you.”

She looked back at the stars, keeping his arms around her. The burn stirred as she settled closer. He bent his head to her hair and breathed her in, with all the time she cared to give him.

For once, he let the next thing wait.

EPILOGUE

WYLEIGH

Xaul checked the dampening field twice before he sat down.

Wyleigh waited. Her counsel had obtained an order allowing private visits from her mate.

The tighter procedures following Roemary's arrest had delayed him while the guards checked that order, took two devices, and tested the field generator they let him keep. They had inspected what he brought.

They were still bound by the permission she had secured.

He had found the experience insulting.

“They are inspecting everything,” he said.

“As they should have been doing before.”

He looked at her sharply.

She folded her hands on the table. The prison chair was uncomfortable. She had refused a cushion because accepting one would make someone feel generous toward her, and she had no use for that kind of generosity.

“Vandrel has filed another protest,” Xaul said. “The Rhysgarrds are spending heavily.”

“For their daughter?”

“For the case.”

Wyleigh inclined her head. There was a distinction, and he had finally noticed it.

“Khalzin has his proof,” Xaul continued. “The follow-up confirms the pregnancy is progressing. Every discussion of my work now begins with his results.”

“Our son has always enjoyed being right.”

“He is right, Wyleigh. That is the difficulty.”

For the first time, his anger seemed to have tired him. She watched him rub at a mark on the table.

“Then stop arguing with the part he has proved.”

He looked up.

“The program is one problem,” she said. “The search is another.”

His hand stopped moving.

“Ruthak's equipment?”

“Still there. Hawn will not accept the exclusions. Dhomhes has begun comparing the old survey boundaries.”