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  “Do we have time?”

  He chuckled. “They will wait for us.”

  Nothven returned, and she took his arm. They followed the mayor through several halls until they reached his study. He walked to a pedestal near his desk and flicked on a light.

  “Oh, good grief.” It was obvious to Mae that the mayor was correct. “What is she the goddess of?”

  Nothven was trying not to laugh. His shoulders were shaking.

  Maeryn looked at the statuette, the hair was hers, the face was hers, the body was hers but the suit was her new custom bodysuit. The woman stood with her arms outstretched at her sides, her face toward the heavens.

  “What exactly is she the goddess of?” Mae really didn’t want to know.

  “Battle, strategy and cleavage. It is a strange combination to be sure, but the Cheevans are a strange people, crafting gods after those they challenge.” The mayor grinned, “So it is you?”

  “Yes. I don’t know how they got my new battle suit into the design, but that is definitely me. Where did you get it?”

  Nothven was examining it. “I want one.”

  The mayor barked a laugh. “That is what I said when I saw it. I bought it five seasons ago from a limping Cheevan ship. It was sold dearly. She is now standard issue for Cheevans entering deep space.”

  Mae shook her head. “Dare I ask what she is called?”

  “Argent Assinar. Apparently, their translation capabilities are limited.”

  Nothven lost it. He howled with laughter.

  Maeryn kicked his feet out from under him, and he landed with a thud. He paused for a moment and then cackled again.

  “Oh, grow up.” She crossed her arms and tapped her elegant shoe.

  Mayor Hinovin was chortling. “You have to admit it is amusing.”

  “I can admit it and still want him to stop snickering like a schoolgirl.”

  It took Nothven a moment and he got back to his feet, brushing dust off his trousers. “I have to admit that it isn’t every man who can claim to have a genuine goddess for a mate.”

  She scowled at him. “You are not making a very good impression on your would-be mate.”

  The mayor separated them. “Children, you can fight after dinner.”

  She flipped her skirt and headed for the exit. “I am sure I can find a dinner partner who does not laugh at me.”

  Nothven wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. “I promise to worship you later, goddess. Please don’t be angry.”

  She sighed and relaxed against him. “Fine, but your dinner conversation had better be inoffensive and entertaining.”

  He sighed. “You are severely limiting my options.”

  “That is what having a mate is all about.”

  Chapter Eight

  After the third recounting of her strategy and Obnalik’s obliging bladder, Maeryn was getting tired of polite conversation.

  She sighed and reached for her wineglass, sipping carefully.

  When the first strains of music began, her heart skipped a beat for joy. Final courses were done and cleared away. Folks were lingering over their wine, and as the music built in strength, couples rose to their feet and began dancing.

  Nothven winked, “Would you do me the honour?”

  She sighed, “Do I have to hear that story again?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then, I am all yours.”

  She curled her hand around his arm and let him lead her to the dance floor.

  He whispered, “Tease.” And they were in the whirl of couples.

  Nothven was a far better dancer than she was, but then, she only had bopping along to classic rock and the initial classes she had taken in basic training. He swooped, twirled and glided with her around the dance floor. He was strong, he was graceful and, at that moment, Maeryn realized he was out of her league.

  To hell with that, she was going to jump him anyway.

  “Your eyes are almost as pale as mine. I have heard that people find them upsetting.”

  She grinned and clutched at him as they slid between two couples before rotating slowly in place. “Unsettling is the word I encourage people to use. There are a few others that I know who have exceedingly pale eyes for one reason or another. Mine can be blamed on genetics.”

  They twisted left then right then left again. “Mine as well. I come from northern stock, and the paler eyes are part and parcel of that particular genetic strain.”

  She looked into his crystal grey eyes and broke the contact with a quick flick of her eyes. “Interesting. I had not realized that the Oefric had as many combinations as my people do.”

  “Ours have blended together more over the history of our development. Based on the information I have taken in over the last two years, your folk will get there eventually.”

  She focussed her gaze on the slow pulse in his neck. “Yes, and I am sure that many more of my people will make their way to the stars. It was funny that only two thousand were allowed out here out of billions available.”

  The music shifted and the formality of the previous dance was forgotten. Nothven held her snugly against him as they swayed in a slow pattern.

  “Billions? Really?”

  It was always a laugh when population was discussed with species who needed extra space for running. “Yes, we were planning to pile up on each other and eventually reach the stars by stacking alone.”

  He chuckled. “I understand you were beginning a space program.”

  “Not me personally, but in the last five or six decades, we have managed to park a few things in orbit as well as send out a few probes.” The distraction of having her body rub against his caused her to speak quickly.

  “How did you come to join the Alliance?”

  Her lips curled at the memory. “It is a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  His hand caressed her back slowly and to time with the music. “I am very sure, though if it is a private matter, I can wait until we have some time alone.”

  “It isn’t private. My friends applied on my behalf, and after six of them declared me, the Volunteer co-ordinator showed up at my home. I fixed him some tea, and we had a conversation about one being’s ability to affect probability. He asked me to try and alter his future, but I said I couldn’t. When he asked what I could do, he watched as I went to the door, spoke to the third guard he had brought with him and obtained the Volunteer contract. He asked me how I knew about the contract, so I smiled at him and told him that my own future was always within my control.”

  “Is it?”

  Mae grinned, “No, but it sounds better than I know I have to force feed an alien ambassador alcohol to save his life and mine five years from now.”

  He chuckled. “When did you first see me?”

  “You or us?”

  He made a noise deep in his chest—it was part purr part growl. “Us. I want to know when you first saw us together.”

  He swung her in a circle that threw her off balance and she clutched at him. “The first time I saw you was just after I had been told of the assignment to Ambassador Ranith as his daughter’s nanny and bodyguard. The moment I acknowledged the assignment, I started to see a flicker of pale eyes when I closed mine. I did not see us until you disembarked from the drop shuttle with the rest of your escort. I was out in the gardens with Alsa, and the moment that I saw you, images flooded through my mind. I had to sit down, and Alsa asked me if I was all right. I don’t think I ever answered her.”

  The music changed to something faster, but she resisted. “I think I would like to sit or take a walk, if that isn’t too much trouble.”

  Nothven smiled, “The residence has lovely gardens.”

  She took his arm as he led her through the crowd and out into the open air. She inhaled deeply. “I miss this.”

  She looked up at the sky and watched the moons in their slow dance to the music of the heavens. The stars in their foreign configurations always made her mind reel with t
he excitement of being somewhere new.

  “What do you miss?”

  “The moment of doing nothing, simply living in the time as it passes without looking into the future. I know it sounds stupid, but there it is.”

  The gardens were well tended and carefully arranged to provide a nice, slow walking path through waist-high hedges.

  Nothven started them on a path. “It isn’t stupid. I can understand the living in the moment, though the future has been much on my mind lately.”

  She chuckled. His arm shifted until it was wrapped around her waist, his thumb on the lower edge of her breast. She breathed carefully but balanced herself with an arm around his waist as well. As they walked, Mae rested her head on his shoulder. It was one of the perfect moments in her life. Her mind and body were in complete harmony and twisting the future was the least desirable option.

  “So, how long do we have to remain at this dinner until you take me home?” She shattered the silence with her question.

  Nothven stopped in place, turned them both around and walked back the way they had come with a deliberate stride.

  “Nothven, if you are trying to force march me to your bed, you could just ask. I have no objection to spending the night with you.” Her lips quirked as her skirt fluttered. “I won’t change my mind.”

  He slowed his step, and he gave her a sheepish grin, “Was it that obvious?”

  “Sort of. I have never run away from a lover in my life, it was all that I could to keep myself from running to you.”

  They re-joined the party and moved toward the mayor and his wife. They said their goodbyes and were dismissed with knowing looks.

  “I have never left a party where everyone I passed knew I was going to be rolling around naked in less than an hour.”

  Nothven turned and lifted her for a passionate kiss in the entryway of the residence. When he broke the kiss, he chuckled. “You haven’t been to many Oefric parties then.”

  As they stepped into his skimmer and he began to take her to his home, she had to admit he was right. She hadn’t been to many Oefric parties, but if they managed to come together this time, once would be enough.

  Chapter Nine

  “This is the house that was waiting for me when I returned from Brokhan. My family was delighted to have me back.” Nothven’s hands were steady on the controls as they approached the Oefric equivalent of a Terran ranch house.

  “It’s nice. How many people are in your family?”

  He grimaced good-naturedly. “Too many at times.”

  She chuckled and shivered lightly in the evening air. Mae rubbed her arms to warm herself as he settled the skimmer.

  “Are you cold?”

  “A little. This dress was not designed for its insulation properties.” She smiled at him.

  “It is lovely. You chose well. I have rarely seen one of Rehani’s gowns so suit the wearer.” His eyes were appreciative as he helped her out of the skimmer.

  Mae was suddenly shy. It was one thing to flirt with him when there were others around, but this was the first time that no one would interrupt what flared between them. “Rehani liked it on me as well.”

  “She has excellent taste. What did you think of Dotha?” He took her hand as they walked up the path toward his home.

  Lights were triggered by their approach, and the greenery around his home took on a subtle glow from the ground up.

  “Dotha is lovely. How old is she?”

  “Twenty-five. She will be seeking her own mate in a few years and was delighted to be helping me with mine. I am sure she ran straight to my parents’ home the moment you left.”

  “So, not much younger than me. Good to know. I am never sure with other species what constitutes an adult.”

  “What is it for your species?” His tone was curious, but his hand on her waist was warm.

  “Legally, it is between eighteen and twenty-one in most places, but customs differ from region to region. Where I grew up, you could wed as early as sixteen.” She bit her lip to stifle nervousness.

  He shuddered. “But when were you completely mature?”

  “Around twenty-five. That is when my body finished filling out and settled into the curves I have today.”

  “So, before we met for the first time.”

  She nodded.

  He opened the door and waved his arm for her to enter. “Good. I was enchanted by your form at the time and really hoping that I wasn’t lusting after someone immature.”

  “No, I am as adult as I am going to get.” She quirked her lips and looked around. Subtle lighting activated as she moved through the entryway and into his home.

  “Good. You are a little smaller than the average Oefric female, but I think that we can work around it.” His footfalls were completely silent, but his voice was right behind her and the husky tone shook her to her core.

  She licked her lips and kept exploring, the heat of his body behind her the whole way. “I am fairly sure that we will. There are too many images for this to be a failed try.”

  His voice was close to a purr. “How many images?”

  She shrugged as she walked through his kitchen, looking at the tea set that seemed standard no matter where she went. The teas changed but the tea sets were ubiquitous. “I don’t know. Close to a thousand. Some are from the same evening, but there are different places, lighting and clothing. Unless you like to change wardrobe between positions, it seems to indicate a fairly extensive relationship.”

  “I am glad to hear it. I have spent time imagining a future with you, but having you this close makes this moment the most important thing in my life.”

  Taking a breath for self-control, she turned and let him catch her. “Well, I am done with the slow chase. You have caught me, now what?”

  He wrapped his hands around her waist. His warm, calloused palms heated her exposed skin. “I think it’s time to bring the future into our present day.”

  He leaned down to kiss her, and she went up even further on her toes than the heeled shoes allowed. The kiss was sweet, deep and sent her senses spinning.

  When she backed away and opened her eyes, he was holding her at eye level and her arms were around his neck. She blushed. “This can’t be comfortable.”

  He grinned and nipped at her lower lip. “I can manage.”

  Her fingers were toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. Mae leaned forward and pressed her lips to the pounding pulse of his throat. She licked it, and he made that groan-purr noise again.

  She quivered slightly, and as she raised her head, she noted that he was moving and taking her with him.

  Mae began to unfasten his shirt, exposing the remaining trail of the three claw marks. “What did you do to get a Brokhan General classification?”

  He grinned. “You know what it is?”

  She was surprised. “Of course. It is a great honour, and an accidental clawing would never have been so straight.”

  He set her on her butt on the edge of the bed. With smooth movements, he removed her shoes.

  She groaned and wiggled her feet. “I know they give off mating indicators, but high-heeled shoes should be outlawed.”

  Nothven chuckled and wrapped each foot in a hand, massaging gently. “They do make your ass look more amazing than it already is.”

  She groaned as his thumbs rubbed the undersides of her toes. “Nice save.”

  His features took on a look of concentration as he rubbed the arch of her toes again, and she moaned in response. High-heeled shoes had never been her favourite thing, but if she could get a foot rub after wearing them, she might learn to enjoy them.

  She sighed, moaned and squirmed as the small touches between her toes had a peculiar effect between her thighs. Reflexology had never been something she indulged in back home, and now, she was thinking that it was a terrible shame—his soft touch was having the same effect as if he was stroking his hands up her inner thighs.

  Her skin was flushed, and she didn’t meet his g
aze as he looked at her. He flipped back the edge of her skirt and stroked her calves to her knees.

  Flustered, she asked. “So, how did you become a Brokhan General?”

  “I saved the wife and daughter of the High Magistrate from an incoming shuttle crash. He tried to give me his daughter, but I politely refused, citing that I had a mate waiting for me.”

  “Very wise. Those Brokhan women bite.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a bite or two.”

  His massage moved up her thighs, and she held her breath as her wet heat became apparent.

  Nothven’s crystal grey eyes grew hot, he unlatched the jewelled belt that held up her skirt and pulled it away, dropping it on the floor.

  Mae’s cheeks were scarlet as she sat there with only her bodice and the jewellery on her body. When he reached behind her and unfastened the bodice with one hand, her face should have been hot enough to melt metal.

  With a voice gone weak and breathy, she said, “Be careful with that dress, it is all I have to wear until I get my suit back from Dotha.”

  “It is out of danger but only just. I love that you get wet from a simple touch.” He nuzzled at her neck and breathed in deeply.

  She pushed at his shirt, and he removed it while sniffing her scent from her neck to her belly until he was breathing it in between her thighs.

  His breath on her sex encouraged her to spread her legs, and when he nuzzled at her folds, she whimpered out loud. The moment that the heat of his tongue parted her to dip inside, she felt a tremor that started in her core and spread outward. As he nipped at the bud of her clit, the tremor turned to sharp spasms and her hips jerked in response.

  Her voice broke as she whined and moaned her way through the first shocks of pleasure.

  Nothven backed away and stripped off his boots and trousers before re-joining her on the bed. She touched the scars that were as familiar to her as the passionate curve of his lips.

  It was time to enjoy the present, just a little.

  Chapter Ten

  Nothven sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Mae into his lap. She smiled at the memory of something that was about to happen.