Alien General's Baby (Brion Brides 7)(12)

"You are protecting them," Braen said, seeing the way Naima's body reacted to his voice.

There were other reactions from her too, ones he heard and deduced. They made his cock press even harder against his armor, needing to answer her body's call, so clear and so undeniable.

He refused that lust. A gesha wasn't someone to just fuck, she was his life and heart and Braen was resolved to take her right the first time, no matter how much he ached to make their bond real. Even though he had barely met her, he already knew she was his everything. The rest were just… details.

And he intended to have plenty of time to figure those out.

"The Fearless senses you," he went on as the hatch closed after them and the ship began its ascent back to the Benevolent. "The farther you are from them, the safer they are. This place is far from where the creature is now. It is unlikely he'll come here if you are gone, even if the stone is still there.

“The warriors guarding it are all more than capable. No unidentified, uncleared ship is allowed to approach. Every other known repository is guarded as well. The galaxy stands together for this one. The Fearless is a threat to us all."

Naima nodded, the sadness in her body undeniable. So far, every time her eyes fell on Braen, she hadn’t been able to hide the slight smile on her lips, but this time it was missing. For a moment, Braen wondered about this, but tucked it in the back of his mind along with the rest of the many mysteries that were racking up about this young female before him.

Geshas didn't get the recognizing moment, but they could certainly feel the attraction that was between the fated couple. He had to assume she felt it. At least from the little he had seen so far, there was hope.

She opened her mouth to answer something, but the words never came.

He was so enticed by her that Braen almost missed the moment Naima's eyes glazed over. For a second, it looked like her eyes were filled with a snowstorm. Braen rushed to her side, catching her before she could stumble back and fall. She was as cold as ice to the touch.#p#分页标题#e#

"Back to the Benevolent!" he roared and the nearest warriors jumped to obey his command, speeding up the fighter.

Naima opened her eyes when Braen grabbed her wrist. The Palian bracelet almost fell off before Braen caught it and put it back. The latch must have been slightly open for it to almost come off that way. Braen would have to have words with the Palians about their design.

Immediately after the latch clicked shut, the storm in her eyes dissipated and Naima looked at him with her own clear green eyes again.

"What happened?" she asked, his gesha's voice unbearably weak, worry flickering in those mesmerizing eyes of hers.

Braen could guess, but he didn't want to think about the implications of that answer. He knew he would protect Naima against anything that wanted to hurt her, but even Braen couldn't fight something he couldn't see.

"It seems your connection to the lifestone and to the Fearless is stronger than we thought," he admitted reluctantly. "This bracelet is the only thing shielding you. Do not take it off. If something happened to you—"

Braen trailed off. The thought of losing his gesha right after finding her, experiencing the joy her simple existence brought… it was too painful. Brion warriors feared neither death nor pain, but even the possibility of losing their fated was the worst thing they could have imagined. The general now understood the fear of that possibility all too well, when before it had simply been a theoretical possibility to him.

Naima was looking at him, curiosity shining in her beautiful eyes as the ship took them back to the Benevolent with full haste.

"Anything could happen to me," she joked, smiling. "If we are going after the Fearless."

"Not anymore," Braen said and the seriousness of his deep voice made Naima's eyes fly wide open. "Nothing in the galaxy can hurt you now that you're with me."

"That is a bit much to promise, don't you think?" Naima asked as Braen helped her stand, unable to resist touching her soft skin a little more than absolutely necessary. "You have a whole galaxy to protect, not just an individual. Even so, there are no guarantees in life."

"Not to me," Braen replied, almost growling.

The words poured out of his mouth, an uninvited but unstoppable flow.

"I know nothing is ever certain before it happens," he said, pulling Naima into his arms, which she permitted out of sheer shock or perhaps because she didn't really want to resist.

He would accept either option at this point, if it only kept her against him a moment longer.

"The galaxy we live in is a cruel and unforgiving place. I should know. I've seen things you wouldn't believe and I have met the Fearless before. At that time, my death was almost a guarantee, yet I stand here before you now. I never fully understood how I walked away from that fight, but now it is all clear. I lived to see you."

Every word he said sent tiny shivers through Naima's body. Brion senses caught them all, telling Braen just how enthralled his gesha was by what he was saying. Her attention belonged to him entirely.

Naima's big green eyes were wide like she was just witnessing the world crumbling apart around her, and that wasn't far from the truth.

"You are right," Braen said, his deep voice laden with emotion. "I can't promise something that doesn't depend on just me. I am who I am. My best is as close to a guarantee as you can get and for you, I will do better.

“The Fearless will never again hurt the galaxy, but first and foremost I will protect you. Come what may, you are my fated and until there is still strength left in me, nothing can harm you. From this day on until the day darkness takes me, you are not alone."

Silence fell when Braen was done. Understanding dawned in Naima's beautiful eyes. The general saw the myriad of emotions going through her as clearly as if they were his own. Confusion, disbelief, as expected.

But also desire, hope, sweet expectation.

She was a scientist. As such, he was certain that she was at least theoretically acquainted with the concept of geshas in the Brion culture. Watching her quickly make sense of what he was telling her was so compelling that Braen almost missed the moment when she stopped analyzing and rationalizing.

Eventually, Terran stubbornness won out and she stopped getting lost in the fairytale. Braen barely suppressed a smile. If the brides of his brother generals were anything to go by, Naima was going to be perfect for him with her quick temper and wit.

"I am your gesha," she said, her voice shaking a little.#p#分页标题#e#

"Yes," was all Braen said.

"I don't know what to say to that," Naima admitted, almost apologetic. "I have heard about your sacred bonds, I know they mean everything to you, but –"

Braen stopped her before she could continue.

"You don't have to say anything," he said, although his heart was beating so loudly in her presence it felt like bursting. "For now, all I ask is that you believe me."

"About the bond?" Naima asked, her small smile brightening up the dark ship like daylight breaking in. "I know you don't lie about them."

"About anything," Braen corrected, still holding her in his arms, loving the soft, warm feeling of her body under his fingers. "Every word I just told you is true. No matter what becomes of us, I will never let anything bad happen to you."

Naima said nothing about that, but her body spoke for her without the little Terran even knowing it. There was desire in her body language, but hesitance as well.

Braen swore that he would have his gesha come to him with all that doubt gone, soon. She was destined for him, even if she didn't know it yet.

For a prize like that, waiting wasn't too much of a sacrifice.





7





Naima





Before, when she had felt like the world was doing cartwheels, Naima had been naïve to believe it was already as bad as it was going to get.

Now, that seemed like light turbulence compared to the twists and turns her life had taken in the few short hours that followed.

Still, even all the stuff about the Fearless didn't come close to Braen's passionate announcement. The foundations her perception of the world was built on were shaking and didn't show signs of calming down anytime soon.

Naima felt seasick. In space.

She knew what being one-half of a fated couple meant. It was a hyperbole, only a very real one.

To everyone else, it sounded over-the-top and ridiculous, but Brions could use words like "forever", "eternal love" and "undying devotion" with a straight face. They were perks of the bonds actually being real, as much as people who weren't in them could tell. The fact that the Galactic union   recognized the bonds and all their implications was just proof no one doubted them.

That was all fine and dandy, but as Naima ascended to the Benevolent in a speeding fighter, the implications made her shake in her boots. It was very hard to argue with "eternal" and "unbreakable" by saying Terrans liked things like freedom of choice and picking their own partners. On Terra, marrying a guy after three seconds of introduction was generally considered foolish to say the least. Brions disagreed.

If the recognizing moment occurred, there was no room for doubt.

That didn't sit so well with Naima, even though her rational side was cheering and hooting. She was all about reasonable doubt, even if the man in question was nothing short of a mouth-watering hunk who was ready to commit his fucking army to saving the world in her name.