Alien General's Chosen (Brion Brides 4)(25)

Leiya looked at him like he was speaking a whole different language.

“I don’t know!” she said. “What were you doing then?”

“I was about to show him how to get out of a position like that, even when heavily injured.”

There, a slight hesitation on her part, but his gesha pushed the emotion aside. She’d done that a lot ever since they met, Faren had noticed. He could have told her it was unreasonable to deny her own emotions, but he didn’t. She wasn’t exactly disagreeing with him, she was refusing to agree with him. Nothing he could do about that.

She looked as if she was about to cry. Faren had no idea how he could stop that from happening. It seemed his ability to make people feel what he wanted them to feel didn’t work with her. Maybe it was because she was human, maybe it was the bond. The result was the same one way or another.

“I want to go home,” Leiya said.

He knew she did. Faren wondered if she knew how far from home she really was.

“You can’t,” he simply said.

"Because you won't let me go!" Leiya protested, her voice going from angry to sad in a second. "I want to go home, to Briolina, to my family..."#p#分页标题#e#

"You really don't know."

"Don't know what?" Leiya asked, glaring at him. "That I should just accept all this like a good Brion. I'm sorry, I can't-"

"I know," Faren said. "I understand it's hard for you to accept, exactly like it was for Isolde."

The look in Leiya's eyes was pure confusion.

"What are you talking about?" she asked quietly.

"You're human, like her."

For the first time aboard the Unbroken, Leiya smiled, but not because she found it funny.

"You're joking."

That was definitely the first time he'd ever been accused of that.

"I am not," he said. "You might not like it, but you were brought to Briolina for this exact purpose. To see if a human could be a gesha. Isolde already proved it, but it happened with you as well."

"I-" Leiya began to say. "I – I don't believe you. My father would have told me, he..."

"He knows. He was the one who brought you here. Him and Senator Primen."

It was quite a truth to drop on someone, but Faren felt like she deserved to know. That was all he could do for her. Give her the truth and trust the fate, like a Brion.

Her eyes were fierce when she locked their gazes. Only the night before, Faren had thought she might warm up to him at last. Day by day, she could slowly get used to her new position. It didn’t seem so likely anymore.

“I don't believe you,” she said, slowly and surely. “Take me home.”

“That’s not wise,” he said seriously. “I told you it wasn’t safe. I understand you are feeling angry now, but you’ll get used to this.”

“No,” she said and there was something final in her voice, something very broken. “You still don’t understand. I don’t want you to be my gerion. Before you say that we are fated, I know! I feel the pull, I believe you. But I don’t want this. I’m saying no. I’m saying no now, and I’ll always say no. I will never be your gesha. Take me home, please.”

Just a year ago, Faren might have argued with her. The Brion bindings were sacred to them, and it wasn’t so long ago that no one doubted them. Only he’d personally met those who had denied the bond. Diego’s healer, Urenya, had filled them in briefly on the matter. It was slowly becoming public too.

The Elders had long taught them that the bindings always worked. In truth, they almost always worked. There were a few special occasions when they simply didn’t. The current High Senator Eleya had denied her gerion, and Faren couldn’t say she’d been wrong.

Senator Eren had almost destroyed all Brions with his plan to bring them to an eternal war with the rest of the galaxy. In truth, he admired her courage at denying fate and the bond that she had to have felt.

So with the certainty of the bond taken from them all, he found he couldn’t really tell Leiya that she was wrong. If she felt so strongly and so negatively about him, there was nothing he could do. He was who he was and so was she. It didn’t surprise him that she took him for a monster. Nor was it a surprise that she didn't believe him.

But to let her go back to Briolina… Away from the safety of the Unbroken. How could he do that? Even with Primen’s position being as shaky as it was, it didn’t take much. One stray bullet, one skilled assassin. She was so frail, like all humans. Her little escape had shown him she wasn’t entirely helpless. His gesha could think on her feet, but she wouldn’t be a match for a warrior.

The look in her eyes, however, was terrible. Faren saw no doubt, no regret. He didn’t know if she was aware of the uncertainty of the bonds, but ultimately it didn’t matter. It was over.

He’d thought the binding and his gesha would make him complete, make him a better warrior. He still wasn’t certain it wouldn’t have, but that didn’t matter anymore. He’d tried, and she’d denied him.

All he could do was to make sure she was safe. Even if Leiya wouldn’t be his, he’d make sure nothing harmed her.

“Very well,” he said.

It felt like defeat. Worse than defeat. He’d suffered losses in his life, but that was beyond all of them. Emotions he was so good at denying threatened to choke him. For the first time in his life, Faren had to fight to restrain himself.

Leiya suddenly looked like a bucket of cold water had been dropped on her head.

“Really?” she asked. “You’re going to let me go?”#p#分页标题#e#

“On one condition,” Faren said.

The only thing that might keep him sane if Leiya insisted on putting herself in danger.

She looked at him, clearly preparing for something horrible.

“I want you to take Roven with you,” he said. “Whatever you say, you will still always be my gesha, and I will not let anything happen to you.”

The trip back down to Briolina was quiet. Faren presumed they both kept their silence because words seemed to only make things worse. Not to mention he wasn’t going to tell Leiya everything. Right before their leaving, he’d called Roven to him and given him a quick order in Brionese battle lingo.

“If anyone tries to hurt her, kill them.”

The warrior nodded, accepting that as he did everything.

Of course Roven wouldn’t be the only one keeping an eye on her. Faren had plenty of people on Briolina who would make it their business to see that she was safe. He would have to trust them to be able to protect her until he could find a way to deal with Primen.

The last rumor that had reached him was that the senator was hiring warriors out of service. More so, bringing the ones the army had deemed unfit out of their prisons. If that was true, it was all the proof Faren needed. It showed the senator still had connections to pull off something so forbidden and the clear intent to continue on the track he’d always been on.

He didn’t doubt Eleya had heard it too. Soon he’d be rid of the scheming senator and Leiya could be safe. From that particular enemy at least, but he had always been the boldest of them.

Leiya kept sneaking glances at him. As ever, Faren didn’t need much to read her emotions from her body language.

A part of her felt regret. That much was clear to him. Until she still denied herself those feelings, he would let her.

They were alone in the compartment of the shuttle, with Roven sitting in the pilot seat behind closed doors. It was a small room, and her scent was driving him wild. From what he’d heard, the coming days would be the worst to bear. The bond was still fresh, and he was not used to the constant, maddening pull of it towards the little starlet.

Every inch of his body ached to press her against him, slide his hands across her soft body, feel her hair falling over his fingers, taste her lips and claim her, make her scream in pleasure.

It would become easier in time. Faren had gotten used to many things in his life, he’d get used to another sense of incompleteness as well.

The shuttle shook suddenly, entering the atmosphere. Faren was used to the ways an aircraft moved, but Leiya lost her balance and fell with the shuttle. He caught her easily before she could collide with the heavy metal walls. Her hands clenched around the folds of his uniform jacket and didn’t let go even when the shuttle straightened up.

Faren didn’t push her away, but he didn’t pull her closer either. The little starlet seemed reluctant to look at him. As gently as he could, although carefulness didn’t come easy to him, he lifted up her chin. Surprisingly, she let him.

Her green eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted. The way she was breathing heavily made her breasts move maddeningly against his chest, and he did his best not to let it distract him. The moment required his full attention. It was the first time – and the last – that he could truly hold his gesha in his arms. Possibly she knew it too, which was why she didn’t fight him like she had for two days.

Her desire was obvious, and when he bent down to claim her lips, she didn’t move to pull away. Leiya’s full, pink lips opened hungrily for him, kissing him back with passion he’d never experienced before. Her slender, soft hands tugged at his jacket, pulling herself upwards, pressing her body against his like he knew she wanted. Like he wanted as well.