Nikhil(78)

"He hasn't done that yet?" Maysa couldn't hide her shock.

"No. Mackenzie has had much to deal with since her rescue. I believe Nikhil is waiting until she has recovered more fully."

"That's male thinking. A female would want him to offer his bead."

"A Kaliszian female would. She is a human female."

"She sounds intriguing."

"You would like her, Maysa. She is very intelligent and questions many of the things we just accept."

"Like our Suja beads." Maysa finally began to understand what had Luol questioning their beads. Her Dasho had a very inquisitive mind.

"Yes."

"What did she question?"

"That we only believe we've found our True Mate if our bead transfers to them."

"I see." Sadness filled Maysa's eyes knowing he was referring to how neither of their True Mate beads had transferred to the other, not even after all these years. "She doesn't realize how blessed she is."

"She believes it should be her choice," Luol told her quietly.

"She doesn't want Nikhil for her True Mate?" Maysa could understand the hesitation if this human female were truly as small as the coverings she sent indicated. Nikhil was the largest Kaliszian warrior in the Empire.

"Oh she does, but she finds it unacceptable that we only believe it because of the bead," Luol paused then continued. "She then asked me a question, and it shames me to say I don't know the answer."

"What question, Luol?" Maysa whispered.

"What I would do if my True Mate bead suddenly transferred to a female other than you?"

Maysa felt her breath catch and tears filled her eyes. "You would have to go to her."

"No!" Luol's chair hit the wall as he surged to his feet. "No! You are my Ashe. You are the mother of my offspring. You are the True Mate of my heart. No other could ever take your place for me, and if yours ever transferred to another male.... I would kill him, Maysa," he admitted his eyes glowing brightly. "I would fight to keep you."

"Luol..."

"Just the thought of it has me wanting to cut off my True Mate bead."

"No! Luol, no!" Maysa exclaimed reaching out to try and touch him through the screen.

"I will not lose you, Maysa."

"You are not going to. You are the True Mate of my heart too, Luol. Nothing, not even a bead, could ever change that."

"Vow it, Maysa!" he demanded, his eyes still glowing. "Vow it to me!"

"I vow it, Luol. There is only you in my heart."





Chapter Fifteen


Mac lifted her head from Nikhil's chest to stare down at his sleeping form. They'd barely made it into their quarters before Nikhil was tearing her coverings off. Damn, nothing had ever turned her on more than that amazing green glow that filled Nikhil's eyes as he looked at her. It was like the hottest, softest touch as it moved over her body and she felt it in the deepest part of her soul. How was that possible?

A part of her wanted to cut the True Mate bead out of her hair just to see if it was what was causing these incredible feelings, but another part of her screamed in protest. The bead meant something to Nikhil, and she didn't know what it would do to him if she removed it, and she would never intentionally harm him.

Fingering the bead that was causing all this confusion and heartache, she searched her soul for answers. She hadn't done that in a long time. Not since her grandpa had died and she'd had to decide what to do with her life. She'd come to accept that she probably wasn't going to have a happily ever after story, not with a man at least. She lived in a small town, had known most of the men there all her life, and except for Derek back in high school, none of them had ever attracted her. Most men wanted some tall, thin, beautiful woman who knew what to say and how to dress. Men like Craig. She knew the only reason he was fixated on her was because she was the only female available.

She had her mountain and while she was sometimes lonely, she had at least been content.

Then the Ganglians had shown up, and she'd lost her mountain.

A small smile grew on her lips as she looked down at Nikhil. But she'd found a mountain of a man and that was a trade she'd willingly take every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

She felt the questions and chaos in her mind and soul settle then fade away. She wanted Nikhil because she wanted him. Bead or no bead. He was kind and gentle, was sweet and huge. He was protective, and he was everything she never knew she wanted.

Yes, they had only known each other a few days, and had met under horrendous circumstances, but still she knew and trusted him and that trust ran soul deep.

She remembered her mother telling her how she and her father had met back when they'd still been a happy family.