“Just so you know, my decision’s already made, and it’s final,” she said curtly. “I’m going home at the end of the week. You don’t get to pry me from my parents and brother just because you’re fun in the sack.”
He shrugged. “I will bargain with Lyr for access to the portals. We’ll return to your planet twice every Earth cycle, as is tradition for Ythirian mates when they leave their lineal homestead. The journey will be treacherous, but I will protect you.”
Her mouth hung open. It didn’t matter that his plan to visit for Christmas sort of worked. It was the wholly arrogant way he made the plans without her input that irked her. Like a king pleasing his subject. “What about my work?”
“Do it here.”
“I didn’t see an electron microscope on my way in.”
“Kaython will provide.”
“Kaython is your answer to everything!”
“Yes.” He was unbothered by the critique.
“How about my friends?”
“We visit them during our trips to Earth. You will introduce me, and I will meet their mates and best them in physical challenges until they are forced to accept me in their ranks.” His eyes had lit up with the idea of it.
Oh my God, he’s going to play Xbox with Elaine’s boyfriend. She scanned Garr and sighed. He’s right, he’ll probably win. She threw her hands in the air. “What do we tell them, hm? ‘I’ve moved to another planet, guys. Text me whenever.’ ”
“I’ll make them understand. There are several unmated males in my tribe. If you want a friend brought to Ythir, Onnar is a strong beta. He’s had bad luck in the challenges, but on Earth, he might do better.”
She gaped at him. Was he suggesting they hook up Marcy and one of his alien thugs? She went to retort, but then realized the truth: if Onnar were anything like Garr, Marcy would probably be asking what the weather was like on Ythir and how many bags to pack. “It’s not happening,” she growled. “I’m not staying on Ythir. You guys don’t even have Tivo.”
The hike was pleasant. The sky was bright and cloudless, the temperature just cool enough not to sweat during their march. At the foot of the same cliff the waterfall tumbled from, Garr removed pitons and climbing gear from the bag.
He touched her clothes, interfacing with them as he had the other night—and the rugged pants and shirt she wore added a climbing harness to her body. The snugness of the fit reminded of how the otoya had locked her hips to Garr’s in the kitchen, causing her cheeks to flame.
He checked the fit of her harness, and leaned down to whisper: “I don’t know what Tivo is, but I can keep you entertained.”
Fuming, she dusted her hands on a chalk pouch he’d attached at her hip.
Garr kept her tethered to him and typically lead the way, choosing a route Rae could follow. The cliff had an abundance of handholds, and while Rae had never been the most athletic person, she had the lower body strength to work her way up.
There were fortunately no overhangs in their path, and she found rest points to give her arms a break.
It was still an exhausting climb, more endurance than raw strength. Garr scaled at a sufficiently slow pace that he was always nearby.
Their target was a ledge midway up the cliff, one that formed a walking path that wrapped around the cliff and tucked behind the falls. The closer she got, the more often she felt Kaython’s electric touch.
Easy, you pushy bitch, she thought, addressing the message at the domé. I got your point the first six times. Stop at the ledge. Yeesh.
The electric sensation jolted up her spine—Kaython petulantly sticking her tongue out, perhaps.
About twenty feet shy of the ledge, Rae ran low on handholds and steam at the same time. Her forearms burned and the grip strength in her fingers had faded. Garr noticed right away and swung from his position, dropping down beside her by releasing the rock wall and catching hold of it every five feet or so. It was more a controlled fall than a climb, and he landed right beside her.
She expected him to attach another rope to her belt, scale back up, and hoist her to the ledge like the weak human she was hopelessly proving herself to be. Instead, he swung behind her, arms on both sides of her. The sudden movement shocked her.
His otoya transformed, and he launched strands into pitons he’d planted in the wall above them, and to either side of her. They created two anchors that “V”ed out from his body, molding into his harness so that, with his hands planted, he could lean back into a sitting position behind her.
Still clinging to the rock face, Rae craned her head over her shoulder. Seeing him in that relaxed position, as though on an easy chair suspended over a hundred-forty feet of nothing, he set both hands on her hips. “Lean into me.”