“Hmm. Different how?” Her voice was sleepy.
“Calmer.” He raised his hand and combed his fingers through her short curls. She was using the same shampoo he’d always loved, a clean citrus scent with a light overlay of raspberry. She smelled good enough to eat. Not that he was going to. “Much less demon than before.” She hadn’t even drained off that much energy from him during their lovemaking.
“It’s the tai chi.” She rubbed her cheek against him like a contented kitten. He was astonished, because when they’d made love before the kitten had had claws. And she’d used them. Had enjoyed using them.
“The what?” He tilted his head to glance down at her.
“Tai chi.” Nix rose up a little, a smile curving her lips. “I tried karate. I tried kickboxing. I even tried yoga.” She met his look of surprise with a wider grin. “I know, me and yoga. Can you believe it? With some of the positions I swear I thought I was going to get stuck. Anyway, I finally latched on to tai chi, and that’s what worked. It centers me. Calms me. I do it every night before bed to get rid of the stresses of the day.”
“Amazing.” Tobias couldn’t deny it worked. The proof was in his arms. He pondered that and felt a slash of sadness that they hadn’t arrived at the solution years ago. He might not have had to leave her.
She cast him a sly glance. “Of course, I think having sex with you might do just as well…”
He cupped her chin and rewarded that observation with a long, slow kiss. When he drew away, she let out a little sigh, her mouth holding a contented smile. She settled back down against his chest. As if she’d read his mind, she asked, “So, what have you been doing with yourself for the last five years?”
He glanced down at her. There was no censure in her tone or her eyes. She appeared calm, serene even. This was such a change from the way she was before. It gave him hope that she finally did have a handle on her demon. Certainly their lovemaking hadn’t been as violent as it had in the past. “I’m on Natchook’s trail again.”
She rose up on one elbow. She stared at him for a few seconds and then said, “I know you didn’t look for him at all while we were together. What changed?”
“We changed. You and me.” He didn’t know how else to put it. When he and Nix had been together before, the driving need for revenge had lessened. She had taken over his thoughts and desires so that not much else could find room in his mind. He’d let her distract him from his mission. Willingly. Gladly, even. Because being with her had given his life purpose. Much more than any vow of revenge could do.
He knew eventually his mandate for upholding the law would have taken hold, but for a while he’d been happy and hadn’t wanted anything to ruin his serenity. All that had changed when he’d come to realize how detrimental he had been to Nix’s mental well-being. “I couldn’t take the chance that you’d lose your grip on your humanity, and then your sanity, because of me, honey. It seemed a good time to get back on his trail. I eventually would have started looking for him again, anyway. It’s always been my mission to find him and bring him to justice—”
“You mean kill him,” she interrupted. When he just stared at her, she gave a little shrug. “Let’s not sugarcoat it here, Tobias. You’re an executioner. A guilty verdict has been pronounced and you’re here to deliver the death sentence.”
“That was my directive as an Enforcer of the High Laws.” He clenched his jaw. Regardless that Natchook had used him to get to his target, Tobias would still have volunteered to follow him and be the one to bring him to justice. “He murdered the leader of my people, Nix, in full view of hundreds of thousands. He was found guilty; he has no defense.”
“I know, I know. It’s just…” Nix sighed. Her gaze dropped and she started playing with the hair on his chest. “You’re not an enforcer anymore, and you’re on Earth now. All that happened a long time ago.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Tobias put two fingers under her chin and lifted her face to stare into her eyes. “He used me, used our friendship, to get close enough to Kai Vardan to murder him.” Even now he still felt the sting of that betrayal, the sadness over losing someone who could have, would have, made a difference in the lives of his people. “Kai was a good man, Nix. A noble man in the truest sense. He didn’t deserve to be assassinated.”
“I’m sure he didn’t.” Her expression remained gentle, her tone soft. She lay back down, her head next to his on the pillow. “But wouldn’t justice be better served here, now, to bring Natchook in alive? To take him to court and try him according to our laws?”