by Poppy Rhys
Something in the back of his mind pulled at him, enraging him further.
Wasn’t Yari her cell?
Wasn’t I her tormenter?
Hunter stopped in his tracks.
Ahh, I hurt!
Instantly, he felt a wave of regret wash over him.
For weeks, he’d tormented the one thing he was meant to cherish, to hold, and comfort. The only good thing that had come from half a decade in captivity.
His Mi’ska.
Awful things said in anger, resentment. He hurt her. Showed her the worst sides of him, and yet…
Finley had pushed past that. Cared for him. Thought herself falling in love with him. She’d said so in that clearing.
He remembered.
Leaning against a tree for strength, he laid a hand upon his chest. Why did it hurt so badly? It felt as if he couldn’t breathe.
All was ruined. He’d shred through everything good with his words of hate, his wrongly placed mistrust.
Hunter ached.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Finley stood on her balcony overlooking the jagged cliffs below. The black water of the Keeg Sea was angry tonight, crashing up against the rock wall in fierce bursts while the salty breeze gusted, as if it were cheering the waves on.
She breathed deeply, curling her slim fingers over the smooth, pale stone of the railing.
Fin stared out across the seemingly endless expanse of water until the horizon kissed the sky, blanketing the night with stars and Dor Nye’s four white and blue moons that hung like round globes of heavy fruit.
Some nights, like tonight, Rula and Evoy, the largest of the four, loomed so close she feared they’d crush her home planet.
Her second night back home, and she’d felt so out of place. Unsure where to begin again, or what to do. Just this morning, she’d found herself standing in the pantry staring at the shelves.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Everything was supposed to go back to the way it was.
“Want to talk about it?”
Finley startled, whirling around.
Dana smiled warmly, joining her on the balcony.
“I didn’t know you were here.” Fin hugged her.
“Just arrived.” She breathed deeply. “What’s eating your mind? You have your serious face on.”
Dana always did seem to have a sixth sense.
When Finley was quiet for long moments, Dana said, “Does it have anything to do with the Yarian?”
Again, she didn’t say anything.
“Why don’t you scream it? Ya know, like we used to do.” Dana grinned before she faced the ocean, drew in a deep breath and yelled, “I slept with a fish-man!”
Fin choked.
“And it was AWESOME!”
“You what?”
Dana’s cheeks were pink, and she looked simultaneously guilty and lively. “At Carnal Bazaar. He had fins, and, well… he really knew how to use them.”
Finley’s mouth dropped open.
She cracked up laughing.
“Don’t knock it!” Dana laughed along with her, then said, “Your turn.”
“You’re a jerk.” She said to the ocean.
“That was weak.”
Fin rolled her eyes, grabbed the balcony, sucked back a lungful of air and then screamed, “You’re a JERK!”
“Nice.” Dana grinned, and then then shrieked, “You have shitty taste in upholstery, Paola!”
Her bestie, ever the interior decorator.
Back and forth they screamed their troubles, desires, and secrets to the Keeg Sea, and it listened, faithful and patient as always. It raged with them, crashing its waves against the cliffs below.
It felt good. Really good.
Voices hoarse, hair wind whipped, they stood there, arms wrapped around each other as they stared out at the black water.
“I love him, Dana.” She finally whispered.
The blond rested her head against Fin’s. “I know.”
Dana remained quiet, as she usually did, patient as ever, because she knew Fin would confide in her when the time was right. Suddenly that made her teary-eyed.
“Let it out,” was all Dana said as she silently cried along with her.
****
Business resumed as usual for Finley, along with Dana. League One, the global news outlet, caught wind of her abduction, and though she refused to do any kind of interview, they ran a story anyway.
It brought in new clients by the droves.
Their interior design business was booming, and they were booked up for a solid year.
“I should’ve staged an abduction years ago.” She joked with Dana as she twirled in the chair in their small office located downtown.
“Mhm,” she answered, adding another client to the calendar. “Dranza Chic is officially the number one interior design business per League One’s directory!”
They howled with excitement.
“Now,” Dana said, shifting back into business mode, “should we go with royal blue, or gold, for the Lily’s gala?”
Lily, a major client they’d just landed, was head of a private medical facility, and she wanted them to oversee the interior.
“You know I’m better with placement than colors.”
“Entertain me.” Dana begged.
“Both.”
She deliberated, pinning both swatches to the large board. She turned, grinning. “Love!”
Fin smiled, watching Dana pin more pieces together as she got lost in the work.
Her eyes drifted to the window, watching the residents of Dranza stroll by as life moved on while a piece of Fin seemed to be stuck in limbo.
With each passing week, it got easier to wake in the morning, eat, and function like a normal person.
Sleeping through the night was harder. Those first nights alone, she found herself waking on the cold floor, as if the bed was too comfortable.
Fin thought dreams of Hunter would fade, but they only seemed to get worse. More vivid.
She could feel his hands caressing her. Felt the bite of his shouted words.
Hate for him, love for him, it warped her sleep.
“Fin?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you help me with this table placement? Need your brain.”
Dragging her gaze from the window, she went back to work.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The day of the gala had come! As a token of her appreciation, Lily insisted she and Dana attend. Never ones to turn down free bubbly, they’d happily agreed.
Fin had purchased a new gown for the occasion, and the black material felt like butter against her skin. The dress hugged her torso from the bust, down to her hips where it tastefully flared and pooled at her feet.
A single, thigh high slit showed off her sleek, tanned leg.
She laughed to herself, remembering Hunter’s words.
‘Then you will be my hairy cavewoman.’
Not anymore.
Two months she’d been back in Dranza, and during that time Dana had convinced her to laser the hair off.
“I saw the state of your pits, Fin!” She’d pointed a finger at her. “You’ll thank me when the wax lady isn’t torturing you every month.”
She had a point.
Finley caught her reflection in a mirror. Her hair was pushed to one side, Hunter’s mark clearly visible on her skin where her neck curved into her bared shoulder.
Oddly, she felt proud looking at it now, when it was once an awful reminder. Though she noticed it drew curious stares when others became aware of it.
Character. That’s what it was. Now when the men talked about their battle scars, all she had to do was pull her collar. Forget the work saw marks, and oven burns. She’d been chomped by an alien!
Instant trump.
She fingered the golden feather tied into her black tresses. She’d been wearing it when the agency’s trackers took her.
A special gift. That’s what Brinn called it.
The only other piece of Hunter she had left.
Fin breathed deeply, shaking herself.
Tonight, I’ll drink free bubbly, dance, and have a good time.
“Mingle, Fin,” she coached her reflection. “Mingle like you’re single!”
****
Hunter itched at the clothing he wore. The excess coverings made him yearn for his ru’mi, but that wasn’t his focus right now.
He’d finally arrived to Dranza yesterday, with Roki and Nik by his side. In all his self-absorption, he’d never thought to ask his mate about her life. Not really.
Everything he knew, which wasn’t much, were pieces she’d revealed by happenstance.
A mental list was burned into his brain after six weeks of reciting. He’d had nothing better to do on the journey, after all.
But the three things he did remember, had helped him find her.
She lives in Dranza. She’s an interior decorator. She has three parents.
That was all he could remember. He didn’t even know her full name.
It was pathetic, and he swore, if she would take him back, he would ask every question under the sun. He wanted to know everything about his Mi’ska.
Hunter just hoped it wasn’t too late.
****
Fin let males twirl her around as the band played orchestra renditions of popular songs. The lights above cast an amber glow on the large room bedecked in royal blue and gold decorations.
The bubbly worked its magic and helped loosen her up.
She reached out an arm on a spin, tickling her fingertips with Dana who danced with a muscular, purple, humanoid male.
Her time at Carnal Bazaar had opened her eyes to non-human companions, it appeared.
Who knew fins could have such an impact?
She thanked her blond-haired dance partner and opted to dip out of the next song.
Fin scanned the crowd from a high table nearby, setting her flute of champagne on its glass top. Medical professionals, and other individuals with stellar careers, young and old, mingled about.
She spotted her parents across the room, giving a small wave. Being recognized lawyers of Dranza, they’d been invited.
Her fingers trailed her neck, rubbing lightly across the raised scars as she tried to envision Hunter among these people.
She imagined the questions he’d ask, and the things he’d say.
Why cut food into squares?
These humans smell funny.
Insufferable.
Fin rubbed her fingertips over her lips as she remembered how he’d danced with her at their joining ceremony. It was passionate, primitive, and rhythmic.
A commotion pulled her from her memory, her eyes flickering to the entrance.
Fin blinked repeatedly.
Her breath froze within her chest, her heart stuttered, her lips parted. Excitement and trepidation swirled through her blood.
It was him.
He was here.
Hunter.
As if she’d conjured him up from the depths of her mind.
The toes upon her feet curled in anticipation, preparing to run into his arms, but her legs wouldn’t budge.
As much as she missed him, she still despised him because of the horrible things he said to her. How he’d just left.
Left her there in that field. His back turned. Walking away.
Fin couldn’t forget.
But I want to…
No. She had to stand her ground.
He towered over most in attendance, his presence inescapable.
“Oh no,” Dana touched her arm, suddenly at her side. “Fin, he’s here.”
Oh, Dana, she always had a knack for stating the obvious.
“I’ll call security-”
“No.” Fin heard herself say. She watched as Hunter’s eyes scanned the crowd, landing on her.
A jolt fired through her body. Fire lit her nerves, and she couldn’t look away.
And then, as if by magnetic pull, he was stalking toward her, flanked by Roki and Nik.
An open, black, ankle length robe flowed behind him, exposing that muscled chest she knew so well. Matching pants hung low on his narrow hips, form fitting against his muscular legs, the ends tucked into soft soled dark boots.
He looked as though he was trying to blend in, but his otherworldly appearance and wild disposition, among this group, made that impossible.
Closer… closer.
The air stirred against her skin when he abruptly stopped before her. She craned her neck back, looking up into his hard, hungry eyes.
“Come home.” He demanded, his voice firm, rough. It rolled over her in delicious waves that very nearly had her agreeing.
But no, she had to stand her ground.
“No.” Fin crossed her arms over her chest.
His eyes flicked to the side, no doubt uncomfortable around so many prying eyes.
“Come home, please.” He amended.
He never said ‘please’. Fin had to school her features to keep the shock from showing.
“Is that why you’re here? To convince me to go back with you?” She narrowed her eyes. “Or do you plan to just abduct me again?”
The knot in his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Was that regret?
“You said awful things to me.”
“Mi’ska,” he reached for her, seeming to think better of it before he made a fist and let it drop to his side.
Those lavender eyes bore down into hers, and while the familiar hostility and desire she’d come to expect from him were clearly warring with each other, there was something else now.
Some other emotion she couldn’t pinpoint.
He grasped her hand gently, as if she were the most fragile thing he’d beheld. For a second, her muscles tensed in preparation to snatch it back, but then he lifted it to the side of his face.
Finley felt his warm skin beneath her fingers, and then his lips when he turned his head to kiss her palm.
“I hurt you.” He breathed, eyes imploring hers. “I realize that now. I’ll spend the rest of my days making it up to you.”
Fin nearly choked.
What? He was he admitting his guilt?
Was this a joke?
“Come home.” Hunter said again.
Every fiber of her being jittered with delight, and begged her to fly into his arms. But she didn’t. No. Not yet.
“Is that an apology?”
His brows knit. “Yes.”
She waited. “Well, say the words.”
His lips twitched, and he kissed her palm again before he said, “Finley, I’m sorry.”
She stood there, silent.
“Do you forgive me?”
Fin blinked, her brain trying to comprehend the fact that he’d actually said the words.
“Finley?”
She cleared her throat, her lips curving into a smile. “It’s about time.”
His eyes narrowed, his full lips curving into a smirk before he bent toward her.
“Ah-ah, not so fast,” she tsk’d pressing on his chest. “I have demands.”
He growled, and her toes curled in her slippers. Hey, she was gonna milk this moment for all it was worth. After everything he dragged her through, it was only fair.
And entertaining. Mostly fair, though.
“Well, don’t you want to hear them?”
He kissed the inside of her wrist as if he couldn’t stop himself, and she thought she might melt into a puddle right there. “Continue, then.”
“First,” she said seriously, “I don’t ever want to pick kuse again. For one, it tastes awful, and two-”
“Done.”
Fin pursed her lips. That was too easy.
“I want a comm.”
“It is forbidden.”
“One tiny, itty, bitty comm.”
Hunter’s lips thinned. “Fine. One comm.”
“And we visit my family twice a year.”
He exhaled roughly, like she was asking for a planet on a
platter or something. “We’ll spend half our lives in space with the travel time.”
“That’s because you use an old rust bucket.” Fin snatched her hand back which seemed to aggravate him further. “Maybe if your people got with the times-”
“Mi’ska.” He threatened.
“I’ll buy a new craft for us.” She decided. “It’s not like I’m gonna use my life savings on anything else now.”
He looked surprised.
“So.” Fin crossed her arms over her chest. “Problem solved. Twice a year. Agreed?”
She watched a muscle in his jaw tick, his stare intense, and lighting her senses on fire. God, she’d missed him.
“Agreed,” he gave a curt nod. “Anything else?”
“You can’t dictate my life anymore like I’m a captive. I’m not a captive.”
“Not a captive.” He agreed.
“I’ve been capable of making decisions for myself my entire adult life, okay?”
“Alright.”
“We’re gonna have bad days. We’re gonna fight.”
“Naturally.”
“I’m not afraid to tell you when you’re being an ass.”
“Of course not.”
“And we’re equals, Yarian, do you hear?”
He tenderly brushed the backs of his knuckles across her jaw. “In all ways, Mi’ska.”
“No more of this ‘human’ stuff. You’re not allowed to call me that unless I’m being a jerk.” When he opened his mouth, she quickly added, “Which I never am.”
His lips twitched. “Never.”
“We have to trust each other.” She said softly, her palm reaching up to rest on his cheek. “I know you have secrets, and I’m prepared to wait until you’re ready to confide, however long it takes. You don’t have to go through it alone.”
That sliver of guilt at her half truth about younglings rose its ugly head again. “I have secrets to confess as well, and I want to. I do,” she whispered.
They regarded each other for a long while, the silence almost like a pact, an understanding between them both. And then, ever so slightly, he gave a single nod.
“Is that all, then?”
Finley chewed her bottom lip, as if mulling over the question. She watched as his gaze dipped to her mouth, and filthy thoughts instantly bombarded her mind.
