by Sadie Carter
He looked almost haggard.
“How long was I asleep?” she asked in a husky voice as she sat.
Dex handed her a glass of water, which she gulped down, coughing a little.
He quickly reached over and patted her back.
“Sorry, drank it too quickly.” She handed him back the glass before pulling her legs up and holding them against her chest in a defensive position.
“You’ve been asleep for a few hours.”
“Have we left Edreinian airspace?”
“Yes. We departed as soon as we boarded the ship.”
“What happened to you?” she asked. “How were you captured?”
She could tell he was dying to demand that she tell him everything, but instead he told her what happened to him.
“But you’re all right now?” she asked with concern. “The drug is gone from your system?”
“I’m fine, my own. Right now, I’m more worried about you.”
“Me? Why?” Duh, maybe because you flipped out over Koran being locked up? You’re lucky not to wake up in a padded cell.
“I told you everything that happened. Now I wish to hear what happened to you.”
She stared at the far wall. “I don’t really want to talk about it. I’d rather forget that it happened.”
“I can understand that,” he replied slowly. “But you cannot ignore what just happened, Zoey. You are not yourself, my own.”
“But I feel fine now. All I needed was some sleep. I’m all good.” She forced herself to smile.
Obviously she wasn’t convincing enough as Dex continued to watch her as though she might shatter.
“I’m not going to break, Dex. I know I acted a bit weird before. But I’m not weak.”
“I know that, my own. You are very brave. But you are not indestructible. Talk to me. Please.”
It was the please that got to her, that and the look of sorrow in his eyes. Maybe it would be better to talk about what happened.
“I once read this book where the heroine was attacked. Afterward, she could still feel her attacker’s touch. All she wanted was to replace that touch with the touch of someone that loved her. Do you think that would work? I’m not so sure it would. I’m not so sure I want anyone to touch me right now. I’m sorry if that hurts you.”
Dex’s face darkened, red filling his eyes. He closed his eyes for a long moment and when he opened them they had bled back to dark brown. But she could still sense his anger bubbling beneath the surface.
“Zoey, you do not have to worry about me right now.”
“But you were captured, imprisoned. You were drugged. Don’t you need me?”
“I always need you.” Reaching out, he took hold of her hand in a gentle clasp. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said in a choked voice. Damn it. If she didn’t watch it, she’d burst into tears, and part of her worried she wouldn’t be able to stop. It was much easier when she had felt nothing rather than this onslaught of emotion.
“Tell me, my own.”
Staring down at her their clasped hands, she told him everything from the time she found out he’d been captured until they’d been reunited in the forest outside the palace. To his credit, Dex remained calm and silent until she finished.
Then he stood. His face could have been carved in stone for all the emotion he displayed. “I will be back in a minute. Stay here.”
Like she had anywhere to go.
Dex left the room without another word. Despair filled her. Did he not want her now? Was he horrified by what she’d told him?
A roar made her jolt, and she slammed her hands over her ears to protect them. The noise was filled with fury and pain.
Climbing off the masic, Zoey raced over to the door and opened it, staring out into the passage. A handful of warriors stood there, all of them staring in shock at Dex. He was bent over, his hands resting against the wall, his head lowered, shoulders slumped.
She’d never seen him look defeated. It terrified her.
“Zoey.” She turned to find Koran and Thor staring at her solemnly. Thor turned to look at Dex. “Shall we move into your sitting room?”
“O-okay.”
Thor moved over and touched Dex’s shoulder. Dex turned to look at her, his eyes a beautiful shade of blue. Thor spoke quietly to him. He nodded and followed Thor along the passage to the room Dex had set aside for her.
“Everyone, get back to your duties,” Koran snarled. The warriors around them jumped to attention and raced back to what they were doing.
Dex would hate that he’d made a scene. That anyone had seen him looking less than composed and strong. He didn’t enjoy public displays of emotion and yet he’d just broken down in front of his men.
What had she done to him?
Dex sat back on the sofa, staring into the distance. Targos had attacked his mate. Touched his mate. While Dex had stood outside and just waited.
He’d done nothing.
His mate could have been raped. Murdered. And he’d done nothing to protect her.
He glanced around the room, spotting Boris standing nearby. Aware of Koran, Thor, and Zoey stepping into the room, he stood and moved towards Boris.
The other man just stood and watched him. “I owe you a debt I can never repay. Whatever you need, I will do my best to get it for you.”
Zoey stepped up beside him, slipping her hand into his. Immediately, he felt more centered. He knew he’d nearly stepped off the deep end, and he’d done the unthinkable by losing control in front of his warriors.
But learning about what Zoey had gone through … it had nearly undone him.
Boris gave him a regal nod. Then he looked over at Zoey and nodded at her.
Dex frowned. “I will give you anything but my mate.”
“I don’t think he wants me.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice which calmed him. If Zoey could find amusement in something, then she was probably going to be all right. It would take time, for both of them. But Dex would support her. He would provide her with whatever she needed.
No matter what, he would be there for her. He wouldn’t fail her again.
“What does he want?”
“I think he wants to stay with me. I’d like him as a permanent bodyguard. For as long as he wants to remain with us, that is.”
“Done.” Boris had earned his eternal gratitude, and he had no doubts now that he would protect his mate.
“How did he snap Targos’ neck with only one good arm?” he asked.
Zoey stilled. “I don’t know. I didn’t see it happen.”
Interesting.
“Zoey? Do you feel up to telling us what happened?” Thor asked.
“No,” Dex snapped. He wouldn’t put her through that again.
Zoey squeezed his hand. “It’s okay, Dex. I feel better having told you. Maybe it’s cathartic to talk about it.”
Fine. If Zoey wanted to talk then he would listen. He would be whatever she needed him to be. From now on, he supported Zoey no matter what. Because if this had taught him anything it was that Zoey came first.
Zoey led him over to a large sofa, and he sat. Taking a deep breath, he forced the tension from his body.
“Where’s Giz?” The panic in his mate’s voice immediately put him on high alert.
Where was the furry little creature? He knew how much Giz meant to his mate.
“He is well,” Thor reassured her. “We believe he had a knock on the head. Currently, he is being monitored in medical.”
“Can you have him brought here?” she asked.
Dex stared over at Thor and nodded. His cousin spoke into his communicator quietly. “Macon will bring him down.”
“All right. Good. I’ll feel better knowing he’s with me. I can keep a watch on him.”
The door opened and Macon walked in, carrying an obviously unhappy Giz.
“Giz!” Zoey cried out, standing and reaching for the furry creature who wrapped himself around her, his face snuggling into
her neck.
Dex wished it was him wrapped around her body. But he would wait for her to make the first move. The last thing he wanted was to scare her.
Zoey sat back on the sofa, setting Giz down beside her. He curled in tight to her side as she started to tell the others what had happened.
Koran grew increasingly pale as she spoke, his eyes growing wild. When she finished, he slid down to his knees in front of her, his head bowed.
“Milady, I can never forgive myself. But I do beg your forgiveness.”
Zoey gave Dex a look of confusion then turned to stare down at Koran. “For what?”
“For failing you.”
That wasn’t right. He hadn’t failed her.
“You didn’t fail me. What the hell? Sometimes you guys really do talk in riddles.”
Thor snorted in amusement.
“I allowed you to enter a dangerous situation without back-up. The result could have been your death. My primary objective was to protect you. My failure to do so dishonors me.”
Dex could see how ashamed he was.
“It wasn’t your fault, Koran. It’s not like you held a gun to my head. It was my plan. I convinced you. Plus, we thought I would be pretty safe, surrounded by his other guests. You weren’t to know that Targos would take such an, umm, interest in me.”
The room fell silent.
“Oh, stop it, all of you.” She glared around at them.
“My own?” Dex asked, surprised by the anger in her voice.
“You’re all acting like someone has died. We’re all alive, aren’t we? We won. Just stop acting like this is a tragedy, all right? I just want to get over what happened. The last thing I need is everyone acting like their favorite uncle died.”
Everyone looked to Dex to handle her. Only thing was; he didn’t really know what to say.
“Whatever you think is best, my own.” He wanted to do whatever he had to in order to make her better. Whatever she needed, he would give her.
She gave him a weird look. “I want everything to be like normal. I want to forget all of this ever happened. Can we do that?”
He nodded and glared at everyone until they did the same.
“Good. So Koran, get off your damn knees, will you?”
***
“Dex, I need to talk to you.”
Dex slammed his opponent to the ground, pinning him down.
“Dex!”
He snarled over his shoulder at Thor. “I’m busy.”
“You’ve been here for four hours. You can take a break. This is important.”
Dex jumped up. “Is it Zoey? Is she well?” Alarm filled him. When he’d left her, she’d been asleep. He hadn’t wanted to leave her, but he’d desperately needed to expend some energy.
Rage, sorrow, and fear had been building inside him since Zoey had recounted what had happened to her at Targos’ hands.
Just sitting around and doing nothing while his mate was hurting was killing him. Give him an enemy to face and he’d gladly fight. But there was no enemy left. Targos was dead, and there was no one for him to take his anger out on.
He had to do something. If only he had some idea of what he could do to help her.
Close to a week had passed since they’d left Edreinia. There was a distance between them that he couldn’t seem to breach. Everything had changed, and he didn’t know how to fix it.
Zoey barely touched him. Not that he blamed her. Why would she want his touch after what she’d suffered at Targos’ hands? After he had failed to protect her.
She probably didn’t trust him anymore.
“Zoey is well. But I want to talk to you about her. In private.”
“Just let me get cleaned up.”
“I will meet you in my office.”
Ten minutes later, Dex strode into Thor’s office. “What is it?” He knew his voice was abrupt; his worry over Zoey was shortening his temper.
He leaned back against the wall, too restless to sit.
“Dex, has Zoey talked to you about what happened to her?” Thor’s face was filled with concern.
“You were present when she recounted what happened. Have you forgotten?”
“I have not.” Exasperation tinged his voice. “I meant has she spoken to you about her feelings?”
“Feelings?”
“Yes. I have been conducting some research into Earther females to better inform our males should they be lucky enough to encounter their Earther mate. Our females are less emotionally driven. From what I have deduced, female Earthers enjoy conversing with other females of their species. They talk about feelings and emotions while either drinking an alcoholic beverage or eating chocolate.”
Dex nodded solemnly. “Zoey has spoken many times of chocolate. It is very important to her.”
Chocolate would fix her emotional issues. He straightened. “Thor, you are a genius. If I locate chocolate for her, she will be well.”
“No,” Thor told him as he turned to leave. “I do not believe that is enough. Zoey needs to talk about what happened.”
He scowled. “I do not like putting her through that. Recalling what happened hurts her.”
“According to my research, talking is integral to her recovery from this.”
“What should I do? I cannot force her to talk to me. And what would I say?” Right now, a bloody battle against a group of Coizils would be preferable to navigating this mine field of emotions with his mate.
“From what I have gathered, you do not have to say much except be there for her.”
Dex frowned. “Be there for her?” What the stars did that even mean? “Just where did you find this research?”
Thor blushed. “I have been reading.”
“Reading what?”
He cleared his throat. “Romance novels.”
“Romance novels?”
“Yes. When we were on Musin, prior to the auction beginning, I left to restock some medical supplies. As I was perusing the market, I found an Earther stall. The stallholder uploaded some stories to my handheld.”
Dex just gaped at him.
“At least I am conducting research into Earther ways. Have you even spoken to Zoey about her life previous to you mating her?”
“No, but I had my reasons.”
“Because you wanted her to forget her previous life? Because you thought it would be easier for her to acclimate to her new life?”
“Yes,” he said defensively. “Was that wrong?”
“I understand your reasoning. But you must encourage Zoey to open up to you. Help her heal.”
“What if she cannot speak to me? What if she cannot trust me?”
Thor frowned. “Why would she not trust you?”
“Because I failed her.”
“What?” Thor stared at him in confusion.
“I stood outside the palace and waited while inside she was being attacked.”
Thor stared at him for a long moment, then he sighed. “You are not alone in your guilt. Koran is drowning in it.”
Dex hadn’t noticed. But then he hadn’t spent much time with Koran lately, he was still working through his anger at the other warrior. They had settled some of it in the training ring, but some residual anger lingered. “He appears fine.”
“Am I the only one to look past the surface?” Thor asked with exasperation. “Zoey is acting as though nothing occurred, and Koran is so shut off from everything around him that sometimes I check to ensure he still breathes.”
More failures on his part.
“Can you forward those novels to my handheld?” he asked.
Thor smiled. “I will do it right away.”
Chapter Eleven
“This is nice,” Zoey made the effort to smile at Dex as he sat across from her. He had surprised her with dinner in their quarters.
“I am sorry I have no flowers.”
“Ahh, that’s okay?” Flowers? That was odd. Flowers were the last thing she’d expect from him; he wasn’t exactly romantic. Plus
they were in the middle of nowhere without a flower in sight.
“The next planet we land on, I will buy you as many as you desire. I know Earther females like to receive flowers.”
“Sure, I like flowers but don’t go out of your way or anything.” This was seriously the oddest conversation she’d had with him. Why was he suddenly fixated on flowers?
“And chocolate. If I cannot source the final product, perhaps I can find the ingredients and have it created for you.”
“You don’t need to do that.” Even the thought of chocolate didn’t stimulate her appetite. In the week since they’d fled Edreinia, she’d barely eaten.
Dex had scarcely touched her over the last week. She felt them drifting apart, and it terrified her.
Would this be what finally broke them? Did he find her repulsive now? Did he not want her anymore?
But then why did he organize this dinner tonight? Why was he talking about flowers and chocolate?
“Zoey, will you tell me about your life on Earth?”
Zoey stared at him for a long moment.
“Zoey? Are you well? Would you like me to get Thor?” He started to rise, and she reached over, grabbing hold of his arm.
“Wait. I’m fine.”
“Are you certain? You appear pale and tired. You have nightmares. You call out in your sleep and wake me up.”
“Oh.” She flushed with embarrassment. “I apologize for waking you.”
“Do not apologize,” he said stiffly. “I did not mean it as criticism.”
“What did you mean?”
“That I am worried about you. I want you to talk to me, Zoey. About your feelings and emotions.”
Zoey had never seen him look so uncomfortable and out of his depth. A smile threatened.
“You don’t have to do this, Dex.”
“Yes, I do. The stories said that you need to talk about your feelings, preferably with a female companion. However, you do not have one of those. Unless you would like me to arrange a meeting with my mother? We are near a wormhole that will allow us to contact Zerconia in real time.”
“Ahh, no, that’s okay. I can’t talk to someone who is a stranger.” His mother wasn’t exactly the kind and cuddly sort of mother-in-law. The love child of Cruella De Ville and the Godfather would have been warmer than his mother. “What stories are you talking about?”
