by Lily Thomas
Blinking a few more times Skyler was able to get her vision to come back completely.
An alien man stood by the door to her medical room. The badge on his chest read inspector.
Skyler frowned at him. “Of course, I’m sure. Why would you ask that?”
Michaela held her hands up in the air. “We’re on your side. You have to admit it’s understandable for us all to think he was your kidnapper. You disappeared without a trace, and now we find you with a Krocosian? I know you don’t know any Krocosians.”
“Well, he didn’t kidnap me. I’d like to see him.” Skyler pleaded.
“If you see the doctor first, I’ll do everything in my power to let you see the Krocosian.” Michaela countered.
Skyler glanced between Michaela and the alien inspector watching them. “Fine. But let’s make it quick, and you,” Skyler turned to the alien, “better make sure no harm comes to the Krocosian. He had nothing to do with my abduction and everything to do with my rescue.”
“No harm will come to him.” Michaela turned to give the inspector a stern eye, and then ushered him out of the room. “I’ll be right back.”
Once alone, Skyler relaxed a little bit. She was alive, and Kyux was alive. That was all that mattered. The rest would be figured out. She had enough money to back her up as well, because if it came to that, she would spend whatever it took to get him released. Kyux was worth all the money in the world.
The door to her room opened and in strode a doctor with Michaela.
“What seems to be the problem?” The alien doctor walked over to her.
“They need to make sure I’m fine and that I’m not suffering from anything.” Skyler gave Michaela a pointed look. “Think you’d trust me after all the years we’ve known each other.”
The alien doctor looked over at Michaela.
“She was kidnapped. We need to make sure she’s… in her right mind. Sorry.” Michaela apologized.
“Ah. I’ll just perform a few routine tests then.”
“Do what you have to do, just make it quick before they lynch the wrong guy for a crime he didn’t commit.” Skyler was coming across a bit more cross than she’d meant to. The doctor was just doing his job, just like Michaela, but she was impatient to see Kyux with her own eyes to verify he was alright.
“If it wasn’t the Krocosian, then who took you?” Michaela took a seat in the room, while the doctor checked her out.
“It was dark, so I don’t know who took me initially, but I ended up on a hunting planet owned by the Hennians. So, either they kidnapped me, or they hired someone else to kidnap me.”
“So, it could have been the Krocosian.”
“His name is Kyux.” Skyler was tired of him being referred to as ‘the Krocosian’, like it was a bad thing.
“So, it could have been Kyux who took you. You just said you couldn’t see who kidnapped you.”
“It couldn’t have been him. He was already on the planet when I arrived. Heck, there were a lot of alien species already on the planet. Maybe you should go interview all of them while you’re at it. Kyux wouldn’t have had the ability to be my captor, if he was stuck on a hunting planet.”
“Why would the Hennians take you then? And what is a hunting planet?” Confusion crossed Michaela’s face.
“Shouldn’t I be talking to the authorities?” Not that Skyler didn’t like talking to her coach, but she didn’t want to have to repeat this whole story all over again.
Michaela held up a small recorder. “They figured you would be more willing to tell me what happened. Didn’t want to stress you out and have you forget anything.”
Skyler let her head hit the pillow and told the entire story of what had happened since she disappeared. When she finished, she looked over at Michaela, whose eyes were bugging out.
“I couldn’t imagine going through what you did.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t want to do it again, except for meeting Kyux. That was a super pleasant experience. You should have them look into Robert’s involvement.”
“They’ve already started an investigation into him.” Michaela smiled over at her. “I was the one who sent them after his trail. I figured he might not be too happy that you left him. They’ll let us know if they find anything.”
“Good. Now we have to get Kyux out of hot water with the authorities.” She’d told him everything would be alright, and now he was incarcerated.
“I’ll give them the recorder and tell them what I think. They’ll want to hold him for a little while for questioning. In the meantime, you need to tell me what’s going on between the two of you.” Michaela leaned her elbows on her knees.
“Well… he’s a Krocosian, and they have mates.”
“Noooo.” A smile creased Michaela’s lips. “You got picked by a mated species. So, how’s the sex?”
“I never said I did anything with him.”
“Sweetheart, he’s from a mated species, there is no way you didn’t do something with him. Dish, how was the sex?”
Skyler’s cheeks heated. “Pretty damn good, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Bet it means a lot to him.” Michaela stood and walked over to her bedside. “Hope you’re ready to get married, although you’re probably already married in his culture, so I guess congratulations are in order.”
Skyler gave her a smile. “He and I have already talked about our cultural differences. He will respect the fact that I don’t believe we are ‘married’.” But maybe they hadn’t actually had a long enough conversation about it.
“Uh huh, sure.” Michaela gave her a pointed glance. “I’ll see you in a little bit. Have to get this recorder to them so your Krocosian will be set free. It will help that he’s your mate. No one would ever think he’d harm you after learning about you two being mated.” Michaela made her way out of the medical bay.
Michaela was right, though. Kyux probably thought they were already married in a sense. Was she ready for that kind of commitment?
Then again, why should she worry? Any relationship could come with problems. Maybe she should just accept this relationship and stop resisting. They were definitely compatible when it came to sex, and they had managed to survive in a hostile environment together. Skyler knew a lot of couples that wouldn’t have survived out in the wilderness together; they would’ve chewed each other’s heads off instead.
If anything, it had brought them closer.
Now that she knew him, she couldn’t just forget him. He’d made a place for himself in her life, and the thought of never cuddling up in his arms again had her heart breaking.
Skyler would give him a chance, as long as he would be fine with her pursuing her career, because she wasn’t ready to be a housewife with little feet pattering around.
Skyler waited impatiently at the jail for Kyux’s release. They’d kept him in there for a few days while they matched stories and tracked down any involvement Robert had.
Thankfully, they’d decided to let Kyux go, which made Skyler hope they’d found that he wasn’t involved and would let him be.
She glanced around the waiting room. She couldn’t sit still, so she was currently pacing the room with all the other people waiting for loved ones to be released. Impatience was killing her! She’d been sleeping alone for too many nights, and she wanted her Krocosian back.
Michaela had wanted her to practice her boxing today, but Skyler didn’t want to leave Kyux wandering around this planet alone. She was sure he could manage, but he’d never been here before, and maybe it was crazy, but she wanted to make sure he would be fine.
A door opened, and Skyler spun around to glance at it. Her breath hitched in her chest, but her heart fell when a Daen’su was guided through by armed guards. A woman sitting in the room leapt up and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Would she do that when Kyux came through the door?
The Daen’su couple made their way out of the building, and Skyler was left to wait again.
After a f
ew more minutes, the door opened and Kyux came striding out, casting glares at the armed guards around him.
A smile broke over her face, and she went running up to him.
“It’s good to see you again.”
His black eyes focused in on her. “It’s good to see you as well. I have a notion to bang some heads together, though.” He glared at the door he’d come through.
Skyler put a hand up against his cheek and turned his gaze towards her. “They were only doing their jobs. We can’t fault them for that.”
“I can.” A growl rumbled through his chest.
Skyler had enough of his grumping. Rising up on her toes she planted a firm kiss on his lips. His eyes widened in surprise, but then his hand came up and gripped the back of her skull, as he leaned into her kiss.
Skyler broke away. “Now let’s get out of here. I have a fight tomorrow, and I need some rest.”
He gave her a nod, and they made their way out of the jail, her heart light with joy.
Kyux glanced around as he took his seat in the crowd. Skyler had done as she’d promised him. She’d secured him a seat in the first row for her boxing match.
He sat down, jitters running through him. He wasn’t sure he could sit back and watch Skyler get hammered on by another person, but he’d do his best.
She’d told him he wouldn’t be allowed to another match if he couldn’t resist the urge to defend her. She’d even told him to act like his butt had been glued to the seat.
Skyler walked down a walkway, and the crowd went crazy. Her hazel eyes searched the first row and sparks flew when their eyes clashed. He’d told her they’d celebrate with sex tonight whether or not she won this match.
Skyler took her position in one of the corners of the ring, and then another human woman came striding down the walkway. The woman took position in the opposing corner.
Kyux wasn’t sure he could watch this.
Skyler popped something into her mouth, and then red gloves were put on her hands. He was proud of her, though. There weren’t many people who’d be able to do this for a living.
The round began, and Skyler danced around the other woman. They both held their red gloves up near their faces. Every once in a while, one of the women would take a jab at the other.
Kyux had barely made it through the match. He’d leapt up from his seat several times, just to have Michaela, Skyler’s coach, glare at him. But in the end, it had been worth being there. He was proud of her. She’d won the match.
Skyler marched off the arena and approached him with a towel around her neck.
“Still support me with my career choice?”
“Of course. You were amazing to watch and you soundly kicked her ass.” He wrapped his arms around her. “If there weren’t people around us, I would take you here and now.”
Skyler arched an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“A mate with your skill? How could it not appeal to me?” Kyux leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips.
“This might be a little late of me to ask, but is there anyone you want to visit? To let them know you’re alive and well?” Skyler asked, sweat still dripping down her forehead.
“I was thinking we could visit my family on Krocos. I have a couple sisters you might enjoy meeting. They are just as feisty as you.”
“Yeah, I’d love to meet your family. No man has ever asked me to meet their family before.” Her big brown eyes looked up at him.
“Because you hadn’t met the right guy.”
She smiled up at him. “You might be right about that. I love you.”
Kyux felt his heart stop, and his head become light. “Love?”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t expect to hear those words from your lips.”
“Well, just remember what happened to the last man that did me wrong.”
Kyux let a growl out. “Sending Robert to jail for his involvement was an easy way off the hook. I should have wringed his neck.”
“But his actions did lead to us meeting, so you can’t hate him completely.”
“True.” He smiled down at her.
“So… my apartment for that promised love making?”
“Definitely.”
