Chapter 14
If I hadn’t sensed Silver falling apart twenty-two levels above me, this might have been the happiest day of my life. A love declaration that rang true to my soul and the return to my family, to my home, a short shuttle ride away.
“So, he’s an Earther, right?” My brother asked as d’ew melon dripped down his chin. “Seems like you might not be as bad off here as I thought.” He waggled his dark eyebrows at me. “Does he taste good?”
“That’s what you want to talk about? How good he tastes?” I loved my brother, but now wasn’t the time to indulge his idle curiosities. Silver wasn’t up for examination. I passed him another melon. “I’m great! But I miss everyone so much. Even your nosy ass.”
“Hey, hey…” He held his hands up. “I couldn’t help but notice my naked brother under the covetous protection of a pale-skinned Earther covered in bite marks.”
The tour of the biodomes had ended long ago with no sign of Silver. Where was that male? If I knew anything about him, he was coming up with a million reasons why my brother’s arrival heralded the end of the world.
I glanced at my wristport for what must have been the hundredth time, but none of my messages had been replied to, so I asked C to send him a message through the intercom.
“A bit of a wild entity, is he?” D’iver stacked the crates of exotic fruits and vegetables we’d be bringing back.
I glared at my brother. “He’s perfect.”
“Only you, D’alton. This would only happen to you.” He snorted. “You crash-land on a planet, get rescued by the one male living here, and he just happens to be your blood mate.”
A switch clicked in my head. I’d always been clueless about relationships, but at the reminder, flashes of early lessons on Boola ancestry rushed back to me. Irresistible scent? Check. Extreme attraction? Check. Desire to please? Check. And the clincher: an insatiable appetite for his blood.
“Silver’s my blood mate,” I said to myself, my voice full of awe. The missing link that sealed the vitae tie bond—Silver willingly giving his blood.
“You never blanting listen to me. How many times have I told you the signs…” D’iver rolled his eyes, but nothing was taking the giant grin off my face.
“You’re lecturing me?” I kicked the rocky substrate beneath the rows of melons.
Typical D’iver, completely ignoring that he’d nearly gotten me killed.
“Tell me this, brother, did you check for travel restrictions to Tern before you clicked that box on the pleasure craft’s manifest?
” His shortcuts always turned into my problems.
“Ah!” He threw his hands up in the air. “Oh, c’mon, you can’t be mad at me for that.
What are the blanting chances that the Fires That Cleanse had been deployed on Tern?
Like, one in a million. The risk was negligible.
The Intergalactic Federation Responsible for Catastrophic Events took down the warning the next day, anyway. ”
“I nearly blanting died, D’iver.” I spat out the words, shooting them at D’iver like arrows.
“Our family pleasure craft is in pieces buried in a desert of pink sand somewhere out there. That could’ve been me with it.
” I waved my arm above me. How could he not acknowledge his fault in this?
“We’re lucky not having a replacement containment system didn’t lead to the deaths of everyone in this research station. ”
D’iver’s glossy brown skin lost some of its glow, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
Good, he should look pained. I’d been racked with guilt at my brother’s flexible outlook on deadlines and the resulting late shipment.
“Silver said the containment system wouldn’t have made a difference, something about the temperature, but that’s not the point.
You need to stay on top of your deliveries and follow the proper safety protocols.
I’m not blindly fixing your mistakes anymore. ”
“You’re right, little D, I need to do better.” He ran a hand through his dark curls. “A lot better.” Then he smiled and opened his arms. “C’mere. I know you’re going to forgive me.”
Wrapped in his arms, I inhaled the familiar scent of the javae he must have drunk this morning.
Just then, the biodome door jerked open and a damp and disheveled Silver walked through.
I’d never been so happy to see him. I stepped out of my brother’s embrace, wanting to run to Silver and wrap my arms around his rigid limbs until he melted, but the way he was clenching his jaw gave off major ‘stay away’ vibes.
“Silver! You’re here—”
“Before you leave, I have a request. Can you please contact Intermed and let those assholes know I’m still alive and that I need a transport out of here?” Then he muttered to himself, “And a new fucking job.”
A bolt of fear slithered down my spine before I realized the problem. Apparently, our time together hadn’t erased Silver’s insecurities.
“Good luck with that one.” My brother patted me on the shoulder and pulled on the trailer he’d loaded with crates. “I’ll take these up to the surface.” When he passed by my blood mate, he grunted, “Silver.”
I sucked in a deep breath and slowly walked toward Silver. His gaze darted around the biodome, and he shifted his feet uneasily. He leaned forward on his toes as if ready to bolt.
When I stood close enough to inhale his musky whisper berry scent and admire the red marks on his neck, my nostrils flared and my d’ink stirred. Under no circumstances would this male be leaving my side. Ever.
I ran my palms up and down his unforgiving chest in a soft caress. I could feel the uneven rise and fall of his breath as I coaxed, keeping my voice low. “Would you like to come live with me on D’ulanna?”
“I’m not a fucking leech. I’m not just going to come and impose on your family and let you support me,” he snapped.
He’d been on his own for almost an annum, isolated after an extremely traumatizing event. Blant, he’d barely been able to remove his oxy mask when I first got here. He needed tenderness. This would be a huge change.
“You know I have my own dwelling, right? It isn’t much, but it’s plenty for the two of us.” I maintained the steady strokes over his chest and down his arms. “I already have an idea.”
“The last idea you had nearly got you killed.” He stared at a hanyan tree in the distance.
“This is a much better one.” I tucked a tendril of hair behind the rim of his ear. “Want to hear it?”
“Fine,” he grunted.
“Everything in this biodome is highly prized on D’ulanna. Let’s harvest what we can and fill the cargo hold with seedlings, seeds and supplies. I’m certain we’ll make enough credits off the sales to fund a high-tech biodome on D’ulanna.” Silver’s muscles loosened with my touch and my calm voice.
When he opened his mouth to speak, I pressed a finger to his lips.
“That’s where you’re going to come in. You’re going to engineer the best blanting biodome imaginable.
Then when we sell all our precious goods, you’ll build another, then maybe one more.
We’ll stop there, because money isn’t everything and I don’t want to work us into the ground.
You’ll maintain them all while I grow the plants inside.
” I scratched his stomach through his overalls. “I can’t do it without you.”
Silver’s blank stare turned to one of frustration. It made me smile because that was pretty much his normal state.
“I don’t know a thing about gardening. I can’t be a professional farmer.” He twisted his hair up into an angry knot on the top of his head, securing it with a stretchy band.
His sharp jawline drew my fingers, and he shivered as I ran my thumb over the defined angle. “What’s that?” I pointed to the substrate beneath us.
“It’s the growing medium for d’ew melons.” He rolled his eyes.
“And how do you know that?”
“Because d’ew need lots of nitrogen and the nitrogen in that growing medium is pink.”
I held his hand and walked him over to the trays of sala seedlings that needed to be transplanted. “How would you plant this?” I held one out.
He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Brush out the roots, shock them with cold, then pile small rocks around them.” He took the sala seedling and placed it back on the tray. “I’m not an idiot. I know what you’re doing.”
I smiled anyway. Point proven. “You won’t be a burden. I promise.” I ran my fangs over the pulsing vein in his neck. “I’ll make sure you’re never bored.”
D’iver intruded right as I was making headway, walking straight into our space.
He snatched the tray of seedlings before scowling at Silver.
“If you don’t come, D’alton will crave your blood and only your blood until his or your life ends.
Anytime he has to accept blood from me or another member of his family, he’ll feel disloyal, dirty, like he’s doing something wrong. ”
He eyed Silver up and down and frowned as if taking his measure and finding him wanting. “I see how you look at my brother. Do you wish that kind of life for him?”
“D’iver!” I yanked at his arm and shoved him back toward the door. “Go do something productive. Grab some seedlings from the Earther dome.”
“I wouldn’t wish that level of cruelty on my worst enemy.” He raised his voice as he left the biodome with another load of supplies.
Silver clasped my elbow. “Look at me.”
I lifted my gaze from my feet.
“Is what your brother said true? You’ll only want my blood?”
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as all that.” But I recalled how skinny third fata, D’immer, my fata’s youngest brother, had become when he’d been thrown in jail.
And my aunt had nearly withered away, refusing to visit him because she was so shamed.
“The new moon would be pretty painful, though.” Honestly, I never wanted to go without blood for more than a month again.
I’d lost my mind, hunting mutated mantu in the middle of a sandstorm, driven by the need for blood.
Silver lifted my chin with his calloused fingers, his voice gruff with nerves. “I’ll come, but there are going to be conditions.”
“Anything.” I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I’m paying for shit with my own money. I have savings, and I’m going to charge Intermed with every safety violation I can think of. They can fucking afford to pay me for a year of pain and suffering, and…” He leaned his forehead on mine. “I’m building us a media room.”
“Build whatever you want,” I said while peppering his face with kisses. “But what is that?”
“A place to watch movies together.”
He might’ve been a bit growly on the outside, but inside he was all soft and mushy. “I like our movie time too.” I scratched the silky hairs at the nape of his neck. “Snuggling close to you in your little pod.”
“I’ll make it cozy, then.”
Silver’s declaration sent a shiver down my spine.
D’iver thumped me on the shoulder, jerking Silver’s gaze from mine. “With that settled, let’s get moving.” D’iver ducked as he scanned the ceiling overhead. “This place gives me the creepy crawlies.”
“Try being trapped down here alone for eight months, buddy.”
I shrugged at Silver. If I started apologizing for my brother’s intrusive behavior, we’d never get off this planet.
D’iver continued to gather his favorite fruits.
“Plus, once the Intergalactic Federation Responsible for Catastrophic Events gave me clearance to land on Tern, they insisted I take the new mayor and lead enforcer to the old city. They’re currently scouting where to place the poor suckers who sign up to recolonize this wasteland, and let me tell you, the hack they got for mayor—he’s a piece of work. ”
My brother rattled on as I stared into Silver’s eyes, ecstatic that he’d be coming with me.
Silver smacked my ass. “We’d better get moving. I didn’t make the best first impression with your brother.” He strode with purpose toward the terratherm hub, and my ravenous gaze tracked him as his long legs ate up the distance.
I followed him and watched as he took a drive port and slotted it into the display screen. “Did I forget to mention we’re bringing C?”
“Well, what would we do without C?” I smiled, beyond charmed that he would think to take the AI with him.
Loading the shuttle took no time at all once Silver unearthed a hoverbike from beneath a pile of sand, and in less than two suns we were safely ensconced in my brother’s largest shuttle.
Minutes later, we picked up the lead enforcer and mayor at the destroyed city center where D’iver had dropped them off earlier that rotation.
Both were Tigs with tawny ears topping their heads.
The lead enforcer was pleasant, but when the mayor started going into detail on where he would erect the first statue of himself, I dragged Silver to the cargo bay passenger area.
Above the humming engine, we sat on a bank of seats in front of a large window, watching Tern pass by.
“I can’t believe the nerve of that fucking guy. Wanting to put up a statue of himself for no fucking reason. What about a memorial? Does he even know how many lives were lost? And he’s talking about the jewel color that would best represent his eyes. Remind me to never come back and visit.”
“Look.” I pointed out the window. On a vast plateau dotted with graneth grass, a small herd of mantu grazed. “Life is returning. A new start.”
Silver pulled me into him. “To a new start.”
“It’s only getting better from here, Silver.”
“I can feel it too.”
Our lips met as Tern faded into a swirl of pink for the last time.