10. Bikar
BIKAR
Iforce myself to remain motionless. The tic Bambi realized I regained consciousness; the faint scent of her curiosity was overshadowed by nervousness, now bordering on fear.
Slowly, she steps away from me, tugging at the end of her long-sleeved garment as she moves.
Her subconscious need to ensure she’s covered makes my hearts hurt, and rage burns simultaneously for my little mate.
Einar—frackin rule follower—refused to tell me what it is that she hides, much to my extreme annoyance. However, it does not take much in the way of deductive reasoning skills to figure out she wishes to hide her form from prying eyes.
Especially from the male gaze.
I have noticed that she adjusts her garments far more when in the company of males than she does when it is just her and her friends. Modulating my tone, I try to interject some humor to put her at ease. “I appear to have miscalculated a few things this rising.”
Her adorable little eyebrows lift so high they might escape the confines of her face before they slam together into an incredulous frown.
Little five-fingered hands fist and settle on her delectably curved hips in indignation, and she practically shouts at me.
“What the actual fuck is wrong with you?”
Curling the left side of my mouth, I offer her a lop-sided smile. “Wee one, that is an in-depth conversation that I do not currently have the energy for, but would be delighted to discuss with you further after I have a lie down.”
Suddenly, the scent of iron registers, and my eyes widen in alarm.
Sitting up, I stifle a groan. My entire body feels worse than it did after Murgul and Vrog beat the shet out of me.
Leaning forward gingerly, I run my eyes over my mate, looking for the source of the blood scent. “Bambi, where are you hurt?”
Confusion flits across her face. “What are you talking about? I’m not hurt.”
Dropping my head, I realize she is correct, and I am the source of the iron-tinged aroma. There are droplets on my chest and abdomen. Wiping the back of my hand across my face, it comes away streaked with dark red blood. “Well, that cannot be good.”
A feminine snort catches my attention, and I look at her in askance. Her reply is bitingly sarcastic, and it delights me that she is speaking to me so freely. “No shit, Sherlock. You looked like you were on death’s door when I walked in here earlier.”
She hesitates for a tic before continuing.
“I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but I pulled those cords out of your back and the data block out of your hand.
I’m not good with technology, but disconnecting you from whatever you were doing seems like it was the right call. You’re not dying anymore.”
Bambi is wringing her hands by the time she finishes, and I rush to comfort her. “Bambi, you did nothing wrong. In fact, I am grateful you intervened when you did, or I may not have been on this plane by the next rising. I… underestimated the gravity of what I was doing.”
Deciding that now is the best chance I will ever have, I sluggishly slide out of the pilot’s seat onto my knees in front of my mate.
She backs up several steps in response, giving me plenty of room to do what must be done.
Prostrating myself before her, I touch my forehead to the floor and offer her the sincerest apology I can offer, delving into the depths of the newly acquired human records for additional protocol.
“Bambi, I wish you to know how very sorry I am for my actions after our mating bond materialized. I know that I frightened you when I carried you from the helm room aboard the Zenith, and for that I offer you my sincerest apologies.”
Pushing myself up, I stifle a groan when my knees chafe against the unforgiving metal floor.
The look on her face is one of shock, not belligerent disregard or fear.
Taking a quick sniff, I find that her scent matches what I see, and the first inkling of hope burrows its way into my hearts.
“In my desperation to bridge the gap between us …” My voice cracks with emotion.
Clearing my throat, I lick my dry lips before trying again.
“For my people, a mate is… everything. Meeting you was the single greatest thing to ever happen to me in my life, and when you ran from me… I vowed I would do whatever it took to understand why. With your refusal to speak to me, to air your concerns about sealing our mate bond, I was left with few options to quantify why you did not want me. None of the other human females betrayed your confidences, nor did Einar. So…”
Her quiet words fill the void where mine fade. “So, you lied to get Murgul on that other ship so you could get access to human information to try and understand.”
“Yes.”
Comprehension blooms in her eyes, and she takes a minuscule step towards me.
“It does not condone what I did, but I hope you at least follow my reasoning.”
Bambi takes another hesitant step forward, and lifts one of her tiny, trembling hands.
Freezing in place, I barely dare to breathe lest I do something to frighten her away.
Her touch, when it comes, is as light as the air that supports my wings on the rare occasions I have flown.
Slender fingers pet my beard almost imperceptibly before her hand cups my cheek.
My eyes close as peace suffuses me, and I cannot help but lean into the comfort her touch brings.
“Bikar…”
Bambi’s quiet voice opens eyes I did not consciously close. “Yes, little Starshine?”
Her chest expands with the depth of her breath before exhaling in a gusty sigh. “Thank you for your apology. I’ve never known a man admit he was wrong, or try to fix what his actions broke.”
Hunching my shoulders to try to make myself look less threatening, I stare at her imploringly.
“I will do whatever it is you wish to make this right. The alternative is death. Lying to you or giving you a false sense of security does neither of us any favors. Refusal to seal the bond will result in my and quite possibly your demise. The fact that you are here at all is telling. I was dying, and our bond, though unsealed, called you to help me.”
I take it as a small victory when she does not remove her hand from my face, and instead her thumb sweeps across the point of my cheek in a cautious caress. “What do you suggest we do?”
A tic goes by, and Bambi’s words finally register. It is not the instant rejection I expected and mentally prepared myself for.
Beaming at her in happiness, a grin pulls at my mouth. “Bambi, would you like to go on a date?”
Bambi’s mouth drops open in shock before she slowly closes it and eventually pulls her hand away. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she holds herself and averts her eyes as an adorable pink pigment sweeps up her delicate neck and cheeks. “I’ve never been asked on a date before…”
Swaying forward, I smirk as satisfaction swells.
She is going to say yes!
Sparkling brown eyes flit towards me and away again in a visual display of bashfulness. “I’m going against my better judgment here, but… Yes, Bikar. I’ll go on a date with you.”
She is mine.
My little doe just does not know it.
Yet.