CHAPTER 6
Alexa
He’d been gentle from the moment we met, so how did this man not know about kissing?
Whatever he’d shared with me before, our life-force allowed me a one-way ticket into his thoughts, and what I saw moved me to my core.
Naraq had been alone his entire life without the genuine connection of a companion.
My hands slid from his cheeks to his neck as I leaned forward and barely grazed my lips against his mouth. He didn’t move, but the humming increased.
“Do you like this, Naraq?” I asked, my mouth hovering over his.
“Yes.”
I flicked his lower lip with my tongue before softly dipping it between his lips to touch his tongue. He inhaled sharply before returning the gesture, and within seconds the kiss turned passionate, possessive, and needy.
When I pulled away, Naraq’s eyes narrowed. “Although I enjoyed the kiss, I don’t think you should do that again until we bond, Alexa.”
“It’s a way to show affection,” I whispered, gliding my hands over his broad shoulders.
“Affection without bonding is highly unsatisfying.”
I chuckled out loud at his frankness. “You may set me down now.”
He slid me down his body slowly and groaned when I passed over every hard ridge of his dick. Was it a dick? I didn’t know about their anatomy when he said he’d studied mine.
“Will we be able?”
“Able to what?”
My gaze lowered to the bulge in his pants, even as my cheeks heated with an embarrassing blush.
“Although Sanctarian males are larger, it will fit with preparation.”
“Preparation?” I almost shouted in shock.
“Stimulation might be a better word.”
I wanted to continue the conversation when Lara interrupted.
“We’ve arrived at Alexa Turner’s home, Naraq.”
“What are you, Lara?” I asked, turning in a circle.
“I am artificial intelligence developed to serve Sanctarians.”
“Do you have a body?”
“No, but I am available at your command.”
“On Earth, our scientists are developing bodies for artificial intelligence technology.”
“Sanctarians developed bodies for earlier prototypes, but they were deactivated.”
“Why?”
“Corruption, and they upset the balance between living and unliving organisms.”
“I don’t understand?”
“To become reliant on technology is to become stagnate.”
“If machines do everything for us, then what is our purpose?” Naraq added.
“But you use it for problem-solving and navigation?”
“Yes, but we still do the work, and by doing the work, we continue to learn and grow.”
“I see. Thank you, Lara, and Naraq.”
When both replied, “You’re welcome,” my eyebrow lifted. “That will take some getting used to.”
Naraq moved toward the front of the room we were in, and at the same moment a control panel, the length of that area, rose from the floor with blue lights everywhere.
“Amazing,” I commented, following him.
“I detect one living person in the residence.”
“That would be my grandfather. Can I go down?”
“His life signs are weak, Alexa.”
“How do I get off this ship?”
“Give me two minutes.”
I opened my mouth to argue when the entire craft slightly jarred. “What was that?”
“We just docked with the Command Ship. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Lara, send us to the surface now.”
NARAQ
It moved me more than I could express, watching Alexa with her grandfather, this man who’d encouraged her to find me.
Alexa kneeled beside his chair and grasped his wrinkled hand in hers. “Please come with us.”
Her grandfather coughed repeatedly, unable to catch his breath or speak.
When Alexa glanced at me with tear-filled eyes, I approached the man cautiously. “Let us help you, Grandfather.”
Tired eyes finally lifted to me, curious and surprised. “I’m ready to go. Do you understand?”
“I understand. Let us make you more comfortable.”
The elderly man’s eyes drifted to Alexa. “You know I’m ready.”
“Well, I’m not ready to let you go.”
I listened to their conversation, studying my companion and the attachment she’d developed with this man with understanding. He was the father she never had. Her Sanctarian father left the planet, and the man she thought was her father died in an accident. This man raised her as his own.
“You should listen to Alexa, Grandfather. I won’t force you to live, but I can’t leave you to suffer either.”
“My sweet wife said you were real, but I doubted her,” the man spoke in a gravelly voice. “And you call me grandfather.”
“We are real. You are Alexa’s grandfather, and she is my companion, so you are my grandfather as well.”
“What am I going to do on a spaceship?”
“Heal or end your lifecycle. I won’t take the choice from you.”
His glassy eyes lowered to Alexa. “What would your grandmother say?”
“She’d say for you to live your life to the fullest as long as you can. You know I’m right. If she were here instead of you, you know she’d be clamoring to get on the ship.”
A sly grin crossed the man’s face before he coughed again, and this time blood coated his lips by the time the spasm ended.
“Okay,” he barely whispered.
Alexa turned to me with determination. “You heard him.”
I nodded before speaking. “Three to the medical center, Lara.”
Lara transported Alexa’s grandfather still in his chair, and a medical team of Sanctarians surrounded him.
“He needs to be in one of your regenerators immediately,” Alexa begged.
I lowered beside her grandfather to look him in the eye. “Can you stand?”
“I don’t think so.”
“May I assist you?”
He nodded his head once, and I scooped his frail body into my arms, then laid him in the pod. “Sleep and rest, Grandfather of Alexa.”
One of his eyes opened. “You won’t take my choice from me, right?”
“No, I won’t, but I ask you to consider Alexa in this matter.”
“I will,” he finally answered as the top closed and the regenerator began a scan.
“Will he survive?” Alexa asked, coming alongside me. “Please tell me he will,” she asked, sniffling.
I glanced at the initial results of the scan when an oxygenated mist filled the tube. “I will not make promises I cannot keep, Alexa.”
“He refused to use his oxygen.”
“He’s receiving plenty now. Look how he’s settled along with his heart rate. This is a good sign.”
“How long?”
“In his condition, a few days.”
“Naraq, there is a situation on the surface of the planet.”
“What situation, Lara?”
“Several humans with weapons aimed at the ship. They are demanding to speak with your companion.”
“Absolutely not,” I snarled, staring at Alexa.
“Shall I destroy them?”
“No, Naraq. Don’t do that. The leaders of Earth will see it as war,” Alexa begged. “Let me talk to them.”
“No.”
“Come with me.”
“No.”
Alexa huffed before grabbing my hand. “You’ll be with me, and Lara will monitor the situation.”
“No.”
“Why are you so stubborn?” She demanded, her voice rising.
“Because you’re my companion, and I won’t put your life in danger for any reason.”
“Compromise, Naraq.”
“There is no need for compromise when their weapons are useless against us.”
“But there is for more turquoise and companions.”
My gaze narrowed on Alexa because what she said made sense.
We hadn’t yet reached our target number, and we still needed the gemstone; however, it went against everything a Sanctarian male was to put a companion in danger.
A string of profanities in my language fired from my mouth while acquiescing to what must be done.
“What did you say?”
“It was in my language, Alexa.”
Alexa waved one hand before pinching her small nose. “It doesn’t matter. We must deal with this.”
Worried about my companion, I pulled her into my chest. Slim arms wrapped around my waist as she accepted my comfort.
For such a short time, our connection had strengthened considerably without fully bonding.
We were barely beginning to get to know each other and needed to leave this planet as soon as possible.
“I want to grab a few mementos anyway, Naraq,” she murmured, her breath warm against my flesh. “And some of my grandfather’s things.”
“Sly, Alexa.”
“Efficient, Naraq.”
I smirked over her head while speaking to Lara. “Put us back on the surface, Lara, and remove all belongings from my companion’s home. Also, begin extracting the turquoise on my command.”
Alexa’s face snapped up just as the transporter began, and our forms shimmered. “You can be sweet,” she said with a teasing grin.
“Stop it,” I almost laughed.