Page 11 of Koha'vek
“And I know,” he said softly, “that you haven’t screamed once since waking up in a cabin with a seven-foot alien.”
I let out a small laugh. “Notout loud, anyway.”
Koha’vek let a rare smile tug at the corner of his mouth.
I stared into the fire for a long moment before turning to him again.
“I was always the one holding it together. After my mother died, after my brother disappeared. I was the strong one. I couldn’t fall apart because there was no one left to pick up the pieces.”
Koha’vek was silent.
I looked at him, searching. “But you… You don’t expect anything from me. You just let mebe. I didn’t realize how much I needed that.”
He reached out, slowly, as if unsure I would allow it, and rested his hand over mine.
“I don’t want anything from you,” he said. “Except the truth.”
I met his eyes.
“I feel safe with you.”
The words hung there, fragile and bright.
His hand closed gently around mine. No words. Just warmth. Just understanding.
And for the first time in months, maybe years, I didn’t brace for the world to fall apart again.
“You are safe now,” Koha’vek said, staring into the fire.
“You don’t know what kind of people are out there. Jenkins isn’t the only one willing to hurt someone to get what he wants.” I don’t know why I said that, because I now felt safe withKoha’vek, having gotten to know him.
“I know what humans are capable of,” he said. “I’ve seen what they do when they think no one is watching.”
“And you still saved me.” I looked at him, my hand still encased in his.
The flames danced between us, shadows rippling across his face and the ridged lines of his chest. He didn’t wear a shirt indoors—he didn’t seem to feel the cold—and I tried not to notice the way his skin glinted slightly, like faintly polished obsidian.
“I saved you,” he said softly, “because I couldn’t leave you to die. Even if it meant being found. I don’t know if my people are looking for me, but your cyborgs have been searching for our base northwest of here.”
“I heard about the cyborgs, but why would your people be hunting you?” I asked, though I suspected. “Because you ran?”
He nodded once. “Because I refused to follow orders. Orders to torture, enslave, and break people like you.”
I’d heard those stories, too. “Why are you telling me?”
“Because you should know who I am.”
He met my gaze then, and the look in his eyes was so open, so honest, that my breath caught. He was telling his truth—raw truth and quiet sorrow.
And something else.
Longing.
Looking into Koha’vek’s eyes, I no longer saw a monster. I saw a compassionate person who had saved my life and cared for me all this time. I don’t know when it started. I just realized the attraction growing between us when he lifted me off the horse. I was terrified and exhilarated at the same time.
Koha’vek looked conflicted yet hungry. Maybe he thought I would be repulsed, and somehow, I understood that he wouldn’t make the first move.
“You’ve done more for me than anyone in months.” I reached up and stroked his ridged cheeks with my fingers. “I’m not afraid of you.’ I rose off the couch on my good ankle and faced him, leaning in to brush his lips with mine. It was soft and tentative, a simple offer for him to accept or refuse.
