Page 28 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
“Xane, you could bench press a glacier. No one couldpossiblythink you’re weak. Maybe Hathgarr just thinks you’re his little brother and wanted to look out for you.”
He absently rubbed at the spot where the 1 Medallion had once lain against his skin, remembering the day he’d taken it off. “I left home, just after I came of age. We got into an argument on Hathgarr’s ship, and I stormed off, determined to prove myself. It was… not well done of me.”
“We should call him.” Sadie pressed.
“Rtaharion is far from here. Even if I did send a message, it would take Hathgarr weeks to arrive. I do not think we have that long. The patrons at the bar know you are a woman. Awoman is valuable. They will be looking for you. The ship is hidden for now, but they will find it eventually.” He paused. “Findus.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let them take you back and put you in the mines.” She assured him innocently.
Xane sighed at that very earnest, very ridiculous assurance. No, Sadie would never survive this place on her own. Perhaps the gods had sent her into his arms, because they knew that she was careening towards death, and they wanted her to live.
Rtaharions believed in an entire pantheon of deities, even though they didn’t always like them. The Fating Gods were the ones responsible for weaving a person’s destiny. They often set tempting futures in front of a man, just to see him fall as he scrambled to achieve the impossible. Only one in a million ever reached the shiny prizes they dangled. They liked to see mortals suffer.
But they also selected some beings for greater purposes.
There was no way in the six-tiered heavens that Sadie Malone should be alive. None. She should have died at least a dozen times today. Yet here she lay, safe and smelling likeyaseehoney. That hinted at a grand and important destiny. Xane saw no other explanation.
This woman was touched by the gods. Favored. Perhaps because she was so devoted to celebrating this “Christmastime.” Perhaps the gods enjoyed having a new holiday in this part of the universe. So, they had made her Xane’s wife, because they knew he would guard her.
“I don’t believe you need to know someone’s name to fall under their power.” He mused, returning to the question shehadn’t given him a chance to answer. “I’ve seen men laid low by a woman, just from viewing a holo-image of her. They can be out of commission for days, overwhelmed by rampaging lust.”
“I’m not sure that’s reallylove.” Sadie said dryly.
“Love? This is a deeper form of caring, yes?”
“Yes. To fall in love is to care for one person above all others. That is what most humans want.”
He made a face, refusing to listen to that fantasy. “There is no compelling reason for any woman to eternally tie herself to a single male. She might find a better one, at any time.”
“When you find the right man, thereisn’ta better one.” She yawned. “My mother and grandmother were very happy with their choices. They said their hearts started beating differently, when they found their husbands, and they justknew.”
Xane considered that idea, linking it to his own and finding common ground. “Sometimes, the gods put a person in our path. You do not always have to know their name to know their destiny is aligned to your own. That is undoubtedly what the women in your family experienced. A connection to fate. Aknowing.”
Sadie seems sleepily amused. “That seems like a really New Age theory for a big warrior guy.”
“It is a theory of the Old Age, actually. From the Time of the Blackened Moon.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I have no doubt that the ancient wisdom is true. It explains all you speak of.” He nodded at his own indisputablelogic. If her foremothers were anything like her, the gods had surely recruited men to guard them, as well. Otherwise, they would have died through cheerful mayhem, before Sadie Malone was even born, and the godswantedSadie Malone born. She was special. Anyone could see it. “Are you descended from a line of priestesses, by chance?”
“Nope. I just go by instincts.”
“Instincts come from the gods. You see how my theory is correct?”
Sadie’s eyes drifted shut. “I see how youalwaysthink you’re correct.”
His mouth gave a reluctant twitch. “My brother would agree with that. He often claims the same.”
“Clearly a smart guy.” She murmured drowsily.
“Hathgarr would agree with that, as well.”
Sadie didn’t respond. She’d fallen asleep.
Xane watched her for a long moment and then forced himself to look away. It was folly to lust after his mate. To notice how her honeyed scent filled his lungs. To watch her peaceful face and picture her smiling up at him in invitation. To imagine how her plump breasts would look uncovered.
His head banged backwards against the wall in self-disgust.
