Page 62 of Radakk's Mate
I also detect the warmth he harbors for me, the very warmth he once tried to ignore. The tenderness he’d felt for me even before the heartbond started forming.
Likewise, I experienced similar warmth and tenderness for him even before the bond. I’d tried to push away those feelings, unwanted and entirely inconvenient as they were at the time.
Yet I can’t fathom us ever being parted.
The pain of it… I doubt I would survive the grief. It would tear me apart, shred my soul to pieces.
Pleasure quakes through me as he finishes applying the lube, spreads my center, and shoves deep in my orifices. He claims me hard while I obediently hold position.
After three more mating sessions, the final ancestral marking appears on my arms, and the bonding fever finally fades. Radakk marvels at the symbols covering my arms, markings that are a perfect match to his. I marvel at them, too, at the magic of the heartbond.
We shower together, then venture to the kitchen in search of food. Closta appears and tries to help, but Radakk sends the servant android away.
We carry our plates into the sitting room and settle on the largest sofa that faces the viewscreen. I peer at the fleet and the stars streaking by, and a sense of rightness settles deep in my bones.
Three moon cycles.
In three moon cycles, we’ll arrive on Planet 58-Z.
It seems unreal.
Once, I’d never allowed myself to consider what it would be like to live on a planet, what it would be like to feel solid ground beneath my feet. I was born on the human worldship, and until recently, I’d believed I would die on theJansonna. But I find I’m looking forward to the experience of living on a planet more and more. Especially with Radakk at my side to share in the experience.
Radakk places a finger beneath my chin, turning me to face him. “Your thoughts are very loud, little empress.” A grin tugs at his lips. “But I’m enjoying the bond. Your constant presence inside me is… soothing. It’s as though the restless part of me has finally settled. As though I can breathe, truly breathe, for the first time in my life.” He wraps his arms around me, and we gaze upon the stars.
“I know what you mean,” I eventually whisper.
Eight years. Please let us have more than eight years.His stray thought filters down the bond. I gasp and wrench myself from his arms, alarm filling me.
“Forlonggsa.” I shake my head, not wanting to believe it. “The great madness. You worry you’re going to fall ill with the same disease that killed your father, the same disease that now afflicts your uncle.”
His eyes flicker with sadness. “I suppose I’ve been keeping secrets too.” He gathers me closer and laces his fingers through mine, holding my hands tightly in his. “It’s not a certainty,” he says, “and even if it does happen, we’ll likely have more than eight years.”
He presses his forehead to mine, and he sends me a replay of multiple conversations he’s had with a doctor by the name of Zahhn. And just like that, I’m quickly up to speed on the subject, and I’m no longer as worried as I was a few seconds ago.
Doctor Zahhn is working on a cure, and an experimental treatment he’s currently testing aboard theRorrsahas already shown excellent results. All the males in the trial have shown significantly reduced symptoms, and their conditions continue to improve with each passing day.
I clutch Radakk’s hands harder and breathe a sigh of relief.
“I’m not leaving you anytime soon, little empress.” He kisses my forehead, and I melt at the intimacy of the action. “I promised to never let you go, and it’s a promise I intend to keep. We’re going to share a long mating bond. I can feel it. In the depths of my soul, I can feel it.”
He gathers me close, and we resume watching the stars, our hearts beating in sync, our souls joined for all time.
Chapter41
THALIA
Radakk escortsme into Doctor Zahhn’s laboratory. The tall male greets my mate, though he doesn’t acknowledge my presence. I’ve come to learn this is another Darrvason custom—after a couple mates, other males are forbidden from interacting with the female until her mate introduces her.
I’m relieved when Radakk places a hand on my lower back and says, “Doctor Zahhn, this is my mate, Thalia.”
Finally, the doctor meets my eyes, but only briefly. He inclines his head and says, “Good morning, Empress.”
Empress. I’m still not used to the formal address.
“Good morning, Doctor Zahhn,” I say.
The doctor gestures at a nearby screen that displays a series of graphs and charts that I struggle to comprehend. “As you’re aware, Emperor Radakk, I decided to re-sequence your genes after noticing some anomalies in your most recent blood sample.”
