Page 52 of Rainse
But I had things to do. Preparations to make. A life to build with her.
I pressed a kiss to her temple and whispered, "Twenty-four hours. Then you're officially mine."
She smiled in her sleep, and the bond pulsed with shared contentment.
18
Verity
I woke to sunlight streaming through the windows and Rainse's greenskin wrapped around me like a living blanket. For a disorienting moment, I couldn't remember where I was—then everything came rushing back. The storm. The hut. The bonding. The DNA test.
The results.
"You're thinking very loudly," Rainse murmured against my hair.
"What time is it?"
"Early. The sun's barely up." His arms tightened around me. "Nervous?"
"Should I be?"
"No." He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. "The test will only confirm what we already know."
"And what's that?"
"That you're mine. That I'm yours. That the universe got something right for once."
I turned in his arms to face him. His eyes were still soft with sleep, his hair mussed, greenskin moving in lazy patterns across his skin. Beautiful. Alien. Mine.
"When will we know?" I asked.
"Fionn said the Tidebound returned late last night. The lab processes samples overnight. So..." He glanced at the window, calculating. "Any time now, actually."
My stomach flipped. "That's?—"
His strange alien watch chimed from his right wrist.
We both froze.
"That could be anything," I said.
"It could," he agreed, but he was already reaching for it.
The screen lit up with a message from Pam: Results are in. Call me in one hour.
"One hour," I repeated. "That's... not much time."
"Enough for a shower," Rainse said, already pulling me out of bed. "And breakfast. And possibly a moment of panic."
"I don't panic."
"Scientist," he said fondly. "You've been fidgeting since you woke up."
"That's not panic. That's excited anticipation."
"Is there a difference?"
"Scientifically speaking, yes. Panic involves elevated cortisol levels and—" I stopped when I saw his expression. "You're teasing me."
