she had forgotten how freaking cold it was in the common room and that she suddenly felt in the wrong here.
“It isn’t going to work between us, R’har. It just can’t !”
With an angry, impatient gesture he indicated the bedchamber door. “How can you say this when we have already mated?”
“I’m not talking about sex! Even if we forgot about stuff like, oh, I don’t know—not living on the same planet —you’re g’hir, I’m human! We’re just—” And for no reason at all her eyes stung with tears. “We’re just . . . different, R’har.”
“Yes, we are different!” he roared. “Human and g’hir are different . My eyes will never water like yours do. You will never truly understand what it means to me to have lifemated to you! I cannot be human for you, but I will give you more of myself than any human male ever could!”
“Lifemated?” she echoed, shaking her head. “What the hell is—”
Hope cried out as the ship’s floor tilted violently. The impact of whatever slammed into the ship knocked them off their feet and Hope hit the icy deck hard enough to rattle her teeth. Pain shot up her shoulder as the room was plunged into darkness.
She flailed blindly for R’har and for a single terrified instant in the silent blackness of that spaceship Hope reached for him, and found nothing.
Then his warm hand wrapped around hers.
“Hope! Are you injured, little one?”
Her shoulder had been briefly, blessedly numb for a moment but now the pain made a grand entrance. It hurt like a bitch but it sure as hell wasn’t the highest priority right now. “I’m fine,” she lied. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”
“We are under attack! I must—”
Another impact slammed against the hull and cut him off. His grip tightened on her hand as the deck bucked under them.
This time the lights came back on and the blare of alarms with them. The galley beyond looked largely undamaged. Most things on the ship were secured in sealed cabinets and cubbies but those few loose contents of the common room were thrown about but—
“You’re hurt!” she cried at seeing R’har’s bloodied mouth.
He shook his head sharply. “I have to get to the cockpit! Are you—?”
“I’m fine! Go!” Not true, her shoulder was throbbing, but she was likely no worse off than R’har and he was already pushing to his feet.
Hope made it to standing and into the corridor behind him before another impact rocked the ship. Either this one was a glancing blow or she was getting used to being in a spaceship turned funhouse because she managed to catch herself against the wall and remain upright.
R’har had a g’hir’s speed; he was already through the door at the end of the hall.
With hands outstretched to her sides, ready to catch herself in case the ship tilted again, Hope ran after.
R’har sat in the pilot’s seat, his fingers flying over the controls, but outside the windows there was nothing but the usual stomach-flipping endlessness of space and the peaceful turning planet, Olari, below.
“What’s happening?” Hope slid into the co-pilot’s chair beside him but another slam against the hull had her clutching at the armrests to stay there.
“Why are we being fired upon in g’hir space?” he snarled, adjusting the displays. “There should not—” R’har went still and his face blanched. “Goddess, no. It cannot be here . . .”
“What?” Hope demanded. “ What cannot be here?”
“A Zerar warship.”
Eleven
“The same people who infected your planet with the plague are trying to blow us to hell?” Hope tightened her hold on the armrests as the ship bucked again. “And hey, have you thought about shooting back at them?”
“We are shooting back,” he growled shortly. “Or we would have already been destroyed by their weapons. The ship’s defensive systems and heavy shielding came online at their first volley.”
Another blast from the Zerar ship slammed against
“It isn’t going to work between us, R’har. It just can’t !”
With an angry, impatient gesture he indicated the bedchamber door. “How can you say this when we have already mated?”
“I’m not talking about sex! Even if we forgot about stuff like, oh, I don’t know—not living on the same planet —you’re g’hir, I’m human! We’re just—” And for no reason at all her eyes stung with tears. “We’re just . . . different, R’har.”
“Yes, we are different!” he roared. “Human and g’hir are different . My eyes will never water like yours do. You will never truly understand what it means to me to have lifemated to you! I cannot be human for you, but I will give you more of myself than any human male ever could!”
“Lifemated?” she echoed, shaking her head. “What the hell is—”
Hope cried out as the ship’s floor tilted violently. The impact of whatever slammed into the ship knocked them off their feet and Hope hit the icy deck hard enough to rattle her teeth. Pain shot up her shoulder as the room was plunged into darkness.
She flailed blindly for R’har and for a single terrified instant in the silent blackness of that spaceship Hope reached for him, and found nothing.
Then his warm hand wrapped around hers.
“Hope! Are you injured, little one?”
Her shoulder had been briefly, blessedly numb for a moment but now the pain made a grand entrance. It hurt like a bitch but it sure as hell wasn’t the highest priority right now. “I’m fine,” she lied. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”
“We are under attack! I must—”
Another impact slammed against the hull and cut him off. His grip tightened on her hand as the deck bucked under them.
This time the lights came back on and the blare of alarms with them. The galley beyond looked largely undamaged. Most things on the ship were secured in sealed cabinets and cubbies but those few loose contents of the common room were thrown about but—
“You’re hurt!” she cried at seeing R’har’s bloodied mouth.
He shook his head sharply. “I have to get to the cockpit! Are you—?”
“I’m fine! Go!” Not true, her shoulder was throbbing, but she was likely no worse off than R’har and he was already pushing to his feet.
Hope made it to standing and into the corridor behind him before another impact rocked the ship. Either this one was a glancing blow or she was getting used to being in a spaceship turned funhouse because she managed to catch herself against the wall and remain upright.
R’har had a g’hir’s speed; he was already through the door at the end of the hall.
With hands outstretched to her sides, ready to catch herself in case the ship tilted again, Hope ran after.
R’har sat in the pilot’s seat, his fingers flying over the controls, but outside the windows there was nothing but the usual stomach-flipping endlessness of space and the peaceful turning planet, Olari, below.
“What’s happening?” Hope slid into the co-pilot’s chair beside him but another slam against the hull had her clutching at the armrests to stay there.
“Why are we being fired upon in g’hir space?” he snarled, adjusting the displays. “There should not—” R’har went still and his face blanched. “Goddess, no. It cannot be here . . .”
“What?” Hope demanded. “ What cannot be here?”
“A Zerar warship.”
Eleven
“The same people who infected your planet with the plague are trying to blow us to hell?” Hope tightened her hold on the armrests as the ship bucked again. “And hey, have you thought about shooting back at them?”
“We are shooting back,” he growled shortly. “Or we would have already been destroyed by their weapons. The ship’s defensive systems and heavy shielding came online at their first volley.”
Another blast from the Zerar ship slammed against
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