Chapter Twenty-Seven

Graven

I feel her against me, the whole of her soft body, her legs wrapped around me, her voluptuous breasts against my chest, and her rounded thighs encasing me, holding me. I burrow as deep within her as I can while she comes apart in my arms.

It’s like nothing I’ve felt before. I thought my mouth, my hands, my cock were all I really needed to enjoy sex, enjoy her. But she was right: I was missing so much more.

It’s as though the love that I felt for her that was so strong in my chest, so strong I had to chase her down just to tell her for fear I would explode—it’s as though that love no longer lives only in my chest but in every cell in my body. As though every tiny piece of me is inexplicably in love with her.

And gods help me, the sensation is more euphoric than a hundred orgasms. I had no idea, never guessed that loving her could feel as good as holding her. They are the same.

But my honeymoon with her, my fantasy of loving her, right here, on this rock till sunrise, is stolen.

“Niva!” a harsh Fellamana voice calls through the forest. “Niva…” it calls again and says something else in Niva’s language.

She stiffens and buries her head in my chest. “Oh gods…”

“Who is it?”

“My father.”

“Oh fuck!” I pull away from her too fast; she almost falls. I catch her but set her upright so I can pull on my uniform and she can put on her robe. I have no desire to meet her father again this time while naked, having just made love to his daughter on a godsforsaken rock.

Shit, I’m not sure how this gets worse.

Me, a human whom he’s forbidden to even look at her—he’s probably going to try to kill me. And I won’t have an option to fight back because I can’t kill or even hurt Niva’s beloved father. No. Not an option.

A Fellamana man comes to the edge of Niva’s light circle, his skin swirling the same way Niva’s does but with a color I’ve never seen on Niva. Purple, deep royal purple sweeps over his skin that’s exposed on his chest and arms through his traditional Fellamana robe. There are traces of orange amid his complexion, but he is mostly dark purple, and I wonder what emotion that is for him, if it means what I think it does.

“Niva…” He says something to her I can’t understand, but it’s not angry like I expect. His expression and tone are one of pain and worry. He barely looks at me; he doesn’t seem to care that I’m still pulling my uniform top back on, and we’ve obviously just been having sex.

I suppose he’s walked in on his daughter naked so many times, he thinks nothing of it. Which…I can’t help but see as weird. Or freeing. I don’t know.

“Why did you come looking for me?” she asks, switching to my language so I can understand.

“You weren’t in the prison cell,” he says. “And I—”

“A prison cell!” I blurt and stare at her. “Why?” I have no idea what Niva could’ve done, unless… “Did they find out about us?”

Niva glances at her Father. “Did they?”

He nods. “After you mentioned Graven to the council members in my office, they checked all the security feeds near our family compound and saw the videos from before you destroyed the system.”

“They can’t do this to me,” she demands. “I’m the possessor of the power. They cannot dictate who I have sex with. That’s not how this works.”

“You know that. I know that. But it doesn’t change what the council has decided. Niva…they…” He gulps and stares at her with a thick fear in his eyes.

“What?” she murmurs. “What did they decide?”

“Two strikes,” he whispers as though he can barely bring himself to say it. “One for the violence in the council chambers. One for making love with this human.”

I don’t need any translation for this one. I understand. “It’s three strikes, right?” I ask, just to make sure. “And then they…” I can’t say it.

“Then they lock me in the…” Her voice shakes as I’ve never heard it before.

“That cage? The one you can’t get out of?”

“Yes.” She reaches out to hold my hand, and her fingers lacing through mine is the most comforting thing I’ve ever felt, but I feel her fingers tremble and realize I’m not the one who needs the comfort. It’s her.

Gods, if I lost her, if they tried to take her away from me or do anything to harm her… Anger, hot and terrifying, burns through my veins, and I have to breathe deeply to hold myself in check. I cannot be held responsible for the violence I will wreak on anyone who tries to harm her.

Her father gazes at our clasped hands. “Is there anything else,” her father asks, “that has happened tonight that could bring more strikes against you?”

“Other than being with Graven?” she asks.

He nods. “Other than being with Graven.”

I don’t know what he’s referring to, but she obviously does. “I killed someone,” she says levelly. “Using the power.”

His eyes fall closed, and his chin drops to his chest as though this is the most horrible news she could’ve possibly given him.

“Hey, wait a second,” I defend her. “It wasn’t like that. It was self-defense. And Dr. Olly was about to blow the whole rebel camp to pieces. Hundreds of people would’ve died, and Niva helped stop it from happening.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Niva says calmly beside me. “The Fellamana believe there is always an alternative to death. Always. Taking a life, no matter how guilty the person is, is considered unforgivable.”

“If the council finds out about this…” Her father’s face goes pale as death. “Nothing I say can save you, Niva. With a unanimous vote, once someone else manifests with the Exstare, they could execute you.”

“But they can’t kill her!” I can’t help shouting. “You said they never kill anyone.”

Niva shakes her head. “I’m the exception.” Her tone is so thick and heavy, it belies no argument. It’s a certainty. “I’m a danger to the people.”

“I thought you were sacred to your people…” My voice fades as she and her father won’t meet my eyes. Apparently, fear of her violence outranks her religious significance. Which makes no sense.

“Did others witness you kill?” her father asks.

“Only Graven, but they’ll know. My power left a burn mark on his chest larger than any blaster could.”

He takes a heavy breath and squares his shoulders. “It’s done then.”

“What’s done?” I glance at Niva, not knowing what she’s thinking.

“Three strikes,” she mutters. Her hand is still shaking in mine, but she doesn’t look at me. “What will you do, Father? Will you turn your daughter over to life imprisonment and death row?”

I can’t help a growl starting deep in my chest. Over my dead body. I take it back. I thought there was no circumstance where I could hurt her father. There is. If he tries to hurt her, he’s dead.

Niva puts a calming hand on my chest as though to say, wait.

Her father’s expression softens to something so glowing with love, and he puts a hand over his heart and says something to her in Fellamana. It must be something intimate because Niva, gives a small whimper but smiles and says it back.

“I came to help you, Niva.” He nods to me. “And Graven.” He waves for us to follow him and walks back through the jungle the way he came. “Come.”

Niva waits a moment standing with me in the silence of the forest. “I think we should go with him.”

“We don’t have to,” I say. “We could go back to the rebel camp. They’ll hide you. They’ll defend you. They wouldn’t let the Fellamana execute you for making love with a human and for killing a traitor.”

“But it would start a war,” she protests. “You see that, right? The peace that exists between the humans and my people would be shattered if they tried to hide me.”

“We could…we could leave the planet!”

“The rebels have no ships,” she points out. “The Liberator left orbit, remember? The only ships capable of getting us off the planet are Fellamana.” She stares after her father. “He has a plan. I don’t know what it is, but I trust him.”

“What if his plan is to turn us both over to the Fellamana prison?”

“He won’t. Come on.” She tugs my hand and forces me to follow him with her.

It seems like the worst idea, but there’s nothing I can do. As long as she trusts him, I can’t deny her. But if I think for a moment he means her harm, I won’t hesitate to kill him.