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worried.
    “ What did I say to make
you wary?” He moved over to the couch and seated himself sideways,
facing her.
    “ When someone says ‘we
need to talk’ it usually means trouble.” She turned her gaze to him
and he perceived hurt in the depths of her eyes. Hurt he had put
there. Val couldn’t help but reach out and take her into his arms,
holding her against him as he spoke. He couldn’t bear to see the
hurt in her eyes.
    “ You’re not in trouble. I
might be, but you’re not, sweet one.” He kissed the crown of her
head, loving the feel of her in his embrace. “I have kept away
until I was certain we could be together.”
    She drew back, surprise replacing the
hurt in her expression. “What?”
    “ I realize you are not
used to our ways, but you had to feel the magic in our first kiss.
It was the nij’ta , though I didn’t mean to kiss you. I couldn’t help myself.
Your kiss proved we were meant to be.”
    “ Is that what that was?”
Her words were soft, as if she were unsure.
    “ I’m not sure if it’s the
same for humans is it is for us, but I knew the instant I kissed
you that you were meant to be mine. You’re my perfect mate, Lisbet
Duncan of Earth. Crazy as that may seem.” He knew he was smiling
but he still couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I’d given up ever
finding you. The one woman destined to share my life. I sank my
efforts into building this ship and dedicated myself to my people’s
cause of conquest. Without a wife or a future, I had no other
recourse. But now that I’ve found you, everything’s
changed.”
    “ Just like that?” She
sounded as incredulous as he still felt.
    “ Just like that,” he
agreed, dipping to place a quick kiss on her lips. Sparks seemed to
fly whenever they touched and he reveled in the response only she
could evoke in him. “We’re out of the Milky Way and on our way back
to my home planet of Solaris Delta. It is my right and duty as
Liege of Fedroval to quit the battle now that I have found my
perfect mate.”
    “ Wait a minute. You’re
taking me home ?
To your home? Don’t I have any say in this?”
    Her anger set him back. He
moved away, facing her as they sat on the couch. “Do you wish to
part from me? Do you believe you can—what is that human
word?— divorce me
so easily?”
    “ We’re not married,” she
said, causing pain to lance through his heart.
    “ In the eyes of my people,
you are already mine, Lisbet. I would have you come willingly, but
if necessary, I will give you little freedom and no opportunity to
desert me.”
    “ I’m your prisoner?” Her
beautiful green eyes went wide with dismay.
    “ Only if you want to be.
I’d rather have you as my bride. My loving wife. The mother of my
children, if we are so blessed.”
    She sat back, air puffing out of her
as if in shock. “This is a lot to take in.”
    “ Don’t you want to be with
me?” He knew he sounded desperate, but he couldn’t help the way he
was feeling. He had to do everything in his power to convince
her.
    She looked at him and he saw the
uncertainty in her eyes. “This has all happened so
fast.”
    He tried a different tack. “Do you
believe in a power higher than our own? I believe most humans call
it God.”
    “ I believe God is female.”
Her brows knit, trying to follow his jump in conversation, no
doubt.
    “ You do?” He grinned
again. This was a good sign. One might even say a sign from the
divine. “Jit’suku believe in the Goddess. It was She who allowed us
to find out destined mates by means of the nij’ta . It was She who guided me to
you, I now believe. I have conferred with the High Priest of the
Zenai Brotherhood, an order dedicated to Her service, and I’ve
learned there is some precedent for human women being the true
mates of jit’suku warriors. Now that our races have come into
contact with each other, ours is not the first such pairing, though
it is the highest ranking. Still, those who came before us will
ease our