Page 24 of Bikar

Mouth full of food, she glares at me before reaching down and slipping a shoe off, throwing it at my face with surprising accuracy. Shooting my hand out, I catch it midair before it can make contact.

Peering at her innocently, I can’t help but smirk. “Was it something I said?”

Extracting a wing from my back, I grasp her wee shoe in its claw and then offer it to her with a flourish. “Your shoe, my Starshine.”

Bambi only hesitates a tic before jerking her shoe from my grasp and yanking it back on, muttering the entire time about stupid, mouthy, handsome aliens.

She finds me handsome? About frackin time. I am the most attractive of my siblings, after all.

Silence falls between us as she finishes hertiramisu,but it is a pleasant one. No hint of rigidity can be found in her body, and it warms my hearts to see. Bambi did not suffer any panic after launching her adorable attack on my person, not like last rotation's upset over a simple verbal correction. It may not seem like much, but to me… it is a massive success in the art of wooing my mate.

I know not if it is the work of the bond, if she is acclimating faster than my calculations indicated, or if she is truly getting to know me as a being and likes me for…me.

The definitive clink of her utensil hitting the table makes me blink and refocus on where she sits across the table, staring at me with a discerning expression. Before I can utter thebeginning of my question, her hesitant inquiry freezes me in place.

“Bikar… can you tell me… what exactly are you?”

CHAPTER 22

BAMBI

“Bikar… can you tell me… what exactly are you?”

The question’s been rolling around in my brain since I figured out that Bikar isn’t like his brothers. I know that some of them, like Murgul, suffered terribly at the hands of the critters they call the Aynar… but Bikar’s changes seem more like magic than anything else. I mean, his hands can disappear into things, for crying out loud!

Not to mention the ports hiding amongst the spines on his back. If I hadn’t seen them for myself, I never would have known they were there, since Bikar keeps his wing slits hidden at all times with a vest. It took me a while to figure out that he can either flatten or sink his spines into his back, making it easier for him to wear a shirt—or in his case a vest—than his siblings.

The pupils in both his eyes shrink to pinpoints at my question, and his attention shifts as he peers around the room, checking to see if anyone overheard my question.

That’s definitely not the reaction I was expecting. Not that I’m real sure what I anticipated he would do.

“If you are finished with your sweet treat, perhaps we could go somewhere… less frequented by the other inhabitants of ourshuttle? The helm room, perhaps?” His deep voice drops even lower than usual as he voices the request.

Knowing the drill by now, I set my fork on my plate before sliding it across the table to him. Offering me a sweet smile that flashes sharp teeth and tusks, Bikar scoops my dinnerware off the table and returns it to the replicator. He’s back at the table in a flash, extending a helpful hand for me to slip down and out of the Ruk-sized chair. Flashing him a grateful smile, I grab his calloused hand and ignore the way his massive body shudders when our skin touches. “Thanks, Bikar. I’m ready when you are.”

Inclining his head, he wordlessly acknowledges my gratitude, and we walk hand in hand together across the dining hall. I ignore the pointed stares of the other Ruks until the door slides shut, separating us from them. “Do all the other Ruks stare at you like that all the time? I didn’t really notice it on Deapra since I was actively avoiding you, but… it’s blatantly obvious here.”

Bikar’s stride pauses slightly, keeping his gaze on the corridor as he answers. “It is hard for them to accept… what I am. The laws from our home world, Uzrul, dictate that my brothers and I are all abominations that should be destroyed. However, we are the ones who saved them from certain death on Deapra. They do not know how to interact with us…me.”

By the time he finishes his stilted explanation, we’ve reached the helm room door, and he steps to the side, allowing me entry before he swipes his hand across the sensor. The sound the door makes as it shuts behind me seems somehow… final—as if once I learn the answers to my questions, there’s no going back. Truth be told, I’m not sure how that makes me feel. Nervous, yes, but also… hopeful?

Hopeful that this will be a definitive step in getting to know the real Bikar. Not the witty, sarcastic front he shows everyone else. If I’m supposed to be this male's long-awaited and cherished mate, then shouldn’t I know the truth?

Looking around the helm room, I realize that the sneaky male has bamboozled me. I’ve only been in here once when Bikar was dying, so it didn’t occur to me that there wouldn’t be somewhere else for me to sit. I was more than a little preoccupied last time. “Bikar, there’s only one chair in here.”

Stepping around me, he smoothly slips my new tablet from my hands and sets it on the console before settling himself into what I can only surmise is the captain’s or pilot’s seat.

That damn infuriating smirk is pulling at his lips, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “What an astute observation, little doe. Wherever shall you sit for our hearts-to-hearts conversation about me being an abomination that violates the laws of nature?”

If I roll my eyes any harder, they’re going to get stuck in the back of my head. “Ya know, everyone keeps saying how stinking smart you are, but for the life of me I can’t get you or anyone else toprove it.”

Frustration and amusement are battling it out inside me. I don’t like being tricked… but he’s damned amusing, and he knows it.

“Come now, little one. I don’t bite.” He pauses for dramatic effect, and I know what he’s going to say before he opens his stupid mouth. “Not unless you ask me nicely.”

Glaring at him, I fold my arms across my chest. “I don’t know how you’ve lived this long without someone, aside from your brothers, doing you gratuitous physical harm for that mouth of yours.”

“I do have a rather nice mouth if I do say so myself,” is his cheeky response. He blatantly ignores my comment about getting his butt kicked by Murgul.