Ar'Tok - Alana Khan Page 0,61
pass through a tall, arched wooden arbor gate. It’s intricately carved and so large it almost dwarfs my huge companion.
Once inside, it’s like a secret place. The air is more humid, the sound of the birds is sharper. Trees of every color curve over the stone pathways.
“Look at that one!” I point to one with turquoise bark.
“I think the scarlet is even prettier,” Ar’Tok says.
We stroll . . . well, he strolls, I get pushed around like an Empress. We’re like two kids, pointing things out to each other, laughing, enjoying the brisk temperature.
“This is it,” he announces when we’re almost to the back of the enormous garden. “Close your eyes.”
I’ve seen the changing of seasons on countless vids, but to be here, noticing the riot of colors, is fascinating. We saw nothing like this on the mountain the other day. I seem to recall my mom telling me that with the changing of the season some trees turn colors and lose their leaves, while others are ever green.
“It’s so beautiful and you want me to close my eyes?” I grouse as I follow his direction.
As soon as my lids are closed, he pushes me into the deepest part of the gardens. He stops walking as he admonishes, “No peeking.”
Then it hits me. I’m bombarded by a dozen amazing smells at once.
“Ar’Tok! What is this?”
“They call it the scented garden,” he murmurs, his lips next to my ear, his cirr jumping at the chance to caress my cheeks.
“Scented garden. It sounds magical.”
“It is. You’ll see in a moment when I tell you to open your eyes. But for now, just enjoy the fragrance.”
My dad bought my mom a very expensive bottle of perfume years ago. She cherished it and rarely wore it, telling us she was saving it for special occasions. The bottle was still half-full when she died. I wish she’d allowed herself to enjoy it more. Dad told me I could have it, but the smell reminded me too much of her and made me cry.
But this? This wonderful smell fills me with joy.
“I described something just like this when you were still on the Misfit,” he murmurs in my ear. “Like it?”
“I like it, Ar’Tok, but I love you for thinking of it and bringing me here.”
His warm lips graze my cheek. My heart bursts with love for him. He lifts me into his arms and sits us down.
“You can open your eyes, Love,” his voice is deep and tender.
I’m on his lap as he sits in a large burnished metal sculpture of a humanoid female of indeterminate race. She was obviously built to hold a person. My Ar’Tok is in her lap, I’m in his. His warm, brown gaze holds onto me like I’m his lifeline, which is ironic because that’s backward. He’s the one I’ve been holding onto since the day I heard his deep voice over comms.
“This place is magic, Ar’Tok.”
He doesn’t tear his gaze from mine as he nods. “You’re all the magic I need, Star.”
He rocks me as he kisses the top of my head.
“You deserve so much, Star. You deserve to see everything you’ve only read about. You deserve to do everything on your bucket list. Would it be too presumptuous of me to want to be there with you when you do?”
I twist in his lap, my bad leg comfortably supported by the statue’s flowing kimono, and press my palms to his cheeks. “What fun would it be without you, my love? And who would rescue me when I fall through lava tubes or try to breathe without oxygen?”
“Do you want to stay on the Misfit? We could get it up and running again and—”
“Twenty-one years on that bucket of bolts is enough. I think it will be wonderful to start a new life together. I think we both stumbled into heaven. We have new friends, we’ll be able to travel the galaxy together, we both have jobs we like . . . you do like comms, right?”
“Yes. It’s fun, and besides, that’s how I found you.”
“Well, no more flirting with strange females, right?”
“I don’t find you that strange,” he jokes.
“I love this face,” I stroke his cheek with one knuckle. “I especially love it when you smile.”
His smile broadens and I tip my head back so he can kiss me. His lips are warm as he sighs into my mouth.
“Take a few more deep breaths, love, because I’m going to get you back to our room and see if