“I want to, baby,” he murmured, too low to wake her up. “Want to so damn badly—but I can’t. By that time, I’ll be gone.”
Their bond and link would remain for a little while, at least—for as long as he lived. But Kane was well able to keep a barrier between them to keep her from feeling his mind linked to hers. And it wouldn’t be for long, anyway.
He watched her for hours, studying her lovely features, memorizing her face so he could take it with him—even into death. But at last he knew he could wait no longer. He gathered her into his arms and gave her a tiny but potent Sting at the base of her skull, brushing her lovely auburn hair aside to do so.
At once Alli’s breathing changed as her sleep deepened. She was out now—and she wouldn’t wake up until he wanted her to. Kane sighed as he pressed another kiss to her sleeping lips. It was time.
She slept through the trip back to her home universe and then her home world. In fact, she didn’t even begin to wake until Kane was sliding her beneath the covers, next to the worthless fiancé who damn well didn’t deserve her.
The male slept on but Alli’s eyes began to flutter as Kane drew the covers up to her chin.
“Wha…?” She looked at him groggily. “Kane? What’s going on?” Where are we?”
“You’re home, baby.” Suddenly his throat felt tight and it was difficult to talk. Instead of trying, he kissed her softly. Then, before she could ask any more questions, he pressed his mouth to her temple.
“Kane, what—?” she began, frowning.
Before she could finish her question, he Stung her once more on the temple. Through their link, he whispered, “Sleep and forget, Allisandra. Forget me completely..”
The furrows in Alli’s brow erased themselves abruptly and her eyes closed as her body relaxed back into sleep.
Kane watched her for a moment longer, his heart throbbing in his chest as the pain of loss speared through him sharply. Gods, he never wanted to leave her! And yet, this was the only way to keep her safe and to redress the wrongs his people had done to her planet in his own universe. The only way to make things right.
Finally, he turned away. As much as he might love Allisandra, now he had to leave her.
And he knew he would never see her again.
Thirty-Five
Alli woke with a mild headache and a feeling that she’d been having crazy dreams…dreams she couldn’t quite remember. The first rays of sunlight were just making their way through her bedroom blinds, showing her fiancé sleeping tangled in the covers beside her.
“Douglas?” she asked, sitting up in bed and blinking. “Douglas, wake up. I had the strangest dream. At least…” She put a hand to her temple which felt tender for some reason. “At least, I think I did.”
“Darling?” Her fiancé’s eyes slitted open, groggy at first. But when he saw her sitting there, his eyes flew wide in apparent surprise. “Alli!” he exclaimed. “Oh my God—you’re back!”
“Back?” Alli frowned. “What are you talking about?”
What followed was a very strange half hour. Douglas insisted that she had been gone for nearly a month—that she had vanished right out of their bed one night and he hadn’t been able to find her anywhere.
“We’ve all been frantic!” he told her, running a hand through his thinning brown hair. “I looked for you everywhere—I called the Mother Ship and they turned the place upside down! Searched high and low but you weren’t to be found!”
Alli shook her head.
“But…I don’t remember going anywhere. What are you talking about?”
She wouldn’t believe him until he showed her the calendar app on his phone.
“See? It’s nearly the end of June! Why, we’re supposed to get married in just two days! But I thought you were gone forever. Do you know how worried I was?” He took Alli by the shoulders and frowned at her fiercely.. “I’m relieved you’re back, of course, but it was really inconsiderate of you to make everyone worry so much.”
“I…I didn’t mean to. Honestly,” Alli protested.
Douglas gave a long-suffering sigh.
“Well, I suppose all that matters is that you’re back and safe. Come here.” And he pulled her into a hug.
Alli let him embrace her, but his arms around her felt…wrong. And the way their faces were on the same level when he hugged her seemed strange too.
His arms should be stronger, longer—more muscular, she thought. And I ought to have