The Healer's Hellion - Miranda Bridges Page 0,13

you.” I cross my arms to keep my nipples from tenting the material and then say, “Okay, tell me everything.”

“What do you wish to know first?”

I bite the inside of my cheek as I think about his question and finally decide to go with the least upsetting topic. “Why were you Dravians on Earth before this?”

Braxton’s gaze is steady and bores into me when he answers, “We have been on your planet a number of times. The first instance was a long time ago when we inhabited your planet for a while. It is why you have depictions of us, and the tales of mythical creatures you refer to as ‘elves’ are because of the humans’ memories of us.”

“And then you left?” I prop my chin on my hand, leaning forward. “Why?”

“Your planet wasn’t large enough to sustain both our populations. We are on Najarie, and it is more than sufficient.”

“And what brought you back?”

His gaze flickers away so quickly I almost miss it. “We came back after realizing that human females are compatible with Dravian males.”

“And?” I draw out the word. If I’m right in my thinking, I’m about to lose my damn mind.

“And we needed them to keep our race from dying.”

In my anger, I stop caring about my lack of undergarments and jump to my feet. As I pace back and forth, I will myself to relax, to not jump to conclusions, but it’s hard. So hard.

“And then what happened?” I ask, not wanting to know but needing to.

Braxton exhales. “And then we took some human females to our home planet.”

“Against their will?” When he nods, I go stock-still. “You son of a bitch! I fucking knew it!” I clench my hands to keep from doing something stupid, like hitting him, and resume my pacing. “You’re no better than those alligator assholes. How can you justify your actions? I don’t believe this. And here I thought you were the good guys.”

He gets to his feet and crosses his arms. “My leader and those under his authority did what we deemed best for our people. It is not up to me to justify the actions of many. I can only speak for myself, and yes, I did assist with the abduction of human females, although I have not taken a breeder myself.”

I glare at him, still seething, but he continues.

“As a people, we were desperate to maintain our existence, and the only way that was going to happen was through obtaining offspring. None of the women were raped, and—”

“I highly doubt they were willing participants,” I snap.

“Everything changed when our males became mated to some of the human females.”

That statement gets my attention, and I halt, turning to face him. “What does that even mean?”

“It means,” he says, his voice becoming silky, “that a mating bond was formed between a male and his intended, his soulmate. She is the one female that will become his entire existence, his reason for breathing. He will not do anything unless it pleases her, unable to bear the thought of hurting her in any way. It means he will do everything within his power to make sure she is happy and cared for and satisfied to the point of exhaustion.”

Well, shit.

Chapter 5

I’m not going to lie, the idea of a man treating me like that sounds amazing.

After what I’ve gone through, I have a hard time believing such a relationship exists, but from the look that’s in Braxton’s eyes, I know he’s serious. More than serious. This is the most passionate I’ve seen him…about anything.

He fucking means what he’s saying.

I clear my throat, trying to ignore the fluttering in my belly at the conviction in his tone and the heat of his gaze.

“That sounds very…intense,” I say. “I’m sure this is all perfectly logical to you and your people, but I don’t agree with your actions. However, I cannot undo what’s already happened, so I’m going to just focus on the present.”

I take a deep breath and release it slowly in an attempt to calm myself. “All I care about is getting Camille, going back to Earth, and figuring out what’s happening to me. I highly suspect you can assist me with these things, and for that I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. But just so we are clear,” I say, pinning him with my gaze, “I will kill you if you or any other male on this ship tries to touch me.”

Braxton walks up to me, and I tilt my