Odin (Alien Adoption Agency #5) - Tasha Black Page 0,8

in spite of the pounding of the frigid water, all he could see was her face.

She was so quiet and polite, but she had opened up to him.

He admired her honesty, and winced at the idea that he hadn’t been nearly as honest as she had.

You did not tell her about the mate bond, the dragon agreed.

But she didn’t want more than friendship. How was he supposed to tell her that she already meant more than that to him?

And the worst of it was that now that he knew her better, he did want her - hook line and sinker - mate bond or not.

Whether he deserved happiness or not…

But he had made a strategic error. While she had won his heart with her openness, he had begun their friendship with a lie.

He promised to be her friend, even when he knew full well he could never be only that.

He was already her mate in all but a technicality.

And one day, they would both fall prey to the pull of the bond, and the technicality would be gone too.

If he didn’t tell her, she would never forgive him when that day came and he bound her to him.

And if he did tell her, she might rescind her offer of friendship.

The irony was painful. For years he had told himself that losing Adyxx was unforgivable. That he could never taste happiness again.

But now he realized this might not be irony at all.

Maybe he could pay his debt to the kid with this lifetime of torture.

By being so close he could taste it, and yet so far from happiness.

A cry from the bedroom told him that Colton was awake.

7

Liberty

Liberty spent the first part of their journey wondering why Odin was so quiet. Not that he’d been especially talkative yesterday, but so far, he’d been completely silent. And after a hearty morning feeding, the cart had lulled Colton back into a deep sleep, leaving Liberty on her own.

At least it was easy enough to distract herself with the scenery. Dim light filtered through the cloud cover, dappling the grasses at the edge of the plains.

The grasses themselves waved in the breeze as if in slow motion. Gravity was lower on the frontier moon, but only slightly, giving the world a dreamlike quality.

The Inn at Five Points had stood at the intersection of a well-maintained cobblestone road, a bumpy looking dirt path, a rail line of some sort, and the slight furrow in the grasses that their cart was currently jostling along.

It seemed like they were headed toward a blue mountain range. She hadn’t really thought about the fact that the highlands might mean a mountainous place.

She was about to ask Odin why anyone would farm on a mountain when Colton stirred in her arms.

She assumed he must be hungry. He seemed to wake only enough to latch onto his milk bulb and drink his way back to oblivion.

But when she looked down, he was looking back up at her.

She instinctively smiled in delight.

The little fellow was finally awake and alert.

His eyes were a deep gray, and full of wonder. He opened and closed his tiny hands as if trying to capture the light and shadows of the new day.

“Yes,” Liberty told him. “The world is a magical place. I can’t wait for you to see it all.”

He grabbed her chin with his little fist and crowed.

“He was up all night before you arrived,” Odin explained. “I think that’s why he slept so much yesterday.”

Liberty didn’t blame him. She hadn’t slept much the night before meeting her new family either.

“I’m so glad you’re awake, my love,” Liberty told the baby.

He smacked his lips and grabbed a hank of her hair.

“Is he hungry again?” she asked Odin.

“No, he’s just making conversation,” Odin explained.

“I wonder what he’s thinking,” Liberty said.

Odin smiled.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re his mother,” he said simply. “He’s thinking that you are beautiful, and he loves you.”

“That fast, huh?” she asked, swallowing down a lump in her throat.

“Of course,” he said. “Don’t you feel the same way about him?”

“Of course,” she said.

“He knows,” Odin told her.

She gazed back down at the little face that held her hypnotized. This tiny baby couldn’t do anything on his own.

But he did know she loved him. Odin was exactly right.

“You are wise to be so small,” she told Colton.

“Not wise enough to let go of your hair before he hurts you,” Odin said, reaching over and stroking the back of Colton’s little fist.

The baby released her hair instantly.

“How did