Pirate's Gold - S.J. Sanders Page 0,77

of this, I’m never going on a planet again. Filthy, dangerous places creeping with things that want to eat you. My ship, and even the most broken-down space station, would be preferable to this,” Azan wheezed, squinting into the distance while maintaining her ground-eating pace. “No more fleeing from creatures trying to eat me. The only running I plan on doing from here on out is short bursts to evade law enforcement. Space is far more civilized.”

Terri chuckled tiredly at the observation. She could just imagine the pirate holed up on one ship or another for the rest of her life, charting a new course the moment someone so much as whispered about having to land planetside.

Azan shot her a sidelong look. “What about you, little human? Are you sure the life of a salvager is right for you? There would be a place for you on my ship. Nice, cozy… minimal chance of being eaten.”

Veral stiffened against Terri, and she rubbed her hand soothingly on the thick muscle of her male’s arm. “I’m quite sure. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d like to be other than my mate’s side.”

“Your species must possess a limited imagination,” Azan retorted, laughing.

Terri shrugged and nestled closer to her mate, breathing in his warm scent. She wouldn’t live in a cage, no matter how lovely. Anything less than being at her mate’s side was unacceptable. Veral’s threatening growl at the suggestion warmed her heart as she recognized the demonstration of her male’s claim in response to the pirate’s words. The territorial sound was as close to violence as Veral could get at that moment.

If Azan had been another male offering what could be perceived as a better, more comfortable, life, she wondered if he would have managed to control his reaction, injury be damned. Any worry she had that he would consider casting her aside when their relationship became too much trouble evaporated at that sound. Even after everything that had happened over the last several days, he was demonstrating—in as grand of a gesture as it got with him—that she was completely his.

“I’ll be yours for as long as you want me,” she whispered.

A purr rattled from him, his hands tightening around her legs. “Never would there be a time or place where I would not need my anastha, or lay my life and honor before you. You may be mine, but I am yours as well,” he replied, the heartfelt lengthiness of his response surprising Terri.

Azan sighed. “You two are disgusting. How unlikely that your relationship survived this long intact. How is that, I wonder? Regardless, it was worth the attempt.”

Veral snorted and shook his head. “You do not understand mating. It is not about what is pleasant in fortunate circumstances, but that which survives and is tempered by life. My anastha is the other half of me. She carries my heart and all of my future, pirate.”

Azan directed a twisted grimace in his direction. “You are saying that because she is capable of carrying your offspring…”

“No,” Veral interrupted, his voice sharp with anger as he cleared rubble that lay in their path. “Offspring are desired but are not the soul of a mating. She is my future not by what her body may issue but that her presence in my life provides a richer meaning by sharing my life with her. She is a light that brings greater clarity to my purpose. Darkness that descends upon us does not extinguish that light, but makes it that much clearer to see when that bond is focused upon rather than things that cannot be changed. She was made to be by my side, and the gods have seen fit to provide her with what she needed to accomplish this. Our experiences together, even the difficult ones, provide the tools.”

“I did not realize that the Argurma were so romantic,” Azan teased with a devilish smirk.

Veral snorted. “It is not romance. It is sound reasoning.”

“So you say… How much longer until we get out of here? I have had all that I can stomach of this mated bliss.”

Her reply was met with a loud chuff from Veral as he peered about. He veered to the left, his limber body practically gliding across the floor with predatory grace that Terri could feel shifting in his muscles.

“The exit is ahead. We will arrive in the main chamber of the wreckage in…”

A loud groan started above them as the entire ship shook, an odd blast shaking it