he murmured. "I know."
"If you know, then how can you even think of leaving?"
"Because I love you. Those men who had me, they won't stop looking. I wasn't the first Xanthian they'd captured, Lainey. There was a Xanthian skeleton in their laboratory. They're conducting the kind of experiments you once accused my people of doing."
And that was another reason he had to go back, he thought bleakly. He had to warn his people that the people of Earth knew of their existence.
"Is there nothing I can say to make you stay?"
"I must go." He put his forefinger under her chin and tilted her head up. "But I'll come back if I can, Lainey. I promise."
"Do you have to contact your people right away?"
Micah shook his head. He had planned to stay another day or two. He knew now that it would take at least that long just to say good-bye.
Later that afternoon they went for a walk. Hand in hand, they climbed a narrow, winding path that led through a forest of tall trees, their footsteps muffled by a thick bed of pine needles.
It was beautiful, Micah thought. The sky was a clear, bright blue, so different from the sky at home. Colorful birds flitted from tree to tree, filling the air with their cheerful melodies. Lainey pointed out chipmunks and squirrels, told him the names of the different kinds of birds. They paused to watch a deer grazing on a patch of grass in a shady glen.
They'd been walking about an hour when they came to a small mountain meadow fragrant with clover and wildflowers.
"Pretty, isn't it?" Lainey asked.
"Yes. Almost as pretty as you."
"Oh, Micah..." Blinking back a tear, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest. She'd known him such a short time, and yet she couldn't imagine what her life would be like without him.
"Don't think of it now," he urged.
With a nod, she sniffed back her tears. "There's a small lake over there. Do you know how to swim?"
"Like a fish."
The water was cold, but Lainey hardly noticed. Wrapped in Micah's arms, feeling his wet skin against her own, she was conscious of nothing else. She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms, reveling in the latent power she felt there. He kissed her cheeks, her neck, the curve of her breast, and heat suffused her, making her forget the cold water, making her forget everything but Micah.
She let her gaze move over his face, memorizing each feature, let her fingertips trail across his chest. She smiled as she felt the hard evidence of his desire press against her belly, and then his hands were doing their own exploring, filling her with a bittersweet pain.
She had never made love in the water before. It was a unique experience, slick flesh sliding against slick flesh, their bodies buoyant in the water. It was primal, the ancient, eternal mating of male and female, life renewing itself. Almost, it was like being reborn.
Spent, they stretched out on the grass, her head pillowed on his shoulder, and let the sun bake them dry.
"The sunlight doesn't seem to bother you anymore," Lainey remarked.
"I think I must be getting acclimated to Earth's environment," Micah replied.
He lifted his arm and studied it a moment. The faint blue glow that had shadowed his skin had disappeared. Except for his ears, and the webbing on his hands, he looked much like any other human male.
He picked up Lainey's hand and pressed his own against it, palm to palm, noting how similar they were, and how different.
Lainey folded her fingers over his. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me," she whispered.
She placed his hand on her belly and covered it with her own, wishing she could bear a child, wishing she could feel Micah's seed growing within her womb.
"I wish I could stay." He kissed her gently. "I want to stay."
"I know." She turned onto her side, her head propped on one hand while she traced figure eights on the broad expanse of his chest.
His skin was firm beneath her fingertips, warm from the kiss of the sun. For a moment, she thought of destroying the transmitter, of smashing it into a million tiny pieces so he'd never be able to contact his people, never be able to leave her, but even as she thought of it, she knew she would never do such a thing.
Couldn't do it. He was an honorable man.And a man's gotta