her job and settle on an alien planet where she could only be herself in Micah's company, where she would have to spend the rest of her life in disguise so no one would know who she really was. It was beyond comprehension, and yet Micah was doing it, for her.
She was comforting him now, her hands stroking his back, caressing his cheek. Her kindness, her sweetness, was his undoing. Silent sobs rose in his throat; silent tears coursed down his cheeks, and he was helpless to stop them.
He wept because, even though he didn't want to, he could never go home again.
He wept because his heart was so full of love for Lainey and their unborn child that it was almost painful.
He wept because he was happy for the first time in his life, because Lainey loved him unconditionally.
He wept because he knew that happiness, like life itself, was fragile and easily destroyed.
"Lainey..." He clutched her to him, ashamed of his tears, and yet he did feel better for having shed them. "Forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive." Lifting a corner of the sheet, she wiped the last of the tears from his face, then kissed him lightly on both cheeks. "Better?"
Micah sat up, drawing Lainey up beside him. "Better."
"You know what?"
Micah smiled down at her. "You're hungry."
Lainey nodded.
"I'll go get you something."
"No, I'll go." She patted her stomach. "I have to go to the pregnant ladies' room anyway." Sliding out of bed, she pulled on a robe and left the room.
A noise outside drew Micah's attention and he shook his head. It sounded like the neighbor's cat was in the trash again. A few minutes later, he heard what sounded like a pan falling to the floor. He thought of going into the kitchen and offering to help, but he needed a few moments alone to regain his composure.
Propping another pillow behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling. He had cried in Lainey's arms. Cried like a frightened child, yet she didn't seem to think less of him for it. In all his years on Xanthia, he had never seen a grown man cry. Never seen a woman cry, unless she was in extreme physical pain.
With a sigh, he dragged a hand across his jaw. He had a lot to learn about life on Earth, he thought with a wry grin, but he wouldn't be alone. Because of Lainey, he would never be alone again.
Lainey... where was she?
Throwing the covers aside, he got out of bed and went into the kitchen. The lights were on, steam was rising from the tea kettle, there were eggs scrambled in a bowl on the sink. He picked a frying pan up from the floor. "Lainey?"
Frowning, he went into the bathroom, but she wasn't there, either.
Alarmed now, he walked through the house, checking the guest room, her office, switching on the lights as he went. She was nowhere to be found. Lastly, he checked the garage, but her car was still there.
Returning to the kitchen, he glanced around the room again, looking for a clue of some kind. It was then he noticed that the back door was slightly ajar, and that the lock had been forced open.
The noise he had heard outside earlier suddenly took on ominous overtones.
Swearing a pithy curse word he had heard on television, he ran back into the bedroom. Dressing quickly, he went outside, his gaze sweeping up and down the sidewalk, his mind screaming Lainey's name. Silence was his only answer.
Red Hair. With grim certainty, he knew that Red Hair had abducted Lainey.
Quivering with rage, he stared down the dark street, remembering a cold metal table and thick iron straps. Lainey!
Micah's hands curled into tight fists as he tried to remember where Red Hair had taken him. But he had been unconscious on the ride to the laboratory, and barely coherent when Lainey had rescued him. He had no clear idea of how near, or how far away, the laboratory might be or where it was located, only a cold certainty that Lainey was there, and that her life was in danger.
Ralph St. John flipped on the porch light, then stared through the peephole.
"Micah!" he exclaimed, opening the door. "What are you doing here at this hour of the morning? Is something wrong? Where's Lainey?"
"She's gone."
"Gone!" Ralph stepped back so Micah could enter the house. "Gone where? What happened, did you two have a lovers' quarrel?"
"No." Micah dragged a hand through his hair. "She's been