Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,13

estate getting ready, so it had been handled.

“She doesn’t like needles.” Oz finally yanked his hand away and grabbed the glass of cold wine sitting on the table. He sipped it carefully.

“What do needles have to do with anything?” Solan’s own tattoos had been a part of him since he’d joined the military. It was a rite of passage for all young Zulir. But needles?

“An Earth thing.” Oz shuddered. “The more I hear about that planet, the happier I am my Match is never going back.”

“As if she would leave you.” Watching the way the two looked at each other was a bit sickening. Love and devotion and everything soft. “You’re a Match.” But Solan knew Emily was working on her spark and getting more powerful by the day. Soon she’d be ready for battle, and there was nothing soft about that. “What’s it like?”

“Matching?” A grin blossomed on Oz’s face, and he put his glass down once more to trace his tattoos. “I’ve been imagining what the mark will look like on her skin. I can’t wait to see it. And the training...” He shook his head, but the smile didn’t waver. “Did you know I was worried about what Matching would be like?”

“As we’ve never talked about it before, no,” but Solan wasn’t surprised. Oz was a good man, and a great friend, but he’d always held a part of himself back. Or he had, until he met Emily and unlocked whatever it had been that worried him.

“I thought I’d scare her away with all the darker thoughts in my head. You know, everything that comes from our life. I thought she’d see that and run as far away as she could. And I thought she’d be able to read my mind.” He shook his head, but didn’t stop tracing over his tattoos. “But being with her is the easiest thing in any world.”

“And...” Solan trailed off, unsure how to ask. Soldiers may have gotten raunchy when discussing one night conquests, but he didn’t know how to talk about his friend’s relationship. “Do you think your... chemistry... was inevitable?”

Oz narrowed his eyes. “I wanted Emily from the moment I saw her. It almost ruined everything.” And that was the truth. Oz had been blessed with a forgiving mate and the luck of a demi-god to come out of their mission on Kilrym intact. “Why are you asking? Have you met someone?”

Solan sipped his own drink to buy time. If there was anyone on all of Aorsa he could talk to, it was Oz, but he didn’t want to share the news about Lena yet. They hadn’t spoken in the days since she’d come to his estate, and he hadn’t yet seen her at the ceremony. Matters between them were new... and private. At least for him. She might have told the world, but given what he knew of her, he didn’t think so.

He still didn’t know much. She was tough. She’d climbed out of a hospital bed and run straight into battle to help rescue her human friends who were being held prisoner at an Apsyn research facility. She’d disarmed one of his men in a matter of seconds. She was a protector.

But was she right for him? The Matching Bureau thought so. But he and Lena hadn’t yet confirmed if they were truly a Match.

“I haven’t met someone,” he finally said, but his pause had been too long and it didn’t take a psychic to know that Oz didn’t believe him.

“If you do, talk to me about it. I’m your friend.” Oz’s communicator beeped and he leaped from his seat. “I need to go speak with my parents. Find me after the ceremony.”

Solan made his promises, but he doubted Oz would have time for him later.

He took his time finishing his wine before leaving the atrium. It was his favorite room in his house, and he’d miss it when he had to move into the main property. Maybe he’d have another built. But the specialness of this room came from his history. His grandmother had planted the flowers, his father had cultivated them. He had no talent for it, but he hired someone who did. Would he appreciate it as much if he built one himself?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. What would it mean if he could recreate the specialness of this little hideaway?

Being back home was making him maudlin.

Solan left the atrium and headed towards the area of the estate that had been