Page 79 of The Strongest Gravity
“S’kasia?” S’samph met her eyes with his frill rippling. “Are you mated to S’kasia?”
“Well, you didn’t submit the profile, did you?”
“It seems I need to remind you who you’re mated to, my human.” Without warning, he swept her offher feet, carrying her the rest of the way back to their shared nest. Eleri clung to him, laughing the whole way. He set her down in the doorway, stopping suddenly as they crossed the threshold.
“What is that?” he asked, placing her down to stare at the wrapped package. Eleri crossed the room to stand behind the gift, feeling a bit sheepish as she offered it to him.
“A gift for you.”
“I wasn’t expecting anything.” S’samph took the package from her hands and hefted it as if trying to identify the contents by its weight. He unwrapped the soft cloth around it with careful efficiency and then beheld her gift.
“I owed you new boots,” she whispered. S’samph stared at her for a long moment and then knelt down in front of her. He lifted her wrists to turn over the mating bands.
“I am a poor translator, but I hope the writing can communicate what I cannot say,” he tapped at the inscriptions Eleri hadn’t noticed until that moment. On one side was a language she didn’t recognize, but on the other was a sentence written in Gaiese.In having you, I have no need of air, water, or gravity.For the second time that day, Eleri felt tears of happiness well in the corners of her eyes, but she wiped them away and instead placed her hands in S’samph’s. Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against his. They would make their own gravity.
