Page 61 of Loving the Alien Spy

“Everything’s clear. I’m sure your heart’s fire would like to take you home so you both can get some rest,” he says.

Yes, I would. I’m exhausted, but I also want to lie next to Carrik so I can reassure myself he’s safe and sound.

“Thank you, Vornak.” My mate carefully stands, making sure he’s steady on his feet.

Once he is, we walk hand in hand out of the healing center and carefully through the city until we reach the women’s housing facility. We go straight to my apartment, and the minute I let us in, I lead Carrik directly to the bedroom. Without a word, I undress him and guide him to the bed. He lies there while I undress myself next.

Naked, I climb in next to him and snuggle in as close as I’m physically able to get. He wraps an arm around me and holds me tightly. My hand goes over his heart, and I lie there feeling it beat beneath my palm.

“Ryvik is dead. Bannik killed him.” I doubt he knows yet.

Carrik sighs. “I wondered what happened after I was shot.”

“That’s all I know other than your brother and Horek rushed you to the healing center. You were in that pod for an entire day.”

“Were you there the whole time?” he asks.

“Nearly all of it. Johnna came and got me in the middle of the night, not long after you were brought in.” I hesitate before confessing. “Bannik was there. He told me about Ryvik. That he was the one who killed him. You should know that I yelled at him. Swore I’d never forgive him for you almost dying. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”

“I understand and will never ask you to do anything you do not wish to do.”

“If you want to try to have a relationship with him, I won’t stand in your way. I know how much Bannik means to you.”

“We will speak on it another day,” Carrik says. “All I wish to do right now is hold my heart’s fire and sleep.”

“That sounds like a solid plan.” I raise my head. “I love you.”

He kisses me softly. “I love you as well.”

I lay my cheek on his shoulder once more and close my eyes, knowing that here in Carrik’s arms is right where I belong.

Epilogue

Devon

I hate lying to my friends, especially since they’re the best ones—okay, maybe the only ones—I’ve ever had. We were only acquaintances at first. Nothing more than coworkers, really. But when the four of us were chosen as part of a bridal lottery for a bunch of aliens on another planet, we somehow gravitated toward one another. We grew closer on the flight from Earth to Bohna.

We stayed close even after Quinn mated Horek. After Olivia was kidnapped by Janik and then became his mate. We even remained close when Lindsey fell for Bannik—or Carrik, rather. At least, for a while. Until I stumbled upon a secret door and thought it a good idea to open it and see where it led.

Okay, so maybe stumbled upon isn’t entirely accurate. I’d been all up in my head thinking about everything Johnna and I had talked about in regard to her former career. Finding something to occupy my time had been a good idea at first. Except, the moreshe talked, the more I realized communications wasn’t really all that interesting, despite what I told my friends.

My brain didn’t make that discovery, though, until I’d been walking down a narrow path between two buildings and came to an abrupt halt when a flash of movement drew my attention.

“No good ever comes from someone skulking around.”

Despite her being gone for twenty years, my granny’s voice still echoes loudly in my head. Although, I’m not the one doing the skulking. No, that happens to be Beck. The phinnek pup has his nose to the ground, and he’s sniffing around the base of the mountain where some small shrubs grow. He pauses every so often and whimpers before continuing on his quest for something.

In the distance, someone calls his name—the sound growing louder with each passing second. Beck ignores them, especially when he comes to a stop at a single spot and starts digging. Dirt flies behind him, and his whining gets louder.

Finally, footsteps are audible, and a young guard steps into view. For some reason, I pancake against the wall and try to avoid being spotted. Not that I needed to bother. The guard’s full attention is on the phinnek pup.

“Beck, stop that. Do you want me to get in trouble with the queen or the commander? They’ll throw me in the pit.”

After a lot of coaxing, the guard manages to draw the phinnek away. Of course, my curiosity is piqued, so once I’m certain neither Beck nor the guard is going to return, I step out of the passageway and approach the spot where the phinnek had been digging.

At first, there’s nothing noticeably visible. Just clawed-at earth and a shallow divot embedded in it. But the divot isn’t entirely in the ground. A small section of the mountain wall is crumbled. Enough for me to notice a seam. I glance around and find a girthy stick that should make a viable scraping tool.

I scrape along the bottom and follow the seam until it stops. The scraping noise sends a chill racing down my spine. It also triggers something. A locking mechanism, from the sound of it. A short distance away, hidden behind a large shrub, the mountain wall shifts. Dust clouds poof in the air, and a narrow crease appears. Because I’m me, I push on the small section, and it opens inward.