Free Starkissed by Lanette Curington

about by extenuating circumstances, but both times he had felt her softly rounded curves giving in to the hard planes of his own body. Once, he would like to lie along her length just to feel her softness and smell her flower scent. But he could think of no way to do it without frightening her—or perhaps raising her expectations? He shook his head.
    His jha’i hardened at the thought of her lying pliantly beneath him, but he did not think she considered him in that way. He was probably qaành’al to her as well. She depended upon him for protection and survival and companionship. Nothing more, he www.samhainpublishing.com
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    Lanette
    Curington
    thought sadly. They were too different, culturally as well as physically. Yet, they would spend a lifetime here together, whether that be days, weeks, or decades. In time, would he not give up his beliefs and traditions when the nights were too long? Would she?
    Together, they had experienced more in the past twenty-four standard hours than he would have experienced with his lifemate in a lifetime had she lived. Certainly, their conversation had more substance and meaning. Very few, if any, lifemated couples struggled with life-and-death decisions every minute of their lives together, even at the height of the Crucian wars. And how many Zi saàloh’az would manage it as well as she?
    None, he feared, not even T`hirz. Saàloh’az never voiced opinions, never took control of a situation, never did anything to attract attention to themselves except in the meticulous order of their lairs and the excellent care of their younglings. Was it because they could not, would not, or were not allowed to? Somewhere along the way, the reason had blurred and faded from the memory of his people. It was the way it was because it was that way.
    The Zi answer to all questions that had no answers.
    She murmured in her sleep, and her arm dropped to his lap. Her hand always had a way of being in the right place at the wrong time. The light pressure was enough to cause him further discomfort. He thought he was at the point that the weight of a grain of sand would have the same effect. Yet that grain of sand would not have her warmth or her softness or her scent of the jhuhn’gha.
    Carefully, he moved her hand away from that area. If she awoke, she would be embarrassed and so would he. He shifted his body in another position, easing the constriction of his jha’i. He should think of other things now, such as survival. Their first priority, in the morning, would be to find a source of water.
    But the image of her, as she flew at him, hurling her passionate accusations as well as her fists, exploded into his mind. She was correct, of course. He had warned Hancock that he would not succeed, that he would be found and justice would be served. That should have been enough. Why did humans insist on ignoring the truth? Why did they demand those truths to be repeated until all meaning was lost? However, if Hancock’s plan succeeded then the Zi would have no reason to hunt him down and kill him. Sss’t, perhaps his threats were empty after all.
    After they landed on this planet, he had said nothing more because he had said all he had to say to Hancock. Besides, the saàloh expressed her concerns and her fears—all of which he shared—quite eloquently. She had asked every question, made every point, so that he had no need to say anything.
    What her human mind could not grasp was that the Zi mind did not easily use subterfuge, even as a last resort. Simply, he had not thought to bribe Hancock with the www.samhainpublishing.com
    Starkissed
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    promise of more jewels. Truth, logic, reason—these were the weapons with which he fought. And, in the end, lost to Hancock’s obsessive madness.
    He had failed.
    There was no other way to describe the outcome. He had tried his best, constrained by the Zi code of honor, and failed. Ideally, he should present himself to the Council of Elders, and perform the ritual