16. Lordek

SIXTEEN

When I left Iris sleeping, it was all I could do to drag myself from her snug home.

If I stayed, and her government came for me, would they eventually let me see her? I'd do anything they asked as long as they let us be together.

It might be worth whatever they'd do to me as long as I could touch her face and gaze into her eyes one last time.

I suspected that would not be the case, however. Armed and dangerous and shooting on sight, per the words spoken by the male and female on the boxed screen told me they wouldn't care if I lived or died. There was a good chance I wouldn't survive long enough to reach wherever they'd take me. If they planned to experiment on me, it might not matter if I was alive. As for seeing Iris again, would they allow someone they considered dangerous to touch another human?

If my ship was gone and there was no evidence I'd been here, they might leave her alone. I clung to this shred of hope, and with that in mind, I rushed to the barn. I quickly strode around my ship, making sure there weren't any pieces lying around to show it had been inside the building.

After opening the barn doors, I mounted her green farm vehicle and started it—something that took me too many moments to figure out. I engaged the craft and tugged the cart holding my ship from the barn and around to the back. With it hidden behind the building, there might be enough time to lift off and flee this world before they arrived.

I turned off the vehicle and rushed to the front of the barn, securing the doors once more. Then I ran back and lowered the stairs to the ship.

Pausing at the top, I stared in the direction of the farmhouse.

If only I could see her again, touch her again. I just wanted to hold her. Love her. Why was that forbidden?

"Goodbye, my stardust," I whispered. "I love you."

Life would be so stark without her.

"I'll dream about you every single day of my life." I closed my eyes but only briefly. I didn't have time to think about her, to mourn. There would be plenty of time to do that during the long voyage to my home planet.

I was stepping inside the ship when I heard her cry out. Pausing, I watched in dismay as she rounded the barn, rushing toward me with a pack on her back and a box made of hard gray material jostling against her leg.

"I have to leave. Please, return to your home, Iris," I said. "Pretend you never saw me, that you don't know me." It was her only chance to remain safe.

"I can't. Please." She grabbed onto the thin rail running up the side of the stairs. "Take me with you."

"What?" I stepped down to the ground beside her, gaping at her, actually. I must've misheard her. "That's not possible. You—"

"I want to go with you wherever you plan to go next, Lordek. I mean it."

"I'm done exploring." My hearts no longer ached to travel beyond the next horizon. If I couldn't see Iris there, no destination mattered. "I'm returning to my home planet to start a new life." Where I'd struggle to survive without her.

"Could your ship support me and Katie as well?"

"It could, but you can't leave here. This is your world, your life. You have your bookstore, your farmhouse your grandmother gifted to you. Friends. Everything that makes up the Iris I love."

"None of that matters if I can't share it with you." Her pretty eyes glistened. "Can I help you build a new life on your planet? Don't leave me. I love you. I can't stand to be without you. I don't want a life here if you're not in it."

I cupped her face and stared into her eyes, finding the truth there. It stabbed through me. I could barely breathe. "You would have to give up too much. I can't ask that of you."

"You're not. I'm offering it. Offering myself if you'll have me."

"Oh, Iris. You don't know how much I want you."

"I'll give up everything I have here, plus more. Anything if it means I can be with you."

The vehicles full of beings eager to capture me drew closer. I could hear them rumbling on the road nearby. We didn't have much time.

"You're sure?" It would gut me all over again if she changed her mind, but she had to be certain.

"I am." A beautiful smile bloomed on her face. "Let's get out of here before the bad guys arrive."

"Iris." I stroked her face.

"Lordek." She stepped forward, pressing her body against mine.

"Well. Yes. It's past time to leave." I took her hand. One lift put her halfway up the narrow stairs. With the box holding Katie, I crowded next to her and eased her into the main compartment of the ship. There, I lowered the box to the metal plated floor. I held Iris's hands, looking down at her. "I won't be angry if you decide to remain here. There's still time to return to the ground, to run to your home and pretend you never saw me."

Her chin lifted, and her gaze went steely. "Nothing matters but us. We need to be together. I don't want to stay here. I want to go with you. Please."

Shouts rang out from the distance.

She peered in that direction, her gaze filled with panic. "Shut that hatch and get us out of here, Lordek."

With a nod, I hit the button, closing the outer door and sealing us inside within seconds.

She placed the box holding Katie near the wall of the ship. How would her pet fare in space? Many others kept small animals with them on ships. Katie would be no different.

I opened a cabinet and tucked the box inside. She'd be safer there during takeoff.

Sitting in the sole chair on the bridge, I tugged Iris down onto my lap, securing us both with the restraints. She clung to my shoulders, burying her face in my chest. Tremors shook her frame. My brave love. I would never forget her sacrifice. She was giving up everything to be with me.

"Hold on tight, mate," I growled with heavy emotion. "We're about to become one with the stars."

"Yes. Turn us both into stardust, my love."

I engaged the engines and held on to my mate as my ship lifted off.

We blasted toward the sky.