Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A manda woke up, naked and alone, in her own bed. For a moment, the sunny yellow walls and comfortable mattress seemed as alien as the pink rocks had been. She reached blindly for Va'rik, but of course, he wasn't there. A tear dripped down her cheek, then another, then she buried her face in her pillow and gave in to grief.

When the storm finally passed, she forced herself to her feet, wrapped her old fluffy robe around her shoulders, and went to find her phone. Sunday. She had only been gone for a week, but she felt like a different person. She missed Va'rik with an aching intensity that didn't lessen as the day passed. As she took a very long, very hot shower. As she carefully applied blue paint to her spare room. As she made cookies for her class and remembered Billy sitting at her counter, stuffing himself with cookies.

She wanted to see him, to check on him, but when she called Mrs. Dublin, the caseworker made her promise that she wouldn't interfere with his present situation until she had that damn certification. Only the knowledge that breaking the rules might destroy her chances kept her away.

Keeping herself busy helped a little, but when she finally crawled into bed, sleep wouldn't come. Thoughts of Va'rik filled her head. That innocent, wicked smile. The way he tilted his head when he struggled to remember. The sorrow on his face when she had turned away from him and told La'tok'at'bron to send her home.

He should have told me , she thought fiercely. But now that he was gone and her anger had faded, she understood why he hadn't. And would it have changed anything? She would still have had to come back. Billy needed her.

A fact that was confirmed when she walked into school the next morning, drawn and tired from a sleepless night, and found Billy waiting for her. A purple bruise circled his eye and discolored his cheek.

"Billy! What happened?"

"I tripped," he muttered, not looking at her.

"I don't believe you. What really happened?"

"I fell."

"Either you tell me what happened right now or I'm calling Mrs. Dublin and we're all going over to your house to get to the bottom of it."

The stubborn set of his mouth finally softened.

"Jeanine got mad about the coat and yelled at me." He shrugged thin shoulders. "That didn't bother me much, but then Dave came over this weekend and she was bitch—I mean, complaining to him. He started yelling at me too, and I told him it wasn't none of his business." He hunched his shoulders. "He slapped me."

"Oh, Billy." She wrapped her arms around him.

He didn't respond at first, but then his skinny little arms hugged her back. "I hate it there. Please don't make me go back."

"Not if I can help it," she said grimly.

The other students began to file in, and she asked another teacher to cover for her for a few minutes while she went to call Mrs. Dublin.

The older woman sighed on the other end of the line. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll see what I can do."

"He can't go back there."

"I agree. But that doesn't mean he can stay with you."

"Please try. I'll do anything I need to do."

Mrs. Dublin called her back at the end of the day. "I've called in every favor I could. You've been granted emergency custody—but only until the end of the week. I'm doing everything I can to fast track your certification, but he'll have to go back to a home in the city until the paperwork is finished."

"But you told me yourself it was a bad fit for him."

"I know." The caseworker's voice sounded weary. "I'm looking for another place. And praying we can get you approved before then."

The other woman tried to sound optimistic, but Amanda knew how slowly the bureaucratic process worked.

"Thank you for trying," she said sincerely, despite the worry making her stomach churn.

"I haven't been able to collect his belongings yet."

"That's all right. We'll go shopping."

They agreed to talk the next morning, and she hung up, then went back to her classroom to find Billy.

"I think Hammy likes his new ball," he said from his position next to the hamster cage.

A lump filled her throat. She missed her furry little companion as well, but she knew Va'rik would take care of him. The lump grew, but she resolutely pushed it aside and forced herself to smile.

"Mrs. Dublin has arranged for you to stay with me this week."

"Really?"

"Yes. Would you like that?"

"Can we make cookies again?"

"Not tonight. We're going shopping."

He made a disgusted face, but then he gave her a shy smile. "Thanks, Ms. Cushing."

"I'm happy to have you," she said sincerely.

That happiness didn't fade as the day continued. They shopped for clothes and other necessities, and then she made him dinner. He was thrilled with his room, even without all of the finishing touches she had planned. It was almost exactly the life she had envisioned—other than his loud and vehement distaste for salad—and she was truly happy to have him with her.

But the ache of missing Va'rik never faded. Was this how her mother had felt after her father left them? No wonder she had taught Amanda to live on her own.

But Va'rik didn't leave me. I left him , her guilty conscience reminded her as she remembered the sorrow on his face.

After dinner, she settled Billy in his room with his homework and went to start a load of clothes. A soft knock sounded on the back door, and she frowned. No one ever came to that door.

She cautiously opened the door and there was Va'rik. Huge, purple, and completely naked.

"Oh my God. What are you doing here?"

"You left before?—"

"Come inside, quickly, before someone sees you." She grabbed his arm and tried pulling him into the house. "You don't know what my government would do to you if they find you."

"I do not care," he said, but he obeyed her prompting and stepped inside.

His head almost brushed the ceiling of her laundry room as she rushed to close the door. Thank God he'd come to the back door.

"I don't understand. What are?—"

"I love you, Amanda."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I should never have let you leave without telling you. You are my mate, and I never want to be parted from you again."

"Oh, Va'rik. I love you too."

He seemed to swoop at her, lifting her into his arms as he devoured her mouth. God, she had missed this, missed him. But as he started rocking her against his extremely erect cock, she came to her senses.

"You can't stay here."

"You do not want me?"

"Of course, I want you. But I told you, if my government finds out, then they will take you away from me." She shuddered, horrible visions of Va'rik strapped to a lab table filling her mind.

"Then I will remain within your residence."

"But you can't. Billy is here!" The realization made her pull away from him. "And you're naked."

Searching through the clothes she had been about to wash, she found the old pair of men's sweatpants she wore when painting. "Quick. Put these on."

He frowned but obeyed. They were far too short and the soft fabric did very little to conceal the size of his erection, but it was better than nothing. He should have looked ridiculous, but somehow, the dignity with which he carried himself triumphed over the odd outfit.

The front doorbell rang.

"Oh, Lord. Now what?" She started for the door, and Va'rik followed her. "No! Please just stay here. I'll get rid of whoever that is and be right back."

"I do not want to be parted from you now that we are together again."

"It's just for a minute. Please?"

He gave a reluctant nod, and she hurried through the kitchen and living room, just as the bell rang a second time.

"Sorry, I was just doing—" Her words came to an abrupt halt.

Dave was standing on the front porch. She tried to slam the door shut again, but he caught it with one meaty hand. A big man with a thick chest and wide shoulders, he would have been good-looking if it weren't for the perpetual scowl that branded his face.

"Not so fast. I gotta bone to pick with you."

The stench of stale beer wafted over her as he spoke.

"I don't have anything to say to you."

"Good. Because I'm the one that's doing the talking. You told that interfering busybody that I hit the kid, and she reported me to the cops."

"Good."

"Shut up," he snarled. "They're looking for me and my woman's pissed, and it's all because you couldn't keep your mouth shut, you nosy little bitch. I'm gonna teach you a lesson."

He raised his fist, even as she tried to wrestle the door away from him, and then Va'rik was there. He grabbed Dave's wrist, and she heard it snap before Va'rik knocked him down with one blow. Oh, shit.

"Holy shit." Billy's excited voice echoed from behind them. "You're an alien."

She would have prayed for strength, but she didn't have time. "Quick. Drag him inside," she ordered Va'rik.

He didn't move. "I do not want him in your residence."

"And I don't want the police taking you away from me. At least bring him inside until we can decide what to do. Please."

He sighed, but this time he obeyed, dragging Dave inside with little regard for the fact that he was banging the man's head against the door frame. Dave didn't react.

"Is he dead?" Billy asked, his eyes wide.

"No, of course not." Was he? No, his chest was still moving.

"That's a shame." Billy shrugged and turned to Va'rik. "Who're you?"

"I am Va'rik. I am Amanda's mate."

"Is that like a husband?"

Va'rik tilted his head, then nodded. "Yes."

"Cool. You shoulda told me you had an alien husband, Ms. Cushing."

"I don't—" Two pairs of eyes focused on her face, one wide and blue, the other heated purple. "We were… separated," she amended.

"Does that mean you're going back to space with him? And I gotta go back to the city?"

"No, we can't go back to his planet."

"Why not?" Va'rik asked calmly. "La'tok'at'bron is prepared to bring us back."

"Because of Billy," she hissed. "That hasn't changed."

"We will bring him with us."

"We can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Yeah, why not? I'm ready to go," Billy said eagerly.

Those two pairs of eyes were focused on her again, both equally entreating.

"But… it would mean leaving everything behind, Billy. Your friends?—"

"I don't have any."

"Leaving this whole world. Television and cars and fast food and…"

"I don't care. You'd be there, right?"

‘Yes."

"And he'd take care of us, right?"

"Of course," Va'rik said immediately, then frowned at her. "The child will lack for nothing."

"I… I need to think about it. I'm going to make some tea."

She hurried to the kitchen, her mind whirling. Everything had happened so quickly. She filled the kettle, hoping the mundane act would help calm her anxious mind, but then stood staring blankly out the window into the dark.

Big warm arms slid around her waist, and Va'rik's cinnamon scent filled her head. With a sigh, she relaxed back against him. God, she had missed him.

"What troubles you, my mate? Do you not want to be with me?"

"More than anything. But I have to consider if it is in Billy's best interests."

"He wishes to come."

"But he's a child. He doesn't fully understand what that means."

"I told you he would lack for nothing."

"But what about friends? And a mate of his own someday?"

"There are already other children. There will be more."

"And his education?"

"You can teach him, can you not?"

"To a certain extent. But here he would be able to go to college."

She could see his reflection in the window and saw his head tilt, then saw him smile. "He will have access to knowledge far beyond what he would encounter here."

"You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple. As long as you are both willing." He pressed a kiss to the sensitive hollow of her neck. "Are you willing, my mate?"

"I…"

"Hammy is waiting for you too."

She laughed and turned around in his arms, smiling up at his beloved purple face. "That's not fair. I missed him almost as much as I missed you."

The innocent yet wicked smile played around his mouth. "At least you said almost as much." The smile left. "This is your decision, my mate. If you do not want to leave, I will remain here. I will go anywhere you want to go. I love you."

"I love you too." And in the end, wasn't that all that really mattered? "Okay, Va'rik. Let's go get our son and go home."