Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

One Month Later

Sazahk stared at the image projected onto the back of his eyelids.

The young qeshian woman in the picture smiled radiantly at the camera as she clutched an infant to her chest. When Sazahk had last seen her, she'd been ten years younger, and he'd been sliding an IV into her vein.

But she had smiled at him then, just as radiantly.

Sazahk had thought of her often in his first years of exile before archiving the memories away in a dusty, avoided corner of his mind. He had assumed she'd perished like all the children before her.

She hadn't.

"Interesting data?"

Sazahk opened his eyes as Garin entered the lab, dressed in the same suit he'd worn to the gala. Sazahk loved him in that suit, but then Sazahk loved him in anything, everything, and nothing.

"I've finished with the data, actually, and while I did find it interesting, I've been more focused on this." Sazahk tossed the image of the girl up onto his lab's main screen. "The Qeshian Institute released the results of my experiments to me."

"Is that…?" Garin's mouth fell open as he approached.

Sazahk nodded. "The last girl I administered treatment to."

Garin spun toward him, beaming. "She survived?"

"Thrived, even." Sazahk smiled tentatively. "She grew up, got married, gave birth to a healthy child."

"Sazahk, that's amazing." Garin swept Sazahk into his arms. He wrapped them around Sazahk's waist, pulling his back to Garin's chest, and rested his chin on Sazahk's shoulder as they both stared at the screen. "You saved her."

"Not just her." Sazahk leaned his cheek against Garin's. He'd become accustomed to their casual intimacy far more quickly than he'd anticipated. He even craved it now. "The Senate may have hated my research, but they took it seriously. They undertook a major infrastructure project to safeguard the community. They moved half the town and piped in water from hundreds of miles away. If their records are to be believed, and the Qesh are good at nothing if not record-keeping, there have been no more cases of the condition I was working to treat."

Garin tightened his arm around Sazahk's waist and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "I'm so proud of you."

Sazahk relaxed into Garin's hold. "Thank you."

The image of the happy, healthy woman closed a chapter on Sazahk's life that he was more than ready to complete. He was proud of the work he had done and the people that he'd helped, and proud of withstanding the fallout of his actions.

But he was in a new chapter now, a far less lonely one.

He nuzzled his nose into Garin's hair and snickered. "You are proud, but also impatient with the fact that I am not dressed."

Garin laughed and released Sazahk's waist. "Well, I don't think your lab coat is appropriate attire for Dom's royal wedding."

"I highly doubt Dominic cares what I wear to his wedding." Sazahk crossed his arms, though he had no true intention of arguing.

"No, but Prince Hyg might." Garin puttered around the lab, replacing samples of mycelium and Insect growths. "And your brother definitely will."

"And goddess forbid we should upset the delicate Emissary Serihk." Sazahk rolled his eyes and perched himself on a stool, enjoying the view of Garin in his lab too much to leave quite yet.

Like casual intimacy, Sazahk had gotten used to seeing Garin in his space with startling rapidity. The jars of mycelium lining the shelves glowed when Garin picked them up and lit his handsome face. Sazahk suspected even the Insect growths, with their strange sort of sentience, intuited that the man holding their jars was a good one.

Sazahk liked when Garin put his lab back to rights after a long day of research, and he liked the organization of their closet and their bedroom. It wasn't smothering, as Sazahk had always feared.

On the contrary, the sight of his neatly labeled samples and carefully folded shirts made Sazahk feel loved beyond comprehension.

"Speaking of brothers." Garin tucked away the last stray sample sitting out on a counter. "Ethan and Lucas want to talk to you about a project they're working on."

"I know." Sazahk held his hands out and beckoned Garin closer, deciding it had been far too long since he'd kissed him. "Your mother already sent me some of their data."

"My mother?" Garin raised his eyebrows as he took Sazahk's hands and let Sazahk draw him to stand between his thighs.

"Yes, we chat regularly about our work." Sazahk cupped Garin's face and ran his thumbs up and down Garin's jaw, marveling at how smooth it was when it had been so stubbly this morning. "I am hoping to see her lab when we visit this week."

"Yeah, about that…" Garin's brow furrowed, and he turned his face into Sazahk's palm. "We don't have to go if you're not ready. And you don't ever have to be ready. I understand my family can be a lot and?—"

Sazahk silenced him with a kiss, tugging his lips down to meet his. Garin sighed into the contact and dropped his hands to Sazahk's hips. Sazahk didn't stop kissing him until he relaxed.

Then he nudged his nose against Garin's. "Your family does not overwhelm me, and even if they did, for you, I would manage. They are important to you, so they are important to me."

"Fuck, I love you so much, Sazahk." Garin lunged for him again and their tongues tangled.

Sazahk pulled him close and stood, wrapping his hand around the back of Garin's neck. Sazahk's desire for Garin came hot and fast now, and Sazahk no longer questioned or fought it.

He turned them to push Garin against the lab table and snaked out four tentacles to wrap around his arms and legs.

"Wait, Sazahk," Garin gasped as Sazahk kissed across his jaw and down his neck. "We really—" Garin moaned when Sazahk palmed the front of his trousers. "—Don't have time for this."

"That depends on how much time it takes." Sazahk enjoyed their drawn-out lovemaking, but he had also begun experimenting with how swiftly he could get Garin off. He had one idea in particular he was dying to try.

"Dom is getting married in three hours." Garin protested, but licked his lips as Sazahk undid his pants and bucked his hips. "And we really should see him before he walks down that aisle."

"I completely agree." Sazahk flicked his tongue into the hollow of Garin's collarbone. "If I promise to finish you quickly, do I have your permission to continue?"

Garin threw back his head and laughed. "God, you're a terror."

Sazahk grinned against his neck. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, Sazahk." Garin dropped his head back down and nosed Sazahk's face back up until they stared into each other's eyes.

The devotion and delight Sazahk saw in those green orbs still shocked him every day. He had a feeling it always would.

"My answer to you is always yes."

I hope you enjoyed The Alien Scientist!

(And that Sazahk captured your heart as thoroughly as he captured mine.)