“That’s out of your hands too.” He paused, changing the subject. “What happened between you and the doctor?”

“She accused me of wanting to mount her to replace 46.”

Moon’s features twisted into a grimace. “Ouch. No wonder you two got into it. No female wants to feel as if a male wants to use her body to slake his passion for another.”

“I am not confused. 46 is dead. Alli is different. I had no thought of 46 when I wanted Alli.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“Yes.”

Silence stretched between them until Moon hiked his leg over the wall and stood, facing him. “I am your friend. I know you never had one before but it means you can tell me anything and I won’t repeat it. You need one right now that won’t bullshit you. That means I won’t tell you lies or judge you. What really happened between you and the doctor? Last we spoke, you wanted to mount her. Are you still worried you’d hurt her if you shared sex? I told you to just go slow and easy.”

Obsidian dropped his gaze, staring at the dark roof under his bare feet.

“What happened? Did you try it and she was afraid? Don’t growl, you need to hide your teeth from her as much as possible and be very gentle. Some of our traits can be frightening to human females. I know she’s into you big-time. I was assigned to guard you and saw the way she’d look at you while you were sleeping. Hell, she kidnapped you and put her ass on the line trying to save you. That speaks volumes. Then she agreed to stay with you while you recovered. That female is into you.”

“Into me?” Obsidian shot Moon a confused look.

“She cares. I believe she’s highly attracted to you.”

“She rejected me.”

“Did you scare her?”

His shoulders slumped, remembering her fear. “Yes.”

“Mystery solved. Just tell her you’re sorry, give her a puppy-dog look and tell her you will try harder not to do that. Females are pretty forgiving if they care about you.”

“Puppy look?”

Moon’s eyes widened and his lower lip jutted out a little while he lowered his head slightly. He blinked a few times, a sad emotion easily visible. “Like this.”

A laugh surprised Obsidian when it broke from his lips. The male’s expression was humorous. “I refuse.”

The male grinned. “I know it looks ridiculous but yeah, it totally works. It gets me out of hot water all the time.”

“Why would you go into hot water?”

“It’s a saying that means trouble. You really were kept secluded and your interaction with the technicians was limited if you don’t know that one. What did they do to you?”

“Tests. I was given pills and injections. Mostly they wanted 46 and me to breed.”

All humor disappeared from Moon’s features. “Did it work? Did she conceive?”

“No.”

The male sighed loudly. “Good. The thought of them getting a child from one of us is our worst fear. They probably wanted to segregate you and your mate from the rest of our population to see if that would get the results they wanted. One of the Mercile employees said there were rumors that some of the scientists believed a mated pair in love would be able to conceive.”

“In love?”

“You know, fiercely emotionally tied to each other.”

Obsidian looked away, feelings of guilt and sadness filling him.

“What is it?” Moon stepped closer.

He finally looked at the male. “We were not in love. 46 rejected a bond between us.”

Moon cursed softly. “Shit. She was forced?”

Obsidian straightened, his spine stiffening. “I never harmed her or mounted her without consent.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. We assumed you two wanted to be mated.”

“She was brought to my room and left there. She had known another male and pleaded to be taken to him.”

Moon slumped back against the wall, one hand lifting to run fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. That must have been hell for both of you.”

“It was difficult.” He relaxed slightly. “She only agreed to my touch during her need. Life was harsh but I tried to make her happy. She wasn’t.” His chest hurt when he breathed. “We existed together in that room but sometimes…” He couldn’t say it.

“What?” Moon stared at him with compassion. “I’m your friend. Tell me.”

“She would purposely provoke the technicians, hoping they’d harm her. I would stop her but she’d fight with me. I had to restrain her until she calmed. I think she wanted to die but I didn’t want to be left alone. She accused me of being selfish and said she hated me.”

“Fuck,” Moon rasped, closing the distance between them.

Obsidian braced for the male to attack but instead hands just gripped his shoulders while they stared at each other.

“I’m so damn sorry. Of course you had to stop her. I would have done the same. Technicians never needed much of an excuse to kill or hurt us.”

The things he’d told the other male threatened to overwhelm him as guilt, sorrow and regret flashed through his system. The words had burst out before he could prevent them, the relief at being able to confess things too strong to deny.

“I feel guilt that she died because I let her down and I should miss her but I don’t. That makes me as cruel as the technicians, doesn’t it?”