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  Not that I wanted him too. I loved running my hands over his gray-blue hide, feeling his skin so warm and his muscles so hard under my fingers. It seemed like I couldn’t stop touching him either.

  And so we wound up cuddled in bed and talking, for all the world as if we were some kind of lovers, instead of people who had decided they could never be together.

  That thought made me sad and I tried to push it away.

  “What’s next?” I asked him again, rubbing my cheek against his hard chest.

  “Now I’ll be setting a course for Chndra—that moon orbiting Hallux Two that Haenah talked about,” he rumbled, his deep voice vibrating through my body.

  “So we’re going to go down there and look for Teeny?” I asked.

  Grav frowned. “No, darlin’—you’re not going anywhere. You’re staying right on the ship where it’s safe. In fact, I shouldn’t even take you to Hallux Two at all. Better to stop and leave you someplace safe on the way.”

  “Leave me somewhere?” I demanded. “What are you talking about?”

  “The Safe Haven Bar is located on the far side of the Lavara system where Hallux Two is,” he said. “I was gonna stop there and hire some mercs to come with me anyway—this isn’t a one male job.”

  “Which is why I’m going with you,” I said but he shook his head.

  “The Haven has guaranteed safe rooms that can be rented for however long you want and interstellar boosting signals so I can contact Sarden and Zoe and let them know where you are. That way if I don’t make it out, they can come and pick you up.”

  “What? No!” I protested angrily. “I’m not going to stay cooped up in some ‘safe room’ while you go into danger without me!”

  “Darlin’, I’m a trained warrior and Protector. You’re not.” I could tell he was trying to make his voice as gentle as he could but I didn’t care.

  “I don’t care if you have more training than me,” I said, sitting up. “I need to go with you.”

  As I said the words, they solidified into a certainty. I don’t know why I felt that way but I did—it was a conviction somewhere in my gut I couldn’t dislodge. I needed to be with him on this mission—no matter how dangerous it was.

  “No.” He was still frowning. “I’m sorry, Leah, but you can’t come with me.”

  I had been half leaning against his chest and looking up at him as we talked. Now I sat up and turned all the way around to face him head on.

  “Now listen to me!” I began, putting my hand on his muscular forearm for emphasis. “You…oh!” I stared down at his skin as a realization suddenly hit me.

  “What? What is it?” Grav looked worried.

  “Your…your arm. Isn’t this the one that got burned by the warden’s spear?”

  I ran my hand up and down the length of his blue skin—which was now perfectly clear, as though he’d never been injured at all.

  “Yeah…” His frown deepened as he examined his unmarked arm. “Yeah, it is.”

  “And where are the spots where the acid got you?” I looked at the other arm. “This one is clear too and it’s only been a couple of hours. Do Braxians really heal that fast?”

  “No. Generally it would take at least a few solar days to heal from injuries like those. But my skin—it looks like nothing ever touched it. There aren’t even any scars.” He shook his head, examining both arms with increasing perplexity. “How did this…wait.” He looked up at me, understanding flaring in his white-on-black eyes.

  “What?” It was my turn to be worried. “Why are you looking at me like that, Grav?”

  “You did this darlin’.” He nodded down at his arms, a look of awe on his face. “You healed me.”

  “What? No—that’s crazy!” I protested. “I couldn’t have.”

  “Yes, you did,” he insisted. “And I know exactly when. The first time you came, I remember thinking you had a kind of glow around you and then I felt this tingling that went through my entire body. That must have been it!”

  “Are…are you sure?” I shook my head. “But how is that possible? Do you think it’s tied to me, you know…having an orgasm for the first time?”

  My cheeks went hot as I said it. I couldn’t help myself—even after everything we’d done, I still felt shy discussing it.

  “I think it’s possible.” Grav sounded thoughtful and not embarrassed at all. “Maybe all this buildup of tension you said you’ve been feelin’ these last few days was just your La-ti-zal powers tryin’ to get out. Maybe when you finally came, it sorta…I don’t know, broke the cage and set that part of yourself free.”

  “I don’t feel any different,” I objected. “And I don’t think I look any different—do I?”

  “Well, other than lookin’ happier and a helluva lot more relaxed…”

  “Grav!” I swatted at his shoulder and he rumbled laughter.

  “Sorry, darlin’, but it’s true. You have that kind of glow—the look of a female who’s been really and truly satisfied.” His eyes went half-lidded and he stroked my cheek. “It’s beautiful. Makes me want to satisfy you all over again.”

  “Grav…” I protested but my voice sounded breathless rather than annoyed. “We…we shouldn’t.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He sighed. “Anyway—let’s put it to the test.”

  Before I could ask what he meant, he hopped out of bed and reached for a long, curving knife he apparently kept in his bedside table.

  “Grav,” I said, eyeing the gleaming silver blade nervously. “What are you going to—”

  I didn’t get to finish my question. He was already flicking away the staples to make a long, shallow slice along the side of his hip bone, right where he had implanted the image generator earlier.

  “Grav!” I gasped as crimson droplets of blood began to well from his blue skin. “Oh my God! What are you doing?”

  He shrugged, as though slicing himself open was no big deal.

  “I need to take this damn thing out anyway.” He extracted the long, silver cylinder, smeared red with his blood, and tossed it casually away. “And it’s as good a way as any to see if you can heal me, darlin’.”

  “Heal you? Of course I can’t heal you! You’re going to need stitches for that, and I don’t even know how to sew on a button, let alone somebody’s skin!”

  God, I wished my friend Charlotte was here! She’d learned how to do stitches and all kinds of emergency medical procedures as part of her training. She was the most competent person I knew and always calm in a crisis. Unlike me.

  “Just try it. Here.” Grav nodded down at his hip and looked at me like I was supposed to know what to do.

  “You’re crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “I told you—I can’t. Even if I did heal you before—which I really doubt—I don’t know how I did it.”

  “Just try,” he urged again. “C’mon darlin’—what could it hurt?”

  “Well…” Reluctantly I cupped my hand over his wounded hipbone. The blood was beginning to drip by now and I was afraid it would stain the bedspread—which was a kind of quilt sewed from lots of squares of different kinds of fur that I really liked.

  “Close your eyes,” Grav urged me. “Concentrate.”

  Taking a deep breath, I did as he said. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

  I pictured Grav’s skin in my mind—the gray-blue hide I was beginning to love so well. And then I imagined the bleeding cut he’d made.

  Close, I thought, willing it with all my might. Close up…heal…disappear…

  My hands began to feel hot for some reason and then I heard Grav make a small noise in the back of his throat.

  I opened my eyes to see that the wound was still there—but not completely unchanged. It looked a little shorter somehow and it had at least stopped bleeding.

  Had I done that? If so, I wasn’t doing a good enough job. A half hour ago, if Grav was right, I’d healed him of acid pits and a nasty burn. This cut