Light of Kaska (37 page)

"Uh-huh," he responded in an uninterested tone, still rocking indolently on the rear legs of his chair. Neesie had gone to sleep on his chest, but Harle and Rogue were watching the confrontation with bright interest and not a little humor.

"We were assured of reasonable access to—"

"Got construction today. Don’t need strangers making the critters nervous."

The woman fairly vibrated with frustration. "But that’s what we want to observe, how they respond and interact—"

"Fyle," Keza interrupted, trying on her best conciliatory smile and laying a restraining hand on Chase’s shoulder. She felt the vibration of what could have been a subterranean growl or a laugh under her fingers. "Remember that we close the observatory during construction to minimize the stress on the selkies."

"But there was no construction scheduled for this afternoon. And you said we might try a careful observation of how the selkies respond to your construction efforts. What you have described, how they assist you and your mate, is fascinating, but I need to substantiate your claims with direct observa—"

Chase interrupted with a rather crude and improbable suggestion of what she could do with her observations.

Keza sighed. "Not today, Fyle. We have a crucial section we weren’t able to finish this morning. We’ll take tomorrow off work and open the observatory then."

The woman nodded stiffly without looking at Chase. "Thank you. I appreciate you working with us." Then she moved away with a steel rod in her backbone and temper in her stride.

Keza put hands on hips and looked down at Chase.

He gave her a slow, unrepentant smile that was far too sexy for her peace of mind. "Those brainy types are so sensitive," he drawled.

Keza blew out an exasperated breath and sent Harle and Rogue a disgusted look for their snickers, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to chastise him. He maintained that the reason he menaced the scientists with such zeal was that they were so much fun to pick on, but she knew the real reason. He’d become deeply attached to her selkie friends, playing with them almost as much as she did herself. He and Donle had become almost inseparable in the water, and she knew it bothered him to see the change in their demeanor whenever they were observed by non-family.

"Okay, Mr. Insensitive," she said with arched eyebrows. "Since you decided to close the observatory and work this afternoon, stop playing with the baby and the boys and get your ass moving."

He shared a very masculine, irritating grin with the other two men before lifting the limp little girl off his chest and into her father’s arms.

"Aren’t you guys done with that thing yet?" Rogue needled with the light of mischief in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. "Pretty soon you’re not gonna fit into your wetsuit, sis."

Since they were in fact almost done with the playground, an incredible feat for a construction crew of only two, one of whom was an inexperienced pregnant woman, they both comfortably ignored his dig. But Chase looked down at Keza’s stomach with a frown, measuring the bump there with a cupped hand and gently caressing fingers.

"Well, hell, don’t they make suits with belly pockets?"

Both Rogue and Harle convulsed with laughter and Keza felt her face turn hot with a blush. They were embarrassingly aware of Chase’s lustful obsession with her in a wetsuit. It was amazing how much progress had been made on the playground, considering all the times that Chase chose to forgo work in favor of pinning her down and stripping her out of the thing with slow thoroughness.

Believing retreat to be the better part of valor, Keza rolled her eyes and marched away from the laughing idiots. Chase followed on her heels and she would swear she heard him chuckle. She flashed him a sharp look over her shoulder. "And here I thought it was a good thing you were getting so chummy with my family. You know, it’s not healthy to encourage Rogue. He’s bad enough on his own."

"Don’t worry, Sunshine. A fist in his face shuts him up easy enough."

She slapped a hand to her forehead with a groan and heard him chuckle again. He slipped an arm around her waist, fingers pressing warmly into the flesh of her hip. She leaned against him, molding her body to his with a deep sense of satisfaction.

"Your dysfunctional and scary relationship with my brother aside…" she began in a dry tone, earning a flashing grin from him. "I’ve got a couple of things I need to talk to you about."

The grin faded, his eyebrows lifting with wary curiosity. "Uh-oh. Did the Dragon tell on me again?"

She narrowed her eyes and slowed to a stop in the corridor. "About what?"

"Uh…nothing." He tried a charming smile and bent to nip at the end of her nose.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to decide if it was worth the irritation of discovering what new skirmish had occurred between her lover and her mother. Their contentious relationship was a minor source of distress, even though she knew very well that the two of them relished their tug-of-wars and delighted in butting heads. But irritation couldn’t survive in the face of her discovery at the clinic.

She sighed and smiled wryly up into his beautiful face. "I’m going to pretend it really is nothing, because your relationship with my mother is even scarier and more dysfunctional, and I don’t wanna deal." She ignored his low laugh, shifting closer and laying her hands on his chest. "I went in for a full med scan today—"

His face instantly lost all humor, fingers tightening to the point of pain on her hips. "What’s wrong?" he barked.

"Nothing, everything’s fine," she soothed, giving herself an inner smack upside the head for not thinking about how he’d react. Her pregnancy was still an extremely sensitive subject for him. She suspected that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, that he was half expecting something horrible to happen. So she hurried to tell him the news. "We just happen to be having a boy instead of a girl."

As usual whenever she spoke of their child, she couldn’t hold back a sappy smile. On the other hand, Chase looked like she’d just taken a lead pipe to the back of his head.

"A…boy?"

"Yes."

"But, uh—isn’t that rare?"

"Our family has a much higher rate of male births than the rest of Kaska, but yes, it’s still unusual. I would have been ecstatic to have a little girl, but now I get to look at you in miniature." She lost her smile at the alarmingly blank look in his eyes. "Chase? You’re not going to panic again, are you?"

"I’m thinking about it," he wheezed.

"Remember, we’ve still got a few months to get used to the idea."

"Right."

His chest rose and fell with a few deep, calming breaths, hands on her hips pressing her closer in a motion that felt more protective than seductive. She tried to maintain a properly solemn and concerned expression, but it wasn’t easy—the thought of her fearless panther panicked by a helpless baby tickled the hell out of her funny bone.

He lost his look of suppressed terror in a sudden frown, eyes narrowing on her. "Wait. Does this mean I gotta spread my boy-genes around like your damn brother?"

She snorted, hands fisting in his shirt. "Over my dead body. And that’s the other thing I need to talk to you about." She took a deep breath, meeting his dark gaze with a surprising pang of anxiety in her gut. "I’m going to revoke my
Materi
status."

His eyebrows rose, but that was the only change in his expression. "Why?" he asked with gratifying calm.

"I finally figured out that being the Marish Mater wasn’t my path. I don’t have the temperament or desire to lead. I wasn’t made for it. My other sister Joy is much more suited to be First
Materi
—she’s practically Mom’s twin in temperament. She can take my place when she returns from her Guidance cycle."

Tipping his head to one side, he drew her closer with one hand warming the small of her back and the other sliding up to tease the nape of her neck. "What were you made for?"

Her lips curved at the melting sensation flowing from his touch through every fiber of her body. She stopped torturing his shirt, fingers spreading and flexing against the tantalizingly hard planes of his chest. "Mmm, aside from the obvious…" she purred, settling against him with a sinuous wriggle guaranteed to spark a flame in those penetrating dark eyes.

He pressed her closer, lips curving in sensual promise, but before he could dip his head and start something that would make her forget what she meant to say, she continued, "I think I’m meant to help the selkies. I mean, look what we’ve done for them so far. They’re a lot less afraid of our family than they used to be, and what we’re doing with the playground will only improve that relationship. What do you think about making similar constructs in other selkie areas?"

His eyebrows flew upwards again, his grip loosening. "Are you serious?"

"Sure," she answered, wrapping her arms around his torso on a surge of enthusiasm for the idea. "I’ve been thinking about it since you showed me your designs, but I couldn’t see a way around my responsibility to the Marish House. Mom’s been letting me slack off, but First
Materi
are usually expected to get involved with all the social, political, and financial facets of running a House. As First
Materi,
I couldn’t just zip off to some remote piece of the planet for a few months. But if I revoke my status, I can go where I need to and use the bond I have with the selkies to educate people and improve the selkie quality of life. This was their ocean first, and they’ve been forced out of most of their natural habitats first by hunting, then by fear of humans. If we can coax them back into more ideal breeding grounds…why are you laughing?"

"Startin’ to sound like a Serru groupie, Sunshine."

She rolled her eyes and pulled back a little. "I know the good doctor likes to lecture, but she’s got a point. Selkies may not be hunted anymore, but their populations are still dwindling. If we don’t make an effort, they’ll go extinct. Selkies are an important part of Kaska’s natural order, unique in the galaxy. Who knows, maybe they’re the reason our Goddess shorted us in the baby department. Selkies are her creations, too."

His mouth twisted as though he tasted something sour and Keza hid a smirk against his chest. Chase wasn’t exactly comfortable with their Goddess yet. True to form, he ignored her mention of the deity completely.

"Just putting up a construct won’t make the critters play if they’re scared."

"True. So I’m thinking we should get a boat, coax Meerie and her family to come with us, and enlist their help in making friends with selkies in new areas."

His brow creased and his hands tensed on her back. "Would that work?"

"You know how excited Meerie’s family group gets when a strange selkie comes into the area. They act like the selkie’s a long lost relative."

"Hmm," was all he said, studying her with a speculative gleam in his eyes, his fingers suddenly supple and moving in distracting circles.

Keza squirmed in his arms, anxious to know what he thought of her idea and, as usual, over-stimulated by his touch. She wondered if she’d ever get used to what he did to her, how he could melt her with just a look. So far, his effect on her just seemed to grow more intense over time. She also wondered if he would ever grow tired of her.

Sidestepping that painful thought with practiced alacrity, she cleared her throat and muttered to his chest, "So what do you think? Would you want to keep doing this, keep making more constructs? Or…or did you want to do something else? I know Harle’s been bugging you to join security—"

"Harle thinks it’d be funnier than shit to pin a badge on me."

"But you’d be good at it," she said then smirked at his sudden glower. "Remember, you know how criminals think." She squeaked when his arms crushed her against him and then snickered at his surly growl. "Okay, no badge. How are you with boats?"

"Guess we’ll find out," he rumbled, grip loosening and expression lightening. His head tipped to one side, hands sliding down her back to her hips and sending a cascade of shivers over her skin. "So what does your status have to do with me not spreading myself around?"

For a moment, she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, her mind clouded with sensation as he shifted against her, hands teasing the upper curve of her bottom. He’d been semi-erect throughout their conversation, but now she could feel him hardening with decided interest against her belly, and her train of thought derailed in flames. Would she ever get enough of him?

"Keza mine," he purred, moving his hips in a slow arc against her. "You got a reason I shouldn’t do my duty and try to plant boy babies all over Kaska?"

Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing on him as a shaft of furious jealousy straightened her spine. "The only planting you’ll be doing is in me, Chase Stryker!"

A smile played around his mouth and his hands molded her even closer, but his shoulders rolled in a casual shrug. "Far as I understood it, only lifemates are exclusive here on Kaska. You taking me on as lifemate, Sunshine?"

She gaped at him in pure astonishment. His lips twitched with amusement, but his dark, dark eyes were vivid with solemn intensity. And there was a subtle tension in his body that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Keza took a deep, shaky breath. "If I hadn’t thought you’d bolt for the nearest exit, I would have made you my lifemate the second we landed on Kaska," she whispered. "I am profoundly in love with you, Chase Stryker, so don’t tease me about this. Are you…are you saying you’d agree to be my lifemate?"

He sighed, looking faintly disgusted, though there was a furtive light in his eyes that sent tingles all down her spine.
"Kessu,
you’re slow on the uptake, farm girl. Far as I’m concerned, you’ve been my lifemate since you let me put my hands on you the first time. Just didn’t know what to call it ‘til I came to this place." His mouth tightened with surprising grimness. "And I’m getting pretty damn annoyed with all the horny bastards who keep showing up at your door, so unless you wanna see it get bloody, stop dragging your ass and make it official already."