When a Nobek loves a woman...
He squeezed her hand. “My past can’t put distance between you and me. I have to do better. You’re my Matara. My world.”
The heartfelt statement startled her. Even more shocking was the blatant yearning in his gaze. She’d have given up everything for Osopa to mean what he said, if she’d had anything at all to give.
She tried to laugh it off, though her heart screamed for it to be real. “Your world? After so few days of acquaintance, that has to be an exaggeration.”
“It’s not. From my first day in training camp, I was taught to worship my future clan. To make its members the center of my existence. That’s the driving motivation of every true Nobek: protect our clans and the empire at all costs.”
“I can’t be that important when you barely know me.”
“No? My entire focus during the battle with the Tragooms should have been destroying them. Most of it was. But there was a part of me that couldn’t stop worrying about you, Tukui, and Yorso. Especially you, because you’re the most vulnerable. A piece of me was screaming nonstop the entire time. ‘Is Tina safe? Has she been injured?’ As soon as I could, I ran to be sure you were okay. If you’d been hurt, I’d—I’d—I can’t imagine what would have happened. It’s too terrible to consider.”
She’d done nothing to earn such devotion. After astonished silence, she managed, “I was scared for you too. Maybe you have issues showing your emotions, but you’ve been good to me.”
“I want to be better than good. I want us to be lovers in truth. Not for making babies, but because it’s torture for us to not be together. I want to be the reason you smile.”
Tina could barely breathe. Was this real? She didn’t dare hope, but hope filled her nonetheless. “I’d like that too.”
The kiss was tentative, as if they had never touched before that moment. They sank into the moment. Into each other.
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To be loved is all Tina ever wanted. She never dreamed her prayers would be answered by the enemy.
Aspirant Tina Novak, living on Europa’s convent colony, has
no place to call her own. First rejected by her father, now being sent away by
Mother Superior, where can a young woman with no prospects go?
The question is delayed by a Kalquorian invasion that takes
the aspirants and nuns prisoner. The enemy Kalquorians are teetering on the
brink of an extinction disaster, and Earther women are always welcome spoils of
war.
Chosen by the young and ambitious clan of Dramok Tukui,
Imdiko Yorso, and Nobek Osopa, Tina can’t imagine what her shattered future
might bring. When she discovers the gentler side of the fierce Kalquorians, her
fear of them becomes fear of losing them.
Can it last? Or will they turn her away in the end, as everyone else has? When the war reaches its unthinkable, violent end, Earther and Kalquorian alike find their lives altered forever. With the lives of Tina’s most vulnerable family members at stake, she and Clan Tukui must set aside what they thought they wanted and embrace what’s possible.
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