When Kara woke the next morning, it was late and she was alone. She felt a rush of panic, and then, hearing the sound of hammering, she relaxed. He was here.

She stared up at the smooth stone ceiling, remembering the night past, the self-recrimination in Alexander's eyes, the fear. It had been for her, that fear.

She placed a hand over her stomach. What if she was pregnant? Would that really be so terrible? Except for that peculiar strip of ridged flesh on his spine, Alex looked exactly like any other man. She grinned wryly. It wasn't as if he was Jabba from Star Wars, or the gill-man from the Black Lagoon.

She grunted softly as a new thought occurred to her. Alex had mentioned the fact that his blood was different from hers and might cause her harm, but he had already given her some of his blood, and nothing had happened. Had he forgotten that?

Throwing off the covers, she scrambled out of bed, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and went into the main room.

She paused in the doorway, her gaze moving over Alex. He was building a table from the tree he had felled the night before. For a moment, she admired the play of muscles in his broad back and shoulders. He glanced over his shoulder to smile at her, and happiness bubbled up within her, as effervescent as sparkling champagne.

"Good morning," she said, stepping into the room.

"Good morning." He finished hammering one of the table's legs in place, then brushed a lock of hair from his face. "Did you sleep well?"

Kara nodded. "Did you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"You were worrying about me, weren't you?"

He nodded, his gaze moving over her face.

"I'm fine, honest." She sat down on the floor, legs bent, her arms resting on her knees. "Don't you think maybe you're worrying for nothing? I mean, you gave me your blood and nothing bad happened."

He frowned, and Kara knew she'd been right. He had forgotten.

"So," she said brightly. "Maybe there's nothing to worry about. Anyway, I'm probably not pregnant. I am hungry, though. Are you? Oh, sorry." She grinned self-consciously. She'd forgotten he didn't need to eat every day.

"Go make yourself some breakfast," Alex said. "The table should be done when you're ready."

Rising to her feet, Kara crossed the floor toward the kitchen, thinking she would rather eat sitting on the floor than standing at the table, and then she saw the chairs, two of them. Stout, serviceable, the backs intricately carved, one slightly larger than the other. An image of the three bears rose in her mind and made her smile. One for papa bear, and one for mama bear . . .

"You do nice work, Alex," she called over her shoulder.

"Thanks."

He watched her move around the kitchen, thinking how different the cavern felt with Kara to share it. Thinking how different he felt. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was worrying for nothing. He had given her his blood, and she hadn't suffered any ill effects. He stared at the hammer in his hand, trying to stifle the rush of hope that flooded through him as he imagined what it would be like to share his life with Kara. And then, unable to help himself, he pictured Kara holding his child. Ah, to give her a son, he thought, to hold a child of his own in his arms again . . .

AnTares . . . His grip tightened on the hammer until his knuckles went white. After his arrest, the council had refused to let him spend any time with his daughter. He had begged them to reconsider, to let him tell her good-bye, but to no avail. The counsel's only concession had been to allow his parents to bring AnTares to the docking bay the morning his ship was to depart.

He closed his eyes, remembering the day he had seen his daughter last, her clear gray eyes awash with tears. She had reached out to him, begging him not to leave her. The sound of her cries had followed him as he was led to the ship. He had yearned to go to her, to try to explain why he was being sent away, why he would never see her again. In desperation, he had turned to the head of the counsel, pleading for DaTra's understanding, begging to be allowed to hold his daughter one last time, to tell her he loved her, but DaTra had adamantly refused. On board the spacecraft, Alex had stared out the ship's view port, his gaze fixed on his daughter's face, until all ports had been sealed and she had been lost to his sight forever.

Alex hammered the last nail in place and righted the table. After all these years, the thought of her still had the power to cause him pain. AnTares, forgive me. . .

"Alex?"

He looked up to find Kara watching him. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"I asked if you wanted a cup of coffee, or maybe a glass of water."

"No, thank you."

"Is everything all right?"

"Fine."

She tilted her head to one side, her expression doubtful. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said quietly. "But you don't have to lie, either."

"I'm sorry, Kara. I was thinking about my daughter."

She nodded, not knowing what to say.

He carried the table into the kitchen and put the chairs in place, one on each side.

"Will you sit with me while I eat?" Kara asked. She placed her plate and a cup of coffee on the table and sat down.

With a nod, Alex sat across from her.

"What shall we do today?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'm afraid there isn't much to do up here." He glanced at the empty bookcase. Even reading was no longer an option.

Kara regarded him over the edge of her coffee cup. "I have an idea."

He looked at her expectantly, and then, watching her cheeks bloom with color, he knew what she had in mind.

"Kara . . ."

She looked at him through wide, innocent eyes. "We can't go out while the sun's up," she said, smiling seductively. "So we can't go for a swim, or a walk." She shrugged. "We can't sit and read because you burned up all the books. So, can you think of a better way to pass the day?"

"No."

"Good." Pushing away from the table, Kara stood up and took his hand.

Heart pounding, his body humming with awareness and desire, Alex let her lead him into the bedroom. He stood passively, the blood rushing through his veins, thrumming in his ears, as she began to undress him.

When he reached for her, she swatted his hands away. "Not yet," she murmured, and so he stood there, his body trembling with longing, while she ran her hands over his flesh, pressed her lips to his chest, bent to explore his navel with her tongue.

He groaned as the ache to hold her grew painful. "My turn," he said with a growl, and with slow deliberation, he began to undress her, his hands sliding seductively over her flesh until she, too, was quivering with need.

Swinging her into his arms, he carried her to bed. He felt her gaze on his back as he took the necessary precautions, and then she was in his arms, whispering his name, urging him to hold her, to love her, and never let her go.

And he was more than willing to oblige.

They spent the afternoon in bed, making love, sleeping, making love again, until darkness settled over the mountain.

Later, after a leisurely bath at the hot spring, they went for a long walk through the woods.

"Alex, do you think Barrett's given up yet?"

"I doubt it."

"I need to call home."

"I know, but it's too soon. Maybe in a couple of weeks."

Kara nodded. As eager as she was to call home, to let Nana and Gail know where she was, to make sure all was well at home, she knew Alex was right.

They drove to town the following night and put a deposit on a new black leather sofa and a matching chair for the main room. Tomorrow, Kara would rent a truck to carry them up the mountain.

After leaving the furniture store, they wandered through a bookstore, buying whatever piqued their interest, until they had almost enough books to restock the bookshelf. They bought a portable stereo and spent an hour choosing cassettes.

Their last stop was at the grocery store where they bought bread and milk, a variety of canned goods, and some fresh fruits and vegetables. Alex lifted an eyebrow in amusement as Kara dropped a dozen candy bars into the shopping cart.

"Sweets for the sweet?" he murmured.

"Just give me my chocolate and no one gets hurt," she retorted with a saucy grin.

Time passed quickly, the days turning into weeks, the weeks into a month.

In spite of everything, Kara had never been happier. She put her fears for the future behind her, determined to enjoy this time with Alex. She quickly adjusted her lifestyle to his. They stayed up late at night and slept late in the morning. Sometimes they spent the afternoon reading. Alex was a voracious reader with a wide range of interests. He might read Shakespeare one day, and Tom Clancy's latest novel the next. He also enjoyed medieval history and philosophy. Some days they played cards; poker, canasta, pinochle, gin rummy, he was adept at them all. He taught her to play chess.

At other times, when he was feeling melancholy, he told her of his life on ErAdona, of his parents and his daughter. He rarely mentioned his wife. Life on ErAdona sounded very much like life on Earth, only much more peaceful. Kara tried to imagine cities without crime or pollution, tried to imagine being able to walk down the streets of New York or Los Angeles late at night, alone and unafraid.

In the evening, they often went for long walks. Now was one of those times. Kara had grown to love the night. She found beauty in the darkness that she had never seen in the daylight, heard things she had never noticed before. She listened to the wind whisper love songs to the pines, heard the soft scurrying sounds of the small night creatures that came out only after sundown. She saw an owl questing for prey, a doe tiptoeing throughthe forest. She felt a shiver run down her spine the first time she heard the melancholy cry of a coyote.

Sometimes it surprised her, how happy she was, living in a cavern on the top of a mountain, far from the world she had known.

She glanced at Alex, walking beside her, and knew she would be content to spend the rest of her life here, in this place, with this man.

She wasn't surprised when their journey ended at the hot spring. It had become their special place, a magical place.

Heat rose within her, warm, alive, exciting, as Alex reached for her. She craved his touch, burned for his kisses. No longer shy, she let her hands drift over hishard-muscled body, a body she now knew as intimately as she knew her own. She began to undress him with infinite care, wanting to prolong the pleasure. She loved to touch him, to watch his eyes grow hot with desire as she removed his shirt and ran her fingernails over his chest and back, letting her palms slide slowly, seductively, over the unique ridge of flesh on his spine.

His groan of pleasure filled her with joy. Never, she thought, never had she dreamed that love could be so wonderful, so beautiful.

Locked in each other's arms, they sank to the ground. Heart pounding, Kara lay back while Alex undressed her with gentle hands, his dark eyes aglow with love and desire. And then he was kissing her again, his tongue moving over her like a flame of fire.

She drew him deep inside her, wanting to shelter him, to shield him, to absorb him into herself.

"Alex!" She cried his name aloud as his body merged with hers. Her nails raked his back, fueling his desire, until she writhed beneath him. "I love you," she gasped. "Love you!"

The words rose in her throat, repeating themselves over and over again as he carried her higher, higher, until they soared above the earth, bodies and souls melded into one.

Natayah. . .

She heard his voice in her mind, an exultant cry as she shuddered to completion beneath him.

Kara, ah, Kara . . .

She felt his warmth spill into her, filling her, and then he buried his face against her shoulder, his body trembling convulsively.

"I love you, Alex." She whispered the words as she stroked his hair. "I love you so."

Much later, after a leisurely soak in the hot spring, they lay side by side in the moonlight. Kara gazed up at the stars, wondering again which one was his. There was so much about him she didn't know.

"You're very quiet," Alex remarked. "Is anything wrong?"

"No. I was just wondering . . . do your people believe in God?"

"Of course."

Turning on her side, she raised herself on her elbow so she could see his face. "Tell me what you believe."

"Our beliefs are much like yours. We believe in one God, a superior Being who created the universe. It is against our laws to steal, to kill, to lie."

"Do you have churches?"

"Yes."

"Do you have more than one religion?"

"No. In that, my people are different from yours.

Every race of people I've ever encountered believes in a Supreme Being, but it is the same God, Kara. It doesn't matter whether you call him Wakan Tonka,Elohim, or Allah. He is the same. Omnipotent. Eternal. Without beginning of days or end of years."

Kara nodded. What he said was what she had always believed. She remembered a scripture she had read once that had stuck in her mind: "Worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose . . . For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away . . . And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them . . . ."

"Were you . . . are you a religious man?"

Alex nodded, the burden of killing Rell pricking his conscience. But he did not regret killing the man; he would do it again even though he knew it was wrong.

"Have you been to other planets?"

Alex turned on his side to face her. "Some. People are the same wherever you find them, Kara. They're all humanoid. One head, two arms, two legs. There might be minor differences in skin or hair texture, but none of them look like the ridiculous creatures depicted in your books or movies. They don't fly around the galaxy abducting people and subjecting them to bizarre experiments. Most are too busy living their own lives to worry overmuch about life in another part of the galaxy."

"I always thought that if we found people on other planets, they'd be just like us," Kara remarked. "I mean, my Bible tells me that God created man in His own image." She shrugged. "I always thought if that was true, then people would be the same all over. It's kind of nice to know I was right. Do they_I mean, have any of the people from other planets . . . You know what I mean. Have any of the people from your planet had children with other races?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Never?"

"I don't know, Kara. I only know that, among my people, it's forbidden to mate with those from other worlds. I can't help but think there must be a good reason behind such a strict directive."

Knowing he was probably right made her feel suddenly alone. She didn't want to think about it anymore. He'd told her that people were alike all over, and yet it seemed they weren't exactly alike, after all.

She stretched out on the ground again, her arms folded behind her head as she stared up at the stars. Thoughts of Gail and Nana crowded her mind.

"I wonder how things are going at home," she remarked, anxious to change the subject. "I've got to call Gail."

He nodded slowly. He understood what she was feeling, knew she needed to assure herself that she wasn't cut off from everyone and everything she loved. It was a feeling he knew well.

"Who did you call last time?"

"Mrs. Zimmermann next door."

"All right. Tomorrow night, we'll call Mrs. Zimmermann."

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