A Perfect Bond by Lee-Ann Wallace Read Free Book Online

caresses and hear how I affected him.
    I had a dilemma before we took our relationship that far. I had to figure out what to do. I had to decide whether I could leave everything behind and go with him, and I knew Prixy would help me.
    “I don’t know what to do, Prixy,” I said looking back at her.
    “I can’t tell you what to do, Merty. Not this time. This is too big, too important to let someone else make the decision for you. I can only tell you what I’d do.”
    I didn’t want Prixy to make the decision for me, although in the past, when the decisions hadn’t been so important, I had done what she’d suggested without a lot of thought, but she was right... this was too important. What Manik was asking of me was life changing, and I had to be sure I wouldn’t regret my decision.
    “Tell me, Prixy. What would you do?”
    “I’d go,” she said decisively. “First I’d take that burning hunk of man back to our quarters and bind myself to him. Seriously, Merty. We only get one mate. You can’t let him walk away a second time. Everything else, all this...” She swept her arm out to indicate my lab. “All this is minor compared to losing your mate. You might lose it all in a few days anyway, and then you’d have nothing. You’d have missed your chance at happiness and be left regretting it for the rest of your life.”
    Her words struck a chord inside me. She was right. We only had one mate, and to have found mine when I was young was a gift. If I let him walk out of my life, I’d have no one to blame but myself, but Prixy was important to me. She was my best friend. We’d been through a war together and survived. We’d lost our families together and left our almost-destroyed people behind so that I could study with another race. She’d stuck by me through thick and thin, so I couldn’t lose her.
    “Come with me, Prixy.”
    She looked back at me, indecision on her face for a long time before she said, “Not this time, Merty. I need to stay here.”
    I stared at her, not quite comprehending what she’d said. I thought she’d said no, but that couldn’t be right. She’d never said no before. She’d always followed me wherever I’d gone without so much as a complaint.
    “What do you mean? What could possibly be here for you?” I asked disbelief in my tone.
    She looked at me, sadness creeping across her face. “I’ve been waiting as long as you have to meet my mate, Merty. I’m tired of waiting. I want a relationship that means something, I want a person who will love me and cherish me and treat me with respect.”
    “But you were the one who told me not to give up hope. It was you who told me he’d come back for me. Your mate’s not on the station. Imagine how many more people you’d meet if you were on a ship. We’d be stopping all over the place, meeting people who’d you’d never get to meet if you stay here.”
    She shook her head at me and stepped back, dropping her hand from my arm.
    “You haven’t asked if I can come, Merty. They might not have space for another person.”
    I turned to Manik, starting to get a little desperate. She had to come with me. I needed her.
    “She can come, can’t she?”
    He looked between us for a moment before replying. “It shouldn’t be a problem. We have plenty of empty crew quarters at the moment. You’ll have plenty of attention from the rest of the crew. Apart from the Captain and Second in Command, every male on the ship is single.”
    I turned back to Prixy, expecting her to be looking interested. Single men were of great interest to women on the hunt, and Prixy had been on the hunt for a while, but she didn’t look interested. I didn’t know what she looked like. If I’d had to guess, it would be determined, but there was something else there as well.
    “I’m not going with you, Merty. I’ve found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
    I looked at her with shock. This was the first time she’d mentioned someone