“We’ll care for the child together, and of course, the servants will help. You know, I’ve decided to name the baby Kylon, after my father. I also like it because it’s a little like your name,” he said off-handedly, his hand still teasing around his crease.
Kyle’s mouth fell open a little as he stared at his mate. “I didn’t even think you knew my name. You never use it. ”
Taz rolled his eyes. “Of course I know the name of my own nobyo,” he said dismissively. “But in Tygeria, we never use our nobyo’s names. ”
“Why is that, anyway, Taz-lan?” Kyle asked, in an irritated tone. “It makes me feel…almost generic. Like I could be anybody. ”
Taz lifted one shoulder. “That’s the point. ”
At Kyle’s sharp gaze, Taz smiled. “No, I can see you don’t understand. Let me try to explain. The gods of our religion can be a bit jealous. If you love something too much, the gods may try to take it from you, so it’s best if they don’t know your children or your nobyo’s names too well. When the baby gets here, you may call him by his name, of course, because the gods take little notice of aliens. ” He kissed away the little frown on Kyle’s mouth. “However, I will call him son, just as I call you simply Nobyo, in the hope that the gods will become confused with so many and leave me the dearest things in my life. ”
Kyle nodded, a little overcome with the unexpected emotion he felt at Taz’s words and slipped his hand inside Taz’s, who gave him a sweet smile. “So I’ll record the baby’s new name on his papers. ”
“About these papers. What are they exactly? You said the same thing to me when I first got here. ”
“Your birth papers. We don’t consider you to have been properly born until you arrived here on Tygeria to join the people. ”
“Oh, so that makes you way too old for me, right?”
“Very funny. I hope you manage to curb this unseemly sarcasm when you’re around our child. ”
“I’ll see what I can do. So we’ll do his room together?”
“Yes. What color do you think we should have the servants paint his room?”
Kyle shrugged. The sum total of his knowledge about babies was very small, limited mostly to the sparse contact he’d had with Lucas’s child. “I don’t know—blue, maybe?”
Taz frowned. “Blue? What a silly color for a warrior-child. No, it must be bold and strong. Perhaps red—a shade like your beautiful eyes. ”
A knock on the door of Taz’s office interrupted them, and Taz called out impatiently for whoever was outside to enter. It was one of the older servants, all of whom had learned at their peril to always knock on any closed door since Kyle had arrived. The poor man, stooped a little with age, looked frightened and upset.
Taz straightened in his chair. “What is it, Wyn? Has something happened?”
“A mess
age for you, sir. Very urgent, about your brother. ”
“My brother?” Taz was already on his feet and reaching for the paper the servant held in a trembling hand. He scanned it quickly and turned an incredulous and shocked gaze on Kyle.
“Y-your family has my brother. They’ve taken him prisoner and are holding him on your home planet. They say that I have only a few days to contact them with a decision. ”
Kyle shook his head, still trying to understand. “But why? A decision about what? Are they angry because he kidnapped me? What do they hope to accomplish by it? What do they want?”
Taz looked up at him, his face drained of color, so that the tiger stripes under his normally golden skin had never before looked so striking. His eyes turned more gold in color and took on a feral glow. His voice was shocked and harsh. “You, of course. They want to trade my brother for you. They say if I refuse to make the exchange, they’ll send him back to one piece at a time. Gods, they’re monsters!”
“Taz, listen to me,” Kyle said softly. “We’ll have to contact them right away. I can talk to them. ”
Taz shook his head. “They’d never believe it,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “They’d think I coerced you. Forced you to say you don’t want this exchange. ” He looked up sharply at Kyle. “You don’t want this, do you?”
“No! How can you even ask me that question? I told you I never want to leave you. ” Kyle took his hand and gazed into his eyes, trying to show him how sincere he was. Taz glared back at him for moment before his eyes softened, and he drew Kyle close to him, holding him tightly in his arms. “I’ll never give you up! No one can make me!”
Kyle allowed himself to be held for a moment, trying to soothe his mate, but then pulled gently away. “Taz-lan, there’s a simple solution to this. I have to go see them. Agree to the exchange to get Tarr back unharmed, and then once I explain things to them, I’ll come back. ”
Taz drew back and then flung Kyle away from him, his face mottled with fury. “I knew it. I knew you’d choose them over me. You’re lying about wanting to stay with me. You want to go to them, don’t you?”
Kyle could see Taz’s eyes changing again. He’d never seen Taz’s beast before. Usually the Tygerian beasts were well-controlled and came out only at times of great need or really strong emotion, but now his eyes were becoming those of a cat, the pupils growing large and elongating. A few times during the year, Taz had told him their moon was at its fullest point and their beasts roamed all over Tygeria. On those nights, he would lock his nobyo away, he said, for his own safety. Unlike the Lycan wolves, the tigers became fully bestial, and once they were completely transformed, they no longer had the thought processes of a humanoid creature.
Still, Kyle stood his ground, growling back at him when Taz made the low, inhuman noise in his throat. “Listen to me, damn it! I’ve told you over and over that I want to be with you. I don’t know how to say it any other way. You have to trust me, Taz. You can exchange me for Tarr and then I’ll come back to you as soon as I can. I give you my word. ”