“My instincts told me that death would somehow be…different. But my rational mind reminded me that I had probably tempted fate one too many times. At least, I thought it was my rational mind. It sure seemed like the usual voice inside my head. Thank God there was only one of them.”

“Wow…At least I can rest assured that you definitely can’t read my mind,” I remarked. “Clearly you know nothing about me…because the surest way to keep me from doing something is to tell me I have no other choice.”

“Think of mental energy as broadcasting on a certain wavelength,” he tried to explain. “People with powers of the mind can tap into that wavelength…”“That’s all fine and good,” I nodded, “but evidently my transmitter is broken. Or much more likely…I never had one in the first place.”“Ah, yes,” he nodded unenthusiastically, “and your nose is mounted upside-down.”“Excuse me?” My forehead creased.“I do wish you would quit contradicting me,” he let out a tired sigh. “It’s insulting…and highly annoying.”

“I paused for a moment, debating whether to turn and look what was happening. My senses told me Obo’s presence was still at my side, and turning my face into the barrel of a gun seemed like an ill-advised way to cap off this day of monumentally stupid decisions.”

“So you had to piss me off badly enough activate some primal instinct?” I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth. “I think all you managed to ‘draw out’ was fuming rage. I could rip your head off right now.”“Save that for later,” he waved his hand dismissively. “You have work to do right now.”

“My only regret,” he gently tugged me back toward him, “would be leaving this world before naming you as my wife. If I die tomorrow, at least I’ll have that to my credit.” Wrapping his arms around my waist, he vowed, “You don’t have to be queen…but you will not fall into obscurity on a foreign world. You will bear the Omuran name, and I have to believe that will protect you.” He brought his forehead to rest against mine, adding sorrowfully, “I have to believe that our family line wasn’t meant to end with this.”

“You get a kick out of shocking the pants off me, don’t you?” I shook my head with a smirk.He just shrugged with a playful smile, his eyes momentarily flitting toward my pants before returning to meet my gaze.“It’s an expression,” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t tell me you aren’t familiar with it, Mr. Smarty Pants.”“You have quite a repertoire of ‘pants’ references, don’t you?”