The Academy (38 page)

“I never stopped either,” he admitted softly. “Even though I tried for a while. I was so
angry
with you.”

“I could tell by the way you looked at me.” I looked down at my hands. “That last time we met when my father was dragging me out.”

“I was mostly still in shock then,” he said. “But I had enough sense to act like I hated you.”

“What do you mean enough sense?” I demanded. “You don’t know how many times I replayed that scene in my mind! How awful I felt knowing you couldn’t stand to even look at me.”

“Think about it, Kris,” he said patiently. “Your father was already accusing you of being some kind of prossie. If I had acted on my true feelings and tried to hug you or God forbid kiss you, his worst suspicions would have been confirmed—to his mind, anyway.”

I thought of my father’s angry eyes and had to admit North was right. “I guess so,” I said, sighing. “And I guess I deserved it. The mental anguish I’ve been going through the past six months thinking you hated me was probably nothing to what you went through when you were trying to understand your feelings for me.”

“I don’t know about that.” North kissed my cheek tenderly. “But I
do
think we should call it even. No more torturing each other for a while—okay?”

“All right.” I snuggled happily against his chest. “How did you get my father to consent to the marriage anyway?”

He shrugged. “I just thought up the most awful disguise I could imagine. You were right—your father
really
wanted to punish you. Why else would he marry you off to a man he thought was a Skelly head?” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I had to involve him in the first place, back at The Academy. But I didn’t see any other way to keep you from losing a hand.”

“So you were the one who called him!” I looked at him in surprise. “I wondered about that.”

“I was still so angry and hurt I couldn’t see straight, but I
knew
I didn’t want you to lose a limb. So I placed an anonymous call. Thankfully he wasn’t far from Athena or you might still be re-growing your hand.” He looked at me speculatively. “Although, if it grew as fast as your hair, I suppose you’d be all right.”

I flushed and put a hand to my hair. “Do you like it long?”

“I more than like it,” North assured me in a soft growl. “Now that I see you with it tumbled all around your face, I wonder how I could ever have taken you for a male in the first place.” He frowned. “Of course, near the end I was beginning to suspect that something wasn’t right.”

“What made you suspect? My girlish smell?” I asked, remembering how he’d complained that I smelled good, even when I used his shampoo.

“That was part of it, I guess.” North shook his head. “And your extreme modesty. At first I thought maybe you had some kind of deformity—like Jamie had. That was why I helped you take showers in the middle of the night. But later, after I held you close to me those nights on break and felt how soft and delicate you were, I began to think maybe it was something else.”

“Something else? Like what?” I asked.

“I don’t know…” He frowned. “Like maybe you were a transsexual or something. You know, transitioning from one sex to the other…”

“A transsexual from Victoria?” I nearly laughed. “You must not know my home province very well. Such a thing would
never
be tolerated. Why, I was shunned just for wearing your token.” I reached up to touch the onyx and silver stud still planted firmly in my right earlobe.

“I know—I did some research on Victoria during the time we were apart.” He looked at me earnestly. “You have to believe me, I didn’t know only prossies got their ears pierced there.”

“That’s all right.” I smiled at him. “I was proud to wear it. I don’t care what anyone in Victoria thinks.”

“Especially since you’ll never have to see them again,” North remarked.

“I hope not.” I bit my lip. “And…you’re sure my father never suspected a thing?”

North shrugged. “Even if he did, it’s too late now—we’re legally wed. And in case you're wondering, the names on the marriage contract are real, not the fake name I gave your father. So it's completely binding.” He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “And about that, I know I never actually
asked
you to marry me. If you’re unhappy about the situation, we can always get it annulled.”

Anxiety twisted my stomach in knots. “Is…is that what you want?” I whispered.

“No. Hell, no!” North shook his head forcefully. “Remember how I told you we’d have a ship of our own once we got out of The Academy? Well, this is it.”

“Oh, North…” My heart felt like it was going to burst but there was still something that bothered me. “It’s wonderful—but what about your dream of being in the Space Corps? You gave that up for me?”

“Wasn’t much to give up,” North said seriously. “The Corps doesn’t allow female officers and I knew I wanted to be with you.” He cleared his throat. “They also don’t look kindly on recruits who have permanently maimed another cadet.”

I put a hand to my mouth. “You mean Broward?”

North nodded. “He’ll never walk again without a prosthetic. I, uh, messed up his face pretty badly too. Not that he was that handsome to begin with.”

“Oh, North,” I whispered as a wave of guilt washed over me. “And you did all that for me. If you hadn’t…”

“If I hadn’t he would have…have…” North shook his head. “When I think what might have happened to you if Wilkenson hadn’t warned me he’d seen Broward sneaking back on campus…”

“North…” I whispered. “Don’t.”

His eyes narrowed and his voice dropped to a growl. “I’m just trying to say I don’t regret anything I did to Broward and I’d do it again in a minute. He deserved everything I dished out and more.” He looked into my eyes. “I’d do anything, risk
anything
to protect you, Kris. To keep you safe, here with me.” He stroked my hair. “I felt that way about you even before I knew you were a girl. You know that.”

His words seemed to start a fire somewhere inside me. “Yes, I know,” I whispered, nuzzling against his broad chest. I wanted to relax and just enjoy being in is arms, but something else niggled at the corner of my mind.

“Your parents—what did they say about all this?” I asked, remembering how kind Mr. and Mrs. North had been to me during my stay at North’s home.

“Well, my dad wasn’t thrilled and both of them were pretty shocked when they found out you were a girl.” North grinned. “But I think my mom was mostly happy. She knew I liked you, you see—she could tell there was something between us. And the fact that you’re a girl means she has a better chance of getting grandchildren.”

“We could always have adopted if I wasn’t,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. But then the babies wouldn’t have had your big brown eyes,” he teased me gently.

My head was reeling—I was still having a hard time believing we were married at all, let alone talking about having babies.
That's something to think about in the future—far in the future,
I told myself.

“So you think your parents will forgive me?” I asked, trying to get back to my original question. “I mean, I really liked them. I’d hate to think they blame me for the loss of your career.”

North raised an eyebrow at me. “What loss? Just because I’m not wearing a uniform with the Corps logo doesn’t mean I’m not captaining a starship. What do you think this is?” He gestured with one hand to the ship around us.

“
This
is pretty impressive,” I said, smiling up at him. “Are we really going to go all over the system?”

“And outside it too,” he assured me. “In fact, one of our stops is going to be near where your brother’s orchestra is touring. You want to drop in on one of his performances and surprise him?”

“That would be wonderful!” I felt giddy with excitement at the idea of seeing Kristopher again. What a wonderful reunion—and I would get to introduce him to North!

North smiled at me. “I thought that would make you happy.”

“More happy than you can imagine,” I said, smiling. “But…am I really going to be the Lakota’s navigator?”

“Absolutely. As soon as I graduated I went to the private sector and found a ship owner looking for a captain and navigator. I told him we were a package deal—he had to take us both on at once.”

“And he agreed?” I asked, surprised.

“Oh yes.” North nodded. “He was thrilled to get two Academy grads to run his ship. Well, one Academy grad and one drop-out.” He grinned at me. “But I promised him you’d get your navigator’s license during our first run to make everything all nice and legal. So that’s the first order of business for you.”

“No, it’s not,” I murmured, shaking my head. I was suddenly very aware of how close we were. North was still holding me in his lap and didn’t seem inclined to put me down anytime soon. Not that I wanted him to. His spicy scent filled my senses and his arms around me felt incredibly right.

“It’s not?” North looked confused.

“No.” Reaching up, I tangled my fingers in his thick blond hair and pulled him down.
“This
is.”

As our lips met in a kiss, I thought about how lucky I was—though it had nearly ended in tragedy, my gamble had paid off. I had the life I had always dreamed of with the man I loved. North and I would travel through space together, equal partners as he had envisioned. Finally we were together with no secrets or lies between us to keep us apart and nothing would ever separate us again.

But no matter where my new life took me, or what distant and marvelous stars I saw, I knew I would never forget the time I had spent at The Academy.