Nothing has ever excited Tylen Merodine more than being invited by the Regent himself to celebrate the first solar eclipse in his planet’s recorded history. It’s the party of the millennium, and if he has to restrain his normal exuberant instincts to fit in, that’s what he’ll do to be a part of it. His good intentions vanish, however, the moment he’s presented to the Regent. Because there, in a gilded cage, playing music unlike anything Tylen’s ever heard, is the most beautiful alien he could imagine. For more than twenty years, Dek has lived in captivity, performing at the whim of those who see him as an animal. The Regent is just the latest in a long line of owners, and while he’s kind, he’s still blind to Dek’s sentient nature. Only music gives Dek a voice, until Tylen breaks the rules and sneaks in to see and speak to him alone. The time they have together is stolen and precious, the minutes ticking away until the eclipse is past and they have to go back to the way their lives were before. But when the Regent shows an unexpected interest in Tylen’s future, they begin to wonder if their worlds need to remain so separate ...

Aria of the Eclipse

But Tylen’s arousal and the wine were nothing compared to what he was doing now.


He’d found the lock and currently stood in front of it,frowning slightly as he fiddled with the pen-like device he’d shown me this afternoon,the one that had opened the conservatory door.My heart was lodged in my throat,choking off my breath.I wanted to beg him to stop,not to risk it,but my body strained forward,ready to leap through the opening as soon as the door swung outward.I felt like I was being torn in two,sensations that only compounded as he held the tip of it to the lock and pressed on theopposite end.


The lock clicked.Nothing had ever boomed so loud in my life.


“All right,”Tylen said,slipping it back into his pocket.He grabbed onto one of the bars and pulled the door open.“How about we sit by the west windows?There’s a great view of the solarium…”His voice trailed off,his smile fading.“What’s wrong?”


Chapter 6