With an animalistic roar, Akim overturned the bed Chandar had been cowering on less than an hour before. Fury blinded him, coursing through his blood until all he could think of was destruction. He kicked at the small cabinet over and over until it finally came free from the wall then tore out the drawers and smashed one against the floor.
“Are you having fun?”
He looked up about ready to rip off the head of whoever had dared to interrupt his tantrum. But his visitor was so unexpected he could barely speak. Dressed from head to toe in shiny green latex, with high-heeled boots accenting her long, toned legs, Milanni, or more like Lady M, casually stood in the open doorway, arms crossed under her swelling breasts.
“How did you get aboard my ship without setting off our intruder alert system?”
She had the audacity to laugh. “Aren’t I the third intruder today? Maybe you should upgrade the system.”
He set down the front panel of the drawer with as much dignity as he could muster. “What do you want? As you can see I’m a bit busy right now.”
“Busy destroying Quinton Keir’s property. Doesn’t the Relentless and everything on board belong to the Rodyte government?”
“Why are you here?”
“From where I stand, it looks like you have two options.” She sauntered into the room, round ass rolling beneath the slick-looking latex. Clearly he hadn’t beaten her hard enough while she was his pupil. “Nope. It wasn’t just the angle, you only have two options.”
“And they are?” She had to be a technomage, or worse, someone who could actually manipulate magic. How else could she have gotten onto his ship?
“Are you listening? This is important?”
He knew that tone. That silky-soft caress that relaxed each muscle just before the lash bit into flesh. He’d taught her how to use it. He’d taught her all of his best tricks and she’d still smiled and walked away. “Options,” he prompted himself. “Why do I need options?”
One of her sculpted brows arched, drawing his attention to her spiky black hair. She’d always been fond of wild hair styles. They were frequently asymmetrical and sometimes drooped over one eye. This was even worse. He hated short hair on females. And the touches of green only made her look trashy.
“On one side,” she held out one of her hands, fingers lightly fisted, “you have Quinton. You promised you would not fail him, yet the battle born rebellion is stronger than ever. Far stronger than that fool will ever admit, but that’s his problem. Still, he can easily strip you of all you own and have you hanged or boiled in oil.” She shivered. “Do Rodytes still do that sort of thing?”
“Does this conversation have a purpose?”
Milanni shrugged, unimpressed by his impatience. “On the other side, and this is the part that should concern you, is Pyre Sterling.” Rather than a fist, Milanni held up her hand, fingers curved outward like a claw, ready to slash anything it encountered. “There is nothing more dangerous than an irate mother.”
“Pyre sent you?” For the first time since Milanni’s appearance, fear tightened his gut.
“Actually, I’m here to offer you a deal that will protect you from Pyre and Quinton.”
He paused, trying to anticipate the possibilities. “There is only one person on Rodymia powerful enough to protect me from those two, Javin Aidentar.”
“I never said my employer was Rodyte.” She watched him squirm with a lazy smile.
“What does anyone else gain by helping me?”
“What does Javin?” She shook her head hard enough to make the spikes sway. “You’ve distracted me from my presentation. Two options. One is to run as fast as you can to some uncivilized corner of the galaxy where no one will ever find you. Of course, you’ll have to give up your ship and your identity because you might not be important enough for the Rodyte government to hunt down, but this ship sure as creation is.”
“Or I can accept your mysterious offer, which you’ve yet to explain.”
She scoffed. “I’ve told you all you need to know. Quinton will give you more time to disrupt this nasty rebellion and Pyre won’t kill you. How could you possibly hope for more?”
“And what will this benevolence cost me?”
“You will be asked to complete three tasks. You will perform each task as described, without question, and within the time allowed. If you fail to complete any of the tasks, my benefactor’s support will be lifted.”
“Meaning Pyre will kill me or worse.”
With another shrug she turned to go. “If you’re still here in the morning, we’ll presume you accepted the offer.”
“Just tell me who he is,” Akim urged.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I never said my benefactor was male. You’re so predictable.” And then she departed just as suddenly as she’d arrived.
“I didn’t think she was ever going to let go of me,” Raylon sounded confused not angry. “I’ve never seen a person so…shattered.”
“She’s safe now,” Danvier stressed, his face pale and tense. “We must focus on her recovery.”
“Easy for you to say,” Raylon snapped. “She’s not curled up in your bed.”
“What? Why is Chandar in your bed?” Raina asked.
They’d gathered in the conference room to debrief, as was becoming the custom after each mission. Bandar and Ashley had chosen not to attend. Raina suspected that Chandar’s condition had upset Ashley all over again.
“I said some things during the rescue that she took literally.” Raylon threw up his hands, obviously unsure how to deal with his unwanted guest. “Now she thinks I’m some sort of guardian angel. Boy did she miscast me.”
“Help us get through the next few days.” Kotto finger-combed his hair, a sure sign that he was exhausted. “I promise we’ll work toward a different situation as quickly as possible. I know she’s not a little girl, but you have to think of her that way.”
Raylon shot Kotto another scathing glower. “Easier said than done when the female in question wants you to shower with her.”
Raina covered her mouth with her hand. Had she misheard? “She asked you to shower with her?”
“Not exactly, she just made it extremely obvious that she didn’t want to be left alone.” He leaned back into his chair and shook his head. “I ended up sitting on the floor with my back to the shower. Thank the gods it steamed up fast. That entire room is one big mirror.”
“I’m sorry, Raylon.” Danvier looked defeated. “She doesn’t understand.”
Raylon pushed back from the table. “I’ll deal with this for a day or two, but you can’t trust me to be honorable indefinably. No one is that strong.” With his plea/threat hanging over them like smog, Raylon left the room.
Raina almost hated to ask the question, but someone had to. “He wouldn’t—”
“No.” Oddly enough it was Danvier who came to Raylon’s defense. “He will treat her with respect. I’ve known Raylon too long not to trust him. He might grumble and glare, but he’ll protect her with his life. He’d do the same for any of us.”
“All right, then how do we help him?” She scooted closer to the table. “In other words, how do we help her?”
“What about Indigo?” Kotto asked.
The weight of his suggestion wrapped around her chest, making it hard to breathe. Involving anyone in this would change reality forever. It would pull back the curtain and show them how vast the universe really was and force them to confront the fact that humans weren’t nearly as significant as humans liked to believe. “What about her?”
“Has she ever worked with the victim of sexual abuse?”
Danvier bristled. “We don’t know that Chandar’s abuse was sexual.”
“Denial isn’t going to accomplish anything,” Kotto said firmly. “If we can’t accept the nature of her injuries, that her wounds are as much emotional as physical, we will never be able to help her.”
Tears streamed down Danvier’s cheeks and Raina revised her opinion of him in an instant. He wasn’t as unfeeling as he appeared. He just buried his feelings deeper than most. “I can’t bear to think of…”
“Don’t dwell on what they did to her,” Raina advised. She had never been the victim of a sexual crime herself, but she’d known students who were living with the shame. “Focus on how much you love her and be ready to support her in any way she needs to be supported. That includes listening when she’s ready to talk.”
Kotto took it a step farther. “This was done to her. We must help her see that she did nothing wrong.”
Danvier wrestled his emotions back under control before he spoke again. “I know you’re right, but right now I’m too angry to think beyond murdering Akim.”
“Well, you’ll have to stand in line,” Kotto told him. “Akim’s day of reckoning will come, because I won’t rest until it does.”
“You know what I want even more than his pain?” Danvier pushed to his feet as he added, “I want my baby sister to feel safe.”
He rushed from the room and Raina’s heart broke all over again. She barely knew Chandar. But she knew Kotto, and this was tearing him apart.
Silence fell as they both fought for composure. She stood and moved behind her mate. Pulling his chair back from the table, she turned him around. “This will take time, but we’ll find a way to reach her.”
He spread his legs and pulled her close then wrapped his arms around her back. It was so seldom that Kotto allowed himself to appear vulnerable, Raina was touched by his trust in her. “I’ll call Indigo in the morning. I’ll tell her a friend of mine was attacked and ask if she’s had any experience dealing with that sort of thing.”
“If she hasn’t, that’s as far as it needs to go.” He paused and looked up at her. “Except for the DNA sample, of course. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that.”
“Are you always on the job?”
His hands settled on her hips as he pressed back into his chair. “Being battle born isn’t something I can turn off, but the commander of the Crusader is allowed a few hours to himself every now and then.”
“And do you want to spend those hours alone?” She didn’t think that was what he’d meant, but she could understand if he needed some alone time right now.
He stood and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her face against his chest. “Being without you is the last thing I ever want.”
The sincerity in his tone made her smile, but his emotions remained shielded. In fact, she could barely sense their link.
All of a sudden, he stepped back and took her hand. “I want to show you something.”
“All right.” He led her out of the conference room and down the hallway, but instead of taking her to their cabin as she’d expected, he led her toward the Starlight lounge. She soon realized the bar wasn’t their destination either. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” The corridor curved around, following the semicircular shape of the lounge. He came to an unmarked door and triggered the security scanner. “In Keyran’s last message he gave me the code to the skywalk. He just neglected to tell me what or where the skywalk was.” He smiled. “Sort of like your mysterious grotto.”
The door parted and he led her up a curved staircase. Then he stood back and watched her react to his discovery. A railed walkway was suspended around the perimeter of the transparent dome at the top of the central court. With nothing blocking her view, she felt as if she floated in space, surrounded by the stars.
“This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Her voice was hushed with reverence and awe. She looked at him and shook her head then returned her gaze to the breathtaking view. Gleaming stars dotted the black velvet sky, so bright she felt as if she could reach out and touch them.
Moving quietly, he stepped up beside her and brushed his knuckles along the side of her face. “And this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
She looked at him and smiled, amazed that the claim hadn’t made her cringe or object. To him, she was beautiful and that was more than enough for her. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”
He turned her to face him, his hands lingering on her upper arms. “All of this has happened much faster than I intended. I wanted to give you time to be sure that a life with me is what you want.”
“I’m a scientist. How can I argue with empirical evidence? My mind tells me this is right. My body is your strongest supporter. Even my DNA has confirmed that we are meant to be together. What more could time teach me?”
Leaning down, he rewarded her conclusion with a tender kiss. “Do you realize how much I love you?”
“Each time we touch, I feel your emotions. I know exactly how you feel about me.” It was a unique and precious security that she would treasure always. “And you can feel my emotions too. So you know how I feel about you.”
“I still like to hear it,” he pointed out.
“I love you, Kotto Tarr, more than I ever dreamed possible.”
“And I love you.” After another lingering kiss, he whispered, “Our link needs to be reinforced. Your signal is fading.”
She smiled up at him, glad the dim light hid how easily he made her blush. “Does that involve what I think it involves?”
“Yes, but I want to hear about Indigo first. You said she has a big personality. What exactly does that mean?”
“It’s hard to explain.” She turned within the circle of his arms, staring out into the vastness of space. “Indigo says what she thinks regardless of what a person’s reaction is likely to be. She takes on challenges that would terrify an ordinary mortal.”
He chuckled. “That infers that she’s not mortal.”
“Sometimes I don’t think she acknowledges her mortality. I guess she just feels her Rodyte blood more than I do. She has always been brave to the point of recklessness and stubborn beyond reason.”
“So it will take a strong hand to tame her?”
She shook her head as she turned back around. “Indigo doesn’t need someone to tame her. She needs someone who will revel in her wildness, someone who will protect her from herself without breaking her spirit.”
He looked beyond her as he considered her words. “I can think of several who would meet that criterion.”
“You can’t play matchmaker until we find out who—or should I say if she has any genetic matches.”
“You’re right. One step at a time.” They strolled around the skywalk hand-in-hand, soaking in the tranquility and basking in the starlight. As they neared the door again, he pulled her close for another slow, tender kiss. “Are you ready to head back or shall we go around again?”
“Oh, I’m more than ready for bed.” Then with a challenging smile, she added, “It’s been an exhausting day.”
“Are you too tired to reinforce our link?” He sounded horribly disappointed, but the gleam in his eyes assured her that he was aware of her game.
“Why? Do you have something more stimulating in mind?”
“Would you like to hear all the things I have in mind?” That growling tone never failed to curl her toes.
With a shiver she said, “I’d rather you show me.”
One fist lightly grasped her ponytail and tilted her head back. “I’ll do anything you want, my love. All you have to do is speak the words.”