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Garik woke the next morning, surprised he’d slept at all. It hadn’t been the light sleep he typically used to maintain an awareness of his surroundings either. This was a deep rest. One his body had very much needed.
While his body ached and his ribs still stung, there were definite signs he’d recovered, namely his ability to breathe unhindered. Despite all of that, something plucked at his mind, urging him to wake and move. Not danger necessarily but he kept his eyes closed and tried to pin down the odd feeling as he took stock of his surroundings without moving.
Silence echoed back. Yet he wasn’t alone.
Had Maurin discovered him?
Garik shifted his head about, once more using his physical senses to figure out what disturbed him. A pleasing scent teased his nostrils, light and airy. Not the thick, cloying scent of a sex share worker but not the familiar spicy notes from women he had an understanding with in the past either.
Desire rose as if shaking off the beating he’d taken from Maurin’s guards. This enchanting aroma was all around him, leaving Garik unable to pinpoint the direction of the source. His heart picked up its pace in anticipation, arousal tensing the muscles in his abdomen.
For some reason, his arms were pinned down. A weight was thrown across his chest, keeping him flat on his back in a...bed? He stiffened, tipped his chin down and opened his eyes slowly.
Waves of brown blocked his view, strands tickling along his jaw line. Long hair. Feminine hair, if the silky texture and the source of the amazing smell was any indication.
Beyond that, his gaze followed the natural arch of a narrow back and a slim thigh thrust between his parted legs. Tangled covers wrapped loosely about their hips.
Memories flashed through his mind about the previous night. His escape. Saedra. She slept on top of him instead of hugging the edge of the bed as she had been when they’d fallen asleep.
Garik tried to recall when she’d actually moved toward him in the night but couldn’t. Nor had he awakened from the contact, which in itself should have sent terror raining down his spine.
An arm was hooked loosely about his waist and the top of her head was snug beneath his chin, while light snuffles signaled her slumbering state. But it wasn’t fear Garik was feeling. Not from...Saedra. His bond mate.
Warmth spiraled from inside as emotions set off mini-explosions while he tried to capture what it meant. No answer came to mind, only a growing need to see to her care, a desire to do more than nuzzle the wealth of hair rubbing the side of his face.
Garik raised his arms from the bed and held them hesitatingly in the air. He should move her but didn’t know how to go about it without waking her. Forcing back his unusual reluctance, he placed his hands at her waist. She moaned and cuddled closer. Cuddled. Wonderment burst through him followed by a cinching sensation in his heart that almost had Garik arching up on a sudden gasp.
His hands tightened, the fabric of the blanket and her thin shift bunching between his fingers. No one had ever at his harsh questions cuddled with him. He was an assassin.
There was so much blood on his hands. So many deaths, yet this woman, unconcerned with the risk to her own life, slept deeply in the same bed with him—her body practically wrapped around him. Garik closed his eyes and inhaled, needing a moment to control all he believed in rearranging down to his soul. Priorities realigned along with new goals.
He didn’t care if it was the bonding vow causing this shift and change. She was his. And Garik Denikon, assazi or not, protected what belonged to him. He opened his eyes as the vow solidified in his head.
Hands at her waist, much more confidant about his actions, he slid to the left with the intent of moving from under her weight. Saedra made a mewling sound and her arm tightened about his waist, the thigh between his legs pressing dangerously close to sensitive body parts. He froze.
Saedra crawled closer, nuzzling the base of his throat. Her hair swirled like a sensuous glide over the bare skin of his chest. Garik muffled a groan and allowed his head to drop back on the bed to gather his breath.
The more she moved against his body, the harder his cock got. Every muscle tensed as he fought to hold himself back. When he felt in control, Garik made several more attempts to move away, even managing to reach as far as the edge of the bed. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief and get up, Saedra followed with an annoyed murmur until she was once more curled back in his arms. On his chest. The only difference was the lean leg she threw over his hip instead of between his thighs.
Sweat beaded his brow. If not for her shift and his pants, his cock would be thrust directly between her thighs.
Disgruntled mutterings filled the air, too low to discern the words, but the tone was enough to convey her displeasure at him moving her. The vise-like grip returned to his chest and Garik found himself rubbing the fine slope of her delicate frame, his hands moving up and down her back in reassurance until she settled.
Rubbing her back? He stilled. What was wrong with him?
“Garik?” Saedra mumbled, this time loud enough to understand.
“Yeah?” His voice was guttural almost unrecognizable. Garik dropped his arms to the bed. He shouldn’t be touching her, had no business craving the knowledge of how silky her skin would be without the cheaply woven clothing she wore between them. The impulse to rip the shift up and over her head was a strong one. Clenching his teeth, Garik repeated, “Yeah?”
Her head swiveled on his chest before lifting. Dazed brown eyes met his stare, the drowsy look tempting him to lean forward and kiss her slightly parted lips. He edged forward, prepared to follow through on the thought then stopped at her startled inhale. Their mouths were in touching distance. He felt her moist breath on his lips.
Against his will, visions of her naked and on her knees as she serviced him with that mouth slammed to the forefront of his mind. His cock strained against the opening of his pants, fully onboard with the idea.
“Garik?” Her voice still held a sleepy note.
Confusion lit her gaze, her brows forming a small crease in the middle. Shifting about, she placed her hands on his chest, arched up a bit and drew her knees forward until she straddled him. Right in touching distance of his prominent arousal. The move had the added benefit of thrusting her breasts directly in his face, the outline of her nipples daring him to suck them.
It would be all too easy to do that and more. Garik groaned and mentally chastised himself for his thoughts. Before he could predict her actions, Saedra reached up and brushed back the hair falling over his brow. Garik caught her wrist. Her soft gasp set his cock ablaze.
“Sorry. I...I just—” She tugged against his hold, her lips curling in an adorable snarl when he didn’t release her.
Dim lighting from an artificial generator on the moon base depicting morning filtered through the single window and allowed him to see her face burn fiery red in a flush that dipped down the slope of her throat. A throat he’d like to bite and kiss and suckle and many other things that would dirty up her innocent act.
If it was indeed an act. So far, her every action and reaction was that of a naive woman with a propensity for touch. It would take Garik a while to get used to that. The touch part that was, if he let himself believe she wasn’t a liar and this wasn’t a trap of some sort.
Her gaze dipped to his mouth and the thumping pulse at her throat beat a rapid tattoo. Tension increased as they stared into one another’s eyes. It wouldn’t take much to roll them both over, slide his hands beneath the bottom of her shift and push his pants down. From there, it would be nothing to sink between her parted thighs and guide his cock into her heated folds.
Even as the thought flickered through his mind, Garik knew he couldn’t act on it yet. He needed to focus on survival and whether or not he could trust her.
Could he trust her? The answer wasn’t clear. She’d assisted him in escaping Maurin’s dungeon, but there was more she wasn’t telling him and Garik was determined to find out.
Making his decision, Garik released her wrist and grabbed her at the waist. He jackknifed into a sitting position then swung her off of him and to the side. Another twist in the opposite direction and he surged to his feet at the side of the bed.
Saedra leaped to her feet on the opposite side, the hem of the white shift fluttering around her thighs. Unexpected dizziness from being upright sent him stumbling, but he righted himself before he fell.
Saedra reacted instantly and rounded the bottom of the mattress, one arm extended. “Are you alright?”
She looked as stunned as he felt from their desire for each other. Another moment and he would have taken what she wasn’t yet offering. He shook his head and was pleased that he remained steady on his feet. The few hours of rest had improved his condition and jumpstarted his own healing process. “I’m fine.”
“You should be careful. I don’t have anything to treat your injuries here.”
Too sweet. His chest ached from the overload of these new emotions she was causing. She was sincere and meant it. As she nibbled on her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest, Garik fought his need to have her in his arms again. His gaze went around the one room structure seeking any source for communication. There wasn’t even signs of a portable comm unit.
Last night she’d mentioned a shuttle but it wouldn’t arrive for three days. Or two if they counted yesterday. That meant they could be gone by tomorrow. Garik considered his own resources. If he had access to a communicator, he could have them leaving within a few hours if not sooner.
Shoving a hand through his matted hair, then grimacing at its tangled state, he tried to focus on a plan while his cock did sporadic twitches in his pants. “You mentioned two passes on a traveling tour shuttle that will come by here?”
The moment he started to speak, her shoulders inched upward then dropped as if she consciously told herself to relax. She tipped her head to the side and nodded. “Yes. But it won’t arrive until tomorrow. It was the only vessel I could find that met my needs and was affordable enough to get me off Quantoon. For all the shuttles, the passenger lists gets reported to Maurin if a boarder is deemed suspicious.”
She held her hands out to her sides. “I don’t have any luggage or traveling necessities, so I’ll definitely look suspicious. Then there’s you.”
Then there was him, wearing his torn shirt and blood stained clothing. As if reading his mind, she scurried to the small nook in the corner. Garik tensed, his hands flexing while he ran through what she could find or use against him.
“I have these, though.” She held up a bundle of clothing from a satchel.
Garik drew closer and accepted what turned out to be a pair of men’s pants and a shirt. He eyed the clothing then her as suspicion reared its ugly head again.
Saedra folded her arms about her waist once more and did the side to side rock. “So, I was thinking, if I got you this far, you might need those.”
How long had she been planning this? Was she truly involved with Maurin in his abduction? Why else would she have clothes? “Was there someone else you were going to escape with?”
And didn’t that give him a surge of jealousy.
A quick shake of her dark head. “No, I added those to my request once I realized you were the prisoner two weeks ago.”
Two weeks of intense well thought out planning. Garik’s fingers clenched on the clothing but she rushed to say, “At first I was going to try and do this on my own. I didn’t know how that was going to work but I...I couldn’t stay. Then I heard your name whispered by the guards. Suddenly I had hope. Believed that I could make a success of my escape.”
She dropped her arms, her brown eyes pleading as she closed the distance between them. Her fingers tentatively drifted over his right forearm and Garik forced himself not to move away from the caress. It was gentle, like the woman herself. Soft strokes glided over his battered bruises.
That didn’t stop him from chiding her. “Your actions were foolish, sesi. For now, I accept you are being partially honest. Your motivation is still in question and there’s something you’re not telling me. I’ll figure it out.”
She flushed and her grip tightened around him. Garik winced as her nails pierced his skin to dig into a tender bruise.
“Sorry, sorry.” She yanked her hand back and stared at his arm as if she could heal the half-moon crescents.
“I’m going to clean off more of the grime and put these on.” He raised the clothes in the air, drawing her attention. “Not much room in here so turn the other way if you don’t want to see something.”
He deliberately added a taunting tone to his words and had the pleasure of watching her flush spread up her neck to her face. To his surprise, she didn’t turn away. Garik shrugged. He wasn’t shy about his body and definitely wouldn’t be shy about it in front of his bond mate. The intimate position he’d found himself in while they shared the bed was only another sign the bond was doing what it was supposed to do. He just needed to get used to this unusual feeling of caring about someone.
Flicking open the groin flap of his pants was met with silence. Jerking them down his legs, received a shocked gasp. When Garik straightened, Saedra let out a squeak. He looked up after stepping out of them and her face was bright red, her eyes rounded in shock.
“You good?” he asked, though amusement quivered in his chest.
She nodded.
Since he didn’t wear anything beneath his pants, his cock stretched out, tapping his thigh when he moved. Her gaze lowered and her stare felt like a caress. Biting off a moan, Garik crossed the room to the water unit resting on the counter that doubled as a table. When he turned it on, a clear trickle came out of the curved silver faucet, hitting the recycling tray at the bottom before draining. After a few moments, the trickle became a steady stream of lukewarm water.
Garik glanced around for a cloth to use but ended up grabbing his torn shirt to dampen. He swiped the stains and blood from his face and chest then cleaned off the rest of his body as best he could. It would have been nice to have a full soak in a hydronic bathing pool but this was better than nothing and at least he no longer smelled.
Through it all, Saedra had made no sounds but the skin on Garik’s back burned from the intensity of her stare and his cock only got harder and harder. Injuries no longer paining him meant he had no means of ignoring his arousal any more. He turned to face Saedra and was thrown by the passionate blaze in her eyes.
A stronger man would have resisted. Garik couldn’t. He crossed the room to stand in front of her. Saedra tipped her head back to keep her eyes on his face. The action also gave him a clear look at the jagged scar slashing over the right side of her face. He’d glimpsed it the night before but in the morning light, it was an angry vivid white against the canvas of a pale cheek.
Garik traced the scar with a single finger, ignoring her flinch. “What happened?”
“Maurin,” she whispered.
Anger rose like a wave threatening to pull him under. His thumb rubbed over the healed scar and he tried not to think about the pain she must have felt. Saedra had proved she was stronger than his original thought when he’d studied her frail slender appearance in his cell.
No woman who’d planned her escape with such meticulous care would ever be considered weak in his eyes. She was nothing like the women Garik sought to assuage his sexual needs. Because he had a problem with trust, those women were few and far between.
Now there was Saedra. Saedra who bravely met his gaze. Saedra who had risked her life to enter the cell of an assassin and free him.
“I shouldn’t do this,” he said.
Her lids fluttered. “Do what?”
Ah fuck, the innocence drew him too. It was like waving a red flag in front of a charging animal. Garik lowered his head and took her mouth with a hungry snarl. He swallowed her surprised gasp, hands cupping her face as he devoured her lips.