It sounded like a dream. It sounded likefreedom.
“You would. Your armor would be specifically tailored to you,” he explained as they trailed to a stop in the part of the grove where willow trees had been planted long before her birth. “You get your armor in layers, earning each piece through your triumphs in combat and hunts. The loresmith creates them as you feed him your story. The heart of that story is embedded into the metal—making no two suits alike. Usually, a Xaal earns armor that covers their arms or shins first.” He ran gloved fingertips over the fabric of her cloak. “When all appendages are covered, they earn the back and breastplates.” He moved his hand to her shoulder and looped across her collarbone to the other side.
Catching an errant curl, he followed it up, gently pushing her hood back.
“Ved,” she muttered, cheeks heating. Her lips felt dry, and her tongue darted out to wet them. Intuitively, she knew his eyes were drawn to the movement like a moth to a flame.
He moved slowly and carefully, as if he were afraid of hurting her or scaring her off. He ran a hand over her hair, his fingers trailing down until his palm covered the nape of her neck. “You earn your helmet last. And that is when the clan decides if you are worthy to remain.”
Isobel blinked,her mouth working silently for a moment. “I see,” she rasped at last.
“Except,” he rumbled, “I would not like to see such a face covered.” He moved the heat of his hand from the back of her neck to gently close around her throat.
She gasped which only invited him to sear a path across her bottom lip with his large thumb.
“Ved.” But this time, it was a plea. Whether for him to stop or continue, she wasn’t certain.
She swallowed hard, but then he was parting her lips. The tip of his gloved thumb dipped just inside her mouth before he ran it over her top lip, coating it in her own saliva. The taste of leather and metal lingered on her tongue.
A fissure of heat she wasn’t acquainted with cracked open inside her. She searched his visor, hoping to glimpse what lay beneath it. But only a cool, depthless black reflecting her visage was there. She looked wild. On the verge of being undone.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “A proper woman shouldn’t. What I mean to say is,weshouldn’t—”
She had that feeling again, like she’d been thrust into a book. She wanted to stay in the moment forever—suspend all else and let him touch her beneath the moon and the gently bending boughs of the willows.
Propriety be damned.
It would be so easy to fall into the moment. But she’d learned long ago that such passion was nothing like in novels. At least, not for her.Especiallynot for her.
“I enjoyed this lavender,” he said, stepping away and taking all his heat with him.
“I’m very glad,” she said breathlessly. Chaos stirred within her as he escorted her back home. And when she climbed into her bed, she could still feel his hand wrapped around her throat, his thumb pressed to her tongue.
Chapter 11
Ved
Ved had sensed them while walking with Isobel Nott.
They were the reason he’d insisted on escorting her all the way to the door and watched as her heat signature travelled to her sleeping quarters.
The forest was deathly quiet as he returned to his ship, betraying their presence. No matter how long he’d gone without being in the presence of their kind, their scent and impression were unmistakable. The ruthless, dead-inside bounty hunters and assassins of the galaxy.
Blood Vultures.
He’d been expecting the droid assessors that were often sent for such situations. Apparently, the Authority had decided to handle this particular problem with a heavier hand from the onset.
Though it didn’t happen often, it wasn’t unheard of for Blood Vultures to be tasked with bringing in a Xaal. It was usually for the offense of hunting somewhere or something they shouldn’t. Or an entire clan of Xaal for some atrocity the Authority felt they’d committed.
And now they were on his ship.
Ved took three steps inside his shadowdrifter. The Blood Vultures didn’t show up on any readings—meaning they were cloaked, and cloaked well. But he didn’t need to see them to know they were in the same space as him.
He waited.
When the dry, rasping voice finally came, it was but steps from him. “Late night excursions on sector 011 planets—an interesting pastime for a Xaal. You wouldn’t be out hunting, would you?”
Ved tilted his head. However, he let his arms hang at his sides to show he had no intention of pulling a weapon. At least not to start with. Whatever they were there for, he was assuming it wasn’t to detain him. Not yet, anyway. If that were the case, they’d have skipped the pleasantries. Besides, though a fight with two Blood Vultures—they rarely worked alone—would be an easy way to release some tension, they were like the Nuqal. Kill one and more would take their place.
