Not just that, but he was covered in blood, making it obvious he had been up to no good. Hadn’t he said he was here to kill someone? And the bastard hadn’t even bothered to assure me he didn’t mean me. If it weren’t for the mate bond I was certain existed, I would have believed right then that he did plan to murder me—in my sleep, maybe in this chair right here—just because that was his idea of fun. For a brief moment, I doubted the mate bond was even real, because what cruel fate would tie me to a man like that?
Then something flickered in his bright silver gaze, and I wanted to believe, very desperately, that it was concern.
Chapter 11
The Sineater
That green gaze was my undoing. I swear, it was like she had a line directly to my soul, into the cold and black heart of me. Perhaps it was the near-paralyzing fear of knowing she was in danger while I had been on the other side of the island, doing selfish, deadly, maybe even evil things. That jewel-bright look she gave me—so full of hope and soft, sweet things—it broke me.
I reached out, letting go of the controls—both literally and figuratively. She was in my lap, her flight harness undone in the blink of an eye. Hugging her tightly, not just my body curled around her, but what I wore of Val shifted to cradle her too. “You could have died,” I heard myself say, my tone so bleak I barely recognized it. “I was almost too late,” I added, because that was a truth I could barely wrap my head around.
After I’d treated her like garbage, soiling what should have been something beautiful, I’d also abandoned her on a planet known for killing every single visitor. I didn’t think I could ever forgive myself for that. If not for Val’s remnants around her wrists and neck, neither of us would have known she was in danger. I owed my symbiont; I owed her everything.
“Ah, Sin,” Frederique said, “I’m okay. You left me armed, stocked with food. How could you have known one of those things would crawl out of the sea to attack?” One of those things? No, it should have been impossible. At least, that was the theory about these creatures, and the stronghold on top of the cliffs had proven it true. I’d seen the monstrosity at the shuttle hatchfar better than she had. It was the same one from the ship, theLancing Light. I knew I should have killed it before we left. Well, at least it couldn’t harm my mate now that we’d left the planet—or were about to.
Hugging her tightly, I savored the feeling of soft thighs, the curve of her shoulders, and the press of her curls to my chin. I laid my hands back on the shuttle’s yoke and tried to concentrate on flying. Val was keeping the shuttle’s integrity maintained, and she would be able to continue doing so for a long time, but I knew she did not like it. At least we did not have to go far. The shuttle was nosing its way out of the atmosphere, its sensor readings all nominal.
TheVarakartoomread loud and clear, exactly where she was supposed to be: behind a moon and a more distant planet. Not quite hidden, but also not easily noticed from the planet. They were hailing me, but I wasn’t quite ready to burst the bubble of quiet between Frederique and me. My heart still ached, my body still thrummed with the rage of battle unfulfilled. I’d cut that thing—burst through it like it was nothing—but my focus had been on her and little else. To get her to safety, off this dangerous, deadly planet. Back to theVarakartoom, so I could lock her up in my quarters and never let her out.
“It wasn’t just one of those; it was the same one,” I said to her. “He was after you.” My skin prickled as I flicked my head to gaze at the smelly pile ofthingsthat had slid to the back of the shuttle. It hadn’t been attacking; it had been courting, luring. It had wanted her alive. I wished I’d seen that sooner. I really wished I’d killed it, but leaving it stranded on that world would be punishment enough.
“Davidson? You think it was him?” she asked, her head tilting up, curls brushing my flesh in a tantalizing fashion. She was scared, but not in a debilitating manner, and sweetly hopeful at the same time—like she believed this, hugging her, meant I was going to keep her. Ah, damn it, I suppose it did. She’d fed Val in ways my symbiont hadn’t been able to feed, ever. Even when Asmoded and the Asrai twins were at their deepest lows. I could not explain that, but… perhaps that meant I had a better future to offer than I believed I did yesterday.
“I know it was him,” I vowed. “But he’s gone now. He’ll never get you while stranded on that planet—exactly what the traitor deserves.” Maybe I’d take Solear and Aramon back down there to hunt him down and finish the job. That would make me feel good—to kill that bastard. But I was not leaving Frederique unless I was absolutely certain she was safe aboard theVarakartoom, surrounded by dozens of mercenaries armed to the teeth.
“Traitor? What makes you call him that?” Frederique asked, her eyes going from my face to the console, where the flashing light indicated theVarakartoomwas still trying to hail us. She shifted, not to get away, but to press a little closer against my chest, fingers sliding across my arm in a caress she seemed completely unaware of. No, I’d done her a great injustice by accusing her of testing my prowess before sealing the deal. That was not her nature, even if it might be exactly what a Talacan female would have done. But what did I really know? I’d been gone from the Alpha Quadrant for centuries.
“Because he was the one who sabotaged the stasis pods and brought the ship down. According to the ship’s logs, at least,” I said. Then I reached out to accept theVarakartoom’s callat last, listening to Frederique’s shocked gasp just as the connection engaged.“Returning home,” I said simply, “Better set up containment in the hangar bay as a precaution. We have a contaminant aboard.”
I heard an affirmative from Mitnick, but I didn’t stick around for small talk, ending the call before I found myself forced to explain about my human stray. Of course, she had managed to take my words in the worst way, again. I seemed to be very good at that. “Contaminant? I hope you’re not talking about me, are you?” I laughed, surprised she would even think that, and, flicking my chin over my shoulder, I drew her attention to the pile of stinking muck at the back of the ship. Her mouth formed a very tempting little circle then—one I covered with my own.
Her kiss tasted exactly as I remembered, sweet, tempting, and addictive. I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to stamp my claim on her so deeply she’d never shake it. She needed to sense—with every lick, stroke, and taste—that I was going to be the only male she’d ever have. Talacan customs be damned, human courtship rituals irrelevant. She was mine now, and that was that.
Eventually, I had to raise my head enough to steer the small shuttle into theVarakartoom’s waiting hangar bay. It was a smooth, uneventful kind of landing, even with the entire hatch to the shuttle missing. Val was good like that, keeping the little ship together. It wasn’t going to please Ysa, having defiled her ship this way, but she’d get over it eventually.
“Now what?” Frederique asked as the ship touched down. She had her eyes on the viewscreen, staring at the high-tech interior of the hangar bay and the many different vehicles parked inside it. “What is this place? You never did tell me much about whoyou are or why you were on that planet.” She was right, and I smirked as I contemplated that for a moment. Humans were silly things, trusting easily when they had no reason to. Except she had, hadn’t she? She’d sensed the mate bond before I’d been willing to admit it was real. Not so silly after all.
I rose to my feet, carefully lifting her and placing her at my side. Val clung in strands of silver around her neck and wrists again, and I was rather starting to like the sight of it. Like it was a claim too, a way to mark her as mine. I didn’t doubt that the males on the ship would think the same thing, and no one would dare to touch what was mine. My mouth curled into a satisfied smirk at the knowledge.
“You are aboard theVarakartoomnow. A mercenary vessel that houses the finest crew this side of the galaxy,” I said by way of explanation. I pressed my hand to the small of her back and guided her toward the hatch, just as Val unfurled herself from her protective, sealing barrier and changed into a Gracka. Beyond her pointed ears and sleek haunches, the hangar bay beckoned. But, as I’d suggested to Mitnick, a containment field had been set up at the entrance to the ship, and Ysa and Dravion were waiting there with scanners in hand.
“Since when are you shy, Sin?” Jaxin taunted from beyond the safety of the barrier. He stood braced between the tiny Ulinial engineer and the dangerous doctor. As usual, he cradled the portable laser cannon he called Bex in his arms, his sharkish face pulled into a wild grin. For a Rummicaron, the male had far too many feelings, and none of them were useful.
“Shy?” I drawled, not in the least offended. Would Frederique object if I tossed her over my shoulder? Probably, which meantmy hands itched to do it anyway. Then I appraised the dark, stinking mess on the floor near the hatch. During flight, it had slid farther to the back of the ship, and it had left a shiny, oil-slick-like stain along the metal floor. It seemed to me that the metal was beginning to grow porous where the foreign contaminant touched, but that was for Ysa to sort out.
“We’re not shy, are we?” I asked Frederique, certain she’d rise to the bait and say something sharp with that clever mouth of hers. Her eyes flashed as if I’d done the poking, but rather than speak, she stepped toward the hatch. Her toes nearly touched the oil-slick stain, and I yanked her back into my arms. It was bizarre, but in that split second, my heart rate soared. Danger—any kind of danger—I simply could not allow it to come near her.
“There’s a mess on the shuttle floor,” I said over her startled yelp. “Something from that nasty planet’s ocean. Better make sure it’s dead, Ysa.” Then I stepped over it, Frederique in my arms, Val at my side, and headed for the decontamination unit—a small, airlock-like room that would cleanse us of all known contaminants. I ignored the surprised gasps and pointed questions from the waiting crew, twisted my shoulder in the way when Frederique raised a hand to wave, and then it was just me, her, and Val, the chamber humming as it started its cleansing sequence.
“That was rude, Sin. You could have introduced us, explained how you found me. They have no clue at all, do they? You must be the least communicative man in the whole Quadrant,” Frederique said sharply, but her eyes held something warm, something that heated when I shrugged and leaned in to kiss her.
“Does it matter? They’ll find out,” I said against her mouth. “I have more important things to take care of first.” Like kissing her, claiming her, and taking her to my chambers, where she’d be safe and could no longer get into any trouble. Those things had priority. Not placating the crew, not gossiping about my little stray, and certainly not satisfying curious eyes.
Chapter 12
Frederique
Maybe I was letting him get away with far too much. I should stand up to him, tell him he couldn’t be rude and then kiss me in the next breath. The thing was, there was no better feeling than being the center of his universe, and the way he was looking at me? That felt so good. Like I mattered more than his next breath, like he couldn’t let go of me because he feared I’d vanish. He looked like he thought I might still be in danger, and it was his sole duty to protect me. It was a very heady experience.
