“No!”Xokat said in alarm, but it was too late. I’d sent it already.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ve already deleted it, and only he has the picture.”
“He’s going to kill me,” he said.
“He won’t,” I promised.
“Yes, he will,” Xokat said. “He’ll feed me to the cekets alive.”
“Ew. Does he do that?”
Xokat blanched. “Not often.”
Um. Okay.That was something to discuss with him before he took me swimming. For the moment, I was going to assume that any living tributes to the loyal cekets deserved what they got. Yiri might be a baddie, but he wasn’t evil.
“I’m so dead,” Xokat was still mumbling thirty minutes later, his complexion pale in the late afternoon light.
“Has he answered?” I asked.
“No, ma’am.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, tapping my high-heeled foot.
Side note: Esti’s heels werewaymore comfy than any heels I’d ever worn on Earth.
I was pissed that I’d put all this work into making myself the pinup girl of his fantasies, and he couldn’t even be bothered to respond, let alone come home and ravish me. If I wanted to be sexually frustrated and disappointed, I could have stayed on Earth.
“Kat, how expensive is it to get a divorce here?”
“For females? It’s free.”
“Good to know.”
CHAPTER 27
YIRI
I was with Evik,overseeing his negotiations with a sellah supplier when I got Xokat’s message.
“Handle this,” I said to Evik, interrupting the supplier’s complaint about our proposed price. “I have to take care of something.”
I was back in the cruiser before he could answer. It was good for him to deal with this shit on his own, anyway. Zacal wouldn’t like it, but I was a mated male now. I had more responsibilities. And Evik, soon to be mated as well,neededmore responsibilities to keep him in line.
The trip back to Covara was only about forty minutes, but it felt like a year. I resisted the urge to look at the image again through sheer force of will. If I did, I might order a hit on Xokat and miss out on the pleasure of killing him myself. What the fuck was he thinking making an image like that of another man’sIbarchosen mate?Mymate.Dumbass little shit.
I spotted Cora still on the terrace as I flew over the estate and landed on the beach. Still wearing that little dress and those sexy shoes that messed with my head. Was she doing it on purpose? She had to be. She was poking around in my search files, and then this? Wicked, ruthless female. It was one thing to withholdher invitation from me. That was her right. But to bait me this way? Rivals tried to double-cross me, made attempts on my life, and tried to sabotage my business plans. It was part of life as an Ahlon. But no one had evergoadedme this way. Outrighttauntedme with something I wanted and refused to deliver. It shouldn’t have made my blood hum with excitement, but here we were. MyAneahwas a devious, dangerous little creature, and if she wasn’t careful, she might get someone killed today. I’d never loved her more.
Xokat was standing at attention when I stormed onto the terrace.
“Delete that from your frame!” I barked. “You’re fucking fired.”
“No, he isn’t,” Cora said, leaning a hip against the stone railing. “I asked him to take it, the wind caught my skirt, and thenIsent it to you and immediately deleted it.”
I jerked my head at the house. “Go.” Xokat bolted, looking ill as he fled. I’d deal with him later. But first,my wife.
I charged forward, unstoppable. We had some things to get straight between us, and I was done waiting. She wanted me. I could smell her desire every time I was near her. I didn’t know what she was holding out for, but it endednow.
“Turn around,” I growled.
