Her eyes widened. “Which did you do?”
Lyk didn’t look away, although he wanted to. “I got my hands dirty. At first, I served under my brother Zelup in the military. I was a crack pilot, able to get a ship out of a tight spot without a nick on her.
“In those times, my father, the king, had gone to great pains to keep our existence a secret. He’d managed to hide the planet through the very clever use of cloaking field, the first of its kind. Our military was strictly defensive, making sure that no one was able to penetrate the field and expose the existence ofour people. But sitting around waiting for something to happen wasn’t something I was very good at.
“One day, I was piloting a small craft for my brother, Calabez, on a secret mission. Things went sideways, and I found out that Cal was working with my father and a network of spies to keep Vartik completely off the radar. He would eradicate any mention of our planet or people, and he’d go to great lengths to do it.”
“Through the course of the mission, we stumbled upon a ship full of heavy weapons belonging to black-market smugglers who also dealt in Vartik blood. Cal and I worked together to take them out, and I suggested we relieve them of their weapons before we destroy the evidence, their ship, and the smugglers themselves.”
He watched for any hint of a negative reaction, but she just continued to look at him, listening without judgment. His need for her grew in that instant.
“After that mission, I realized we could strike back, hit back at the ones who dealt in our misery and harvested us for our blood. But when I suggested as much to my brothers, I was quickly shut down. Cal told me that our father insisted on absolute denial of our existence. Which meant no warnings to those who would do us harm.”
Ally’s brows furrowed. “How could you expect to scare people off if you had to pretend like you didn’t exist, even though they already knew you did?”
“My point exactly. I got angry, thought I knew better, so I set up an operation on my own. I put together a trusted crew and went out raiding. Any smuggler, any black-market scum that dealt in Vartik blood, they were put on my hit list.”
His smile was self-effacing. “It didn’t take long for my family to catch wind. They were particularly angry at my calling card, a V made from the blood they’d harvested. I’d leave it on the wallsof every ship we raided, and sometimes on the bodies of the men we killed.”
Lyk remembered the day his father had berated him in front of his older brothers and his mother. His face had been so red, Lyk worried that he might have a heart attack. The king had branded him a terrorist, sowing fear and raising their profile just as the rest of them were working so hard to eradicate it.
“Long story short, my family was disappointed in my actions. I wasn’t doing my duty I was working against them. I was to stop my raids and assume a position at the academy, teaching new pilots. No more active duty missions.”
The thought of that even now made him feel like a caged animal. Lyk couldn’t imagine the long centuries of simulations, of teaching the same maneuvers over and over to younger and less qualified men who would go on to fly serious missions while he was trapped on the ground. He’d never have survived.
Not to mention that he thought he was providing a valuable service to his people. He didn’t believe in hiding in the shadows. He believed in bringing the fight to those who thought they could exploit and destroy the Vartik. It was time to prove how wrong they were.
Except it wasn’t.
“What did you do?”
“I left. I stole this cruiser, and I took it to the other side of the galaxy. My brothers backed my father, telling me I was making a mistake, warning me against exposing our planet. Cal told me that he didn’t want to have to track me down and slit my throat in the middle of the night.”
Ally gasped, and Lyk shrugged a shoulder. “Cal was always a bit of a jokester, but I don’t think he was kidding when he said that.”
“So you left, but you continued your raiding?”
“Yes. I kept on targeting blood smugglers when I could find them, which was a lot harder without Cal’s intel. But instead of painting a V, I altered the symbol slightly.”
“The raven.”
Lyk nodded. “In flight, they’re pretty similar. I slowly assembled a crew, and we widened our purview to any criminal outfit that looked ripe for the plucking.”
“And your family? They’ve not reached out to you since?”
Lyk shook his head. “My father was a hard man for many years. My sister says he’s softened now, since he’s passed the crown on to my oldest brother, Marek. But he’d put a moratorium on mentioning my name for years after I left, and I suppose they just… forgot about me by now.”
“How could they forget about you?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper, reminding him of a billycat’s purr. “You’re certainly not anyone I could forget.”
Her arms encircled his neck, and she pressed herself closer to him. Lyk stiffened, again fighting his arousal. She’d had a long day—hell, a long few months—and her emotional state wasn’t exactly stable. But when she brought her face within inches of his own, he found he couldn’t stop looking at her lips.
“Maybe all they’re waiting for is for you to make the first move.”
Lyk laughed softly. “Sure. The royal family would love to welcome home their prodigal son, the pirate.”
“You’ll never know until you make that first move.” Her voice was low, her lips curled up at the edges. Suddenly, Lyk realized that her words weren’t referring to his contacting his family but to him making the first move with her now.
He wasn’t able to hold back his arousal at the thought. His cock shot rock hard and his breathing grew heavy.
