She glared at him. “Maybe, when I figure out who it is, I’ll tell him,” she snapped.
He caught her arm, dragging her to a stop. She balled her hand into a fist, resisting the urge to clock him with an effort.
“Go ahead if you think it’ll make you feel any better.”
There was sympathy in his eyes. It was almost her undoing. She looked away, blinking against the sting in her eyes, but she put up only the barest resistance when he pulled her into his embrace. Wrapping one arm around her, he stroked her head and back soothingly. It felt so good, just to be held and comforted that Amaryllis had to struggle even harder to keep from bursting into tears. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby. Would you like for me to kill those nasty old cyborgs for you? Because I’d be delighted to if it’ll make you feel better.”
“Don’t joke, not now,” Amaryllis said in a voice muffled against his chest.
“Who’s joking?”
She pulled away and looked up at him. One glimpse of the glitter in his eyes was enough to assure her he definitely wasn’t just saying it to distract her. “No!” she said, horrified and struggling abruptly to push him away.
His arms tightened. “Shhh. I didn’t say it to distress you.”
She relaxed fractionally, allowing him to draw her close once more.
He was silent for several moments, stroking her as he had before. “Would it distress you if I only beat themnearlyto death?” he asked pensively.
The question almost startled a chuckle out of her. “Yes,” she said sternly.
He sighed. “I was afraid of that.” After a while, he pulled away from her and caught her chin, tipping it up so that he could look at her face. “If you aren’t harboring ill will toward the cyborg twins, then why have you sent them packing?”
Amaryllis’ heart clenched.Hadshe run them off? Forever? She berated herself the moment the thoughts popped into her mind. She’d meant to, after all. It was a good thing if she had, and for the best, for everyone. It was patently obvious that neither of them would settle for what she felt comfortable giving—they wanted total commitment.
It would have been nice taking either or both as lovers. They stirred her senses to heights she’d never before even imagined she could scale and the affection they seemed to feel for her would have been a great comfort in the trials she faced.
God only knew why they were so determined to make her their mate. They should have been appalled at her genetics. If he’d studied her background as he claimed, Reese certainly knew, and Dante ought to. He’d done the med scan on her, after all. Surely, if they were acting on basic instincts alone as Cain said, they couldsenseshe wasn’t a good choice for mating and, if they couldn’t, then they certainly had the grasp of logic needed to calculate such a risk.
She had no intention of discussing the reasons behind her behavior with Cain, however. Let him think whatever he liked. It probably wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the truth. His question made her curious, though. Reese had said that Cain was staying in the barracks, and he’d certainly known which rooms were hers.
“Is that why you didn’t come before? You were waiting to see if I meant to accept Dante or Reese?”
He smiled wryly. “Actually, I grew weary of waiting for you to come to me. Since it didn’t appear that you were going to, I decided I’d have to make the first move.”
Amaryllis’ jaw went slack with surprise. Chuckling, he lowered his head and kissed her solidly on the mouth. As brief as the kiss was, it penetrated her surprise and stirred warmth to life.
She lifted her lids with an effort when he withdrew, giving him a reproachful look.
“More?”
She gave him a look and pulled away.
“I’m devastated.”
“You sound devastated.”
He chuckled. “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t answer a single question.”
“You are so observant.”
“Ouch. Then maybe you’ll tell me why we’re wandering around in the woods?”
Amaryllis had spotted a small stream just a little ahead of them and wondered, if she followed it, if it would eventually lead her to the natives. They were bound to live near a source of water, weren’t they? She threw him a look. “I’m … just exploring.”
“Ah. I noticed you explored the landing field yesterday.”
Amaryllis had been on the point of moving closer to the stream for a better look. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. “You saw me?”
