Her cheeks turned a bright pink, her mouth open as though she had a retort on her lips, but instead, she shifted. Whether intentional or not, her shift was enough to feel just how much he’d been fighting the Craving.
Her eyes widened.
The footsteps got closer.
The Charro was almost on them.
“Blaster or blade?” he whispered.
“Blaster.”
He brought his arm to hers, laid the blaster next to her hand, and touched her fingers.
For a second, her fingers laced with his, a kind of handshake agreement.
Their gazes met.
"I trust you," she whispered.
He nodded.
The Charro, Qaro, found them. "Well, well, then. What do we have here?"
Kian pushed off the ground. Blade at the ready.
"Why are you here?" He held the weapon up, the metal shining in the sun.
Qaro's gaze darted to the blade and smiled. "Just livin' the life, like any humanoid, I suppose." His own weapon, a blaster, aimed back at Kian.
"You should not be here."
"The fact is, cyborg, we are here. An' we're gonna take what we want." He glanced toward the Ambassador, who pushed herself off the ground, brushing off the ornate clothing as she did.
"Like that pretty little Terran." Qaro gestured to the Ambassador.
And from another angle, the other Charro appeared and yanked her the rest of the way to her feet.
"Let go of me, you swine," she yelled at the Charro and jerked out of his grip.
"Oh, a feisty one," Revo said. "She'll make a good price."
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," the Ambassador said.
Kian gripped his blade tighter. A fury unlike anything he'd ever known flew through him. Fury. Frustration. Anger. Protective instinct. It all meshed into one. Emotion boiled under his skin, ready to burst
Qaro took a step toward her. "I think I do, Lady in Waiting, Freya. The Imperial Princess'sassignedfriend." He said the last with a snarl on his face.
Freya--an interesting name--blinked.
She raised her chin and glared at the Charro. "As if either of you would be able to do anything to me. Yes, I am the Lady in Waiting of the future Empress of the Terran Empire. You'd best do as I say, or you'll feel the full power of the Terran Empire descending down on your little hovel of a world as we take it and make it a penal colony."
Kian scanned her, not seeing the blaster he'd given her. Underneath the voluminous robes she wore, the female was fairly thin. The scan also showed that her heart raced and epinephrine flooded her system. The nanite infusion he had given her connected to him through Master System, informing him that she was operating at approximately seventy-eight percent.
She still needed rest.
He needed to get her to a secure location to heal.
Not stand here and argue with Charros.
