Page 79

He smiled at her. “I didn’t expect to find you here when I awoke. I’m assuming, since we’re both tucked up in bed, the station hasn’t exploded.”

She grinned back at him. “Problem solved. Once we were on the Banti ship, I had full access to their code. It took me a few minutes to disable it, but thanks to the trojan we’d inserted, it didn’t put up much of a fight.”

“I should have helped you.”

Heather placed a finger against his lips. “It’s fine. The Banti drugged you. I found a discarded injection pen in the flight deck. The way you zonked out on me, I figured it wasn’t simply because you were tired.” Her gaze flicked up to his bandaged head, and concern filled her eyes.

“What’s wrong with me?” Loka wanted to explore his head, but equally, he wanted to keep his hand pressed against Heather’s chest, nestling on top of the curve of her breasts.

“You don’t remember?”

“Whatever they gave me made it hard to focus. I remember laser fire and you screaming.”

“Anything after that?”

He carefully shook his head. “Nothing. Wait. You helped me up. I was watching you deal with the code.”

“That’s right. By the time I turned back to you, you were out of it. I reactivated a cyborg and instructed it to carry you here. We made a stop at the medical bay.” Heather’s gaze dropped. “How do you feel now?”

“Tired and sore. Did I get shot with a laser?”

“Yes. On your leg. That’s healing nicely. One of the Banti shot you.”

Loka growled. “Typical Banti. They like to hit you when you’re down.”

Heather licked her lips. “Do you remember the plasma blade?”

Loka closed his eyes. “One of them had a traditional Banti ritual blade. They wanted to cut off an arm.”

Heather nodded. “I heard them saying they were going to eat it.”

“Then you came in and changed their minds.” His other hand moved around and cupped her cheek. “This time, you saved me.”

“Well, I saved most of you.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

Loka shifted his position and pulled himself into a sitting position. “I feel whole.”

“And you are to me. You’re as handsome as ever.”

“I’m pleased you think so.” Unease stirred in Loka’s stomach. Heather was hiding something.

She eased his hand from her chest and placed it on the bandage on his head. “Don’t freak out.”

“I never freak out.” Loka patted the bandage. His hand stilled as he felt a hard lump where his right horn should be. Coldness ran through him. He swallowed, not able to believe what he had felt. “They took my horn?”

“They sliced it clean off before I could stop them.”

Loka’s chest felt tight. Picar prided themselves on their horns. A strong pair of horns signaled virility and strength, not just as a fighter, but in whatever area of life you exceled in. He would not be taken seriously with a missing horn.

He forced himself to look at Heather. She would not take him seriously either. No woman wanted a damaged male. She would have to reject him. It was the right thing to do.

As his gaze met hers, he saw tears in Heather’s eyes. Loka was right. She was here because she felt sorry for him. She pitied him now he was missing a vital part of himself.

His hand remained on the stump of his horn. They had sheared it off at the base. It would never grow back. He was a freak.

“The doctor said it is safe to take off the bandage,” Heather said. “I didn’t want to wake you by doing it myself. We can do it now, if you’d like?”

Without saying a word, Loka flipped out a claw and shredded through the bandage. He remained still as Heather eased it from his head. Remaining focused on her expression, he tried to gauge how disgusted she was by his missing horn.