Hero's End (The Black Wing Chronicles Book 2)

by JC Cassels

  Still favoring her left arm, she dug through the drawers for appropriate undergarments, then moved to the large wardrobe. Pulling the doors open, she shuffled through the garments. She pulled out one after another, frowning to herself before shoving each back in.

  Unable to resist her standing there unselfconsciously nude, he moved to her side and leaned over her, reaching in and pulling out a filmy white dress he’d purchased for her that afternoon on their excursion to the shops. He held it up for her.

  “I really thought you looked beautiful in this,” he said.

  She gazed up at him, ignoring the dress in his hand. “Sometimes, Dev, I worry about you.”

  “What?” he looked at the garment. “I know I don’t exactly have the best fashion sense, but…”

  Bo shook her head. “I’m not talking about that,” she said. “I mean that sometimes you’re just so reckless. I worry.”

  He brushed her cheek lightly with his knuckles. “Don’t.”

  “You’re not indestructible, you know.”

  He grinned. “Believe me, I know that.”

  “You can’t talk to the Sovran that way.”

  His amusement faded. “I’m afraid that if I don’t, I might lose what little there is left of me.”

  Her brow furrowed.

  “I can’t be what Andre Marin wants me to be.”

  “What does he want you to be?”

  Blade opened his mouth to answer, but as the explanation bubbled to the surface, he swallowed it back down. Helplessly, he shook his head.

  She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know,” she said. She touched his face. “State secrets.”

  He closed his mouth and studied her face.

  Bo rose up on tiptoe and lightly kissed his jaw. With her thumb she wiped at the spot and her eyes grew distant. “I don’t want to know,” she said. “Kendall was looking for something in particular. One of your aliases, I think. Lord Marin has a State Secret that he’s willing to have The Barron killed to keep. Be careful, Dev. Don’t make an enemy of the Sovran. I don’t want you to disappear.”

  He handed her the dress. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

  It took everything he had to walk over to the bed and pick up his jacket. He pulled it on as he went to the chest of drawers.

  While he combed his hair, he watched her reflection as she dressed herself, noting the care she took not to over extend or stress her left arm. When she tried to pull the dress over her head, she ran into trouble. He set his comb down and went to her rescue. Before she could protest, he took over, easing her arm into the garment. Reaching around her, he picked up her sling and gently adjusted it around her until he was satisfied with the angle.

  “How does that feel?” he asked.

  “Somehow, I don’t think Aunt Misou would approve of it as an accessory with this dress,” she said.

  Blade stepped back and looked her over, chuckling to himself. “No, I don’t think she would,” he agreed. “I doubt she’d approve of that rocket launcher you usually wear on your wrist either.”

  “Do we really have to go to this thing?” she asked. “I’m not sure attending dinner parties falls under keeping a low profile.”

  “Sit down.”

  She warily sat on the edge of the bed and peered up at him.

  “Kah Lahtrec is a closed society,” he explained. “After the Trade Wars, they closed themselves off from Te Gra Hebla, that’s what they call the Commonwealth.”

  Kneeling down at her feet, he picked up one of the strappy, high-heeled sandals beside the bed and unfastened the strap.

  “You and I are most likely the only offworlders on the planet right now,” he continued. He lifted her foot and slipped the shoe on, fastening it as he spoke. “The Hebla Traders come to Kah Lahtrec on a set schedule. None are due for at least a season. When they do come, they don’t move in the circles you and I will.”

  He gently set her foot on the floor and turned his attention to the other one, repeating the process.

  “Circles?” she asked. “You mean social circles? We’re going to socialize? I’m going to socialize?”

  He glanced up at her and grinned. “What’s the matter, Barron?” he teased. “Are you afraid you’ve forgotten how to act without a blaster in your hand?” He shook his head. “Didn’t you learn how to act in polite society while you were being groomed for public office?”

  “Well, yes, but…”

  He lightly ran his fingertips up her calf. Her skin tightened, leaving a trail of chill bumps in his wake. Color flooded her face. Still open to her energies, languid arousal swirled around him. His body rose to the call. With her foot resting in his lap, there was no way she could miss his reaction. Her pulse visibly fluttered at her throat. Her amber eyes glazed over.

  “Yes?” He grinned at her distraction.

  She shook her head. Leaning down, she pushed his hand aside. “You don’t play fair.”

  He moved closer, bringing her lips perilously close to his.

  “I never claimed to.”

  She glanced up and froze, ensnared in his stare. Sexual awareness crackled between them like a plasma storm. Her gaze dipped to his mouth and she swallowed.

  He could kiss her, but if he did, he wouldn’t stop there. She was already on his bed. The sheets were still askew from their last session. It wouldn’t take much to push her down and make love to her again.

  His lips quirked. Perhaps that’s what she was counting on.

  The very thought that she might be playing him was enough to cool his libido. He leaned back, breaking the spell. He rose and pulled her to her feet. Bo blinked and canted her head at him. Confusion and frustration rolled off her in waves.

  “I’m not sure I should be going out in public like this,” she said.

  “You look beautiful,” he assured her.

  Bo’s cheeks pinkened and she lowered her gaze. “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”

  “This is Kah Lahtrec, Bo, not Cormoran.” He took her hand and pulled her to the door. “You’re over-thinking this.”

  They made it two steps before she stopped.

  “Wait – I almost forgot my weapons.”

  She turned back, but he laughingly pulled her along with him down the stairs.

  “No weapons,” he said. “You don’t need them.”

  Bo dug in her heels. “I don’t go anywhere unarmed.”

  He pulled her into motion once more. “You do now,” he said. “It’s an insult to our host for you to arrive armed. It says you don’t trust him to protect you. Come along, woman. We don’t want to insult the Tryrium.”

  Bo tried to pull her hand from his. “I don’t trust him,” she snapped. “I don’t trust anybody to protect me. Looking out for me is my job.”

  He stopped on the stairs, but didn’t release her hand. “Love, I understand how you feel,” he said. “Really, I do.” He lifted her hand to his lips and tenderly kissed her. “If you won’t trust the Tryrium, will you please trust me? I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Her amber eyes met his. She stared at him for a long moment.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t get to play that card. Not here.”

  “If not now, then when?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, but not now.”

  He climbed the steps until he stood beside her. “What are you afraid of, Bo?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not afraid.”

  He shook his head. “You’re terrified. Don’t deny it, I can feel it.”

  She bit her lip and bounced nervously from one foot to another.

  “It’s not just about me, Blade,” she said. “I have responsibilities.”

  He studied her. “I’m really trying to understand, love, but you’re going to have to help me out here. I need more information.”

  She sighed and smiled indulgently. “You wouldn’t understand,” she said shaking her head.

 
; “Of course not,” he said. “But I think if you use little words and gesture a lot it would go a long way towards helping me understand.”

  She chuckled as he’d intended. With a small nod, she took a deep breath and with a tiny huff, she leaned against him.

  “I have a responsibility to my people – to Mondhuoun,” she said. “I’m The Barron. I can’t… It’s one thing for me to… But to put the responsibility for my safety on someone else… It’s not just my safety, but my people.”

  With a nod, Blade released her hand. Before she could move, he scooped her up into his arms.

  “As a matter of fact, I do understand,” he said. “More than you give me credit for.”

  Giving her a lighthearted toss into the air, he caught her easily and pulled her tightly against his chest once more. Bo gasped in surprise and hooked her good arm around his neck.

  “Dev, put me down…your arm…”

  “Is fine.”

  “What about your leg?”

  “Woman, I practically carried you down a mountain over rough terrain, and you’re asking me about my leg now?”

  With a lopsided smile, he continued down the stairs, carrying her as easily as if she were a child.

  “Right now, you could say I hold the fate of Mondhuoun in my hands,” he went on.

  “Put me down, Dev,” she said with a sigh.

  “Not just yet,” he replied. “Where was I? Oh yeah – I hold the fate of Mondhuoun in my hands. I could drop you. Falling down the stairs, you could break your neck. Hell, I could throw you down the stairs. For that matter, I could break your neck then throw you down the stairs. I hold your life in my hands.”

  “It’s not the first time. My life has been in your hands many times.”

  “Has it? I hadn’t noticed.”

  Her lips curved in a wry smile. “You’re not going to throw me down the stairs, Dev,” she said. “You’re not dropping me, and you’re not breaking my neck.”

  “I could,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you could…but you won’t.”

  He stopped in the middle of the staircase. “Oh won’t I?”

  He shifted his hold on her, letting her legs slide down his body until her toes touched the step in front of him. Off-balanced, her arm around his neck tightened reflexively. She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

  “No,” she said with an assurance that bordered on cockiness.

  He summoned his best menacing smile. Under half-closed lids, he studied her in his most insulting manner. One arm around her waist, he lightly ran his fingertips along her jaw.

  “No?” He arched an eyebrow at her. His hand closed around her throat, but he applied no pressure.

  She didn’t even flinch.

  “Not even if Andre Marin just ordered me to kill you?”

  She lifted her chin in challenge. “Since when do you follow orders?”

  “I’m a Predator, Bo. Haven’t you heard? I kill on command without remorse. Even my handler is afraid of me.”

  “Your handler probably has reason to fear you. I don’t.”

  “What makes you so certain?”

  “Because you love me and you won’t…” her eyes widened with sudden realization of what she’d said. Her voice trailed off. She met his expectant stare briefly then averted her eyes. A becoming flush crept up her face.

  “Yes?” he prompted her. “What won’t I do? According to my service records and psych profile, I’m capable of a lot of horrible things. Where is the line, Bo? I’m on record as not having one.”

  “You won’t hurt me,” she whispered. She lifted her amber eyes to him. “You won’t let anyone or anything hurt me, will you?”

  He shook his head. “No,” he whispered.

  He released his hold on her throat. His hand glided along her injured shoulder and down her back, pulling her securely to him.

  “You’re safe with me, Bo. You’ve always been safe with me and you’ll always be safe with me. Deep down inside, you know it’s the truth. That’s the truth I want you to hold on to. No matter what happens with you or me, that’s all the truth you’ll need.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The warm, night breeze swept gently across the wide terrace that overlooked the gardens. Lights flickered in the trees and hovered in the air over the crowd like so many starbugs. Lush, beautiful flowers, their colors surprisingly vivid in the dim light, spilled over onto the cream-colored stones of the terrace, filling the air with exquisite fragrance. Tables, draped in richly colored and elegantly textured fabrics ringed the area around the dance floor. The treasures of the Lahtrecki people dominated the décor and delighted the guests, the prominent, the wise, and the influential of Kah Lahtrec. Live musicians played lighthearted, airy tunes, as optimistic and energetic as the people who listened and danced.

  Despite her initial misgivings, Bo was thoroughly enjoying herself. The inherent warmth and hospitality of the Lahtrecki people put her quickly at ease. She hadn’t been prepared for the swelling pride she’d felt for Blade as he easily laughed and joked with the Lahtrecki people in their own language. She’d seen him playing enough roles to know that his affection for these ingenuous people was more real than anything she’d seen from him outside of his interactions with his brother and herself. They, in turn, loved him. It was no wonder he called this little unassuming planet in the Outland Fringe home.

  With a sigh of contentment, Bo snuggled deeper into Blade’s chest as they swayed together in time with the music. Between the pain medication and the two drinks the lady Madine, Tryrine te Kah Lahtrec, had deposited in front of her when Blade wasn’t looking, she was incredibly relaxed. She leaned on him more than she should, but between the wall of solid muscle that was his chest and the fuseform hard arm around her, Bo had every faith that should her legs fail her, she would never hit the ground.

  His hand tightened around hers and held her closer against his shoulder. Rubbing her cheek against the rough linen of his jacket, the clean spicy scent of his cologne filled her senses, flooding her with the sense of peace that only came from being in close proximity to him.

  “Mmm, yes,” he murmured softly in her ear. “I live for moments like this, too.”

  She lifted her face and smiled up at him. “I don’t know whether to like it when you do that, or run screaming.”

  “I can’t help it, love,” he said with an engaging, boyish grin. “Tahar has been pushing me to meditate every day. The more I progress, the more aware of you I become. You’re like a drug to me. I just can’t get enough.”

  “It’s going to be hard to go back to the way we were,” she sighed. “I’m getting used to having you around all the time.”

  “Why won’t you just admit that you love me?” he asked. “You do, you know.”

  Bo shook her head. “It’s complicated.”

  His shoulders shook with suppressed mirth. “How long have you been saving that one up for me?”

  Her lips twitched. “It really is, you know,” she said. “I’m not a fool, Dev. I know things can’t keep going the way they are. I’ve known from the start that you and I don’t have a future. I’m the Commonwealth’s Most Wanted. You’re an agent with a death wish. No matter how you look at it, anything beyond what we have right now is impossible.”

  “It’s not going to be like that forever, Bo,” he assured her.

  “No,” she agreed. “Someday we’ll have to say goodbye.” Closing her eyes once more, she pressed her cheek against his shoulder. “What good does it do to tell you I love you when it’s only going to destroy me in the end?”

  There, on the dance floor, surrounded by the nobility of Kah Lahtrec, Blade gave up the pretense of dancing and grew still.

  “Hey, look at me.” His husky voice carried the sharp edge of an authority she hadn’t heard from him before.

  Bo lifted her head and met his stare. All sign of humor and charm had vanished. The predatory intensity of his gaze ensnared her. She forgot to breathe. This was
the man buried underneath all those aliases. This was the man the Inner Circle had forged into a weapon. Bo swallowed hard. For the first time, he frightened her just a little…and she’d never been more attracted to him.

  A warm breeze drifted across her overheated skin, soothing as a lover’s caress, carrying with it the scent of the gardens and the Lahtrecki oceans, stirring her hair. Wispy tendrils teased her cheek, but she couldn’t look away. The heat from his hand on her waist burned through the thin material of her dress, setting her on fire. His long fingers curled into her soft flesh, pulling her against him. He was hard, and unyielding and Maker-help-her, every nerve ending in her body throbbed in awareness of him.

  “While I breathe, I am your champion,” he said. His voice, somber and determined, wended its way around her and through her, soothing her lingering fear. “You don’t have to fight anything alone.”

  The music receded, carrying with it the other dancers, the liveried servants, the soft buzzing of the insects in the garden. Even the stars overhead faded away.

  He pressed the palm of her hand against his chest. “Do you feel that?”

  His chest expanded and contracted with every breath. His heart thumped a strong and steady rhythm under her touch. She licked her suddenly dry lips and nodded.

  “My heartbeat is in perfect sync with yours. It’s like I’m inside your skin. I feel you. I feel who you are. I can feel your sense of yourself. I know how you feel about me. I know how important it is to you to clear your name because I can feel it. Holy Maker, Bo…you really are part of me…as much as any limb or organ. I don’t know where you end and I begin. The Lahtrecki call it becoming one flesh, and I never really understood that until now. I am more in love with you now than I was this morning. It’s beautiful and fierce and overwhelming…and that scares the hell out of me.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but he silenced her with a finger across her lips.

  “This kind of thing doesn’t come around every day. You can’t tell me you don’t feel the same because we’d both know it’s a lie.”