by Sadie Carter
She dropped her gaze. “Sorry.” No matter how old she was, he always seemed to have the ability to make her feel like a child.
“So you didn’t give up a life with Gabriella for me?” she asked in a small voice.
He ran his thumb down her cheek in a surprisingly gentle move. Then he clasped her face between his hands. “No, baby. Not at all. I raised you and our brothers because you are my family, and I love you all.”
“Even Zuma?” she asked with a sniff.
Rye grinned, and it made him look years younger. Lighter. “Even Zuma.”
“Hey, I’m lovable,” Zuma protested, moving towards them. “So long as we’re sharing the love how about a group hug?”
“Now you’re pushing it,” Rye said dryly. “I’ll hug her. You’ll have to find one of your women if you want any loving.”
Zuma stuck his lower lip out as she giggled.
“Willa, why do you think it was your fault that our parents died?” Rye asked seriously.
“I went missing. They were looking for me when those rogues set upon them.”
“Did you pay those rogues to kill them?”
“No.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot, feeling uncomfortable.
“Did you disappear on purpose so they would go looking for you?” Rye asked.
“Of course not.”
“Did you force them to leave the safety of the village without weapons or protection?”
“No.”
“No, because you were two. You were a child. I doubt you even have memories of that day, do you?”
“No.” She’d tried. She thought she had glimpses, but she had no idea if they were actual memories or things she’d imagined from what other people had told her.
“Do you know who was supposed to be looking after you that day?” Rye asked.
She frowned. “I thought Mom was.”
“No, it was me. I was supposed to be watching you. But I got chatting to this cute girl and when I turned around you were gone. So if it’s anyone’s fault that Mom and Dad died, it’s mine.”
She glanced between the two of them; Zuma looked as grim as she had ever seen him.
“It wasn’t your fault, Rye.”
Rye raised his eyebrows. “No? Why not?”
“Because you didn’t know I was going to wander off. You were a kid too. And it was the rogues that killed them.”
“Exactly.” Rye placed his hands on her shoulders. “So you’re not the cause of Mom and Dad’s deaths.”
“And neither are you,” she added.
“Right.” Although she thought she saw some doubt in his gaze. But whatever she saw was quickly gone. “And you don’t owe me anything.” He glanced over at Zuma. “None of you do. We’re family, that’s what counts. Why didn’t you come to me about this earlier?”
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to bring family stuff up while we were working. You know, I figured you didn’t want me to be your sister when I was on board the ship.”
“You’re always my sister, but I know what you mean. I don’t make any allowances for family. You earn your place on my crew. But I never forget who you are. Besides, we don’t work all the time.”
“No. I guess I didn’t want to be more of a burden.”
“Burden?” Zuma spoke up. “Where the hell do you get this stuff from? You’re not a burden. You need me to shake that into you? Tattoo it on your forehead so you don’t forget it?”
“Well, that wouldn’t do me much good since I’d only see it when I was looking in a mirror. Relax, Zuma. I get it. I’m not a burden. You both loovve me.”
Zuma rolled his eyes. “You are so mature.”
Leaning up, she kissed his cheek. “Love you.” She kissed Rye’s cheek too. “And you.”
They both grunted.
She grinned.
“So if you want to be with Darac, then I’m not standing in your way,” Rye told her.
“Yeah, well, you don’t have to worry about that because I don’t. Want him that is.”
“Fine, so long as we all know where we stand. Are you, umm, feeling all right?” Rye asked.
“Got a bit of a headache, but otherwise, I’m fine, why?”
“No reason.”
Huh, that didn’t seem odd at all.
“Both of you get back to your duties,” Rye told them gruffly.
Zuma nudged her as they walked along the passage. “Beast man and Willa sitting in a tree. K. I. S—”
“Oh my God, you’re immature.” She elbowed him in the guts.
With an exaggerated noise of pain, he held his hand over his stomach and stumbled back.
She snorted. “Give it a rest, that didn’t hurt.”
Unlike her head, which felt like a giant was squeezing it between his monstrous hands.
“I’ve got to go relieve Deacon on bridge. You look like you need some rest.”
“I’m fine. I’ve got stuff to check on in the engine room.”
Zuma veered off to the bridge while she moved down to the lower level towards the engine room. Each step seemed to make her head throb more. She didn’t have time for this.
“Willa?”
She sighed. And she really didn’t have time for him. She looked up as Darac approached. Damn, the man was hot. Super-hot. Even his walk was sexy. Thick muscles bunched and moved as he strode towards her, every step filled with confidence.
And he doesn’t want you.
Didn’t matter how much permission Rye gave her or what Mila said or how much she wanted him.
He didn’t want her.
“Willa, I wish to speak with you.”
“Darac. I’m kind of busy. I need to check on some things in the engine room.”
“I will come with you.”
“Fine. Whatever.” She was in too much pain to argue with him. He walked along next to her.
“How far from your home are we?” he asked.
“About three days away.” She moved around the engine room, pretending to be busy but she couldn’t really concentrate on anything but him. What would it take for her to get over this infatuation she had for him?
“Look, Darac, let me make this easier on both of us. I know you don’t want me. I guess you made a mistake about this whole mating thing-oomph.” He moved so quickly, she didn’t see him. One minute, he was across the room, the next he was so close she’d bumped into him. Her body heated, his scent, raw and spicy, made her head swim, her breath came fast and shallow.
“Don’t want you?” The look in his eyes was intense, focused. Suddenly, he drew her against him, kissing her, and he swept his tongue inside. Pleasure swamped her, and she plastered herself against him, his heat scorching her body. He wrapped his hands around her waist, lifting her into the air, searing her with his touch. His mouth devoured hers, making her whimper with desire.
Then he placed her back on her feet and drew back. Head swimming, she worried she would completely embarrass herself and collapse at his feet.
She swallowed. Step back. Step away. Stupid body never listened to her when he was around.
“You believe I do not want you? You are my mate.”
Be cool. Don’t let him see how he affects you.
“Yeah? Then how come you keep pushing me away? You didn’t want to kiss me when we were being held by the Coizils and then when we did kiss, you practically shoved me away from you.”
Way to be cool, Willa.
“I did those things to protect you. Not because I changed my mind or I do not want you. You are my mate. You are everything.”
“What do you mean, protect me?”
“I believed the Coizils would kill me. Often when one mate dies, the other mate follows them. Not always, but I could not take the risk that you would follow me into the other world.”
Oh.
“What about later? When we’d been rescued?”
“I did not know if I would always remain this way, walking a tightrope between sanity and madness. If I had to be kille
d, if I went mad and did not come back…I did not want to risk you. I would never put you in harm’s way, Willa.”
“And now that’s changed?” she asked, trying to keep her mind on topic. She longed to lean against him.
“I spoke to one of the Elders. He believes that while my control might never be the same, it will likely improve. The fact that we have not mated will only be making it worse. Until I am mated to you, I will be in this state of need that will only grow worse.”
“Great, so no pressure on me to mate you, huh?”
“I do not mean to pressure you. I am not demanding anything from you. But I wish to be honest. I am sorry I pushed you away. I only did what I thought I had to for you to be safe. But at no time did I not want you. I have always wanted you. And I know that you want me too.”
Yeah, she couldn’t really deny that after that kiss. “Doesn’t mean I’m ready to mate you.”
“Because of your brothers?” he asked.
“No. Actually, Rye told me he wouldn’t interfere if I chose to mate you. But I have a whole life. I can’t just leave it. And you have your own life.”
“No. I do not. My life is you. You mean everything to me. I find it hard to speak of feelings or emotions. I am a warrior. But what I feel for you, I have never felt for anyone else. It consumes me. You are in my every thought. I hope to show you that you are the most important thing in the universe to me. I want to give you time, however, sometimes our bodies have a way of forcing us into this if we take too long.”
“I think you better leave.”
“Willa—”
“Just leave, Darac. It’s all too much right now. You want me. You don’t want me. You say you want to prove to me that how important I am to you, but on your timeline. I just, I need some time to think.”
He nodded. “Very well. Just know that I am determined to make up for hurting you.”
After she was certain he was gone, she sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall.
My life is you.
Holy crap balls, he really knew how to lay it on thick. What exactly was he saying? That he was willing to move to Joyadan with her? He’d hate it there. She hated it there and she’d grown up there.
But it was home. She couldn’t leave everything she knew because some sexy dude, who was one hell of a kisser said he couldn’t live without her. But he needed her and she did care about him.
Our bodies have a way of forcing us together.
What the hell did that mean? Because he was going to get crazier? How much crazier could he get? This was too much. She couldn’t keep up. What she needed to do was concentrate on her work and forget about Darac for a while.
Huh, and Mitch might turn into an angel and fly away.
***
He kissed down her neck. Sparks sent off fireworks through her blood.
Touch my nipples. Please. Please.
His lips touched hers. Light and gentle. More. More.
Her nipples grew hard. Her clit throbbed. Heat suffocated her, flooding her with need.
He moved away from her mouth. Lower. Lower.
Buzz.
He licked her nipple. Yes. Yes.
Buzz.
He moved to her other nipple. Now things were moving along.
“All crew to the bridge. All crew to the bridge.”
Her eyes opened as the blaring voice thrust her out of her dream. That buzzing had been her communicator.
“Shit. Shit.”
Sweat coated her body. Her heart thumped loudly as she sat and swung her legs to the side of her bunk. She leaned her elbows on her knees for a minute, breathing heavily. She couldn’t leave her room like this. Not with hard nipples and unrelieved arousal coating her body in sweat.
Something was going on and she needed to pull herself together quick.
Standing, she stripped off the huge t-shirt she’d stolen from Duke before they’d left and wiped her body down with a towel. Then she grabbed some underwear, pants, and another t-shirt. Not bothering to check herself out in the mirror—why bother, nothing ever changed—she raced out the door to the bridge.
“Jeez, what happened to you? Or should I say who?” Mitch greeted her as she walked into the bridge.
“You’d think you would have figured out how to work your mute button by now.”
Rye turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw her. What?
She glanced down at herself. Shit. Maybe that glance in the mirror would have been a good idea. Her t-shirt was not only inside out but back-to-front. That took real skill. She stripped her t-shirt off.
“What are you doing?” Darac roared, moving to stand between her and the others.
She slid the t-shirt back on then gave him an exasperated look. “What? I’m wearing a bra.”
“You stripped off in front of other males!” The outrage on his face made her lips twitch.
“Chillax, beast man. They weren’t looking.”
“Nothing to see. Absolutely nothing at all,” Mitch drawled.
“Mitch!” Rye barked. He turned to look at everyone. “All of you shut up. Now.”
Everyone sobered. Except Zuma. He grinned. She rolled her eyes, exasperated.
“We have something to discuss,” Rye stated.
Great. What now? The apocalypse? A league of Coizil warships about to attack?
“A job just came through.”
That was it? Kind of a letdown.
“It’s on Quashtar. A retrieval. Two people.”
“Quashtar?” Steele asked. “That’s not a job, it’s a suicide mission.”
Quashtar was known as the anus of the universe. The worst of the worst lived there only because nowhere else would have them. It only got a few hours of daylight a day. The rest of the time it was dark. Most of the creatures living there were ones that thrived in the darkness.
Rye nodded grimly. “But the price offered is a million.”
Wow. A million.
“Who is it?” Darac asked. “What are they doing on Quashtar?”
Probably nothing good.
“Not many details were provided. But there are two people for us to retrieve. We’ve been given their co-ordinates. Two Looanen males.”
“Why are they on Quashtar?” Darac asked. “Why do their own people not pick them up?”
Rye shrugged. “I don’t know. They weren’t very forthcoming. It’s suspicious, but the money is good and if we agree, it’s half now and the other half when we return them safely back to Looanen.”
She studied Darac, who was frowning. This obviously didn’t sit well with him. “I do not like this.”
“This is what we do, beast man,” she told him. “We go where the credits are.”
“Yep,” Zuma agreed. “And the more dangerous the job, the more credits we make. So we’re setting off to Quashtar?”
“Yes,” Rye said, watching them all. “But there is something odd going on. It won’t be simple.”
“Nothing ever is,” Steele muttered.
“Oh, Steele, you want to sit this one out?” she teased. “Rest your old man bones a bit?”
He gave her a cold glare that was meant to intimidate. She winked at him.
Chapter Eleven
“Are you certain your sister should be coming with us? Should she not wait with the ship in case there are engine problems?”
That sounded reasonable to him. It had taken great restraint on his part not to demand that Willa remain behind where it was safe.
They put themselves in peril for credits. His mate put herself in dangerous situations. It went against his every instinct. But he knew he could not go around making demands. He had agreed to follow Rye’s command. Even if that meant going off on a fool’s mission. But that didn’t mean that Willa needed to put herself in peril as well.
Rye raised his eyebrow. “Really? And are you going to tell Willa that she needs to stay behind because you think she’s too delicate?”
“I do not believe her delicate.”
Precious. Special. His.
“That’s because she’s not. And she won’t appreciate you trying to treat her as though she were. Mitch and Nolan stay. Nolan is a non-combatant. Mitch will guard him and the ship.”
Getting used to the way everything worked was a steep learning curve.
***
Willa winced as a large male pounded his huge fist into the bound man’s stomach. Normally, she wasn’t a squeamish sort of person. But the man receiving the beating looked like he had already had enough. His face was swollen with bruises, his clothing ripped and disheveled. He hung from the ceiling, his arms chained above his head. He slumped in such a way that she knew he had been hanging there for a while. His strength had waned.
The man beating on him stepped back and laughed. He turned, and she drew in a sharp breath when she saw the other side of this face. It was covered in scars. Probably from burns. His right eye was missing, a hideous scar in its place. The scars went down his neck and possibly lower. She shivered. It was cold. Quashtar was always cold, but that wasn’t the reason for the goose bumps covering her skin.
That was pure fear.
The warehouse was dark, just a small light flickered in the corner. But she didn’t need the light thanks to the night-vision contacts she wore. They allowed her to see in the dark as though it were daylight.
The bound, beaten man had the pale lavender skin and long purple hair that characterized him as a Looanen. He was target one.
Target two was nowhere to be seen in the large warehouse. But there was a whole other level in the basement to be explored.
“Willa, Darac, Zuma, take the basement, look for target two,” Rye spoke through the communicator in her ear.
She turned, pleased to leave. She followed Zuma out of the warehouse. This was an old building. The stairs to the basement were on the outside of the building.
Zuma gestured her to stand next to the door. She leaned up against the wall of the building. If someone came up the stairs, they wouldn’t see her until it was too late. Darac stood back and to the right of Zuma, ready to cover him
The door slid open. Thankfully, it didn’t creak as she’d expected. No one rushed up at them, and Zuma started down. They fell into line, working surprisingly well together considering that they’d never worked with Darac before. But he seemed to know what Zuma wanted even before he directed him.
