by Sadie Carter
She swallowed heavily. So the total opposite of her. No one would ever call Saffron elegant and beautiful. And as for softly-spoken…
“You fell in love with her?”
He frowned. “In love? Love is not an emotion that warriors engage in.”
“Right. Sorry. My bad. So how did you come to mate her?”
“I admired Fancia. I was…” He stared down at his lap, looking uncomfortable. Then he blew out a breath and looked up. “I was attracted to her. I was blinded by her, I guess.”
“How old were you?”
He thought for a moment. “This was a long time ago. Not long after the Emperor closed our borders. So, I would have been around thirty.”
How old was he?
“She was everything I thought a female should be. Quiet. Graceful. Obedient. Many males wished to be her mate, but she was well-guarded by her family. As she should be.”
“So how did you get close to her?”
“I didn’t. She noticed me. She spoke to me and I felt like…well, I was young and foolish back then.”
Hard to imagine him that way. As anything other than cynical and gruff. But from the sounds of it, this Fancia had been a real eye-turner.
“I could not believe she was interested in me. As it turns out, she wasn’t.”
She tightened her hold on his hand. His voice was carefully guarded, no emotion slipped through, and yet the very lack of emotion told her that he was feeling something deeply.
“What do you mean?”
“Fancia had turned her attention to me because I was young. Because she could sense I was interested in her. Because she thought I could be easily manipulated.”
“What? You?”
“I was young, remember. I thought she was the epitome of a proper female Zerconian. I never, for a moment, thought she might have an ulterior motive. That she might wish to use me. Betray me.”
Chapter Nine
Moroco tried to keep his emotions from bleeding into his voice. She was the very last person he wished to tell this story to. The last thing he wanted was to see pity on her face. Or disgust.
But she was also the one person who deserved to know.
“Betray you? How did she betray you?”
He studied Saffron, wondering if she would ever try to deceive him. But if there was one thing he knew about the human female it was that she was very forthcoming. Sometimes too much so. She tended to speak before thinking.
She looked puzzled.
“I believed she wanted me. That she wished to mate with me. She told me that her father was too controlling and wanted to arrange her mating to a male that frightened her. That she wanted me to protect her. To care for her.”
Stars he had been young and foolish to fall for her lines.
“I felt so protective of her. She was so small and delicate. I could not stand the idea that her father might force her to mate with someone not to her choice.”
“But was the guy he was trying to force her to mate with wasn’t her true mate? Why would her father make her mate with someone she didn’t want?”
“He didn’t. It was all a lie.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I should have known. She acted so helpless, like she needed to be rescued.” And he had been completely taken by her. “I never thought to question her. I never thought about the fact that she must have snuck away from her minder or parents in order to meet with me in secret. About how that went against the image she projected of a dutiful Zerconian female. When I asked the name of the warrior, she teared up and I backed off. When I said I would speak to her father on her behalf, she grew so frightened, she shook. She clung to me and I felt like…
“Her knight in shining armor.”
“What? Zerconians do not wear armor.”
She shook her head. “On Earth, we have stories. About damsels in distress being rescued by knights in shining armor. Sleeping Beauty and Snow White were woken with a kiss. Rapunzel’s knight climbed her hair to rescue her.”
“Climbed her hair? Did that not hurt?”
“No doubt. Not the point. I get why you felt like you had to help her. She was hot. She was helpless. She came to you.”
“I was nobody. I was young. I had finished my training at the academy and was working as a healer under Thor’s father. I should have ignored her wishes and spoken to someone. Instead, I took what she said as truth.”
“Well, why wouldn’t you? She was obviously good at getting people to do what she wanted and she knew just what to say to get your attention. So, what was her real game?”
“Real game?”
“What did she really want? She didn’t want you, she chose you because you were young and she thought she could manipulate you.”
“She did manipulate me.”
“I bet no one’s managed to do that since.”
He smiled grimly. “No, she taught me a valuable lesson.” Not to trust, to never be manipulated again.
A sad look came over her face then disappeared. “So what did she want from you?”
“She wanted me to help her leave Zerconia.”
“Seriously? Why?”
“She told me that for us to be together it might be best if we left so her father would not discover what we were doing. Then we could come back mated and everything would be well.”
“Wow, she really was a piece of work huh?”
“She was a lot of work,” he agreed, remembering how demanding Fancia had been. How emotionally needy. At the time, he had thought it only right she lean on him so much. That she look to him for everything. Now…he could not imagine having a mate who was so dependent. If it was Fancia here instead of Saffron she would be in hysterics. She would be demanding that he fix this, that he take care of her, protect her.
Instead, Saffron sat, holding his hand, trying to offer him comfort. A warrior should not need comfort.
And yet he did not push her away.
“So you took her away?”
“I did. It meant going against my Emperor’s order, not ever something to be taken lightly. I did try to talk her out of this plan, but she burst into tears, fell into my arms and sobbed when I suggested I would speak to her father and sort this all out without having to leave.”
“That bitch.”
He felt his lips twitch at the outrage on Saffron’s face. Funny, he never thought he might actually find humor in these memories, yet Saffron’s clear dislike of Fancia was quite amusing.
“So I commandeered one of our smaller ships and in the middle of the night we snuck away. I knew there was a possibility we might not return. Both the Emperor and Fancia’s father would be furious with us. And rightfully so. But I thought that as long as we were together then we did not need anyone else. How foolish I was.”
“You were young. We all make mistakes when we’re young and stupid.” A dark shadow crossed her face and he wanted to know what mistakes she had made. “So then what happened?”
“As it turns out, we were not together long. Fancia demanded that I take her to Rushton, a planet not far from Zerconia. I had thought to get farther away before we landed, but she was very insistent. When we disembarked, she almost sped away from me. I ran after her, I didn’t know what to think. I actually thought something might have spooked her. I still thought she wanted me. Right up until the time that she jumped into another man’s arms.”
“What? How? Who? How could she even meet another man? Weren’t your borders closed to visitors?”
“They were. But Fancia’s father had been one of our ambassadors to another planet. He was recalled when the Emperor closed our borders, like many others. Fancia was forced to return to Zerconia with him, away from the man she had met and fallen in love with. That must have been difficult to be forced back to a planet she had not lived on for years, away from someone she loved.”
“What? No.” She held up her free hand. “Don’t try to defend that bitch, please. There was a lot she could have done differently. She
could have spoken to her father about it; all right maybe he wouldn’t have listened, but then she could have gone to the Emperor.”
He shook his head. “It is unlikely that either of them would have done anything about it. Zerconian females are expected to mate within our race, there is so few of them and they are needed.”
“And if she’d told you the truth?”
He paused for a moment. He had never thought about what he might have done had she told him the truth. “I do not know.”
“She manipulated you, used your feelings for her and your youth just because she wanted this guy? Not cool. What did you do?”
“I tried to challenge him.” His grimaced. “Like I said, I was young and stupid. I thought I was strong and invincible. I was not. The other male was older, he had seen battles. He beat me until I was bloody and on the ground, then he and Fancia left.”
“Oh my God, they just left you like that? If I ever get my hands on that bitch I’ll make certain she wished she wasn’t alive.”
He had no doubt that she would. His Saffron was fierce. Not that he would ever allow her to be put in any sort of danger. Although he thought that Fancia would definitely have been the one to come off second best.
“She died several weeks later when their ship was attacked.”
“Oh. Sorry. What about you?”
“I woke up in the medical center on Rushton’s main port. I returned to Zerconia.”
The shame and embarrassment had almost been too much to bear.
“Was the Emperor furious?”
“Oh yes. I was arrested. When he came to speak to me, he was so cold. So filled with anger. I told him everything. When I finished, he sighed and looked me over. I asked him what my punishment would be? I fully expected something dire. Death. Maybe torture and being incarcerated for the next century.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me that he thought I’d been punished enough and he didn’t want to add to it. At the time, I didn’t understand what he meant. I’d broken the rules. Anyone else would have felt his full wrath. I thought he saw me as weaker than other warriors. I said I could take any punishment he devised. He just stared at me for a long moment then nodded. He said I would go back to the academy to learn and study more under Healer Aflas.” He grimaced. “Healer Aflas was the oldest Zerconian I knew. He was rude, he was abrupt, and he could be just plain nasty.” He nearly smiled. “After ten years together, he finally stopped calling me boy. After twenty, he stopped slapping me on the head every time I made a mistake. When he died, he told me that I was like the son he wished he had.”
“So you’ve been there this whole time?”
“Yes. Until I was called back to be the head healer in replacement of Thor. At first, I hated being at the Academy. It was definitely a punishment. Everyone stared and whispered. I soon made it clear that I wouldn’t answer questions. I was angry. Bitter. But that served me well. It kept them all at bay.”
“But why did Fancia’s family start the rumor that you killed her? Surely, they must have known the truth?”
He shook his head. “The Emperor told them the truth but he decided that it need not go any further. If anyone else had known what she did, it would have brought great shame to her family. They were understandably furious at me.”
“So they made up lies? Because their precious princess ran off with someone else? You should have told people the truth.”
“And have them see me as weak? To have them know my shame? No. I would rather have died.”
I would rather have died.
She stared at Moroco with frustration, anger, and pity. Although she tried to hide that last part. That bitch had changed his life forever. She could only imagine young, impressionable Moroco. It was hard to believe that this bitter, untrusting man was the same person he described. Except who could blame him for being the way he was after what happened to him?
“I still think that wasn’t fair. The Emperor shouldn’t have sent you away.”
“Actually, I believe he did me a favor. If I had stayed, I have no doubt Fancia’s father may well have challenged me and I was not prepared to take on a warrior of his caliber.”
“And now? Is her father still alive?”
He shook his head. “Her parents are dead, although she does have a sister. I am guessing she is behind the rumors going around again.”
“A sister? Really? I thought female children were pretty rare.”
“They are. They are one of the few families to have two girls. Fancia’s sister is younger. She has always blamed me for Fancia’s death.”
“Don’t you get the urge to tell her the truth? To shut her up?”
He shrugged. “Truthfully, I do not let it bother me.”
She didn’t know if she believed that. “So she wasn’t really your mate.” Which meant…
“No. You are.” He studied her once more.
She slid her hand free of his and stood, pacing back and forth. “I don’t get it. Isn’t skin-to-skin touch enough to start the mating process between humans and Zerconians? You’ve touched my skin before. You examined my wound way more than was necessary.”
“But I always wore gloves.”
“Yeah. And the rest of the time you’ve always seemed reluctant to touch me. Why is that?”
“I do not know.” He sighed. “Perhaps part of me recognized you were my mate before I even touched you.”
And because he didn’t want her as his mate, he’d done what he could to stop the mating from occurring.
Wow, he really knew how to make a girl feel wanted. Well, it wasn’t like she didn’t feel the same. If she’d had any idea he was her mate then she certainly wouldn’t have searched him out. She would have stayed well away from him until she’d left Zerconia.
“I’m going to back to Earth,” she told him.
“No, you are not,” he replied calmly.
Funny, his calmness just seemed to make her angrier.
“You have no say in what I do.”
“As your mate, I have every say in what you do. In fact, I make the rules, you follow them. That is the way a mating works.”
She pointed a finger at him. “You even try to boss me around and you’ll regret it, buddy.”
His eyebrows came together and he stood, looming over her from his rather impressive height. She bit her lip. Oh hell. The sight of his anger shouldn’t stir her. That dominant look, the cold possessiveness, it all seemed to pool around her clit, making it throb.
Idiot. Stop it. The last thing she needed was a controlling asshole in her life.
“You will cease calling me by another male’s name right now.” He gripped her arm. “I will not be easily manipulated again. You will not speak to other unmated males, you will not look at them. If you do, you will find yourself over my lap, your ass on fire.”
“I don’t know why you have this obsession with my ass, but you’re not getting anywhere near it. And I will speak or look at whoever I like. You are not my boss.”
She tried to wrench her arm free but he held tight. She winced as she felt a pull across her back. Immediately, he let go, stepping back. That darkly cold look was replaced with concern.
“I hurt you.”
“I pulled on my arm a bit too hard and it wrenched my back. Old injury.” She grimaced at the memory of how she had injured her back.
Bloody Ricky, even years later he was still causing her grief. She rolled her shoulders, trying to breathe through the sharp pain.
“Take your top off and lie on the bed,” he ordered.
She sighed. “It’s fine. It’s just an old injury that plays up a bit when I get tense or move the wrong way. Unless you’ve got a pain inhibitor on you then there’s nothing you can do.”
“I will not ask you again,” he told her. “Take your top off and lie down.”
“As far as pick-up lines go that’s pretty bad.”
“Pick-up lines?”
“Doesn’t matter.” She waved he
r hand then winced. Okay, she probably needed to do some stretches or something. She’d just go into the bathroom, well away from him, and work out the knot that had developed. “I’m not some doormat you can abuse and push around.”
“Abuse?” His eyes widened. “I have not abused you.”
“You think that telling me who I can and can’t speak with isn’t abuse? Because it is. And I won’t be treated like that again.”
“Again?”
Whoops, hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Good. When you come out, make certain you remove your top. I shall be waiting.”
She whirled on him. “You are the most stubborn, arrogant asshole I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet and I am not going to be your mate!”
She walked into the bathroom, wishing she could slam the door behind her. There was something very unsatisfactory about the way it just slid shut.
“Jerk. Ass. Bastard.” She cursed him using every word she could as she attempted to ease the ache in her back. Of course, the tense way she held herself didn’t help her back at all and soon she found herself lying on the cold floor, flames of pain down licking their way down her back. “Fuck.”
She’d just lie here until the pain became more manageable. Or her temper faded. Whichever came first.
Chapter Ten
He paced back and forth in front of the bathroom door furiously. She had been in there too long. Worry filled him as he paused in front of the door. What if she had fallen? Hurt herself? He should never have been so harsh with her. He had been too rough. He had forgotten that underneath that attitude she was still delicate.
He’d hurt her.
Guilt ate at him, feeding his anger. He hated that he felt guilty. Hated that he had been the cause of her pain. Why had he snapped at her like that?
Because the idea of her betraying him was like a stab to the guts. Fancia’s betrayal had been painful. If Saffron betrayed him…he clenched his hands into fists. This was doing nothing to help him gain control over his temper. He took a deep breath in then let it out slowly.
