“I own the stores.” She grimaced. It was true that she had a sort of obsession for pretty underwear. It was why she’d bought the first store and then expanded when it became popular. “I pay for material and labor. I don’t like taking away from my own profits.”
“What else do you do?” Shard allowed her to continue to the next pack.
“I invent and design things for the most part.” She shrugged, kneeling and moving some branches of a thorny bush to get to one of her packs.
“You design things? Like your underwear?” Kaleb raised a brow as he waited for her answer.
“No, that I pay designers to do. My talents run more to the mechanical and graphic.” She turned toward the location of the next pack.
“Explain.” Shard paced beside her, casting glances at her face.
“I designed and modified the shields and stealth capabilities on my ship. I have yet to find anyone who can detect it.” She smiled at that and raised her brows. Then a grimace twisted her lips. It had been her overconfidence and complacency which had led to her capture. “As well, I’ve designed a few sim-games that have been successful…in spite of litigation from paranoid people.” She grimaced at the memory.
“What games and what litigation are you talking about?” Kaleb barked the question.
“I have several ongoing series, Ardin. One is called Quest for Origin—”
“Cadianco makes those. You’re the L.C. Cadian behind that company?” Shard’s hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around to face him.
Lina was stunned to see how ferocious his frown was. He glowered down at her and seemed to be waiting for something, as if he expected something from her. He also looked as if he’d grown bigger, taller than when she’d last seen him.
“Is there something wrong, Ardin?” She looked up into Shard’s hard, dark brown eyes. A shiver trickled down her spine. She’d never seen brown eyes appear cold before now.
“You allowed Santir to sue you. You allowed the trial to end without trying to take the time to explain the situation or make reparation to Jalan Tavis and Lido Orsal.” Kaleb’s deep voice was curt and the expression on his face demanded an explanation of her actions. His jaw was clenched and there was a slight tic near the corner of his left eye.
“I didn’t know that they were Santir until the trial was nearly complete. When I found out, I tried to arrange a meeting with them. All I got back from them was a response that they were confident of their case and would wait for the verdict.” She didn’t see how she could have done more. She hadn’t started that situation.
“Where did you meet them? How did you get their images?” Shard’s leaned close and his face was only a breath away from hers. His eyes were so dark and fierce they were nearly black. “Are we going to have to start this marriage with a punishment? The images in that game mirrored Lido and Jalan, yet you have taken no responsibility for that.”
“I’ve never even met them. The first time that I saw them was at court. I only briefly saw them one day during the trial.” What could she say to make them believe? She hadn’t used those two men’s images in her game. She didn’t know why, but their trust was important to her.
“I’ve seen the characters they speak of. They might as well be vid-footage.” Kaleb’s green eyes narrowed. “So you never actually spoke to them?” He frowned.
“You should have made direct contact with them. You know enough about Santir custom and law to know that you should have done everything possible to stop that trial.” Shard’s hand sliced the air.
She could see the determination, the censure in his eyes. The situation was either black or white to him. To him, there would be no room for discussion about that. She’d worried and agonized over what to do after she’d received that reply.
“In their note, they implied that I was trying to buy their silence. I was going to explain, try to keep my own secrets and show them that I hadn’t used their images.” She glared at them.
She looked from one man to the other. They looked just as accusing as the two men had in court and she hadn’t done anything wrong. She hadn’t used those men’s images as models. By the Hells, even she’d seen the resemblance, but it had been mere coincidence.
“Show them…you had proof of some kind?” Shard asked.
“I still have it.” She smiled. That proof was her guarantee against lawsuit. She had made certain that she had documented the invention process. It seemed that she would need it again to soothe their tempers. “I kept it because some of the characters and buildings are ongoing concepts in the series.”
“You didn’t try to show it to them after their refusal to see you.” Kaleb raised a brow and the doubt in his expression could be clearly seen.
“I was busy at that time of the trial. That’s why I didn’t know until almost the end that they were Santir. I was working on something for Central Command that took me away from the planet for days at a time.” Lina’s mouth twisted wryly. “I let my advocate handle most of the details. By the time I discovered that they were Santir, the trial was almost over and they wouldn’t see me.”
“You are going to need watching, rah’ki. You seem to have a penchant for creating situations.” Kaleb put his hand on the back of her neck and gave a gentle squeeze.
“Jalan said that their suit was the fifth suit in two years.” Shard touched her cheek and then trailed his finger down to the dipping neckline of her altered flight suit. “You didn’t lose any of the cases.”
“I didn’t buy the judges. There are hundreds of judges that rule on lawsuits in Galactic Civil Court. I never used anyone as a model for my games. I can’t help it if some of my characters resemble living people.” She felt a wave of arousal wash through her from that simple touch. “Are you friends with those two men?”
“Very good friends,” Kaleb whispered. His smile sent chills racing down her spine. “Get moving. We still have a few packs to pick up and you have to show us your ship.”
“You don’t need the money from Central Command now. You have more than one woman could ever hope to spend. Why are you still working for them?” Shard kept pace beside her as she moved swiftly through the forest.
“How would you know what my financial situation is?” She shot a perplexed look over at them. He was right, but he shouldn’t have any information about her assets. “You just learned who I was.”
“We’ve been looking at L.C. Cadian’s finances for proof of the payoffs.” Kaleb shrugged. “Most of the Santir Confederation has been conducting an unofficial boycott of your games.”
She rolled her eyes. Keeping the balance of justice was a basic part of Santir and shifter culture. It didn’t surprise her that they’d been trying to gain some form of vengeance, even if it was economic. “I was…bored, just doing my designing and such. I liked the challenge of completing a difficult assignment.”
“We’ll ensure that you don’t find yourself bored. You’ll have to learn to live without the extra income, because you won’t be working for Central Command again.” Shard’s hand stroked over her ass in a lingering caress.
She finally picked up the last pack and began leading the men to her shuttle. She walked into the clearing where her Sendar 4 was cloaked. She asked for the equipment taken from her pocket. She selected a thin, flat, square device and entered a code. A ripple pulsed across the clearing and the Sendar 4 shimmered into visibility.
“A Sendar.” Kaleb’s eyes ran covetously over the large, advanced shuttlecraft. “You own this?”
“Yes.” Lina resisted an impulse to snap out a sarcastic reply. She’d brought them here as they had asked.
“You’re the only one who uses this shuttle? You came alone?” Suspicion heavily laced Shard’s deep voice.
“Yes, I came alone.” She tapped her foot. The arrogant demands were getting old. “The single- and even the double-occupant shuttles were so cramped—little more than just the seats in a cockpit. It felt too crowded in them, even with only me. I did sometime
s have to rescue people for Central Command. Getting the Sendar gave me room to relax and work and space for more than one extra person.”
At a touch on the little pad in her hand, stairs descended from the large, gray shuttle, and a hatch opened along its side. She took a step forward, but Shard held her back with a restraining hand on her shoulder.
“Jaksen and Marit will search it and secure it before you step back on board.” Shard instructed with a hard glance down at her.
He waited tensely to see if she had told the truth. She could practically feel the tiron within him pacing and snarling at the thought of her working with someone else, of her lying to him.
“It’s all clear, Ardin. Her scent and her belongings are the only ones on this ship.” Jaksen appeared at the hatch as he gave his report. “This is nice. It’s easily apparent that she has been living on the ship.”
Shard nodded and urged her toward the ship. “Don’t think that we’ve finished discussing your lawsuit penchant. You still have much to explain and you owe Lido and Jalan an apology.”
“An apology!” She was astonished at this demand. “But they sued me. I didn’t go after them or even ask any damages from them.”
Kaleb climbed the stairs in front of her. Shard was right behind her, his hand at the small of her back. She walked over to one side of the shuttle and sat down on a lowered bunk as they began investigating the interior of the ship. Clean clothes tumbled out of a bag on the bunk beside her and she pushed them back into the bag.
The Sendar 4 was known for the space and versatility it offered to the user. She used the auto-prep for food for the most part, but there were appliances for manual preparation. The bunk she was sitting on could fold up into the wall as the others were. She had four seats set up in the shuttle, but up to five rows of four seats could be raised and unfolded from the compartments beneath the floor. Stations could be constructed in moments when needed. Near the back, a small closet enclosed a cleansing area.
“Now where is your proof?” Kaleb sat down in the pilot’s seat and raised his brows.
Her jaw dropped open. “I don’t carry it with me. It’s in a secure safe at my home.”
“Where is your home?” Shard’s voice was a harsh growl. His brows lowered and scowled at her. He moved over behind the chair Kaleb was sitting in and almost absently stroked his hands over Kaleb’s shoulders.
He apparently didn’t like her using that word in association with a place away from him. “I have a house on a planet called Mical in Common Space.” She chose her words with care as she gave them the address. “It’s in the Destira district.”
“Very good.” Kaleb flicked a couple of the switches to the on position, activating monitors. “We’ll get the details on where the safe is and how to open it later. Show us how you watched us.”
She stood and walked over to them. Activating the vid, she switched between various angles. They seemed fascinated by it. She thought they were probably trying to work out just where the cameras were.
“Did you see anything interesting while you were watching us?” Shard asked.
“Many interesting things. I was very intrigued. Sometimes I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen.” She leaned back against the wall and smiled smugly. She knew the question had been offhand, that they didn’t really expect anything out of the ordinary. They were too engrossed with the Sendar to think too intently about what she could have seen. She was still angry enough with them over the ordered apology to enlighten them.
“What kind of things did you see?” Kaleb leaned forward to study one of the displays.
Irritation niggled at her. Lina frowned. She was actually a little jealous about all the attention they were giving the Sendar. It didn’t make any sense. She’d just met them and not to mention that it was a machine. The two men being distracted might just be a good thing.
“You have a nice ass. Do you sunbathe naked or is your entire body naturally that color?” She brought one leg up and hooked her arms around it, wondering how long it would take them to realize just what she’d said and where she would have seen their naked butts.
It took only a moment, the time to draw in a breath. Both men swung around to face her. Kaleb gaped at her.
“Where did you see his ass?” Shard growled.
“You two play some interesting games with each other.” She licked her lips, enjoying their astonishment. “Your ass is just as nice as his in case you wanted know.”
Shard stalked over to her and leaned in close, his lips in a straight line, his eyes stern. She knew it was supposed to be intimidating to get her to stop teasing them, but she knew she didn’t have anything to fear from him physically.
“And did you enjoy what you saw?” Kaleb smiled.
He seemed to be taking the revelation much easier than Shard. She thought she heard a teasing note in his voice.
“Oh, very much. At first I couldn’t believe it when you pounced at him…” She let her finger trail slowly down her thigh. Just thinking about them in that field made her hungry again. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything so erotic before in my life.”
“Well, sometimes, he needs to see that he doesn’t always have to be in control and I like surprising him.” Kaleb winked. “But you’re right. He does have a nice ass.”
“I can handle the surprising him part.” She shrugged and looked up at Shard through her lashes.
“You can certainly do that. And now we know that you like watching us.” Shard gripped her hand and drew her off the bed.
“Hey, if you don’t want to be watched, don’t have sex in an open field. Anybody could have seen. I’m sure a few of the women at the researchers’ camp wouldn’t have minded watching it.” She shrugged, refusing to let him embarrass her over watching them. “Maybe next time, I’ll invite a few others to watch it.”
“Since you’ll be involved next time, I don’t think so.” Shard drew her over to the controls. “We still have a few more questions you can answer.”
Calmly, she answered their questions, explained why none of their sensors could detect her when she was outside the Sendar. When they were satisfied she’d answered their questions, they took the two pilots’ seats. Lina blinked and her stomach lurched at the thought of letting them behind the controls of her ship. She stood and strode to the chair. Putting her hand on one of the seats, she turned it before they could activate any of the controls.
“No.” She shook her head. For all she knew, they could have only recently started flying. They were Ardin. They had people to do things for them.
Shard’s brow rose. “No?”
“You’re not piloting my ship anywhere. Move. I’ll take us up to your ship.” She planted her feet and braced a hand on her hip. They’d won all the other battles, but they weren’t even getting a chance to crash her ship. She wasn’t giving in on this.
“Yes, we are. We’re capable pilots.” Kaleb laughed.
“Maybe you are capable, but I’ve never seen you fly so much as a cargo shuttle. Do you know how much this thing costs?” She raised her chin.
“We know it’s very expensive. You’re now part of this thent and we share our assets.” Kaleb’s voice hardened.
“I have no problem sharing. I have a problem with letting you crash us into a mountain,” she grated, getting a little angrier with every word. Why couldn’t they understand how she felt?
Shard’s head tilted as he looked at her. She felt like he was trying to pick through her thoughts. She knew he couldn’t read her mind, but the way he was staring at her still unnerved her.
“You can pilot your craft up to the ship. Kaleb will be your copilot.” Shard stood and walked back to take a seat on the bed.
Lina piloted the Sendar up to the ship and followed them into the bay. Curious, she would have loved to explore the vessel, but she wasn’t given time to look around the large ship. First, they escorted her to the physician. On the way, she only saw the light cream walls and the dark carpetin
g of various hallways and a lift. They left her with the physician as the man began to remove the implant that interfered with scanning technology. She knew they were probably arranging for the formal bonding ceremony while they were doing whatever else they had to do. They wouldn’t waste even a few hours. By the time they returned, the physician had given her a full physical.
When they returned, Shard and Kaleb wore dress uniforms. The black jackets had white edging, green inlay and green symbols stitched on the shoulder. Underneath the jackets lay brilliant white shirts. Black pants and polished black boots finished off their uniforms. Lina felt underdressed standing between them as they spoke with the physician.
After leaving medical, Shard and Kaleb escorted her through more gray-carpeted, cream-walled hallways to double doors. The doors opened silently onto a large hall filled with people, likely one of the dining halls. Every head in the room turned and the murmuring crowd grew quiet. She swallowed hard. She felt out of place. In the relatively short time they’d been gone, she hadn’t expected something like this to have been put together. Or for so many people to be here. For a moment, the urge to run right out of the room almost overwhelmed her.
A path opened through the throng. Thick, gray carpeting padded their path to an older man in green and white robes. This must be the chatar, the wise man, the priest of the thent. Kaleb and Shard curved an arm around her as they arrived before the robed man.
“We come together to celebrate a new addition to our pack and the joining of the Ardin to their chosen mate. The bond between true mates is sacred and unmistakable. When a true mate is found, it is indeed a blessing,” the man with the gray-streaked black hair intoned. “The Ardin will now make their vows to their Lady.”
Shard and Kaleb turned to face her.
Shard brushed his thumb over the material above her ribs. “I pledge to you my devotion, Lina. You will be my Lady, my lover, mother to my children and my wife. In this, you have my sacred vow.”
Kaleb repeated the vow Shard had made and after a pause recited his own addition. “I will protect you, Lina. Your safety will always be placed before my own. As long as there is breath in my body, you will come first. You have my sacred vow.”
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