Unsurprised by the results of his probe, Xave snorted. “Right.”
“For your information, Xavier, I had no intention of asking you to leave Stone Cold.”
Xave blinked.
“I do think you need to take a break, though.”
“A break?”
“A short vacation from active pursuit, not a pleasure cruise through the Helix system. Surely you can survive that.”
“What am I supposed to do during this short break?”
“It would be an opportune time to break in your new partner.”
A partner? Xave was certain the man was kidding, except that Warrick didn’t kid. Ever. Bondsmen were loners. It was part of the way they functioned. They worked together on occasion, usually when mission overlapped by being in the same area by chance or when someone needed backup for a tricky inmate. But they didn’t operate on the buddy system. They didn’t even socialize in their free time.
What game was Warrick playing?
“You want me to train some green bondsmen while on a break?” Xave asked.
“Yes.”
“And who is this lucky individual I’ll be initiating?”
Warrick leaned back in his chair, an actual smile twitching at one corner of his mouth. “Tavish.”
“Tavish?”
“Surely you can see by now that she’s got a certain knack for the work.”
“I guess so, sure. But I still have to go back to Janus 5 and beat her freedom out of Louie.” Xave’s voice grew tight. “She hasn’t come out of Meddac yet either.”
“Tavish is one of us now, Xave. I take care of my own.” Warrick slid a holo-pad across the desk.
The image contained an official document releasing Tavish from her bond at Fat Louie’s. An addendum notified her that her Alliance-issued prostitution license was no longer valid. A grim smile twisted Xave’s features. None of that was any problem for him. But the final decisions rested with Tavish. She’d earned the right to choose her own future.
Xave lifted his gaze to Warrick. “Assuming Tavish agrees, dare I ask what this is going to cost me?”
Warrick’s penetrating stare ate through Xave’s composure. “We have the same goal. I only ask that you stay long enough to see it through to the end.”
“No matter what that might be.”
Warrick’s nod was barely perceptible. “Doc has just released Tavish. She seems fine. She wasn’t opposed to the idea of working with you, even though I casually reminded her of your tendency toward bullheadedness.”
Xave didn’t wait around to hear the rest of Warrick’s diatribe on his character flaws. Pushing away from the wall, he exited the office with a few lengthy strides and made it halfway down the corridor before he caught a whiff of Tavish’s distinctive scent behind him.
Pivoting, he found himself struck silent by the sight of her. A part of him had been afraid he’d never see her again. But there she stood, having survived against the odds, as she had her whole life.
“Hey.” Her voice was soft, uncertain.
She had dressed in another green shirt, a pair of nondescript, low-riding pants, and boots. Her dark red hair hung loose. It fell halfway down her back, a few locks slipping over her shoulder to rest against the curve of one firm breast. She had a slight hitch in her step, as if her side was stiff and a little sore. But her green eyes sparkled when she met his gaze.
He reached out and snagged her hands, wanting to feel the warmth of her living skin. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Still don’t think I’m tough enough, do you?”
“No, Tav, I know you are. It’s me who folded under the pressure.”
“What pressure?”
“The pressure of never seeing you again, of never saying those words to you again.”
She tilted her head mischievously. “Which words would you be referring to?”
He lifted her arms, locking her hands behind his neck and lowering his face until their foreheads touched. “I love you, Tavish.”
“I love you too, Xave.”
“I’m glad you still admit it.”
“We might as well come clean with each other anyway.”
“Why is that?”
“We’re going to be working together now. With our communication issues, love will be the only thing keeping us from killing each other.”
He chuckled.
“Well, love and mutual acceptance.”
He sighed. “What are we accepting now?”
Her expression sobered. “The past.”
“The past is done with. You don’t belong to Louie anymore. You belong to me.”
“Warrick told me. But I’m talking about your past too.”
He clenched his jaw. She would never understand how it affected him that it didn’t matter to her that his father had been a rogue Gen 8. Xave had functioned his whole life believing himself a biological anomaly who’d never fit in anywhere. A man doomed to roam the known systems like his father, never finding the woman who could complete him.
“You put my past to rest, Tav.”
Her soft smile expressed emotions neither of them had the words to verbalize. He pressed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose.
“Only one thing left, then.”
“Finding the nearest bed?” He swept her into his arms.
“Besides that.”
“I don’t want to think about anything else right now.”
“I need a bondsman-worthy handle, Xave.”
“What’s wrong with Tavish?”
“Nothing, but it needs more.”
He pulled her lower lip into his mouth, sucking until he felt her nipples harden beneath her shirt. “What does it need?”
She reached up and placed her palms on either side of his face. “It needs some wasted syllables at the end. I suppose I could go with Macleod. But who wants to be associated with a pirate? I think I need something a little better.”
He froze.
“I already told Warrick, but I guess I should’ve asked you first. I think Tavish Kovuchenko suits me just fine.”
“Are you proposing?”
She nodded. “Marry me, Xave.
“Uh…well…”
Her broad smile was full of mischief. “I’ll take those wasted syllables as a yes.”
Loose Id(R) Titles by Kaitlin Maitland
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Kaitlin Maitland
Kaitlin Maitland is an avid reader and a rabid horse enthusiast with a love of drama in everyday life. She began writing at the age of twelve after growing tired of waiting for her favorite authors to write sequels. Now she’s scrambling to write her own sequels while keeping up with a variety of exciting new characters and settings. Kaitlin makes her home in the Midwest and while she has yet to travel to a distant planet, she finds plenty of story-inspiring drama close to home.
Find Kaitlin on the Web at http://www.kaitlinmaitland.com.
Table of Contents
About this Title
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Loose Id(R) Titles by Kaitlin Maitland
Kaitlin Maitland
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