by Lori Foster
“Bastard,” Valder raged.
Mallet had to agree.
“He kept me in material comfort, and on occasion, when he thought of having a son, he came to me in the dark. But otherwise, we lived as dear friends.”
Valder charged two steps closer to her. “You should have left him.”
“Perhaps.” She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “But he had sacrificed much for me, and though it broke my heart to know I was in a loveless union, it battered my pride more so that he showed little discretion. Many knew he was unfaithful, that I could not … keep him happy.”
“You felt indebted to him,” Mallet said, stating the obvious.
“Yes.” She gave another flickering glance toward Kayli. “And had I left him, my father would have taken it as a personal slight. Such was not done, not by the daughter of an Arbiter.” She twisted her hands together, and her voice trembled. “As my father aged, his health failed him, and that only made his temper more volatile.”
Valder thumped a fist to his chest. “I would have protected you. I would have taken you in union.”
Raemay bit her lip and struggled with her emotions. “You were wonderful, Valder. You were there when I needed you most and I will always love you for that.”
For such a sturdy man, Valder almost staggered at the mention of love.
“But,” Raemay continued, “you are a dictator in your own right. No woman in your colony can serve in a position of power. For you, women are there to be protected and pampered, unable to make their own decisions, limited in the destinies they can fulfill.” Tears spilled over. “For you, they are still second-class citizens.”
Seeing Valder ready to explode, Mallet stepped between them. “If what she says is true, then she has a point, Valder. Get with the times, man. Women are equals.”
He didn’t agree. “They are smaller, more delicate. They are not physically or emotionally equipped to endure the hardships of—”
“I’d stop right there if I were you,” Mallet warned. He didn’t bother looking at Kayli or Raemay; he already knew how those independent women would feel about Valder’s sexist attitude.
“It is our way to protect, to treasure our women!” he avowed. And then he demanded, “What would you have me do? Put women at risk as Raemay has done?”
So much now made sense to Mallet—Raemay’s determination that women could be the aggressor, should be capable of defending themselves. And the strict moral code she’d instituted … it had come straight from her own shattered nobility. “If I were you, I’d try a little compromise.”
“Compromise?” To a leader like Valder, the idea appeared foreign.
“Come on, man.” If at all possible, Mallet hoped to save Valder from himself. “You do know what it means, don’t you? You give a little, Raemay gives a little.”
Valder eyed Mallet head to toe—and made note when Kayli came forward to stand at his side, silently agreeing with him, backing him up. “You would do this?”
“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing?” He put his arm around Kayli and landed a quick kiss to her temple. “You think I liked seeing Kayli in battle with you? Fuck no. It took everything I had to keep from taking over, which would have included killing you.”
“I did not hurt her.”
Mallet grinned. “No, as I recall, she worked you over pretty damned good—and that was before you realized she was your daughter, so don’t tell me you ‘let’ her do it.”
Valder’s mouth tipped into a crooked smile. “She took me off guard more than once.” He touched his swollen nose, now discolored with bruises and dried blood. “She is faster and stronger than expected.”
“Pride, Valder?” Maybe there was hope for him after all. “For a female warrior?”
“Pride for my daughter,” Valder charged, not yet willing to admit to anything more. Then his eyes closed with renewed pain. “God in heaven, when I think of what might have happened to her …”
“It was your men I saw bloodied and limping, not the defense team—which until very recently was all female,” Mallet pointed out. “Don’t get me wrong, the new male recruits are coming along, but they’re not up to snuff yet. Without the women, the defense team wouldn’t be nearly so effective.”
“But how do you bear it?” Valder asked Mallet with feeling. “If you care for her—”
“Care for her? Hell man, I’d lose the use of my legs again to keep her baby toe safe. But her independence and the defense of her colony are important to her, and that makes them important to me.” He gave Valder a long look. “And let me tell you, it’s a hell of a lot easier than going two decades without her.”
Valder slowly nodded. “Point taken.”
Kayli pushed back from Mallet to stare at him. “So you really do love me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Why do you look so surprised, baby? I’ve told you so a dozen times.”
“No,” she accused, frowning at him as her hands fisted in his shirt. “You have only said that you love things about me.”
“Everything about you,” he corrected. Catching her by the waist, he lifted her up so he could plant a thorough kiss on her mouth. Regardless of what happened between Raemay and Valder, he wanted them to know that Kayli was his and he wouldn’t be giving her up. “I even love your take-charge personality. The only problem is that it clashes with my take-charge personality. I guess we need to work on that, huh?”
She hung limp in his arms, her expression still dazed, bewildered. And happy. Slowly, she smiled. “Truly, you love me?”
Mallet laughed. “Woman, you’re the one who has a problem with that word, not me. What the hell did you think? That I support your life as Claviger because I enjoy seeing you charge off into conflicts?”
“I know that you do not.”
Mallet laughed at the dry way she said that. “It kills me a little to even think about it. But for you, it’s worth it.” He kissed her again, lingering just long enough to tease, but not so long that he embarrassed her. Too much. “For you, I’d do anything—and that includes protecting you when I think it’s necessary, even when it pisses you off.”
Astounded, Raemay lifted a hand toward Mallet. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, you understand.”
“Understands what?” Valder asked.
But it was Mallet who answered. “The overwhelming need to protect those I cherish most, regardless of the consequences.”
Raemay nodded. “As Arbiter, I could ensure that my daughters had every opportunity. I could help other women in so many ways.” She stared regretfully at Valder. “But none of that would have been possible if you knew Kayli was your daughter.”
“Because I would have claimed her,” Valder said. He tangled a hand in his hair, caught between anger over what he’d lost and a struggle to understand Raemay’s reasoning. “I assume that’s why she could not inherit.”
Keeping her head down, her shoulders heavy with guilt, Raemay said, “Even after Danta died, I had to ensure Kayli was not heir. As such, she would have gone to the Cosmos Confederation.”
“She has very unique coloring. My coloring.”
Raemay acknowledged that with a small smile at her daughter. “From the time she was a young girl, she looked so much like you, Valder. Others would have noticed the resemblance. It would have only been a matter of time before word reached you. It scared me so much, not knowing what you would do.”
With no hesitation at all, Valder said, “I would have come for both of you.”
“But it was not just Kayli and me. I had two other daughters by then, and a duty to my colony. Many people would have been shocked and shamed by my less than respectable behavior with you.”
“No.” Kayli smiled at her mother. “I believe you are more critical of yourself than others would be if they knew the whole truth.”
Her generosity and understanding pleased Mallet, and it nearly crumbled the last of Raemay’s defenses. She covered her face with her hands, but only for a second. Then she
squared her shoulders and faced the repercussions to her actions. “I made many mistakes and I know it, but I’ve tried to correct them.”
Agonized, Valder went to her. “What happened that brought you to me that first night?”
Showing less tension now, her voice soft, Raemay wiped away the last of her tears. “For many days, I had noticed you. You were so attentive, always flirting with me, flattering me.”
Valder took her hands. “I fell for you the very first time I saw you.”
In Kayli’s ear, Mallet whispered, “I know the feeling.”
She smiled at him.
“Earlier that day one of my meetings was canceled. I returned to my quarters and found Danta with one of his lovers. I reacted out of anger, hurt. I knew it was wrong, knew I had no future with you. But I needed to feel … wanted. I needed to know that I was still a woman.”
Valder swallowed hard. “You spent two months with me.”
“Because you were so tempting, and being with you was the happiest I’d ever been. I thought of breaking union. I thought of a life with you. Danta did not come after me, and I assumed he would not mind. My father was so very sick, I knew he could not hurt me again. But then … I got news that Father had passed and I was heir and … grand plans formed.”
He dropped her hands. “Plans to leave me.”
“Plans to protect the women of my colony. Plans to protect all women from the hurt I’d suffered, both physical and emotional. Danta had his own obligations to the colony, and other than the occasional attempt at siring a son, he left me to do as I pleased. I had dishonored myself enough, so if Danta had not been killed in that terrible accident, I would be with him still.”
“How did he die?” Valder asked.
“A freak explosion in space incinerated his vessel. He and all of his crew were lost. It was not long after Mesha was born. Though he treated the girls well, I knew that he was unhappy that I’d had yet another daughter instead of a son.”
Valder braced himself. “You grieved for him?”
“Yes. He had become more a supportive friend than a life mate. Mostly,” she confessed with sadness, “I grieved for what I would never have.”
Valder stood mere inches in front of her. “When I chanced upon your whereabouts, when I discovered that you had married, that you had children of your own … You can not know what that knowledge did to me.”
“I’d say that it made you stupid,” Mallet interjected. “Only a fool would get even with a woman by using other women.”
Kayli nodded. “It was not a good plan.”
Valder didn’t take offense. “True.” He shared a self-deprecating smile. “Though I had wanted you to think otherwise, my actions were not all motivated by revenge.” He put his hands on his hips and paced a little. “My colony is in need of females.”
“You don’t say.” Mallet quirked a brow at Raemay. “That’s kind of serendipitous, isn’t it, considering your colony is short on guys?”
Cautious now, Raemay said, “I suppose that it is.”
Valder again took her hands in his. “I would like to see if …” His voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “I believe we can … fix this. Compromise, yes? That’s what your visitor suggests. If we sit down and talk, is it possible that we can find a middle ground?”
Raemay drew in a deep breath, her expression a mix of hope and worry. “It would not be easy. As Arbiter, I have many duties. My colony relies on me. I don’t know that I can give up everything I have worked so hard for.”
“I would.” Kayli put her arms around Mallet’s neck and stared up into his eyes. “For my man, I would give up everything, because I love him, too.”
Inside, Mallet’s stomach dropped, but outside, he pretended to falter on his feet. “Woman! You said the word.”
“Love,” she said again, enunciating clearly, half laughing. “I love you very much, Michael Manchester, and if my father had not chosen this morning to attack us, I would have told you so.”
Damn, but she could take his knees out so easily. “Say it again.”
“I love you. I want you to be happy. If you need me to give up my position as Claviger—”
To cut off that offer, Mallet kissed her hard and didn’t want to stop. But he had her mother and father both watching him, so he lifted his head and smiled at her. “No, Kayli. All I need is for you to love me. We’ll work out everything else.”
Valder came forward to slap Mallet on the shoulder. “Formal introductions have gone awry, but I hope it’s not too late to say that I am pleased my daughter has found you.”
“And it wasn’t easy,” Mallet told him, “considering she had to travel back through time.”
Confused, Valder frowned over that, until Raemay said, “I am most pleased, too. At first, his attraction to her nearly panicked me. I knew that if he pursued her, she would become more noticeable to others.”
“To me,” Valder said.
“Yes. I have some deeply ingrained reservations about large, powerful men. But when I saw how happy Michael made my daughter, I started to doubt many of my decisions. He’s bigger than you, Valder, and every bit as dominant, but he takes great care with Kayli’s feelings.”
Valder went to one knee in front of her. “I would care for your feelings, too.”
Kayli squeezed Mallet again. “I think we are proof, Mother, that love can temper longtime beliefs. I never thought something could be more important to me than my position as Claviger. But compared to what I feel for Michael, it is nothing.”
Mallet grinned. Damn, but he’d never get used to hearing her say that. “You see, Valder? Compromise pays off.”
Raemay touched Valder’s jaw. “I don’t know how you could ever forgive me.”
Valder smiled. “I searched the galaxy for you, woman. Do you think I created that colony next door by accident? Do you think I stumbled across you by chance? It was destiny. We are meant to be together.”
Mallet glanced at Kayli, saw that she was smiling now, too. “Yeah, I think Kayli and I will mosey on and let the two of you hash things out.”
“Wait.” Valder, still clinging to a silent Raemay’s hands, turned to his daughter. “I owe you much.”
“No.”
“You are my daughter. And I’m so very proud of you. More proud than I can say. My chest wants to burst when I look at you.”
Kayli laughed with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, but you have other things on your mind right now. You and I can … catch up later.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.” She tipped her head. “I’m most curious about you. If you and your men would like to stay over, we can accommodate you easily. Just let me know.”
Raemay said, “I could make the arrangements.”
And Valder, pleased at Raemay’s interest in keeping him around, grinned at them.
When he started to say more, Mallet shook his head. “Later, Valder. One hurdle at a time.” He winked. “Right now, I want a moment alone with my lady.”
THE moment alone took over two hours to get. On their way to privacy, they got waylaid by the colony members who needed reassurance that all was well. Mallet stood back and let Kayli do her thing, putting all at ease.
She really was terrific in the role of leader.
Then Toller, Valder’s good friend and apparently only one of a few who knew of the torch he carried, wanted to know how he fared with Raemay. Mallet wasn’t one to gossip, so he said only, “If you trust him, that should be enough, right?”
Kayli added as an aside, “My mother is much touched by his sincerity.”
Toller grinned at that and went off with Nayana.
Before they could leave, they saw Idola making eyes at a man who didn’t preen for her, didn’t fall at her feet. But he made his interest clear.
“I can’t believe it,” Kayli said. “Idola looks much smitten.”
“Must be something in the air today, huh?” Mallet squeezed her close and said, “Now, for a little privacy
…”
“Wait!” Mesha ran up to let them know that she hoped to form her own union very soon because it was all so romantic how theirs had worked out.
Beside her, Dormius held her hand and stared at her with adoration.
Mallet looked at Kayli, but she appeared as much at a loss as he was. “I think that’s one for Raemay to figure out.” He tugged Mesha in for a quick hug. “Just don’t do anything right now, okay?”
Dormius, the little rascal, blushed, but Mesha chuckled. “Do not worry, sir. Now go. We’ve held you up long enough.”
Mallet looked up at the sky and said, “Hauk?”
“Where to, Mallet?”
“Anyplace where we won’t be interrupted.”
In a blink, he found himself alone with Kayli near the lake. The sun was high overhead. Wildflowers dipped and swayed in the breeze. Water lapped the shoreline while the surface twinkled like a million diamonds.
Kayli sat on a boulder and watched him. “I love you.”
Mallet smiled as he removed his shirt. “One more time.”
She pulled off her boots. “I love you. More than anything.”
When he was naked, Mallet went to her and helped her finish undressing. “Will you tell me that every day?”
“Yes.”
“At least twice a day?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
Not to press his luck, but … “Any reason it took you so long?”
“Many reasons, but they all seem most insignificant now.”
Pensive, Mallet took her hand and they waded waist deep into the water. He pushed back her pale hair, held her face, and kissed her incredible mouth.
It was a peaceful moment that filled him with too many emotions. “Kayli, love, I’d like it if you shared the reasons with me anyway.”
“Okay.” Dipping her hands under the water, she found him. “I feared that I would not keep you happy.”
“I love you.” He closed his eyes. “Of course you make me happy—especially when you do things like that.”