by Kim Knox
Scar took his hand. “My champion.”
“Always.”
But that wasn’t true and they both knew it.
“I thought you’d abandoned me.” Rochester smiled and waved his fluted glass at them. A hint of censure lurked in his clear gaze and Scar knew they’d get chewed out once they were alone with him. “Where have you been?”
Scar put on the practiced smile her etiquette tutors had beaten into her. “Tyler was helping me with something. Time ran away from us.”
“Really?” Rochester’s gaze dropped and then his eyes narrowed. “Helping you?”
Scar was aware of standing close to Tyler. They didn’t touch, but her skin prickled at the proximity of her hand to his. “Yes.” She glanced around, judging the press of surrounding people. She couldn’t tell her boss the truth, not there. “It’s…complicated.”
“Yes,” Rochester drawled. “Everything with you always is.” He broke eye contact and stared around him. “Now…” his hand brushed her arm to turn her, “…who can you introduce me to first?”
“Don’t touch her, Iain.”
Tyler’s low snarl whipped a sharp frisson under her skin. Scar closed her eyes and willed down the need to throw Tyler on his back. “He’s right.” She stepped back, away from Rochester’s touch. Tyler wrapped his arm strong and secure around her waist, pulling her against him. Her tail wrapped tight around the back of his leg. “We can’t help this.”
Rochester stared at her, disbelief cutting across his features. “You’ve done something to him. I thought as much.” He shook his head. “Never mind. I’m here to work this room. Let’s go.”
Tyler dropped his arm and let Scar move forward. The press of his body still shadowed her back. She wanted nothing more than to get out of the stupid reception, drag Tyler back to her room, and securely lock the door. She pushed down the images of what they could then do…no, she needed to keep a clear head.
She smiled and led Rochester to the insipid Governor of Delta-Caeli-5. The small man twirled a goblet of wine and stared out over the darkening lawns. Scar kept up on her international politics; her mother had instilled it from a young age. Maliese held together a shaky government, ripe for someone like her boss. She wanted Rochester’s good grace again. His fleecing of the little man would go someway to appeasing him. “Governor Maliese, may I introduce Iain Rochester, my employer.”
The governor smiled and extended a thin hand, on which glittered a brilliant yellow diamond. Yes, she’d gauged Rochester’s weakness. He took the man’s hand, performed a formal bow and it brought him close to the stone. Scar caught the glitter in his eyes. Rochester straightened. “Your Honour,” he murmured. “It is a pleasure.”
The governor gave them a narrow smile, while his gaze flicked over them. “Your employer, Ms Myers?”
“Mr. Rochester can explain what he does better than I.”
Rochester gave the governor a shining white smile and Scar held down a smirk. Rochester waved at a server and plied the man with a fresh drink. He’d already started the charm offensive.
She started at Tyler’s warm breath close to her ear. “Well done,” he murmured. “You just made Iain a very happy man.” His lips brushed against the skin. “Should I be jealous? Is it allowed that you satisfy someone else?”
Despite the humour, his words ended on a rough growl that had her face flushing. She turned her head, her voice just above a whisper. “I must serve my employer however I can.”
“Scar…” His low rumble had her heart thudding. “Don’t make me punish you.”
“Here, in front of everyone?” His hand took a hot and tight hold on her hip, his fingers pressed into her bare flesh. Liquid heat pooled low in her belly. The bonding screwed with her head, but she didn’t care. Couldn’t care. “Where everyone could see me? Oh, wouldn’t that be fun.”
His hand slid over her pelvis, stroking her skin in a slow rhythm. “It’s bad enough that you only have a few strips of hide covering you.” His rough fingertips teased lower and Scar bit her lip. “That I’ve seen everyone looking at what belongs to me—”
“You?” There was enough doubt in her voice to move his fingers beneath the thin hide, to have them curl and—
“What are you doing?”
An unfamiliar hand grabbed her arm and dragged her from Tyler’s hold. Scar stared up at the hard face of her father and anger swelled. Her mother had shown her an image of him and his sharp features were burned into her memory. He was older now, with jowls thickening his jaw and neck, but she recognised his cold, green eyes.
“Get off me.” She wrenched her arm free, her words met with Tyler’s warning growl. Tyler settled his hands on her shoulders, drawing her back to him. She stared at Kajetan Vall. “You have no right to be here.”
Kajetan laughed, the sound rasping. “No fancy lying by your mother will change what has to happen.” He looked behind her, but Scar refused to turn. His gaze returned to her. “You don’t really think fucking this mongrel will sour your mating, do you?”
Chapter Six
“Kajetan.” Andra’s cool voice smoothed over Scar. “We had an agreement.”
“For me to be put out like a dog?” His gaze seared over Tyler, and Scar felt him stiffen in response. “So that you could do this?”
“What’s done is done.” Andra put her hand on Kajetan’s arm and he flinched. Hatred burned over his face. Her mother’s cool expression didn’t change. “We should discuss this somewhere more private. Your honour is at stake.”
“My honour.” Kajetan’s eyes were little more than slits. “You took that from me twenty-five years ago.”
Her mother’s political smile slipped into place, the deadly one that had grown men running in terror. Scar smothered her grin. “And twenty-five years ago I didn’t have the might of Oliver Myers behind me. So…” her fingers tightened on the hard leather of his sleeve and the hide creaked, “…somewhere private. Now, Kajetan.”
Andra’s gaze flicked back to Scar. “Go.”
“But…”
Her mother stared at Tyler, stared at him with a look that had Scar’s face flushing in anger. “Of course, if you’re tired of him…”
Rage burned up from her gut and her hands tightened into fists. How dare she—
Tyler’s hands on her arms stopped her from striking out. She swallowed the surge of anger. “Don’t.” Scar pulled herself free of him and lifted her hand, one that still shook from the strength of her sudden fury. “Don’t do that.”
“I underestimated how raw your bond is. It’s not safe.” Her smile was wry and she tugged on Kajetan’s sleeve. “For any of us.”
Her father’s face darkened and his hard green eyes fixed on Tyler. He resisted Andra’s attempt to pull him from the drawing room. “You’re just going to let him take her?”
Tyler’s hand slid possessively over her hip. “She’s already mine.”
The words almost had Scar melting against him. Desire flared and she turned away, her hand tight around his. Too much talking and seriously not enough time with Tyler naked and buried deep inside her. Heat pooled and her flesh started to ache. She pushed her way through the slowly mingling crowd, ignoring the complaining mutters. She offered no apology. Tyler had declared her his in front of her parents. Something about that had her Caraniae half in turmoil. Lust-fuelled adrenalin pushed her body into riot, her nerves stretching. She needed to run. Tyler had to prove his claim. He needed to catch her.
Finally, she broke free of the room and, with a smirk at Tyler, she took to the stairs.
“Scar?”
She stopped and gave him a feral grin. A split second later, he echoed it. He surged forward. Scar ran.
At the top of the stairs, she turned back on herself and found the narrow service access that ran the length of the house. Some part of her knew she was being insane. Instead of doing this she could be very happily naked with Tyler in the comfort of her own room. But her non-human genes overrode any sensible thought.
This was the next part of the ritual. She ached for woodland and fresh earth beneath her feet, but the polished wood of the narrow stairs would have to do.
The door two flights beneath her slammed and someone took the stairs three at a time. Her heart pounded. “Is that you, Rilean?”
Tyler’s responding snarl had her laughing. She escaped to the second floor and tore across the open landing to the maze of bedrooms. At the far end of the house was another set of stairs. Startled staff leapt out of her path. She heard them cry out behind her and she had to see.
Breathing hard, she leaned against the doorjamb to the other service stairs. She looked back along the narrow, shadowed corridor. She could hear his feet pounding in a fast, even rhythm over the thick carpet. His breathing was as controlled. She had to see him, had to know the man who wanted to claim her. Light from a wall lantern splashed over him. The fierce, predatory twist to Tyler’s face had her heart in her throat and her flesh tight.
“Scar…”
The word scalded her. She slammed the door and ran. More stairs and she burst out onto the third floor, almost slamming into the rail that surrounded the great transparent dome. She tried to steady herself…but then Tyler was there. Still not breathing hard, his gaze burning with anger and need. Scar backed into the rail, her hands gripping it tight.
Tyler moved forward, sliding his hands over hers. “Do I need to restrain you?”
Scar gasped, her green eyes darkening. “I’ll fight you.”
She pressed her pelvis against his and watched the strain on his face as he had to force his eyes open. The insanity of the chase still pounded through her blood…and through him. His parted mouth, the little pulse jumping in his temple screamed it at her. He’d staked his claim to her…and she’d run from him. Now he’d caught her.
“You’re mine, Scar,” he said, both of them, she knew, enjoying that fact. He pulled his gaze away from hers and stared around the corridor that curved around the dome. “One of these has to be a bedroom.”
“Am I yours? Really?”
With a snarl at her impudence, he lifted her and threw her over his shoulder in one fluid movement. Scar pummelled his back with hard fists, but Tyler simply ignored her and pulled in a breath. Her scent. Scar’s nails dug into her palms. It got them into so much trouble. Her heart jumped as he kicked at the nearest door and stalked into a small bedroom.
An overly ornate bed dominated the room. Sunlight cut across the floor from the long, narrow windows and striped the bed’s silk covers. Tyler flopped Scar onto the deep mattress. He frowned and then casually began to tear strips from the gold silk.
Tyler crawled along her body, the brush of his clothes against her bare, sensitised skin making her suck in a quick breath. His fingers teased up her forearm, a strip of silk stroking over her. He tied the first strip around her wrist and secured her to the bedpost. “You know what I’m going to do with you,” he murmured, his lips brushing the shell of her ear.
“I won’t let you.”
His calloused fingertips ran along the underside of her other arm, grinning as she expelled a sharp breath. “You have no choice. I caught you.” A silk band around her other wrist stretched her arm taut to the mattress. “You belong to me.”
Her expression grew contemptuous. “I’m still dressed, Tyler.”
“Easily fixed,” he said.
He slid back down her body and bound first one ankle and then the other with more silk. Tyler stood back and grinned at her. Frustration ran hot through her belly as he stared at her body, spread out before him. What the hell was he doing?
Scar tested her strength against her ties, feeling Tyler’s hot, dark eyes on her as she strained. “Just going to watch me?” she asked, her voice thick with sarcasm. Her body ached for him again. It was insane…but it couldn’t be denied.
Scar’s heart pounded as a knife glittered in Tyler’s hand. Fear and arousal fought within her. Damn her Caraniae genes. “Where did you get that?”
“Never leave the ship without it.” He bit down on the hilt as he stripped out of his suit and pulled off his shirt. Scar swallowed. She’d never tire of seeing his smoothly muscled body. He held the knife again. “Special issue from the Corps, almost undetectable.” His smile was sly. “I never know when I’ll need it.”
The blade slid a cold caress against her leg, followed by the rip of bleached hide. More slices and the warm leather of her costume fell away, just a tattered memory. He traced the knife over the rest of her. She moaned against the scrape of the knife over her tightened nipple.
Stretched out naked before him, Scar couldn’t resist as Tyler played the knife tip back down over the soft curve of her belly to toy with her pubic hair. She gasped at the shock of ice-cold on her hot, over-sensitive flesh, willing herself to stillness.
Cool lips replaced the blade and the knife thudded into the deep carpet. “This is going to kill me,” he murmured, his tongue tracing down to her clitoris. Little precise flicks had her hips twisting.
“Kill you…?” The need to touch him, to shift her legs, her body, had her blood pounding. But he’d claimed her, bound her, literally and that…little sparks danced behind her eyes at the thought…was right. She was so close, so close… Sweet tension tightened her flesh as Tyler’s clever mouth licked and sucked and lapped. The silk ties twisted against her skin, but Tyler didn’t stop. She felt his smile against her and then, as his fingers swept loose patterns over her inner thigh, circling, teasing, he started to hum.
The vibration had her mouth dry, her spine arching.
Just a little more…
His teeth grazed her clitoris and Scar cried out, her orgasm bursting over her in a hot, blistering rush. Trembling, she sank into the mattress, her body limp and the aftershocks still coursing through her muscles. He was good. He was so very good.
With a soft laugh, Tyler licked his way up her damp, shaking body. “Thank you,” he murmured, his finger following the line of her lips.
Scar gave him a wicked grin, the slide of his warm skin over hers exciting her again. “I would have done that with anyone.”
She enjoyed the sudden flare of rage in his face as the bond changed him. His fingers found her pussy, sending a fresh wave of need through her body. “No one else can touch you,” he grated.
Scar shifted her hips as his fingers played her. She crushed her eyes against the flicker of orgasm already searing low in her pelvis. “Every man can touch me, Tyler,” she gasped, hearing her own breathlessness. “Can kiss me. Can fuck me.” She arched against his relentless fingers as they stretched her. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
“There’s this.” Tyler pushed his cock hard into her and she groaned. “No one will have you but me.” He thrust again and light danced before her eyes. “No one.” His mouth burned over hers, so close she could almost taste herself. “I’ll keep you tied to this bed, fuck you, but never let you come.” His grin was wicked. “Then I’ll find one of those nice little maids. You’ll watch and scream at me, curse me…”
Raw anger scorched her and she strained at the silk. “You’re mine,” she rasped.
Tyler’s eyes gleamed. “Am I?”
Scar’s breath was shallow. Every muscle ached to be free of her binds, so that she could throw Tyler on his back and show him how much she owned him. “I’ll get free. Every minute you’ll wonder where I am.” She couldn’t stop the taunts, knowing that her words spurred him on, made him slam into her willing flesh. Fire seared her brain. It was insanity. She couldn’t stop. “And when you find me you’ll taste other men on my skin. Follow their tongues, their mouths, their—”
A blinding orgasm robbed her of her words.
Tyler followed her, groaning her name against her damp, shivering skin. He collapsed across her body, his hand sliding over her slick waist. He slipped a trembling finger between her legs, lifted it to his mouth and sucked it clean. “Nice,” he murmured.
“Tyler, I can’t breathe.”
&nb
sp; “You.” He glared at her and a slow ripple of pleasure eased through her. “Everyone can fuck you?”
She smiled at him and wanted to run her hand over his sweat-damp hair. “All men,” she murmured, “named Antony Tyler.”
“That’s better.” His fingers slid along her arms to loosen her ties. He kissed the reddened skin. “Rough sex again.” His breath cooled the burn. “Sorry.” He undid the ties around her ankles and crawled back into her embrace. He tugged cool sheets over them both.
Scar held him to her breast, her fingers stroking through his hair. His breath stirred gooseflesh over her skin, his hands warm and tight around her waist and their legs tangled comfortably. She didn’t want to think how true his words were. Then I’ll find one of those nice little maids… Anger and fear roiled within her, making her heart pound and her fingers tighten briefly in his hair.
“Scar?” His arms loosened and he tried to pull back.
“Sh-h-h,” she murmured and placed a kiss against his hair. She rubbed her palm down his back, tracing the smooth shine of his numerous scars. “Can I be human for a moment? Please?”
Tyler brushed her clavicle with gentle lips. “The insane things we say and do while we have sex don’t mean anything, Scar. You know that.” He sighed and his warm fingers trailed over the curve of her waist. “I’m yours…”
…For as long as I can be. Scar filled in the rest of his words. Tears pricked at her eyes and she swallowed past the pained lump in her throat. “Mine,” she murmured. She felt his smile and pain tightened in her chest. “Sleep, Tyler.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Scar closed her eyes. They needed to rest. The Caraniae would demand blood for her disregard of their laws. Maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about Tyler growing bored with her. She let out a slow, tired breath. At some point in the night, her former betrothed would probably gut her.
Chapter Seven
“Sheehan?”
Scar drifted up from sleep, trying to remember where she was and why her body was a tangle of sheets and extra limbs. Tyler grumbled and wrapped himself tighter. Warmth spread through her. She would have never taken the former commander for a snuggler.