by Susan Hayes
“For the same reason you haven’t let go of me. You must feel it, the pull between us?”
Her brow crinkled in thought, then she nodded. “I feel something. It’s like I’m a little drunk. It’s hard to focus on anything but you.” She blushed a little. “Please tell me this is the Scorching thing, and I haven’t turned into a twittering teenage girl again. Anything but that.”
He chuckled, admiring her strength yet again. This couldn’t be easy for her, but she was still cracking jokes. “I’ve got good news. You’re still a gorgeous, very grown up woman.”
Her lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. “Temporary insanity, then. I can deal with that.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed a delicate kiss across her knuckles. “I suspect you’re more than capable of dealing with anything the universe can throw at you.” He winced and glanced up at the ceiling. “But to be clear, that was not an invitation. We’ve got enough to handle for the moment.”
Hanna laughed, a soft, breathy sound that made his cock throb. “We really do.” She lowered her voice to a bare whisper. “Any thoughts on how we’re going to get out of here?”
“Not yet, but—” He was cut off by a woman’s shriek.
“You bastard! I would never help you do something like this!”
“You tell him, Lily,” Hanna murmured in an approving tone.
There was a sharp crack, and a soft cry that was almost immediately drowned out by a male roar of fury. “Don’t you touch her!”
Jet cursed through gritted teeth.
Hanna paled, gripping his fingers hard as they listened in horrified silence. Lily cursed and pleaded, her words punctuated by random sounds of violence.
By the time the outburst ended, Hanna was shaking. He thought it was with fear, but when she spoke, he realized she wasn’t afraid, she was livid.
“That arrogant bastard. He did that on purpose. He’s hurting them to remind us he’s in control.” Her voice was thick with rage, and her amber eyes gleamed.
He shared her fury. “I know. And he’s going to pay for it. We’re walking out of here, tani. All four of us. I’m not accepting any other outcome.”
“I believe you.” She sounded a bit surprised by her declaration.
“I meant it.”
“I know you did. Your eyes…they flashed bright gold as you said it. Is that a thing with your species?”
“They did?” If he needed further proof that the Scorching had hit him, that was it. Gold eyes meant he was mated.
“They turned gold. Just for a second. Is that something I should be worried about?”
“No. It just means that the Scorching is coming on quickly. It varies from pairing to pairing. Strong emotions will trigger a temporary change. After we are mated, the gold colouring will be permanent. At least, that’s what I was told.”
“We’re not mated, yet.” She moved away from him again, and this time it was even harder to let her go, but he did it. Convincing her they belonged together was just another kind of negotiation, and he knew better than to rush the process any more than it already was.
“No. But if you feel what I am, you know it’s only a matter of time.”
She tapped a perfectly manicured fingernail against one of the bars separating them. “I don’t see how that’s going to happen. Besides, I think we have more important things to focus on right now.”
He could almost see the walls she was erecting between them, and he was having none of it. She was his mate, damn it. Unlike some of his brethren, he knew better than to fight the Gods’ will. From what he’d heard, it never went well, and it didn’t change anything, anyway. They were destined for each other, and he wasn’t going to let something as minor as steel bars or a kidnapping get in the way of destiny.
Hanna expected Jet to crack a joke or make some glib remark, but he didn’t say anything. The silence hung between them, giving her a chance to take another look at him. A real look, one not filtered by her preconceived notions or expectations. It was a skill her father had taught her as a child. She’d been born into wealth, which meant learning young how to judge other people’s character, to get a sense of who they really were, and what they might want from her.
There was no denying he was handsome. It had been one of the first things she’d noticed when she looked him up as part of her research into the Pyrosians. His smile could be classified as a weapon of mass seduction, and he was the poster boy for everything a woman could want in an off-world Romeo. Wealthy, well-spoken, and attractive. She acknowledged that this was her perception of him and then looked past it. Who was he, really? What did she know about him?
The man in front of her was fit, with a hard, muscular frame beneath his perfectly tailored suit. Between that, the predatory, alert way he moved, and the stance he’d taken in John’s office, she realized he must have been in the military. She’d seen enough soldiers to recognize one, even out of uniform.
He was protective of her. Had been even before the Spark. He had courage, too. And she knew from their emails and phone conversations that he was astute, quick-witted, and he seemed sincere in his wish to help bring her plans to fruition.
So, was she shutting him down because it was the smart thing to do, or because it was easier to come up with excuses than to accept that this insanity was actually happening?
He shifted, leaning one shoulder against the bars as he watched her, watching him. “What’s going on inside your head right now?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.
“I’m trying to figure out which one of us is crazier.”
“Any preliminary thoughts you want to share?” He lifted both brows and gave her another dazzling smile that made it hard to think.
“When you smile at me like that, most of my thinking stops.”
He cocked his head. “Maybe that’s the right response. I’ve read the reports about what happens to males of my species who go into denial. It’s emotionally and physically messy, and they end up mated anyway. Which is why I’m not going to fight this. So, you see, I’m not crazy. I’m actually being quite logical. Which means…” He lifted a dark brow and grinned.
“Did you just imply that I’m the crazy one here?” She managed to keep herself from laughing, but only barely. Somehow, Jet seemed to know exactly what to say to make her laugh, even when she shouldn’t. He was too damned charming for his own good, and definitely too charming for her sanity.
“I only pointed out that I’m applying logic to our situation, tani.”
Her entire body quivered when he uttered that last word. There was something about the way it rolled off his tongue, or maybe it was the look in his eyes when he said it. “What does tani mean? You’ve called me that several times, now.”
“Roughly translated, it means treasure. And that is what you are. A rare and priceless gift.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket and passed it through the bars. “And right now, my treasure is cold. You’re shivering. Take my jacket.”
She wasn’t about to admit that her shiver had nothing to do with the chilly cell and everything to do with him, so she took the jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. It was still warm from his body heat, and she snuggled into it, burying her hands in the fabric with a contented sigh.
“I am not jealous of a piece of clothing. I. Am. Not,” he grumbled, his eyes heating again as he watched her.
She ignored his comment, though she couldn’t hide the way her cheeks heated. “Thank you. I didn’t realize how cold it was in here.” She looked over to her bed and the sparse bedding provided. “It’s going to be a long, cold night.”
“Even longer if they don’t feed us.” He straightened and strolled over to the barred door of his cell before calling out in a remarkably humble tone, “I know I’m not supposed to talk to you, and I promise to be sorry about it later, but is there any chance of getting a meal for the human females?”
She tensed, expecting the guards to react in anger, but instead one of them called bac
k. “Food for the ladies, yes. Food for you, no. We’re not wasting food on no alien assholes.”
She hurried over to her doorway, pasted a grateful expression on her face, and looked outside. “Thank you so much. I’m starving.”
“Dinner’s coming soon.” The same big guard who had spoken to her earlier raised his hand in a brief wave, dropping it again before he was seen.
“And now we know they’ll be coming by with food eventually. With any luck, Vykor or Lily heard us, too, so they’ll know we’re okay.” Jet moved away from the door, shrugged, and sat so his back was to the outer wall, out of sight of the door. “We also know the big guy likes you, which might be useful.”
“And neither of them seemed bothered by the fact you talked to them. It was a big risk for you to take, though. What if they’d gotten angry and taken it out on Vykor? He’s Romaki, but he’s not like the others, is he? If he was, he’d have done something to fight back by now.”
“Vykor is the only Romaki to ever be born without a dragon’s spirit.” Jet patted the floor on her side of the bars. “Sit. I know the floor is cold, but if we use the bunks, we risk being overheard, and we need to make plans.”
Overheard. The word sent her thoughts racing. “Damn. What if they have cameras? It might not be safe to talk at all.” She started patrolling the room, scanning every crack and crevice for recording devices. Not that she had much of a clue what to look for, but she needed to do something productive, and this felt useful.
Jet got to his feet and did the same, which made her feel better about her sudden attack of paranoia. It might be pointless, but once they’d looked, she could stop worrying about cameras and focus on the hundred or so other critical matters left to deal with.
“I don’t see anything suspicious. This whole setup is pretty basic. No place to hide a camera,” Jet said.
“I think you’re right.” Their captors had clearly put the cell together quickly and on a shoestring budget. She’d already seen how clunky and awkward the installed doors were to use, and a cursory inspection of her sleeping area revealed that the bunk’s edges were jagged, sharp enough to cut, with messy, unprofessional welds holding the whole thing in place. She eyed the bunk’s welds again, then looked at the bars dividing their space. She didn’t dare say anything in case she jinxed it, but she crossed to the bars and crouched to take a close look at the point it met the floor.
“Found something?” Jet asked, crouching on the other side of the bars.
She pointed to the weld holding the bar in place. Even she could see it was too thin to hold properly, and there was a visible crack across the join. “Bad welding job. The bunks are the same.”
“Do you think it’s weak enough we could work one of these free?” He gave the weld an almost idle kick, and the crack widened. Not much, but enough she could see the change.
“Is it the same at the top?” she asked.
He rose onto his toes to check the ceiling. “I think so. Flames, this could work.”
They examined the rest of the bars, looking for the weakest one. Maybe there was something to Jet’s belief in the Gods because the weakest of the bunch was the one closest to the door, which meant no one could see it unless they came inside the cell.
“Those welds might be weak, but it’s still going to take some work to break them. We’re going to need some kind of leverage.” Jet looked around and sighed. “The blankets might work, but they could tear in the process. We need something heavier.”
“What if I asked my guard for more blankets? He might give me something we can use.”
“Good thinking.” Jet gave her an approving smile and reclaimed his former position on the floor, back to the wall and his long legs stretched out along the bars. “Join me? We still have things to talk about.”
She went to her bunk and snagged the lightweight blanket off it, and wrapped it around her shoulders before settling down beside him on the cold, hard floor. She was tempted to kick off her shoes, too, but for the moment she kept them on. Heels weren’t comfortable, but neither was having cold feet. “What do you want to talk about?”
“A few things. For one, you managed to get them to take off the hood, so you saw a lot more than I did. I need you to tell me what you can remember about the layout, the number of people around, and anything else you can think of.” He reached through the bars and set his hand down on her thigh. “Then, I want to know about you.”
“I imagine you’ve already read all about me. Everything there is to know is online somewhere.” At least, everything she wanted to be known was there.
He patted her thigh. “I don’t mean where you were born or how much your shares in your family’s mining company are worth. I mean, I want to know about you. What’s your favourite food? Your least favourite? What kind of books do you read? Flames, you’re my mate. I want to know everything about you.”
She freed her hand from the blankets and laid her hand over his. It wasn’t the smartest move, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She needed to touch him. “I’d rather hear about you.”
He chuckled. “Nice deflection. Does that usually work?”
“Honestly? Yes. Most people would prefer to talk about themselves. Especially the kind of people I deal with most of the time. Why doesn’t it work on you?”
He turned his hand over and interlocked their fingers. “You’re forgetting something.”
“What’s that?”
He gave her a slow, sensuous smile that turned her brain to jelly. “I’m not people. I’m Pyrosian.” He leaned in and pitched his voice to a low murmur. “And I am your mate.”
Her heart thundered against her ribs and her breath caught in her throat. As she watched, his eyes flashed gold again, and she leaned in closer to the bars. “I’m starting to believe that. And it scares the hell out of me.”
Chapter Four
The Scorching was interfering with his ability to think, but there was no missing the truth in Hanna’s words. “So, being kidnapped you can joke about, but being mated to me has you scared?” He raised a hand to his chest. “I think my ego just took a fatal blow.”
She uttered an amused snort and rolled her eyes. “I doubt it’s fatal. Your ego seems quite healthy. I’ve seen you on enough television interviews to know.”
“That’s not the real me, though.” He decided to answer her honesty with some of his own. “I got this post, in part, because I can step into that role and make it work.”
“If that’s not who you are, then you’re a good actor. I believed it.”
“I grew up in the royal court of Pyros. I had what you humans call a good game-face by the time I was six years old. Projecting confidence and authority, even when you have no idea what you’re doing, is a required skill in my family.”
“Your father is, or was, in line for the throne, wasn’t he?”
“He was. Now that Prince Joran is mated with a child of his own, it is unlikely a member of my family will ever sit on the throne.” He didn’t bother keeping the relief out of his voice.
“You don’t sound unhappy about that.”
“Unhappy? Flames no, I’m thrilled. I spent my entire life being prepared for a role I never wanted. I like Joran. I respect his father. And I knew better than anyone how bad it would be for Pyros if my father ever became king. As far as I’m concerned, this is the best outcome for everyone.”
Her eyes widened. “You didn’t want to be king someday?”
“Never. That kind of responsibility carries so much weight. Every decision the king makes affects the lives of an entire planet. Everyone pays attention to the smallest details, looking for clues or leverage. It’s an exhausting way to live, and I’m happy to be free of it. The day we learned Joran was mated, I went out and celebrated. I didn’t come home for three days.”
“And how did you end up here? Earth is a long way from the court of Pyros.”
“Exactly.” He grinned. “I visited Joran last year and asked him for a favour – I wan
ted to be sent to Earth. It’s as far away from my parents and their expectations as I could get.”
She laughed. “And I thought my family was difficult. I never needed to flee light-years to get away from them. Halfway around the world seems to do it.”
“You, too? Given the work you do, I would have thought your family would be nothing but supportive.”
“My work is too dangerous for their liking. Too many visits to war zones, not enough time trying to meet a nice man to settle down with. They’ve given up on getting grandchildren from me, I’m too old, but they’re still hoping for marriage and a nice quiet homelife.”
“I don’t see you being the type to stay home and organize charity events while someone else goes to the front lines. You’d never be happy like that.” He didn’t have to know her well to recognize she wasn’t the kind to let others take the lead. If her parents couldn’t understand that, then they didn’t know their daughter any better than his parents knew him.
“Congratulations, you already know more about me than my ex-husband.”
He already knew she’d been married. Her past was exactly that, the past. It was her future he wanted to be part of.
“Why did your marriage end? I know it didn’t last very long. You were divorced before you finished your law degree.”
She gave him a sidelong look. “Clearly you read more than just my website biography.”
“You came to us with a plan that could alter the fate of my species—of course I researched you. I needed to know what kind of person you were, and if you could really deliver what you were suggesting.”
“Then why are we talking? You know everything about me already.” She tugged at her hand, trying to free it, but he tightened his grip and didn’t let her pull away.
“We’re talking because reading about someone isn’t the same as knowing someone. I want to know you, Hanna. So, tell me why it ended, because I can promise you what we have is not going to end. Not until the day we take our last breath.”
“You can’t be sure of that. Surely some matings fail? It can’t be a perfect match every time.”