Mella ran a fingertip over the black brows. So like Dain’s, even to the crease between them. Her heart squeezed painfully. “I had lots of business things to take care of, sweetie. I thought of you often.” So often that her finance man had decided she had the concentration of a gnat.
“Oh.”
“Canna, are you all right?” Mella asked and braced herself for the child’s answer. She’d searched the infonet and discovered that the side effects of the z-rod included paralysis, nerve damage, and even brain dysfunction. Each article had deepened her shame. If it weren’t for her, Canna wouldn’t have been hurt.
“Sure, I’m fine,” Canna said. “Mama made me stay in bed for a day.” She scowled at her mother. “And I missed Lisadon’s party.”
“You’re all right? Really?” Hope rose like a swelling tide. Mella looked at Felaina for confirmation.
“Really. One day of being unhappy and that’s it.” Still sitting, Felaina pulled her daughter back and squeezed her tightly. “She’s a lucky girl. And she’ll never do something like that again, will she?”
“No, Mama.” Canna squirmed.
Mella leaned against the arm of a chair. “Why was she in the Indenture Hall, anyway?”
“Dain had asked me to take your clothes to the hall so you’d at least receive them when your indenture ended.” Felaina tugged her daughter’s hair. “While I talked to the manager, this little felin decided she’d find you. She sneaked into the hallway at just the wrong time.”
Tears filled Canna’s eyes, and she came to stand in front of Mella. “I’m sorry for my—what I did. You got hurt because I didn’t mind Mama.”
“Heavens.” Mella’s eyes puddled up too. “You got hurt because of me, Canna. It’s my fault.”
Felaina snorted. “If anyone asked me for my opinion, I’d say we should blame the unbred regstal who held the z-rod.” She rose. “Now, my little babies, let’s get cleaned up for lastmeal.” She shooed the children out the door and stopped long enough to give Mella a hug and whisper, “I’ve missed you.”
Mella cried for a good five minutes after that, and it took a while for her to put her composure back in order. Honestly, she’d turned into an emotional faucet. Now she had red, puffy eyes, and Dain had already mentioned she looked horrible.
Just the thought of him sent her heart racing and gave her prickles all over her skin. One more day with him. One more day. Pain and joy mixed in a disharmonic tune inside her as she stepped into the hallway—
And ran right into Dain’s grandfather. “Heavens, I’m sorry.” Not that she’d hurt him any. Hitting that old man had felt like bumping into a tree. “I’m just on my way to find Dain.” She tried to step around him.
He stepped in front of her, blocking her way. His mouth was tight, and his eyes had turned blacker than night in the dim hallway. He looked her up and down, making her acutely conscious of being short. And round. And cowardly.
Her hands fisted at her sides, but she straightened and lifted her chin. Do your worst, old man. Her ship left tomorrow, and nothing he said could hurt as much as leaving Dain would.
“Canna said you would have gotten away if she hadn’t arrived,” he stated, not asking a question.
She answered anyway. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”
“You let him capture you to keep her from being hurt.”
Mella’s eyes filled. “It didn’t work, did it? He still stunned her.”
“But not on the full charge.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know why he switched it.”
“I do.” The clanae’s lips curved slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. “He feared your reaction if he murdered her in front of you.”
Nathan. Threatening to kill Canna. Fury surged through Mella, tingeing the walls with red streaks. She snarled under her breath, “I would have killed him. Killed him and—”
A deep chuckle from the old man startled her, and she shook her head to loosen the tightness around her skull. What in the world was wrong with her? “Um, sorry, sir.” She edged sideways.
“Your method of escape by singing was rather unique,” he said, moving to block her again. “Of course, a Zarain woman would have flattened him and not had to resort to such silliness.”
Her mouth tightened, and she forced herself to keep her chin up. What she wouldn’t give to transform into someone tall and brave and strong. Someone worthy of Dain’s attention.
“But you didn’t panic. You took advantage of the opportunity presented.” A corner of his mouth curved upward. “Your actions were intelligent and brave. And loyal.”
Her mouth dropped open. A compliment?
“You will take fighting lessons.” With a firm nod, he stepped around her and continued down the hall, leaving her staring after him.
* * *
She’d eaten well, and Dain smiled to see some of the haunted look disappear.
The little thief had obviously suffered over the past days. The trial of Nathan Hamilton had been the worst media circus Dain had ever seen. Filled with rude Earthers who didn’t comprehend Nexan laws or courtesies. Their judgment improved radically after a pair of enforcers took the forbidden vid-cameras and tossed them into recycle bins. Dain had ordered a bonus for his two men.
The Earthers had expressed their disbelief in the Nexan truth-readers, and the relationship between the two planets might have suffered, but then Mella had given the judge a holocard. Two worlds watched in fascinated horror when the judge played the hologram and Hamilton convicted himself with his boasting.
By the end of the trial, Mella’s ex-husband knew he’d attempted murder on the wrong planet. His money and power had proved useless on Nexus, and any obligations others owed to him—including marriage—were severed with his conviction. He’d looked terrified at the end of his speedy trial. As well he should have. He and Nilard and Hanwell would spend the remainder of their short, painful lives in the mines.
Of course, the man’s life had almost ended in the spaceport. Dain had never been so close to abandoning his vows as when he’d caught up to Hamilton in the port concourse. One blow and Mella’s ex-husband would have died with a broken neck. Thank Cernun’s justice that Gregior had arrived to take custody and…
“Dain?”
“Sorry, laria. I was remembering last week at the port.” Dain shook his head and returned his attention to the present. And a very lovely present it was.
She started to lean forward.
“Do not move.”
She hesitated. Balancing on her knees on the mattress, the little Earther straddled his hips, his shultor deep inside her. Face flushed with arousal, she quivered when he gripped her buttocks to hold her still.
“But—”
“You do not have permission to speak,” he warned. Smothering his smile, he stroked his fingers over her lush breasts, pinching the nipples into peaks. Her arms moved, and he gave her a look that kept her hands laced behind her back. “You’re a beautiful woman, little Earther,” he murmured.
Her only answer was a whimper. She hovered very close to her release—and that precipice was right where he wanted her.
“I thought perhaps the time had come for us to talk.”
Her eyes widened, and she gave a tiny bounce as if to say get on with the business at hand. But that wouldn’t happen until he asked his question. And received the correct answer.
“All your legal and financial problems are concluded, I believe,” he said.
Her eyes darkened, so he pressed upward with his shultor to remind her of her immediate concerns. Her sharply inhaled breath pleased him.
Her singing pleased him even more. Earlier, he’d heard her singing in the hallway, and then in the shower, and later when she’d strolled in the shade garden at dusk. Her heart had healed, and now music trailed after her like a canin pup on a leash.
“You plan to leave tomorrow,” he continued.
Her head bowed. “Yes.”
He could feel the sadness well up in her
, and he wanted to hit himself. As much experience as he’d had with women, he’d been blind when it came to her. Blinded by his own desires.
She doesn’t want to leave me.
His hand traced down her soft stomach to the engorged, glistening somaline just above where his flesh joined with hers. When he slid his finger over the wet nub, she tightened around him. “Stay here, Mella. Stay as my wife.”
His words merged with the coiling tightness in her, merged with his stroking finger, and burst into an overwhelming orgasm, shaking her from the inside with the intensity. Her cries echoed through the room.
She heard his deep laugh, and then his hands gripped her hips tightly as he moved her up and down on his shaft, sending more exquisite sensations through her. Hard and fast. He groaned, and she could feel him pour into her as if giving his very essence into her keeping.
With firm hands, he unlaced her fingers, bringing her hands forward, and then he rolled them over. His weight came down on her, and he remained deep within her. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the contoured muscles of his back. Never let go.
He braced his hands on each side of her face, forcing her to look into his dark eyes. “Answer my question, Armelina.”
Hearing her real name from him still had the power to thrill her. He wants me to stay. Joy washed through her until she could hardly contain it. She smiled at him, pushing the sensations back, striving for some control. “You didn’t ask a question, now did you?” she asked, daring to tease him. I’m Armelina, not just an unshuline.
His gray eyes were intense as he searched her face. “Will you be my wife?”
The clanae had shown his approval at supper. Afterward, Dain’s mother had caught her in the gardens to discuss kinline colors and how she should properly display them on her gowns.
Then Dain’s sister had dragged Mella off to feed the tiny green fish in the courtyard pond, gifting Mella with stories of Dain and how stubborn and dominant he’d been even as a child. When Felaina warned that his children would be the same, Mella’s knees had wobbled. Have Dain’s children? And then she had remembered. “I can’t have children. I’m barren.”
Felaina had frowned at her. “No, the Indenture Hall doctor would have noted that on your papers. Just like they did for that murderous agrustal. He’s the infertile one.” She had sniffed in disgust. “Did he try to blame you?”
Not barren? He’d lied? The anger had given way to the joy welling up inside. She could—really could—have Dain’s children.
Felaina had laughed and then kissed Mella’s cheek, saying, “He’s an overbearing, bossy man, but you will always feel safe. And very loved.”
Looking up at him now, she could see that love. And what she could give him in return. He had a dark job, and he needed her joy and lightness as much as she needed his strength.
Her lips curved. “Well, if you’d asked me a minute ago, I would have agreed to anything.” In the past two hours, he’d brought her to the edge of coming over and over again, damn him. “But now—”
He growled and took her lips, plunging deeply inside as if to establish his territory. She gave back equally, feeling her body tighten around his shaft as he brought her to arousal again. She began to burn.
Lifting his head, he traced her lips with his tongue. “Little thief, you’ve stolen my heart,” he murmured, and then his gray eyes trapped hers. “Now give me an answer.”
“Well, I don’t know. Can I keep singing?”
A crease appeared in his cheek as he recognized her teasing tactics. But his reply took her breath away. “Of course. And with the excessive security here at the enclave and in Port City, you can sing for an audience if you wish.”
He would keep her safe. She had no fears when he was near. And she remembered the feeling, the bond between her and the people in the port, the flow of energy streaming from them, changing her song, changing her. Her heart gave a hard thump. “Oh, Dain, yes.”
He knew how she had wanted an audience. Just as he knew how to touch her. Or when she needed a hug, or even when she liked to be ordered around. He gave her so much, but…she could give him much in return.
“Will we have children?” She stroked his cheek, touched the scar over his eyebrow. Didn’t dodge a knife fast enough, he’d told her with a shrug. From saving Blackwell, she knew. Tough, stubborn man. Dedicated man.
“As many as your heart can hold.” His eyes darkened. “As long as your heart holds me also.”
She studied the deeper lines bracketing his mouth. The betrayal of his enforcers had hurt him. She ran her finger over his firm lips, those demanding lips that never lied. Pressing her hand to his chest, she felt the steady, unwavering beat, and she whispered, “You already live in my heart; didn’t you know?”
Even as he smiled and took her lips in a kiss, a new song, one of love and belonging, grew within her and gently bloomed.
~ * ~
Nexan Glossary
agrustal: four-legged, wolf-sized, omnivorous amphibian that comes out of the ocean to breed during the rainy season.
aphrodica: drug to create need for sex.
Artema: daughter goddess who reigns over spring, mercy, and charity.
backcountry: less-populated and -civilized parts.
berstal: flying carnivorous reptile with a spring and fall migratory pattern.
canin: dog.
Cernun: father god who reigns over winter, law, learning, and government.
cherly: small red fruit.
clanae: head of clan; several kinlines may be in one clan.
comunit: any communication device.
deerlet: small deerlike creature with horns curving back over its head, very fast.
doshuline: brothel slave.
Ekatae: one of the gods, but considered outside the world and the pantheon; crone goddess of death; carrion-eater animals (buzarn and jackals) are associated with her. Upon death, a mortal walks her desert sands until the cares of the world are burned away.
enforcers: police serving in the Planetary Security force.
felin: knee-sized, sleek, multicolored cats.
flutter: dragonfly type insect.
globes: testicles.
greiet: large, furry, timid rodent with short, round ears. Turns white in the winter months.
Herina: mother goddess who reigns over summer, home and hearth, and children.
hovercar: antigravity vehicle used on Earth.
infounit: computer.
inmaline: vagina.
kinae: head of a kinline.
laria: sweetheart.
larrien: tall bushes used for hedges.
lefnant: officer rank used for enforcers and militia.
maline: pussy.
Mardun: son and warrior god who reigns over fall and war.
mounut: mouse; a small, cowardly rodent.
panthat: cousin, loved relative, or friend.
parogan: tiny yellow bird that likes water.
pianete: musical instrument similar to an Earth piano.
podnat: an ocean polyp similar to anemone that moves across the ocean bottom to eat. Only able to move and eat. Brainless.
pyr: large guard dog, often used to tend livestock.
r-pen: restraint pen that delivers a shock when force lines are crossed.
regstal: seven-feet-tall, carnivorous reptile with a seasonal migration pattern.
relix: cat-sized lizard that eats insects. Snakelike neck and very fast strike.
ronves: small, fragrant, flowering bushes.
shulin: the act of sexual intercourse.
shultor: cock.
solacar: Nexan vehicle with antigravity, usually heavily armored.
somaline: clit.
stadilaig: truth drug with the possible side effect of damaging the mind.
The four gods: Cernun, Herina, Mardun, Artema, Ekatae is considered outside the world and the pantheon.
toriday: blue flowering plant.
truth-reader: one who can determine if
a person is telling a lie; all judges on Nexus are truth-readers.
truth-say: the act of truth-reading.
unshuline: sex slave for one person.
vid: television equivalent, sometimes with holographic capabilities.
wulkor: large, feral canine.
x-scan: medical X-ray.
z-rod: electric shock device with different settings.
zapper: weapon used to stun, only holds one charge.
Loose Id Titles by Cherise Sinclair
Master of the Mountain
The Dom’s Dungeon
The Starlight Rite
The MASTERS OF THE SHADOWLANDS Series
Club Shadowlands
Dark Citadel
Breaking Free
Lean on Me
“Simon Says: Mine”
Part of the anthology Doms of Dark Haven
With Sierra Cartwright and Belinda McBride
Cherise Sinclair
Now everyone thinks summer romances never go anywhere, right? Well…that’s not always true.
I met my dearheart when vacationing in the Caribbean. Now I won’t say it was love at first sight. Actually, since he was standing over me, enjoying the view down my swimsuit top, I might even have been a tad peeved—as well as attracted. But although our time together there was less than two days, and although we lived in opposite sides of the country, love can’t be corralled by time or space.
We’ve now been married for many, many years. (And he still looks down my swimsuit tops.)
Nowadays, I live in the west with this obnoxious, beloved husband, two children, and various animals, including three cats who rule the household. I’m a gardener, and I love nurturing small plants until they’re big and healthy and productive…and ripping defenseless weeds out by the roots when I’m angry. I enjoy thunderstorms, playing Scrabble and Risk, and being a soccer mom. My favorite way to spend an evening is curled up on a couch next to the master of my heart, watching the fire, reading, and…well…if you’re reading this book, you obviously know what else happens in front of fires. :)