Page 20 of Shielded in the Shadows

Despite her derisive tone, the sound of her real, lovely human voice sent a shiver of need through me.

Her dagger prodded my bare shoulder, drawing blood, but at least I wasn’t dead. Yet. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“I am Jarrix To’vok,” I repeated. “I am Fortusian. My people are gifted with a physiological ability to recognize our true mates through scent, touch, or psychic connection. I was supposed to help capture you. The moment we met—or crossed paths—in Final Chance, I knew who we are to each other and became your ally.”

“I know about Fortusians and their mates.” She shook her head, her jaw tight. “Don’t waste your breath. You…this is a lie.”

“It isn’t a lie.” I spread my hands, palm up. “I have few ways to prove this to you if my oath and my choice to kneel before you without weapons aren’t enough. Your life and safety are now my top priority. We must get to your ship and away from this station.”

“I’m going nowhere with you.” Her mouth formed a grim line. “Even if this wasn’t a lie meant to get me to drop my guard so you can claim that bounty for yourself instead of sharing it with your pirate crew, there’s no room in my life for a mate.” She spat the word like a curse. “Only a male would believe someone like me would give up everything for the privilege of being called his mate.”

“I would never ask you to give up anything,” I countered. “It is I who will give up everything to be at your side. I won’t return to either the Fleeting Fancy or the GAIS now that I’ve found you. If you must fight, then so will I. If you are a smuggler, then now so am I.”

“I’m supposed to believe that?” she scoffed. “You must think I’m stupid. You’d never give up your career with the GAIS and your mission aboard your fancy pirate ship—even if your claims being my mate are true, which I highly doubt.”

Gods above, she was fierce, like the heart of a star.

“I’m quite certain you are not stupid,” I countered. “I am a male before I am an operative or a spy. I am certainly not a true privateer; I’ve only played the role of one. I have found you in all the vastness of the universe. What is my job when weighed against that?”

“You know nothing about me,” she argued. “Nothing at all.”

“I’ve learned much from observing you,” I pointed out. “And more importantly, the true mate bond only draws together those who compliment each other in all possible ways. If you know about Fortusian physiology, you know that is proven science.”

Scowling, she moved her dagger from my shoulder to the center of my chest and rested its point against my sternum. “This is your primary heart, yes?”

I’d never been quite so aware of my dual heartbeat as I was in this moment. “Yes.”

Her thumb hovered above the button that would activate the dagger’s plasma edge. “Speak truth,” she said, her voice cold as space. “You said there were few ways to prove your claim that I am your true mate. What are these ways?”

There was equipment on Fortusia that could verify the connection, but my homeworld was far from this sector. That left only one option for me to reveal.

“My bodily fluids will heal you if you are injured,” I said. “Science has shown it is only possible between true mates. The effects cannot be faked.”

Her expression didn’t change. “Bodily fluids.”

“Typically, blood, saliva, and semen,” I clarified. “In my case, my venom may also affect you in an unexpected way, but I would never use it on you without determining its effects first.”

“I see.” The corner of her mouth tilted up. It was barely a twitch, but it was an infinitesimal smile that made my stomach clench. “I’m not interested in either your semen or your venom.”

With the dagger still resting against my chest above my primary heart, she retracted her gun into her sleeve and pulled aside her robe and cloak to reveal her jumpsuit-clad leg.

“I was darted in the bar,” she said. “There is a wound ten centimeters above my knee on this side beneath my clothing.”

“What about the one on your side?” I asked. “The plasma burn from when the Atolani just missed you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You were watching me in the bar. For how long?”

“I came in just as the doors closed. I didn’t see you get shot, but I saw the wound.”

“It’s a much larger wound than the one from the dart.”

“Then I want to heal them both.”

Keela studied me, then moved her robe and cloak further out of the way. The dagger stayed where it was, pressed against my chest with the point just piercing my skin.

Moving very slowly so I didn’t earn more of her blade, I lifted her jumpsuit away from her leg and then her side, slicing through the material with my claws to reveal the wounds. The puncture from the dart was reddened and swollen but relatively minor. The burn, on the other hand, was sizable. It should have been agonizing and debilitating. She was either extremely good at hiding her pain or she’d injected painkillers. Or both.

“Saliva?” I asked, meeting her gaze. “Or blood?”