Page 95 of Shielded in the Shadows

My tears were safe with Jarrix, but some habits were likely never to go away. Besides, this wasn’t a violent cry—it was a release, like an exhalation or a sigh.

He cooed and stroked my back with slow, even caresses up and down my spine. I curled my fingers into his bare chest, scratching him lightly whenever a memory or unpleasant remembered word twinged in my chest. His rumbles never grew louder or softer and the rhythm of his hearts remained even. He was steady. Constant. A promise made flesh and bone.

Eventually, the last of my tears made the slow trek down my face to drip onto either his chest or his wing below us. If both of us lying on his wing had become uncomfortable, he didn’t let on.

I took a deep, unsteady breath and pressed a kiss to his sternum, feeling his double heartbeat against my lips as his coo faded. “Thank you,” I murmured into his hot skin.

“No thanks are needed,” he said quietly into my hair. “I have no greater honor than to comfort, protect, and heal you. And to love you.”

He’d said it so easily in Orqiel’s bathing chamber, and now he’d said it again in the safety and warmth of his wing cocoon. And though our mate bond didn’t allow me to sense his emotions, I didn’t need it to know and feel how he loved me. His love was in everything he said and did.

It was far more difficult to know my own heart than his.

I’d experienced very little love in my life, other than my love for my sister and my ship. And perhaps even with a plasma gun to my head I couldn’t have described what I felt for Jarrix and whether it qualified as love.

But if it came down to it, I’d melt down a reactor and destroy an orbital station for him without a second thought. For him, I’d put on a shimmery gown and high-heeled shoes that had no sheaths for hidden daggers. I’d even let him cook my meals and remodel my cabin aboard the Nivilus because his instincts demanded he provide me with food and a nest.

I let him feel all that through our bond, and this time his rumble grew until the entire bed vibrated.

Jarrix peppered gentle kisses all over my face, with special attention to the wet trails left by my tears. I closed my eyes and reveled in his little affectionate touches and the security I felt at his side.

When he tucked some loose hair behind my ear and cradled my cheek with one enormous hand, I opened my eyes and found him gazing back at me.

“Can you tell me what happened with Orqiel?” he asked.

I’d intended to tell him the moment we got back to the ship and departed Saistea, but Jonor’s ambush had derailed that plan. And I had some questions of my own about what had happened after I’d passed out.

“I’m sure you could tell he was trying to goad me into attacking him,” I said with a wry shake of my head. “That didn’t make sense to me, so I immediately suspected an ulterior motive for wanting me to get within striking distance. He had an obvious one, and it turned out to be the right guess.”

“Capturing you for the arena,” Jarrix grated out, his hands flexing in anger. “What did he have in that shower area he kept backing toward?”

“A stun field and a human-sized restraint collar.” I barked a humorless laugh, remembering Orqiel’s fury and frustration when I didn’t chase him into his trap. “He had a few weapons back there too, but he clearly hadn’t trained consistently. He obviously counted on the stun field and the gladiators you disposed of to either knock me out or beat me into submission so he could snap that collar on.”

Rather than touch my throat to confirm it remained bare and collar-less, I ran my hands up Jarrix’s chest. I dragged my thumbs lightly over his nipple piercings to banish his scowl and make him rumble in a more pleasant way.

“He got close enough to the edge of the stun field for me to use the hook on my nivilus,” I added, recalling his bellow when my hook speared deep into his thick, furry hide and the flesh beneath. “After that, he didn’t last long. I wanted to get to you.”

At Jarrix’s frown, I flicked his chin with my fingertip. He blinked at me, startled. “I have no regrets,” I stated. “He didn’t matter. I told you what mattered before we stepped out of this ship: leaving that planet alive. I haven’t changed my mind. As for the recording…” I took a deep breath. He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Watching it hurt,” I said quietly. “You know it did. I haven’t even begun to process what I saw and heard. I’ll need time before I can talk about it, but I will talk about it.”

He kissed me gently. “Whenever you are ready to talk, I will be here to listen.”

I didn’t need to ask what he’d done with the orb or the datachip; I knew he would have put them somewhere secure. But I did need to know how things stood now that we’d left Saistea.

“What happened after I went into the pod?” I asked.

I listened in amazement while he described how Lumos had found Jonor’s ship and accessed its comms so Jarrix could send the vessel’s coordinates to Sjer. My smile grew when he revealed the Fancy had been lured away from Trakhan and the stealth runner had become a deadly trap for his former crew when they arrived on Saistea.

“You’re brilliant, you know,” I said, cupping his face in both my hands. “In fact, I think I’ll keep you.”

“I could ask for nothing more.” Eyes glowing softly, he turned his head to kiss my palm. “But I have many skills beyond setting traps and luring privateer crews to their well-earned doom.”

He captured my hand and kissed his way from my wrist to my inner elbow, then ran his nose along the inside of my bicep to my shoulder. I shivered, suddenly very aware that I was nude and he wore only a loose pair of pants.

“Just what are these additional skills you claim to possess?” I asked, grasping his horn to draw him above me as I rolled to my back. “Would you care to provide a demonstration?”

He brushed his lips to mine and murmured, “I am, as always, a servant to my captain’s pleasure.”

My “Oh” came out as a ragged gasp.