unfastened his pants, shoving them down and stepping out of his boots at the same time as he pulled his legs free of his clothing. “Undressing.”
“Why?” Her gaze dropped to his hard dick, her lips parting. A pulse of her desire hit all his senses at once. The scent of her wetness, the need trickling through the mental connection he hadn’t been able to let go of entirely after they’d made love.
He was so close to dragging her to the ground whether she was willing to admit she wanted him or not that his hands shook. That kind of abandoning of self-restraint was his worst nightmare realized, was a step toward the kind of disaster that had claimed the entire Arjun line—everyone he had loved the most.
Rolling his shoulders forward, he stooped to let the beast within loose. A low buzz filled his ears, his psychic power melding and shifting with the feral instincts. White and black fur crisscrossed his arms in stripes. Dirt shoved under his claws as he hit the ground. His body twisted, his bones popped, and some of his muscles tightened while others loosened as he reformed into a feline.
He hissed, shaking from head to tail as he settled into the new shape. Turning on his haunches, he launched himself into the waiting brush. He sent Bren a final thought to answer her question. I am hunting. You wanted food, yes?
An hour later, Bren checked the waterproof watch strapped to her wrist for the twelfth time. Her body still scraped, bruised, and aching from the wild river ride and hours of hiking, she sat alone beside a small fire. She’d used the driest wood she could find to keep the smoke to a minimum. No need to advertise their location. A headache throbbed at her temples, hunger gnawing at her gut. She’d found some berries to eat, but other than that she was going to have to wait for Farid to return. If he did. She closed her eyes. At this point, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if he didn’t come back. He’d been her only plan, and a half-baked one at that.
If Emperor Kyber wouldn’t help her, she had no idea who else to turn to or how to get the whole world out of a pile of shit that was hip deep and only going to get messier from here. She didn’t even know how they were going to get to the emperor’s ship with Farid’s shuttle gone. How long would it take for his people to come looking for him? Would Farid and she be able to evade Arthur’s men long enough for them to hook up with the Sueni rescue party? So many complications, so many ways everything could and probably would go wrong.
She pulled in a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. This plan would work. It had to. People who didn’t even know the danger they were in yet were counting on her.
God, she was tired. Her eyes were gritty, her body heavy and sluggish. A chill mountain breeze whipped through her clothes, and she stretched her hands toward the fire for warmth. Farid’s razer lay across her lap, within easy reach. She needed sleep, but she couldn’t let her guard down while Farid was gone. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she could let her guard down while he was with her. A shiver ran down her skin, and she did her best to squelch it. She was too old to be this twitter-pated over a guy—the better part of two decades dating military men should have cured her of any illusions she had left about them.
He’d seen the opportunity to fuck her and he’d taken it. She hadn’t done a damn thing to resist him. The power of it still shook her, scared her, and pissed her off even more. At him and at herself. She shouldn’t have wanted it so much, but they both clearly had, and their lack of focus had almost gotten them both killed. More than their lives were at stake here, so they couldn’t afford to lose it again. This was one mission that could not fail. She wouldn’t let her sacrifice of everything she’d ever worked for be in vain.
A twig snapped to her left, and she had his gun in her hand before the feline Farid broke through the trees. His black-and-white-striped fur made him stand out in stark contrast to the rich brown earth and deep green leaves of the forest around them. He didn’t belong here. Alien.
Two rabbits hung from his mouth, blood dripping from his fangs. His gaze locked on her in that unsettling way only cats could manage. Her heart tripped and then raced. She felt trapped, hunted. Swallowing, she fought the urge to flee and slid his razer into her ankle holster. It was an awkward fit, but it stayed, and she felt better for having the weapon. Then she lifted her chin to stare back at him. The feral side of his nature shone from his eyes, and they gleamed like mirrors when the firelight hit them.
He approached her and dropped the rabbits at her feet. Take care of these, if you would.
The smooth, polite voice in her head was so at odds with the wildness she saw before her. She swallowed. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back.”
He tilted his head, a subtle tension running through his muscles. I said I was hunting for your food. Would I not have to return to give it to you?
His tone made her insides twinge with guilt. Clenching her teeth, she fisted her fingers in the legs of her jeans. His feelings were of no concern to her. “Why don’t you go wash up in the stream? I’ll get the food ready.”
Fine. The betrayed timbre turned icy and clipped, and she knew he was not happy with her.
It shouldn’t have bothered her. She shouldn’t want to make the man happy, but she couldn’t deny—at least to herself—that it disturbed her.
Considering he’d been her enemy only hours before, she had no real reason to trust him. Getting rid of Arthur was a benefit to him, and she wasn’t going to fool herself by thinking that a little sex, mental or physical, would change that he and his emperor would keep her around only as long as she was useful in achieving their aim. They’d said they were here to get a woman, a very specific woman that they hadn’t found yet. She could only pray that wasn’t a lie and that she wasn’t handing her planet over to a worse fate than Arthur had in mind for it. However, if they were lying, why hadn’t they attacked yet? Or counterattacked after Arthur had brought one of the Sueni ships down?
Her headache gave an especially vicious throb, so she gave up on going over what she’d already been over a million times.
When she looked up, he was gone, splashing into the brook to wash the crimson stains away. She shook her head and dealt with the rabbits, refusing to admit how deep her relief was that he’d returned safely. He was just her ticket to getting help from Kyber.
It wasn’t personal.
4
“So, does every Kith have a One?” Bren’s question shook Farid out of his hypnotic stupor. They sat staring at the rabbits roasting on a makeshift spit over the warm fire. He stretched his paws toward the small blaze, sheer feline lassitude sapping his will to move.
He rested his chin on his forelegs. Why the sudden curiosity?
“Just making conversation. Small talk.” She shrugged. “You’re the politician, isn’t that what you do for a living?”
Prickly as always. He snorted. It was unfortunate for him that he liked her acerbic bluntness as much as he liked the unexpected flashes of sweetness and vulnerability. No, not everyone has a One. They are seen as a great blessing from fate in my culture. Not only do you have someone whose mind is linked forever in perfect sync with yours, but children of such a couple are often more powerful than both parents. Something about the bond produces better offspring and more psychic power raises the prestige of a house.
“Not everyone has one, but everybody wants one? Or a One, in this case.” Plucking up a little twig, she twirled it between her fingers. She smiled and shook her head. “Fate is kind of a bitch in your culture. It’s all about the
