that wasn’t right. She didn’t want anyone who might intercept this to know what her real intentions were. Hell, she didn’t even want the Kith nobleman to know what she wanted until she saw him. She wanted to look him in the eyes when she told him. She deleted what she’d typed and tried again.
Farid. No more teasing. Let’s finish what we started in person. Meet me tonight at your original landing site. I need you. —Bren
Her hand hovered over the key that would seal her fate forever. There would be no turning back. Her career—her life—would be over. Hell, if she were honest with herself, she should have reported fraternizing with the enemy in her dreams long ago, but there was no hiding this kind of breach. Arthur would find out eventually. She knew it. And then everyone would know she was a traitor. If her fingers trembled, she’d never admit it to anyone.
Clenching her teeth together, she pressed SEND.
Farid was more than ready to fall facedown on his gelpad. He had three hours before his next meeting and he didn’t care what it took to make it happen, he was getting some sleep and not linking with Bren. “Vishra, please add the somnolence dose to the air in my room now.”
The ship’s response was immediate. “Of course, my lord.”
“Thank you.” He leaned back against the glass wall of the multiveyor while it moved backward and then slanted at a downward angle to take him to the floor with his quarters.
His work shift so far, like every work shift since they’d arrived, had been a lesson in the futile. Still, he refused to give up. This was what he lived for. The restrictions Kyber had placed on Farid’s diplomacy made it all the more challenging. Given enough time, he would win, eventually. Whether he had that time before the emperor found his One was another story…and another challenge.
Lost in thoughts that had occupied every waking hour for months, he stepped out of the multiveyor and heard it swish closed and hum as it sped away.
A man came bursting through a door and slid to a stop before him. “Farid.”
He blinked and looked up. “Kyber.”
Of all the people aboard their ships, Farid was one of the few who could call his cousin by name. Even then, he usually did so only in private. It was a delicate balance between being family and being respectful of his ruler, no matter how much younger Kyber was than Farid.
“I think I’ve found her.” A wide smile broke across the emperor’s face.
Farid stared for a moment before that information processed. “Your One?”
“Yes. I know where she is now. I must go.” Kyber glanced over Farid’s shoulder. “Vishra, call the multiveyor for me.”
The ship replied in that smooth, unflappable voice. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Oh. Wait.” Kyber turned back to his room and lifted a hand toward the open door. A pistol came whizzing through the air to slap into his palm. He slid it into a holster at his hip.
Farid couldn’t stop a grin. “That’s a handy trick.”
“It only works when I’m upset or excited. I don’t think anyone else has the power to do it.” Kyber shrugged and forked his fingers through his long ebony hair.
“I don’t,” Farid replied. Not that he minded. More energy to try to harness was not something he desired.
Kyber’s violet eyes glowed with latent power, paler lavender sparks flashing in his gaze as his anticipation rose. His mind latched on to the subject that Farid doubted was ever far from the surface. “Every time I connect with her, she’s somewhere different. And she’s always gone before I arrive to track her. But not this time.”
Frowning, Farid gave his cousin’s dilemma more thought than he might normally. “Perhaps her occupation requires her to travel a great deal.”
“Perhaps.” The emperor shook his head sharply, and his smile became blinding again as the multiveyor door slid open for him. “I’ll find out when I get there. I’m sure I can get to her before she leaves.”
It wasn’t the first time his cousin had been sure, but Farid sent as much faith and support as he could muster along their familial link. Then he ran a tired hand over his face and turned to walk toward the corridor that led to his quarters. A noise down a small side hallway used for maintenance drew him up short. What now? He sighed and backed up a few steps, allowing his superior vision to peer into the darkness.
His mouth fell open at what he saw. Shaking his head, he tried to clear it. Tylara Belraj, uptight commander of the fleet and captain of the Vishra, had her arms pinned above her head and her pants shoved down around her boots as a man fucked her ruthlessly from behind.
Farid watched her slim, firm body arch in ecstasy. Her head rolled against her lover’s shoulder, her eyes closed. Farid had never witnessed such an unguarded expression on her face. She looked…happy, joyful, lighter than he’d ever seen her. He would never have guessed that the woman was capable of such an emotion, let alone displaying it so openly.
Especially considering they were in an unsecured hallway that any civilian had access to. Releasing her hands, her lover shoved her hard against the metal wall, and his hips hammered forward to slap her smooth buttocks.
She opened her mouth and hissed, every ounce of her feral naturel alive on her face.
Farid stood there staring in stunned silence. He couldn’t make himself look away as a gentleman should. The carnal display was arousing, reminding him forcibly of his own powerless, fruitless delight at reaching for his One.
And that was who this man was to Tylara. Her emotions, as tightly controlled as they were, couldn’t contain that truth, and it ripped him into her maelstrom. He jerked back, trying to wrench himself free of his stupor.
Tylara’s eyes flew open, their midnight irises almost white with the sparks boiling to the surface. “Farid.”
Her lover’s head whipped to the side and he snarled low in his throat. A predator possessive of his prize. His blue eyes flashed wildly, sweat ran in rivulets down his ebony skin, and waist-length braids swung around his face. A jolt shook Farid as he focused his senses on the man for the first time.
Johar Sajan. Brother to Cilji’s perfidious, unstable One.
Shock made Farid sway on his feet. Tylara’s One was a Sajan. He shook his head, clearing the fog of her lust from his mind as he turned and stumbled away.
“Farid, wait!”
He didn’t listen, fleeing blindly down the hallways as he struggled to maintain the shields on his thoughts and emotions. What he felt was no one’s business but his own.
His memories rose with horrifying clarity, brutalizing his mind. Cilji’s face. His impetuous baby sister. Dead. Anun, no. Not that. Anything but that. Not those memories, not that failure. No.
“Stop, Lord Farid!” Tylara’s voice was that of the fleet commander, not one to ignore.
He pulled up, his gut churning with disquiet. Clenching his jaw, he waited for her to draw even with him. He could still scent the sex on her. He could also sense her upset, which was
