He assessed the half-eaten sandwich.“You are eating.Good.”
“And?”she asked, gesturing to the bridge.“The Yithians?”
“Dead,” he said, sliding onto the bench beside her.
“That’s my cue.”Brenda bolted, returning to Fyca.
Cylo pulled her plate across to him and picked up a fry.“I fired the Chokaar.”He bit into the fry then dropped it in distaste.
Wren smothered a chuckle at his reaction.“So,” she coughed, “I assume that’s some sort of weapon.”
“Indeed.If you are done with your meal, let me show you to your quarters.”
She grabbed her coffee and scrambled after him.Back to the barracks they headed—the same place as Hiossu’s cabin.
Cylo gestured to a panel beside a door far away from Hiossu’s.“Place your hand there.It will allow only you and security to enter.”
“Security?”she asked, pressing her palm to the cool glass.It scanned her then slid the door open.
“Me,” he said, a smile twitching his lips.“I am to your right.Olin to your left.Should you need either of us…” He paused.“We have increased propulsion to reach Issneen sooner.”Inching closer, he cupped her cheek.“I do not want you in danger again.”
“Um, thanks,” she said, unable to bear the onslaught of his chaotic emotions: honor, desire, concern, determination, anger…
He dipped and caught her lips in a sweet kiss, not lingering despite his aching need to deepen it.“When you awaken in the morning, I will ask Qaff to insert an O.D.I—”
“I have one,” she said, touching her wrist without spilling her coffee.
His grin was brilliant to behold, snatching her ability to think.A swipe of his arm across hers sent a zing to her elbow and broke her from her daze.“Comm me if you need me.”
The door swished shut on his handsome face, and she was once again alone with her own thoughts.More importantly, her own emotions.
Chapter Fifteen
Cylowantednothingmorethan to force Wren to step back, to let him into her room.One glance at the bed behind her almost made him succumb.She wasn’t his.And doing anything with her, no matter how much he longed to, wouldn’t be honorable or fair to the male she truly belonged to.
He’d allowed himself the barest of kisses, enough to inhale the unusual beverage she consumed.It hadn’t been enough.
When the door shut, a blast of anger had him punch the Maloidian steel bulkhead.His knuckles split, but the sharp pain couldn’t compare to the agony within.How could this woman invoke so much when she wasn’t his Dar Eth?
He headed to Qaff’s quarters in medical and chimed the door.
“What is it?”the male asked, ushering him inside.
“Why is she not mine?”Cylo fell into a pace.
Qaff sighed, halted Cylo, then scanned his bleeding hand with a med-gun.The dull throbbing ceased.“All of her must be seen to trigger the Ethera, and what you are seeing is not who she is.Not her true hair, eye, and skin color.”
Cylo sank onto the comfy.“If we return her to who she was, then I will kneel?”Maker.He hoped so.
“I cannot say, especially when we might not be able to stabilize the genetic modifiers.”
Cylo froze.She was his but could never be due to the Maloidian chemicals.He was doomed to die on the battlefield, unpaired.But this knowledge also meant she would be no other male’s Dar Eth.For the same reasons applied.
He tapped his O.D.I.“Olin, investigate Wren.She is wanted by the Earthian authorities.Get me the details.”
“You could just ask her,” the male grumbled then ended the comm.
Cylo planned to, but truths could be manipulated, and most viewed their past through their perspective.Regardless, he’d battle anyone attempting to take her against her will.Including himself.
