“A ruthless killer who would slit my throat the first chance he got.”
Air froze in his lungs. Needing to breathe, he released the breath on a rough exhalation and pounded the mattress with the flat of his palm. Saedra jumped but it wasn’t enough. Garik rolled to his back and cursed a blue streak to relieve his anger. When he ran out of words, he attempted to calm his temper. When that didn’t work either, he rolled back toward her and lashed out in a vicious tone. “Why in heppetti did you come into my cell if you thought that?!”
How she’d risked her life made him furious, because that was something Garik or any other assassin from the Guild would do without hesitation if their life depended on it. If there had been a weapon at hand and she seemed the least bit dangerous, he would have killed her on the spot. The only reason she was alive boiled down to her ridiculous deal demanding he bond to her.
She was his mate for life now and Garik had to grit his teeth to keep from reaching out to shake her for the chance she’d taken.
***
Garik’s anger was a living flare between them. Saedra swallowed. For a moment, she considered leaping from the bed and running but if she knew her father, and she did, he’d have patrols out looking for them until the early morning hours. It was best they stay hunkered here in this hidden shed for shelter. Her contact promised it would be safe for a day or two.
The heat of Garik’s stare burned the side of her head, but she refused to turn, keeping her gaze stubbornly aimed at the ceiling. She didn’t need to see the condemnation in his gaze to know her actions had been stupid and dangerous. Her lips firmed. She’d had no choice.
“I did it because I had no other option.” The words blurted out on their own.
It was easy to hear his heavy exhale and Saedra was smothered in humiliation. Her actions had been rash. But the alternative would have been her death when, not if, her father decided her existence no longer served a purpose. That didn’t even include what would happen if Hritham, the man he planned to give her to, got a hold of her.
After a heavy silence, Garik asked, “What does Maurin have on you? Are you his wife, lover?”
At his harsh questions, Saedra flinched and dug her nails into the blanket. “No! I told you that. I’m not the type of person who would have asked for marriage while legally connected to another. I was merely a reluctant member in his household.”
She stuck to the simplest lie. Saedra had been a member of his household. She was also his daughter, but that wasn’t anything she wanted to share while lying in bed next to a known assassin who had been locked up and tortured by her father.
“A member of his household?” Garik repeated, raising his voice on the end to make it a question.
Saedra nodded, fully committed to her tale as she gave the shadowy ceiling her complete attention.
“Let’s say I believe you.”
Saedra recoiled because his very tone indicated he didn’t.
“What next? At least tell me you have a way off this forsaken rock as well.”
Outrage stymied her need to remain still. Saedra rolled on to her side, facing him to snap, “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do have shuttle passage for two booked on a touring cruise vessel due to arrive in three days’ time.”
His eyes widened and his mouth did that intriguing twitch again, just a slight lifting of his lips at the corner. Saedra held her breath but no smile was forthcoming from him.
Instead, she got. “So, we need to stay off of Maurin’s radar for three days then.”
This was the tricky part of her plan where Saedra was hoping luck and fortune favored her. She scooted closer to him and pressed the flat of her hand on his chest. “Exactly. We can use the hover-cycle to get to the traveling port.”
Garik’s gaze dropped to her hand and she pulled it back on a dismayed groan. At some point she needed to learn to keep her touch contained. She knew she was tactile by nature. A result of her mother’s generous and affectionate personality, she figured. Saedra hadn’t had anyone since to release her need to touch and be touched in turn. “Sorry.”
Despite her apology, he continued to stare at her as if she’d committed some great atrocity. Rolling her eyes, she settled down, giving him her back again. “I’m going to sleep. It’s been a trying day, to say the least.”
Silence was his response. Saedra bit her bottom lip and worked to get her heart rate to slow. She’d never been in bed with a man and it didn’t matter that they weren’t even close or in contact. The sound of his light breathing reached her easily, his muffled groan as he must have decided her interrogation was over and lay behind her.
Minutes ticked by while she studied the inky darkness around her. Loneliness rose like a yawning pit in her core and tears stung her eyes. Saedra attempted to swipe them away. These weren’t sad tears, they were tears of relief after the pressure of getting to this point.
Her mother would be pleased. Saedra smiled, her eyes growing heavy. Thinking of her mother’s happiness at Saedra’s escape was enough to eliminate the rest of her tension. The heating unit in the room must have been a decent model because the room was already taking on a toasty feel.
That plus her sheer exhaustion contributed to her body shutting down. A rare feeling of safety and well-being filled her. Saedra shuffled backward and snuggled deeper into the covers. A pleasant haze filled her mind and she soon drifted off to sleep.
Unlike the man in bed beside her, holding in a groan at finding a plump ass nestled against his groin. It took him a lot longer to find sleep.
Chapter 8
Garik woke the next morning, surprised he’d slept at all. It hadn’t been the light sleep he typically used to maintain an awareness of his surroundings either. This was a deep rest. One his body had very much needed.
While his body ached and his ribs still stung, there were definite signs he’d recovered, namely his ability to breathe unhindered. Despite all of that, something plucked at his mind, urging him to wake and move. Not danger necessarily but he kept his eyes closed and tried to pin down the odd feeling as he took stock of his surroundings without moving.
Silence echoed back. Yet he wasn’t alone.
Had Maurin discovered him?
Garik shifted his head about, once more using his physical senses to figure out what disturbed him. A pleasing scent teased his nostrils, light and airy. Not the thick, cloying scent of a sex share worker but not the familiar spicy notes from women he had an understanding with in the past either.
Desire rose as if shaking off the beating he’d taken from Maurin’s guards. This enchanting aroma was all around him, leaving Garik unable to pinpoint the direction of the source. His heart picked up its pace in anticipation, arousal tensing the muscles in his abdomen.
For some reason, his arms were pinned down. A weight was thrown across his chest, keeping him flat on his back in a...bed? He stiffened, tipped his chin down and opened his eyes slowly.
Waves of brown blocked his view, strands tickling along his jaw line. Long hair. Feminine hair, if the silky texture and the source of the amazing smell was any indication.
Beyond that, his gaze followed the natural arch of a narrow back and a slim thigh thrust between his parted legs. Tangled covers wrapped loosely about their hips.
Memories flashed through his mind about the previous night. His escape. Saedra. She slept on top of him instead of hugging the edge of the bed as she had been when they’d fallen asleep.