Born of Defiance

“Besides you? Nothing! Not a damn thing. I hate you!”


Talyn jerked the pillow out of her hands. She moved to actually bite him.

With fangs.

Talyn caught her and rolled with her so that he could pin her on the bed. Gently, he held her hands by her face.

Shrieking, she tried to buck him off.

If he wasn’t afraid of being gelded, he’d laugh at her useless efforts. His thigh bone weighed more than she did.

“Felicia, what is wrong with you?”

“Who the fuck is Jayne, Talyn? Huh? You should have taken your link with you, you faithless bastard!”

Instead of clearing things up, that only confused him more. “What?”

“ ‘Sweet cheeks’? ‘Stay sexy’? You bastard! I hate you!”

It was a stupid thing to do, but he couldn’t help himself. He laughed.

Which made her scream like he was murdering her.

His mother came running into the room and pulled up short as she saw them entangled, half dressed on the bed. Yeah, this was awkward. He was wearing his short military briefs and Felicia’s gown had ridden up so that it looked like some kind of sex game. Her face turned bright red.

“Ma!” he shouted as she beat a hasty retreat. “Come back. It’s not what you think.”

She spoke around the doorframe. “Should I ask what it is, then?”

“Tell Felicia who Jayne is.”

“Jayne Erixour?”

“Yeah. ’Cause I don’t think she’s going to believe me if I tell her.” He slid off Felicia.

Shoving her gown down, she glared at him as his mother returned to the room.

Galene bit her lip. “Oh dear gods, what did Jaynie do now?”

“Who is she, Commander?” Felicia asked.

“My best friend. Talyn’s other mother.”

Felicia frowned. “What?”

Talyn picked his pillow up and returned it to the bed. “Remember when I told you I had a teacher take me home and watch over me until my mother was released from the hospital?”

“Yeah.”

“Jaynie.”

“No,” Felicia said, shaking her head. “Play her message back and tell me that sounds like a teacher, mother figure.”

Inwardly cringing, he rubbed a hand over his face. “Gah, I can just imagine. Aunt Jayne is a unique individual. Unlike any you’ve ever met. The fact they ever let her into a classroom says a lot about the Hyshian educational system.” He pulled his link to him and listened. And with every word, he screwed his face up harder. Yeah, okay, he’d beat him, too.

He handed the link to his mother for her to hear. She sighed heavily. “Yeah, that’s Jayne.” She handed it back to him. “What did you call her about?”

“The security for Felicia that you’d mentioned.” He passed a dry look to her. “That’s my ‘girl problem’ she’s referring to.”

“Why would a mother figure call you sexy?”

“It’s Jayne,” he and his mother said in unison.

Galene nodded. “She’s been calling him sexy since he was in grade school.”

“Really?”

Talyn scratched sheepishly at his ear. “I went to school with Hyshians, Licia. I felt like a hideous freak, all the time. Jayne started calling me that so I’d feel better about myself. Didn’t really work since everyone else looked at me like a diseased flea that was about to give them an incurable, alien disease, but it was her way of trying.”

Still sitting on the bed, she drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Peeking at him over her knees, she gave him a most adorable pout. “Sorry. But you have to admit, that call was pretty damning.”

“Yeah. Vintage Jayne.”

His mother laughed. “Since there’s no murder going on, I’ll leave you two to sort this out.” She made a quick exit.

Talyn hesitated. “Is it safe, or do I need to gird my loins for battle?”

“You might want to gird a bit. I’m still mad about the other matter… Did you really call Jayne about security for me?”

“Of course, I did. And Jayne’s the one who rescued me from Onoria. Hadrian, who you met, is her husband. They have kids together. You would have met her, too, but she had to jettison for other obligations with The Sentella while they were bringing me home.”

Now she felt utterly stupid. While she’d known Hadrian’s wife had been with them, no one had mentioned Jayne by name.

She crooked her finger for him to come closer.

Talyn hesitated. He wasn’t real sure of her mood. Because he hadn’t spent much time around anyone other than his mother, Jayne, and her husband, he wasn’t real good at reading others’ emotions.

And, well… Jayne and his mother made it easy. When they were pissed, they launched into highly hostile verbal assaults that ended with an ass beating and restriction. As for Jayne’s husband, Hadrian was extremely even-keeled and showed as much emotion as a statue, most days.

He inched toward her. “Should I remove projectiles?”

“No,” she said sullenly. “Come here, Talyn.”