Born of Defiance

And the longer she watched Talyn patiently instruct her nephews, the more her heart broke. A male like him deserved to have children of his own that he could laugh and play with.

Life had royally screwed Talyn, and still he got up every day and relentlessly shouldered the scorn and hatred he couldn’t stop. Scorn and hatred he couldn’t help.

She’d never known anyone more courageous or honorable. While she knew it bothered him – she could see it in his eyes – he never spoke of it. Never blamed his mother, his father, or anyone else for the circumstances of his birth.

For that alone, she would love him. But there was so much more to him than that. Honor. Respect.

Tenderness.

She still couldn’t believe how fortunate she’d been to find him. How close she’d come to choosing someone else.

Now she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life.

You’re going to have to let him go. Companions never stayed with their patrons. That just wasn’t how it worked. And they definitely didn’t stay with patrons who lacked lineage. It was a miracle her agency had even allowed Talyn in the door. Most wouldn’t have.

Yet she dreamed of things she knew could never be. A long, happy life with a male so wonderful.

It was useless. Dreams didn’t come true. And life took its jollies by ruining everyone’s plans.





Chapter 12





P

eeking into the small window on the dance studio’s door where Felicia was teaching a class of twenty little girls, Talyn froze. Before their contract, she’d worked as a dance instructor in this school, but the small salary hadn’t been enough to cover her tuition and living expenses. After their arrangement, she’d been designated as a floating substitute, which was why she was here for a few hours.

His breath caught in his throat while he watched her laughing and twirling and swaying with the children. From these past few weeks, he’d known she possessed a beautiful heart and soul, but never was it more evident than here and now. She gently corrected and encouraged them, all the while maintaining a dazzling smile and more patience than he could fathom. No wonder she was able to tolerate his assholishness so well.

And the grace she held…

Damn, he was instantly rock hard and in pain. All he wanted was to barge in, sweep her into his arms, and make love to her in the nearest closet he could find.

One little girl fell during a twirl and skinned her knee. Felicia rushed to her and spoke words that had the child laughing through her tears. And it wrung his heart. No wonder Felicia had said on her questionnaire that she wanted children. Like his mother, she was loving and giving. Inspiring.

How could I deprive her of this?

She was born to be someone’s mother.

Feeling like shit, he started to leave, but the moment he did, Felicia looked up and saw him in the window. A beautiful, welcoming smile lit her entire face.

She motioned him in.

Unable to resist her lure, Talyn entered, and would have gone quietly to the corner, but the moment he opened the door, the girls let out a terrified squeal and ran for cover.

Felicia laughed playfully. “He’s not an evil beastie, girls. He’s my male.” She came over to place a chaste kiss to his cheek to show them how “harmless” he was. At least where they were concerned.

Suddenly, they swarmed him like buzzing, giggling bees. For the first time in his life, he panicked.

Felicia laughed out loud as she saw the expression on his face. “Oh my God, Talyn! You’re not seriously afraid of a bunch of little girls, are you?”

“I’ve never seen so many. And they’re so breakably frail. I don’t remember them being this small when I was in school.”

She laughed even harder before she pulled them away. “All right, class, our time’s up and your mothers will be waiting. Good job all!”

They scurried away to gather their things.

Felicia sauntered over to him. “So what brings you here, Major?”

“I thought I’d pick you up and take you out to dinner so that you wouldn’t have to cook when you got home. I mean, I would have cooked for you, but I’m not particularly good at it. I once set my mom’s flat on fire, trying to boil water.”

She pressed her cheek to his. “Thank you. You’re so thoughtful.”

As Felicia pulled back, one of the little girls came running back to Talyn with a piece of paper in her hands.

She handed it to him. “They had us draw this in school for our pakas, but I don’t have a paka now. Mama says the evil tahrs had him killed and we can’t talk about it. But since I don’t have a paka no more, I thought I should give it to Tara Felicia’s male ’cause I really like Tara Felicia. She used to be my teacher all the time, but she had to quit and I miss her a lot, but she says she’ll come back to teach when she’s not at school anymore. Here!”