Born of Fire

And as he considered his feelings, he wondered if part of his attraction for well-bred women hadn’t been some underlying desire to have his mother accept and approve of him. After all, if an educated, sophisticated woman like Mara could accept him, it only stood to reason his mother would, too.

Now that he was too old to give a shit what anyone thought of him, his true desires came out. He liked the fact that she could stand at his back and protect it. That she knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to do whatever she had to to get it.

There was a lot to be said for a woman who was as predatorial as he was.

She paused as she realized he was looking at her. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“No. I was just thinking how incredibly beautiful you are.”

That didn’t seem to please her as her gaze danced around in obvious discomfort. “You’re still drunk, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “No. The hangover is starting to kick in. Head hammering like a mother.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

“What does?”

“Your eyesight’s screwed up. I could probably take you into a retirement home and you’d be trying to score with grandma right now.”

He should be offended, but instead he laughed again. “You’re so wrong.” Shaking his head, he launched them.

Shahara didn’t say anything else while he concentrated on their launch. Her thoughts were torn between her angry brother, her captured sister, and the man she wanted to love who wouldn’t let her.

The bad thing was, she wanted to beat and kill all three of them for basically the same reason. They were all too stubborn to live, and if they’d listen to her, all three of them wouldn’t be in their current situations.

Ugh! What was it with her that she surrounded herself with such difficult people? Or even worse, loved them?

I’m sick in the head . . .

Once they cleared orbit, she spoke. “Do you think they’ll hurt Tess?”

“You want me to lie?”

Her gut tightened at his question. “You just answered it.”

He reached out and took her hand in his. “Have faith, baby. I won’t let them hurt her. I promise. We’ll get that chip and I’ll make them pay for what they’ve done.”

For the first time in her adult life, she didn’t cringe at the use of that particular endearment. It actually warmed her. “I do trust you. It’s Merjack I want to rip into pieces.”

“We find that chip and you’ll have the power to bring him down.”

“I hope so.”

She stared out at the matte blackness that stretched into infinity. She’d never found space travel particularly comforting. Mostly because she knew the dangers. Yet with Syn . . . while she was worried, she wasn’t as brittle as she’d be if she was alone. She knew he’d move mountains to keep Tess safe. She felt like she could actually depend on someone else.

It was a completely different feeling from what she had with her brother. While she knew Caillen would move mountains for her, there was still a part of her that wanted to wipe his chin and cut up his food. A part of her that couldn’t allow him to see that she wasn’t the big sister who had to take care of him and watch out for him.

With Syn . . .

She could let down her guard and allow him to take care of her. While she could lead, she didn’t have to be in charge and stronger than titanium at all times. It was such a nice change to be able to show her insecurities with someone.

With Syn, she felt like a partner.

Vik got up and moved to sit more in her lap.

“What are you doing, Vik?”

He flicked into his bot form and draped over her leg. “I’m getting bored.”

“You can’t get bored.”

“Yes, I can.” He stretched out. “How much further?”

She laughed at his tone that sounded like a five-year-old. “My God, he’s like having a child.”

Syn snorted. “Yeah. You even have to change his diaper at times.”

“Nah. Just my batteries.”

Syn arched a brow. “And your attitude.”

“Bitch, bitch, bitch. Now leave me alone while I nap.”

Shahara didn’t know what to make of him as he shut down his power and went into a sleep mode. “You know, Vik really is an impressive invention. You could have easily had a career in robotics and programming.”

“You think I didn’t try?”

“What happened?”

“Couldn’t pass the security checks. They not only investigate you, but your immediate family. While Nykyrian and I were able to fabricate my important files, coming up with records for parents and every known address I would have lived at while growing up, with living references who could give sworn testimony that I went to certain schools and lived in certain places, was something we couldn’t do. May the gods bless and hold the computer and robotic companies. They are seriously paranoid bastards.”

She touched his necklace that she still wore as her heart broke for him. What a waste of so much talent. “I’m sorry, Syn.”

He shrugged. “It’s all right. Besides, it took away any guilt I had when I stole info and intel from them. If they’d hired me, I’d have had a vested interest in protecting them.”