Born of Fire

“Oh, thanks a lot.”


Caillen sighed. “I wish I could tell him I’m sorry.”

“Why don’t you?”

His spine went ramrod stiff. “I’m a man, Trisa, not a wimp.”

“There’s a spice shipment that needs to be delivered to Derridia tonight.”

Shahara turned around at the deep baritone voice she’d longed to hear. Like a feral predator watching its target, Syn stood in the shadow of her sheet, just inside her bedroom.

She looked over to Vik, who sat whistling guiltily in the corner. The little booger must have let Syn in while she’d been trying on her dress.

“Why don’t you call Criam and tell him I said for you to take it?”

Caillen rose slowly to his feet. “You sure?”

Syn glanced to Shahara. “Good pilots are a dina a dozen, but great pilots are hard to replace.” He looked back at Caillen. “Now go on before I change my mind.”

Caillen shrugged his jacket on and gave Shahara a quick peck on her cheek. “I’ll call you later.” Then he dashed out the door.

Shahara licked her suddenly dry lips as Syn turned his obsidian gaze back to her.

Gods, he was gorgeous. With his hair down and his cheeks dusted by whiskers, he wore an entirely white outfit that made his skin appear even darker than normal. The white linen outlined every corded muscle, and his pants hugged a rump so prime that it begged to be savored.

In spite of herself, her blood raced.

Feeling suddenly awkward, she searched for something to say. Tell him you love him.

No, she couldn’t do that.

Not yet.

“Thank you for the dress,” she said, deciding that was innocuous enough.

With a sheepish grin, he rubbed his neck. “I thought it would be a nice change to see you in something other than pants and work clothes.” A hungry light flickered in the darkness of his eyes. “You look great.”

So do you. He’d lost some weight. Not much, just enough to heighten the appearance of his well-developed muscles.

Every piece of her was attuned to him, and all she wanted was to rush to him and pull him into her arms. Run her hands over his muscles and take him . . .

But the thought of his rejection kept her feet riveted to the floor. She wouldn’t embarrass herself.

At least not yet.

Silence hung heavy between them. Shahara bit her lip, waiting for him to say something.

Vik turned into a bird. “You know, I’m feeling really awkward, people. Think I’m going to visit with Caillen for a bit.” He took off out the window.

At last Syn crossed the distance between them and took her hands in both of his. An emotion she couldn’t define creased his brow. “I’ve missed you, Shahara.”

His words gave her so much ecstasy that she felt like singing.

But she couldn’t.

Instead she gave him a tender smile. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“No,” he said, cupping her face in his hands while he stared at her with those obsidian eyes. Eyes that mirrored the depth of his emotions, and allowed her to see straight into his soul. “I mean I’ve really missed you.”

“And?”

“And what?”

She looked up at him. All she wanted was for him to say it. For him to tell her that he loved her.

Was that so hard?

She saw his devotion, but that wasn’t enough. If he couldn’t say it . . .

“Never mind.”

Syn stared at her in confusion as she pulled away from him. Why was she being so distant?

Fine, then. Two could play that. Folding his arms across his chest, he leaned against the wall. “I heard you quit your job.”

“Yeah.” She shut down her computer that Caillen had left on. “I surrendered my license as soon as I came home.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Before I met you, I always thought justice was black and white. Right and wrong. You showed me that it wasn’t that simple. And I became terrified when I thought about how many innocent people I might have helped execute. I don’t want to be that person anymore.”

She looked up at him with those haunting golden eyes that seared his soul. “I couldn’t stand the thought of what I’d done to you.”

He pulled her back into his arms. “I need you to be a part of my life.”

She tensed. “Yes, you’ve told me that before and then you refused to speak to me for six months.”

“Well, you did hand me over to the man who wanted to kill me.”

Sadness shadowed her eyes and she looked down at his chest. “I know.”

He lifted her chin so that he could see her expression. “Why didn’t you give Merjack the right chip?” He wanted her to tell him it was because she loved him too much to see him die.

“Because I was a seax, sworn to uphold justice and I was on a mission for them.”

He winced as she confirmed his fear. He really didn’t mean anything to her.

“Oh.” He took a step back and released her.

Shahara waited for him to continue.

When he started for the door, she called out, “Why did you think I did it?”