Born of Fire

She hated the fact that he was right. To the upper crust, they were garbage, barely one step up from rodents. “Surely you can explain it to him.”


He snorted. “Have you ever tried to reason with an aristo? Mercy and understanding aren’t exactly things they concern themselves with. Killing us plebs is.”

That was certainly true enough.

“Doesn’t it anger you?”

“Every minute of my life, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It is what it is. Just like I can’t help being hunted down and tortured because I know a secret about another aristo.” His look cut through her.

She glanced away, ashamed of how wrong she’d been to do to him what she had.

“I’m going to call Caillen,” he said quietly. “You want to speak to him?”

Before she could answer he added, “On second thought, let me call first and then you call him. He’d have a fit if he knew we were together, and I’m really too tired to deal with his crap right now.”

Shahara nodded at his wisdom and watched him while he made the call. She sighed as the line buzzed. As usual, Caillen wasn’t home.

“Hey, Cai,” Syn said as he left a message. “I wanted you to know that I’ve already taken care of this week’s pay and I’m leaving you a hefty bonus. If you need more, just pull it from petty cash and we’ll settle it up later. I don’t want you doing another run through Solaras. Damn boy, get a brain. Stay safe and I’ll catch up to you soon.” He cut the transmission. “You want to call?”

She shook her head. “I’ll wait.” If she called too close after Syn, he might get suspicious. Especially if Kasen had told him the two of them were last seen together.

That could get really bloody.

Syn let out a long breath. “I’m sure you’re tired, so follow me to the bedroom.” He went over to the door beside the kitchen and pressed the controls.

Once more, her mouth dropped. A jumbo-sized, ebony-wood bed was set next to another window with a breathtaking view. The cream-colored silk comforter and pillows looked as soft as a cloud.

The bed’s ornately carved headboard matched the geometric design of the ebony-wood dresser and nightstand. There were also more paintings on the walls, originals she was sure.

He stepped into the room and opened another door to the left. “The bathroom’s in here. You’ll find plenty of fresh linens and soap. I don’t really have anything for you to sleep in, but if you want to clean your clothes, you can borrow one of my shirts from the closet.”

Putting her head inside the bathroom, she saw the personal-sized clothes washer and dryer set into the wall.

“Do you need anything else?”

Just you, she thought, but she knew she could never say that aloud. “I think I have it.”

“All right, I’ll be outside reviewing data on the Rits and their activities if you need me.”

And then he was gone.

Shahara took a seat on the bed and wondered how many nights Syn had lain here, alone, and watched the quiet peacefulness of space. Did it soothe him? Or did it just make him feel all the more lonely?

“Oh, what does it matter?” she whispered. “He has his life and you have yours.” And the two of them could never be together. She couldn’t even stand for a man to touch her.

So why did she keep imagining fantasies of them together?

It just wasn’t meant to be.

“At least you have a family,” she said with a sigh. But right now, that wasn’t much comfort at all.

Syn heard Shahara moving around in his bedroom and it made him hard enough he could hammer a steel spike with his erection. She’d left the shower several minutes ago and he was sure she was digging around his closet. An image of her wet, naked body flashed before his eyes and he cursed.

“Focus, rat,” he snarled, looking back at his sat readouts. “You’ve got a lot of info to cover and not that much time.”

Still, his mind tortured him with thoughts of her beneath him until he feared he’d lose what sanity he had left.

What was wrong with him? He’d tried this before and look what had happened. He’d had his heart torn apart.

His past would never let him be and it would forever separate him from any other person.

Caillen doesn’t see you that way; maybe she won’t either.

He paused at the thought. It was true. Neither Kasen nor Caillen ever threw his past back at him. They treated him like a friend.

And if they could, maybe, just maybe, Shahara could too.

“Stop it,” he growled at himself. “Don’t do this. You’re being stupid.” Because at the end of the day, they didn’t know as much about him as Shahara did. They only a knew a very sanitized version of his past.

Hell, for that matter, she only knew a sanitized version.

Even so, he couldn’t quite stifle the tiny voice in his head that begged him to take one more chance.