He wanted to punch her. Hard. But she was right. Other than shooting her to protect her from the authorities, he hadn’t laid a hand on any of his sisters since his adoptive father had died.
Before anyone could react or he even realized her intent, Desideria pulled Kasen back and slugged her, then flew into a round of what he assumed must be heavy Qillaq insults. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, his Qillaq wasn’t fluent enough to know them.
Kasen moved in to retaliate.
Caillen scooped Desideria up in his arms and physically removed her from harm’s way at the same time Shahara blocked Kasen’s path. While he had no doubt Desideria could take his sister, Kasen was by no means unskilled and she not only outweighed, but out-towered Desideria by a full head’s height. Last thing he wanted was a knock-down, drag-out bloodbath between the two of them.
“Put me down!” Desideria growled between her clenched teeth.
“Nah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Both of you need a time-out.”
She glared at him. “You’re not funny.”
“Really not trying to be at the moment. Just trying to protect two women I care about from a mutual ass beating.”
Desideria froze as those words broke through r anger and calmed her substantially. She stopped fighting his hold. “You care about me?”
Caillen felt as if all the air had been sucked completely out of the shuttle as every eye turned to him and a silence fell so loud that it was deafening. Yeah, he was like a Gondarion antler beast stuck under a microscope for some kind of genetic mutation.
Tell her yes. You care about her.
Yes, asshole, yes.
He knew it was the wise thing to do.
The honest thing to do.
But everyone from Syn to Fain to Hauk and his sisters were watching. Not the ideal place to make a first declaration of affection. Those were for private time between a man and a woman.
His vocal cords seized up so that all he could get out was a very weak “Um…”
That had the same effect as setting fire to a foul mood feline. Desideria literally jumped out of his arms and turned loose more Qillaq that was probably questioning not only his paternal status, but his species and manhood. Even though she’d never been here before and had no idea where anything was, she stormed off the shuttle.
Caillen let out an audible groan as his stomach tightened enough to form a diamond. I’m so screwed.
Putting her hands on her hips, Shahara sighed heavily and rolled her eyes so far back in her head it was a miracle they didn’t stay there. “I swear I raised you smarter than this.” She looked helplessly at Syn. “I swear I did.”
Hauk slapped Fain in the stomach. “Gah and I thought you were inept with female feelings.” He shook his head at Caillen. “Damn, boy, you might as well have told her those pants made her ass look fat.”
He was right and Caillen felt like crap over what he’d done. There was only one thing to do…
Desideria stalked through the hangar as her temper boiled. She wanted to beat Caillen until he bled. She wanted…
“You all right?”
That had to be the deepest male voice and the most exotic accent she’d ever heard before. She paused to turn and see a man so perfectly formed he’d rival Caillen in looks. With a mask similar to Fain’s pulled down to cover his Adam’s apple, he wore his dark brown hair cut short, but long enough to form a beautiful mess of curls around his face. With hazel brown eyes that were tinged with a haunting ferocity, he was devastating. At the same time, there was something eerily familiar about him. Yet she’d never seen him before.
“Who are you?”
A set of perfect dimples flashed in his cheeks as he answered. “Chayden Aniwaya.”
Her gaze fell to the patch on his black flight jacket that matched the symbol Fain had on his mask. In the back of her mind, she was trying to think of how she knew this man and why he seemed to be a familiar stranger.
Before she could ask him about it, Caillen came running up behind her.
And with that, her anger overrode everything else. “I’m not speaking to you.”
Caillen let out a tired sigh while Chayden laughed.
“Damn, Dagan, what is it with you and women?”
“Don’t ask. In the mood I’m in, I might actually tell you.”
Chayden shook his head as he laughed again. “As an FYI, we surrendered the assassin to the Sentella who took him to a holding room for you when you’re ready. But I should warn you… getting any information is going to be damn near impossible.”
He figured as much. Bad thing about assassins, even paid ones, they seldom gave info or intel, even under torture. But Caillen had a way for getting what he wanted. “Did you check for a suicide cap?”
There was no missing the offended expression on Chayden’s face. “Do I look like an infant?”
“You’re still a little wet behind the ears.”
Desideria waited for the pirate to slug Caillen for that. The expression on his face said he really wanted to.
Instead, Chayden’s verbal response was in a language she couldn’t understand, but she was pretty sure it was an insult even though Caillen grinned in response.