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  Outside he raced into the desert until he saw two large gray wolves standing on one of the sand hills in the distance.

  His heart welled with emotions as he raced across the distance and up the hill. Unable to control himself and unmindful of the protocol the occasion demanded, he rushed forward to greet the smaller of the two wolves. Daria!

  Delsin! She lifted her head and howled with joy as he buried his muzzle against her neck.

  The word for the traditional pledge of affection his clan used and which he hadn’t heard in years trembled from his lips the same moment she spoke it.

  Te’amous.

  Te’amous.

  Te’amous, my cub mate. You’ve been well missed, Delsin.

  She turned her head and they muzzled and licked at each other for several moments before he stepped back to face the other male.

  The wolf who had been his cub mate now led their clan. The familiarity he’d shared with Daria had been disrespectful given her position. Such a display of affection with Daylon would border on the irreverent. After briefly meeting the gaze of the other male, he put his tail between his legs and bowed his head in submission. “Alpha, I live to serve.”

  Daylon butted his muzzle against his. “A show of submission isn’t necessary when we’re alone. Welcome home, Delsin. Te’amous, my cub mate.”

  Delsin felt a swell of emotion that made speech impossible.

  “Come. Run with us and share the joy that only cub mates such as the three of us can fully appreciate, Delsin,” Daylon invited.

  Daylon Adar, Alpha Supreme of their clan, spun around and loped down the hill. Daria quickly followed. Feeling a joy and freedom he’d never expected to feel again, Delsin rushed after them and the three of them ran through the desert, glorying in the feel of the full moon on their natural bodies.

  They ran for miles before taking a rest break in Daylon’s personal cruiser that had shadowed them across the desert. Inside the plush interior, they shifted to their human forms and sat naked on the observation deck, enjoying the effects of the full moon on their bare skins.

  He listened in amazement as Daylon told him of taking a sexual empath as a bond mate who carried the foaling of a Centaurian Stallion. “I expected you to settle down with a more traditional bond mate,” he said.

  Daylon shrugged. “Tiny blondes have never really generated any real lust in me. I fell hard for Tanari the moment I saw her.”

  “And you don’t mind that someone else’s seed is swelling her belly?”

  “I wished it were mine, but I’ll take her anyway I can.”

  Delsin glanced at Daria. “And you? Are you bonded?”

  “Not yet—even though Daylon is insisting it’s time I took a mate.” She grimaced at Daylon before smiling at Delsin. “And you?”

  He thought of Parmia. After a brief hesitation, he told her of his bounty and of his desire to bond with her.

  Daria and Daylon exchanged a long look before Daylon looked at him. “There’s something you should know about her.”

  He tensed. “You know of her?”

  Daylon nodded.

  He clenched a fist. “Are you one of her clients?”

  “No. She’s actually doing a job for me.”

  “What type of job?”

  “It’s time you knew how you came to be home, Delsin.”

  He listened in silence until Daylon stopped speaking. Before he could digest Daylon’s confession, Daria suggested another run across the sands. They all shifted and ran across the desert with the cruiser following overhead.

  * * *

  Parmia woke alone in Adarinas’s bedchamber just before sunrise. Her first thoughts were of the hunter. No. Not the hunter. Delsin. The longing she felt for him made her pathway clear.

  “Where is he?” she asked Markes.

  “He went out last night and hasn’t yet returned.”

  Parmia felt an unfamiliar stab of jealousy. Had he gone in search of pleasure in another woman’s arms? The thought infuriated her. The desert would freeze before she allowed another woman to take him from her.

  “And the Centaurian?”

  Markes told her what had transpired in the observation deck after she fell asleep.

  “So he’s reunited with his surviving brother?”

  “Yes. It was an emotional reunion. His older brother thought him dead. He would have been had his mother not ensured his safety by having his memory blocked before she bravely went to face the enemy soldiers sent to kill them both.”

  Parmia shook her head. “What a tragedy. I’m glad he’s been reunited with his brother.” She hesitated before she turned to face him. “I can’t do this, Markes.”

  “What can’t you do?”

  “I can’t turn him over to his clan. We’re going to have to return the credits.”

  He greeted her words with silence.

  “But don’t worry. I’m still going to give you the credits you’ve earned and need for the upgrade,” she assured him.

  “You won’t have enough to survive comfortably on if you return this fee and give me credits for the upgrade.”

  “I’ll manage, but I can’t betray him and I won’t ask you to wait any longer for the upgrade you need to compete for a position in the sentient side arm brigade.”

  “What if they’ve already been notified?”

  Parmia felt a stab of anger. “Markes! You didn’t!”

  “I did,” he said without any sign of regret. “We need the credits we’ve already earned.”

  “Markes! How could you do that without consulting with me?”

  “If I had, you would have said no.”

  “Yes, I would have!”

  “So I didn’t ask you. We need those credits.”

  “Oh, Markes! He’ll think I betrayed him!”

  “Why do you care what he thinks?”

  “I don’t know! I just know I do care. I don’t want him to think I betrayed him after what we shared.”

  “If his opinion matters, I’ll tell him I was the one who betrayed him.”

  She closed her eyes. By the Goddess, that had to be enough, she thought as she went to take a long, sonic shower. Tears of frustration streamed down her cheeks. Why had the Goddess forsaken her to such an extent that she fell so hard for the man she’d taken money to betray? What would he think of her when he learned she’d conspired with his clan to trick him back to a planet she’d been determined to leave herself?

  When she emerged nude from the shower, a naked and gloriously aroused Delsin stretched out on the bed.

  Without conscious thought, she let out a happy cry and rushed across the room to the bed and to the man who owned her heart.

  He reached up to pull her down beside him before he quickly rolled his big, hard body on top of hers.

  Feeling his cock pressing against her belly, she slid her palms down his back to cup his ass.

  When he bent his head to kiss her, she turned her head away. “Where have you been?” She knew she had no right to ask the question but she had to know if he’d sought pleasure with another woman.

  “I’ve been with the clansmen you conspired to trick me with,” he said, rubbing his hard, heavy shaft against her body.

  Parmia tensed. “I…I…” She wanted to tell him she hadn’t contacted them, but that smacked of betraying Markes who she loved and who held a greater claim on her loyalty than anyone else. “I can explain.”

  “Really?” He ground his cock against her belly.

  “Yes—if you’ll just give me a chance.”

  “Maybe I’ll be in the mood to listen—later.” He lifted his hips, gripped his cock, and pressed it against her entrance. “Right now I have hungers only you can fully satisfy.”

  Only her? Did that mean whoever he had been with the previous night had left him longing for her? Still jealous, but reassured, she determined to ensure he wouldn’t feel the need to mate with other women again. Clenching her hands in his ass cheeks, she thrust her hips off the bed. “Then
take me and all the satisfaction you want and need.”

  “I intend to,” he said, his voice brusque. He angled his body until the head of his cock slipped between the lips of her slit.

  Her stomach muscles clenched and her pussy flooded as she slowly impaled herself on his cock. With his entire hard shaft buried deep inside her body, she slipped her hands up to his shoulders to pull his upper body down onto hers. “Crush me and brand me as yours,” she pleaded.

  As his chest muscles crushed her breasts, she parted her lips, inviting his plunder of her mouth. Instead, he touched his lips to hers with a tender passion that swelled her emotions in a way she couldn’t deny or conceal from him. She closed her eyes on a rush of tears and clung to him. “I’m yours,” she whispered.

  He cupped his hands under her ass and tilted her hips allowing deeper penetration. With his lips and tongue, teasing and caressing hers, he commanded her complete surrender. She gladly gave it.

  With each slow, deep slide back into her, he claimed a piece of her exposed heart.

  As if his sole goal was to please her, he kept his strokes even and just hard enough to ensure each movement increased her level of pleasure and arousal. When she sobbed and came, he pressed his lips against her ear and whispered softly to her in a voice husky with desire.

  The words infused her body with heat and her heart with the belief that he was promising her a level of commitment no creature other than Markes had offered her. Overcome with emotion, she trembled helplessly under him, and made no attempt to conceal her tears from him.

  Rolling onto his back, he eased his cock out of her and held her cradled against his body until her sobs subsided.

  “I have you,” he told her. “There’s no need to cry or ever be afraid again.”

  Pressing closer into his arms, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

  Warm, nibbling kisses on her mouth and breasts roused her sometime later.

  Opening her eyes, she turned onto her side.

  Delsin, fully dressed, sat on the side of the bed. A tray rested on the bedside table to his right. “Are you hungry?”

  “I’m famished,” she admitted, her gaze locking with his.

  He lowered his lids before she could read the expression in his eyes. “I’ll leave you alone to eat and shower. Then we need to talk.”

  “What about?”

  “About how we’re going to handle the situation we find ourselves in.”

  She couldn’t decide if such a talk would be a good or a bad thing. “Can’t it wait?”

  “No. We need to clear the air and be honest about where we go from here.” He kissed her breasts before he stood upright. “Please join me on the observation deck when you’re ready.”

  She watched him walk out with a feeling of dread. Clearly, he knew of her treachery. So what was there to discuss? Not only would she have no future with him, but she also wasn't likely to earn the rest of her fee. The implications for her and Markes stunned her.

  Standing under the sonic shower, she allowed herself the luxury of a quick sob before she left the shower.

  Markes waited for her in the bedchamber. "Are you all right?"

  She had a sick feeling that it would be a long time before she was all right again. She'd committed the cardinal sin for a courtesan—she'd fallen for someone who couldn't possibly return her feelings.

  "We need to leave now," she told Markes. "Can you ensure a safe passage without killing anyone?"

  "No one will keep us here against our will," he assured her.

  She glanced at the bed, inhaled quickly, and started towards the door. "Then let's go. We'll get a room for the night and decide how to proceed."

  "What about our fee? We earned it."

  She shook her head. "I couldn't take it."

  "I can."

  "Then you get it!" she snapped. "I don't want anything to do with it!" She wanted Adarinas—not credits. She stormed across the room to the doors, which slid open. Stepping out into the corridor, she glanced around.

  Markes hovered near her head. "He's waiting for you in the observation deck."

  "I don't want to see him again and I doubt he wants to see me. Let's go."

  "Are you sure you want to go without seeing him?"

  She nodded. "I'm just not sure how we'll make it across the desert to the shifter den."

  "I have a hovercraft and a pilot on standby." He was silent for several moments. "I've contacted the pilot. He's on his way and will be outside the hangar shortly."

  "Oh, Markes. What am I going to do without you?"

  "You're your father's daughter. You'll thrive on your own and we'll keep in touch after I have my upgrade."

  They'd keep in touch but would never have the same level of closeness again. Blinking back tears, she walked quickly down the corridor towards the exit. With each step, she hoped and expected Adarinas would appear and—

  And what? Declare his affection for a woman who slept with other men for credit and who had conspired to trick him into returning to a place he'd avoided for years?

  When the cruiser’s outer doors opened, she rushed out into the hangar and ran towards the exit. Once outside in the desert, she saw a small hovercraft idling several inches above the desert.

  With tears of regret prickling her eyes, she rushed across the sands. As the pilot appeared at the entrance, Markes stopped beside her. "Parmia?"

  "I don't want to talk. Let's just please go," she whispered. “I don’t want him to try to stop me.”

  “He won’t. He’s asleep and won’t wake for a while.”

  “Asleep?” How could he sleep when she was about to walk out of his life forever? “But—“

  He urged her onto the hovercraft before he replied. “Drugged him while you showered,” Markes said.

  “Oh, Markes.”

  “Thought it would be easier on you. Drugged but didn’t hurt him.”

  She held her tongue. Markes only spoke in clipped tones when he was angry or upset. As the hovercraft turned and flew away, she closed her eyes on a rush of tears. She was leaving the only man she'd ever loved. When Markes left, she'd be alone in the world for the first time. Alone and heartsick.

  Sometime later, she and Markes were at the Denhari spaceport, awaiting transport off the planet. Ever resourceful, Markes had managed to secure the rest of their commission and they were set to go their separate ways within hours. He had insisted on seeing her safely on a transport off Denhari so she would leave first.

  Waiting, she couldn't stop crying.

  Markes rested on her lap in silence.

  The knowledge that she would soon be separated from the only sentient creature who cared about her welfare made the wait seem endless.

  When her transport departure was announced, she sobbed and clutched Markes to her breasts. "I know you'll do well, but please let me know how you're doing," she said when she released him.

  "I will contact you when I finish my upgrade. Contact me if you need me and I'll come—even if I have to stop my training. I'll always come if you call."

  She wiped her tears. Hell would ice over before she interfered with his training. It was time she stood on her own two feet—as her father would have expected. But she nodded and wiped her tears. “Thank you.” She turned, picked up her case and walked towards her transport, feeling as if her heart would break.

  “Parmia!”

  She turned at the transport door.

  Markes rushed towards her. “Never loved anyone or anything—not even your father. Respected him. Love you. Always.”

  “I love you too, Markes.” She stroked her fingers along his handle before stepping onto the transport.

  The doors slid shut, cutting her off from the only living creature who loved her. She was alone and afraid.

  Chapter Four

  Delsin woke on a lounge chair on the observation deck with a pounding headache and a stiff neck.

  “Are you all right?”

  Renas stood over him, holding o
ut a small, pale pill used to alleviate the symptoms of too much drink and carousing.

  Delsin swallowed the pill and slowly rose. He glanced out the observation deck windows onto a moonlit night. What the hell! He turned to look at Renas. “She’s gone. Isn’t she?”

  Renas nodded.

  Delsin took a deep breath. “Where?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “I’m not sure about that either. I was at the pleasure den with Kayden for several hours before I got a message from Markes that you needed me here.”

  “What in the hell are you sure about?”

  “That she’s alone. While you were out, I did a trace and found that Markes took a transport alone.”

  “Damn! She must have left too. I have to find her!” He stalked across the room.

  “I know where she’s headed.”

  He came to an abrupt halt. Daylon stood in the doorway.

  A wave of relief washed over him. He had to take a moment to swallow before he could trust his voice to remain steady when he spoke. “Where is she?” Realizing he must appear disrespectful, he impatiently dropped to one knee with his head bent. “I beg your pardon, Alpha.”

  Daylon crossed the room to place a hand on his shoulder. “Rise.” He handed Delsin a small communication device. “She’s on a transport that left Denhari a few hours ago. I called in a few favors and had them do a layover in the Waymen Desert. They’ll only wait for two hours. So if you hurry, you might catch her before she takes another lover.”

  The thought of the courtesan who had stroked his deepest emotions allowing any male other than Renas to touch her infuriated him. For the first time in his life, he felt a murderous rage in connection with a woman who earned her credits teasing and pleasing strange men who meant nothing to her. Of all the women to move him, he had to fall for one who viewed him as nothing more than an opportunity for profit.

  And yet, it would be a calm, balmy day in the Blue Desert before he allowed her to walk away from him without even giving him the courtesy of admitting she wasn’t worth his time or affection.