Born of Fire (47 page)

The mecha bristled. “You do know I’m not your girlfriend, right? I don’t like that tone of voice and I’d appreciate it if you’d pick a new one. Otherwise, I’ll spit invisible poison in your eyeball . . . both of them.”

Syn let out an irritated breath, but didn’t say anything as he opened his hand. Vik dropped a nav chip in his palm. Holding it up for Shahara’s inspection, he smirked. “I called him earlier, then sent Vik to get the key.”

She bit her lip as she felt her face grow hot. “Sorry.”

“No problem, but just know that no one steals from Nero. He knows who you are and he will hunt you down and make you pay in ways you can’t imagine—including this whole brain squeeze thing he does that will leave you with a migraine so bad, you’ll wish you could bleed out your eyes to stop the pain. He’s nasty that way.”

“Duly noted.”

Clasping her hands behind her back, she dutifully followed him to Nero’s sleek, dark burgundy two-seated fighter. She ascended the boarding ladder first and situated herself in the navigator’s chair while Vik tucked himself in between her and Syn.

Syn didn’t speak as he ran through the flight checks, but he couldn’t help noticing how proud and fierce Shahara looked as she plugged in their coordinates. Her hands were beautiful in their grace and confidence.

The irony of his feelings toward her wasn’t lost on him. He’d sworn growing up that he’d never have anything to do with a lowly pleb. Especially not one who could beat him in a fight and out-shoot him.

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 Shahara 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. “You just answered my question.”

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 to 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 farther?”

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.”

Well, there was that. Leaning back in her chair, she watched as he worked on the terminal, pulling up info for their coming adventure.

He’d pulled his hair back into a ponytail. His whiskers were dark against his tawny skin and made him look even more dangerous. It pained her to know how much tragedy he’d faced in his life.

“Do you ever think about getting married again?”

Syn froze at her unexpected question. He glanced down as his mind flashed on the wedding ring he had in his pocket that he’d bought for her. Against his best efforts, he imagined what it would be like to live his life with her.

But that was stupid and he knew it.

“No,” he lied.

Shahara felt her heart break at his answer. So he did still love Mara. She should have known. And who could blame him? His wife had been beautiful, well-schooled and well-bred. All the things she wasn’t.

You’re defective
. No matter how hard she tried to feel otherwise, she always came back to that one single truth. Life had broken her early and she’d never recovered.

What do you care? You don’t need anyone in your life. You’re stronger alone. Better.
Part of that was true, but she was still human, and being human was about making connections. About feeling a part of something.

You’re a part of your family
.

Stop whining. You’re alive and you have a good life. Granted, it’s in poverty, but it could be worse. You don’t have to visit your siblings in a tomb.

Like Syn.

That snapped her out of her melancholy. She had no right to complain about anything, and the most important thing for her to focus on was getting Tessa back.

It was mid afternoon when they arrived at the gallery. Shahara was starting to feel battered by the constant time zone changes—another serious drawback to space travel. Her body had a hard time making the switch and she no longer remembered what time it was back at her home base.

But Syn didn’t look any worse for the wear.

As they approached the posh and hoity gallery that was housed in an all-glass building, the doors, which were flanked by two steel male bodies four stories tall, opened automatically. Suspended from the ceiling was a huge green human eye that focused on them and followed their path in a large circle as they approached the receptionist’s desk. The foyer was stark white and as antiseptic as a hospital. If not for the huge red sign over the receptionist’s head designating it as Berringer’s, she would have gone back outside and rechecked the address.

People bustled all around the lobby. Most of them were buyers holding computer ledgers while the rest were workers trying to make deals and set appointments.

Shahara turned to ask Syn how he thought this would work when a sultry voice laughed, cutting her off.

“Wicked, wicked Syn.” The woman’s voice cooed at him in a way that made Shahara see red. “Whatever brings you to my little art gallery? I thought you preferred
private
showings?”

How could one woman make such an innocuous word sound so dirty?

Syn flashed her a dazzling grin that highlighted his dimple to perfection. “I was looking for
you
.”

Oh yeah,
that
didn’t help at all. Now Shahara wanted to slap both of them. It might have helped her jealousy if the woman wasn’t quite so gorgeous, or voluptuous.

So incredibly perfect . . .

It was obvious from her meticulous manicure and soft, unblistered hands that this woman had never held a blaster. Never had to lift an eyebrow to do anything other than snap her fingers to have someone else wait on her.

And the more Shahara looked at her, the more she despised the long-legged brunette who stared at Syn as if he were a tasty morsel she was just dying to gobble up. She didn’t know why, but an image of the woman licking her fingers while trying to seduce him with her gaze went through her mind.

Keep that up, woman, and you’re going home bald
. . .

“And just what do you want with
me
?” she purred suggestively, draping a long, shapely arm over his shoulder. She pulled him close, her breasts pressing against his side. Gah, the nerve of her open flirting. Didn’t that kind of display get someone fired? “The same as last time, I hope?”

Syn wanted to shove Donya away, but she could be a major bitch, and, if she felt slighted in any way, she’d storm out and he’d never get a chance to look over the catalogs he needed to see. So the best thing was to play along. “If I only had more time, I’d gladly oblige. But I’m afraid I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

Her hungry look made him cringe. Yet worse than that was the way she trailed her finger down the low-cut front of her shirt, opening it up until he had a perfect view of her bare breasts and nipples.

“Come now. I can’t think of anything I’d rather be than completely
filled
with Syn. If we try hard enough, I’ll bet we could get it down to fifteen minutes.”

Shahara arched a brow at that and he immediately noticed the raw anger smoldering in her golden eyes.
I’m in deep shit
. If he didn’t stop this real soon, Shahara would probably shoot them both. He gave her an apologetic look that he hoped she didn’t misinterpret.

Suddenly, she raked Donya with a lust-filled stare, then licked her lips in a sexual invitation that left him instantly hard. “I don’t think we could really do that with a threesome, now, could we?” She twirled her hand in her hair with an innocent and yet seductive look that both amazed and aroused him. “Of course, Syn might prefer it if we left him out of it completely. What do you think?”

Syn coughed to cover his laugh. She had spunk. No doubt about it.

Her face horrified, Donya scowled at him. “Syn? Who is this person?”

He wanted to say it was his wife. If for no other reason than to get Donya off him. But he didn’t dare alienate her. “She’s a friend.”

Donya dismissed her immediately. “So what is it I can do for you, gorgeous?”

“First, you can treat my friend with respect—especially given the amount of money I spend here. After that, I need to see the company’s archived catalogs.”

She pressed her lips into a seductive pout as she ignored the first part of his words. “Wanting to add to your collection?”

“Something like that.”

Donya huffed irritably as she finally peeled herself
off him. “Well, then, follow me.” She paused to rake Shahara with a condemning glare. “
You
stay behind us.”

Shahara sucked her breath in sharply as if she was getting an absolute thrill from the mere thought of it. “Oh, baby, I can’t wait. I love nothing more than a woman with back, and honey, you got a great big one. By all means, lead the way and let me enjoy the sight. I’ll have to call all my girls later and let them know exactly how sexy that big ass of yours is.” She purred like a prowling feline.

It was all he could do not to laugh out loud. “You are so bad.”

She shrugged prettily as she continued to make overt and over-the-top lustful expressions at Donya. “I just know what I like.”

And he never wanted to be on the receiving end of her venom—she knew exactly what buttons to push and she was working that into a frenzy.

Donya made a squeak of protest as she covered her butt with her ledger and then proceeded to lead them to her office.

Syn shook his head at Shahara.
Behave,
he mouthed to her over his shoulder.

She pointed angrily at Donya, then made a gesture as if she were choking her.

Donya turned around and Shahara, without missing a single beat, smiled at her and turned her gesture into one that said she was pretending to squeeze Donya’s ass while licking her lips as if she could taste her.