Her Adoring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 3) (29 page)

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Authors: Caitlyn O'Leary

BOOK: Her Adoring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 3)

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“Poor, Razz. You feel my pain don’t you?” She hurried to the creature, wrapped her arms around its neck and buried her fingers in its thick fur. Razz butted his head against her and she scratched him behind the ears then held the huge head in her hands and looked into her pet’s eyes. “We’ll be okay. Won’t we baby?”

He butted her again then yawned, showing three-inch long razor-sharp teeth before he jumped to the ground and circled her.

Bellya slid to the ground and Razz lay down next to her and rested his head on her lap. His long bushy tail wrapped around her feet, the tip flicking back and forth. It changed colors as it moved over the light-colored material of her cloak and the black leather of her boots. Gradually his body changed from head to tail, blending into his surroundings until only his eyes gave away his presence.

“Well, Razz, I’ve been cast out so it’s just you and me now.” She ruffled the long fur on the back of his ears and closed her eyes to keep the tears of fear and hurt from escaping. She’d known since she was fifteen that her mother was using her to spy on her friends, especially Skye.

She’d tried to block Arlyn from her mind but she’d quickly, and painfully, learned how weak her powers were compared to her mother’s. Her only option had been to figure out a way to protect the people she cared about and that had meant figuring out a way to put some distance between her and them. An easy task as all she’d had to do was copy her mother’s behavior.

Arlyn was arrogant and mean-spirited and disliked by just about everyone who knew her. Bellya had copied her and gotten the results she’d expected—most people disliked her and stayed away from her. It had worked for a long time until her mother had caught on to what she’d been doing and then the punishment she’d received had been brutal and had come close to breaking her both mentally but physically.

She’d thought she’d endured the worst her mother could dish out until she’d demanded that Bellya choose Merykh of Crimeryn as a mate. He was a disgusting cold-blooded killer and she’d adamantly refused. In retaliation her mother had locked her away from Taryq for nearly a moon phase. When she’d finally been released she’d been so close to death that only Taryq and her cousin’s constant care and attention had been able to sustain her and keep her in this world.

She couldn’t help but dread the moment her mother discovered that she’d gotten herself cast out. The punishment would be harsh and Bellya knew that this time she wouldn’t survive it.

Razz picked up on her emotions and pawed at her leg and whined. She combed her fingers through his soft fur, comforting him. He’d been her constant companion since she’d found him alone and starving in the forest. Back then she’d been twelve and he’d been a small ball of matted fur. Now he stood taller than her waist and was over seven feet long. He was amazingly strong and fast and there’d been many times that he’d protected her in the past.

He moved closer and shared his warmth with her when the wind kicked up and she shivered. Off in the distance lightening lit up the sky as a storm built. “What do you think, Razz? Rain or snow?” she asked then squeaked with surprise when a pack landed on the ground next to her.

Ronin crouched down next to her, and said, “Freezing rain. We’re going to need a shelter.” He reached for Razz.

“He bites,” Bellya said.

Ronin ran his hand over the animals back then scratched its ears. “What is he?”

“A chameleon wolf. They’re very dangerous and eat bothersome warriors—on command.”

Ronin settled next to her, brushing his shoulder against hers. “I’ll have to be careful not to be bothersome then.”

She sent him a frown then looked at Razz. “He should have warned me you were near.”

“Animals like me.”

Bellya snorted. “Razz could rip your head off in less than a nano-unit.”

“He won’t attack me. He knows I’m the Alpha.”

She looked directly into Ronin’s leaf green eyes and said, “Razz, kill.”

Razz looked up, yawned, then lay back down and Ronin laughed. “Unlike you, your pet knows better than to mess with me.” He studied her for a moment then frowned. “Make a shelter for us then we’ll discuss the rules.”

“What rules?”

“My rules for your protection.”

“How about this—you go away and I’ll take care of myself.”

“There are still raiders around here.” He ran his eyes over her body and smiled. “You’d make a tasty treat.”

“I can build a shelter and they won’t be able to reach me.”

Ronin shook his head. “Consider this. There you are cowering in your nice safe shelter when Taryq comes to see you. He walks into an ambush and is killed. How’s that work for you?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Bellya said as the first drops of freezing rain began to fall.

“Shelter. Now.”

“Say please.”

“You should know that on Zarronia females who misbehave are spanked.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, baby, never doubt I’d dare that and much more.” He grinned and she hesitated for a moment then called on the elements and conjured a shelter around them. From the inside the walls were clear but from the outside it blended in with the boulders and ground around them. Razz stood and bumped the wall then looked at Bellya and growled. She smiled and created an opening for him. He leapt out of the shelter then lay down against the outer wall and a nano-unit later he blended in with the environment.

“He hates being confined.”

“Who doesn’t?” Ronin opened his pack and began removing items. “I brought sleeping mats, food and water.”

“I can conjure those things.”

He shook his head. “The less you use your conjuring abilities the stronger you’ll stay. From now on I’ll provide the food and water and you’ll conserve your energy.”

She pointed to the outside where ice was beginning to coat everything in sight. “You can melt ice for water but where are you going to get food?”

“Razz will help me hunt and you can cook what we catch.”

“I don’t know how to cook.”

“I’ll teach you.”

Bellya snorted. “I’m surprised you know how considering the technology your people have.”

“No knowledge is ever wasted. My friends and I have hunted on primitive planets all over the galaxy. We had to learn to cook if we wanted to eat.”

“Well, good for you but maybe I don’t want to learn how to cook.”

“In that case I’ll just go get more from the other enchantresses.”

“Very funny, Ronin.”

“You need to cultivate your sense of humor, Bellya,” he said and saw the tiny flinch she gave when he said her name. He slid his fingers beneath her chin, lifted her face and stared at her. “You hate your name as much as I do.”

She shrugged. “I’m stuck with it.”

“You could change it,” he said. “In fact, from now on I’m going to call you Daphne.”

She repeated the name then frowned. “Bellya means beautiful in Krystali. What does Daphne mean in Zarronian?”

“It’s not Zarronian. It’s the name of a beautiful, fragrant flower that grows on a planet called Earth.”

She smiled. “Then, I like it.”

He cocked a brow and smiled. “It’s also extremely poisonous and causes convulsions followed by death, Daphne.”

Bellya sent him a pout. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m beautiful but I’m not poisonous so don’t call me that.”

“Are you sure about that? Soren told me that you and Skye were best friends until you turned fifteen and then you turned your back on her. What kind of friend does that?”

Bellya shrugged again. “My mother needed me.”

“Is that when your life as a spy began?”

Bellya slid the hood of her cloak away then pulled her long black hair over one shoulder and began braiding it. “I’m not a spy.”

“Look at me when you talk to me.”

She looked up. “Why?”

“So I can see your eyes and tell if you’re lying to me. Now, you admitted you told your mother about Soren and Skye. In my book that’s spying but what I really want to know is how you told her about the plan to attack the raider’s camp.”

“I was with the others the entire time. How could I have contacted her? And, remember communication devices don’t work here on the peninsula.”

“You could have sent someone else with the information. Is there another traitor in camp?”

She tied the end of the braid. “There were four other people at the planning meeting. Have you questioned them like this?”

“Are you saying Taryq is the traitor?”

“No, of course not! My brother wouldn’t do that.”

“So it must be Falyn, or her mate, Korbyn?”

“No, Falyn wouldn’t betray anyone. She’s too kind,” Bellya pulled her cloak around her then smoothed the wrinkles from it. “I don’t know her mate though.”

“So maybe Korbyn is the spy? What about Skye’s brother, Berit? He was at the meeting too.”

“It could be one of them.”

Ronin smiled. “Zarronians have a device that reveals when a person is lying. All we have to do is take Berit and Korbyn to Soren’s starship and interrogate them while they’re standing it.” He smiled and tapped out a satisfied rhythm on the top of his leather covered thighs. “I’ll make arrangements to do that as soon as we’ve finished clearing the Crimeryns from the peninsula.” He stood, shook out his sleeping mat and laid down. “Night, Daphne.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

Ronin rolled onto his side, rested his head on his arm and glared at her. “Let’s get something straight. I’m in charge and you do as you’re told. Right now its time to sleep so get your mat and go to sleep.” He pulled the blanket up and turned his back to her.

“You’re not in charge of me,” she said and got a deep snore in response.

COMING SPRING 2016

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About Mardi Maxwell

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M
ardi Maxwell loves the quirky and the unique. She believes in UFOs, ghosts, and that we have a space station on the dark side of the moon. She likes books that put the reader "through the wringer" so expect a lot of drama and laughter in her books along with a happy ending.

She writes contemporary erotic romance and steamy sci-fi romance. Her first two books were banished to the garage for many years but were rescued in 2015 and published as the first two books in the Zarronian Warriors series. Another book, To Love and Obey (The Doms of Club Mystique series) was written on a dare from her best friend. It was sent to a publisher in 2012 and accepted. It's been joined by five more books in that series.

When she isn’t writing she’s in her garden or spending time with family and friends. She loves cooking, traveling, movies and spontaneous trips to wherever the road takes her.

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