Irresistible (Delroi Prophecy) (6 page)

“Tell me,” he ordered. He knew it was
the wrong approach when he saw mutiny in her eyes.

“What?” She squirmed until he released
her. Glared when he blocked the way so she couldn’t pass him. “Why are you
still here? Most men don’t bother to stay the whole night.”

He saw red. How many were
most
exactly? He reigned in the thought
before he could ask. Before didn’t matter. Only now did. And everyone in the
Keep knew she was his.

“Why would I leave my
der’lan’s
bed if I didn’t have to?” he
countered.

“Ready to explain that?”

To borrow her phase, not a chance in
hell. Not until he’d seduced her so thoroughly she never considered an alternative.

“You want to find out, you know what to
do, baby. Start breakfast. I’m going to shower and dress.”

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and
strolled away, but he hurried to rejoin her. She’d set a plate out for him and
he filled it while the night’s messages and reports loaded on his comm. There
wasn’t anything urgent, but neither was there anything he could ignore. It
promised to be a long, busy day, but it was starting off on a positive note.
First sharing a meal with his mate, then going to Roarr’s wing to witness
Kareena’s tattooing.

“We only have a few minutes.”

Not nearly enough time to strip her and
take her back to bed. She nodded.

“I know.”

So she was already aware of Kareena’s
morning plans. Her expression was so even, so serene, he couldn’t begin to
guess what she thought about it. He was no longer intrigued by her ability to
block him out.

“I hate it when you do that,” he snapped
before he could stop himself.

She looked startled at the sudden
outburst. Good.

“Do what?”

“You shut down so completely I have no
idea what you’re thinking.”

She tilted her head to the side and
studied him, before obviously reaching some conclusion and nodding.

“You’re good at reading people, aren’t
you? I bet it’s rare that you can’t and when it happens you get suspicious.”

She was dead on with her assessment and
instead of being irritated at her insight, he was pleased. Few people knew him
that well and never on so short a relationship.

“Shouldn’t you owe me some secret of
your own now?”

“I don’t have any.”

He snorted at the outright lie.

She just smiled, gathered dirty dishes
and carried them to the sink. It only took minutes to clean up. When she was he
took her arm and turned it over, running his fingertips over the new ink.

“What made you decide?”

“I saw the temple,” she said with a big
smile. “It’s a good fit for me.”

He nodded. How could he argue with that?
But he a damned bad feeling things were about to get a lot worse.

“We should leave,” she reminded him.

He nodded and followed her into the hall.
Zola walked with them, and Kaje remained silent as the two women spoke of
visiting the temple after the tattooing. Jarek met them down the corridor. Zola
was dressed and armed as Parker was, and Kaje didn’t miss the disapproval in
Jarek’s gaze as he took her in. The healer fell in beside Kaje. Quiet. Almost
stern. He didn’t say a word until their small group joined everyone else.

“I’d like to see the three of you in the
infirmary today.”

“Why?” Zola demanded.

“I feel fine,” Parker contributed.

Kaje leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Do
it for me then. It’s just a health precaution.”

One he should have considered before. Fuck.

“I’m
okay.”

He tried a different approach, taking
her aside.

“But what about Zola? She was in worse
shape than you and Kareena, who didn’t argue I might add,” he said softly.

Parker rolled her eyes. “Fine. When
Kareena is done I’ll go to the infirmary.”

Zola didn’t look pleased but she also
reluctantly agreed. Thirty minutes later he escorted Parker and her friends to
Jarek’s office. He held her back before she could enter. Brushed his fingertips
down her cheek.

“I probably won’t be able to get away
for lunch today, but I’ll see you tonight.”

She lifted her hands to his chest as if
to push him away but curled her fingers into his shirt instead.

“That’s probably a bad idea.”
 

Her lips parted and he kissed her,
stopping her before she could continue her protest. How could he resist? Stop?
He pulled her closer, prepared to pick her up, carry her to his room, and
worship her. The hell with duty and honor and responsibility. He had a mate to
claim. Unfortunately, before he could act on in his desire his comm chimed with
Roarr’s private code, one he only used if the situation was urgent. He released
her reluctantly.

“I’ll see you this evening, baby.”

He waited until the daze cleared from
her eyes and she entered the infirmary, then sought out his chief. He wasn’t
hard to find. He was in his office in the warrior compound scrolling through
information on a tablet that he handed to Kaje.

“Take a look at this.”

“What am I looking for?” Kaje asked.

There was an image of a small desert
settlement, five buildings and several hover craft. Such small communities were
not uncommon. The desert was littered with them, but Kaje didn’t recognize this
one.

“Family or commercial?” he asked his
chief.

“It’s a research facility. Listen to the
audio,” Roarr said, voice grim. Kaje pushed play.

For several seconds there was only
static, then two shouted words,
security
breached
. The recording ended abruptly, the feed going black for several
seconds. When it came back on the compound was gone, the lens pointing at a
different place in the desert. Kaje brought up the specs on the satellite and
discovered it belonged to the Saber clan. Somehow he doubted Barak Trace was
responsible for this, however.

“Do we know what happened? Is there
something there someone wants?”

If anything Roarr’s expression got even grimmer.
“They had a working prototype of a device that will cloak any vehicle, from
hover to starship.”

Kaje stared. Considered the
possibilities. Cloaking technology had been banned for centuries, but the caste
Overchiefs had lifted that ban a couple of years ago.

“Who owns the facility?”

“We do, with the Traces. I need you to
meet Falkor out there and find out what the hell happened.”

“They have a way to counteract the
effects of this device?”

“Fucked if I know,” Roarr grumbled. “Obviously,
we can’t trust our comms right now. Barak took a risk sending this.”

“Compromised then.”

“Maybe. It was in a code Falkor and I
used before his father died.”

Kaje knew that was because they had
suspected the former clan chief was a rebel. Roarr didn’t have to say that they
hadn’t shared that code. Which didn’t mean some enterprising rebel hadn’t
hacked it. He noted the site coordinates, set the tablet on the desk, and
entered the connecting office, where he grabbed a bag he always kept prepared.
It held a change of clothes and extra weapons and ammunition. Just in case. He
had no idea how long this would take but had every intention of returning that
night.

An hour later he landed next to another
craft, pulled a cloak over his head to shield his eyes and face, and stepped
into the morning glare. The place looked and felt deserted. There were five
smaller buildings, living quarters, a mess, and a supply and power station,
surrounding a larger central one. He found four bodies neatly laid out before
its front door. He squatted next to them. All four were Southern warriors he
didn’t know, and all four bore the marks of laser fire on their faces and
torsos. He heard movement inside the building and stood. The door was open and
after a moment Falkor stepped through.

“Do you know them?”

Falkor was second in command in Saber
City, and all the Southern clans answered to his brother, Barak. Falkor nodded.

“Part of our elite forces. They were
doing sensitive research here, but it was kept very quiet. I just got here
myself. I have no idea how they were compromised yet.”

“You found the bodies like this?”

Falkor nodded. “Hell of a message. This
is either the work of rebels or another clan making a move on mine.”

“Is that a possibility?”

Everything in Kaje went still at that
suggestion. If it was he and Roarr should have been notified. Hell, they should
have heard from their own sources that something was in the wind.

“No.” He met Kaje’s gaze. He saw nothing
but honesty and concern in his old friend’s eyes. “One of us would have heard
something.”

“We would have,” he agreed, but Falkor
had to be thinking the same thing Kaje was. The rebels were getting gutsier,
better organized, and much better equipped. “Any answers inside?”

Falkor turned and Kaje followed him into
a large open space. Two warriors were bent over a comm console on the far side
and straightened when Kaje and Falkor joined them. Kaje spared them a glance,
recognized them from the group Falkor had led at the temple and knew they were
trustworthy. Then he looked at the console before swearing under his breath. It
had been shot to hell, as the Earthlings would say.

“Can you salvage anything?” Falkor
asked.

“Not from here, my lord. There might be
a backup in one of the other buildings.”

“Supply and power shed,” Kaje suggested.
At Falkor’s curt nod, the others left to check it out. “What about the
satellite?”

Falkor looked thunderous. It stunned
Kaje. The warrior rarely showed emotion.

“For five minutes it was completely out
of our control, and its memory erased of everything but the altered video feed.”

That was a serious breach in security.

“Barak is looking into that. We need to
find out what happened to the researchers here and what the rebels are
planning. I’ll send you the information on the researchers.”

It could be done securely with both their
devices in the same room. Falkor took out his comm and expanded it to tablet
size. Kaje did the same and a moment later opened the file. There were six
names, four males and two females. All experts in military technology and from
varying clans.

“One of these is likely to be a traitor.”

He didn’t have to look at Falkor to know
that knowledge made him furious. Kaje shared the sentiment. He focused on
dossiers. With any luck he’d be able to figure out who the rebel traitor was. A
few minutes later Falkor’s warriors reported in. They hadn’t found a usable
backup drive.

“Fuck,” he muttered. That was bad news.
They had no idea what had happened here and Kaje didn’t see anything in the
backgrounds of the scientists that jumped out at him. “I’ll take half the list.”

“Agreed. Use Roarr’s code when you
report in.”

Kaje nodded then turned to leave. He
would have to visit the family of each of the missing researchers, dig into
their backgrounds. It was going to be a long couple of days.

Chapter Eight

Two days later Parker accepted her night
with Kaje had been a one time thing. She stood on her balcony and stared out
over the water, pretending it was no big deal and she wasn’t pissed off about
it. Her body wasn’t so sure. She
ached
.
She’d never had sex like that in her life, edgy and mind blowing, and she’d
been ready for more once she’d got over the fear. Which was about half a second
after Kaje had kissed the hell out of her in the infirmary. But okay. That was
over. Fun for both of them, but nothing permanent. She was moving on. No more
Kaje.

Hell, even Vidar canceled their second appointment,
as if he knew his brother was done with her. It was damned convenient actually.
She’d been free to explore with Zola and Kareena. They found several exits into
the city, all guarded. The best way out would be through the temple grounds.

She didn’t see a hint of Kaje as they
learned their new home, though and she refused to ask Roarr about him. She
pretended like she didn’t care at all about the man who'd so easily walked away
from the best sex of her life. She should have known better. She'd recognized
him for what he was, and she'd chosen to ignore it for a moment of excitement.

Someone tapped on her door, but she
ignored it. It was probably Zola or Kareena and they’d let themselves in once
announcing themselves with a knock. She and Zola were sneaking out of the Keep
today. She tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and focused on the feel of
the wind in her face.
 

“Parker?” A soft enquiry. Entreaty. Her
heart stuttered then raced. She'd sensed him and refused to believe he was
back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Tried to slow her racing
heart. Kaje. The mysterious alien who had her turned inside out with so very
little effort. She cracked an eye open.

“What do you want?”

“You,” he said boldly.

Like hell he did. She’d found out what a
der’lan
was in his absence. It literally
translated as mate of my heart. If he wanted her that much, he wouldn’t have
stayed away for two days without any explanation or word, would he?

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed not bothering
to hide her bitterness. “Have a bridge to sell me while you’re at it?”

“You’re angry,” he said softly. “I
assumed someone would tell you where I was.”

She shouldn’t say anything, shouldn’t
let him see how much it hurt that he hadn’t let her know himself. The words
slipped out before she could stop herself.

“You could have let me know. You should
have.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m new at this too.”

He gave her that sexy half smile that
made her heart race. She tried to remember why getting involved with him was a
bad idea. She moved around him, back inside where she glanced at the clock in
the kitchenette. Damn it, she needed to get rid of him. Or get a chaperone.

“So where have you been?”

She couldn’t resist asking. Damn it. He
sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in the first sign of weariness she’d seen
from him. She had to resist the urge to step forward and take over the task.

“Chasing rebels in the desert,” he
finally answered.

It felt like a vice closed around her
heart. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d known so much fear for someone
else, but she knew what these rebels were capable of. She also knew he was
holding a hell of a lot back.

“You took a team with you? Is everyone
okay?”

“Worried about me, baby?”

“Not at all,” she lied through her teeth
and he knew it, damn him.

He stepped close to her, stroked his
fingertips down her neck. She shivered and leaned closer, needing his lips on
hers, his hands on her body. She knew better, but still she craved him. She
moved away when Zola knocked and walked right in. Her friend must have sensed
her distress. She glanced back and forth between Parker and Kaje.

“Should I come back later?”

“No,” Parker blurted out. “He was just
leaving.”

But when she turned to look at Kaje he
was wearing a thoughtful, almost suspicious look. “What are you two up to?”

She ground her teeth together. She was
not about to start answering to a man who fucked her and then ignored her for
two days. No matter what he’d been doing.

“Exploring,” she said, not waiting for a
response as she picked up the cloak draped across the back of a chair and moved
towards the door. “See yourself out, please.”

Zola opened the door and they were off.
Parker should have known he'd be difficult, though. It seemed a specialty of
Delroi warriors. He caught her elbow in the corridor and pulled her to a stop.

“Exploring where?” This time his voice
was hard.

“Outside the Keep,” she said, refusing
to wince when she heard the huskiness in her voice. She hated that he could do
that to her. Fluster her with nothing more than a demand and a tender touch.

“Not alone.”

She glared up at him. Did he have to be
so freaking tall?

“I can take care of myself. So can Zola.”

He stared at her a long moment and she
easily picked up his thoughts.
No you
can't.
Since he didn’t voice it she decided she'd let him live. For now.
But she couldn’t help defending herself.

“That was a special circumstance,” she
said softly. “Is someone going to drug me here? You said we're safe.”

His expression changed, became hard.
There was none of the charming rogue left and she should not find that
fascinating.

“If you were just anyone, you'd have a
bit more freedom of movement. Not much. Most warriors won't allow their women
to wander the city unescorted.”

She knew that's how things went on
Delroi, but it was still a shock to hear. Outrageous.

“I am
not
Delroi. I'm not a servant or a slave. And don’t forget I’m a
priestess. You don't get to control what I do or where I go.”

His eyes glowed, challenged, as he
shifted close enough his body touched hers. He cupped the back of her head and
pulled her tight against him.

“You're wrong about that,
der'lan
,” he whispered. She bit back a
moan of need. He managed to put her under his spell without even trying.

“I'll just meet you later,” Zola
interrupted.

“No, Zola,” he said, without breaking
eye contact with Parker. “If you two want to explore, we'll go. I have some
things to I need to do in the city today, anyway.”

He released her abruptly and stepped
aside, gesturing for them to go first. Zola gave her a questioning look and
queried her mentally. It had taken longer for Zola than Parker and Kareena, but
thankfully her telepathy had finally come back. It made things much easier.

“What
do you think?”

“We
go along, but out the main entrance. There's no need for him to know we found
the other ones.”

She still had every intention of
exploring on her own. She didn’t like feeling caged. She'd had plenty of that
on Earth. While she'd had her private conversation with Zola, Kaje had been
messing with his comm unit. He punched in a series of numbers and fell a few
steps back, but not so far she couldn’t overhear his side of the conversation.

“I'm going into the city with Parker and
Zola. Meet us at the main gate.”

“Who was that?” she asked when he
disconnected the call.

“Vidar.”

“Oh.”

She didn’t ask why his brother had
cancelled their last meeting. For all she knew she'd be ratting him out if she
did. Vidar was waiting when they got to the gate, like the others with a cloak
slung over one arm. He held his up.

“I doubt we'll need these today,” he
said to Kaje. “You want to leave them here?”

Parker was all for that. She'd
discovered they were absolutely necessary on most of the southern continent
where the wind was often fierce and the sand scouring. But from the little
she'd been able to discover sand was less a problem high up the mountain of the
Keep and its city, and the wind was not the same howling presence that was so
unsettling in Saber City. The altitude did nothing to alleviate the high desert
heat, though. She'd gladly forgo the cloak, and when she handed hers over to
Vidar her relief was obvious. Both men chuckled.

She sighed. “It's not funny.”

Kaje put his arm around her waist and
leaned down to kiss her cheek. “I don’t mind you being soft, baby. In all the
right places, I recall,” he murmured.

For a moment she was so stunned at the
public display of ownership, she froze. Thankfully that only lasted a few
seconds. He held on when she tried to jerk away, however, and led her through
the gate after Vidar and Zola as if unaware she was furious. She considered her
options. Making scenes had never been her style and she didn’t think she could
verbalize her feelings without ending up yelling. That left telepathy. She was
strong enough to speak mentally to someone who had no talents, but she was
reluctant to do so with Kaje. It was intimate, a barrier she might be
permanently lowering, an unfortunate side effect of telepathic communication
sometimes. But she felt his amusement, his lust, and his certainty that he'd be
in her bed as soon as the city outing was over. It infuriated her, which
probably wasn’t entirely fair. She'd fallen for the playboy and he was just
acting in character.

“You
aren’t coming anywhere near me, bubba.”

The look he gave her was so startled it
was her turn to laugh.

“I wish I could talk to you like that. I
know you can…share my feelings, but to converse would be incredible.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
Tell him the truth? If she was holding the connection open, he probably could
talk to her.

“Some mates develop a bond so strong,
they can talk mentally,” he went on, as if she hadn’t grown quiet and unnerved.
“Do you think we can do that?”

That's exactly what she was afraid of.
Kareena and Roarr had the bond Kaje was talking about, and Parker had seen
others back home between telepaths. It wasn’t the connection she was afraid of
but the nature of it. It couldn’t be broken, ever, and on Earth at least, they
weren’t sure how it was formed except prolonged mental contact had a lot to do
with it. So she didn’t want to hold a mental bridge open between her and Kaje.
The pull she felt towards him was strong enough as it was. At the same time,
she didn’t have it in her to lie to him.

“Parker?”

“If
I initiate contact you can probably respond.”

“How
do I answer?”

 
She looked up to see his grin. “It does work.”

She shrugged, ignoring the flutter of
nervous excitement in her stomach, and looked around. “I thought we were going
into the city?”

They'd walked through a maze of short,
narrow alleys that looked like storage buildings.

“Around the next corner, we'll enter
Chief's Square. It's the largest open market in the city. You can buy anything
from anyplace on Delroi there,” he said sounding so much like a tour guide she
had to bite back her smile.

“You have business there today?”

He gave her a look she couldn’t read,
but she got the impression he wished she hadn’t asked.

“I need to speak to some of our
suppliers. Roarr and Kareena will have a ceremony and a banquet to celebrate
their mating. The Rebirth Celebration is coming up. And there's an information
broker I want to find.”

He added the last softly. She turned the
term over in her mind. Was that a spy? An informant? Before she could ask the
alley ended and opened to the huge open area Kaje had told her about. It was…magnificent.

She knew she was gawking, but who cared?
She'd spent plenty of times in huge, bustling cities. This was something else.
For one, the surrounding buildings weren’t impersonal skyscrapers. They were
five or six stories tall, packed together, whitewashed, with columns,
balustrades, and carvings. Pretty. Most of them had stalls and tables in front
on the sidewalk displaying wares. The center of the square was dominated by a
massive fountain. There were four figures in the statue, three men and one
woman that she assumed represented the Delroi pantheon.

Kaje led her to a food vendor, got his
comm unit off his belt and pressed a button that made the thing fold out four
times. She'd never seen anything like it.

“Does mine do that?”

If he was surprised at the question, he
didn’t show it.

“No, yours is strictly comm. I'll get
you one of these. I think on your world it's called a computer tablet?”

“Well, we have those but ours don’t
shrink.”

He grinned. “We have a few years
development on you, baby.”

“Apparently,” she murmured, unable to
pursue her curiosity because the grocer had joined him with a similar device.