03 Solar Flare - Spark Series (15 page)

Azor shrugged. “Most of it’s just anxiety.
It’d go away with enough reassurance, maybe a strong, steady
husband. It probably would have helped if her father had lived.
She’s a bit spoiled.”

Blue looked surprised. “You sound like you’ve
got her figured out.”

“I’ve had plenty of time to work on the
profile,” Azor said mildly. “Your wife, though, I still don’t
understand.”

“Good. I’m not sharing the secrets, either,”
Blue said with a grin. “Speaking of which, I want to join her for
dessert, so let’s finish up. I’ve got better things to do than sit
around discussing your sorry love life.”

Brandy’s mind was on the pink sand path ahead
of her. Like the boys, she’d chosen to carry her sandals, marveling
at the unfamiliar texture of little bitty grains under her feet. It
felt rather nice, warm and soothing, though she knew she’d have to
put her sandals back on soon. Without her special shoes, her poor,
deformed feet ached fiercely. Going barefoot was a luxury she
couldn’t afford.

It wasn’t as if she spent gobs of time
outside in the sand, though. Much of her work was done indoors. At
the moment, that seemed a shame.

Pink and maroon ferns lined the path,
reflecting the color of the sand. Huge yellow flowers soared higher
than she could reach, hosting tiny birds that flittered from bloom
to bloom. Everywhere was green…man-tall sea grass, the green-tinged
sky, Azor’s eyes….

She frowned as she realized that Azor had
stepped in front of her, blocking her path. Where had he come from?
She hadn’t seen him when they began this expedition or she would
have taken better care to avoid him. She glanced around him and saw
her family round a bend and disappear beyond a wall of sea grass.
She opened her mouth to reprimand him—and abruptly found herself
lifted and perched on a handy coral colored boulder. She glowered
at him. “You have an excellent reason, for this, I presume? I was
about to be attacked by a poisonous reptile, right?”

He was not amused. “We’re going to talk.”

She glanced around, but there was nothing to
hit him with, and her sandals wouldn’t do much damage. Nor could
she slide off the boulder, not with him standing so close to her,
deliberately blocking her way.

Not that she thought she could really get
away. The man was known for his patience, but also his
determination. He’d waited until now; chosen his time, and they
were going to talk. She didn’t have to like it.

She noted that he was wearing a black tank
top and khaki canvas shorts. She’d never seen him in sandals,
either. If asked, she might have said she wasn’t sure he even had
toes. Not only did he, but he seemed to have four toes per foot. It
looked fine, normal, even, if having four digits there could be
considered ordinary. Come to think of it, she’d never seen M’acht’s
feet. “Is that normal?” she asked, pointing to his feet. It was an
unabashed attempt to stall.

He ignored the question to ask one of his
own. “How did you know I was Azure?” When her expression turned
stormy, he said matter of factly, “I’ve been wondering.”

She glanced away, down the path. It was empty
of distractions, so she sent him a cool look. “It was your clothes.
They were the same ones from that night. Careless of you.” She did
not like thinking about that night. It was embarrassing, at best.
Infuriating at worst. He was a fool to bring it up. He should have
just tried to let her forget about it.

Okay, so that wouldn’t have happened, she
privately admitted. She didn’t think she’d ever forget, but she
didn’t want to rehash her behavior, either. Not that his was so
pretty, either. After all, he’d been the one posing as a
stripper.

He nodded. “I didn’t have much time.” He
looked at her thoughtfully. “I might’ve still been buzzing a little
from that kiss.”

She stared at him in silence, trying to judge
the truth of his statement. He wasn’t a man given to jokes, or
lies. “You weren’t,” she said, but she kind of hoped it was true.
It would make her feel better about her own reaction to him. It
might be ill judged, but at least it wouldn’t be one-sided.

His jaw tightened and his face shifted. The
hair grew lighter, white-gray. His skin darkened to a tan unseen in
a man who worked nights and spent the rest of his time in an
office.

She had never witnessed him shift. The
transformation was the last thing she expected, and the most
numbing. Here was the face of the man who had wronged her. Or was
it? After all, Azor could be anyone he wanted. With that face, he
could have any woman he wanted, too. It made her realized just how
badly he’d crushed her hopes; dreams she could barely even admit to
herself.

“Why would you do that?” she said finally,
softly. Her throat was too tight for anything else.

Those telltale Kiuyian green eyes flicked
down, and she was reminded that she’d only seen him in dim light.
She couldn’t have known what color his eyes were. Besides, some
humans had green eyes, too.

“I was trying to comfort you. You never
trusted me as Azor—“

She made a derisive sound.

“—but you were willing to give Azure a
chance. I’m not such a bad guy, you know. I felt bad for what you
went through. I’ll admit my strategy this time wasn’t well thought
out, though.”

“You enticed me to go to a strip club!” she
said in disbelief. “I was almost arrested!”

He straightened. “If you’ll recall, you went
to a great deal of trouble to meet me. I never invited you.”

His reasonable tone made her temper soar.
“You didn’t have to kiss me! What was that for?” Had he just been
playing a role? But no, he’d tried to drive her away at first. He
wanted her to believe he was no good.

He looked over her shoulder, his eyes moving
as if reviewing a memory. When he looked back, his expression was
unrepentant, hard. “I wanted to, after what you said. You surprised
me.”

She’d surprised him? She thought back to what
she’d said, but could only recall wishing him well. She didn’t
think she’d said anything special.

Since he was proving horribly difficult to
argue with, she searched for something to keep the fight going,
though so far he wasn’t holding his weight there. He was so
irritatingly logical, allowing her to invest all the emotion. He
was throwing her off balance, messing with her head in a bad way,
especially since he stood there shamelessly wearing Azure’s face.
“Blue knows about this?” Of course she knew he understood the
basics of what went on that night, but did he know the intimate
details? She blushed at the idea of him snooping.

He canted his head in acknowledgment. “I was
wearing a communicator. He was my backup.”

Oh, that was embarrassing! Her sister
witnessing a kiss would have been one thing, but her brother in
law? Ugh! “And do you always pose as an exotic dancer? Why did they
even let you up there….” She colored as the memory of him on stage
flashed through her mind. That couldn’t have been his first time,
not with the way he moved.

His lips curved dangerously. “It was my
cover. I made several arrests through that club.”

“Posing as an illegal…guy,” she finished
lamely. It didn’t come out as accusing as she’d like, not when
she’d been in the audience, watching said guy. She averted her
eyes. This was truly horrible! How could Azure be Azor? His name
meant Blue! If anything, she’d been too busy keeping him separate
in her mind from her brother in law to connect him to the chilly
Kiuyian.

“I do whatever it takes to get the job done,”
he said. “Becoming my alias is natural after a while.”

Right. Natural. She slid off the boulder and
he obligingly moved away, now that his little talk was over. He
even shifted back to his normal face.

She intended to pace, but only managed a
couple of stiff steps before she had to stop and don her sandals.
Besides, she couldn’t think with him there; she needed space. She
looked blindly down the path. “I’m going to join my sister. You’re
not invited.” She took one step before he grabbed her hand.

She looked at him angrily. “That’s not
yours!”

He was unrepentant. “You’ve always gotten
your way, Red. You’re going to put up with me until you’re sorted,
and I’m not giving you a choice. When you’re done, I’ll still be
here.”

Her eyes got misty with anger. “You’re always
here! That’s my problem.” She yanked on her hand.

He yanked back until she was flush against
his chest. For someone with the coloring of a cool leaf, he
radiated a surprising amount of heat. He looked down at her
sternly. “We can settle this now, or you can bite your tongue and
let nature take its course. Either way, we’re going to have a
truce.”

She growled at him. She wasn’t used to being
handled, certainly not like this. She didn’t like it one bit. “Bite
me.”

He looked over her shoulder and smiled.
“Excellent idea.” Before she could ask what he meant, he marched
her over to a flimsy stripped building that lay just off the path,
ignoring her vigorous insults. The little square tent looked
slightly bigger than a closet, but only just. He yanked the straps
that held the door flap rolled up and stepped inside. A sensor was
activated as they passed through the doorway and the special cloth
stiffened, became solid enough to lean on. She knew, because before
she could say another word, he backed her against the closed door
and swallowed her startled gasp.

It was a relief to let go. She didn’t have to
hide her passion if he took charge. Later, she could say it was his
fault.

Besides, she didn’t have time to protest,
forgot the need as his mouth slanted over hers. She forgot their
differences, her reservations. He was pure heat, an uncomplicated
pleasure they shared in the gentle shade.

Ah, and he was smooth. From his skillful kiss
to the silky expanse of his back as her hands slipped hesitantly
beneath his shirt. Her blissful sigh gave him deeper access, more
control as he cradled her head and teased her mouth. She whimpered
softly and moved closer, rising on her toes to rub against his
inviting heat. Had she protested this? She couldn’t remember
why.

He smiled against her mouth. “I promised Blue
I’d behave, sweetheart. I never said you would. You can take this
as far as you want.” He bit her earlobe and hummed approvingly when
she gasped.

His warning brought her out of her daze—a
little. Still, it felt so good. He felt so good. “I-I’m behaving,”
she protested weakly. “You were the one…who….” She lost the thread
of her argument as he suckled her neck. She really had tried to be
good, but she’d known all along that the man could confuse her. She
never had been rational around him, a fact that had always annoyed
her. No wonder she’d been so prickly! This was what he did when she
let her guard down.

She felt him smile against her cheek, but he
kissed her again without comment or restraint. It was as if he were
another man entirely, a bottle of charged lightning. He broke the
kiss and swirled his tongue around her ear, rewarding her moan with
another deep kiss. When he returned to her ear, he whispered
regretfully, “I think we might be misbehaving a little.”

“No.” She shook her head to emphasize the
point. She gulped as his tongue traced over her shoulder. He’d
shoved the strap of her shirt down and tasted her skin. It made her
shiver. “We’re just kissing.” Even in her present state she knew
that was a lie, but she had no interest in stopping.

“Kissing can get pretty interesting,” he
suggested as his fingers traced lightly over her ribs. “But I’m
sure you wouldn’t tempt me to do anything…naughty.”

Her head fell back as his fingers coasted
dangerously high. “H-how naughty?” she croaked. She knew, of
course. His clever fingers were unbearably tempting. She was
seconds from allowing him access to anything he wanted.

Something bumped against the door, knocking
the back of her head.

“I suggest you open up,” a stern voice
commanded.

CHAPTER 10

Azor glanced at the door. For a moment he
didn’t say anything. Then he looked down at her dazed expression
and gently slid the strap back up her shoulder. His fingers
lingered, caressed the skin there. “Later,” he promised. He trigged
the mechanism that caused the cloth to relax and opened the
door.

Blue stood there, looking unsurprised as he
took in their flushed appearance. “Hello. I do believe you’ve lost
your way. Fortunately for you, I know the way to the beach.”

Brandy blushed. There wasn’t much she could
say. She glanced at Azor. He didn’t look the least bit sorry for
seducing her.

His green eyes skimmed over her, and he raked
the hair off her face with his fingers, putting her to rights. His
casual attention made her acutely self-conscious. He gestured for
her to precede him out of the tent. Only once she’d left did she
have time to figure out the structure was meant as a changing
room.

Blue studied them as they exited. He did not
seem pleased. “Actually, there was something I wanted to discuss
with you, Azor. Would you excuse us?” he asked Brandy. “I left Gem
alone with the kids….”

She gladly leapt on his suggestion. “Right!
I’ll go give her a hand.” She hotfooted out of there like the sand
had turned to burning coals, not even sparing her erstwhile lover a
glance.

Blue waited until she was out of sight. He
folded his arms and studied his friend. “What do you think you’re
doing?”

Azor regarded him blandly. “Seducing my
future wife.”

A faint smile tugged at Blue’s mouth.
“Interesting. Just this morning she told us that she was taking a
pleasure cruiser for the next leg of her journey. Gem’s been
arguing with her ever since. Was this about changing her mind?”

Azor rubbed his jaw as he considered his
strategy. “No, but it’s a good idea.”