Born of Legend (31 page)

Stunned, she watched her brother leave, then turned back toward Jullien. “What did you do to him?”

He paused by her side as the IO handed him his things. “Nothing. But he did get bashed in the head pretty hard.
That,
I tried to prevent.”

She led him from the office, back toward the landing bay so that he could pick up his coat, weapons, and glasses. “So what happened, anyway?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Assholes came in. Davel saw them in all their
charming
glory. We decided to teach them some manners.”

“There are easier and much cheaper ways to teach manners.”

Jullien snorted. “Not if you're Andarion.”

Ushara paused as she realized what Davel had said to her. And what it meant. “Did you tell my brother who you really are?”

“Your father did.”

While she trusted her brother, she wasn't sure she liked so many people knowing about Jullien's outstanding warrant. Davel wouldn't hurt him, but he wasn't always the most judicious when it came to keeping secrets, either. He ranked right up there with her gaggle of sisters.

“You know, if Davel sponsors you … you'll be gone from base most of the time. I'd rarely see you.”

Tucking his hands into his back pockets, Jullien gave her an adorable, boyish sideways glance as they headed out of the bay, toward the living quarters. “Will you miss me?”

“I think I will.” She couldn't tell how he felt about that. He had an irritating ability to hide his emotions.

“Well, I'm not leaving right away. He won't go until after the baby's born.”

“That's any day now.”

“Yes, but he said he won't leave until after the Day of Division.”

That wasn't
that
far away. And the thought of Jullien leaving with Davel's crew made her ache deep inside. Much more than it should. It was actually excruciating. “Then I expect to see more of you between then and now.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” He rubbed his chin. “I'll gain more weight.”

She laughed at his teasing tone. “Jullien!”

“Oh…” he said, drawing the word out. “You meant
come over.
Like play at your house…'cause I'm just a
juvenile
delinquent. Right?”

She bit back a smile at his light, teasing tone and the playful light in his eyes. “Well, if you insist on behaving like one.…”

He brushed his thumb speculatively over his bottom lip while they walked. Then he gave her the most adorably charming grin she'd ever seen on any male's face, and it made her incredibly warm and tender inside. “Do I still get my spanking later?”

How she could find him so desirable, she had no idea and yet, she'd never been this attracted to anyone. “Do you want one?”

“Not really.” He paused for a second to consider something. “Unless you're wearing that outfit you had on at temple. Then I could be persuaded to take it like an Androkyn … and relish it.”

She snorted. “Now you're being sacrilegious.”

“Yeah well, if I'm bound for Tophet, let it be for something good, I say.”

Shaking her head at him, she laughed. “You're incorrigible.”

“Can't help it. My mind runs on inappropriate thoughts. Besides, you bring out the worst in me.”

“Really?” she dragged the word out, slightly offended by that thought. “The
worst
?”

Jullien nodded playfully as he stared at the most beautiful female he'd ever seen in his life. Before he could stop himself, he brushed the pale hair back from her soft cheek. The light in her eyes scorched him.

More than that, it made his mouth water for a taste of her. God, how he'd missed her these last few days. She was all he could think about. Whether she was with him or not, she stayed with him like his own private demon.

Damn her for that …

And damn him.

“No, Shara,” he breathed honestly. “It's not true. You make me a much better Androkyn. I actually walked away from the fight at first,
because of you
. And I've never done that before in my life. Believe me. If there's trouble to be had, I'm always there with both hands out.”

“Then how did you get pulled back into it?”

Cringing as he realized he'd accidentally screwed her brother, he brushed his fingers along her jaw. “I'm going into stealth mode now. I just walked into a bad place with no clear, safe exit.”

Regretfully, he stepped away from her.

She narrowed her gaze on him as she invaded his personal space to confront him. “So Davel dragged you into it, I take it?”

“I didn't say that. I was definitely a willing participant for the entire event. Walked there on my own two feet, and everything.”

Ushara let out an agitated breath as she pressed her forehead against his cheek, and sank her hand into his soft hair to hold him close. One of the best things about him was also the most aggravating. He accepted all blame as his due.

With full responsibility.

The true mark of a leader. Whether it was hardwired because of his birthright or beaten into him from his parents and grandmother, he never tried to weasel out of blame. He might hide the truth a bit, but he didn't hide his part in it.

She'd also discovered these last few days as she'd done more research into his warrant and past exactly how much his grandmother hated him. There were no records left of him on Andaria.

At all.

Nothing other than the hostile, mocking articles of reporters roasting him and holding him up for public ridicule. No birth registration. No caste listing. Every trace of Jullien eton Anatole had been erased from their systems. It was if he'd never been born. He wasn't even listed in the royal family histories.

They'd purged him entirely.

For all intents and purposes, he was persona non grata.

And it wasn't much better on Triosa. There were no birth or school records. While they hadn't gone so far as to remove him from their royal family tree, he'd been relegated to not much more than a footnote and listed simply as the younger half-Andarion bastard son of Aros Jullien Triosan. Disinherited from royal succession on the seventeenth day of Elembiuos, 8561.

No first or last name given for him. He had been erased from their lives as if he didn't matter at all. As if he had no significance to his family whatsoever.

But that wasn't true where she was concerned. In spite of what they thought and how they treated him, she saw his noble heart beneath his bluster. The insecurity that undermined his arrogance. And the adorable, playful bit that peeked out from under the rough countenance of a fierce, weary warrior.

“Come home with me, Jules. Vas is spending the night with a friend. I can make you dinner and listen to you complain about my cooking instead of my son.”

He chuckled lightly. “Remember, I'm easy to please. No matter how bad you think your cooking is, it'll never be the worst thing I've tasted, and I would never complain. As long as you don't poison me, spit or piss in it, I'm ecstatic and grateful.”

Those words made her stomach ache. “I really wish that were a joke.”

“Not as much as I do, I assure you.” He took her hand and placed a searing kiss on her palm. “Lead me home,
mu tara
. As always, I am helpless against your will.”

It didn't take long to swing by the grocery store and pick out a light dinner, then head back to her condo.

Jullien started washing and cutting the vegetables while she changed out of her uniform and into more casual clothing. Then she took over so that he could open and pour their wine.

“You sure you don't want me to cook?” he asked as he handed her a glass.

She fed him a piece of bread. “No. I've got this. While I may not be as accomplished as you are, I can do basic comfort foods. Now let me dazzle you with my ineptitude.”

He snorted as he drifted away from the counter to look around her living room at the pictures on her walls and shelves of Vas and her family. When he came to the old keyboard console she had near the sofa, he frowned. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Electric keyboard?”

He glanced at her. “You play?”

She shook her head. “Not a single note. Vasili wanted lessons a few years ago. It lasted about six days before he got bored and gave up. I keep it around in case he gets interested again. It's one of those things I know the day after I sell it, he'll want to do it again.” She caught the reverent way he was looking at the abandoned instrument. The way he caressed the dusty case. Like a lost, forgotten friend. “You play?”

“Used to. But it's been a long time.”

“Go ahead and amuse yourself. I promise I won't laugh. There's no way you can torture it more than Vas did. It sounded like a dying yaksen the whole time he attempted to play it.”

Snorting, Jullien sat down, opened it up, and tapped a few keys, then winced. “It's way out of tune. That might have been part of it.” He hummed and toyed with the sliders on it for several minutes until he brought it back into harmony.

Ushara was impressed that he could tune it so easily by ear. She knew from watching Vasili and his instructor that it wasn't that easy to do even with a tuner. Because it was old and had been well used at the time she'd purchased it, they'd struggled to keep it in tune and had complained about it incessantly. However, Jullien didn't seem to have any problem finding the right pitch.

Once he was satisfied, he began to play an extremely complicated piece. Her jaw dropped at the unimaginable skill he possessed.

Holy gods …

It was like listening to a recording of a master virtuoso. His touch was so light and delicate. Precise and elegant. He didn't miss a single note. She'd never heard anyone actually play like that live before. Not with
that
kind of accomplishment. He made the instrument come alive as if it were a breathing creature. Her chest tightened with the emotions he wrung from her as he played as if he were divinely inspired.

She wouldn't have thought anything could sound more incredible.

Until he closed his eyes and started singing in a deep, rich bass. It was only a low rumble as if he was too timid or embarrassed to sing out loud. But it was beautiful, and his pitch was as tone perfect as his playing.

Tears blinded her as she struggled to listen to every note. He sang like an angel.

Breathless, she crossed the room to stand by his side.

He stopped instantly and cleared his throat.
“Zēritui
.”

“Sorry? Oh my God, Jullien! That was incredible. Where did you learn to play and sing like that?”

Reaching for his wine, he gave a humble shrug. “Lessons were required as part of my education, six times a week. But I was never good enough for a recital.”

Never good enough? Was that a joke? “Said who?”

“Everyone. My grandmother and instructors. My aunt. Father. Cousins … guards who groaned whenever I sat down to practice. Even the guard dogs and trained battle-lorinas would howl and whine at me, then run and hide under furniture.”

Anger poured through her at their vicious, jealous cruelty. At what they'd stolen from him for no reason whatsoever. “Jullien, they lied to you. You have to know that. Surely you can hear how well you play and sing. Can't you?”

Yet the sincere light in his eyes said that he honestly thought himself incompetent. “I was okay, maybe when I was younger. But that was a long time ago. As I said, it's been years since I touched one. I'm way out of practice.”

She let out a scoffing laugh. “If this is you out of practice, I can't imagine what you must have sounded like then. I want to hear more.
You
keep playing.” She put his hands on the keyboard. “I mean it.”

“Gah, you're bossy.”

“That's why I'm the vice admiral.”

Snorting, he ran through a scale. “I really don't remember too much more.”

By the time she finished dinner, he'd started playing and singing a ballad she'd never heard before. “That's beautiful. Who wrote it?”

Getting up, he gave her a bashful grin. “I did, just now.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded, then in the sweetest of gestures he wrapped himself around her and held her with her back to his chest and his face buried in her hair. She could feel his fierce heartbeat against her shoulder and his erection against her hip, as he surrounded her with his strength and warmth. His muscles flexed while he gently rocked her.

She leaned back in his arms, surrendering her weight to him. “Are you all right?”

Jullien couldn't speak as he let her gentle presence soothe him. He'd felt safe so rarely in his life that he knew to cherish it while he could. This wouldn't last.

It never did. There had never been a time in his life when he'd had even a glimpse of heaven without there being massive hell to pay for it.

He was terrified of letting her go. Terrified of this night ending and being banished back to the cold where he was forced to live. All he wanted was to stay here. To have the right to share his broken life with her.

Forever.

“Jullien?”

Closing his eyes, he kissed her cheek. “I just wanted to thank you for dinner. I know how hard you worked all day. The last thing you needed to do was come home and feed me, especially after having to get me out of jail.”

Ushara growled at him as she suppressed her anger over that little bit that dampened her tender feelings. “Don't remind me.”

Impishly, he nibbled her fingers. “It smells good.” He gave one sexy nuzzle that left her breathless before he moved to hold a chair for her. “You sit and I'll serve you.”

“Really?”

“Only fair. You did the hard part.”

She slid into the chair and watched as he quickly made plates for them and refilled their glasses. He could be so incredibly thoughtful and sweet. She'd never met a male like him before. He appreciated every little kindness he was given in a way no one else did.