Broken (7 page)

He
frowned. “Not only
Xyrans
are barbaric.”

She
rolled her shoulders. “I know that, too. Trust me.” She waved her arm at her
cave. “Why do you think I live here, alone?”

He
cocked his head. “I have no idea. Why
do
you live here, alone? I thought
humans were social creatures.”

How
did this conversation turn to my life?
she
wondered. “What happened to
Jaxt
?”

“He
healed. He grew up.”
Zoen
lifted his hands and let
them fall. “What else could have happened?”

“Except
for the part where he took you back home with him, against your customs,” she
said, wanting to see his reaction. He flinched, ever so slightly. She felt bad,
a little, right up until he opened his mouth again.

“Why
do you live here all alone, Sky?”

“No,”
she said, standing up. “I don’t owe you any explanation.” She walked over to
the turkey and began to unlace the bag.

He
followed her. “You are correct. You do not owe me an explanation, but I am
curious. Will it harm you to answer my question?”

She
stopped. “Why are you so being so nice?
Jaxt
was a complete
asshole when he woke up. He was an asshole for
days.
”

Zoen
laughed. “I have had a bit more perspective in my life than most males.”

Sky
had to grant him that. He looked at her for a moment, and then his smile
abruptly fell from his face and his expression morphed into something she
couldn’t quite read. She blinked, confused. Was his personable demeanor just a
mask?

“I
am also not as nice as you believe. Because of my perspective, I have had quite
a lot more practice with violence than most
Xyrans
.”

A
chill ran down her spine. His eyes glowed, and his skin turned just the tiniest
bit darker. She stared at him, disturbed. The tame wolf she’d met seemed
suddenly not tame at all. “What do you mean?”

He
ran a finger down his golden blades.

She
shivered. His violence attracted her.
Dammit,
she thought, a little
freaked out.
You just had sex with his best friend!

“You
aren’t frightening my woman, are you,
Zoen
?”
Jaxt’s
voice rang out.

Zoen’s
face immediately settled back into a mild expression as his skin changed back
to his normal flesh-tone.
“Of course not.”

Sky
glanced at
Jaxt
, standing in the cave’s entrance. He
looked … delicious. She remembered what they’d done together just a few short
hours ago and had to bite her cheek to control her expression.

“Besides,
since when do we not share everything? By that token, she is also my woman,”
Zoen
said, giving her a sly smile.

“What
the hell? My name is Sky, not Woman. As you both know,” she said severely. “And
also, I belong to myself.” She had no idea why
Zoen
had
suddenly turned back into Mr. Nice Guy, but she wasn’t going to complain. She
didn’t really feel like having any more heart-to-heart talks, so she hoped he
would lay off the interrogation. She’d rather enjoy her unexpected company, if
only for a few days.
Because soon they would be gone.

Chapter Six

Sky
leaned back near the fire, hunger sated. They’d decided to eat near the cave’s
entrance since the night was one of the hottest she could remember, and they
wanted to enjoy the breeze while it lasted.
Jaxt
and
Zoen
still picked at their turkey, and she was content to
simply watch them. They’d spent the day together companionably, which still
surprised her when she thought about it.
Two
Xyrans
?
In her cave?
Not
fighting? If anyone had asked her if that was possible a few weeks ago, she
would’ve laughed in their faces.

“The
locator chip worked flawlessly,”
Jaxt
said, tapping
his bicep. “Your design is far superior to that of the military.”

“You
have a chip in your arm?” Sky asked, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that.
They were common enough. She felt like kicking herself for not checking him
while he was wounded and unconscious. She knew better.

“Don’t
fret, Sky. You would never have found it,”
Jaxt
said
dismissively.

She
began to get angry, more at herself than at him, but he didn’t need to know
that. “Chips can be hacked. You should’ve told me so we could remove it.”

“I
did not want it removed.” He shook his head when she scowled at him. “Here.” He
reached out and grabbed her hand. “Feel that?”

“No.”
She ran her fingers along his skin. “I don’t feel anything.”

Zoen
swallowed the last of his water. “You will not feel anything. My design uses
the DNA of the recipient to create a bio-matrix undetectable to any technology.
You cannot break into what you do not know about.”

“No
technology is
unhackable
,” Sky said, sitting back.
Her fingers ached to touch him more thoroughly, so she sat on them.

“True.
And I am sure that this, too, will be modified at some point in the future, but
for now, no one even knows it exists.”
Jaxt
leaned
back and rummaged in the pack
Zoen
had brought with
him. When he straightened back up, he held a small tube in his hand. “Give me
your arm, Sky.”

“Oh no, no way.
You have no idea what I had to do so I could be free.” Sky pushed
herself backwards. She wanted no part of this.

Jaxt
grabbed her before she could get away and pushed the tube against her arm. A
slight sting had her cursing and wrenching her arm down, out of his grasp.
“Dammit! I said no.” She stood up angrily. “You’re such an asshole,” she
hissed, beyond pissed.

“Sky,
we cannot risk not being able to find you,”
Zoen
said
calmly.

“What
do you know about it?” She whirled on him and shook her fist at him. “I had to
sell myself to get away from people who wanted to control me. This isn’t a
fucking joke! You should know what that’s like.” She started pacing. How was
she going to get it out? She couldn’t even feel it! She rubbed her fingers over
the spot again and again. “Damn you,” she said to
Jaxt
.

He
stood, looming over her. “I figured as much. Even so, it is not safe for you
here any longer.”

She
stopped and stared at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He
looked at
Jaxt
. “We have a week, maybe two before my
father sends people to Earth to hunt me down.”

She
paled.
A
Xyran
hunt?
On Earth?
“He can’t do that. The
Alphans
—”

Zoen
laughed unpleasantly. “The
Alphans
cannot stop it,
not when it involves a tribal leader’s heir.”

Tribal heir?
“What are you talking about?”

Jaxt
pointed to himself. “He is talking about me.”

“You’re
an heir?
To what?
I thought you grew up on some big
estate in the country,” she said, still rubbing her arm. Even the ache had
faded, which seemed wrong, somehow.

“My
father is the leader of our tribe, Sky,”
Zoen
said
quietly. “And tribal leaders are ruthless, especially when it comes to their
offspring.”

She
glanced at
Jaxt’s
head. His hair must have hid the
scarring. “What do you mean? I thought he threw you out. Forced you into the
military?”

“I
do not believe that was meant to be permanent,”
Jaxt
replied calmly. “Sit down, Sky. What’s done is done.”

She
glanced at
Zoen
. He was frowning at
Jaxt
.

“Perhaps
your father meant for it to be extremely permanent,” he murmured.

Jaxt
glared at
Zoen
. “Say what you mean.”

“Our
bond cannot be broken. And he has many females from which he can breed another
heir,”
Zoen
said.

Sky
looked from one to the other. Was
Zoen
serious? He
thought
Jaxt’s
father wanted him to die?

Finally,
Jaxt
nodded. “You could be right. It is best to be
wary.” He glanced at Sky. “Sit down.”

 
She huffed and obeyed. “I still don’t see why
you had to put one of those things in my arm. If anyone finds out about it, my
privacy is gone forever.”

“No
one will find out.
Zoen
holds the only receiver
capable of tracking it.”
Jaxt
held out his hand, and
Zoen
put a small, black card-like device in his palm.
“Here.”

She
looked at him warily. He held his hand steady, so she plucked it away from him.
It immediately activated, and a small screen displayed three points of light
set within a grid.

“Only
the bearers of the tracker can use the receiver,”
Zoen
explained. “If you gave it to someone else, it would be just another dead piece
of tech. It reads the DNA of the user.”

Sky
tossed it down on the blanket. “You have some nerve asking me to do this.”

Jaxt
relaxed slightly, clearly sensing her capitulation. “I do not want to risk
losing you.”

She
pursed her lips. “You make it sound like you’re going to be around forever.”
She leaned back and looked away, up at the stars. “You and
Zoen
will soon be gone, and I’ll get back to my usual life.” From the corner of her
eye, she saw them exchange glances.
Whatever
.
She knew what she knew. And if being alone again
made her heart ache, well, no one would care, would they?

A
touch on the back of her hand startled her, and she turned her head.
Zoen
had somehow moved closer without her hearing him.

“You
are not alone right now,” he murmured, sending shivers down her spine. The
Xyran
had no right to sound so sexy, not when his kin, her
lover lay just beyond.

“No,”
she said, unsure if she was agreeing with him or denying him the unspoken
attraction she was sure he also felt.

“Do
not say no.”
Zoen
lifted her hand and, shockingly,
kissed her fingers.

Her
eyes flew to
Jaxt
. He watched them calmly.
No, not
calmly,
she realized as
Zoen
kissed her wrist.
His forked tongue flicked out, lightly tasting her skin.
No, he’s not calm.
He’s aroused.
Jaxt’s
eyes glittered in the
firelight. Sky sucked in air, feeling lightheaded. This wasn’t a situation
she’d ever contemplated being in. Should she say yes to
Zoen
?
Was
Jaxt
really sanguine about this?

“Sky
will not say no,
Zoen
,”
Jaxt
said, getting up. “Not to you, my blood-sworn kin.”

“
Jaxt
,” she began, but had to clear her throat before she
could continue. “Are you serious?” She couldn’t reconcile the possessive,
demanding lover of this morning with the kind of male who could share a woman,
no matter how close he was to the other
Xyran
.

“
Zoen
is my blood-sworn kin. He and I are of the same body,”
he replied.

She
wrinkled her forehead. “I think I’m missing something.”

“No,
you are not,”
Zoen
murmured, biting her wrist.

She
gasped. When he bit down harder, she began to tremble. His golden eyes gleamed
at her as he held her arm in his mouth. When
Jaxt
got
up and took off his shirt, she stared. She still couldn’t quite believe he was
entirely healed, but there was no disguising his virility. He stalked over and
dropped to his knees.

“I
am going to hold you down while he takes you,”
Jaxt
said, hands going to her hair.

“What
makes you think I’m going to agree to that?” Sky fought down a full-body
shudder. He had his fist tightened against her scalp to just the right
pressure. She wanted to go limp and let them do whatever they wanted with her,
but she refused to submit without respect.

He
growled and tightened his hand, just enough to bring tears to her eyes. “You
want him. I can see it in your eyes.”

Involuntarily,
Sky flicked a glance at
Zoen
. He’d released her arm
while
Jaxt
spoke, but now he bit her again, this time
at the base of her thumb. She moaned under her breath. “So what if I do? I
don’t have sex with every male I see.”