IntimateEnemy (5 page)

Wharm raised his eyebrows. “Azure is your intimate. You need
to tell her the truth. Let her know your past so she can understand who you
are. Don’t let Bracid come between the two of you.”

Lone swore at his brother, cursing the unseen gods, first in
Nashete then in Vitca, so obscenely Azure gasped in shock and dismay.

Wharm held up his hands, palms out. “Just saying.” He turned
and sauntered off through the crowd in the direction of a large Vitca buffet.

When he was out of hearing range, she turned to Lone and
asked, “Who is Bracid?”

Lone brushed his fingers through his thick, black hair, a
muscle in his jaw twitching.

When he didn’t answer, her imagination took over. She saw
him in her mind’s eye having sex with someone else, a Nashete female whom he
loved and would always love. Oh gods, his heart belonged to another. That’s why
their spirit bond initiated before their heart bond. He couldn’t heart bond
with her. He loved another.

“Who is she?” she asked again, a tremble in her voice.

“Not who you think.” Lone rubbed his eyes, his shoulders
slumped. “Bracid was our mother. A Vitca female bonded body, heart and soul to
our Nashete father. Still she left us, left him, when the alliance marriage
contract expired after five years.”

Azure had heard about the initiative to create Nashete-Vitca
alliances in hopes of finding peace between the two races through marriage. She
even knew the initiative had failed. But she’d had no idea that failing meant
fully bonded intimates had abandoned their children, broken their bonds because
of racist beliefs so well imbedded in their psyches that even a family they
created could not open their hearts.

“Gods, I’m sorry, Lone.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m not her, you know.”

He said nothing.

“Why do you think I’m so freaked out about the spirit bond
starting already?” She reached up and pulled his face down so that his eyes
finally met hers. “I’m worried about bonding fully to you before we really know
each other, because once our trinity-of-beings are joined, I will never, ever
break our bonds. Lone, I would never abandon you or our children like your
mother did. I would never leave you a half soul to live a half life. I don’t
give a damn that you’re dual blood. I actually kind of like that about you.”

He crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her, uncaring that
they were in public, or that they were probably drawing a crowd of Nashete and
Vitca who were equally appalled at the rude display the Vitca female and dual
blood male were putting on for all the universe to see.

And this time Azure didn’t care either. Let them look. Let
them watch. Let them think her a whore or a lowborn. The only opinions that
mattered to her were her own and Lone’s.

He broke the kiss, a smile playing his lips. “I think you’re
a goddess sent to me from the blessed stars to brighten my life with your
loving kindness.”

She glanced around at the disapproving Nashete and Vitca
faces and busted out laughing until she snorted. She slapped a hand over her
mouth as she blushed.

Laughing, Lone tucked her under his arm and guided her to a
nearby Vitca buffet. He plucked a plate off the table and began piling on food.
“You need to eat. I can feel your lightheadedness.”

“Uhm-hmm.” She felt safe, tucked into him like she was, as
if she belonged there, had always belonged right there. But did she really?
“Lone, will you tell me about yourself, your life?”

“Of course,” he said as they loaded their plates with food.
He told her about his childhood, the love he had for his family, the heartbreak
that changed him forever when his mother abandoned them, the recent murder of
his father whom he and his brothers had come to the peace talks to honor.

Lone guided her to an empty table, placed the plate of food
on the table and offered her a chair. She sat and he sat next to her.

“Eat,” he said.

“Talk,” she said.

“More?” He leaned back in his chair with a laugh. “I don’t
know what else to tell you.”

She glanced at him then back at her plate. “What are your
expectations of our bond?”

“I don’t want anything you aren’t willing to give, Azure.”
He snatched a piece of fish and held it in front of her mouth until she parted
her lips. He popped the piece into her mouth and as she chewed he continued.
“You mentioned offspring earlier. I’d love to be the father of your children.
As few or as many as you desire.”

She smiled. “Being an only child, I’ve always want a big
family with lots of children running around, making noise and messes and
laughter.”

He returned her smile. “Good. Then that’s settled. We’ll
have lots of little ones underfoot.”

“But I don’t want them right away.” She glanced at him out
of the corner of her eye to see his reaction. He didn’t look upset. “I’m just
an adult myself. I want…”

“To be free,” he finished for her.

“Yes,” she whispered, worried.

He selected a piece of sweet bread and offered it to her.
She bit off a piece—delicious.

“Just because you’re bonded to me doesn’t mean imprisonment.
I would give you the universe wrapped in a pretty bow, Azure. You want to visit
the embryonic stars in the Serpens System or the nude beaches of planet Clampin
or take a cruise through the Helix nebula, we’ll go. And if I can’t go with
you, you’ll go with guards to protect you in my place.”

Azure stared at him, fully aware that her jaw was ajar, that
she was gaping at him, but unable to do anything about it. He was offering her
family and freedom. Safe reality and her wildest dream. He was offering her
everything she had ever wanted. Wrapped up in a pretty bow.

With a terrible ache, her heart opened, offered the beginnings
of a bond.

Lone went still, his breath the only sign of life. Then he
turned slowly to face her, his eyes the dark obsidian of night, wide and clear
and wholly shocked.

“You offer me your heart?” His words were hoarse, a wild
whisper.

“Yes,” she hissed through the psychic pain and bodily
pleasure that spilled through her, sweeping away the last of her resistance and
fear. “My heart is yours. If you want it.”

He groaned. His eyes closed.

A piercing pain lanced her heart. She whimpered, wrapped her
fingers around the seat of the chair and white-knuckled it as the first tender
strands of her heart met and married the taut strands of Lone’s heart.

She’d thought that once the first seal was in place, the
pain would dissipate, but it only grew more intense. Then with a sudden jolt,
she was flying through the air, being stripped bare, wrapped around the warm,
hard body belonging to her intimate.

Her eyes flew open. She was in a hotel room bed. With Lone,
who planted kisses over her face and ran his hand over back, her ass, up her
stomach, circling her breasts to rest over her heart.

“Using our body bond will make the joining of our hearts
easier,” he said against her mouth.

It was an entreaty, she realized. He was asking for her
okay, making sure that she wanted this, him. She couldn’t want anything more.

“Yes,” she said. “Please.”

Lone couldn’t breathe for his need of her. But he held
himself in check until she said yes. Then he wrapped his arms around his
intimate and rolled onto his back, bringing her with him so that she draped his
body.

He opened wide their body bond, allowing him to feel her
every sensation, allowing her to experience everything he felt, doubling their
pleasure, multiplying the intensity of their lovemaking. In theory. He could
only hope that what he’d read was true.

Since she had given him the gift of the beginnings of her
heart, he wanted to give her the gift of his body. She would lead in this
session of lovemaking—at least so long as he could hold himself in check.

She was already driving him crazy, laying kisses down on his
chest, over his heart, his pecs, then up to his neck and ears. When she met his
mouth, she nipped his lower lip, surprising him with her playfulness in the
midst of the drama and trauma of their bonding hearts.

He met her kiss for kiss, touch for touch, sigh for sigh.

And when she guided his cock to her hot little pussy, he
held himself still, allowing her to slowly take him into her body, inch by
deliberate inch. He balled up the expensive bedding and gritted his teeth,
refusing to take over. No matter how much he wanted to clutch her hips and
thrust up into her.

Yes, he liked to be the one in charge in the bedroom. Hell,
he preferred to be in charge in every aspect of his life. But he’d be damned by
the unseen gods for eternity before he took freedom of choice from his intimate
who so desperately needed to feel safe and in control. He understood her need,
knew from their bonding that she had spent her life in a cage like a
domesticated animal, like a beast of burden, doing what she was told when she
was told by those who had no thought to her feelings.

The heart bond grew stronger as Azure rolled her hips,
riding him, her hands planted on his chest, her eyes closed and lips parted.

She was beyond beautiful. And he knew now why his father,
whom Lone had always loved but resented, had risked and lost everything to bond
with his intimate. Lone’s whole being—body, heart and spirit—demanded he open
himself up to become completely vulnerable to this Vitca female. To deny their
bond would be like denying himself food and water.

He shuttered his eyes as she leaned down to take his lips in
a deep kiss. His hands released the bedding to cup her face without his
conscious thought or permission. Lone had to touch her, had to bury his fingers
in her silky blue hair, had to roll her under him…but he didn’t pin her down,
didn’t take full control. He shared it with her, matching the rhythm she set,
following her lead, showing her without words that he meant it when he said
that they would be equals in their relationship.

Her body trembled, tightened, and his body responded in
kind, his muscles bunching, his pace quickening. She arched off the bed, her
small but beautiful breasts an offering to him.

With his first lick of her little nipple, she shouted his
name. He gave her a gentle nip and she came undone, thrashing wildly beneath
him, wrapping her legs around his hips to thrust up again as she milked him.

Lone came with her name on his lips, her taste on his
tongue, her gasping breath on his neck.

As the tremors dissipated, he gathered her to him and rolled
them both so that her light weight collapsed on him instead of his heavy weight
smothering her.

Time passed at the pace of their beating hearts, quickly
slowing until the moment became timeless. Lone couldn’t think of anywhere else
he would rather be—ever.

But eventually, Azure stirred, her head lifting, her citrine
gaze meeting his. A smile played on her well-kissed lips, which she parted to
say, “I accept you as my intimate, the male with whom I wish to bond. As you
are in my body, you are also in my heart and spirit.”

Chapter Five

Azure felt Lone go ridgid beneath her. He became stone still
as she spoke the words that would formalize their bond…if he repeated them back
to her. But he remained speechless.

Her heart beat to the primitive rhythm of fear.

She should have waited for him to initiate the formal bond
between them. It was, after all, customarily the male’s place to do so. He was
not the submissive type and he’d been so generous, allowing her to take the
lead in their lovemaking…there was only so much an assertive male like Lone
could take. Had she crossed the line?

“No,” Lone said, reaching up to brush the hair out of her
eyes. “I’m truly ecstatic that you initiated the formal bond. You just…shocked
the hell out of me.”

He pulled her down for a world-changing kiss and grew hard
inside her once more. She groaned at the amazing feeling of him getting bigger
within her.

Breaking the kiss, he thrust against her and she reveled at
the power of his body as he repeated the bonding words. Her body loved him in
perfect synchronicity, their first bond strong and almost surreal in its
perfection.

He clutched her ass and drove up into her, filling her until
her pleasure spilled over. She came. Hard. With a loud yell that surely would
have reached throughout the space station if not for the soundproof walls.

Lone shouted her name, pumping his seed into her, locking
his gaze with hers, allowing her to see his vulnerability, his growing love for
her, his mounting possessiveness as their bond grew by leaps and bounds.

When, at last, their breathing had normalized and their
hearts held a steady rhythm, Lone reached for a case that was on the bedside.

Azure propped herself up on her elbows to watch him open the
small, flat box, knowing through their bond that this was important.

Inside were various types of intelligent chips, all illegal
to possess unless licensed by either the Nashete or Vitca governments. What the
hell?

“Lone, what are you doing with those?” It was traditional
for bonded intimates to have locator chips imbedded in their hands but the
procedure was performed by an elected official at a city hall.

“I work with the union movement,” he said distractedly,
shuffling through the tiny illegal chips. “We use these to help persecuted
people escape from either territory to find safety in the union.”

Azure’s heart thumped hard in her breast. When Wharm had
said he worked with Trius, she hadn’t thought past his words to make the
connection that Lone most likely worked in the union movement as well. Here she
had been beating herself up for sidelining her mission when all along she had
been bonding with a male who could help her rescue her cousin and keep them
both safe in the top secret location of the union movement.

He drew out a chip, balancing it on the tip of his pointer
finger, and then pressed it into the same-sized indentation on the box’s lid.
The box turned white, ready for instructions.

“Transport of female to me,” he said.

Within seconds the chip box beeped twice and turned black
once more.

Lone withdrew a chip planter about the same size as his
pinky fingernail and loaded the chip.

Meeting Azure’s gaze, he said, “Once implanted, you’ll have
the ability to transport to me no matter where you are.”

She frowned. “That technology is still supposed to be
theoretical.”

“The Nashete government has been using transport chips for
almost a year now. Though don’t ask them to admit it to the Vitca. They have no
interest in sharing this latest technological breakthrough.”

“Why are you sharing it with me?”

He took her hand. “It’s my bonding gift to you. I swear I
will always be there to care for and protect you. Will you accept my gift?”

Knowing that Nashete males were supposed to be even more
possessive with their intimates than Vitca males, she hesitated to answer. But
he’d programmed the chip for her to return to him by her will, not his. If
anyone was giving up a piece of freedom, it was Lone. She’d be able to find him
wherever he was whenever she wanted. There would be no place he could go where
she couldn’t reach him.

“Yes.” She’d barely spoken the word before he planted the
chip beneath her skin on the back of her hand.

The sharp sting of implantation brought tears to her eyes.

He kissed her hand and mouth, pouring his passion into their
lovemaking, taking it slow this time.

The sweet smell of Vitca flooded the room.

Someone yanked Azure out of bed.

Lone let loose a battle cry that sounded like murder.

Azure struggled against ten of her family’s guards, wishing
this were a bad dream.

“Whore.” Azure’s father, Hower, slapped her.

She tasted blood.

“Release her,” Lone demanded in a hard, low voice that sent
chills down her spine.

Hower sneered as his guards surrounded him. “I’ll deal with
you soon enough, dual blood.”

“You’ll deal with me now.” Lone stood, uncaring of his
nakedness, his black eyes fixed on her father. “Release my intimate.”

Hower jerked as if he’d been slapped. Blood filled his face,
turning his skin reddish-purple. His nostrils flared, and Azure watched while
he scented the truth of Lone’s words, fury making a mask of his face when he
registered the fact that his daughter was bonding with a dual blood.

“You bitch!” He grabbed her neck and, holding her at arm’s
length, squeezed, choking her.

She fought back, clawing his arm while Lone tore through the
guards like a soldier through civilians. Still, he was overwhelmed by numbers.
She watched him get swallowed up by men as intent on killing him as her father
was on killing her. Oxygen supply cut off, her muscles quickly weakened. She
wavered on her feet, cursing her weakness, wishing she could somehow save Lone
if not herself. She didn’t want him to die because of her.

Through their body bond she could feel her intimate give and
take blow after blow as he struggled so hard to make it to her side. No one had
ever fought for her before. That Lone did so now seemed damned near miraculous.

Spots swam before her eyes. Her vision grew dark.

She had failed herself. She had failed her cousin. She had
failed her intimate. Her last thought before she lost consciousness was, “
I’m
sorry.”

Lone watched in horror as Azure fell boneless to the floor,
her words echoing in his head. No way was he allowing her father to take her
away from him.

No fucking way.

He knocked Hower back and then dropped to the floor. Hower
screamed. Lone grabbed Azure’s wrist. Her heart beat beneath his fingers. He
envisioned her hotel room and activated their chips.

The plush carpet beneath him turned to hard mesh wire. He’d
done it.

In the sudden silence of Azure’s hotel room, he could hear
his brothers yelling in his head, demanding to know his location.

“Azure’s room,”
he thought at them as he rolled to
his feet with a grunt of pain.

He scooped up Azure and laid her on the bed, using their
body link to check for injuries. Other than a badly bruised throat, she had
only a few scrapes.

He breathed a sigh of relief—and smelled Vitca males.
Shit.

Wharm and Kana materialized in the small room, making it
feel even smaller.

“What happened?” Wharm asked.

“Her father tracked her down and was enraged to learn she
was bonding with me.”

“Her father did all that to you?” Kana asked in disbelief,
looking Lone’s battered body up and down.

Lone grimaced. “And his guards.”

“You dematerialized in front of them?” Wharm asked.

Lone heard worry in his brother’s voice but no censure, even
though Lone had taken a huge risk exposing the secret technology to a room full
of Vitcas.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Should buy us some time,” Wharm said instead of browbeating
him. “But this room smells of Vitca males.”

“Her father must have come here before finding my room.”
Lone smoothed Azure’s hair from her face and tried to think past his rage at
her father, who probably had made easy work of finding her since the security
on the space station during the peace talks was at the highest level and there
were guards and security cams everywhere. “We need to get her out of here. Call
Trius.”

* * * * *

“Look, Pemmi, she’s waking up!”

Azure forced her eyes open and saw the baby bot she’d seen
when she was looking for Trius Daylor what seemed like years ago. The gold god
walked into view, a pleased look on his too-handsome-to-be-real face.

“Where’s Lone?” She sat up and looked around.

“Creating an alibi so your father can’t accuse him of
abducting his charge.”

She frowned, trying to take in the information. Pulling at
the high neckline of the shirt someone had dressed her in, she asked, “Where am
I?”

“Aboard my ship.”

She flipped back the covers and left the bed. “Where are you
taking me?”

“Exactly where you want me to take you—union territory.”

“No, I— Who are you?”

“It’s a secret,” the baby bot whispered conspiratorially.

“We can tell Azure, Sar. She’s joining the union movement.”
He gave her a slanted smile. “I’m Trius Daylor, leader of the—”

“Gods unseen,” she interjected. “I know who Trius Daylor
is.”

Sar flounced down on the bed, her bottom lip protruding. “I
thought it was going to be a surprise, Pemmi.”

“It was a surprise.” Trius walked over to the bed to pat
Sar’s head. “See how surprised she looks.”

Azure closed her gaping mouth and crossed her arms over her
chest, feeling she was making a fool of herself. Sar giggled. Azure turned her
back on them and paced across the room.

“Is Lone okay?”

“He’s fine.”

“My father?”

“Impotent in his rage. Lone reported your father’s attack to
the authorities. Normally such violence in the face of a daughter bonding with
an unknown male would be overlooked but since it happened at the peace talks by
a prominent member of society, the Vitca government is embarrassed.”

“They’ve turned their collective back on him?”

“Yes.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you know?”

“That you were looking for me? Yes,” Trius said. “I received
your messages asking for my help and recognized you when I saw you.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you help me
when we saw each other in the lobby?” she asked, completely flustered.

“I’m the most wanted male in the galaxy. I was being
cautious. Making sure I wasn’t walking into a trap.”

The baby bot giggled. “That’s not what—”

“What I told you was a secret, Sar.”

“Oh, I remember now.” Sar nodded her baby bot head, her
little lips pressed tightly closed as if she were swallowing the secret.

What was going on?

A door whooshed open. Corra walked in.

With a glad cry, Azure ran across the room. It seemed to
take forever to reach her cousin, as if she was running in slow motion, but
when she got there, she threw her arms around her and cried.

Corra hugged her, holding her tight against her well-rounded
curves.

Still crying and holding on to her, Azure turned toward
Trius and cried, “Thank you.”

Trius’ eyebrows rose. “Don’t thank me.”

Corra stepped out of her arms, tears streaming down her
lovely face. “Your intimate and his brothers rescued me, Zu. They appeared in
my rooms, told me you had sent them and transported me out of there with some
amazing Nashete tech.”

“Shh, that’s a secret too,” Sar said, twisting a golden curl
around her little silver finger. “Right, Pemmi?”

“That’s right, Sar.” Trius offered a hand to the baby bot
and she took it, hopping down from the bed. “Why don’t we head up to the
bridge?”

Sar tilted her head. “Can I pilot the ship?”

“Why not?”

Sar smiled smugly as she walked past. “I’m an excellent
pilot.”

The door closed behind them and Corra tucked her powder-blue
hair behind her ears and asked, “That’s the leader of the union movement?”

“Yeah.”

“Looks more like a supermodel.”

“Yeah.”

“I think Wharm is my intimate.”

“What?”

“I know, right?” Corra twisted her graceful fingers
together. “He didn’t try to bond with me.”

Azure took her cousin’s hands in hers and gave them a
squeeze. “He will.”

She mustered up a smile and asked, “You ok, Zu?”

Azure released Corra’s hands to rub her eyes. “Not that I’m
not thrilled out of my mind to see you, but you don’t happen to know where my
intimate went, do you?”

“He still has business on Equate Space Station and said to
tell you that he knows he failed you. He releases you. You have your freedom.”
Corra frowned. “But if you ask me, he damn near choked on the words.”

Azure shook her head, trembling.

Her freedom.

Exactly what she had told Lone she wanted.
Shit.
How
could he think he had failed her when he’d saved her life?
Males.
So
driven by pride and possessiveness. And hers had let her go… He had given her
Corra, passage to union territory and freedom. The three things she’d wanted
when she’d first met him. Except now all she wanted was Lone.

“Hey, you okay?” Corra took both her arms to steady her.

Azure blinked back tears. She was done crying for the day.

Lone had saved her. Now it was her turn. Even if it meant
saving him from his own stupidity.

Males.

* * * * *

It’s for the best
, Lone told himself for what had to
be the hundredth time since he left Azure with her cousin.

He still didn’t believe it.

Oh sure, giving Azure her freedom might make her happy, but
he was ready to flush himself down a waste chute.