SIX MONTHS AGO

The Kella was big, but that didn’t mean there were a ton of places for a romantic rendezvous. Not that this was a romantic rendezvous. All Kayleb had said was that he wanted to meet. And since the med bay seemed suddenly empty and lifeless without him, Tessa had jumped at the chance. She wished she could have told him to meet in her quarters, but she shared space with Symes and didn’t want an audience. Since Kayleb was bunked with his brother, he had a similar predicament.

But Tessa had been on the ship long enough to know her nooks and crannies. All the crew knew the perfect spots for quick hook ups and the subtle signs to use to mark a space as occupied. She’d never before even thought of stealing away into the passenger storage deck, but there was a perpetually empty cubby with more than enough room for two people. She’d placed a jacket on the hook at the end of the hall to tell the crew that the space was used and now all she had to do was wait for Kayleb to show up.

He was late.

They’d only been separated for less than a day, but her heart hammered when she heard heavy footsteps making their way up the metal stairs. A shadow crossed the door and then he stepped inside, mouth wide in a grin, the rest of him shadowed from the dim light.

Tessa grinned back, her heart light. Fizzy bubbles swam through her blood and she felt like she could fly. She’d never felt this way before, never known it was possible to feel so much so quickly for a stranger. But there was nothing strange about Kayleb, not even with his blue skin, sometimes red eyes, and retractable claws. No, he was completely perfect.

Kayleb reached for her at the same moment Tessa opened her arms to embrace him. He spun her close in a clever move that belonged on a dance floor somewhere and she came with a yelp of laughter. His arms wrapped around her and they swayed from side to side before stilling. She heard his heartbeat where her ear pressed against his chest, strong and sure, with no sign that only a few days before he’d been on the verge of bleeding out.

“How’s your side?” she asked. He no longer needed bandages and the last time she’d checked, the only evidence of his injury was the shiny new skin that had grown over the wound.

“All better,” he promised. “Sorry I’m late. Krayter wanted to watch a vid and I needed to give him an excuse to get away.” Kayleb’s fingers tangled in her hair.

A secret thrill went through Tessa. When the brothers boarded the ship, they’d been inseparable. And now Kayleb was choosing to spend time with her instead, she was that special to him. “Don’t worry about it,” she reassured him. “I have the whole night off.”

“Do you?” he asked wolfishly, even though she’d mentioned it before.

“Yes,” she said. “And it’s just you and me, all alone. No risk of interruptions up here.” She trailed a finger down his chest, watching as his eyes shifted from their normal dark color to that demonic red that meant he was feeling something intense. “So what are we going to do about it?”

Possibility hung in the air between them. It had nearly suffocated them in med bay when there was nothing they could do about it, tension so thick that Tessa could practically see it in the air. She’d wanted to climb on top of Kayleb the moment his wound could take it, kiss him for days, and never let him go. But the med bay was almost as busy as the mess some days and she couldn’t risk it.

But Kayleb wasn’t her patient any more.

He covered her tracing hand with his own, crushing her hand to his chest. When he leaned in, his kiss was gentle, tasting her with utter care and smashing her to pieces in a single press of lips. Tessa’s mouth quivered as he swiped his tongue against the seam of her lips, tenderly requesting entrance and conquering her with fragile strength.

Could she fall in love from a single kiss? Maybe. Yes. Absolutely. She’d never had a chance against him.

The embrace turned from sweet to hot in a single inhalation, a moan escaping her throat with the headiest promise of more. Kayleb stepped closer, backing her up against the wall of the room, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, the hard press of his erection a promise of things to come. But not yet, not while they poured all of their promises and hopes into this tangling of tongues.

Her hands tugged at his shirt, pulling it up and away and tangling between an ear and his neck. But as soon as she chucked it away they were back to kissing, her lip curving against his, unable and unwilling to quell the happiness bubbling within her. It was so right, so freaking perfect that she didn’t know what to do with herself. When her hands found the buckle of his pants, Kayleb flattened his hand against her, preventing her from unbuckling him and freeing the hard press of his cock.

“Wait,” he mumbled against her, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Hmm?” She kissed down the edge of his jaw, her lips brushing against almost invisible stubble. Kayleb arched his neck and his hands dug into her hips as he let out a groan that went straight to her core and only made her hungrier with desire.

But Kayleb’s moans turned frustrated and he somehow put some space between them. “It’s really important.”

With a deep breath, Tessa stilled. The intensity in his eyes was a vise around her heart. Her hands still lay on his shoulders. They’d put a little distance between themselves, but she couldn’t step any further away. “What is it?” she asked, her mind racing with all the possible disasters that could come from hooking up with a passenger.

Kayleb grinned and reached up to grab one of her hands. He laced their fingers together and gave her palm a squeeze. “This isn’t just one time. Not for me. It’s...” he paused, searching for the word. “It’s everything.”

Tessa didn’t dare to breathe, but her heart opened up and her lips curled up into a smile so big her face threatened to crack in half. “Oh?” she said, deceptively light. “Is that all?”

Kayleb just stared at her, waiting to see what else she had to say. But they didn’t need words. She closed the distance between them and kissed him once more.

***

TESSA STIFLED A MOAN as the memory released her and she rose from an unsatisfactorily fitful sleep. Light filtered in through the broken hole in the wall and though it would be warm by midday, her hidey-hole was freezing. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing up and down in hopes of generating a little warmth.

“I’d be happy to give you a hand with that,” an alluringly familiar voice offered.

She reared back, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. She’d hidden away on the fourteenth story of a half-finished building and the only way to access the room she was in involved some very precarious climbing across a patch of floor that hadn’t yet been put in. And yet Kayleb was sitting at the foot of her makeshift little bed as if he belonged there.

“What are you doing here?” The words came out a little muffled from exhaustion and Tessa pressed herself back against the wall as if she could somehow put enough space between them to escape the pull. Of all the dreams he had to interrupt, it was that one! Did the universe actually hate her? It was the only thing that made sense. “How long have you been staring at me like a creep? It’s not cool to watch people while they’re sleeping.” She hitched her jacket up, keeping it over her shoulders and chest like a blanket. It did little to keep her warm, but she’d take any shield she could get right now.

Kayleb watched her pull back, his expression unreadable. She didn’t like it and she didn’t like that she didn’t like it. He leaned until there was less than a meter of space between them and something in her chest loosened, making it a little easier to breathe. “I just got here,” he said softly, or it seemed soft. The wind this high on the building blew something fierce and normal speaking was softer than a whisper. “And I came because you need help.”

“I’m fine,” she said, her words belied by the sharp burst of wind that hit an exposed strip of skin and made her gasp from the cold. She bit back a curse and grit her teeth against the discomfort. “I told you to stay away.” She couldn’t deal with fighting off pirates and Kayleb, and she didn’t know what to do if he made this hard for her.

“This is fine?” Kayleb asked, looking around. “You’re being chased and sleeping in half constructed buildings, how is that fine?” His eyes blazed and he held himself taut, like if he loosened his shoulders at all he’d lunge forward and sweep her up into his arms and never let her go.

Which Tessa did not want. At all. Never again.

Right.

Anger burst over her as the last remnants of sleep fell away. Tessa pushed herself up from her makeshift bed, towering over Kayleb where he crouched. She balled her fists up and tried to figure out what she was supposed to say. If he hadn’t been in front of the only door, she’d be out of there in a flash, but he had her trapped. “You need to let me go,” she said as calmly as she could manage.

“I only just found you.” The naked emotion in his voice almost undid her, but the chill and the wind anchored her in place, reminding her of everything that had come to pass.

“Well isn’t that great for you,” she scowled. “I’ve got actual problems now, and I can’t sit here and babysit you while you try and figure out what you want this time. I’m not letting you... back in and I want you to go.” She’d almost confessed too much, and he didn’t get to know that he’d torn out her heart once before. She’d told him enough.

Except he wasn’t moving. He stared at her, eyes wide and nostrils flared, his expression absolutely human on a startlingly inhuman face. His sharp cheekbones made him look harsher than he’d ever been, a little too angular for the man she knew—had known. “I can’t let you go,” he said, and this time she had to strain to make it out, his voice oddly flat. “Please.”

Something inside her chest cracked and Tessa took a step back when all she wanted to do was step forward and hold him close. The anger went out of her and her shoulders slumped. “Go back to your brother and forget about this. I don’t—” the word want you dead on her tongue. For some strange reason she couldn’t lie to him, nor herself, apparently.­

“You don’t what?”

***

KAYLEB WAS FROZEN, crouched in the little room where Tessa had hidden away. He’d followed his instincts and the tug in his heart until the pull brought him here, the decision to find her and offer help made by his soul before his mind could catch up and object.

She didn’t want him and he barely remembered her. But whatever he’d felt all those months ago was still there, unmoored in his mind, unanchored by knowledge, but still strong and fierce. He couldn’t let her remain in danger while he went about his business like nothing was wrong. He couldn’t leave his denya to suffer while he enjoyed his stolen time without her.

He didn’t think he could enjoy his stolen time without her. After all, he’d stolen it from her.

His question hung in the air between them and Kayleb stood slowly. She couldn’t leave unless he moved away from the door and they were both achingly aware of that fact. Her eyes were focused on the unfinished tile at their feet, unable to look at him. He wanted her to, wanted to see what she felt in those deep brown eyes of hers, but he kept his hands to himself, unwilling to touch her if she didn’t want to be touched.

But he couldn’t walk away, not until she was at least safe. He could offer that much.

“Please just leave,” she said again, misery in every word. But he didn’t think the misery had to do with his presence.

“I don’t think that’s what you want.” He’d never been great at reading people, he left that to Krayter. And he knew that Tessa had every reason to want him gone, but his heart demanded that he stay. She was his mate, he couldn’t abandon her.

Finally, Tessa looked up and the pain and confusion in her eyes pierced his heart. He’d done this to her, unintentionally, but that didn’t matter. He’d put pain in his denya’s eyes until even in her darkest hour she couldn’t bring herself to lean on him. Kayleb swallowed the apologies and promises that tried to spring out of his throat. She’d made her opinions on those clear enough. “I will do anything you wish,” he said, continuing before she could interrupt, “except abandon you again. You need help, and if you will not take me as your—as yours, then please take me as your ally. At least until you are no longer in danger.” He didn’t know what he’d say if she told him to leave once more.

But finally Tessa took him in, looking at him not as the man who’d abandoned her, but as the one who offered to help. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me,” she said, her gaze dropping back down to the floor, only meeting his eyes for a few seconds. “Not even you.”

Kayleb didn’t respond to that, there would no argument that could assuage her conscience. If she was going to let him in, she had to make that decision herself. He’d made it as clear as he could that he was willing to take the risk.

Something from within her bag beeped and Tessa jumped, startling Kayleb. She reached in with efficient movements and silenced the alarm, lips tight. “That’s time,” she said. “This damn thing has to reset.”

“What thing?”

She huffed out a breath and hitched the bag over her shoulder, her movements slow, telegraphing exhaustion. If she’d been one of the pit fighters he’d known back home, her match would have been over before she stepped into the metal ring.

“I think there’s a tracker on this thing,” she said, patting her backpack. She didn’t say what was inside and Kayleb decided to save that question for later. “I have a dampener, but it only has six hours of charge. Every time it turns off, they’re on me again. And they’ve got eyes on every way out of this neighborhood. It’s like I’m in some sort of cage.”

Them must have included the men he’d seen earlier that day. “Who are they?” He wanted to let the dozens of questions he had about this situation out, but Kayleb forced himself to limit his interrogation to one question at a time lest he spook her. At least she was talking now.

“Pirates,” she said succinctly. “I don’t have time to explain now.” She surveyed her sleeping nook one last time before nodding, her belongings retrieved and in her pack.

“Can you toss the tracking device?”

Tessa gave a hollow laugh. “I’d have done that a week ago if I knew how. I can’t risk destroying...” She shook her head. “Let’s go.”

Explanations were over, but she wasn’t telling him to get lost. Kayleb would count this as a win for now.

He followed Tessa over the treacherous path out of the building, his attention divided between looking for threats and making sure he didn’t fall. His legs wobbled as he stepped onto an exposed beam to walk across a large hole in the floor and he shot both arms out wide to keep his balance. Tessa never looked back and for once he was glad that his mate was ignoring him. At least she didn’t see him flailing about like a child.

Only when they made it to the open stairwell did Tessa glance at him. She said nothing but nodded, as if confirming that he’d made it. There were no railings on the stairs and instead of a wall there was grating to keep people and animals out. It did nothing to stop the wind and the chill, but they both ducked their heads and kept moving to stave off the discomfort. At the bottom of the stairs, Tessa led him away from the gate he’d used to enter to a break in the fencing around the construction site.

All the while, Kayleb’s senses were on high alert waiting for the threat that his mate said was coming. Her exhaustion and jumpiness were evidence enough that she was on the run. He would have known that even if he hadn’t seen the men chasing her or hunted her down to a place that wasn’t yet fit for anyone to sleep.

She turned to head south toward the broken down buildings at crime infested streets she’d been sleeping in, but Kayleb reached out a hand, barely brushing her on the arm. She spun around, but he was already pulling back. “I know a place that should be safe for a little while.”

Tessa narrowed her eyes. She looked over her shoulder and Kayleb’s gaze followed hers, lighting on the boarded up windows of old brownstones and the streets littered with garbage. The sun was just starting to rise and it might as well have been a ghost town.

“Where?” she asked.

“There’s a gym with a relaxation chamber. They disable all but emergency communications from an entire floor of the building.” Kayleb had never seen the need for such a thing before, but today it might be just the thing.

“Near here?” Tessa was understandably skeptical.

“Two subway stops away. There’s a whole chain. They’re open twenty-four hours a day.” That part Kayleb had understood and loved. As he’d recovered from his wounds and the listlessness and absence he hadn’t understood until recently set in, he’d needed a place to escape at any moment.

“They could corner us on the subway.”

Us. Yes. Kayleb tried to keep the triumph off his face at the first sign that she was going to accept his help. “Then we’d better move quickly.”

Tessa blew out a breath and nodded. “Fine, let’s go.”