As soon as the street was empty Adelina looked up at the first moon. It was more east than it had been before they’d entered the tavern. There were only a few more hours until the twilight of dawn, the hour of the Wolf.

Adelina wrenched the cover open and slipped into the tunnel. She held onto the ladder and reached up to close it. Something brushed against her arm and she stilled. A chill ran down her spine and the familiar feeling of being stalked struck her. Adelina wasn’t imagining it; something was following her even if she couldn’t see it.

Quickly she closed the cover to the tunnels and then dropped the last few steps to the floor. Her boots splashed in a puddle as she landed and then she held her breath. There was a tingle on the patches of skin exposed to the air. Her wrists and neck could feel the presence. Her eyes searched the pitch-black blindly. Finally, she gave up and closed her eyes, giving in to her other senses, the senses given to her by the wolves.

Her instincts screamed there was a predator at her back. Adelina whirled around, cloak billowing behind her. It brushed against something and her hand reached out, quick as lightning. Her fingers wrapped around fabric and an electric shield stuttered. “Show yourself,” she demanded.

The shield stuttered again, lighting up the male’s face briefly before dropping them both back into the utter darkness. “You have interesting friends,” Prince Nash stated. His deep voice rumbled in the small space.

Adelina felt cold. And then hot. Fear washed over her as she realized Nash had been following her ever since they’d left the palace. He had some kind of stealth tech Draga had never managed to replicate which meant he had been able to go wherever he wished since the first day he’d arrived on the Draga Terra.

Fury rippled through her. It ran through her veins and fueled her anger. How dare he follow her? “You didn’t trust me,” she spat accusingly.

“I wanted to trust you,” he said. His voice was devoid of emotion. “But I needed the proof I could. More than just my life is at stake.”

Adelina shoved against his chest as hard as she could. He was too large for it to work normally, but it caught him off guard and he stumbled backward. “Adelina, please be reasonable.” Surprise colored his voice. It was too dark to actually see his face and that worked to her advantage.

Those damn eyes couldn’t entrance and hypnotize her if she couldn’t see them. “I am sick and tired of males following me!” she shrieked. “Thinking they always know better, thinking they need to protect me or hunt me.”

Those large, warm hands wrapped gently around her upper arms and held her with enough control not to hurt her, but still kept her from pushing him again. “I wasn’t hunting you.”

Adelina leaned forward until she could feel his chin against her forehead. “Oh really, you weren’t tasting my scent? You weren’t sizing up my skill and strength?” The venom in her words didn’t seem to touch him and that only infuriated her more.

Nash bent his head so his forehead pressed to hers instead and she could feel the heaving of his chest as he breathed. “Yes, I was doing all of that and more. I made sure you were safe though you didn’t need my protection. And let me tell you Lina, I liked what I saw.”

His hands cupped her face and pulled her closer. Nash’s lips met hers hungrily and it felt like he would devour her if she didn’t do something. Adelina finally gave in to the feeling, the pull she had felt since she’d first laid eyes on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.

In the darkness, she could feel him. She could feel the strange pull in her gut that told her she was connected to Nash in ways she couldn’t yet understand. He was the sun and she the moon. Every bit of him pressed against her and it was like a bolt of lightning. It woke her up. Adelina kissed him hard enough to bruise. She opened her mouth when his tongue licked her lips and danced with hers. The taste of him was wild spice; addictive.

Nash stood straight and pulled her up with him. He was so tall her feet didn’t touch the ground as his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. The kiss seemed to go on forever as he held her. Adelina buried her hands in his silky hair and nipped his bottom lip. She wanted more.

It was as though he could read her mind. Nash set her gently back on the ground and took a shuddering breath. “I think we should head back to the palace.” His voice was thick and husky telling her that was the last thing he wanted to do.

There was so much more Adelina wanted and going back to the palace was on the bottom of that list, but answering her desires was not a possibility even if she had forgotten for a moment. “I wasn’t finished yelling at you,” she muttered.

His chuckle warmed her pleasantly from the inside out. “You can finish yelling at me on the way back if you like.”

Adelina didn’t want to curse at him for following her anymore, she wanted to scold him for quitting what he’d begun and she suspected that had been the intention. “I’m still angry you didn’t trust me.” Though Nash had replaced the fury in her veins with desire.

“Princess, my kingdom, my life, and my people are at stake. Would you trust me at my word if our positions were reversed?” His hand remained on the small of her back, gently guiding her.

“Can you see in the dark?” she inquired. Her gloved hand used the wall for support and direction, but it wasn’t the first time she had wished she could see without a light or the paint.

“I can,” Nash admitted. “Though it wasn’t easy to hide from you, I’ve never had someone so aware of my presence before.”

Funny, she had thought something similar in the gymnasium. Adelina wondered if he was still mad about what had transpired. “Is that because we’re on Draga Terra?” she asked. They walked slowly, taking their time as they headed towards the palace. Perhaps his tech didn’t work right on her planet.

Nash was silent for a while. Long enough she looked up at him despite not being able to see more than his profile. “I don’t think so.”

What did that mean?

Adelina needed to see Ian as soon as possible. She needed answers. If she really did have a courtesan’s genetic makeup there was a lot she needed to reconsider, to be wary of. Before she realized how much time had passed they were under the gymnasium.

“I am hopeful Varan will have a few answers for you shortly,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

Adelina felt flustered. The spot on her lower back where his hand rested burned. There were so many other places she wanted that hand.

“It could take weeks, you know that.” His words were bitter and defeated.

What could she do? Her personal feelings aside, she knew Draga owed him more. “We may get lucky.”

He was a phantom in the dark and Adelina felt his isolation grow. Listening to her instincts she stepped forward so she could wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head on his chest. Nash couldn’t forget he wasn’t alone. Isolation could destroy the male she’d come to like and respect.

“Do you think—” he hesitated. “Do you think you might be able to speak with your father on my behalf?”

It was all she’d been thinking about. “I have nothing new to convince them to change their minds. How I feel is of no consequence.” Even if she requested something as rash as his hand in marriage it did not matter, her father would refuse despite his decree on the day of Raena’s birth that all of his children would choose their own spouse.

Nash sighed. “Then I will have to come up with something, some irrefutable truth I am the one to bet on for safety. If I could present even half my armies…” he trailed off. They both knew it was a fool’s chance. “I appreciate everything you’re trying to do for me,” he told her. “I’m going to activate the stealth-shield and come up after you.”

Adelina had a thousand and one questions for him. She kept silent instead. “I will see you tomorrow?” she asked, lingering though she shouldn’t.

His mouth found hers in the dark tunnel and she remembered he could still see her even in the pitch-black. Nash must have understood her real question. Adelina kissed him back softly. He tasted like a hot drink on a winter night. She breathed in his strange scent and felt it flutter through her, making her heart pound. She pulled back slowly before she could lose control.

“I will see you in the morning. Any help you need from me is yours,” Nash said as he helped her up the ladder.

She accepted his strength even though she had no need of it. Adelina made her way back to her rooms through the hidden servants’ halls. She wondered if the connection between her and Nash was what she thought it might be, and if it was…she would have to be more than cautious.

* * *

Nash watched Adelina’s ass bounce in those tight leather pants as she climbed up the ladder. His cock twitched and he couldn’t look away. Adelina was a beauty in her gowns, but those pants, the boots, and her damn cloak all made her into a mysterious devil woman. He even enjoyed the silver hair and gold eyes. Would she wear them in the bedroom if he asked?

Nash cursed under his breath as he followed her up, trailing her to the palace. Once she was safe he turned back to the west wing where the guest accommodations were located. This damn female would ruin him. He could feel it in his warrior’s bones and those instincts had saved his life more times than he cared to count.

He would never get used to the culture on Draga. It had shocked him the first time he’d been and it still shocked him despite knowing their ways. That didn’t account for the raging jealousy he had felt when she flirted with the thief though. It had made him want to rip the male’s fucking face off. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the reminder it didn’t mean the same as it did in his own kingdom and galaxy. In the Khara galaxy, touch and affection was not a familiar and easy thing. It was reserved for your family, spouse, or children and no one else.

Everything he had seen and heard that night confirmed one thing at least.

The little princess’s claims of wanting to help him were true. She had proven that tonight and he knew her desire to assist him in finding his people and gather an army could be considered treason if her father wished. There was no reason for her to take that risk no matter her claims of honor.

He was furious at King Orion for his lack of honor with their alliance. The male had to possess some honor if Adelina’s was strong enough she would disobey her own family to uphold it. The king put his daughter in an impossible situation and it left Nash raging inside.

Then there was something else about Adelina Nash couldn’t explain or understand. The kiss only proved what he’d been so wary of. This female was a sorceress. She had to be to make him drunk on her lips alone.

He frowned as he entered the guardhouse. It was quiet and only a few soldiers were on patrol as Nash checked his warriors. They were still in the process of being vetted and until each and every one of them passed the test he could have no contact. Nash didn’t allow that to stop him from ensuring their safety.

Satisfied, he found the narrow servants’ halls and stairs and used them to reach his quarters rather than use the servants’ lift. The Draga Palace was centuries old and there were more nooks and crannies than anyone could keep track of.

Nash activated his molecular disapparator and passed through his wall. They no doubt kept track of his comings and goings with the log on his door. Nash started to undress and disarm in the darkness, staring at nothing. This princess was something he hadn’t anticipated. When they’d met last there had been a pull, but nothing like he felt when he saw her in the council room after so many cycles, and not like he did now.

That he’d exposed himself to her like he did in the gymnasium – Nash shook his head in disbelief and disgust. This tiny female had him enthralled and because of that she was dangerous – she was a weakness he could not afford.

He had known it the moment she had stepped into the sparring ring and changed completely. Nash had never seen anything quite like it. It was as though…as though she had shed the civility and the sweetness and turned into nothing more than what she truly was.

What that was exactly still eluded him, but the raw power he saw her wield sucked him in like a whirlpool; deep and dangerous. It eluded the princess as well because those marks on her hands weren’t something someone with confidence would do. Those marks meant she fought some internal battle he couldn’t see and didn’t understand.

The cool night air whispered over his naked skin and Nash slid under the silken covers of his bed. He should never have shown her he was capable of healing, but there was a part of him deep down that felt called to protect and he couldn’t ignore it no matter how hard he tried. Nash threw an arm over his eyes to block out the early sun as it rose.

His entire family had died and he felt like a traitor for being so distracted. Nash knew he would have to choose his people. A pretty face couldn’t deter him no matter how intelligent and mysterious. Adelina was nothing more than a passing flame.

It was a rather convincing lie, but in his bones, he knew the truth.