Chapter Sixteen
Taryn studied the vivacious redhead who sat next to him closely as he tried to absorb what she’d just told him.
“All three are your mates?” His tone was incredulous as he gestured toward the Bylanthian warriors, Jax, Marc, and Ren.
“Yes,” Lottie replied breezily, “and their brother, Daen.”
Taryn blew out a breath. While it was not unheard of on Taar-Breck for a man to share his woman with another, the arrangement Charlotte had described to him was unusual. Taryn didn’t like the idea. He didn’t think he would be able to tolerate his mate dividing her time between him and several other men. He was just too possessive.
“And this works?”
“It works great,” Lottie replied, “well, most of the time. Trying to cope with three macho warriors can be challenging.”
“Three? But you mentioned the fourth brother also.”
“Yes, but Daen’s different.” There was a softness in her expression as she spoke about him that hadn’t been there before. “He’s tender and caring, much more even-tempered than the other three. He’s light to their dark and he keeps us all sane.”
Taryn’s brow furrowed as he considered her words and the fact that she really did seem content. He’d mentally prepared himself to rescue her if need be, but it seemed that his initial impression of her was correct. She was no damsel in distress.
“You don’t approve?” Lottie asked.
“It is not for me to approve,” Taryn replied. “It is just…”
“That you expected me to take one look at your pal, Bryn, and fall head over heels in love?”
Taryn’s eyes widened in surprise at the mention of his colleague.
“Yes, I know him,” Lottie said. “He’s very nice to look at, I’ll give you that, but I was already involved with my boys when I met him and Bryn’s just not my type. God knows why Caro thought I’d be into a stuffed shirt like him.”
Overlooking the insult she’d just paid his friend, Taryn wondered why Bryn hadn’t mentioned meeting Lottie, especially since she was involved with Bylanthian warriors.
“He told you the commander’s wife had matched you with him?” Taryn asked.
“He did, not that he needed to,” Lottie replied. “It was obvious that my friends were being paired off with men who work for Caro’s husband. Katie and Aran, Melissa with Cole, Sarah-Jane with that big guy with the blond hair and violet eyes.”
Taryn couldn’t remember which of the men had taken the woman called Sarah-Jane as his mate, but he couldn’t help smiling at Lottie’s description of the warrior. ‘The big guy with the blond hair and violet eyes’ fitted almost all the male population of Taar-Breck. Men whose hair and eyes were darker were in the minority on their planet.
“Vicky and Allik,” Lottie continued, mentioning one such man. “Now, Allik, I might have gone for. Those scars are pretty hot, and I love that whole brooding asshole thing he’s got going on.”
Taryn rolled his eyes. He was right in his earlier assessment that this woman was very similar to Victoria. If anything, she was even more insolent. What surprised him was that he liked their sass.
“And you and Lucy, of course,” Lottie finished. Her eyebrows drew down into a look of concern. “How is Lucy? I thought you were going to bring her.”
“We have parted.” Did he imagine it or had his voice actually broken on the word parted?
He realized that his emotions had indeed shown through when Lottie placed her delicate little hand over his and squeezed tightly. His eyes narrowed, and the young woman gave a knowing smile before removing her hand. Clearly, she understood that such intimate contact was unacceptable between strangers.
“It wasn’t your choice?” she guessed.
Damn, this woman was perceptive! Taryn had no idea why, but something about her made him feel he could confide in her about Lucy.
“She was unhappy. I do not know why.” Taryn gave a deep sigh. “At first, she seemed to suit being my pet but, after a while, she became sad, distant.”
“You made her your pet?”
“She came to me and offered,” Taryn replied, bristling at the disapproval in Lottie’s voice. “If she did not want it, why did she ask me to take her?”
“Perhaps you and she have different ideas about what being a pet means,” Lottie suggested. In response to Taryn’s blank stare, she shook her head. She muttered something he didn’t quite catch about the inadequacies of the male of the species. “I’ll bet you seized on the chance to stick a tail in her butt and get her to crawl around after you.”
Taryn shrugged his shoulders. “That is what she requested from me.”
“I doubt it.” Lottie gave him a despairing look. “What she requested was for you to take care of her. She probably realized sex would be involved, but mainly what she was looking for was love and affection. Lucy needs someone to make sure she’s fed and watered and tucked up safe in bed at night.”
“Then why did she not tell me this?”
Lottie said nothing but arched a questioning brow at him.
“Because she did not feel she could,” Taryn said, his heart sinking. Somewhere along the line, he’d given Lucy the impression that she was not free to talk to him about her needs.
“Bingo!” Lottie exclaimed.
Taryn didn’t bother to ask her what she meant. He got the gist. Finally, he’d realized what he’d done wrong. He had thought he understood Lucy’s needs reasonably well and he’d mistaken his adeptness at bringing her body to life for an ability to make her happy.
“But she enjoys submitting to me.”
He didn’t think he’d said that out loud until Lottie responded.
“I’m sure she does, but what you need to understand is that our little Lucy is a hopeless romantic. She might crave the dominance, but she needs to be loved.”
“I do love her.” He had, almost from the moment he first saw her sitting on that sofa in Caroline Rossingham’s house.
“And you told her this? Showered her with affection? Made her feel special every minute of every goddamned day and let her know her happiness comes first? You let her into your life?”
As Lottie reeled off the list of things that would have made Lucy happy, Taryn realized he’d let them both down. He had not been vocal about how he felt. He’d demanded that she call him Master and had tried to play the part, but his heart had never been fully committed to making her his. As much as she’d come to resent being his pet, he’d disliked her easy compliance. He’d wanted to see more spirit from her, yet he’d also held back. Until that afternoon in the cave, he had not revealed anything of himself to her.
“I have not communicated with her properly,” Taryn said.
Lottie rolled her eyes and shook her head at him as though she thought he was incredibly stupid.
“Do they dip Taar-Breckian men in starch every morning?”
Taryn looked at her in confusion.
“You’re all so fucking rigid.” Lottie’s exasperation was obvious. “Go back to Lucy and tell her how you feel. You do have feelings, don’t you?”
Taken aback by the ferocity with which the young woman was spitting the words at him, Taryn simply nodded.
“Go back and tell her how you feel. Ask her to be your partner in life.” She held up her hand to silence him as he opened his mouth to respond. “Submissive, perhaps, but a partner all the same. Ask her what she wants and tell her what you want. Knowing Lucy, she’ll swoon at your fucking feet.”
“How do you know that will work?”
Lottie took a sigh and, seeming to realize that their conversation was now attracting attention, lowered her voice.
“I’m good at reading people and Lucy’s not difficult. When we used to get together at Caro’s house, things got pretty raucous sometimes. Lucy was always a bit quieter than the rest of us. She used to blush something fierce when we talked about our fantasies, but there was also a spark in her eye. You said she came and asked to be your pet so she must have had some idea in her head.” Lottie shrugged her shoulders as though she wasn’t sure what Lucy had been thinking. “Like I said, she’s a romantic.”
“How did you come to be friends with Lucy and the others?” he asked, curious to know a bit more about them all. He’d never really spoken to Lucy about her secret life in New Cambridge. The realization that he’d never taken time to get to know her made him groan inwardly.
“My father’s one of the leaders of the rebels,” Lottie said, “and he brought me in when I turned eighteen. We heard about Caro’s group and I befriended them to see what our common goals were, how they might help our cause.”
“They had no idea you were with the rebels?” Taryn looked at her and she shook her head, having the grace to appear a little shame-faced. “You were using them?”
“At first, but I came to genuinely regard them as friends. I’d never had much of a female influence around me and they welcomed me like a sister.”
Looking at the tears forming in the young woman’s eyes, Taryn could see that she spoke the truth. Whatever her intentions might have been, she had obviously formed a deep bond with the women.
“And Elizabeth Chatterton? What do you know about her?”
“Lizzie was more rebellious than the others. She wanted to do more than just talk and send out pamphlets. I introduced her to my father and she got involved with William Barron—you know him, right?”
Taryn nodded. Barron was Earth’s new ambassador to Taar-Breck. He had sat on the High Council but, from what Taryn understood that had been a cover for his illegal involvement with those who sought change.
“They were meant to leave New Cambridge together,” Lottie continued, “but William set off for Taar-Breck alone.”
“You have no idea what happened to Elizabeth?” Taryn asked. “Do you think Barron might have hurt her?”
Lottie shook her head and laughed as though the very idea was ridiculous.
“Then where is she?”
“Last I heard of her, she was with William,” Lottie said.
“Have you any idea where she might go?”
Lottie seemed to think about it for a moment and then a look crossed her face that suggested she’d come up with a possibility. She opened her mouth as though she was about to respond and then paused. She sniffed the air. All color drained from her face and she leapt to her feet.
“Everybody out!”
Before anyone had time to react, there was a blinding flash of light and a bang loud enough to shake the room. Taryn saw the woman he’d been talking to being flung violently backwards and, a split second later, he registered the sensation that he was falling. An image of Lucy popped into his mind and then everything descended into darkness.