Females—one particular female—would be the death of him. He could not bear to look at her and yet could not bear to not look at her. It was maddening and yet… addictive. He wanted more of her. Not just more, he wanted all of her.

He had never responded to a female in such a way. His flesh craved her soft embrace and the more time spent in her company, the stronger his need grew.

Simply walking through Ikkim was pure torture. Of all the sights and sounds of the market, there should have been plenty to distract him from the female at his side. Should, but wasn’t. When she paused to look at something that caught her eye, he inevitably looked at her.

He’d been relieved when she’d emerged from the dressing room covered in more traditional clothing rather than the tempting garments Zav had first chosen. Her shapely legs were fully encased and the blouse hid the tempting dips and hollows he ached to explore.

Though relief fled the first time she bent to look at an item for sale. The hem of her shirt rose and his hands twitched with the need to grasp her hips and pull her heart-shaped ass against his aching flesh.

Thankfully, his hands were occupied with holding her purchases. He would have paid to have them delivered to his dwelling later, but he didn’t trust himself not to act on his desires. Desires that grew stronger and stronger as the morning passed toward midday.

Changing position and standing in front of her when she bent over did not help his cause. The loose top he had appreciated moments before gaped at the neckline. It showed him the tops of her plump breasts and the dark valley between them. His mouth watered as he imagined running his tongue across the gentle slopes. Perhaps he’d then slide an aching part—

“Uh, Erudan?” Rhea’s voice crashed into his fantasies.

He blinked and shook his head to clear his carnal thoughts. What had come over him? Where had the sensual imaginings come from?

One look at Rhea’s flushed cheeks and glittering eyes answered his question. The erotic thoughts—at least some of them—came from her. There was a connection between their minds. A connection he did not wish to examine.

Rhea straightened and padded closer, placing her hand on his forearm. He followed her movements with his gaze, ensnared by the sight of her pale skin against his darker flesh.

His green flesh that seemed permanently stained with signs of his need.

Erudan dragged air into his lungs and shook his head. He could not allow himself to be consumed by her. Not if he wanted to survive after he sent her on her way. He tipped his head back and looked to the sky—guessing the time based on the position of the suns.

“It is growing late. Have you finished your shopping?”

Rhea sighed. It was only a small breath, the sound easily lost in the noise of the station, but he was so attuned to her that he heard it easily. It was the same with her scent. He could find her flavors mixed in with the odors of fried food and foreign bodies crowded around them.

She released another breath. “I guess I’m finished, yeah. Thanks for bringing me. I had a really nice morning. I enjoyed meeting Zav and her children, replacing my stolen clothes, and…”

Erudan grasped her hand and led her back toward the transport. “And?”

She laughed softly. “And…” She combed her free hand through her hair, and the flowery scent of her cleanser rolled over him. He was nearly overcome by the desire to do the same with his own hand. He wanted to slide his fingers through the strands, fist the length and…

Lust bolted through him in a strike so fast he did not have a moment to prepare for the onslaught. The other Vians exploring the shops took large steps away. The strangers put so much distance between them that there was an empty space of six feet in every direction. No Vian male wanted to be too close to another’s mate when firez rippled so near the surface.

“And what?” The words came out harsher than he intended but he clung to his control by the thinnest thread. He was desperate to return to his transport before his control slipped any further.

Erudan had come to care for the people of lower Ikkim in the last year and he did not want to kill any of them.

If he succumbed to the firez while surrounded, many would be injured.

Rhea seemed to understand. Instead of recoiling in fear, she slid her hand up his arm and gave him a gentle squeeze. Her touch—firm and insistent—grounded him when nothing else would. It aroused him, but also anchored him against the madness of need that threatened to take over.

He admitted it was a power over him that only she possessed.

He mulled over the meaning of that realization while they continued their walk. He struggled to temper his urgency so he would not force Rhea to run. Good males cared for the happiness of their mates, not the opposite.

Not that the rule applied to them.

The sounds of the market gradually faded, the regular murmurs of Ikkim replacing shouts and laughter. That was when she finally answered his question, her tone soft. “And I enjoyed spending time with you.”

Then she released a tinkling laugh. “Even though you were a domineering jerk for a while. Very caveman with all that snapping and growling about my clothes.” She squeezed his bicep. “That attitude is yummy in a lot of cases, but not when it comes to telling what to—and not to—wear.”

He grunted. “I do not snap or growl.”

He did not deny her other accusations because she spoke the truth. He had been propelled by the powerful touch of firez and he had spoken without thought. He had merely been driven by the need to hide his mate’s body from others for fear that he would be challenged for her.

She laughed again. “Oh, there was a lot of growling and snarling, too. It’s okay if you need to deny it. I know male egos are fragile. Just remember that I know the truth.”

He mentally cursed and then grumbled his agreement. He would not increase his dishonor by lying to her. “You looked…”

Lovely. Enticing. Good enough to eat. The thought shocked him when coupled with the image of what that might entail. Rhea resting on his bed, thighs spread and knees bent while he prowled over her…

“You’re growling again,” Rhea whispered.

Erudan squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and banished the visions. He had spent the last year pushing his body to extremes and had denied himself pleasures of the flesh. He had done his best to atone for his past actions. Yes, that was the reason he was so easily distracted by Rhea. That and nothing more.

Except Rhea wore a playing, knowing smile that told him denial was useless. Because just as he received her thoughts and fantasies, he believed she received his.

Which mean she knew when—

Instinct had him freezing in place. Awareness slithered over his flesh while adrenaline rushed into his veins. His body prepared for a battle, recognizing that someone drew near. He pushed Rhea behind him, body prepared to defend and protect the human female.

He dropped their bags and tensed, braced to defend what was his. Someone chased them and they would—

Ahlan’s small body skidded around a corner.

“Erudan.” Ahlan’s whisper and darting gaze had him tensing further.

He beckoned the boy closer and he sensed Rhea moving out of the protection of his shadow. Uncertainty rolled off her in waves and Erudan did his best to ignore her distress to focus on Ahlan.

Once Ahlan reached the safety of Erudan’s reach, the young boy stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

Ahlan spoke in a low, urgent whisper. “A ship docked during the night. It was not a trading vessel and I have heard things. Word is the captain bribed dock officials to keep their arrival quiet. Then I was told the Rargar escaped not long after.”

“No, it didn’t,” Erudan muttered. Ikkim’s peacekeepers had not received training equal to a royal’s, but their containment facility was solid. Nothing escaped.

Unless they received aid from an accomplice. A powerful collaborator with the means to bribe dock officials.

Rhea moved closer and Erudan straightened to his full height. Her fear roused his protective urges. Urges that visited him rarely. Acting on the desire, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her to his side. She rested her hand on his waist, so trusting that he would protect her.

The unwavering faith of one mate in another.

In that moment he decided he would not give her reason to second guess her belief in him.

Rhea’s fingers flexed against his side, betraying the anxiety she experienced. Despite her fear, her voice remained steady. “Last night the Rargar said something about a slave ship. He was going to… to put me on it and…” She swallowed hard. “Do you think that secret ship is the one he was talking about?”

“Perhaps, but I know what you are truly thinking.” Now that he’d accepted her trust, even more of her thoughts drifted to him.

“You do?” She frowned. “How?”

Ahlan seemed interested in his answer as well. The young one’s gaze bounced between Rhea and Erudan, his nose twitching above his short tusks.

The difference between Rhea’s frown and Ahlan’s thoughtful glint was due to the boy’s familiarity with Vians.

They both had questions. They both deserved answers.

Although some would tell him he had no obligation to the station urchin, Erudan had formed a bond with Ahlan and he intended to honor that connection.

It was not the time, however. As they stood there speaking, the ever-present noises of Ikkim had gradually faded until now they were surrounded by quiet.

Ahlan shifted from one foot to the other, muscles in his young body tense and prepared to run—a common response to unnatural silence. The lack of sound signaled peacekeepers on the move.

“Erudan.” Rhea’s whisper was hardly more than a breath. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing we wish to be a part of.” He kept his arm on her and grabbed their dropped bags with the other. He took hold of Ahlan’s tunic with that same hand.

The heavy thud of the peacekeepers’ footfalls approached, drawing nearer with every breath. Erudan tightened his grip on both Rhea and Ahlan and whisked them off their feet and into a nearby alley. The shadows weren’t as deep or all-encompassing beneath the day’s light, but it would have to be enough.

In truth, he had no reason to fear the peacekeepers—he was one of them—but parts of the equation did not add up, which filled him with unease.

The chances of a secretive ship being used for slave trading was good. And not unheard of in the galaxies.

Though that was not the full source of his unease. No, it was the missing Rargar. And the fact that it had targeted Rhea. The ship’s arrival and the Rargar’s release might not involve Rhea, but the coincidence was enough to make him suspicious.

In the alley, he set both Rhea and Ahlan on their feet and beckoned them to follow. His transport was not far, but to avoid detection, he led them through the network of alleys. They traveled a long route that took them far from the market. Soon they reached the invisible divide between the commercial district and the poor residential area.

Erudan stopped and turned to Ahlan. “Find your way home and do not come out again until tomorrow.”

“I might hear something useful to you. Shouldn’t I— “

Erudan shook his head and crouched to Ahlan’s level. “If there is bad business that concerns me, I will not see you caught in the trap. Go home and look after your family. I will not have you endangered because of our… friendship.”

It was the first time he had admitted to having a friend and it felt right to use that word with the young boy.

Even in the narrow alley, where buildings blocked the bright sun, Ahlan’s reluctance showed.

Erudan put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and softened his tone. “I will send Corr during the night. If you have news for me, share it with him and he will get me a message.”

Ahlan huffed and finally nodded. The young one glanced at Rhea with his streetwise eyes and then darted down another narrow alley. He melted into the shadows as if he’d been born in them, leaving Erudan alone with… his mate.

He repeated the word in his mind, reveling in the sound as acceptance continued to spread within him. The drive to protect her consumed him and he was ready to destroy any that threatened her—his mate.

Mate.

The draw to her, the magnetic pull, was too intense to pretend that she was anything less than his and his alone. Their shared emotions, thoughts, and sexual need fed off each other until they blended. He did not understand how or why Celestial Mates had matched him to Rhea, but now that he had her, he would keep her.

They traveled in silence, steadily making their way to his transport. They got within two blocks but then the peacekeepers were there again. He drew her into the shadows of a run-down building, hiding once more.

“I don’t like this,” she whispered and hugged him closer.

He placed his lips at her temple. “I do not either. Once we are on the transport, I will discover what is happening.”

She nodded and then froze in place, not even breathing. Soon low voices reached them, growing louder as a group approached and came into view.

Rhea stiffened further. She drew in a quick breath and released it in a whisper. “Dad? Calvin?”

Erudan barely heard the words, distracted by the overwhelming scent of her fear.

Whoever this Dad and Calvin were, they were a threat to his mate. Her fear pounded at him, suffusing him with her desire to run and hide. Rage pushed forward, overcoming her panic until all he could think of was destroying anything—anyone—that caused Rhea distress.

Rhea reached up and placed her palm over his mouth, silencing his rumbling growl. A growl he hadn’t even realized he’d formed. That she sensed his need for blood reinforced his claim that she belonged to him.

The two humans were surrounded by armed soldiers and accompanied by… the Rargar. Erudan clenched his fist, fingers itching to reach for his own weapon, but he resisted. Acting now would only draw the group’s attention and leave Rhea vulnerable.

Which would make it even easier for them to take her.

Eventually, the slow group passed. Erudan held Rhea tightly to him until he no longer heard their voices and then pulled her along to retrace their path.

He broke into a jog, anxious to put a locked door between them and those two males.

“Where are we going?” Rhea ran alongside him.

“I have a dwelling in Ikkim. None know of it and we will be safe there.” Perhaps it was not as comfortable as his hewo dwelling, but it was safe.