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“Concentrate on that, then. I’m fine for now.”
He backed slowly away, and Tariq—because I’d known who it was even before the captain called him out and had known him almost from the start—stopped growling and laid his head on his massive paws.
I lay behind him, still with my body curled around his. As the adrenalin began to drain from my body, I closed my eyes and nuzzled my face into his soft fur.
Chapter Nine
Tariq
The captain assigned us new rooms in another part of the passengers’ quarters. Rakkur’s room was uninhabitable now too, because of the toxic chemicals used to fight the fire. He was uninjured, though, which was all that really mattered. I could finally take a deep breath, something I don’t think I’d done since I’d first heard that alarm go off a few hours earlier.
It had been only by the sheerest coincidence that he hadn’t been inside that room when the sparks from the faulty lighting had ignited, triggering everything else, and I was grateful to the gods that he’d been “bored” enough to go to the wardroom, looking for me, instead of staying inside that deathtrap. Like I’d ordered him to do. I thanked the gods for that stubborn nature of his.
He seemed to be feeling no ill effects, though he was stunned at the turn of events and shaken at the idea that he might have been inside that room when the alarm went off and been sealed inside. It was nothing to the way I felt about it.
I could so easily have lost him. The words kept resonating inside my head, but I couldn’t afford to really feel them yet. Not after the way I’d been with him the last few days. I had been fighting my feelings for him so hard, because he was far too intelligent for me to hide the way I really felt for long. I suspected he knew exactly how I felt, and he knew I was struggling. That was why he’d kept pushing and prodding me, hopeful that I’d soon break down. And I had come perilously close. I might as well simply admit it, because I hadn’t been fooling anyone. Not Rakkur, and not my fellow Imperials.
The members of the guard that had been in the corridor that morning with me knew what I would do when I heard that Rakkur might be trapped inside that room, and they were ready for me. When I began to fight them to get in, to rip away the seals and force my way in to save him, they’d been prepared. They knew I’d take down that entire wall if I had to just to get to him. The idea of him in there, suffering and slowly suffocating from the lack of oxygen had nearly killed me. I think it would have if he had really been trapped inside. If I’d lost him…
I followed him now to his new quarters and stood by the door, silently watching him for a moment. He looked uneasy, and he couldn’t meet my gaze. Finally, he glanced up at me.
“Why did you transform like that in the hallway? Because you thought I was being threatened by the others?”
“I transformed long before that, Rakkur. I did it as soon as I saw your room had been sealed, and I thought you were still inside. I was desperate to get to you.”
He looked up with widened eyes and took a step toward me. “Why?”
“Baby, you know why.”
I surprised both of us by the use of that word, but he still looked unsure of himself and nervous. Before we’d embarked on this journey, he’d been so confident. So certain of being welcomed and desired wherever he went. I was the one who had put that look of wariness in his eyes. That guarded watchfulness. And I hated it.
I held out my hand to him and he glanced down at it, looking hesitant, even suspicious of my intent. How had I allowed things to get to this point? An extended hand was such an ancient gesture, and it could have meant so many things. To humans, it often meant a truce or a binding contract, even a laying down of weapons. It meant all of that to me and more, and I hoped he understood that.
He must have, because he stepped closer and trustingly put his small, cold hand in mine, looking up at me.
“I was scared,” he admitted, so softly I barely heard the words. I knew that was hard for him to say, and I took it in the spirit it was offered.
“It’s all right to be scared—that feeling usually comes when you’re doing or about to do something really brave. I remember you in that corridor as I came toward you. You never flinched. You let me walk right up on you.”
“Only because it was you. I hoped—I knew—you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Never,” I whispered. I reached for him then and pulled him close with a hand curving around the nape of his neck. When I had him safely in my arms, my mouth descended in a kiss so full of heat and passion that my lips tingled. His mouth, so honey sweet, parted and he let me delve inside with my tongue. A dark heat was building up inside me and I never wanted anything or anyone so badly in my life. I made myself slow down, so as not to trigger any more unwanted or too passionate responses from my beast.
I kissed him the way I’d been dreaming of, though—delicately, sweetly, trailing my lips across his heated skin to nuzzle against his throat, arousing shivers and sweet moans. He smelled faintly of soap and smoke. A possessive heat flooded over me, and I could feel a prickling up and down my spine. I forced it back down, because he’d been through enough today, and I wouldn’t add to it. But first, just one more kiss…I couldn’t resist it.
I pulled him closer and brushed away the riot of blond curls over his ear to nuzzle him again. It didn’t surprise me when he suddenly wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me back. He kissed like a virgin, and I had to admit that idea thrilled me too. I couldn’t even think about any other man holding him and kissing him like this.
I began to move him inside and back toward the bed, both of us losing our clothes along the way and only when I picked Rakkur up to put him on the mattress did I become fully aware of all that bare skin beneath me on the smooth sheets. I heard him suck in a sharp breath as he touched me, his careful, hesitant fingers reaching out to stroke me. I was hard and slick with pre-ejaculate. I fell on top of him, gathering my come on my fingertips to push it inside him and get him ready. I was taking my time with it, and I would have made love to him then and damned the consequences, if not for both our communicators suddenly going off insistently and jarringly at the same time. I laid my forehead on his stomach and cursed aloud.
“No, just ignore it,” he cried, pulling at my arm as I started to get up, but I shook my head. “I have to take it. It may be important. Maybe your parents.”
“I don’t care,” he cried out again, but a bit of sanity had come back, and I forced myself to get to my feet and located the device in my clothes on the floor.
“Tariq,” I growled into the receiver and almost groaned aloud as I heard the king’s voice.
“Colonel, where is Rakkur? We can’t reach him, and we’ve just received the news about the accident. My consort needs to speak to him. We both do. Put him on, please.”
His tone was so urgent and upset I knew I had to comply so they could reassure themselves. I responded, though I felt like throwing the device across the room. “He’s here, Your Majesty,” I said, and held it out to Rakkur, who took it in a trembling hand.
