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"Sadie, stop!" He was by her side, hand wrapped around her wrist before she could land another blow. The young male took one look at Tiir and scrambled away, terror on his face.
"Draanth, " Vaarn hissed, starting to go after him. The last thing they needed was a youngster bent on some sort of familial vengeance. But Sadie grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks
"Just let him go," she whispered, her tear-stained face turned up to his. The anger and fight drained out of her all at once and she sagged against him. "I just want to get out of here."
* * *
Sadie shivered as Vaarn held her close, eyes wide as she looked past him to the body on the beach. Tiir, who they'd been laughing and joking with on Krantav Three only yesterday, lay in a crumpled heap. The sands around him were scarlet with his lifeblood and he stared sightlessly up at the night sky.
She trembled, the what-ifs running through her mind in a horrific, endless loop. What if Vaarn hadn't been here? What if he hadn't survived the ship crash? What if the pirates had killed him…
“Oh my god. . . Where are the others?” She twisted in his arms, trying to look in all directions at.
“Dead, Sadie.” He stopped her movement with large hands on her upper arms. His expression was grim as he looked down at her.
“They're dead. I killed... I slaughtered them all.”
She stilled. His expression twisted as he looked down at himself.
“I never wanted you to see me like this. I didn't ever want you to see this side of me.”
She frowned. “Why not? I mean… I know you're a warrior?—”
He yanked his head up, pain-darkened eyes boring into hers.
“I'm not just a warrior. I'm a monster,” he growled as he advanced on her. The look in his eyes made her heart race and her pussy clench. Heat warmed her cheeks. Of all the inappropriate times to get turned on by her sexy alien. When he was being all serious and dangerous.
“I killed them because I wanted to,” he snarled. “Because they would have hurt you and I'd do it again gladly. But it's too late now.”
He was right there, looming over her. She had to tilt her neck back to meet his eyes. Eerily pale in the moonlight, they caught her in his spell and wouldn't let her go. The beach around them faded into nothing. There was just the two of them in this one moment in time. Tension filled the air between them like electricity.
“Why?” she breathed, barely able to get the words out. "Why is it too late? Too late for what?"
He reached out and slid a hand into her hair, holding her in place as he lifted his other arm and showed her his wrist. Dark marks like tattoos of alien ivy wrapped around them.
She caught her breath, wonder widening her eyes. She knew exactly what they were. She’d seen her brother-in-law’s delight and pride when they'd appeared on his skin to mark his mating with her sister.
“Mating marks,” she breathed. Reaching up to trace a delicate finger over his marked skin. “For me?”
“For you,” he growled in confirmation. “The gods themselves have blessed our union, so you can't run from me. It's too late. You can never run from me. I will always find you.”
She drew back, her eyes narrowing as she looked up into his handsome face. How could such an intelligent man be so clueless at times?
“Good, because if you think a little thing like this,” she gestured vaguely around them to encompass the beach, the crashed ship, and the bodies that she knew were in the darkness somewhere. “Will put me off, then you've another think coming. I love you, Vaarn T’Kaan, and don't you ever forget it.”
A smile spread over his face. “You love me, really? Even after seeing what I am? What I’m capable of?”
“Oh, for all the god’s sake,” A deep voice drawled from the shadows above them. “Just shut up and kiss the female already, Vaarn. I always did say your caregiver dropped you on your head when you were a baby.”
She gasped, jumped back, and looked up to find a young-looking Latharian warrior half hanging out what appeared to be an airlock hovering in mid-air.
“Stealth-tech,” Vaarn murmured, pulling her firmly back against him. “Looks like S'aad has arrived with the cavalry.”
She heard the engines as the concealed ship dropped its shielding and shot off to land further along the beach, wind whipping her hair around her face as she looked up at her new mate. She knew enough about the Lathar to know that mating marks sealed the deal. He was hers, she was his. No one could argue with that.
“Less interested in the stealth-tech,” she admitted, her body softening as she rested against him. “And far more interested in this kiss.”
A smile quirked his lips. “Tenacious as always. Just one of the things I love about you, little mate.”
