“I didn’t realize…” Gina trailed off, thinking. “You went to the panthers and stayed. Why didn’t you go back to your own kind? I know my uncle still fields a team of Royal Guard to protect him.”
“It was a combination of reasons. First, Cade and I hit it off. He is my best friend as well as my—or he was—my partner.” A look of sadness passed over his features for a split second when he mentioned the partnership that had been dissolved by Mitch’s injury. “I wanted to partner with Cade and he’s dedicated to the Nyx by both desire and blood.” Mitch’s voice dipped into low, confidential tones so that nobody else could hear what he disclosed.
Gina realized Mitch was sharing a secret with her. His ex-partner was related by blood to the Nyx. Which meant Cade was probably in line for the panther throne if something happened to the young woman who currently ruled. If the panthers were anything like the tigers, they kept such things a closely held secret, and Gina didn’t blame them. Being a royal put limitations on a person and a big fat target on your back.
“So you wanted to stay with Cade. That’s understandable.”
“I never really had a family,” Mitch admitted, each word gritted out between his teeth as if he hated talking about it. Yet, he was. He was sharing a part of his past with her that still pained him to admit. That meant something. She treated his revelations with the respect they demanded. “Cade is my brother in all but blood. His family welcomed me and made me part of their tightknit group. I will miss them.”
Gina reached out to him and put one hand on his hot skin. She didn’t dare touch him anywhere but the forearm, but even that contact made a little frisson of electricity dance down her arm to her spine, sending tingles throughout her body. She ignored them. It was time to offer comfort and support, not jump his bones.
Besides, there were too many people around. And they were all watching her and Mitch out of the corners of their eyes. She’d have to join the workout sooner or later, but for this quiet, stolen moment, she and Mitch were connecting on a deep level, in spite of—or maybe because of—the setting.#p#分页标题#e#
“You don’t have to give them up completely, do you? I can’t imagine they’d forsake you, no matter what’s happened.”
Mitch turned toward her and she read a brief moment of vulnerability in his gaze before he shuttered it. “They wouldn’t turn me away, but my duty is to protect them, not put them in danger. I can’t go back to the way it was before. I’ve been compromised. The Nyx’s enemies knew I guarded her, even if they didn’t know my name. I will not compromise my friends by going back to them. Not now. Maybe not ever.”
“I respect your devotion to duty, but where does that leave you? Alone?” Gina’s heart went out to him.
“Not alone. The Mother of All has seen fit to point me in the direction of my own people. I haven’t spent much time among tigers since going off for training among the pantera, but I know now it’s time to return to my own kind and do my duty to my monarch, not the Nyx.”
“You’re right, Mitch.” Gina squeezed his arm, facing the mats. “You’re not alone anymore. You’ll never be alone again if I have anything to say about it.”
Dropping that bombshell for him to think about, she let go of his arm, then strode away toward the uneven bars. It was time to work off some of her sexual frustration and kick some ass—or have her ass kicked.
As it turned out, the score was about even by the end of a grueling workout with both the male and female Miller brood. They mixed and matched—Mitch and Gina going up against opponents of both sexes. One never knew who they’d be facing on the field of battle and enemies didn’t always fight fair, so they tried different combinations of sparring arrangements.
At one point, Mitch took on all of the Millers plus Gina and knocked everyone on their asses by the end of the bout. He was something to watch, and hell on wheels as an opponent. Gina liked sparring with him, trying to score hits with her slightly quicker reflexes.
It wasn’t so much that she was faster than him, more than that she was smaller. She was able to dart in and out, under his guard.
Until he caught her. The Millers were sprawled all around the dojo, having run afoul of Mitch’s lightning-fast reflexes and unfamiliar, but incredibly effective fighting style when Gina danced a little too close to the dragon.
Mitch seized her, pulling a kick that otherwise would have knocked her block off. Instead, she ended up encased in his arms, held tight against his sweaty body and her entire nervous system short-circuited. Well, that’s what it felt like, at least.