Rina came to the door, her normally beautiful face drawn. “You heard?” she asked as she drew them all inside.
“I did; Kira came over to relay the news.”
Rina’s eyebrows shot up as she laughed. “Thank you for that, I needed to laugh.” Ignoring the men, Rina led Sera into the living room and sat down.
Sera sat next to her, close, and put a small chip in Rina’s hand. Without pausing, Rina took it and continued to speak about her shock.
“How is Delia?” Sera wondered what would happen to her after Giles’s death.
“She’s been turned out by Stander’s wife. All the others have been as well, or so I hear. Delia is resourceful, she’s already found protection from another as I’m sure her compatriots will. Giles may have been irresponsible on many levels, but one couldn’t fault his taste in women.”
Sera nodded. “We’re going to be leaving. There’s not much enjoyment in the lights when someone you know has been murdered. I suppose you heard about the break-in at our guesthouse?”
Rina nodded. “I did. Nothing was taken?”
“News travels fast here.” Sera winked.
“Yes. We’re all in each others’ pockets. A result of being on camera every moment of the day. I trust you’ll travel safely?” Rina stood and hugged her again. “I have a little something for you. Hold on a moment.”
Rina left the room, and Sera didn’t bother looking at Brandt and Ash. She felt their presence, knew they stood in the entry, waiting for her.
“Here, it’s nothing fancy, but I think it would look lovely in your hair.” Rina handed her a pretty box with a black lacquer hair comb inside. “I hope to see you again sometime.”
“Me, as well. My ear is open should you need it.” Sera worried for Rina, but there wasn’t much she could do. Rina’s care in how she spoke compared to the day before told her the authorities had ramped up their surveillance in the wake of Stander’s murder.
“Thank you.” Rina kissed her lips gently. “Have a care, all right?”
“You, too. Please be safe.” Sera headed for the door and bypassed the men.
Out on the avenue, heading toward their cottage, Ash caught her about the waist, and she slowed her pace, not wanting to make a scene.
He grunted his satisfaction. “That’s better. Do you plan to be angry with me for the rest of the day?”
She sighed. He thought it was about Kira, too. “Since we haven’t unpacked, we can get things sent back to the transport right away. We could even take them ourselves, but I suppose that’s out of the question.” She ignored him. She’d started to say something to him back at the guesthouse when Brandt had taken Kira back, but the story about the relay station being attacked came on, and they’d simply watched in shock.
This had to end, and if it involved Kira, so be it. Anyone who could so blithely cooperate in an attack like the one on the relay station didn’t deserve to be protected.
“I’ve already had it sent back. We’ve received clearance and are ready to make the first slip.” Brandt took her other side, slipping his arm around her that way. Did they think she’d just melt? Stunned into quiescence by their utter manliness? She snorted, not bothering to hide her annoyance.
“No monitors this time. Just the crew, so should you decide to be naked the whole trip back, all the better.” Ash spoke with his lips against her ear.
“You wish.” She hadn’t snarled, but it was a close thing.
Ash took a deep breath and led her onto the lift with Brandt right behind them. She was extraordinarily angry, and he understood part of it. He didn’t chalk it up to simple jealousy. She’d known exactly what Kira’s intentions were even before he’d figured them out.
And she couldn’t say a damned thing about it. She had to go into the other room to keep up the ruse of being a concubine. Just like she’d had to be set aside those years before. He realized that when she came from her room when Kira had left with Brandt. It hurt him deeply, knowing she felt that way again and that he was the cause, even in a corollary way.
It was different this time. He didn’t sense her planning to run off, and he hoped it was due to her understanding he had no feelings for Kira at all.
And Kira, he wanted to kick Perry’s ass for not getting a handle on his wife, but hells, Ash hadn’t, and he was twice the man Perry was. Kira needed to be dealt with. As to whether or not she knew or was involved in Perry’s business with Alder remained to be seen.
Clearly Perry was involved with this plot. Just how deeply, Ash didn’t know. If he was working on some secret plan with the enemy, he wouldn’t trust Perry to keep it quiet, but he was there, he was part of the conversations, and clearly Owen considered him part of their group. If his cousin had anything to do with that bombing at the relay station and the other attacks, he’d pay. Ash would make sure of it himself.
There were a lot of things he and Brandt had to make right.
Sera remained totally silent on the trip to the port. But her relief at leaving Nondal hung in the air. He couldn’t blame her. He felt the same way.
They loaded into the transport after Nondalese authorities had shown up to apologize profusely about the break-in. This after they’d played dumb about the way the intruders had known where the cameras were.
Theirs wasn’t the only transport readying to leave. Others had lined up to get out, and Ash knew the Nondalese would lose a lot of credits as fallout. He could only hope it hit the people behind the murder.
“I’m going to speak with the crew to get them started, and then we’ll all talk.” Ash sent a pointed look at Sera, who waved it away over her shoulder as she stalked down the corridor.
Brandt chuckled as he took a deep breath. “We’re in trouble.”
“Been there since I saw those eyes the first time.” Ash headed out to deal with his crew.
Chapter 21
Brandt headed toward their quarters and found her hauling her things across the corridor to an empty room.
“What is it you think you’re doing?” He blocked her way.
“Moving my things to an empty room.”
He walked her back into their room, using his body and the look on his face. The transport made the first slide through the portal, and he felt the tug in his gut as it happened.
“I don’t think so. I like waking up with you in my bed.”
“And it’s all about what you like, is it?”
Her face was flushed, her eyes narrowed and she looked ready to spring at him. Gods, she made him hard.
“Well, certainly I prefer it when it’s about what I like.” He kept his voice calm as he cornered her near the bed.
“I’m not having sex with you right now.” She tipped her chin up.
“Not now maybe, but in about three minutes? Well, I’d not be laying any odds on that.”
Her dress, like all the others she’d been wearing, simply fell to the floor when he yanked on it.
Her eyes widened, and she blew out a frustrated breath. “You can’t just give me those eyes and lick your lips and expect me to jump on your cock.”
Ah, Sela was fading, and Sera was surfacing. Fine, he preferred the real woman anyway. Unfortunately, that one was extremely vexed at that moment.
“It doesn’t matter if Kira wants Ash, sweet. He wants you.” Giving up on seduction for the moment, he moved around her body and lay across the bed. He patted the mattress, but she perched on the far edge instead.
“That’s not the point. She doesn’t even want Ash. Not really. She just doesn’t want anyone else to have him, either. It’s a female thing, Brandt, just take my word for it.” She rolled her eyes at him, and he laughed.
“I’m sorry I said you were being tedious. At the time I hadn’t thought about the Kira and Ash thing. And I didn’t take into account how much you must have hated it to have to go and hide from my sister.”
“Your sister is a vile, vile creature, Brandt. Once this is over, I won’t be running to the other room when and if I see her. But it was my job to do just that.”
He grinned. “Sweet, you’ve made my cock very hard with your attitude.”
“And for your information, I’m not mad because of Kira. I mean yes, she’s an idiot, and it escapes me why anyone would be able to resist smacking her face a time or two just for fun. But now I can be angry that you’ve missed the entire point of why I’m mad and think I’m as shallow and insipid as your sister.”
“So tell me then. Why are you upset if it’s not Kira? And I don’t think, by the way, that you’re shallow or insipid.”
“You didn’t think twice before scampering out to escort Kira back, but you actually tried to forbid me from helping the one person on Nondal who needed it most. And then, on top of that, you got all high-handed with me. For a moment there, Brandt Pela, you were the Ranked man, and I was the unranked concubine. That’s what it felt like, and I don’t like it one bit.”
She watched his face as he got it. He sighed, very tired sounding.
She stood, and quickly, he lunged, bringing them both to the very thick rug, rolling so his body took the impact. “Oh, no you don’t. I want you here. You gave yourself to me, remember? I do. I’m not giving you back.” He kissed down her bare chest to her breasts, where her nipples stood hard and proud.