Primal Heat Read online

  A flash of Farid’s face entered her mind. She dismissed it, but then paused.

  If Arthur was the enemy, then was the enemy of her enemy someone she could turn to? Farid hated Arthur, of that she had no doubt. He’d love some retribution for the preemptive strike against the Sueni armada. If she gave him the chance to exact his revenge, would it save the planet or make the situation worse?

  There was only one way to find out, but she couldn’t call him just to ask. No, this meeting would have to be private and it would have to be in person. She closed her eyes and sighed. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, she opened up an encrypted email and composed a new message that would somehow interface with the Sueni ships. Her lips twisted. Apparently, they’d been able to dumb down their communication system to get the most advanced Earth technology to play well with them.

  Lord Arj—

  No, that wasn’t right. She didn’t want anyone who might intercept this to know what her real intentions were. Hell, she didn’t even want the Kith nobleman to know what she wanted until she saw him. She wanted to look him in the eyes when she told him. She deleted what she’d typed and tried again.

  Farid. No more teasing. Let’s finish what we started in person. Meet me tonight at your original landing site. I need you. —Bren

  Her hand hovered over the key that would seal her fate forever. There would be no turning back. Her career—her life—would be over. Hell, if she were honest with herself, she should have reported fraternizing with the enemy in her dreams long ago, but there was no hiding this kind of breach. Arthur would find out eventually. She knew it. And then everyone would know she was a traitor. If her fingers trembled, she’d never admit it to anyone.

  Clenching her teeth together, she pressed SEND.

  Farid was more than ready to fall facedown on his gelpad. He had three hours before his next meeting and he didn’t care what it took to make it happen, he was getting some sleep and not linking with Bren. “Vishra, please add the somnolence dose to the air in my room now.”

  The ship’s response was immediate. “Of course, my lord.”

  “Thank you.” He leaned back against the glass wall of the multiveyor while it moved backward and then slanted at a downward angle to take him to the floor with his quarters.

  His work shift so far, like every work shift since they’d arrived, had been a lesson in the futile. Still, he refused to give up. This was what he lived for. The restrictions Kyber had placed on Farid’s diplomacy made it all the more challenging. Given enough time, he would win, eventually. Whether he had that time before the emperor found his One was another story…and another challenge.

  Lost in thoughts that had occupied every waking hour for months, he stepped out of the multiveyor and heard it swish closed and hum as it sped away.

  A man came bursting through a door and slid to a stop before him. “Farid.”

  He blinked and looked up. “Kyber.”

  Of all the people aboard their ships, Farid was one of the few who could call his cousin by name. Even then, he usually did so only in private. It was a delicate balance between being family and being respectful of his ruler, no matter how much younger Kyber was than Farid.

  “I think I’ve found her.” A wide smile broke across the emperor’s face.

  Farid stared for a moment before that information processed. “Your One?”

  “Yes. I know where she is now. I must go.” Kyber glanced over Farid’s shoulder. “Vishra, call the multiveyor for me.”

  The ship replied in that smooth, unflappable voice. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

  “Oh. Wait.” Kyber turned back to his room and lifted a hand toward the open door. A pistol came whizzing through the air to slap into his palm. He slid it into a holster at his hip.

  Farid couldn’t stop a grin. “That’s a handy trick.”

  “It only works when I’m upset or excited. I don’t think anyone else has the power to do it.” Kyber shrugged and forked his fingers through his long ebony hair.

  “I don’t,” Farid replied. Not that he minded. More energy to try to harness was not something he desired.

  Kyber’s violet eyes glowed with latent power, paler lavender sparks flashing in his gaze as his anticipation rose. His mind latched on to the subject that Farid doubted was ever far from the surface. “Every time I connect with her, she’s somewhere different. And she’s always gone before I arrive to track her. But not this time.”

  Frowning, Farid gave his cousin’s dilemma more thought than he might normally. “Perhaps her occupation requires her to travel a great deal.”

  “Perhaps.” The emperor shook his head sharply, and his smile became blinding again as the multiveyor door slid open for him. “I’ll find out when I get there. I’m sure I can get to her before she leaves.”

  It wasn’t the first time his cousin had been sure, but Farid sent as much faith and support as he could muster along their familial link. Then he ran a tired hand over his face and turned to walk toward the corridor that led to his quarters. A noise down a small side hallway used for maintenance drew him up short. What now? He sighed and backed up a few steps, allowing his superior vision to peer into the darkness.

  His mouth fell open at what he saw. Shaking his head, he tried to clear it. Tylara Belraj, uptight commander of the fleet and captain of the Vishra, had her arms pinned above her head and her pants shoved down around her boots as a man fucked her ruthlessly from behind.

  Farid watched her slim, firm body arch in ecstasy. Her head rolled against her lover’s shoulder, her eyes closed. Farid had never witnessed such an unguarded expression on her face. She looked…happy, joyful, lighter than he’d ever seen her. He would never have guessed that the woman was capable of such an emotion, let alone displaying it so openly.

  Especially considering they were in an unsecured hallway that any civilian had access to. Releasing her hands, her lover shoved her hard against the metal wall, and his hips hammered forward to slap her smooth buttocks.

  She opened her mouth and hissed, every ounce of her feral naturel alive on her face.

  Farid stood there staring in stunned silence. He couldn’t make himself look away as a gentleman should. The carnal display was arousing, reminding him forcibly of his own powerless, fruitless delight at reaching for his One.

  And that was who this man was to Tylara. Her emotions, as tightly controlled as they were, couldn’t contain that truth, and it ripped him into her maelstrom. He jerked back, trying to wrench himself free of his stupor.

  Tylara’s eyes flew open, their midnight irises almost white with the sparks boiling to the surface. “Farid.”

  Her lover’s head whipped to the side and he snarled low in his throat. A predator possessive of his prize. His blue eyes flashed wildly, sweat ran in rivulets down his ebony skin, and waist-length braids swung around his face. A jolt shook Farid as he focused his senses on the man for the first time.

  Johar Sajan. Brother to Cilji’s perfidious, unstable One.

  Shock made Farid sway on his feet. Tylara’s One was a Sajan. He shook his head, clearing the fog of her lust from his mind as he turned and stumbled away.

  “Farid, wait!”

  He didn’t listen, fleeing blindly down the hallways as he struggled to maintain the shields on his thoughts and emotions. What he felt was no one’s business but his own.

  His memories rose with horrifying clarity, brutalizing his mind. Cilji’s face. His impetuous baby sister. Dead. Anun, no. Not that. Anything but that. Not those memories, not that failure. No.

  “Stop, Lord Farid!” Tylara’s voice was that of the fleet commander, not one to ignore.

  He pulled up, his gut churning with disquiet. Clenching his jaw, he waited for her to draw even with him. He could still scent the sex on her. He could also sense her upset, which was rare for the contained woman. Giving her a curt nod, he stared at a point just beyond her shoulder. “Tylara.”

  “Don’t say anything, Farid. I don’t want to hear
it.” She shoved her fingers through her hair, working it into some semblance of its usual order.

  “Johar Sajan.” The words jerked out of him and his fingers fisted at his sides.

  Huffing out a breath, she quit fussing with her hair. “I know his name.”

  “He’s also your One.”

  She snarled at him, some of the beast ripping free of her tight restraint. “Stay out of my mind.”

  Finally meeting her gaze, he arched an eyebrow. “Your thoughts are chaotic, they’re pushing out.”

  “You can block them.” She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin, managing to stare down at him though he was a full head taller than her.

  “Fine.”

  She sighed. “It’s not like with your sister, Farid. I’m in control.”

  Closing his eyes, he shook his head and an ironic smile tugged at his mouth. “If there’s anything I know, it’s that control and bonding with your One don’t go hand in hand.”

  “I’m aware of that. I am in control enough not to force a bonding between us if he doesn’t want it. Yes, I am far more powerful than he is and I could force it, but I’m not Cilji. He may be from the same family as Cilji’s One, but they aren’t the same men. I understand all of that.” Agony flashed in her eyes. There was no deeper torment than this. “I also understand that he may decide it’s not worth it to deal with someone as powerful as I am, that he may leave me for another woman, another bond. An easier bond.”

  “I’m sorry.” He shook his hands out and tucked them into his pockets.

  “So am I.” A tremulous smile crossed her lips. “And, yet, I’m not. I could never regret finding my One, even if I know there may be no good ending that comes of it.”

  He shook his head. “I hope, for your sake, this turns out better than it did for my sister.”

  “No one will die, if that’s what you mean.” Her chin rose another notch.

  “It is.”

  “Have some faith in me, Farid.” She sniffed, her gaze cooling to that of the military commander she was. In that moment, she reminded him of Bren. His gut clenched at the thought. Too many emotions tangled within him today, and still he couldn’t stop the instinctive craving he had for his One. Tylara’s eyes narrowed on his face. “We’ve known each other long enough for that not to be an odd thing for me to expect from you. You’ve seen me work, seen me under pressure.”

  “Leave it be, Tylara.”

  She didn’t. He stifled a groan and rubbed the back of his neck. This was not how he’d wanted this day to go. He should be deep in dreamless slumber. Instead, he was being lectured on faith by the highest-ranking officer in Suen’s military. She poked a finger in his direction. “You want people to trust you and your control. You want to prove you’re not like your sister, but no one else can ask for your trust? Is that truly fair? Or rational? Or reasonable?”

  He clenched his teeth together to keep from saying things that would destroy years of friendly relations with the woman. He found his fangs had erupted from his gums to press against his lips. So much for his vaunted control. He wasn’t doing very well with that today, was he? First, reaching for his One, and now, arguing with a friend. But she was right, wasn’t she? He’d worked long and hard to prove he’d never end up like his sister—out of control in ways the Kith could never be and still expect to remain sane, to survive at all. That was what bonding with a One could do to a Kith, and only control and logic would keep him from his family’s fate.

  He met Tylara’s gaze, hoping she couldn’t see his turmoil. “No, it’s not reasonable, rational, or fair. I’m not like Cilji and neither are you. That doesn’t make my concern for you and your safety illegitimate. Anun be with you.”

  With that, he turned on his heel and marched away. Thankfully, she didn’t follow. He didn’t know if he could handle much more today. Connecting with Bren always shook him, always let the beast inside him loose far longer than he normally allowed, always made him react when he should think.

  No matter what political maneuvering he might be able to accomplish here, he had to consider self-preservation. He could only pray that the emperor claimed his One soon and they could leave this miserable planet behind. Only then would the temptation Bren presented be beyond his reach.

  Ignoring the feline within’s yowl of protest and pain at the mere thought of abandoning its mate forever, he turned for his quarters, once more in complete command of himself.

  The personal communication imager in his pocket vibrated to indicate he had received a new message. He pulled out the handheld comm. and accessed the missive.

  He had to read it twice before the words sank in. Bren wanted to meet with him. He shouldn’t. He should stay as far away from her as possible. He should allow no contact outside of what was necessary in their professions when he went down to haggle with General Arthur.

  His fingers were already moving over the imager, sending her a confirmation of their meeting. “Vishra, cancel the somnolence dose for me, reschedule the rest of my meetings for the day, and alert the cargo master that I’ll be taking a shuttle down to the surface for a…rendezvous of a personal nature.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  Night had fallen by the time Bren hiked up the side of a mountain in the middle of West Virginia, moving toward the same clearing she’d stood in when the Sueni had landed. She’d gone with Arthur when he’d been ordered to investigate. Less than a year had passed since then, but so much had changed. Technology, politics, religion, history. Everything.

  Farid had been here that day, in his cat form. There’d been only ten of them in the landing party, half in human form, the rest in beast form. The humans had been all shapes, sizes, and colors, and they looked…like regular humans. Farid had moved forward, planting his feline self directly in front of her. He’d bowed his head but never took those icy eyes off her. She was caught by that gaze and the unearthly power she felt behind it.

  Everything about him overwhelmed her. He was huge. And beautiful. Like nothing she’d ever seen before. Like nothing any human had ever seen before. They were dangerous and feline, colored like a snow tiger with dark stripes on pale fur. Only no cat could ever be that size. They had the bulk of a grizzly bear, but all the grace of a feline. She shook her head, pushing the memories away. It didn’t matter what the Kith looked like or what had happened the day they arrived. What mattered was right here, right now, she needed the help of one Kith.

  Farid.

  Pausing beside a large tree, Bren let her gaze scan the area. Nothing moved, nothing was out of place. Only the moon lit the forest around her. She was about a quarter of a mile from the clearing, and she’d dumped her rental car outside the little town at the base of the mountain. The car was low end and she’d switched out the license plates on a similar model outside of D.C. Anything she could do to make herself harder to find, to keep Arthur from realizing what she was doing. She brushed a hand down her T-shirt. She felt naked without her uniform, but she couldn’t afford to wear it. Uniforms were distinctive in civilian areas; they made a person stand out. That was the last thing she wanted right now. Dark jeans, a black shirt, and black hiking boots would have to do. She kept her hair back in its customary knot. That much wouldn’t change.

  Cold sweat broke out on her forehead and she closed her eyes for a moment. What the fuck was she doing? She wanted to vomit, and she swallowed the sour gorge that rose in her throat and coated her tongue.

  Get a grip, Bren. Suck it up and do what you have to do.

  Farid would expect a cold, methodical military woman—the same woman she’d presented herself as every time she’d seen him. Normally, it wasn’t an act, but tonight it would be. She’d never been so rattled in her entire adult life. There were life-and-death, someone-was-shooting-at-her situations where she’d been calmer.

  That was because then, there’d been no question who was right or wrong. She’d had a job to do and she would do it to the best of her ability. It might mean she had to k
ill someone. It might mean she had to die. It might even mean she’d lose a friend, a comrade in arms, but tonight wasn’t about that. Tonight she was giving up her career by helping people who were officially at war with the military she served. Tonight she was betraying everything she’d ever believed in order to safeguard everything she’d ever sworn to protect.

  Her country. Earth. Mankind.

  More than that, tonight she had to see Farid again. She’d never dealt with him in person so soon after one of their psychic evening trysts. Her sex clenched in utter want while her heart pounded with trepidation. God, help her.

  Slow, grueling minutes ticked by as she scouted the area to see if he’d come, all the while expecting an ambush of Kith soldiers, expecting Arthur to send men to kill her, expecting anything and everything.

  “Bren.” The deep rumble of his voice directly behind her made her body jolt and her heart thud hard against her ribs. “You weren’t followed?”

  “No.” She swallowed, glancing over her shoulder at him as his heat enveloped her. “You came alone?”

  “Yes.” His arm wrapped around her waist, whipping her around at dizzying speed until her back pressed to the rough bark of a tree.

  “What are you—”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish the stupid question. His mouth closed over hers, his free hand bracketing the back of her neck to hold her in place for his kiss. It was the one thing he never did in her dreams. She’d been desperate, dying to know what his full lips would feel like as they played against hers. Would he be soft and gentle, building her needs with just the pleasure of his mouth on hers? Would he be rough, nipping and biting at her lips until she couldn’t stand it anymore? She’d wanted to know even though she shouldn’t.

  If his kiss had been demanding, it would have been easy to fight him, to kick and hit and force him to let her go. She had the kind of training to make that happen. But his touch was reverent, worshipful. She hadn’t expected it. He held her so tight, but his lips brushed hers in light strokes that had her straining to get closer, to deepen the contact.