Born of Shadows (24 page)

But it wasn’t just that. She owed him and if not for her, he wouldn’t be here wounded right now. This was all her fault. He could have been like other nobles and ignored her attack. Or he could have called security.

Instead, he’d risked his life and saved hers without a second thought. Something very few would do. A foreign tenderness filled her until a sound jerked her attention back to their pursuers.

Someone knocked on the trapdoor.

They’re coming in.

She grabbed the blaster, ready to fight it out. They weren’t going to take Caillen. Not if she could help it.

Above her head, it sounded like two people were arguing. After a few minutes, the voices drifted away out of her hearing range.

Were they gone?

Or was it the same trick they’d used at the cave with the probers?

She looked back at Caillen who would have probably known the answer.

Either way, she needed to tend him before he lost any more blood. Setting the blaster aside, she peeled his coat back, then raised his shirt. Her lip curled involuntarily at the sight of his mutilated chest. She’d never seen anything more gruesome and it amazed her that he was still alive.

How could anyone survive something so brutal? It said a lot about his will to live and his ability to handle pain. What had he been through that he was able to remain so calm in a fight? The skills he had weren’t innate. They were the kind that had to be honed by years of experience and she should know since she’d studied her whole life and hers were nowhere near as sharp.

As gently as she could, she took a bandage from his worn-out pack and pressed it against the worst-looking wound that was in the middle of the ornate tattoo he had running the length of his left side. It appeared to be a foreign bird whose face was painted on his shoulder.

Caillen’s eyes flew open as he let out a fierce breath. He grabbed her wrist so hard that she was sure it’d leave a bruise. But as soon as his gaze focused on her, his hold turned gentle.

He dropped his hand away from hers.
Are they still here?
he mouthed the words to her.

She nodded.

He pointed to his pack.

She handed it over to him and watched as he removed several items. The first thing he did was pull out a rubber stick that he put between his teeth. She scowled, wondering what it was for. Was it some kind of painkiller?

He grabbed a large foil pack and opened it, then spread the granules over his wounds. He bit the stick so hard, she heard it snap. By the rigidity of his body, she could tell it had to burn and ache. Still, he made no sound at all.

She took the foil pack from him and started applying it to all of his wounds. His muscles contracted every time she touched him. Poor guy.

But he was one hell of a soldier. He took it like a man.

Once she was finished, she handed him a bottle of water before she started bandaging his side. While she worked, he pulled an injector out and took a dose of pain meds.

Caillen sipped the water slowly as he did his best to not scream out from the sheer agony that pulsed through him with every heartbeat. He didn’t need to make himself sick, but he had to stay hydrated. Gah, it hurt.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the softness of Desideria’s hands as she bandaged him and let that soothe him as much as it could. He still couldn’t believe that she’d come back for him. Most people lacked that honor and decency.

Hell, most of the “friends” he’d had in his life would have tied him up while he was wounded and stolen his wallet before they left him for the Enforcers to find.

But she’d come back…

Like an angel.

She took the water from him long enough to wet a cloth that she then used to clean his face. Her hand was so cool and soft against his skin that before he realized what he was doing, he captured it and kissed her knuckles.

Desideria froze at the sensation of his lips on her flesh. No one had ever been so tender with her. The feathery touch made her stomach contract sharply. Her gaze locked with his and for a moment she forgot everything except for the beauty of his real eyes, the sensation of her hand in his. Without thinking, she touched his soft lips with her fingertip. They were the only part of him that wasn’t rock hard. And before she realized what she was doing, she dipped her head down to taste them.

Caillen sucked his breath in sharply at the unexpected kiss. Damn, if he didn’t hurt so badly, he’d take advantage of this fire. But right now, he could barely breathe. Still the heat of that kiss seared him. What she lacked in experience, she more than made up for in enthusiasm and it sent a wave of pleasure through him that eased the pain.

At least for a few heartbeats.

Desideria pulled back as she came to her senses and realized what she was doing.

I’m kissing a man.
And she wasn’t allowed to do that. Not yet…

Her mother would kill her if she learned of this. Worse, she’d have to wait an additional year before she could take a consort. Qillaq beliefs were that if a woman couldn’t control her lust, then she wasn’t mature enough to handle a lover. What she’d just done would shame her mother and herself.

Heat flooded her face. “Sorry.”

His cocky grin was adorable for once. “Don’t be,” he whispered. “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me all month. Feel free to fall against my lips anytime you get the urge.”

She shook her head at him. “You’re awful.”

Caillen cupped her cheek in his hand. “Rotten to my core.”

He was also charming in a most devastating way. “Just how many women have you seduced anyway?”

He shrugged, then grimaced sharply. “I don’t count because it doesn’t matter.”

Now that offended her. What a callous pig! “How can you say it doesn’t matter?”

“Because it was never the right one.”

Those words gave her pause. Could he be less piggish than she thought? Was it possible there really was a gentleman hiding under those layers of heartless rogue? “What do you mean?”

“Mmm,” he breathed. “Pain meds are kicking in with a vengeance. Yeah, I almost feel semi human again.”

She turned his head until he was looking at her. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Simple.” His words were slurred now. “If there’s a selfish bitch to be had, I gravitate straight for her. Women only want to use me, own me or kill me. Not once has a woman ever wanted to keep me.” Then he closed his eyes and passed out again.

Those words and the heartfelt emotion she’d heard behind them touched something deep inside her. It made her wonder what the women in his life had done to him to make him feel that way. Of course, her experience with women was similar. The women around her had been petty, judgmental, cutting and jealous. They thought by tearing others down that it elevated them. They were wrong, but it didn’t stop them from it.

She had no real experience with men. Except her dad and she’d loved him like no one else. He’d been the only person in her life who’d ever accepted her as she was. He’d never judged her or even criticized her.

Caillen was nothing like her father, but in some ways he did remind her of her dad. The way he was dependable and caring—willing to sacrifice himself for others.

She frowned at the bloody rag lying beside him. “You are such a mess.”

What if he died?

Desideria refused to think about that and the foreign ache it caused. She couldn’t afford to. As she began putting things back into the pack, she found a small laptop.

What the…? Why hadn’t he used it? Or at least mentioned that he had one?

She opened it to turn it on, then thought better of it. If the Andarions were electronically sweeping the area they’d hone in on the signal. That was probably why Caillen hadn’t used it before now. He was too much of a survivalist to allow something like this to go unused unless there was a good reason for it.

You’re completely cut off.

She’d never been alone before. Even though she was twenty-six years old, her family had viewed her as a child up until a couple of weeks ago. She’d been surrounded by guards and servants. Her sisters and aunt. It was a lost feeling to not be able to reach out and summon them now. Or anyone else who could lend her a hand. Her mother had never experienced this isolated sensation either.

But her father had. Stranded on a foreign planet with foreign beings who’d seen him as a weaker entity who only deserved their disdain and abuse.

Caillen had assured her that she’d receive the same treatment from the Andarions if they discovered them. They’d be pawns with no way to escape and no hope. She glanced around the bare gray walls as panic set in. How had her father stood being a prisoner for all those years?

It was terrifying. For the first time, she fully understood everything he’d given up.

Suddenly, Caillen’s link rang.

Krik! That could get her discovered. Her heart hammering, she picked it up, then froze. Caillen had turned it off. She’d seen him. How could it be ringing?

Was it a trick?

What if it wasn’t? It could be help.

Maybe.

Hoping for the best, she answered it before it rang again.

“Who is this?” It was a gruff, accented male voice.

“Desideria,” she whispered. “Who are you?”

He hung up.

She quickly did the same as her gut knotted and this time she made sure it was turned completely off.

And then she heard it… the sound of the Andarions returning to the warehouse in force and they were a lot more animated this time.

I’ve just given our position away.

They were going to come for them and it was all her fault. Damn it! Why had she answered the link?

15

Desideria held her breath as the voices came closer and close. There were animals with them and it sounded like a lot of them. She could hear them whining and barking as the Andarions searched through the building.

As fast as was possible, she grabbed the spray that Caillen had used earlier out of the bag, and turned it loose on the door and on them.
Please don’t have an erackle in that hunting herd.

According to Caillen, that would be bad. And since he had yet to be wrong about anything to do with their pursuit…

Yeah, a horny erackle would most likely ruin her day.

What she hated most about all of this was her feelings of vulnerability. She’d always prided herself on being self-sufficient—on being able to handle anything thrown at her. And she was.

But this…

This was way out of her realm of experience and expertise. She was in an alien culture with an unconscious stranger. Here, she didn’t know the rules or the climate. She didn’t even know what foods were safe to eat or how to find them. It now struck her as peculiar that her aunt had taught her to fight to survive, but never how to scrounge and use resources. Not the way Caillen did.

She glanced to him. For some reason she couldn’t explain, his presence soothed her. Yeah, it made no sense whatsoever. He was completely out of commission. Would be worthless in a fight or even if they had to run and yet… she could hear his sarcastic voice in her head, giving her tips on what they needed to escape and survive.

What is wrong with me?

Desideria had been taught to trust no one. Not even family. And right now, when she needed to listen to that training, she didn’t hear her aunt’s careful instruction.

She heard Caillen’s.

Without thinking, she took his hand into hers. Even though it was filthy and calloused, it was beautiful—just like the rest of him. He had long, tapered fingers with nails that were clipped but not manicured the way other noblemen’s were. Caillen’s were rugged work hands. Masculine hands.

And they, too, comforted her…

Something struck the trapdoor. Hard. She bit her lip to keep from making a sound as she tightened her grip on Caillen’s hand and her blaster, waiting for them to break through.

They hit it again.

An animal barked, then ran off making unfamiliar noises that sounded like a whine. There was a huge ruckus before the Andarions followed the creature. After a few minutes, everything was quiet again.