"Happy because I seldom went to where she lived and she had all the creds she could spend. We consummated the marriage and then I tried to make the marriage work, but..."

"But what?"

"I called her Ember one night early on, and she basically banned me from her bed."

"You're kidding!"

He shook his head as a particularly nasty memory over Alura's violent reaction went through him. She'd a.s.saulted him like a p.i.s.sed-off lorina, and left him with bleeding welts on his neck, arms, and chest. "She was convinced you and I were cheating to get back at her." He slid his sleeve up so that she could see the four deep scars on his forearm. "That was from one of her more stellar tantrums. She'd scratch and bite every time I got near her. So I learned to stay away for fear she was going to cry rape or something worse."

Ember flinched as she realized something worse had definitely happened. She'd accused him of murder and seen him innocently convicted of it. "Why didn't you divorce her, then?"

"To what end? You were done with me. Last thing I wanted was to listen to my family tell me how disappointed they were that I couldn't even manage to hold on to my pleb wife for more than a year. Quin was married almost fifteen years. Lil nine. And theirs had been political marriages, a.s.signed to them by my father. They'd have barbecued me had I filed for divorce. Especially my mother. She was traditional Ikarian."

"Meaning?"

"A Triosan religion where no one gets divorced. Ever. It's why my uncle Aros never married. He wanted Cairie as his wife, and if he couldn't have her, he didn't want to spend the rest of his life locked into a loveless marriage with someone else. He kept waiting for her to abdicate her throne and live with him."

That made her feel terrible for both of them. "I am so glad I'm not royal."

Bastien tsked at her. "Ah, baby, you're wrong about that."

"Why? Because I had your son?"

He shook his head. "You were always a monidara to me," he said, using the Kirovarian term for empress.

Ember hated the effect those words had on her. The weepy feeling they awoke. She'd forgotten how sweet her irascible captain could be.

Just like his son.

"I hate you so much, Bastien."

"Most people do ... Andarions, too."

Bastien quirked an eyebrow as she switched on autopilot and then turned around in the seat to squat on her knees, between his. "What are you doing?"

Ember pulled his helmet off, without answering. The expression on his face was comical. He looked as if he expected her to slap him.

Instead, she loosened his hair until it fell free from its restraint over his shoulders and she could run her fingers through it. A tiny smile played at the edges of those lush, masculine lips.

"You look so feral with this hair."

"I am feral."

"No." She toyed with the soft strands, reveling in the way they slid across her palm. "You're still that man who jumped into a hole to play hero. The lunatic who scaled a building without the proper gear because you thought I'd been captured."

"Yeah, I should have got more intel before I jumped the gun on that one."

It wouldn't have mattered. Rash was his middle name. Carless.

Most of all, loving.

Ember traced his lips with her fingers as her memories ran loose. He'd been so scared for her. By the time she heard what had happened, he'd rescued six of their soldiers. "You did get an accommodation and medal out of it."

She wrapped her legs around his waist.

He sucked his breath in sharply as the center of her body collided with his groin. "Don't toy with me, Ember. This is cruel."

"I'm not toying with you." She slowly unfastened his flight suit. The new scars on his torso tugged at her heart. But nothing prepared her for the horrific Ravin brand that ran from the center of his chest to his pubic bone. That had to have been excruciating. She couldn't imagine how much it must have burned.

And then they'd turned him loose with it, still raw and bleeding, to fight for his life.

d.a.m.n them for that!

Wincing, she ran her hand over the additional scars that fell in horrific lines across both of his sides. She couldn't imagine what had caused those. "What did they do to you?"

His heart pounded under her fingertips as his hazel gaze burned into her. "They tried to make me confess to killing my family."

And no one could make Bastien Cabarro say or do anything he didn't want to. "You were ever the most aggravating man alive."

He leaned his head back as she nibbled at his jaw.

Ember savored the taste of him and forced herself not to sink her teeth into his flesh and draw blood as she remembered him at his wedding....

To her sister.

How could she be so angry and hungry for him at the same time?

But the truth was she hadn't been near another man in so long she could barely recall the name of her last boyfriend. Most men fled the moment they heard she had a son.

The rest, the minute they met her insane family. Indeed, her sisters scared off everyone.

Bastien had taken their open hostility toward him as a personal challenge. One by one, he'd targeted her sisters until he made them like him.

She still didn't know how he'd managed. Especially Brand. She hated everyone.

But not Bastien.

His hands trembled as he opened her jacket and shirt until he could touch her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The heated look in his eyes stole her breath. The raw hunger there was tangible. And when he dipped his head down to taste her, she growled at how good his mouth felt against her flesh. She cupped his face in her hands, relishing the sensation of his p.r.i.c.kly whiskers sc.r.a.ping her palms.

How she'd missed him. And when he dipped his hand down to gently finger her she cried out in bliss.

He pulled back to stare down at her. "You're right. I hate this fighter, because right now, I really want to taste you."

Laughing, she shrugged her top off, then the two of them struggled with her pants. "Agreed. Next time, a bigger ship. How did we do this before?"

"Like this." He slid her pants down until she was naked in his lap.

"Just so you know, Bas, if you get a call, I'm going to kill you."

He snorted at her threat. "Don't worry. I can promise you there's no way I'll answer. Besides, I don't have anyone who would bother."

Those words saddened her because she knew he wasn't joking. Bastien had always been a loner. That had been her greatest surprise about him when they first started dating. Because of the hatchet job reporters had done against him where they ran with unverified rumors, she'd thought him a monster party animal who had dozens of friends around him at all times.

But he'd been burned so many times by people cozying up to him due to his fame and money, just so that they could be in the papers or have stories to tell to others, he'd been highly cautious about so-called friendships. Very few got past his defenses and were allowed to see the side of him that she'd known.

And that she'd cherished most.

He'd been hers alone.

Bastien sucked his breath in at how good it felt to hold Ember again. To have her hands and body sliding against his. It'd been so long since he last had any sort of tenderness. Had the scent of a woman on his skin ...

It took everything he had not to rush this. And at the same time, he wanted to take as long as possible to savor every bit of it. Her scent. Her touch. Her taste. He wanted to brand all of it into his memory so that if she threw him away again, he'd have something to hold on to. Fresh memories that weren't faded by time.

Closing his eyes, he groaned as she nibbled her way down his throat. In all his life, no one had ever touched him the way she did. Not just his skin. She penetrated all the way to his soul.

And when she finally slid herself onto him, he almost came instantly. It took everything he had to stay in check.

"You okay, baby?"

Biting his lip, he nodded. "Seeing stars."

She laughed as she slowly rode him.

Bastien lifted his hips, driving himself even deeper into her body. Every molecule was on fire as pleasure dug its heels into him. This was where he wanted to stay for eternity.

And when she sank her nails into his back and kissed his lips, he couldn't contain himself anymore. He came in a blinding wave.

Luckily she followed with him.

Breathless, he held her, waiting for his heart rate to slow. "I thought I was in trouble, there, for a minute."

She lifted his chin until their gazes locked. "You almost were. But I would have forgiven you ... this time."

"That's not what I want you to forgive me for, Elskamun."

Ember choked on a sob at his use of her old nickname that he'd given her years ago.

He dropped his gaze to the stretch marks on her abdomen that were left behind from birthing their son. "I wish I could have been with you."

"You didn't miss much. I cursed you the entire time. And your parents and ancestors."

Grinning, he leaned to kiss her belly. "I'm warning you now that if I survive taking down Barnabas, I'm going to ask you to marry me again."

"Bas-"

He broke her words off with another kiss. "It's okay, Elskamun. You can say no, but you can't stop me from asking."

She started to speak, but the alarms on the fighter went off. "What's that?"

Bastien scowled at the panel. "s.h.i.t! Someone has their cannons locked on us. That's their targeting system. We're about to be blasted."

CHAPTER 11.

Squeaking at the fact that she was still naked and they were under attack, Ember grabbed at her clothes and hurriedly dressed.

Bastien attempted to reach his controls to engage, but because of her movements, it was impossible. In fact, she accidentally elbowed him in the eye as he tried. Cursing, he covered it as it watered uncontrollably.

"Sorry!" Her heart hammered in panic.

"Drop your shields, Sentella. Give us your mission parameters. Now!"

The light in Bastien's eyes said that he was about to tell them where to shove their orders.

But she knew that deep, irritating voice. At least she thought she did.

Ember caught his hands as he reached for the communications and pulled them away from the controls. Making sure to keep the video off, she turned on hailing.

"Badger? Is that you?"

Static answered at first. It stretched out until she was ready to let Bastien blast them in case she was wrong.

Until she finally heard a hesitant answer. "Wildstar?" he asked in disbelief.

Grateful that voice did indeed belong to her Badger, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, knock off the target locks. What are you doing this far out?"

"Making a run and headed home. Why are you onboard a Sentella fighter?"

"Headed to see my boy. This was the only ride available."

As typical, Badger wasn't quick to accept her answers. "Why am I showing two people, then?"

"I have a friend with me."

"Friend have a name?" That man was ever suspicious. He never took anything at face value. Not that she blamed him, given his past. She had trust issues herself, but he took them to a whole new level of ridiculous.

"G. G."

"G. G. Sentella?"

Dear Lord, Badger was worse than a dog after its favorite bone. Hence the call sign they'd dubbed him with. He could have easily been employed as a League interrogator.

"No, he borrowed the ship."