"I hope you beat Arturo to pieces."

Nykyrian held out one of his hands. The knuckles were swollen and bloody. "I did my best."

Kiara smiled, brushing a lock of his hair from his face. "Where's Darling?"

Nykyrian moved away from her and stretched as he walked to the stairs. "He's staying with Jayne and her husband."

He paused on the second step and turned to face her. "I'd give anything if you'd carry me upstairs."

Kiara laughed. "Come on, soldier. Move it!" Kiara pushed him from behind.

A groan escaped him as her hand slid between his thighs. "If you keep doing that, I might revive myself after all.""Listen to you" she admonished. "And after the way you ran after that blonde tonight."

Nykyrian threw himself across the bed. "I needed information." He yawned into the pillow.

Kiara shook her head. "If the universe could see Nemesis right now, I doubt they'd find you such a terrible threat."

She waited for him to respond.

"Nykyrian?" Kiara leaned over him and realized he was asleep.

A smile curved her lips. Darling had told her he would get tired like this. Sighing, she turned out the lights. Kiara tugged his clothes from him, folded them neatly, and placed them in his closet.

A warm tingle pulsed in her breast as she watched him in the dull glow of the room. He looked so peaceful. She prayed he would have one night free from his nightmares. But she knew better.

She always knew which nights he actually slept. On those nights she would hear him call for his mother, cursing her, crying for her, or he would remember his missions and come awake trembling. Kiara wondered if he remembered any of his dreams. If he did, he never mentioned them to her later.

Pulling his hair from his cheek, she kissed the stubbly area. She would never leave him.

Kiara spread a blanket over him, then crawled into bed by his side and wrapped her arms about him. With a contented sigh, she drifted off to sleep.

Kiara brushed her hair, her cheeks warming at Nykyrian's lustful stare. He leaned back on the bed, a knowing smile on his lips. "Do you realize you married me last night?"

Her hand stopped mid-stroke. "I what?"

He nodded. "Andarion law states that any two people who profess, uncoerced, to be mates before another individual, are married."

A warm thrill shot through her. "Are you serious?" she gasped, lowering the brush.He looked away from her, his face stoic. "I take it you want a divorce."

Kiara bit her bottom lip, a smile curving her lips. "Let me think this over. I kind of like the thought of being Tara Nemesis." Kiara sat next to him on the bed. "Is that really all it takes?"

He touched her cheek, his hand burning a trail along her chin. "It is. Andarions aren't big on illustrious ceremonies." He sipped his juice.

Kiara sat back in a pretended huff. "Well, I never thought my wedding day would be so uneventful."

He smiled. "A divorce is just as easy to acquire."

She shook her head, her curls tumbling down in her face. "Oh no. You're stuck with me now!"

Nykyrian's warm hand moved to cup her cheek. The look on his face was one she couldn't place, and it worried her.

"What's wrong?"

He kissed the top of her head. "I thought I'd take you to your father today."

Surprise jolted her. She studied his lovely green eyes, not entirely sure she wanted to go home. "My father might shoot you if he finds out we're married," she said with a smile, running her hand under the blanket.

When her hand closed around him, he snorted his juice up his nose. Kiara laughed.

"That was mean," he accused.

She bit her lip, giving him her most seductive smile. "Is the marriage legal without consummation?"

Nykyrian sat the juice on his nightstand. Before Kiara could blink, he had her pinned on her back, to the mattress. She welcomed his kiss, the strength of his hands on her body.

He trailed kisses to her ear, gently nibbling the lobe. Chills shot white hot through her body.

Everywhere he touched, she ached in pleasure. She dug her heels into the mattress andarched her back to meet him. Never had she felt so desired, so alive.

Kiara ran her hands over the planes of his back, feeling the scars. He belonged to her and no one would ever take him away, she would make sure of it.

"Now," she gasped, pulling his lips to hers.

Obeying her, he parted her legs with his knees. Kiara moaned as he entered her. She reveled in the feel of him and the knowledge that they belonged together.

Her release came quickly. "I love you," she said, stroking his hair from his face.

His answer was a deep, magical kiss.

He lay on top of her, his strong body melding to hers. Kiara forgot about her career, her life. All she wanted was Nykyrian.

They lay silently for several minutes. Kiara felt his heartbeat slow down to a normal thud. She kissed the salty flesh of his neck, reveling in the heady scent of musk that seemed to be a part of him.

"Care to join me for a bath?" he asked.

Kiara smiled. "I'd love to."

It didn't take long for them to bathe and dress. Almost too soon, they were in the fighter and headed to Gouran. Kiara dreaded meeting her father. She didn't know how he would react to their news, but she was sure it wouldn't be gracious.

When Gouran came into sight, she wanted to urge Nykyrian to turn them around. But she knew she couldn't. Her father was worried about her. She just prayed he would listen to reason and not jail Nykyrian immediately upon their arrival. A hundred fighters surrounded them as they entered Gourish airspace.

"Do you think your father's upset?" Nykyrian asked.

She could have done without his sarcasm. Kiara stared aghast at the number of ships.

"Drop your shield and disengage your main thruster," the controller ordered.

Nykyrian tensed as a warning light went off notifying them they were targeted byanother ship's weapons system. "There's no need in this hostility," he said calmly.

"You'll know hostility after you land, you son-of-a-bitch!"

Her father's loud shout echoed in her ears. "Papa, everything's fine," Kiara said, praying he would calm down.

"Angel?" His voice quivered. "Thank God you're alive."

The knot in her stomach coiled tighter. "See, everything's fine," she said in a low voice, not sure who their words were meant to reassure, her or Nykyrian.

They landed inside the main landing bay. Kiara trembled in apprehension. When her father was this angry, he was not reasonable. It looked to her like a thousand guns were angled on them from a large crowd of soldiers standing inside the bay.

"Send Kiara down first!" her father shouted.

Nykyrian's strong hands unstrapped her helmet and her safety straps. "It's all right," he whispered. "Do what he says."

Kiara nodded. Her head light with panic, fear, and anger, she descended the ladder. She moved slowly toward her father, unable to believe all the soldiers gathered. "What is the meaning of this?"

Tiarun placed two icy hands on her cheeks, then drew into his arms in a crushing embrace. She hugged him back, thinking he must be calmer now that he was sure she was fine.

"Papa, it's time you stopped this." She watched Nykyrian being removed from his ship by a blaster pointed at his head.

"You're right, angel." He smiled at her. "It is time to put a stop to this. Someone has to."

His arms tightened around her as he looked up at his men. "Shoot him!"

Her father's order tore through her.

"NO!" she screamed, trying to pull free.

Her father's grip tightened and she spun around. Her father held her by her arms,preventing her from running to Nykyrian. "No!" she screamed again, but it went unheeded. Light erupted inside the bay. Nykyrian recoiled from the shots.

Kiara went cold. No sound would leave her lips as she crumbled to the floor, a denial screaming inside her soul, her father's hands still locked on her, preventing her from running to her husband.

"He's dead," a soldier said, straightening up from the floor where Nykyrian lay.

Kiara couldn't breathe. She wanted to die. It was a mistake, it had to be. Sobs choked her body as excruciating agony tore through her soul.

"Dispose of the body. Troops dismissed." Kiara stared at her father, unable to believe he could be so cold, so callous.

"I hate you," she screamed as he moved to help her rise. She struggled in his arms to no use. Despite her unwillingness to leave the bay, her father dragged her out, oblivious to her pain.

Two soldiers waited for the bay to clear. Nykyrian did his best not to breathe deeply. He ached more now than he ever had in his life. At least four shots had hit him at almost point-blank range.

"We're dead," Tameron whispered. "If Biardi finds out about this, he'll have my balls."

Once again in his life, Nykyrian thanked God for the loyalty of his OMG members.

There were times when spies were extremely valuable.

"Just how the hell are we supposed to get you and your fighter out?" Tameron asked, scanning the bay nervously.

Nykyrian closed his eyes against a wave of pain. "Tell control you're driving my fighter out on remote to get rid of it and me," he whispered.

Tameron smiled. "Brilliant."

Nykyrian forced himself to remain limp as they picked him up and dumped him into the seat of his fighter. Kiara's screams echoed in his ears and he wished for a way to let her know he was all right, in a manner of speaking anyway.

Pain erupted through his body and for a moment, he feared he might pass out. Hisfighter lurched as they jettisoned it by remote.

Blood covered him to the point he couldn't figure out where he was wounded. He waited until he had cleared orbit before he sat up and took control of his craft. Pain clouded his mind, dulling his thoughts. Every second seemed to bring more throbbing agony than the one before it. By the time he reached home, it was all he could do to move at all.

Nykyrian staggered out of his ship, his eyesight dimming. He had to call Rachol and get help with his wounds. At this rate, he might bleed to death within the hour. Despite the sweat covering his body, he was freezing. He opened the door to his house, blood smearing over the white controls.

He pulled his helmet free and let it fall from his numbed hands. The lorinas ran forward, confused by the smell of blood. He had to get help. He had to get back to Kiara.

Nykyrian took a step forward and fell to his knees.

He tried to rise, but pain kept him still. He had to move, he had to. His last conscious thought was of a tiny dancer who had promised never to leave him.

Twelve.

"The contract has been repealed!"

Kiara barely heard the jubilant shout of her best friend, Tiyana. Instead, she stared at the performance calendar in her lap, unable to believe six weeks had passed since she saw Nykyrian killed.

Over and over her mind replayed the scene, the sounds, the pain.

"Kiara, didn't you hear me?" Tiyana asked, patting the arm of the chair Kiara sat in.

"You can return to the theatre!"

"I heard you," she replied with a wistful sigh.

Tiyana calmed down and took a seat in the identical, white, wrought-iron chair across from her.

Kiara used to love sitting in the well-manicured garden behind her father's house, the smell of all the flowers blooming around her, sunlight warming her skin, not doing anything except breathing the sweet air, gossiping with Tiyana. But not anymore. Now itall seemed boring, unfulfilling.

Kiara saw Tiyana look up over Kiara's shoulder and shake her pretty blond head, and by that action she knew her father must be standing behind her. She didn't bother to look.

She really couldn't care less where her father was.