The venomous look in his eyes chilled her. "It's me he's after and you're the bait he's going to use to lure me with."

Her blood left her cheeks. For a moment she thought he might be lying, but the cold seriousness of his face warned her of the truth. Numbed, she allowed him to push her up into his fighter and speed them away from Gouran.

"Where are you taking me?" she whispered, trying to staunch the blood coursing down her arm. "I need a doctor."

His rough hands ripped her dress away from the wound on her shoulder. "It's a flesh wound," he said, pulling a piece of cloth out from under their seat. "Hold this on it. It'll stop bleeding before we get home."

Kiara's lips trembled. He was angry, proof of it was in his hardened voice as he talked.

What had she done to him? She was the one with the right to be mad!

"I want to go home to Gouran," she insisted.

His hand tightened around his shifter. "You can't."

Kiara didn't bother arguing with him. She knew she'd get back home no matter what.

She wasn't about to stay with him, not after he had abandoned her!

It took forever to get to his house. The hostile silence wore on her nerves, but Kiara knew breaking it would be even worse than bearing it.

Nykyrian led the way into the house. He didn't bother looking at her, or helping her withher wound. Kiara clenched her teeth in aggravation. She stood in the doorway between the bay and his house, her legs caressed by the lorinas.

Without looking at her, Nykyrian opened a closet in the kitchen and retrieved a medical bag. "Here," he said, pulling out antiseptic and a white cloth. He placed them on the table before heading up the stairs.

Kiara moved forward into the room, her body numb from everything that had happened to her.

Nykyrian paused in the doorway of his bedroom and turned to face her. Not a single emotion was portrayed from any pore of his body to signal her what was going through his mind. "You are to sleep in the viewing room," he said absently, then closed the door behind him with a loud thud.

Kiara gripped the bottle of antiseptic, wanting to throw it at his head. How dare he treat her this way! Fuming, she quickly set about tending her wound, all the while cursing the man upstairs.

It didn't take her long to clean the wound and bandage it. Nykyrian had been right, it wasn't much more than a scratch. With a heated glare at the dark walls upstairs, she made her way to the viewing room.

She paused in the doorway, seeing one of her gowns on the pulled-out bed. Even in anger, he watched out for her. Kiara's throat tightened. It would be so easy to rush upstairs and pound on the door until he opened it, but she couldn't.

God how she wanted him, burned for him. But he didn't care for her. If he did, he would never have allowed her to go through all those weeks of misery thinking he was dead. If only she knew what to do, what to say. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she sat on the edge of the bed, praying for some miracle that would smooth out the tattered edges of her life.

Nykyrian watched the stars above him. Kiara was finally quiet after hours of crying and cursing his soul. He tipped the bottle of alcohol back against his lips, letting the liquid burn down his throat. Rachol had been right, the stars were a hell of a lot more interesting when you were flagged than sober.

He sighed, aching for a friend he knew was dead, aching for a woman he knew hecouldn't have. If Driana hadn't contacted Hauk this afternoon, Kiara would now be dead and it would have been all his fault. God, if he had been two seconds later this afternoon, she'd be captured or dead. His gut twisted. He took another swig of grenna. What a life.

Before he could stop himself, he left the room and headed down the stairs to Kiara's bed.

He pushed open the door of the viewing room, careful not to make a sound.

His breathing intensified and desire pounded in his veins, demanding he do something more than just stand here like a gaping fool. But he knew tonight he wouldn't listen to the part of him that loved Kiara, that part of him which would die for her.

Bitter longing welled up inside him as he watched her chest rise and fall in peaceful sleep. She was lying on her side, her curly hair fanning out behind her.

His hand tingled with the memory of what those strands felt like. Nykyrian clenched his teeth. His body throbbed and for a moment, he feared he might yield to his wants after all.

"Nykyrian?" Kiara whispered, opening her eyes to look up at him with a pitiful, sad face.

He gripped the door frame in indecision. He had to let her go. Aksel was just one of a hundred assassins who would do anything to bring him down. Anything.

"Go back to sleep," he snarled and slammed the door.

Kiara stared at the portal, her heart breaking. Why had he come to her? Why did she care?

She placed her hand over her stomach, tempted to tell him about the baby, but she couldn't. With his present temperament, who knew how he would react. The last thing she needed was an even more irate assassin roaming around the house while she slept.

Besides, it was her child she nurtured. A remembrance of a happy time she doubted would ever return.

"Aren't you ready yet?" Nykyrian growled as Kiara plaited the last piece of her hair.

"Stop snapping at me!"So he glared at her instead.

Kiara ground her teeth together in aggravation. All he had done since he roughly woke her up was snap and hiss. "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"Out."

Disgusted, Kiara sighed. "You're such a fountain of information. Maybe you should consider a job in the media."

By his face, she could tell her sarcasm struck home. "If you're through making asinine comments, I'm supposed to be meeting someone."

Kiara froze. "Why are you taking me along?"

Anger and hatred blazed at her from his light green eyes. She took a step back, afraid of him. "Rachol's gone," he snarled. "I have no idea who knows about my house now. If I leave you here, with my luck someone will find you."

She frowned at him. "Rachol's gone?" she repeated, her body going numb. "What do you mean?"

Nykyrian pulled his coat on with irate jerks. "I mean he's vanished. No one has seen him in weeks and his flat was torn to pieces. We're assuming someone acted on your father's contract and killed him. I suppose I should go to your father's house to see if Rachol's head has been delivered to him as he requested."

"No," she whispered, unable to believe it. Tears gathered in her eyes as she thought about how much pain Nykyrian must be feeling, despite the coldness in his voice while he spoke.

Nykyrian curled his lip at her, his eyes blazing. "I wish I had killed your father instead of saving you."

Kiara sobbed at the bitterness in his voice. "Then why didn't you?"

"I don't know!" he roared. "I don't know why I do anything anymore."

Kiara reached to touch him, but he turned away. "Just get into the fighter and leave me alone."Tears fell down her cheeks as she obeyed his order. She knew she should be mad at him, curse him, something. But at the moment all she could do was see images of Rachol teasing him. They had been family, brothers in spirit.

She sniffed back her tears.

Kiara watched the stars zoom past as they flew to a destination she didn't even bother to ask about. She was tired of being snapped at. All she wanted was a day of peace. To go back to the days before Nykyrian was shot.

Nykyrian landed with a jolt. Kiara gasped, her body aching. She frowned at him wondering about the rough landing, but held her tongue.

Without a word, he led her from the bay, out into a small row of houses. Kiara looked around, trying to get her bearings, but nothing seemed familiar.

She followed him down several back streets before he finally came to a large, white house. He glanced up and down the street in a manner that reminded her of the night he had first started protecting her, then he knocked sharply on the door.

He pushed her to the side of the door and unholstered his blaster.

The door opened to display the attractive blonde from the club. "If you like, you may search the entire place," the woman smirked, opening the door wide enough for them to enter. "I'm sick of the way you guys go around expecting an ambush."

Kiara didn't miss the underlying hatred in the woman's voice.

Nykyrian pushed Kiara into the house. Curiously, she glanced about the main room. A child sat on the floor, looking up at them with large, luminous green eyes. Her eyes widened even more as she studied Nykyrian, and she clutched her rag doll to her chest.

"I'm not dangerous," he said in a gentle voice, brushing his fingers over the girl's hair in a way that made Kiara yearn to tell him about their child.

The girl looked to her mother for confirmation.

"He's a good man, Thia. Now run along to your room."

The girl shot from the floor like a doom squad was hot on her heels. Kiara frowned, wondering why a child so young would be that afraid of strangers.Driana held her hand out to the couch. "You two have a seat, and I'll go get the disks."

Kiara didn't move. Instead, she watched the odd way Nykyrian stared after the little girl.

"How old is she, Driana?" Nykyrian faced the woman with a stern frown.

Kiara wondered at the strange emotion darkening his face. Driana shifted uncomfortably under his stare. "Is she mine?" he asked and Kiara felt her world tilt.

Kiara's eyes widened as she looked back at Driana, and the beautiful grace ingrained in the woman's face and mannerisms.

"No," Driana replied.

Nykyrian sighed. "You never could lie worth a damn. Your nose always crinkles."

Self-consciously, Driana rubbed her fingers across the bridge of her nose. Tears gathered in Driana's eyes as she looked back at Nykyrian. "Thia knows Aksel isn't her father. I couldn't bear the thought of her calling him Papa."

Nykyrian met Kiara's gaze. What she wouldn't give to know what thoughts were playing through his mind. For that matter, she wished she could sort through her own feelings about this discovery.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nykyrian asked, his voice brittle.

Anger clouded Driana's eyes. "To what purpose? After what your father did to you when he found out we were lovers, I didn't dare tell anyone I was pregnant. I still have nightmares over the beating you received." She rubbed her arms and looked at the floor.

"Aksel isn't sure you're the father. He suspects. I have no idea what he'd do to her if he ever learned the truth."

"Is she why you asked me here?"

Driana glanced at Kiara. "Who is she?"

"My wife."

Kiara jumped in alarm, surprised he would bother claiming her after the way he'd treated her since he saved her at the station.Driana nodded glumly, tears spilling down her cheeks. "No wonder Aksel's been trying to get to her. He raved all night because he couldn't get her yesterday."

Kiara wanted to say something to make everything better, to soothe some of the pain in Driana's voice, but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound patronizing.

"Can I spend time with Thia?" Nykyrian asked, picking up a picture of his daughter from the low table.

Driana wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I would like that. Aksel has her afraid of everything. He reminds me so much of your father." Driana broke off into a sob. "I think I might be able to arrange something in a week or so." She faced Kiara. "That is, if you don't mind."

Kiara glanced at Nykyrian who was studying her intently. "I don't mind at all," she said, amazed by the honesty of the response.

Driana nodded. "If you want, you can see her now while I get the disks."

Kiara followed Nykyrian as Driana led them down the hallway to a back bedroom. As they entered, Thia jumped up from her miniature desk with a startled gasp.

"Oh Mama," she breathed, covering her chest with a tiny hand.

Kiara saw Nykyrian tense at the gesture.

"Thia, these are some friends of mine. Will you keep them company while I do something."

"Okay," she said, returning to her chair.

Driana smiled at them, then made her way out of the room. Kiara stayed in the doorway, not wanting to impose on Nykyrian's precious time with his daughter.

She bit her lip, knowing this would enable her to tell how receptive he would be to her own condition. Reflexively, she rubbed her hand across her stomach.

Thia scratched her head, studying Nykyrian's tall stature. "Are you a friend of Aksel's?"

"No," he answered, sitting down on the floor."Good."

Nykyrian rubbed his right biceps and by that gesture, Kiara knew he was uncomfortable.

"Don't you like Aksel?"

She shook her head, her blond hair tumbling while she continued to write on a tablet.

"He's mean to Mama."

Nykyrian glanced around to Kiara. She offered him a smile of encouragement. He gave her a strange look she didn't understand and turned back to face Thia.

He brushed his hand over a stack of books piled next to her desk. Picking one up, he thumbed through it. "Do you read these?" he asked, replacing it on the stack.

Thia shifted indignantly in her chair as if his question insulted her. "Yes," she said, making a note on the ledger. "I study languages in school, but no one other than my instructors can talk to me in them."

Nykyrian said something Kiara couldn't understand.

Thia's eyes widened as she responded in the same language. Warmth rushed through Kiara when Thia smiled and displayed a set of dimples identical to Nykyrian's.