She shivered at the thought. Silence answered her question.

She glared at Nykyrian, awaiting a response. Before she could ask again, the doors opened on her floor.

Nykyrian stepped out and scanned the corridor.

Tempted to shove him and say boo, Kiara bet herself he'd jump twelve feet. Or shoot her, her mind cautioned. If he really were an ex-League Assassin, he was very dangerous if startled.

She reached her door and stopped. "This has been tampered with," she whispered to Nykyrian, seeing a strange device hooked into her card slot.

She swallowed the panic surging through her body. Someone was inside her flat! She could hear them.

Cold fear washed over her.Nykyrian pulled her behind him then knocked twice.

"Who is it?" a deep growling voice asked from inside.

"The Tourah Beast," Nykyrian answered sarcastically. "Open the damn door before I get shot in the hallway!''

"Geez, what a temper," the voice said as the door slid open to reveal a large Andarion male.

Kiara's heart slid into her stomach at the massive form. She had thought Nykyrian to be tall. This man stood a head taller. His long teeth flashed at her.

Was he considering her for dinner?

Nykyrian grabbed her arm and pulled her past the man.

Her eyes widened as she brushed up against the Andarion's chest. The crimson and white eyes sent a chill down her spine. No wonder Nykyrian wore dark glasses. Eyes like those were terrifying.

"Where's Rachol?" another voice drew her attention to her couch.

"On his way," Nykyrian responded.

Kiara stared at the human male reclining on her couch with his feet propped up on her table. His dark auburn hair, almost as long as Nykyrian's, concealed the right side of his face. He seemed completely comfortable in her home.

The sight angered her.

How dare they invade her privacy in such a manner. Her agitation increased when the Andarion returned to her favorite armchair, picked up her bag of friggles from the low table and began munching them!

Seizing the bag, she narrowed her eyes. "This is my home, not some free-house!"

The Andarion looked at Nykyrian, his eyes wide. "She's got spunk," he rasped with a dark laugh. "I bet her meat is equally as spicy."

His gaze returned to her. Kiara took a step back, clutching the bag to her chest."You might want to return the food to him," Nykyrian said from behind her. "It's unwise to starve an Andarion. If Hauk decided to nibble on you, there's not much we could do."

Hauk raked her with a measuring stare.

Her anger vanished. Handing the bag back to Hauk, she swallowed the lump in her throat. What had she gotten herself into? How could her father have turned her over to these people?

"They're only teasing you," the red headed man said with a bright smile. "I'm Darling Crewell." He stood and extended his hand to her.

Kiara shook his gloved hand. Something in Darling's manner reminded her of an aristocrat. He seemed easy enough to get along with, unlike the two Andarions.

"The glutton is Dancer Hauk," Darling said as he retook his seat.

"Dancer?" Kiara smiled, amused by the revelation, "It means killer in Andarion," Hauk snapped.

Darling laughed, a deep throaty sound. "You wish! I believe Nykyrian told me it meant: of beautiful cheeks."

Hauk gave Nykyrian a glare that bordered on murder. Nykyrian shrugged, apparently unconcerned by the hostility. "Well, it does."

Kiara sighed, relieved by their play which took some of coldness out of them and the awkward nervousness out of her.

Darling smiled again. "I'm sorry if we overstepped our bounds. Being the only one here with Hauk, I encouraged him to scrounge for other sources of food."

At least Darling had manners. "It's all right," she assured him. "I'm still upset over what's happened."

Turning around, she faced Nykyrian. He leaned against her bar with his arms folded over his chest. His head was angled toward Darling, but she was sure he was watching her. She could feel his eyes on her. If only he wasn't wearing those blasted glasses.

Did he ever remove them?"I need to change," she said absently. "I suppose I don't need to tell the three of you to make yourselves comfortable."

Nykyrian smirked.

She really hated those glasses. She would love to be able to read his emotions and moods.

Kiara paused at the entrance to her hall and glanced back at the three men. She was uncomfortable about removing her clothes with strangers milling about.

She looked at Nykyrian's stoic face.

"You don't have to worry about us," he said roughly, reading her thoughts. "Hauk isn't attracted to humans, Darling isn't attracted to women, and I'm . . ." Nykyrian paused.

What could he say? All too well, he remembered the sight of her in the skimpy nightgown. He wanted her more than anything.

Her eyes held the look of expectation. He steadied himself. At the moment, she thought him a hero who had saved her life. He wasn't. The best thing would be to make her hate him now instead of later.

"I'm not interested," he finished.

Kiara's blush deepened at the harsh words spoken before the other two men. Narrowing her eyes, she seethed in her humiliation. How had she ever thought she might want this man? He was despicable.

Without a word, she stomped down the hall to her bedroom and slammed the door.

What had she been thinking when she considered him handsome. He wasn't even human!

Kiara paused. That must be his problem.

No, he said Hauk didn't like humans and he wasn't interested.

Jerking her costume off, she tossed it. on the bed. Never had she been so embarrassed.

Who did he think he was? A mercenary assassin? Hah! He wasn't worthy of such an awe inspiring title. He was just a crude, low-bred gimfry with the manners of a ghoul!She would show him how little he meant to her. In fact, she'd never even speak to him again.

Kiara belted her robe around her waist and entered the hallway. She stopped and looked back to where Nykyrian still leaned against her bar. Her body trembled in rage.

Nykyrian's skin tingled. He knew he was being watched. Turning his head, he saw Kiara's blazing amber eyes. Good, she hated him. Hatred was one thing he could easily deal with. But then, why did he ache with the knowledge that she despised him? He should be happy.

Shaking himself out of his emotions, he turned back to Hauk. He heard Kiara enter the bathroom. When the water came on, an image of her naked body caressed by the water's spray flashed through his mind.

Against his will, his body responded with a hammering need.

"Are you all right?" Darling asked.

"Tired." Nykyrian cleared his throat. "You were saying you placed scanners outside in the corridor."

"Right. Hauk reworked the communications system to prevent anyone from accessing it.

The channels will be clear should you need to contact us."

Nykyrian nodded. "I still intend to use the link."

"Probably for the best," Hauk said. "Once Bredeh learns you're guarding her, he's going to come after you with full arsenal."

"I'm ready."

Hauk snorted. "I wouldn't be so arrogant. He won't stick by League rules and attack you openly. He wants your life more than he wants Kiara's." Hauk crunched a friggle.

Nykyrian shrugged. Aksel was the least of his present concerns.

Nykyrian heard Kiara leave the bathroom. Squelching the desire to look at her, he returned his thoughts to their discussion. "You act as if Aksel wanting me dead is something new. He's been trying to kill me since I was ten."Hauk snorted. "True, but- "

Kiara's scream echoed in the flat.

Nykyrian went cold. Drawing his blaster, he ran down the corridor to the back room where the sound had come from. Carefully, he entered the studio, then froze.

With a stern frown, he looked at Kiara's rage flushed face. She stood in the center of the room, hands on hips.

"What is going on?" he snapped, angered over her unwarranted shriek.

"What have you done?" she snarled. "Look at my room!" She gestured toward the black blaster shields over her floor length windows. "How dare you people come into my home and rearrange my furnishings. And what is that thing?"

Holstering his blaster, Nykyrian stared at the opaque window coverings. "It's a blast shield."

Darling and Hauk exchanged wary looks.

"I forgot to mention that," Darling said. "We covered all the windows to keep snipers from seeing a target."

Kiara fumed. "I want you to leave! All of you. Out!"

Nykyrian nodded to Hauk and Darling, excusing them. Without a word, they left.

"I meant you as well."

"I know you did. Get used to me, I'm not leaving."

She walked right up to him, her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "You're fired."

Her audacity almost made him smile. It had been a long time since someone dared stand up to him in anger without a weapon pointed at his head. "You didn't hire me."

Kiara's eyes widened. Never in her life had she been so angry. In fact, it was rare she ever lost her temper. She stared at Nykyrian wishing she were Trisani and could splatter him against her walls with just her thoughts."I want you out of my home."

For a brief moment, she thought he winced, but his face quickly turned back hard. He left the studio.

Satisfaction washed over her as she surveyed the empty room. Tomorrow she would have the building's maintenance crew remove the shields. Tonight she would enjoy the peacefulness of being alone and alive.

She wanted her life back and she intended to claim it!

A movement in one of her mirrors caught her attention. Stepping closer to the glass, she recognized Nykyrian in her front room.

She trembled in rage. He hadn't left. In a heated daze, she went to expel him from her life. She was tired of having no control over anything that happened to her. The time had come for people to realize she would tolerate no more encroachments on her freedom!

Reaching the kitchen, Kiara paused, shocked by the sight before her.

He was preparing dinner? Her anger dissolved. Never had she expected a mercenary assassin to cook. "What are you doing?" she asked, subdued.

"I thought you might be hungry, I know I am."

Kiara watched him rinse assorted brenna vegetables in her sink. Pulling her cutting block off the wall, he began chopping the vegetables into tiny pieces. "You actually look like you know what you're doing."

He stopped chopping and looked up at her. "Does it surprise you? Even killers need food."

She ignored his obvious barb. "Food yes, but Cretoria? That is what you're making?"

"Yes." He finished chopping the vegetables, then placed them on the counter.

"So, you're a killer and a gourmet."

Nykyrian shrugged while he walked to her cooling unit and pulled out her defrosted trona meat. He returned to her counter. "You could say I'm a gourmet killer. Being Andarion, I like my human meat cooked well."She bit her lip at his even tone that betrayed no hint of emotion. "You told me you don't eat humans."

She was sure the look under his glasses was a sharp glare. Without a word, he began chopping the meat.

Kiara watched the hacking cleaver, and with each thump she cringed. Was she safe alone with him? Her hands trembled. Her father wouldn't have hired him if he thought there would be any danger to her. Right?

If only she could read his thoughts as easily as he seemed to read hers.

"Do you ever remove your glasses?"

"No."

She pursed her lips at his curt response. "Are you embarrassed over your Andarion eyes?" she persisted, trying to figure out why he wanted to wear them inside.

He growled low in his throat. "Nothing about me, bothers me. But my eyes seem to make everyone else damn uncomfortable."