Great. Just what he'd always wanted to be. An STD to the only female who'd ever owned his heart. Mom and Dad would be so proud.

But there was one thing he needed to make clear. "And I need to warn you, Kareem. While they are here, the Baturs are under my protection and are to be left alone. Any Tavali who f.u.c.ks with them will get the worst end of me. That includes your father."

As soon as they docked at the Tavali station, Fain saw Braxen Venik waiting to greet them, with an entire squadron of Hadean Corps soldiers as his escort. The Hadean Corps were the Tavali enforcers and their version of a highly trained tactical police unit. They had to be since The Tavali were an extremely rough and well-trained group who lived to fight and play hard.

Tall and fierce, Brax was half Andarion, but looked mostly human with his dark eyes just like Kareem. Only his elongated canines betrayed his Andarion heritage, and that tiny bit of Andarion biology had cost the male dearly in his life, and left Brax with a bitter resentment toward the entire Andarion race. It was why Brax had hated Fain the first time they'd met.

Why, even though Fain had been a bound slave kept by humans, Venik had dragged him off the ship which was then called the Cerulean Escapades by his hair, and shot out both kneecaps while he'd been chained and unable to protect himself.

Venik would have done more, but the fire and venom in Fain that refused to beg or be dominated by anyone or anything had given the Tavali pause.

Fain's only response to the a.s.sault had been to look Venik in the eye and laugh. "Pain I can take, old man. Do your f.u.c.king worst, and you better make sure I die. 'Cause if I get loose, I'm going to rip out your guts and strangle you with them. I promise you."

Those growled, hostile words had finally won the pirate over and made him respect the fact that Fain was every bit the warrior Venik was.

However, the expression on Brax's face today said something bad was brewing. And that the male was highly p.i.s.sed off and out for blood.

Curious about what had him in such a foul mood, Fain left the ship first.

As soon as Fain was close enough, Brax hugged him like a brother before he narrowed his dark gaze at the twenty-two Andarions with them. "I heard you were shot on your arrival. Should we return the favor to them?"

"No!" Fain said quickly. "Two of them are my family."

Brax quirked a brow. "As I recall, your family disowned you. Left you for dead."

"Not these two. And it's complicated. I'd just rather they be treated with respect."

Brax nodded slowly. "I'll let the others know, then." He moved toward Galene. "Commander Batur?"

She hesitated at the flash of his fangs. "You're part Andarion?"

"My father. My mother was a Qill warrior, as is my wife." He frowned as he saw Talyn approaching them. A knowing glance at Fain let him know that Brax had already deduced who Fain was related to and why it was complicated. "Another Commander Batur in the mix." He took a moment to study Talyn. "You're not the Talyn Batur, are you?"

"I am."

He held his hand out in friendship. "Nice to meet you, Hammer."

"You, too, Captain Venik." There was an underlying crisp chill to Talyn's voice.

His friendliness vaporizing, Brax curled his lip the moment he saw Chayden disembark and head in their direction. Without a word of greeting, he spun and led his men away.

Chayden grinned widely as he joined them. "Look at me, making friends everywhere I go." Lifting his nose, he sniffed at the air. "You can just smell the happy welcome... oh wait, someone needs a bath." He clapped Fain on the back. "Oh yeah, that's me, too!"

Galene pa.s.sed a quizzical stare to Fain.

"Chayden has major brain trauma. I think his sister must have slapped him too hard in childhood."

Laughing good-naturedly, Chayden winked at her. "Venik hates my Tavali father, Gadgehe Hinto. It's an old blood feud between them. Which means I get to irritate the grand Porturnum leader with impunity. It's awesome." He glanced to Fain and grinned before he spoke to Galene. "And if you want me to rattle his cage, just holler at your boy and I'll do it. I live to make beautiful females happy."

Galene smiled. "Thank you, Chayden. I just might take you up on that."

Flashing his dimples, Chayden clicked his teeth. "By the way, we should probably let you know that Venik isn't a captain. His rank is technically high admiral and Tavali presidium."

Talyn gave him an emotionless stare. "I know. I did it to p.i.s.s him off."

Chayden let out a low, insidious laugh as he clapped Talyn on the arm. "You and me, Hammer, we're going to be good friends. I can tell."

From across the bay, Brax motioned Fain away to speak to him while a small group of Tavali women came forward to show Galene, Talyn, and their soldiers where to bunk.

Talyn carried his mother's gear through their impressively clean and modern hallways toward their rooms.

After what seemed like miles of hiking, the Tavali women finally showed them the bunk corridor where their rooms were lined up like prison cells.

With a smirk, the shortest woman opened the closest door. "For you, Prime Commander."

Galene screwed her face up at the small, cramped quarters they'd reserved for her group. They really did look like prison cells. It wasn't just the hallway. They even held that peculiar antiseptic, inst.i.tutional smell. "Is there nothing better than this?" she asked the female Tavali closest to her.

She shrugged. "It's where we always put our special guests. Sorry it's not up to Your Majesty's high standards."

Talyn caught Galene as she started for the woman. "It's fine, Commander. I'll take the smallest one." He cut a fierce glare at the woman who'd led them here. "Give our females the larger rooms. If there are any to be had."

The woman stepped back to let Talyn enter his "closet."

Galene wanted to weep at the paltry quarters. She knew The Tavali had better accommodations than this there was no way they'd bunk their crew in something so horrible but The Tavali and Andaria had a long and ugly history of war between them.

Obviously, this was their petty way of getting back at their former enemies, even though they were here to help them and be allies.

Something that proved to be more than apparent when she entered her hot, stifling room. Without another word, she set her duffle on the small cot. Sadly, it was better than what Talyn was dealing with. At least she could turn around without b.u.mping into anything.

Disgusted, she picked up her link to call him. "Hey, mi tana. You want to exchange rooms? Mine's a little larger and you're a lot bigger than me."

"It's fine, Mum. I had a smaller bed in gen-barr. At least it has its own bathroom. I can manage."

I can manage. Her heart broke at his most common phrase to her after the word "fine." "Ever my brave soldier. Love you, Talyn."

"You, too."

Galene hung up and started to unpack, only to learn that there was nowhere to store her gear. Not even a closet or nightstand. Infuriated, she'd just set her duffel on the narrow desk when Fain texted over a map of the facilities and instructions on where their command center was located, as well as her office.

Disgusted with all of The Tavali in general and Fain in particular, she refused to text him back. Effing b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He was probably the reason they were being housed here.

Trying not to think about it, she went to the bathroom to freshen up.

Fain frowned as he waited and waited for a text from Galene. When she didn't respond, he traced her location.

No... that had to be a mistake.

Someone's s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with me.

a.s.suming they were being toured and not actually placed on that side of the base, he finished up his reports for Nyk and logs for Brax before heading to the room numbers a.s.signed to Galene and her team.

The moment he opened the door and saw the cramped closet-sized hole that was her room, he wanted blood.

This was utter bulls.h.i.t!

He stepped back to leave at the same time the bathroom door opened.

It wasn't Galene.

Dressed in only a towel while drying his hair with another, Talyn came out to glare at him. "Don't you f.u.c.king knock?"

"I thought this was your mother's room."

Lowering the towel in his hand, Talyn arched a brow at that and gave him a withering glower. "Are you trying to p.i.s.s me off? Or is this a natural talent you possess?"

"Apparently, it's an innate skill where you're concerned."

That p.i.s.s-poor attempt at humor didn't resolve any of the tension in the room. If anything, it made it worse.

Fain sighed at his other raw talent making bad situations fatal. He'd never been good at diffusing things. Only blowing them up. "Since I have you alone for a minute, can I ask you something?"

"Yes. You're an a.s.shole. I took a survey and everyone agrees." Talyn didn't lose a beat or crack the slightest trace of a smile. His delivery was totally deadpan.

Fain would have been more ticked off had it not been something he would have said to someone he hated, had he ever thought of it.

Talyn hung the towel around his neck and held it with both hands as he leaned against the bathroom door to watch him. "Are you going to ask it, or stand there staring at me like a perv?"

d.a.m.n, the kid had way too much of him in his DNA. Poor Galene that she had to put up with him. "That look you gave Venik earlier. What was behind it?"

"He was so cute and fluffy, I couldn't help noticing."

Fain rolled his eyes. d.a.m.n, that level of bad att.i.tude must be hardwired into all Hauk DNA.

"You two have history. Since we're supposed to be working together and I'm the lucky moron a.s.signed to this disaster, I don't want to get blindsided by bad blood. What's the deal between you two?"

Talyn let out a long, annoyed breath before he answered. "I merely found it amusing that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d didn't remember meeting me nine years ago when he held a blaster to my head and threatened to pull the trigger."

Nine years ago...

Fain's eyes widened as he remembered the one and only time Andarions had infiltrated this station and infuriated Venik to the point of murder. The Tavali had been sheltering Eriadne eton Anatole during the Andarion civil war that had only ended when Cairistiona was crowned and her mother deposed. "You were part of the Andarion strike force that came here to retrieve the former tadara?"

"I was the commander of it." Talyn moved to the cot to pull out his clothes.

"Why didn't you tell your mother about that?"

He glared at Fain. "To what purpose? She needs her head clear to lead. It's my baggage to carry. Not hers. She has enough to deal with. She doesn't need to know Venik almost killed me. Especially since he can't even remember it."

As Fain watched him digging through his duffel, he noticed something else peculiar about his son.

Without a word, he took Talyn's hand into his and scowled at the tattoo Talyn had in a band around his unification finger. Written in Andarion were the words "Forever Felicia's."

Because Talyn couldn't legally marry or even buy or wear a wedding ring, or bear Felicia's family crest in any way, Talyn must have done that as a way of publicly honoring his female. Of showing the universe he was committed to her.

Laws be d.a.m.ned.

Ever defiant. That particular tattoo was a bold move on Andaria, where Talyn could be arrested for it if the wrong official happened to see it, and was in a particularly s.h.i.tty mood.

Growling at him, Talyn jerked his hand out of Fain's grasp.

Fain stepped back, his gaze falling to the photo on the bed of a beautiful Andarion female, sitting at a white desk with her chin resting on her hand as she smiled sweetly at the photographer. "Felicia?"

"It's none of your business, old man." Talyn tucked the picture in the bag, but Fain didn't miss the care he took to protect it from harm.

Realizing anything he said or did would only p.i.s.s his son off more, Fain opened the door to leave. But as he did so, he felt the twenty-degree difference between the hallway and the stifling temperature in Talyn's room. "Why's it so hot in here?"

"Air's broken."

"You report it?"

Talyn gave him a droll stare. "No. I live for sweltering heat. At home, I'd have to pay good credits for a sauna this extreme."

He ignored the dripping sarcasm. "What did they say?"

"I'm on the list. They'll get to it when they have time. Now, if you don't mind, I've already given you one free show. That's my limit and there's not enough room in here to dress with you standing on top of me."

No, there wasn't.

Furious with his Tavali comrades, Fain left and pulled out his link. He called the Station Support Center to ask about the lovely Andarion accommodations, and was greeted with proud laughter.

"Yeah, we put the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in the slag block quarters."

Fain's vision darkened. "I want them moved," he growled. "Immediately. They're here to help us, not be hazed."

"You're serious, Hauk?"

"More than serious. I want them out of here faster than you can tel-a.s.s, and the Baturs are to be given family accommodations, with all working facilities. If not, I'm making a personal visit up there, shoving my foot up your collective a.s.ses, and none of you are going to be walking out of that room tonight. You understand me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. You have twenty minutes. Run, a.s.sholes. Fast." Fain hung up and almost walked into Galene as she was headed for Talyn's room.

For the merest instant, he saw the way she used to look at him... like he was her hero. "You didn't have to do that."

Fain's body reacted instantly to her presence. Dammit. All he wanted was to hold her again. To kiss those perfect lips...

But she'd viciously attack him if he tried. He could feel her slap already.

Clearing his throat, he tried to ignore how much he still loved her. But it was even harder than his body was. "I didn't bring you here to be abused. And I'm not about to leave Talyn sweltering in a cell so small he doesn't have enough room to change his mind."