Part 29 (2/2)

Smiling at him, she slowly began to thrust her hips against his.

Fain growled again as the stralen inside him rushed forward. It'd been so long since he felt it that he'd forgotten the intensity of the hormones and adrenaline. The feral need to protect everything he loved.

”I love you, Galene,” he breathed. It was a stupid confession, but it wasn't like she didn't know it. Not like she couldn't look into his red eyes and see the truth.

There was no way to hide it now. Not that he wanted to.

She'd been right. He'd hidden too much from her. Never again would he be so stupid.

Closing his eyes, he bit his lip and savored the warmth of being held by her. Of finally feeling like he was where the G.o.ds had meant for him to be.

This really was home.

”Kimi asyado.”

I love you tremendously.

Galene couldn't breathe as she heard the words she'd lain awake at night missing. As she felt Fain's strong arms around her again while he slowly thrust against her hips. She pressed her cheek to his the deepest expression of Andarion affection. ”I love you, Fain Hauk. You worthless b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

He laughed at that. ”But I'm your worthless b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

She joined his laughter until he took control of their lovemaking. Her laughter died under a fierce groan at how good he felt inside her.

Screaming out, she came in a blinding wave of pleasure.

Fain savored the sound of her literally purring in his ear while she clutched at him and arched her back against the wall. Closing his eyes, he surrendered to his own release. Weak and panting, he leaned his forehead against the wall and held her against him as he shook all over.

Galene nuzzled his neck, raising chills the entire length of his body.

When he pulled back, he saw the same regret inside her eyes that he felt for all the years together they'd missed. ”I should never have let you go.”

”You had no choice.”

”That's the lie I've always told myself.”

”It's not a lie, Fain. It just wasn't meant to be for us.”

The way she said that made his breath catch. ”What are you saying?”

”That the G.o.ds themselves conspired against us. Maybe there was a reason for it.”

”Yeah, Merrell was an a.s.shole.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

”What are you doing?”

He quirked a grin at her. ”Making up for lost time.”

Hours later, Galene swallowed hard as she slowly traced the myriad of scars that marred Fain's bare back while he napped by her side. Honestly, she wasn't sure which ones angered her most. The deep, vicious marks from a whip that had to be from his days as a slave, or the surgery scars from when Venik had fused Fain's spinal cord with his s.h.i.+p.

Tears blurred her vision as she tried to imagine the horror he'd suffered. How much rehabilitation must have gone into merging him with his s.h.i.+p's systems. She knew from Talyn's injuries just how long and arduous such recoveries were. Not just physically, but mentally grueling.

And Fain had done it without anyone there to help him through it. No one to wake up to.

That broke her heart.

She knew from her brief conversations with Dancer that he had no idea what Fain had been through. He stupidly thought his brother had joined The Tavali by choice. Dancer had no knowledge that Fain was still enslaved to Venik or that he'd been bound to a cruel human master for a time. One who had used him as nothing more than a c.o.c.kfighter in the worst sort of blood sport. One that made the Andarion Open Ring fights look like kids' play. Fain had been stripped of his name, his heritage.

Everything.

When Venik had taken custody of Fain, he'd been nothing more than a piece of feral property. Marked and tagged, and issued a value like other pieces of stolen cargo.

How she wished she'd never gone snooping into Fain's Tavali service files.

But she'd known that Fain would never tell her anything about his past. Her male was too good at keeping his secrets.

With the sound of his soft snore warming her, she pressed her lips to his shoulder and traced the lines of his tattoo. Just as she started to brush her fingers against the small hairs around his navel, he woke up with a beautiful fanged smile.

He s.h.i.+fted slightly to give her more access to his body. ”Surely you're not still hungry for me?”

Laughing, she nipped at his shoulder while she gently cupped and caressed him. ”Maybe.”

He kissed her as he rolled so that she could straddle his hips. But before she could do much more, her link went off with Talyn's ring.

Worried that something might have happened, she grabbed it and answered. ”Hey, baby. Is everything okay?”

”Yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. Lish and I have something we're doing and we kind of need you here. You got a few?”

”For you? Always. But I'll need a couple of minutes before I head over.”

”No problem. And do you know how to reach Hauk? I tried, but he's not picking up his link.”

She traced the line of Fain's nose. ”Um, yeah, I might know where your father is. Why?”

”Could you bring him with you?”

Now that was a strange request. ”Sure. You need me to bring anything else?”

”No. That's all we need.”

”All right. I'll be there shortly.” She hung up.

”Is something wrong?”

Galene hesitated. ”Not quite sure. Talyn didn't sound right.”

”Because he asked for me?”

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