Acting Out (11 page)

Three long, hellish sun cycles had passed since that
terrible night, and Korian felt worse than he had ever imagined he could. Not
even the death of his
mina
at the tender age of 10 years had left him
this sick with dread and unable to sleep and eat. He had been unsurprised to
find that Jessica had abandoned the compound when the twin suns rose the next
morning, and a scan of the transmissions outgoing from his command center had confirmed
his suspicions that she had left with the warrior Mahoney. Perhaps it was for
the best, he had tried to convince himself, as he had walked through her empty
room and felt the chill of her absence. His pale lavender eyes had landed on
the shiny metallic hair pin on her dresser, and his heart shriveled a little
bit more at this evidence of her abandonment.

His thoughts and emotions warred inside his mind like enemy
combatants. Images of Jessica smiling and laughing as they lay in bed, their
bodies replete from visiting the stars together, taunted him as his imagination
vindictively replaced his face with that of Zandar Nic’Omar. His heart felt as
if it had died inside his chest and only awakened often enough to squeeze
painfully anytime he remembered the taste of her lips, the feel of her body
trembling beneath his, and the sound of his name on her lips when he made her
shatter into climax. How could she have betrayed him in such a manner? How could
he have misread her so completely? He had fooled himself into believing that
she had grown to care for him as he had grown to care for her, but she had
played him for a fool.

No matter how many times he went over the details in his
head, he could think of no other reason for what his spy had witnessed. Nikesus
was a loyal and faithful employee of many years, and would have no reason to
lie about what he had seen. It was even more damning that Jessica had not
denied the report, but had sought to defend herself once he had announced his
intention to challenge her other lover for breaking the Captive Law. How could
he trust her to tell him the truth when she was so practiced in the art of
deception through her chosen profession? No, he was right to put his faith in a
loyal servant of his court over a human female he had known only a short time.

For three sun cycles, he had closeted himself in his rooms,
brooding and pacing, as he obsessively relived each moment of their time
together. He reviewed every word that was said and every action that had been
taken to find more proof of her duplicity. He listened to every report from his
spies that had been sent to him following each of her outings since she had
arrived at the compound, searching for hidden evidence of her trysts with
Zandar, but each time he came away with nothing. Not even after her outing to
the market with the warrior had there been a whisper of improper behavior
between them save for a brief hug and a chaste kiss to her cheek. When had they
had the time to meet for their trysts? Her time on T’Kala was fully accounted
for, yet there must have been some other way for them to have come together. If
there had not been a previous time, what had prompted her to take such risks in
beginning an affair in the home of their enemy? It made no sense to him, and he
was making himself crazy with increasingly outlandish theories and
possibilities.

The nights were the worst. When he lay in his bed, he
imagined that he could still smell the scent of her hair on his bedclothes and
his shaft would grow thick and swollen with want for her as he remembered the
feeling of releasing himself deep inside her body. These thoughts inevitably
brought him back to the possibility of her belly growing round with his son or
his daughter, and his heart would give that painful squeeze again until he lost
his breath from it. Now that the option had been taken from him, he realized
that he had been subconsciously considering asking Jessica to stay with him on
T’Kala and become his lifemate, especially in the last few days before his
world had shattered around him. But that plan would never come to fruition now
that all trust between them had been destroyed.

Not even his fury against Zandar could be appeased. No
matter how thoroughly his spies searched, they could not find the warrior anywhere
in the city of P’Hartha in order for Korian to issue his challenge. He knew
that Zandar Nic’Omar was almost ten years his senior and would have more combat
experience than himself, but the king had righteous anger on his side. He
intended to fight the other warrior and come out victorious. There was no other
option acceptable to him. But first, he had to find him. He could not even seek
advice or help from Mikael this time. His loyalties were split between his king
and his lifemate, and Korian would not force his old friend to choose between
them in this matter. Even when his transmission system had lit up with calls
from the captain, Korian had refused to answer and instructed his secretary to
hold all calls and turn away all visitors. He was not fit company for anyone in
his current state.

A loud, booming noise roused him from his brooding stance at
the window and he turned to face the door panel. Curiosity moved his feet
toward the noise, but he didn’t have to wait to find out who was disturbing him
so early in the morning on the fourth day of his self-imposed exile.

“I know you’re in there! Open the door, King Asshole!” an
angry female voice demanded before more booming sounds came from his door
panel.

He sighed heavily as he recognized the voice of Mikael’s
lifemate, Mahoney. He had expected her much sooner than now, but it did not
matter. He had no desire to face her wrath over her friend. He waited in
silence as the sounds of his warrior guards racing down the corridor toward the
disturbance reached his ears. He could hear the cadence of their voices as they
entreated with her to leave the king in peace, but Mahoney would not be
deterred. Her voice grew louder until he heard her growl, “Warrior Mantor, I
respect you and don’t want to hurt you, but if you lay your hand on me again,
you’ll find yourself wiping your ass with stumps.”

Korian couldn’t help but chuckle as the warriors obviously
took her threat seriously. Everyone had seen the fierce human female in action
during the broadcast at the awards ceremony, not to mention how gossip had
spread like wildfire through the warrior ranks. In order to save them from
having to face her fury, he called out, “Lt. Cmdr. Mahoney, I believe my
secretary and guards have all given you sufficient warning to leave me in
peace. I am not accepting audiences from anyone at this time.”

“Looks like you’re not giving me any choice here, Korian,”
she replied, her voice firm and annoyed. There was an eerie silence from the
hall and a spark of disappointment lit inside him. He longed for word about
Jessica, and even with the threat of having to face Mahoney, he was still
hoping that she would insist on speaking with him. She shocked him, therefore,
when she announced, “I challenge you, King Korian Ak’Falin, under Warrior Law
to armed combat for issuing grave insult and bodily harm to my sister, Jessica
MacGregor.”

Korian rocked back on his heels in shock and he could hear
incredulous exclamations from his guards. Despite his intention to challenge
Zandar, there had been no formal challenges issued by a warrior under the
ancient law for generations, and it was unheard of for a subordinate to
challenge the king.

“Command, open the door panel,” Korian called out. He
squared his body with the opening and clasped his arms behind his back as the
tableau in the corridor came into view. His three guards, including Mantor, had
taken a sizeable step back from the first ever female T’Kalan warrior and their
gazes were riveted with shock and awe on the human warrior coldly staring down
their king. Korian narrowed his eyes on the woman with exotically-slanted brown
eyes and called out, “By what proof do you lever your challenge? Jessica
MacGregor is no blood relative of yours, and I have never laid a finger on her
with intention for harm.”

Mahoney pulled her T’Kalan blade from its sheath at her side
and noticeably did not salute her king as she glared at him with seething
animosity. “I’ve had three whole weeks to research and study the Warrior Laws
during my training, King Korian. It doesn’t say anywhere in the transcripts
that the relative must be by blood. I claim Jessica MacGregor as the sister of
my heart, and I
will
defend her honor against all, even my king. As for
bodily harm, you don’t have to touch her to cause her that, though I have a
feeling her symptoms may be the direct result of you touching her.” She paused
to allow her meaning to sink in before snarling, “For
three fucking days
,
I have listened to her cry herself to sleep, vomiting anything that passes her
lips, and clutching her head in her hands as she suffers pounding headaches thanks
to her emotional crying jags. She can barely get out of the bed without
collapsing from fatigue and her entire body aches like she’s got the flu. Just
to be nice, I won’t even count the numerous bites and scratches I have
personally received from her pet demon any time I try to comfort her. There’s
your proof. Now, do you accept my challenge or not?”

Korian felt his stomach drop to his feet at the thought of
his
thalia
in so much pain. Had he really been the cause of her grief?
Could he have gotten the situation so wrong that his words and actions had led
to her despair?

“Why have you not taken her to see Officer Ax’Sandre for
corrective treatment? She should not have to suffer needlessly, no matter the
cause of her pain,” he snapped, his voice cracking like a whip.

Mahoney made a rude noise. “Please. You should know even
better than I do that you can’t make Jessica do anything she doesn’t want to
do. She’s refusing to go to the hospital or to the ship out of fear of what the
scans may reveal. She’s scared, Korian. Surely even you can understand that.”

Korian felt his indignation deflate to leave him bone-weary
and troubled. “I am asking you before your witnesses to rescind your challenge,
Lt. Cmdr. I do not wish to fight you, but I will accept if you insist. I
concede that you have just cause to issue it.”

Mahoney studied him closely, and Korian held his breath as
he watched her weigh her options. “That all depends on you, buddy. Are you
willing to listen to reason this time and get the whole story, or do I need to
beat it into your thick skull? I’d much rather fight it out, because I’m better
at getting my point across with my fists than I am with words, but I’m willing
to stand down if you are.”

Korian didn’t even have to think about it. With a sharp nod
of agreement, he replied, “I accept your bargain, Mahoney. I give you my oath
to hear you out with an open mind.”

The muscle in her jaw ticked and a flash of disappointment
ghosted across her expression, but she announced, “Then I hereby rescind my
challenge by armed combat under Warrior Law to King Korian Ak’Falin. For now.”
She sheathed her blade and stepped inside his rooms.

Korian blew out a heavy sigh of relief and waved his guards
away before issuing the command to close the door panels to ensure their
privacy. He followed the female warrior as she stalked through his sitting
room, past his sleeping chamber, and into the suns-drenched room surrounded by
solar glass. She collapsed into a comfortable chair and pinned him with her
fiery gaze until he followed suit and took the seat opposite her.

Korian shifted restlessly and waited for her to speak. He
hadn’t felt this chastised since he was a youngling suffering his
mina
’s
wrath after breaking her prized statuette with his play sword. It unnerved him
that this woman with a warrior’s heart could have him squirming with guilt so
easily. The tension that hung between them finally got to him and he prompted
her, “I said I would listen, warrior. You have my attention.”

Her pale pink lips quirked at her small victory in getting
him to break the silence first. “I know you don’t know me very well, Korian, so
I’m going to be straight with you. You fucked up. Big time. It’s as simple as
that. All of this mess could have been easily avoided if you had just given
Jessica the chance to explain what had really happened that night. Instead, you
chose to believe the worst about her and all but called her a whore. I’m still
dying to kick your ass for that.”

Korian clenched his jaw and bit back the sharp retort that
sprang to his lips. He had promised her that he would listen with an open mind,
and he meant to abide by his word. “Then explain to me how I misconstrued the
situation, and I will make amends to you both if I am proved wrong in my
actions,” he replied stiffly.

Mahoney leaned forward and braced her elbows on her knees
and clasped her hands between them. “Long story short, Zandar and Jessica knew
that Rox’Ana was trying to lure them into a trap by offering to allow them the
use of her home to have sex. She was hoping that they would take her up on her
offer and that it would lead to a challenge under Captive Law. They saw this
offer as an opportunity to sneak away from the party and search her quarters
for proof of any other plans she may have had to discredit or get rid of you.
Unfortunately, they were found by your trusty little spy before they could make
their escape.”

Korian felt the first stirrings of misgiving about his
reaction to the situation, but he stubbornly pressed forward. “That does not
explain why they were caught half-clothed and embracing on the bed.”

The human female sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “Stop
thinking with your dick and use your head. They were inside the locked bedroom
of their hostess and were about to be discovered spying on her. Jessica made
the only decision available to her at the time in order to cover their actions.
It was the lesser of two evils, Korian. Either they would be caught snooping
through a noblewoman’s private belongings, or they could be discovered breaking
Captive Law. There was no other option available to them in such a short time.”