Talyn dipped his head to make sure she wasn't being brave as he slowly got his body under control. "You sure?"
Nodding, she sniffed back her tears. "I lost our dinner, though. I beat him with it."
Talyn rolled his eyes. "I don't care about dinner."
"I'll make sure you have food delivered from the restaurant downstairs. Free of charge."
He inclined his head in gratitude. "Thank you, Aaron. For everything."
Felicia reached out to touch his hand. "Yes, thank you!"
Aaron bowed slightly. "Any time, mu tara. I'll see to your food."
As he left them alone, Talyn cupped her cheek in his hand. "What happened, baby?"
Felicia bit her lip, unsure of what to tell him. But the one thing she knew above all was that if he ever learned it was Anatole, he'd kill him. No questions asked. As much as she hated to lie, she could never let Talyn learn the truth. Not if she wanted to keep him from execution. "I don't know. It happened too fast to see anything."
"Lish..."
"I mean it, Talyn."
"If it was Anatole, I will fucking kill him!" he snarled.
As he started to rise, she latched on to his arm to keep him by her side. "No! You don't know it was him! You can't go after him. They'll kill you if you do."
His gaze burned with a fury so raw, it singed her.
"Talyn ... please! I can't live if they take you again! We don't know, okay?"
Tears filled his eyes as he pressed his forehead to hers and held her in a way that told her exactly how much he loved her. His hands shook as angst darkened his gaze. "Is that why you're pulling your contract from me?"
"What?" she breathed.
He nodded grimly. "Your agency called yesterday to tell me. They wanted me to pick another companion." If she lived a thousand years, she'd never forget the deep-seated hurt in his handsome features.
Never in her life had she wanted blood the way she did right then. After what Anatole had told her about Talyn and this ... "I'm not breaking the contract, Talyn. I went to them to ask about buying it back."
He flinched and nodded. "It's for the best. I understand."
As he started to withdraw, she cupped his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. "I wanted to buy it back so that I can stay with you. Forever. I love you, Talyn. Only you. They told me a few days ago that they had accepted another contract for me, and that they were the ones breaking this one. I told them that I refused to do it. And I only went there today to find out how much I'd need to buy my contract out." She pulled her link from her pocket and handed it to him. "You can see the e-mails for yourself, and the timestamps on them."
He scowled at her. "What are you saying?"
"What I started with. I. Love. You. Talyn. I don't want another male. Ever."
He winced. "Felicia, I can't give you anything."
Biting her lip, she searched for the words to make him understand that in this universe that hated him for things he couldn't help, she loved him for what he was. "I don't need things, Talyn. In spite of who my father is, I grew up with very little. For the most part, I was raised in one-room efficiencies. It's why I know how to cook and take care of myself. Material objects don't matter to me. They never have. But you do. You're all that matters to me."
Still, he shook his head as if he couldn't fathom her words. Or her loyalty. He brushed his hand over her bruised cheek. "I can't put you at this kind of risk. I can't."
"Talyn--"
"I'm stralen, Felicia."
Her breath caught in her throat. "What?"
He reached up and pulled a contact out of his left eye and then his right. There underneath, the entire iris was bloodred. "It was temporary at first. I only had it for a few hours whenever we had sex. But after I came back from Onoria and you touched me again, it became permanent. It's why I told you I had a headache the first time we slept together. I didn't want you to feel obligated to me because of it. Now you understand ... I have to keep you safe."
Horror and happiness mixed inside her. It was what every Andarion female dreamed of having in her life. A stralen male who was hers, alone. One who would never stray.
That was the fairy tale.
But the reality was that he would die for her. Without hesitation. That he would be driven to protect her, no matter the cost to himself. He would never have a sense of self-preservation when she was threatened.
"Talyn--"
The intercom buzzed. She started to ignore it until she heard Aaron's voice.
"I have an enforcer here to take Tara Felicia's statement."
Talyn cursed. "Show him up." He rose to his feet. "I have to put the contacts back in. I'll return in a second."
No sooner had he gone than she covered her mouth with her hand as she remembered finding contact solution in her bathroom after he'd reported to the palace. She'd stupidly assumed it was his mother's, and had even wondered why it was in their bathroom instead of the guest room.
Now she knew.
Stralen.
Everything had just become more complicated and at the same time clearer.
Like muddy water.
The lift pinged. Aaron led the enforcer off. Rising, she realized that she was still in her torn dress. Just as she started to excuse herself, Talyn returned with her bathrobe. He draped it around her and met her gaze.
Weird. With those contacts in place, there was no sign of his condition at all. It was shocking really that they concealed it so completely. Had he not told her, she'd have never known.
"Tara Orfanos," the enforcer said with a slight bow. "I'm sorry to have to disturb you, but I'm sure you'd rather file your report here than come down to the station and do it."
She nodded.
Aaron cleared his throat. "I'll put your food in the kitchen until you're ready."
"Thank you." She gestured to the armchair. "Would you like a seat, officer?"
The male nodded and sat down before he pulled his ledger out and navigated through it. But he kept glancing up at Talyn in a strange way that said he knew exactly who Talyn was.
"Are you a Ring fan?" she asked him.
The enforcer actually blushed. "Yes, mu tara. A huge one."
She took Talyn's hand in hers and led it to her cheek. "Then to answer your unspoken question, yes. He's the Iron Hammer. You're not crazy."
A wide grin broke across his face as he shot back to his feet. "Ah, I knew it!" Biting his lip, he slid his stylus into his pocket. "This is so inappropriate of me, but could I please shake your hand?"
Talyn held his arm out to him. "Sure, Officer..." He glanced to the male's name tag. "Hawas."
The enforcer shook his hand quickly, then returned to work. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you, mu tara. I promise, we'll make finding the male who did this a priority. No one attacks the Hammer's female!"
Talyn didn't speak as he sat down next to Felicia.
"I have most of the details and a description from your security guard. What I need are the specifics from you. Do you know him? Have you seen him before? Did he say anything during the attack?"
"Honestly, it all happened so fast that I'm really fuzzy on the details right now. All I remember is him grabbing me and shoving and shouting. And thinking that I just needed to escape him." Tears welled in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. "Is there any way I can call you if I remember something more?"
The enforcer finished typing it in with his stylus. "Absolutely." He pulled a card from his pocket and wrote a number on the back. "My office link is on the front. The back is my personal one. You call, day or night. If you feel threatened at all, we'll gladly send someone over. And if anything comes to you, no matter how insignificant you think it is, give me a call." He handed her the card. "And I hate to ask, but I assume the bruises on your face and arm are from the attack?"
She nodded.
"Would you mind if I took a photo of them for the evidence log? And your dress?"
"Sure."
He
held his ledger up and had her pull her hair back from her face and neck so that he could document it. Likewise, she removed the robe.
Talyn ground his teeth as he saw the tears starting to flow down her cheeks. He pulled her against his chest and held her close. "Shh, munatara. It'll be all right."
Her legs buckled.
Talyn caught her up into his arms. He met the enforcer's concerned gaze. "If you'll wait here for a moment, I'll be right back. I just want to put her to bed."
"Yes, sir."
He carried her into the bedroom and covered her with the blankets.
"I'm sorry, Talyn."
"Don't you dare apologize. I know how hard it is. I'll be right back." He kissed her cheek and grabbed a magazine from the nightstand before he returned to the living room where Officer Hawas was chatting with Aaron.
"Thank you," Talyn said to the enforcer. "I really appreciate your compassion with her."
"No problem. I have a wife and daughter, and I know how furious I'd be if something like this happened to them."
"Yeah. He better be glad Aaron was there and not me. Otherwise, this would be a homicide report."
The enforcer nodded. "Thank you for your time, Major Batur. I'll have a patrol in the area for the next few days. Just in case."
"Thanks." Talyn held up the Splatterdome magazine in his hand. "Would you like me to sign this for you?"
"Really! Gah, I'd be so honored. Could you make it out to Theris?"
"Absolutely." Talyn signed it to him and handed it over. "Again, thank you both." He walked them to the lift, then went to get dinner for Felicia.
*
Felicia came out of the bathroom to find Talyn in the bedroom with a large tray of food and wine. Love for him spread through her. No one had ever made her feel the way he did.
Beautiful. Cherished.
"I wasn't sure what you'd like or what goes with the food since I can't drink, so I brought both red and white."
"Thank you, keramon." Dressed in her nightgown, she slid back into bed. "But I'm supposed to be taking care of you."
"It's all right. I'm pissed now. Feel no pain past the fury that makes me want to go hunt down whatever animal did this to you and skin him alive while he screams." He handed her a glass of wine. "I swear I'm going to find the bastard and--"
"We need to be productive with this, Talyn."
"I am being productive. His mutilation would be a service to all Androkyn."
"But it would get you a death sentence."
He took a bite of her salad. "I could die happy with that."
Rolling her eyes, she took a sip of wine.
Swallowing, he cupped her bruised cheek in his warm palm. "I'm sorry you were hurt and I'm sorry about your agency. I should have known better than to contract with you and drag you into my fucked-up life." A tic started in his jaw. "I was so lonely that night I first saw your photo. Just looking up fighting stats on Steel Jaw when the ad for your agency popped up. I never click on them, but you were so beautiful and you looked so kind and sweet. Innocent."
He stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. "It was the photo where you had your left hand up, pulling your hair back from your face. Your eyes sucked me in and I lost my heart to you in that instant."
She snorted at him. "Yeah, right ... that's what you noticed. Not that I'm in my tiny bra and panties in that picture."
He laughed at her surly tone. "Your bra and panties were more circumspect in that photo than the bikinis the others wore in theirs."
"I thought you didn't look at anyone else."
He laughed. "I wasn't stralen then, nor dead. I did look." The humor died on his face as he locked gazes with her. "But I wasn't interested in them."
She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, okay. It was a sports bra and briefs, not a thong. The agency cameraman had a stroke when he saw what I'd brought to be photographed in. They were all horrified over my choice ... and the fact that I had more muscle mass than both of the males combined."
He ran his fingers down her arm, raising chills in his wake. "I loved that you weren't skinny, but muscled. The one where you were flexing your arms ... that was the one that really got me."
"Muscle? Please. Compared to you, I'm a flabby old female. I'm pretty sure your left biceps are bigger than my waist."
Laughing, he sank his hand in her hair. "And these curls ... they haunted me. All I wanted was to bury my hand in them and have you whip your hair over my chest."
"So it was the curls and muscles that sold you, huh?"
"No. What sold me was the fact that when I logged in, there were no photos of you naked. Unlike the others, you were a real tara." He traced her lips with his fingertip. "In all my life, I've never wanted anything as much as I wanted to talk to you. To see if you were as sweet and soft as you appeared."
"Big letdown, eh?"
He shook his head. "You were so much more than I'd ever expected to find. I still can't believe you're here with me."
She wanted to cry at the sincerity in his eyes. "Is that why you agreed to pay me your entire officer's salary?"
He pulled back with a shocked gasp. "What?"
She narrowed her gaze on him. "I have to buy out the value of my contract with you from the agency. They sent me the bill for it. Fifty thousand a year, just to the agency? Are you insane?"
He looked away sheepishly.
Felicia wanted to choke him for throwing his money away like that. "That is what you're paying, isn't it?"
He cringed even more before he answered. "Actually, I'm paying seventy-five. The fifty thousand buyout was negotiated before the contract was drafted."
For a full minute, she couldn't breathe as those words fell against ears that didn't want to believe them. "What?"
He nodded. "I had to pay thirty-five up front. And agree to seventy-five for the probationary period and first five years. And fifty for the next ten years, after that, provided you agreed to extend the contract with me."
She slapped him with a pillow. "Are you mental? That's over a million dollars for me! Oh my God. Talyn, you're an idiot!"
He gaped at her.
"Well, you are! Who does that? Oh my God!" she repeated. But in her heart, she knew the real answer. A male who had no choice. One who was being gouged by those who could demand anything they wanted and his only choice was to pay or be alone. "I can't believe you agreed to that."
"I would gladly pay that and more for you, Felicia."
She snorted at his sweet words. "That's the stralen in you talking."
"I wasn't stralen when I signed the agreement." He tucked the pillow behind her. "So how much do you need to buy out your contract?"
"A little over half a million."
He sucked his breath in sharply. "How soon do you need it?"
"Fifteen days."
Cursing, he winced. "I have three hundred and fifty left in a savings account."
She gaped at that amount. "How? Officers don't make that kind of money."
"I had to prove to the agency that I could afford you and their fees. So I contracted for fights I'd have normally passed on, and put the up-front prepayments into savings, investments, and this condo."
She felt sick as she realized what he'd been willing to do for her. "That's the real reason you're going against Death Warrant?"
He nodded. "And Iceman. Steel Jaw. The Mountain. Slayer."
"Five fights?"
"Six, counting the one I already fought."
"Talyn!"
"What? It's what I had to do to get that kind of cred. For death-styled title matches, I get eighty-five thousand a fight, plus another twenty if I win. Normally I only get fifteen with a five-thousand win bonus."
She fell silent as she did the math in her head. "So what you're telling me is that in a death match, out of every two-hundred credit ticket they sell, you barely make four credits?"
"Three and two bits, after locker and cleaning fees. Then after I pay Erix and Ferrick, I clear just under a single credit. A
fter taxes, I make half a cred."
For putting his life and health on the line.
She couldn't believe it. Shelf-stockers earned more. "Yet you're the reason they sell out every fight?"
He nibbled at her salad with a nonchalance that made her want to beat him. "I used to make only three percent of that in the Open league. And I made fifty thousand less a fight before I won the Vested Championship. I'm very happy with what they pay me now. Trust me. I'm the highest-paid fighter in Ring history."
Great. Not what she wanted to hear.
"It's still not fair."
Talyn didn't comment on that as he swallowed a bite of food. "If I agree to four more title fights in the next six months, we'd have what you need to buy back the contract."
She gaped at him and what he was willing to do.
For her. But she wasn't so sure she wanted him to make that sacrifice. "Talyn, I can't do that to you. I'm sick over what you've already agreed to. I don't want to be the reason you're beaten to a senseless pulp."
"I'm senseless without the beatings," he said teasingly. "Besides, I'm the reason they're doing this to you. I can get an up-front loan from Ferrick until we contract the other fights. You can pay off your contract at the first of the week. Then you're a total civ and your agency can't touch you."
That was all well and good, except for one thing. "You'll be broke."
"I don't need anything, Felicia. My uniforms and military room and board come out of my pay already. I bought my airbike free and clear. Because I'm a champion, the gym supplies me with training equipment and time for free. The only thing I ever spend credit on is lunch, and I can eat in the mess hall. I don't have to go out. And since my rank's busted, I don't have to carry flight insurance anymore to cover the cost of my ship in case I crash it. That's an extra three hundred creds a month I get to keep now."
He made it all sound so feasible and easy. Yet she knew it wasn't. "I can't ask you to do this for me."
"Felicia, I'd have had to pay it anyway, if you'd contracted with me after our probation period."
"But I didn't know that before this."
He took her hand and led it to his heart. "Munatara a la frah. If I had one wish, it would be to have a name and lineage to give you. But the gods didn't grant me that. All I have to offer you is my heart and loyalty. Besides, if we were married, all I have would be yours, anyway. So take it all. I don't want any of it without you."
She pulled his lips to hers so that she could kiss him. "I hate you, you bastard!"