“Assembly?” Raising a brow, he glanced down at the hand she still had clasping his arm, then covered her hand with his own.
Warm, gentle, soothing.
In direct contrast to her inner turmoil, a turmoil he engendered.
“Is that what it was, honey? An assembly? Because it looked more like a riot to me.”
It had looked like a riot to her, too. Too quickly for her to keep up, tempers of the colony members had escalated out of control. And no wonder. Their world was now as confused as her own.
Trying to block his charm so that it wouldn’t scatter her thoughts, she asked, “Why did you throw that man like that?”
“He shouted at you.” Face darkening with grave sincerity, he lifted his head and spoke loud enough for all to hear. “If he shouts at you again, I’ll throw him again. Or worse. You might want to let them all know that.”
Dryly, she rolled her eyes. “I imagine they all just heard you.”
Unapologetic, he nodded. “Good.”
Her teeth clenched. “Fine. No shouting. Anything else?”
“No shouting at you. I don’t give a damn if they want to chew each other to bits. Unless you’re trying to get their attention. Then they damn well better show some respect.”
She pulled her hand free from his and crossed her arms. “Respect. Check. Anything more?”
Michael grinned. “Yeah.” He leaned closer until she felt the warmth off his body and saw the striations in his intense blue eyes. “You’re even more adorable now that you’re all hot under the collar. A man can only take so much, Kayli.”
Her eyes widened.
“Do you think they’d start rioting again if I kissed you?”
Alarm took her fast away from him and back to face the crowd. She held up her hands—and noticed they shook.
“Henceforth,” she announced to one and all, “if you’re here at the arena, it is to join our ranks. That means that when I speak, you will show appropriate respect by listening. I do not expect to have to raise my voice again. Is that understood by all?”
Heads bobbed, but then one woman stepped forward. “I have a question.”
Kayli gave her leave to speak.
“What if we don’t want our men joining? Do we have any say in—”
Michael spoke before the woman had finished her questions. “You do not, not here.”
They all turned to him, and Kayli wanted to throw up her hands in exasperation. Instead, trying to maintain a façade of control, she gestured Michael forward.
The women went mute with lusty greed.
The men slumped from comparisons.
It was quite the odd reaction for both.
Shaking off that observation, Kayli looked over her people. “As many of you already know, Michael Manchester has come here to share his expertise in hand-to-hand combat methods, and to assist in defeating the invaders. You will show him the same respect that you show me.”
No one said a word.
Kayli cleared her throat. “Michael, do you have anything to add?”
“Yeah. Those of you in unions, if you disagree about who’s to join and who isn’t, stay at home until you get things settled. For now, the only people here should be people willing to fight for their colony. And the sooner we get started, the better. So I want men over there, and women over here.”
He
was
taking control. But before she could show him her frustration, he said, “Your Claviger has done a remarkable job training the women, and I’d like her to continue with that while I go through the ranks of men to see what potential we have.”
A murmur of excitement rose from the crowd, then died when Mallet raised his hand.
“Plan to sweat, people, because from here on, it’s all hard work. We’re not going to stop until we’re able to defend this colony, men, women, and children, from all invaders. You have my word.”
The silence stretched out, stretched, and then—the enthusiastic cheers erupted.
Again.
Kayli was still staring at her people when Michael tipped up her chin. “Okay?”
Once again, her heart softened. He was simply the most amazing man she’d ever encountered. “Listen to them.” She smiled at him in gratitude for what he’d brought to her people—hope. “What do you think?”
“I think you’ve done a great job of heading the defense, that’s what I think.” He bent and kissed her hard and fast, shattering the cheers into silence once again. “Go ahead and take them through your routine training. I’ll keep an eye out while I sort through the men.” He cupped her cheek. “And then tonight, you and I have some unfinished business.”
Unfinished business.
Did he mean of the sensual sort? Because God knew, she hadn’t a clue in that department.
And again, thoughts of Michael with other women, women who basked in their femininity, women comfortable and even practiced in sexual activity, nearly drowned her in her own misery.
How could she ever compare?
How could he
ever
be happy with her?
“Kayli? I’m not sending you to the gallows, babe, so don’t look so glum. You’ll damage my ego.”
Given the size of his ego, he grinned as he made that outrageous comment.
Kayli shook off her worries. “I’m fine.”
Regardless of her jumbled personal feelings, they had to prepare for the return of the invaders. The sooner they got the defense organized, the better their odds of success.
She’d have to worry about her lack of sexual knowledge and hands-on practice at a more convenient time. For now, she’d do well to impress Michael with the skills of the defense women. When he saw their abilities and knew that she had taught them, he’d know that she was capable.
And then, if he wanted her, it would be maybe because he cared, not because he felt some associated sense of obligation to protect her.
Keeping that plan in the forefront of her mind, Kayli strode into the ranks, issuing instructions and directing her people to get the most out of them.
But even as her troops put on a remarkable exhibit of strength, speed, and agility, her mother stood there, watching with what appeared to be a mix of worry and resignation.
Once Kayli had everyone busy with differing facets of routine training—some exercising, some sparring, some studying new formations of defense—she approached her mother.
“Kayli,” she said, and her strained smile put Kayli on edge.
“Mother.” Even though Michael often took her off-guard with his ways so different from hers, she realized that nothing made her tense like facing her own parent did. “You seldom visit the training yard. Is everything all right?”
Raemay shook her head, but said, “Yes, of course.” She turned to walk and Kayli naturally followed, not far, just to . . . move. “Michael and I had a talk.”
A fresh wave of unease crept up Kayli’s spine. Just as she knew it’d be disastrous for Michael to alienate her mother, she could not afford to have her mother chase Michael away. The colony couldn’t lose him. Watching him, seeing how everyone reacted to him, brought home that they needed a change even more than they needed Michael’s instruction on hand-to-hand combat.
Hoping to hide her concern, she asked, “How did that go?”
Raemay shrugged. “He saw your home, and mine. He seems to think you’ve been treated unfairly.”
Relaxing a little, Kayli rolled her eyes. “I’ll explain to him.”
“Will you?”
“Of course.” Seeing that her mother watched her with keen interest, Kayli touched her arm in assurance. “I love my home. It’s perfect for me.”
Her mother nodded, hesitated, walked a little more. “Daughter, you know that when it comes to defense, I trust you implicitly. But in this, in a union of the heart, I have to wonder if you know what you’re doing.”
Kayli wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so she said nothing.
“Do you?” Her mother paused to give her a keen look. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
No, she didn’t. Not even close. “About defense?” Kayli hedged. “Yes. You know I never liked the idea of submitting to the invaders. I’d much prefer to fight them, even if we lose.”
“Sometimes . . .” Raemay hesitated, drew a breath to start again. “You’re a very wise young lady, and I’m so proud of you. But you
are
young, and that makes it difficult to always see the big picture.”
“Meaning?”
“It’s possible that losing isn’t the worst that can happen.”
“No?” Kayli had never seen her mother like this, teetering on uncertainty, at a loss for words, unable to make her position clear. Suspicions surfaced, but Kayli kept her tone and expression neutral. “What would be worse than losing?”
Donning a false smile, Raemay stopped and turned to face her. “I trust your instincts as Claviger, you know that. But with Michael? He’s unlike our people. He’s not what any of us is used to.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “Everyone knows.” Within a minute of meeting Michael, it was clear that he had his own way of seeing and doing things.
“He is bold and demanding, controlling and inflexible.”
Kayli could not deny any of that. “Yes.”
Brows pinching down, Raemay asked, “Has he . . . pressured you in any way?”
She smiled. “No, Mother.” In truth, he had, but somehow she enjoyed his form of pressure. It was . . . stimulating.
Raemay took her hands. “Do you agree to a union with him for the sake of our colony, or because he’s the man you want for the rest of your life?”
Everything about her mother was different now. Never before had she been so passionate about something. Not with Kayli. Not over a man.
With her sisters, yes. Many times, Kayli had sat in on long discussions about choosing the right man for the right reasons. But it was assumed that Kayli would never have that bond, so why talk of it?
Trying a dose of honesty, Kayli said, “He hasn’t pressured me, not in the way that you mean. He influences me just by being himself. I’m . . . intrigued by him.”
Raemay gave her close scrutiny. “And you’re a little afraid?”
“Mostly of what he makes me feel.”
Her mother paled; her voice dropped in alarm. “Would he ever harm you?”
“No!” Kayli knew that with a bone-deep certainty that she couldn’t understand. She held her mother’s shoulders. “He’s not that way, Mother. Michael is a protector. He would never hurt any woman.”
“How can you be so certain? How do you know he isn’t misleading you in some way?”
Memories lightened Kayli’s mood. “There are so many ways. I studied him before I chose to bring him here. I witnessed him with his closest friends, and with the female medical staff in the hospital who tried to gain his attention. But most of all, when I told him of our problems, of the women being taken, his reaction was honest and pure. It was a true indication of him as a man.”
“And?”
“It enraged him. He would give his life to protect a woman, any woman.” As her confidence with the subject grew, her smile grew, and Kayli hoped it would bolster her mother. “Given how he’d care for a stranger, can you imagine what he’d do to protect a woman he considered his own?”
By small degrees, Raemay relaxed, and finally nodded. “Impressions can be deceiving, so I hope you’re right.”
“I’m sure of it.” Other things, like Michael’s overwhelming sexuality, she wasn’t so sure about. What she knew of sexual matters was laughable. Other than a kiss or two, she had zero experience—whereas he was well practiced and would likely prefer a partner who was, too.
“There’s something else.”
Drawn from her own worries, Kayli lifted her brows. “Yes?”
“I . . . tested him.”
A confession? From her mother? That, too, was unusual. The stunt she’d pulled was expected, but not an admission of remorse. “If you mean with Idola, I already know about it.”
Guilt darkened Raemay’s eyes. “You do?”
“Hauk kept a close watch for me. He reported back that Michael was as blunt as you just claimed he could be in rejecting Idola.”
“I did it for you, Kayli. I wanted to make sure—”
“Mother, please.” It was a special moment for Kayli, a rare instance of pure honesty between them. “As Arbiter, you don’t need to make excuses to me. You wanted to test him and you did.”
Using one daughter to do your dirty work, and willing to hurt the other to make a point.
Kayli shook her head. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
No. But then she seldom understood her mother’s motives. “Let’s forget about it. Michael turned down Idola—she’s not too hurt about it, is she?”
“I haven’t spoken to her yet.”
“Well, I hope she isn’t.” Kayli rushed through the rest of her sentiment. “He turned her down, and made it clear that he’s determined on his course. I hope that puts your . . . concerns to rest.”
Raemay remained unconvinced. “Are you positive you want him, Kayli? That you want to risk everything in your life for him, all that you’ve built, all that you’ve accomplished?”
To hear Raemay, it sounded as if marrying Michael would be the greatest of sacrifices. Kayli didn’t think it would be. In some ways, she believed sharing her life with him might be wonderful.
But it was a moot point.
Like Michael, she’d sacrifice anything to protect the members of her colony. “I’m positive.”
After Raemay let out a defeated breath, Kayli hooked their arms and led her back to the fields where the women now practiced and the men worked out.
It was an odd sight to see. In an uncommon display, no doubt following Michael’s lead, the men had all removed their shirts. With the vigorous exercise, sweat-sleek muscles flexed.
The women, usually so dedicated to their workouts, were now only halfheartedly going at it, distracted with ogling the men.
When they noticed Kayli, they launched back into their practice.
Kayli couldn’t blame them for the preoccupation. For an extended moment in time, Michael held her attention. He was magnificent.