My Man Michael (5 page)

Her chin went up. “Compliments are not necessary, I assure you. I take great pride in being honest with myself. I am strong and fast and brave. But no, I am not blessed with the appearance that draws men.”

“Really?” Sure as hell drew him. In a big way. His injuries had all but incapacitated him, yet she got a rise out of him anyway.

“I have endeavored not to let that flaw affect me as I meet my fate for my colony. My mother has two other daughters to fill the ranks with offspring who will carry on our family’s destiny. I am needed only to keep the peace, not the standing of our name.”

Mallet took extreme pleasure in saying, “I think you’re gorgeous. And that’s not the same as being hot. A chick can be hot, but not beautiful. Vice versa, too.”

Kayli frowned a little. “You’re saying that she can be beautiful but not . . . hot?”

“Yeah. And for the record, hot means doable, as in easily fucked.” He watched her waver, saw the color that first leeched from her skin, then flooded back, red hot and ripe. “You, Kayli Raine, are both.”

She shook her head in frantic denial. “No, I’m not—”

“Yeah, you are,” he interrupted. “Very.” He watched her blanch. “You aren’t going to disappear on me again, are you?”

She again shook her head, but remained mute.

“Cat got your tongue?”

That confused her. She put a hand to her chest. “My heart is racing. You disconcert me.”

Sounded fair, considering what she did to him. “And maybe I turn you on a little?”

More confusion swam in her mellow eyes. “Turn me on? I am not a machine. We already established that.”

Mallet chuckled at her misunderstanding. “No, turn you on, as in make you hot?”

She put a hand to her cheek. “Yes, you do bring a fever to my skin with your brazen way of speaking.”

Enough teasing already. With his blood stirring over his sexual intent, Mallet lowered his voice. “Come here, Kayli.”

Gaze flaring, she backed up a step. “Oh, no,” she said, and then added with great wariness, “Why?”

Mallet watched her. “I want to see if I turn you on.”

“No.” She denied him with a raised hand. “My instincts tell me that I should keep a fair distance from you while you’re in this odd confrontational mood. It would be best if we got back to business.”

“First things first.” He didn’t feel a single ache in that moment. “Come here.”

She breathed harder, and said in desperation, “I can not. What you do, whatever you plan, it is not proper, not for me.”

“How so?”

“I told you,” she said on a high, nearly hysterical note. “I am forbidden involvement with a male. I must focus on my duty alone. I am here to gain your agreement for assistance, nothing else. If I fail at that, I fail at everything that is important to me. I fail my colony. Please, can we not come to terms?”

Mallet saw her urgency, her near-pleading, and changed his direction. “All right, just calm down.”

“I can’t!”

He did his best to look neutral. “Come sit by me and we’ll talk about everything.”

Caution kept her entrancing hazel eyes glowing gold. “
Only
talk?”

He didn’t want to scare her. He knew she believed everything she said. Hell, a tiny part of his mind was beginning to believe, too. “I promise.”

She inched closer, then drew a breath, summoned up her nerve, and walked bold and brave to sit beside him. “Thank you, sir.”

“So what exactly would you need me to do if I accepted your proposition?”

Before she could answer, the door started to open, and right before Mallet’s eyes, she disappeared.

Again.

CHAPTER 3

“
T
IME for your bath, Michael.”

Damn, damn, damn. Alesia, a cute little nurse’s aide who took her time with a sponge, wheeled a cart into the room. Red lips curved in a smile and bright eyes shone with anticipation.

It didn’t move Mallet at all. “I don’t want a bath.”

“Now don’t be grumpy. You know it’ll make you feel better.” She glanced at him in sultry invitation. “I promise to be very gentle.”

Frustration mounted until Mallet thought he might shout. “Leave that shit and get out.”

She blanched. “But, Michael, I can . . .”

“Look, Alesia, I haven’t fucking moved, right? I haven’t sweated or gotten dirty. You spent an hour washing me last night and I’m still clean, I swear. I know my leg is shot, but my arms are fine so I can damn well clean my own face and brush my own teeth, and I don’t need any fucking help to do it.”

By the time he finished, frustration turned his face an angry red and sent his voice into a shout. With a sad, wounded nod, poor Alesia turned tail and ran out.

The door hadn’t quite shut behind her before it was shoved open again.

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

Drew Black! Mallet hadn’t expected to see him.

Everywhere the SBC president went, he brought loads of presence with him. Muscular and fit, he stood several inches shorter than Mallet, and still the room felt smaller with him in it.

Brown eyes mocked Mallet, and that perpetual smile flickered over Drew’s face. “You turned down
that
chick for a fuckin’ sponge bath?”

Flustered, Mallet said, “Yeah.”

“What? You went blind in the accident?” He walked into the room. “Did you see the ass and legs on that girl?” Drew clutched his heart. “Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?”

“No, it’s just—”

“Did that truck smash your balls as well your leg? Hell man, she was steaming.” Drew laughed. “Call her back. I’ll let her wash my fuckin’ back.”

Mallet couldn’t help it; he grinned. “I’m sure you could charm her into doing it, too.” Known as the guy with the foulest language in the biz, Drew used one adjective more than any other. Somehow “fuck” found its way into his every sentence.

Holding out a hand to Mallet, Drew said, “You crazy motherfucker. How the hell are you?”

“I’m okay.”

“No fucking way. The Mallet I know would have had that chick in the bed naked already. You made her cry, you heartless bastard.” Being a little heartless himself, Drew grinned as he said it.

“It’s not easy to get it going when my leg is shot, my ribs are cracked, and they keep filling me with drugs.”

“Wouldn’t slow me down.”

No, but then nothing ever slowed down Drew. “I believe that.”

He turned a chair closer to the bed and sat down. “So seriously, man, how the hell are you doing? When can I expect you back?”

Mallet felt sick. “Maybe no one told you, but I’m done.”

Drew made a rude sound. “Fighting, maybe. But hell, man, we need you, and fighting is only one facet of this game. You know that.”

“I’m a fighter.”

“Fuck yeah, you are. One of the best. So teach it, talk it, explain it, but don’t fucking give up on me.” Drew grabbed his forearm. “That’s not like you, man. It’s not like the SBC. We’re here for you. You do what the fucking doctors say, no arguments, and whatever you need to get going again, you tell me. You got that?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t, not really, but Mallet nodded his appreciation. “Thanks, Drew.”

“Fuck that. I don’t need any thanks. I need you back with us, doing what most people can’t.” At Mach speed, the only speed Drew knew, he started wheeling and dealing with Mallet. “The sooner, the better. So let’s work this shit out. Tell me what I have to do and what you need from me so I can get you under contract again.”

Mallet was struggling for a reply when Kayli reappeared behind Drew. “Hello.”

Drew jerked around. It wasn’t often that anyone or anything got by him. That Kayli would take him by surprise amused Mallet.

Drew looked at her, then looked at Mallet.

Mallet groaned.

With his gaze hot on Kayli, Drew said, “Knock off the dying cow sounds, you crazy fuck, and introduce me.”

 

 

KAYLI wasn’t about to let this crude, pushy man convince Michael to commit to anything when she’d approached him first, and needed him more. Somehow she had to thwart the man’s plans.

Killing him was out.

Though Michael seemed less than thrilled to see him, she felt his appreciation and loyalty.

She held out a hand. “I’m Kayli Raine, a friend to Michael.”

“Just a friend?”

Kayli started to say yes, but Michael said, “Off limits, Drew.”

“The hell you say.” Enjoying the situation, he held on to Kayli’s hand. “Drew Black. Now tell me, sweetheart, is he yanking my chain? Has he spoken for you?”

Drew Black had the oddest way of speaking. “Michael and I are working out an agreement.”

Drew’s brows shot up. “An agreement, huh?” He turned to Michael. “You want to explain that?”

“No. And let go of her hand.”

Grinning, Drew released her. “So that’s why you sent the little nurse running, huh? Had a sure thing already lined up?”

Kayli bristled at his assumptions. “Michael would never take advantage of a woman in the manner that you’re suggesting.”

Both men went mute in surprise, Drew to cough down a laugh, Michael to roll his eyes.

While she had the opportunity, she explained further. “Michael is not interested in your offer, kind as it is. He is a warrior, nothing less.”

“A warrior? What the fuck’s up with that shit, Mallet? Is she from some upstart organization? You know no one else will treat you as good as the SBC.”

“I will,” Kayli promised.

Drew sat back in his chair, deceptively bored, feigning a lack of concern, but Kayli felt the keen tension emanating from him. “So she speaks for you, Mallet, is that it?”

“I do,” Kayli said.

“No one speaks for me,” Michael said at the same time. He glared at Kayli, then addressed Drew. “I’ll think about it, okay? That’s all I can promise right now.”

“I can take a promise. So promise me, too, that whatever her offer is, you fucking will give me a chance to counter it.”

“Will do.”

Kayli stood aside while the men tried to ignore her. Though they discussed logistics of various opportunities and the overall tone of the SBC organization, she felt each of them taking turns watching her.

Her piercing sagacity paired with primal instincts had saved her many times in the past. With Michael, she felt she lost some of her advantage, but not so much that she’d fail her colony.

She couldn’t.

Too many people, men and women alike, depended on her.

Finally, after she’d waited in silence for an extended period, Drew Black decided to take his leave. He stood, clasped Mallet’s hand. “She’s a strange broad, isn’t she?”

Mallet flicked a glance her way. “That’s putting it mildly.”

Withholding her acrimony wasn’t an easy task, especially when Drew continued with a grin, “Never knew one to be so quiet so long, especially when she’s already made it clear she disagrees with my motives for dropping in.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mallet’s expression sent a clear warning. “She’s not going to cause any problems.”

Kayli kept silent, but she knew that she would cause a problem—several problems—if Drew Black got in the way of her mission.

“She’s a looker,” Drew said. “Go easy on her.” And with that, he took his leave.

Standing several feet from the bed, her gaze locked with Michael’s, Kayli waited.

As they stared at each other, a strange tension pulsed in the air, leaving her chest tight, her limbs quivering in a most unfamiliar way. Only during battle did she ever feel so alive.

“Shall we talk now?”

“I wish the damn door would lock.”

“There have been numerous interruptions.”

He held out a hand. “Come here.”

Why did such a simple gesture send heat spiraling through her? “Can we not talk as we are?”

“No, we can’t. I want to hold on to you and I want you to stay put, no matter what.”

“The more who see me, the more I risk.”

“Then come here and let’s get things settled.”

That was as close to an agreement as she’d gotten, so Kayli moved forward, sat beside him, and accepted his hand.

Again, the dissimilarities astounded her. His hand was easily twice the size of hers. Even in a sickbed, partially drugged, and in pain, she felt the strength in his gentle hold.

Jerking herself back to her purpose, Kayli brought her gaze to the burning blue of his eyes.

Looking at him made it more difficult to explain, but she needed every connection to him in order to convince him.

“I need you to return with me, the sooner the better.”

His thumb rubbed a slow circle on her palm. “As in—now?”

She shook her head. “It would be best if you depart with a believable tale. I can assist you with that. It’s possible to make arrangements that will satisfy your people in the next twenty-four hours.”