“Then we both . . . poof?” His thumb moved to her wrist and stole a measure of her breath.
Warmth filled her face, her whole body. It was the oddest sensation, one she’d never quite experienced before.
She cleared her throat. “I will transport you to my vessel, and from there we will travel forward to my time. This will be done seamlessly. That is, once we leave here, you will next find yourself in my time.”
He skipped much of what she said to ask, “Your vessel?”
“It hovers above, unseen and yet there.”
“Huh.”
“Transporting has become a much simpler means of travel.”
“You don’t say.”
Was he humoring her? “At first there were some mishaps, of course. But over time it has been perfected. You mustn’t worry about lost body parts or rearranged molecules—”
“Yeah, like in
The Fly
. That dude’s whole body got tangled with an insect.”
“Such doesn’t happen, I promise you.” Not anymore.
“Good to know.” The corners of his mouth tilted up the smallest bit.
He didn’t believe her, Kayli could tell, but she wouldn’t give up. “You will be apprised of the situation as soon as we’re home, and in very short order you will undergo a ceremony to take your place in the hierarchy.”
“I hate ceremonies.”
“Yet it is necessary.” She didn’t want to go into that aspect of the deal with him just yet. She had a feeling that the idea of a union, more than time travel, would put him off. “Afterward, all will defer to you, the same as they do our Arbiter and the Council Mavens.”
“Your mother and her cronies?”
Growing used to it, she skipped right past his cynicism. “It is our hope that you will be able to teach us to fight in the manner you deploy so that we are better able to defend ourselves, and so that we can retrieve those of the colony already taken prisoner.”
Using both hands, Michael explored her fingers, opening each one, smoothing with his thumb. It was as if the size of her hands fascinated him in the same manner that his fascinated her. He lifted her hand to his mouth. “I need to know I can trust you.”
That was not what she expected to hear. Questions, disbelief, yes, she had anticipated both.
“How do I—”
He drew the tip of one finger into his mouth and curled his tongue around it.
Her heart stopped, then skipped several beats. Her breath caught, straining her lungs. The touch of his tongue felt . . . indescribable.
Without conscious thought, her eyes closed, but quickly opened again. “You . . . you must stop that.”
“Hmm-mm.”
“Is that a no? Oh!” He drew another finger in, treating it to the same damp exploration.
Deep inside her, something curled in the sweetest way, giving both pleasure and an ache.
“You are so small-boned, Kayli. So delicate.” His thick lashes lifted and he caught her in his gaze. “And you taste good.”
“No.” That raspy voice didn’t sound like her own at all. “That is, I am large for a female.”
“Not the females I know.” He sucked her middle finger into the heat of his mouth.
The curl of pleasure expanded; the ache deepened. Kayli gulped in air so fast, she almost choked; frowning at herself, she tried to pull away.
He didn’t let her. His grasp was firm but gentle.
“Sir, I have seen your females.” It wasn’t easy to speak with him doing that to her fingers. Inside her boots, her toes curled. “The blond one called Dakota was taller than the other, but yet not so tall as me.”
“Dakota is a big girl.” He kissed his way down to her palm, then the inside of her wrist. “Sexy as hell, but no one would call her frail.”
Sexy? Did that mean she appealed to him? For some reason, that irritated Kayli. “Perhaps not.”
“You,” he said while nibbling on her, “are very delicate.”
Compared to him and his friends, she had to agree. “I’m still fast and strong, and I’m well practiced.”
“Interesting. If I wasn’t stuck in this bed, I’d let you show me how practiced you are.”
Kayli scooted closer to him on the bed. “Accept my proposition and I will get you out of this bed. I will make you whole and then we can start sparring immediately. I’m most anxious to learn your moves.”
Michael smiled lazily. “My best moves are done in a bed.”
“Really?” That left her bemused. “I observed you in action and it seemed to me that you needed adequate room to maneuver. You were especially good at using your legs to devastating effect.”
Michael gave a crooked grin. He held her hand to his chest. “I wasn’t talking about moves in fighting.”
Kayli stared at him. “I was.”
“I know.”
Even with all the studies she’d done, he could be
so
confusing. “Sir, I’m not convinced that you’re taking this seriously.” Annoyed, she pulled her hand away and stood.
It was time to give him a nudge. “If you are unwilling, or unable, to meet the duties I require, I must not waste any more time with you. I will go to my next choice of savior. He is not as promising as you, but perhaps—”
“You’ve been checking out another guy?”
Ah, now she had his attention. Finally. “Yes, sir, I have. Several in fact.” She hadn’t found anyone else as suitable, but a small exaggeration wouldn’t cause any real harm. “My situation is most dire. I need a commitment from you.”
He studied her for a long minute. “Okay, lady, let’s get down to it. First, you said you had an idea on how I’d disappear without anyone getting too nosy about it. What’s the plan?”
“You would tell your friends that you cannot accept being disabled.”
“I can’t.”
She softened. “You, sir, would adjust if there were no other alternatives. I have not a single doubt that you’d not only adjust, you would excel in a new venture that would allow you to grow as a man and would assist others in the process.”
He tucked in his chin. “Got a little hero worship thing going on there, don’t you?”
“You
are
a hero. You will be our hero.” Kayli pressed a fist to her heart. “I sense it.”
“You’re getting nuttier by the second.”
Knowing it was his discomfort at compliments that caused the insult, Kayli dismissed it. “They will believe you when you say that you’ve heard of a treatment in a faraway place, a procedure that is reputed to bring about miracles. You want to go there to explore the possibilities.”
“I suppose I heard about this treatment from you?”
“Yes.”
“It might work. They’d buy that I wouldn’t give up easily.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Already she recognized him as a dedicated, and stubborn, man.
“Okay, one more thing.” His eyes glinted at her, giving fair warning. “Before I commit, I want something from you.”
“You can have anything that is within my power to give to you.”
That vow brought about a toothy grin. “Glad to hear it. So Kayli, come here and give me a kiss.”
She was certifiable, what with all her talk of vessels and transporting through time. But what would one kiss hurt?
He had to taste her.
If his legs and ribs weren’t fucked, he’d want more than that. But he knew his own limitations, and he wasn’t about to embarrass himself by starting something he couldn’t finish.
Biting hard enough to bruise, Kayli caught her lush bottom lip in her teeth.
Poor little girl. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Is the idea of kissing me really so bad?”
She didn’t move, barely breathed. “That is what you want before you’ll agree? Truly?”
“Oh, trust me, sugar, I want more than that. But while the mind is willing, the body isn’t able.” Later, if she stuck around and didn’t seem a threat . . . no, that’d be taking advantage of the worst kind.
And as she’d said, he was too honorable for that.
As if weighing the problems of the universe, she paced away in deep thought.
Mallet laughed. It hurt his ribs, his throat, but damn, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman had so thoroughly rejected him. It was sort of . . . refreshing. “You’re demolishing my ego, you know.”
Mind made up, her shoulders back with grim, almost suffering resolve, she turned around to face him. “I’ll do it.”
Such a lack of enthusiasm. The stoic way she presented herself, you’d think he’d asked her to throw herself off the side of a high cliff. Determined to figure her out, Mallet kept his grin at bay as he watched her. “You’re very brave.”
“But first,” she said, ignoring his jibe, “you must alert your friends. I want to know that you’re serious, and that you will follow through with our agreement. I’ll have your word that you won’t renege once you’ve taken your toll.”
“My
toll
?” Would kissing him really be so awful that she considered it a debt to be paid?
As if a thought occurred to her, Kayli lifted a hand. “In fact, to ensure your cooperation I will transport us during the kiss. Agreed?”
What the hell? In for a penny, in for a pound. “Why not?” Mallet picked up the phone and dialed Simon. He got his answering machine. “Sorry, he’s not home.”
“It would make things simpler if you left a note anyway.” Rushing around to the bedside table, she opened the top drawer and located a pad of paper and pen.
She handed them to him.
“You want me to write it all out?”
“Yes. One of the nurses will find the note and alert your friends, and they’ll have no option but to accept that you’ve made your own decision.”
“My decision to jump ship without talking to them first?”
“You’re distraught,” she explained. “You’re in a difficult stage of your life. It would not be uncommon for you to flee.”
“Flee?” Now that just plain pissed him off. “I don’t
flee
from anyone or anything.”
Witnessing the level of his insult had her fighting a smile. “Very good to know, truly, but it would be understandable if you did—as I’m sure your friends would agree. Also, there won’t be the uncomfortable issue of them trying to talk you out of your decision.”
Which, she likely figured, would force her to talk him into it again.
She waited, and when he did nothing, she finally said, “Go ahead, sir. Write your note.”
Disgruntled, Mallet put pen to paper. He didn’t take it too seriously because, really, who would get a chance to read it? But just in case Kayli wanted to see it for herself, he made the explanation believable enough.
He told his friends not to worry about him because he planned to travel a bit. With Kayli at his side, he would explore surgical options for his leg in various countries, and have some fun along the way. As he added, “She’s hot, and I’m ready,” he anticipated her reaction. He signed it with a flourish.
There. It all sounded plausible, didn’t it?
Hovering anxiously at his beside, Kayli asked, “All done?”
Pushy broad, when she had a goal in sight. “Yeah, sure.”
She rolled in her lips, fretted, and then asked, “Did you make a special notation to your friend who was just here?”
“Drew?” At her nod, he said, “No, why would I?”
“He wanted to hire you for specific employment. I think it would be nice if you gave him the courtesy of turning him down.”
“Turning him down is a courtesy?”
“Wouldn’t that be preferable to giving him false hope, to leave him waiting for you without knowing if you planned to accept his offer?”
“Maybe.” Not that Drew really waited for anyone. He was a mover and a shaker, always on the go with new plans, better plans. He was never content to be idle, either in body or mind, for too long.
Mallet jotted a P.S. to Drew, thanking him for his offer but refusing. He handed Kayli the paper. “I know you’re dying to take a look, so go ahead.”
She read it in a mere glance. Toward the end, she frowned at him, but said nothing.
“It appears convincing.” She fidgeted a moment, and then, somewhat unwillingly, said, “You could tell them that you’ll be in touch. It’s not impossible. If you found it necessary for your peace of mind, you could make contact with them, even from my time period.”
“That’s done, huh?” In a way, her spacey imagination was adorable. She should be a writer. Maybe she
was
a writer.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Her mouth softened into a smile. “Time travel is not encouraged because it’s costly to execute. Only the most advanced systems—known as super-computers—have the capability.”
“I take it that you have yourself a supercomputer?”
“One of the very best, yes. Even so, we don’t utilize it often because to do so leaves open the possibility of causing a rift in the future. But as I explained, you will be an important part of the hierarchy, and as such you will be given more freedom.”
Yeah, almost like he’d be a king. Mallet shook his head at that absurd image. He was better suited to grunt work than leadership.
Although, when it came to sex, he enjoyed being in charge—a lot. With just that thought, his voice deepened and his flesh warmed.
Patting the side of his mattress, he said to Kayli, “Now that we have the note all right and proper, how about you come a little closer? We have some unfinished business, remember.”
Her smile disappeared and a new wariness turned her hazel eyes glittering gold. “Yes, of course.”
She placed the note on his nightstand and then . . . stood there.
She looked almost ill, causing Mallet to sigh. “Kayli, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I trust not.” A deep, fortifying breath gave her courage to move nearer to his bed. But a few feet away, she stalled once more.
Trying an encouraging smile, Mallet again patted the mattress. “Sorry, honey. I’d get up and woo you proper, but with my injured leg, I’d only fall on my face.”
That got to her, and with blatant sympathy she seated herself beside him. “Very soon, it will be as if nothing happened to your body at all. All your bruises will be gone. All your aches and pains—”