Page 27 of Darkest Desire

“No, no—I must see everything—front and back in order to make measurements and know which harness will fit her.”

Phoebe said nothing but Sirex could feel her leaning back against him for support.

“Do you have someplace private we could go?” he asked. “I don’t like showing off my female in public.”

“You don’t? How singular.” The shop keeper frowned. “I suppose we can go behind my booth.”

“That works,” Sirex agreed.

“Very well—come with me.”

The shop keeper led them around to the back of the stall where there was a small corner concealed from the rest of the crowded spaceport.

“Very good, now remove her top,” he said, gesturing at Phoebe.

Sirex hesitated.

“I need a moment alone with my female,” he said at last.

The shop keeper shrugged.

“As you wish. I’ll be just around the corner. Call me when you’re ready.”

He went back to the front of the stall, leaving the two of them alone. Sirex bent to look into her eyes.

“Jenkins…Phoebe,” he said, switching to her first name. After all, she was no longer a cadet and his student—she was an Agent in her own right.

“Yes, Sir?” She looked up at him uncertainly.

“Is this too much for you?” Sirex asked her. “Please be honest with me. If it’s too much we need to go and ask Commander Sylvan to assign someone else.”

Fire flashed in her silvery green eyes and she lifted her chin.

“It’s not too much for me—I’ll be fine!”

“Look, I know this is your first mission and you don’t want to make any mistakes but it’s perfectly all right to draw some boundaries,” Sirex reminded her. “If you don’t want strangers looking at your breasts?—”

“They can look all they want as long as they don’t touch.” Her eyes became suddenly vulnerable. “As long as you’re with me, I can stand just about anything, Sir. As long as no one touches me but you, I’m fine.”

Sir nodded. Then, moved by some emotion he couldn’t name, he took both her hands in his.

“I give you my oath as a warrior that no hands but mine shall touch your flesh,” he told her earnestly. “I vow to keep you safe and shield you from danger as long as the two of us are on this mission together.”

Phoebe’s eyes widened.

“Thank you.” She murmured, looking relieved. “Then I don’t care if I have to parade naked down the sidewalk as long as we can complete this mission and retrieve The Goddess’s Finger.”

Sirex raised his eyebrows.

“Really? You don’t mind going naked in public?”

She blushed—the heated blood rushing to her cheeks.

“Well, that’s probably an exaggeration. I would mind it, but I can do it if I have to—I can do almost anything as long as we’re together.”

Sirex felt his heart clench like a fist in his chest. The look of trust in her big, jewel-like eyes made him want to guard her with his life—to protect from every danger in the universe.

He wished he could take her back to their long-range shuttle right now and lock her away for safety…but he knew he couldn’t do that. Phoebe was a strong, independent woman and she had to be allowed to make her own choices—even if her choice was to continue a dangerous assignment where she was going to be vulnerable every step of the way.

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