Page 31 of Guard

There were so many questions darting through Rixx’s brain. He knew nothing of how his best friend had located him after he’d been abducted, and even less about how he and Tegan had become so close, but he had a feeling that this woman knew.

“We all thought you were dead,” Rose continued, walking across the room and standing close to the crackling fire. “Your friendssearched for your body for days before they gave up. They finally left because they could not feel you.”

Rixx’s throat tightened. He knew his Dothvek brothers would not have abandoned him so easily, but they would not have been able to sense him if he’d been unconscious and at death’s door. It pained him to know that they had believed him dead and had probably mourned him.

Rixx cleared his throat. “I was found by a local woman. I was wounded, but she nursed me back to health.”

Rose lifted a brow. “So I’ve heard.” She pivoted and held her palms to the fire. “I also know that the Zevrians continue to search for you, which means that you are in danger, and you’re a danger to anyone who harbors you.”

“I do not wish to put anyone at risk because of me.”

Rose made a sound in her throat. “We need to get you off Kurril.”

He eyed the woman. It was clear she was not a pleasurer, but he still did not know who or what she was. “How—?”

“I can get a message to the bounty hunting ship that you arrived on,” she paused, “if you still wish to return to it.”

“Yes, I do.” Rixx almost tripped over his own words. “There is no reason for me to stay on Kurril.”

Now that Myrria’s husband had returned, he could no longer pretend that there was any reason for him to remain. The Zevrians were hunting him, and the life he had been pretending was his had only ever been a fantasy.

Rose gave a sharp nod and strode to the door. “Do not let yourself be seen until I can arrange for your safe passage back to your crew. I do not want to plan another rescue to save you.”

She opened the door and hesitated, glancing back at Rixx and giving him a sly smile. “If you change your mind, let Serena know.”

Rixx was about to assure her that he would not be changing his mind when he spotted Myrria standing in the hall outside his room.

Chapter

Thirty-One

Myrria stepped back when the stunning woman stepped into the hall, peering past her into the room where Rixx stood. He was fully dressed and the woman looked nothing like any of the females in Serena’s employ. Myrria had never even seen the woman before, and she was certain she knew all of Serena’s girls.

The woman, who looked more like a rogue assassin than a pleasurer, gave her a knowing smile as she passed. “He’s all yours.”

Myrria was struck dumb as the woman glided away, disappearing into the bustle of scantily-clad females leaning over the balcony to peer to the main floor below, leading clients into rooms, and laughing over the music. Then she remembered herself and why she was there, and she hurried into the room with Rixx and shut the door behind her.

Even though she knew the female couldn’t have been one of Serena’s girls, she could not completely suppress the flash of jealousy she’d felt when she seen her emerge from the room. “Who was that?”

Rixx hesitated, his surprise at seeing her clear, although she could not sense his emotions like she’d been able to the night before. “I am not entirely certain, but she is sending a message to my ship so they can return for me.”

Myrria’s breath caught, her heart twisting as if a clawed hand had reached in and pierced it. “You are leaving?”

She should have been happy for him. Leaving was the only way he would survive. Rixx would never have been able to stay, not with a bounty on his head. But she’d foolishly allowed herself to imagine that he could. Pretending to be his wife had been the most magical fantasy, but it had been crushed the moment her actual husband had returned from the dead.

“I cannot stay.” His voice was measured and steady, nothing like the deep growls that had trembled her spine the night before. “It will only bring danger to your friend.”

She nodded. This was true, but there was also what he did not say. He had nothing to stay for because she was not free. Despite everything she’d said and believed, she was another man’s wife, and there was nothing she could do to change that. Not under the laws of Kurril. Not without losing everything, including the house she had paid for and the daughter that she had raised.

“How are you here?” he asked. “I thought your husband—“

Myrria stopped him before he could finish. She couldn’t bear to hear him call Tobert her husband, even if it was the truth. “He is sleeping.”

Rixx flinched, and she instantly knew what he thought. A husband who came home after such a long time away would be eager to take his wife to bed. Rixx thought she’d left Tobert in bed after they’d reunited. He did not know that she’d gotten himdrunk enough to pass out and deposited him in a chair because the thought of him being in the bed she’d shared with Rixx had been unthinkable. Not because she was ashamed of what had happened with Rixx but because she did not want Tobert polluting her memories.

Then dread settled in her stomach like ice. It would be better if Rixx did not know how miserable she was by the thought of living with her husband again. He needed to leave Kurril and return to his life on board the bounty hunting ship, and she would have to stop pretending to have a life that wasn’t hers. Rixx had been a beautiful dream, but it had never been hers. He had never been hers. Not really.

“I wanted to make sure that you’d made it to Serena’s safely,” Myrria said, steeling herself for the lies she needed to sell. “Zala said she gave you directions but I wasn’t sure if she was clear, and you were navigating from the roof…”

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