Page 64 of Stars in Nova

His threat and its ominous warning was clear.

Her hand tightened on the grip of her weapon, her finger switching the neuro-toxin button on.

‘You shouldn’t be here, Rider,’ she clipped through a clenched jaw, hating the rush of emotion at seeing him.

He arched a sardonic brow. ‘Shouldn’t I?’

‘Nada.’

He sucked his teeth and leaned in, eyes glinting. ‘How was I to resist? All your drama immersed me. It’s quite the war you have on your hands up there,’ jerking his chin to the surface.

Samira’s core pounded as she stared at the imposing man whose physique filled the narrow cavern passage.

His viridescent eyes glowed in the light of the dim bioluminescence, a searing intensity that sent a shiver down her spine.

She hadn’t expected to see him again—not here, in the heart of her resistance’s stronghold.

Dammit! He still had the power to ratchet up her emotions and get her pulse rate racing.

Her feelings for him had never left her, and just by taking one look at him again, her need for him flared up once more.

Hell, she’d been aware of what she was walking into when she’d worked her water magic on him.

She suspected that as much as she tried her wiles on him, his charismatic, seductive, and brooding energy would stamp itself on her soul.

She’d walked away from him, but in her dreams, even in her every waking hour, her pull to him had endured.

Right now, staring at him, she was shocked with her soul’s elation, at the instinctual joy at seeing his brutish yet oh-so-fokkin’ sensual silhouette backlit by the luminescence of Thalassi’s ambiance.

She kept her breathing steady as the tension in the air thickened.

‘This isn’t your battle,’ was all she whispered.

His gaze sharpened, and he stepped closer, his boots scuffing against the rock. ‘Well, it turns out you can fight on more than one front, and I’m bringing my war to you, woman. One declared the moment you stole from me,’ he growled. ‘My mask, Samira. I want it back, rightfokkin’ now.’

Her breath hitched, her mind racing.

‘I can’t give it to you, but I’m willing to show you why,’ she muttered.

Still cautious, her fingers stroking the steel of her weapon, aware of how dangerous the Rider was and how much was at stake.

‘I don’t care for your reasons,’ Kisan drawled. ‘The artifact isfokkin’ perilous and needs to be back on Eden II under lockdown. It’s also a part of me, and you had no right to take it.’

Her shock gave way to a simmering frustration.

‘I had every right,’ she shot back. ‘You think I took it without months of consideration? I stole it because my people required it.’

‘What the ever-lovin’ toxin did you use on me?’

She took in a ragged inhale, jolting by the quick shift in his interrogation.

She spoke fast, her words tripping over themselves. ‘It’s a kind of batrachotoxin found in the skin glands of the underwater frogs of our continent. We’ve used it for centuries when hunting and found ways to incorporate it into our bodies. We’re immune to it and can carry it in sacs in our mouths. The toxin acts by preventing voltage-gated sodium channels from closing in nerves. It’s very potent and can override even nanobots, eliciting convulsions, muscle contractions, salivation, and death. Other symptoms include respiratory paralysis and muscular paralysis. We use it in controlled doses, thus my directive to you that your symptoms would fade soon.’

He arched a brow and then continued his interrogation.

‘How did you know where to find my mask?’ he growled.

Samira hesitated to answer, then chose brutal honesty. ‘One of the window cleaners at Sable HQ is Orilian. He volunteered the information after he saw it through a window hanging on your wall.’

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