Page 29 of Shielded Heart

He vowed to himself then that hewouldgive it to her—whether she needed it or not, he would find a way to help her achieve that dream.

Samantha glanced over Arc’s shoulder and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning his head to follow her gaze. A groalthuun stood not far off, his arm raised with his holocom activated. Its screen flashed as though the groalthuun had taken a picture.

Normally, that wouldn’t have concerned Arcanthus—but the holocom was directed at Samantha.

“I swear he’s the same groalthuun I saw earlier. I think he took a picture of me then, too,” Samantha said.

The groalthuun was well-dressed, his tailored clothing perfectly suited to a sector like this, and bore no visible signs of criminal affiliation; that provided Arcanthus with no comfort.

Arc shifted his body to shield Samantha from the groalthuun, lifting his arm to activate his own holocom. It was only then that he noticed the messages from Kiloq. They all amounted to the same thing—the cren, who Arcanthus had seen a handful of times at the mall today, had noticed a groalthuun taking an interest in Samantha.

Every time I silence my communications,somethinghappens.

Arcanthus brought up his contacts, and within a moment had sent their location to Drakkal with a simple message—Time to go.

“The day grows late, little terran.” Arc slipped an arm around her waist, drew her close to his side, and guided her toward the nearest exit. “I think it’s best we get you home.”

Samantha offered no argument, and, to his relief, made no attempt to look back at the groalthuun.

There was no way to be certain whether the groalthuun was a slaver or a trafficker, no way to know without delving into the vastness of the plexus and hacking into the private, secured systems often employed by the city’s criminal population, but the chances of it were uncomfortably high. Terrans were too new to Arthos to avoid being targeted by such scum. Usually, slavers avoided kidnapping anyone already registered in the Consortium system, but there were always individuals who could be tempted beyond good sense by money.

And terrans were worth a lot of money.

Drakkal met them with the car just outside the mall, and Arcanthus ushered Samantha into the vehicle. He paused before he climbed in and checked for pursuit, but he saw no sign of the groalthuun.

Just a curious person taking a picture of a new species, he thought, but the reasoning didn’t ring true. The sinking dread in his gut remained intact.

Nothingwould happen to his mate. Arcanthus would be sure of that.

Once he was inside the cab with the door closed, Arcanthus exchanged a glance with Drakkal. The azhera’s expression turned grim, but he made no comment as he piloted the hovercar into the air and started back toward Samantha’s home.

“Take the scenic route,” Arcanthus said.

Drakkal nodded; he didn’t have to ask why or what Arc meant.

Arcanthus shifted close to Samantha. To his surprise, she didn’t shy away when he settled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. He wrapped his tail around her leg and absently stroked her upper arm with his hand. Though she said nothing about the potential danger she’d faced in the mall, the tension in her body conveyed a touch of unease.

They traveled in silence. Despite everything, Arcanthus found himself content merely to hold her—he only wished it was under different circumstances.

While it had taken no more than fifteen minutes to travel to the Ventrillian Mall, Drakkal’s circuitous route extended the return journey to more than an hour. Throughout the drive, Drakkal monitored the camera feeds displaying the traffic around and behind their vehicle; he knew well enough how to spot a tail, so Arc didn’t question him about whether they’d been followed when they finally landed around the block from Samantha’s apartment.

As the hovercar’s engines eased to an idling state, Arcanthus tipped his head to rest his chin upon Samantha’s hair, inhaling her scent once again—it was soft, sweet, and floral, underpinned by something uniquelyher. It sent a rush of desire through him, and he was damned thankful he’d secured the under wrapping of his loincloth before picking her up that morning; it was the only thing that had prevented him from walking around with an extruded cock all day, and was the only thing keeping him from extruding now.

He craved this female with every cell in his body.

Arc groaned. Standing up meant breaking this contact, and he found himself once again reluctant to release her.

Samantha turned her head, which forced him to lift his. Their eyes briefly met before she looked toward her apartment building. Arcanthus glanced down to see her fiddling with her sleeves again.

“I know you’ve already spent so much of your time with me today,” she said, “but would you…would you…”

Arcanthus couldn’t hold back a smile. “I could invitemyselfin, if it’s easier for you.”

She smiled shyly and briefly returned her eyes to him. “It would be.”

With any other female he’d been interested in, he would’ve interpreted this as an invitation for sex—though he’d never have gone to anyone else’s home for it. His own place was far more secure, far safer; that he could simply have them escorted out afterward was a bonus. He would never have spent the day with any other female, would never have taken any of them to the Ventrillian Mall to take in the sights and enjoy hours of conversation.

---