Page 57 of Venomous Heart
Arlen
Arlen stared at the small, infuriating female, too shocked to say anything. It didn’t last long. “Absolutely not. You are going back to the mansion, where you will be safe. I will go back for the Vault’s weapons and the Exo-Heart, but taking you with me is out of the question.”
Ava sustained his gaze, not flinching as he spoke harshly with the full weight of his authority. All she did was lift an eyebrow, clearly not impressed. Frustration welled up in him and he inched closer, intent on nipping her defiance in the bud.
“I cannot allow you to come to any more harm than you already have.”
He shut his eyes against the vision of Ava, trapped under tons of water, her eyes full of terror. He had almost lost her and that had awakened something inside him, something that was meant to stay buried. The instant her scream reached his ears as the water flooded the cabin, he’d known.
He couldn’t live without her. This wasn’t an attachment born of the Mating Venom. This was deep and strong, something that couldn’t be dissociated from him any more than the muscles around his bones or the skin covering his body.
Ava was exceptional; smart and strong. She was too damn dedicated to be tied down to a broken soul like he was. But she was, and he would die before allowing her to come to harm.
He opened his eyelids to see a pair of the most beautiful eyes looking up at him. Not with fear or with anger, but with what was dangerously close to concern. She cared for him. Ava tilted her head and inched closer, the faint smell of her fear still emanating from her, slithering inside his nostrils, waging war on his sanity.
She should never be afraid. She should always be safe, always be happy.
The insidious, sweet and tangy taste of the Mating Venom spread over his tongue, instantly entering his bloodstream. The effect was instantaneous, and a rush of lust rose up from deep within his body. The impulse to grab her by the scruff of the neck and plant his mouth on hers, to press that soft, pliable body against his hardness was overwhelming, and he nearly gave in to it.
“You are my responsibility.” Arlen spoke with a formidable dose of self-restraint. “I simply cannot bring a civilian—especially a female, medical doctor civilian—into a danger zone.” He moved to take her the rest of the way to the transport but she stepped quickly out of his reach.
“The Exo-Heart is too fragile to be moved by someone without medical expertise.” She shook her head and that stubborn streak he had come to recognize was visible on her expressive, dainty features. “I need to be there to make sure we can transport it safely.”
“Something is going on in the Southern Hemisphere; something big, and something bad.” Anger and fear for Ava’s safety mixed with the perverse effects of the Mating Venom, and Arlen felt himself step closer to her. His hands moved of their own accord, and his fingers flexed like he was preparing to grab her. “You would put the lives of everyone on this planet at risk, just to save one life?”
“No.” She shook her head but didn’t show any signs that she was listening to reason. “Youwould. If you refuse to let me come with you, you’ll be the one who puts them all in danger. They are your responsibility, you said so yourself. What is my safety compared to all of those lives?”
Nothing. One life is nothing. Except yours. Your life is everything now.
“You would withhold information that would endanger all of your other patients?” He frowned. She was a doctor, and a good one. No, this was a bluff. “Information that would endanger Uril?”
“Uril is dead if I don’t bring the Exo-Heart back in the next few days.” She swallowed, then her face took a sudden hard expression, one full of pain and anger. “You’ve seen how the others treat me. I will never be one of them, so why would I care what happens to them? They’re not my responsibility anymore. Only Uril matters to me now.”
“You’re bluffing.”
Ava shrugged, then lifted her eyebrows. “Try me. See if I care what happens to them once Uril dies.”
He stared at her, long and hard. She was all prickly pride and stubborn beauty, her pale skin shimmering and wet, her luxurious red hair plastered to her face, dripping onto her clothing. The synthetic cotton of her uniform clung to her form, showing the slight curves of her small breasts and the slightly rounder curves of her hips.
His seed stem strained in his heavy synthetic leather pants and he forced himself to look up. Her small face was set in hard lines and her eyes gleamed with a resolve he had seldom seen, even in all his time with combat-hardened warriors.
She wasn’t bluffing. Or, at least, he couldn’t afford to think she was. Because Ava was right: the lives of all on Aveyn were his responsibility.
“Prime Councilor Aav came here because she thinks Knut hid something on Aveyn, something that could plunge the entire Ring into chaos. It has to be related to what’s in that Vault.” Arlen shook his head, frustrated by the weight of all the information he didn’t have. “I’ve already lost two patrols in that area: two Relany officers and two Eok warriors. What makes you think you have a better chance than they?” He was trying to convince her but deep down he knew she had already won. He had no choice.
“Because I know Aveyn like no one else—no one except maybe Knut himself,” Ava said confidently. “And because I know what they want, and how to take it away from them.”
Arlen stared at her for a long time, then he finally nodded. “I will take you with me.” He returned to his transport and sent a distress signal to his brother. “But you will do exactly as I say.”
Ava smiled, her lips stretching over her even, white teeth.
“I am yours to command, Big-Blue-and-Mighty.”
17
Ava
Ava had been following Arlen up the steep incline of the mountain for what felt like an eternity and a half. The temperature, which had been mild on the shore of the lake, was dipping dangerously low and quickly as the sun lowered over the mountain, slowly disappearing in a breathtaking display of colors against the darkening blue of the sky.
