Chapter 11

Cronan smiled as he woke. Unity"s body was sprawled over his - her perfect, naked body - soft and warm and absolutely delicious. He spent half the night feasting between her thighs and he"d only stopped because she was so exhausted.

But she"s had a chance to sleep now, he thought, skating his hand down over that ripe, luscious ass. Perhaps I should bite her there. His codix flexed eagerly at the thought but he reluctantly dismissed it. He would not give her a mating bite without talking to her.

He thought - prayed - that she would agree.

She stirred, her cheek rubbing against his chest.

"Morning," she mumbled sleepily, her voice husky and adorable.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"I"m not sure sleep is the right word. Passed out from pleasure?"

"You deserved every minute of that pleasure."

"Hmm." She pushed herself up and smiled at him. "And now that you"ve seen, and kissed, and touched, every inch of me, isn"t it time for me to have the same pleasure?"

His codix flexed beneath her ass but he was distracted by the sight of her naked breasts, the lingering redness from his mouth still visible. He had come so close to biting her but he"d never broken the skin. He reached up and caressed her neck, also showing the marks of his possession.

"I didn"t say I was finished - you just fell asleep first."

"You can finish after I get my turn." She reached down between them, stroking his still cloth-covered codix. "Wouldn"t this feel even better on your bare skin?"

"Yes."

But he knew his limitations. Once his codix entered her, he would be unable to resist giving her a mating bite. And if he stripped off his clothes it was almost inevitable that he would enter her.

"But we should talk first."

"Why does that always sound so ominous?"

Before he could respond, his communicator beeped and dread trickled down his spine. The drives were still rare and expensive and he"d ordered Barthar not to use it unless necessary. Unity knew that as well and quickly moved off of him, giving him an anxious look.

"What"s wrong?" he demanded as soon as he answered.

"Trouble at the spaceport," Barthar said grimly. "And they have a lot of firepower. If they take over the port, they can block all communication with the rest of the empire."

"On my way."

"I"m afraid I have to go, little one."

"I know. I heard." Her eyes were wide and anxious but she did her best to smile at him. "Be careful."

"Always."

He kissed her far too quickly and disappeared into his wardrobe to change. When he emerged, she had her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Just as she had been sitting in that prison cell. His heart ached at the thought that she might be as scared as she had been then, but it was his duty. He had to go.

He kissed her again, then hurried out of the room.

His guards were assembling, a neat orderly unit, and he nodded approvingly before going to join Barthar. His second was already armored up, his weapons at hand.

"I hope you will leave this to us, Sire. It"s an ambush and it"s designed to draw you away."

"This is my kingdom." He"d never felt it as strongly as he did right then.

"I know. can we compromise on a closer view point rather than the battle?"

As much as he would have liked to join his warriors, Barthar"s suggestion was better. He shuddered to think what would happen to Farlain if anything happened to him. There was no clear line of succession. The nobles would fight amongst themselves, and the people would suffer. He had to do his best to stay alive.

He joined Barthar at an observation point above the spaceport.

"Report."

"Something"s wrong. And before you ask, no I don"t know exactly what"s wrong."

He reviewed the written reports, then frowned thoughtfully. He almost wished Unity was with them. If there was a pattern to the enemy"s behavior, he was sure she would spot it. And much more quickly he thought ruefully when it finally came to him.

"They aren"t using any of their heavier weapons. Why not?"

"Maybe they don"t want to damage the port if they don"t have to."

It was a logical answer but he couldn"t escape the feeling that he was still missing something. One of the ships that had attacked fled skyward. The other one remained on the launch pad, completely sealed up.

"Are they just going to stay there forever?" Barthar muttered.

"I hope not. Maybe we should try some irritant in his air supply."

Barthar"s eyes gleamed. "I know just the one."

"But not yet. Let"s give them a day or two to consider their options first. For now I wish to speak to the battle leaders before I return to the castle."

"And your mate?"

He knew Barthar had noticed his slip of the tongue.

"Not yet, but I hope so - in spite of your efforts to scare her off."

Barthar grinned.

"I suppose I"ll have to learn to watch my tongue."

"Indeed. Now let"s go."

He spoke to the battle leaders and as many of the wounded males as possible and it was over two hours before he returned to the castle. He hoped Unity had gone back to sleep - he knew just the way to wake her. But those pleasant plans did not come to fruition. When he returned to their quarters, she was gone.