flicks his hand away with a dangerous look. “Touch me again and you will lose that hand.”
Sivorrin shrinks back.
Jamef glances over at me. He looks around my serene homestead, full of greenery and open fields, and my costly, imported trees. He glances at the windows of my house, and then finally back at me. “If you hear of anything, I’m paying for information. Nothing more. My bounty is simply to provide his whereabouts, be it dead or alive.”
“If he drops by and threatens my mate, he will be very dead,” I snarl. “Much like anyone else who comes to my porch with demands in regards to her.”
The bounty hunter gives me a crisp nod. “I will be in port for several weeks. Contact this one”—he flicks a dismissive gesture at the cowering Sivorrin—“if you have information.” He turns to leave, and Sivorrin shoots me an apologetic look before scampering after the bounty hunter.
Fists clenched, I watch as they depart, and it’s not until they’re gone, the air-sled vanished into the horizon, that I turn and head back inside.
Kim is immediately at the door, her face pale and worried. “Nassakth, what’s going on?”
I should sit her down. Calmly explain to her that there is nothing to fear. That I will let no one touch her or even speak to her if she does not wish it. That she is utterly safe with me. But things are still too new between us, too fresh.
And I worry Kim will slip away before I can even win her.
My emotions are at war as I gaze down at her. There is a charming little frown on her brow, but she looks up at me with trusting eyes. Eyes that have no idea I have already killed twice over outside the arena—once to protect myself, and once to protect her.
Because I am selfish, I grab her and pull her into my arms, tucking her against my chest. I stroke her head, petting her. “It is nothing. You are safe.”
Her voice is muffled against my chest fur, but she does not pull away. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
A very good question. Because I would rather die than return to a life of slavery. It would be death either way—an aging fighter with a reputation such as mine? I would not last long at all. I would be tossed in front of every gladiator looking to make a name for himself, and it would be a brutal, ugly, and possibly humiliating death. I have always known this, and I have sworn that if anyone came for me, I would go down fighting.
But then I met Kim.
Kim has changed everything. She is a complication I did not anticipate. Now, every move I make must have Kim’s safety in mind….and I am not entirely sure what to do. The bounty hunter will be back. He will be looking for “additional information.” It was in his veiled hint about how long he would remain in port. If he thought there was no information to be found, he would not bother to stay.
“Who were those men?” Kim asks. I feel her fingers curling into my chest fur, scratching lightly, and it is almost as if she is trying to comfort me as well. When I hesitate, she continues. “You can tell me. I’ve dealt with some bad shit in my life.”
And she continues to scratch my chest as I pet her head.
It occurs to me that we are comforting each other, and the thought makes me smile. Do I trust her? Or do I keep my secrets? Perhaps the answer is somewhere in the middle. “A bounty hunter,” I confess. “I think he might be trouble.”
“Should we call Bethiah?” Kim asks.
Bethiah. Of course. One bounty hunter can get rid of another. I laugh, squeezing Kim against my chest with relief. “You are the smartest female ever, you know that?”
27
KIM
Nassakth contacts Bethiah while I get ready for bed. We’d discussed what we’d ask her to do—since she clearly needs explicit instructions—and decided that we’d ask for information and nothing more. For now. We can always decide what needs to be done later, and I don’t like the thought of getting deeper into things than we already are.
I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on, but if Nassakth thinks that the bounty hunter on the doorstep is trouble, I’m willing to believe him. They’re either looking to cause trouble or they might be after his fortune. It’s clear to me that