the female’s cool assurance cracked, and he could read the desperation in her eyes. “What’s it going to cost me?”
“Nothing,” Joan assured her. “We’re all in this together.”
“If we’re caught, it’s going to be very bad.”
“I know.” Joan’s face softened. “But isn’t it worth taking the chance to be free?”
Slitted yellow eyes stared off into the distance. “Maybe this time it will work,” Saka muttered, in a voice almost too soft to hear, then gave a firm nod and squared her shoulders. “Yes. I want to come.”
He unlocked the cell, and she moved past him, cool and self-possessed once more. It wasn’t until he heard Joan’s quiet gasp that he looked after the other female. Scars covered Saka’s back, dozens of pale lines streaked through the dark fur. Joan’s mouth opened, but he shook his head. He was sure that Saka was no more eager to discuss her scars with strangers than he was to discuss his.
Joan reluctantly decided that Varga was right: there was nothing she could say that would change whatever Saka had been through. She was uneasily aware that she had rushed to judgment of the other female because of her apparently complacent attitude, but no doubt Saka had done whatever she needed to do to survive. Just as Joan had done.
Guilt washed over her again at the knowledge of how much easier her life had been than it was for these females, despite Ukhaan’s casual brutality. Would she have been able to survive if she had been thrown into one of these cells the day she had arrived? Even Polly, as troubled as she obviously was, must have a core of inner strength to have lasted so long.
“It’s not your fault, little bird,” Varga said softly. She looked up to find him watching her, a warm glow in his dark golden eyes.
“Am I so obvious?”
“Only to me.” He dropped a quick kiss on her head, then moved ahead to assume the lead position.
Her eyes followed him, admiring his broad shoulders and the strong muscles of his back rippling beneath the dark turquoise skin. Even the thin golden scars only added to his masculine beauty. Everything had happened so quickly since she’d woken up that she hadn’t had much of a chance to think about their encounter, let alone discuss it with him.
She could still feel the slight, pleasant ache deep inside and shivered with pleasure at the memory. Despite the circumstances it had been the most deliciously erotic experience of her life. Or was it because of the circumstances? Was it the danger they were in that made it so exciting? No, she decided as her gaze drifted down over a tight, round ass and heavily muscled thighs. She would want him no matter where they were.
“Are you with child?” Saka asked abruptly.
“No.” Another thing that Kevin had taken from her. As much as she had wanted to be a mother, once she realized his true nature, she had refused to take the chance on subjecting a child to his demeaning cruelty. He had castigated her for her failure to produce an heir for him but had been too self-absorbed to realize that she was on birth control. She shook off the memory of the past and frowned at Saka. “Why do you ask?”
“Your breasts are enlarged and your nipples are hard.”
Joan blushed as she looked down and realized that the memory of her time with Varga had caused her body to respond, her nipples thrusting against his shirt. “It’s normal for human females.”
“Hmm.” Saka ran a complacent hand down her own smooth front. “It seems inefficient.”
“Oh, it has its advantages,” she said lightly, refusing to respond to the other female’s bait.
“I will admit that your warrior doesn’t seem to object. At least, based on your little display earlier, I assume he’s your warrior?”
Was he? He had said he was here to rescue her—at his friend’s request, a little voice whispered—but he hadn’t mentioned what would happen once they left this planet. He treated her so tenderly, but then again, his eyes had been full of sympathy when he noticed Saka’s scars. And the female was very attractive. She forced herself to shrug.
“He’s a free male.”
“Hmm,” Saka said again, her eyes all too knowing as she inspected Joan’s face. “I’m not quite sure I believe that.” Before Joan could respond, she continued, “You’re the one who sent the food, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I am—I was—Ukhaan’s cook.”
Saka shuddered. “He’s a cold bastard. Not remotely swayed by my, uh,