Born of Ice (The League #3)(12)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

You’re such a moping fool.

How many times in her life would she be kicked in the teeth by fate before she learned that happy endings and happiness didn’t belong to gutter trash like her? It was for free women who were born into nice, normal families.

Yeah, but what if?

Reaching up, she laid her hand against his cheek. His whiskers prickled her palm. And for a minute, she imagined the life she wished she had.

And that unrealistic dream was what sent her off into the most blissful sleep of her life.

Devyn came awake to something pressing hard against his back. At first he thought he was asleep in his pilot’s chair, until he heard a light, gentle snore.

Alix.

A slow smile curled his lips as he rolled over to find her knee in his back and her hand in his hair. The low lights highlighted just enough of her bare body to make him instantly hard.

It was so confusing to be attracted to a woman who looked this much like his ex in the face. There was nothing else they shared, except for the way his body reacted. He should be well satisfied after last night and yet …

He wanted a bite of her succulent skin.

“Devyn?”

He sighed at the mecha’s low voice. No doubt he’d been monitoring his vitals to know when he was awake. “What, Vik?”

“There’s something strange that I’m picking up. I think you might want to come up here and look at it.”

“Can’t you shoot it to my computer in here?”

“I really think you need to come up here and look at it.”

That set off the alarms inside him. What was going on? Vik wasn’t one to be coy when it was something that threatened them.

Grateful Alix was still asleep, he slid out of bed and quickly dressed, then went to the bridge.

The lights came up immediately.

Devyn went to his chair. “Where’s Sway?”

“Asleep.”

“Okay, then what’s up?”

Vik transferred data to the main computer in front of him. “I think we’re tagged.” Tagged meant that someone had a tracer on them and was able to track them.

“Who?”

“No idea and it’s real sophisticated. Something your father would come up with.”

Devyn arched a brow at that. When it came to computers and electronics, his father was unrivaled. “Dad wouldn’t have bugged me covertly.” He knew what devices his father had planted on the ship and in his chronometer. His parents were paranoid as hell, but at least they were openly obnoxious about it. “Can you jam the signal?”

“Let me get back to the part where I said it’s like something your father would come up with.”

“He also came up with you, Vik.”

“Flattery right now might get you shot. I’ve been trying to isolate it, but it’s impressive. I’ve tried jamming and everything else. Whatever it is, it’s beyond my abilities.”

That was extremely interesting. And concerning as hell. “Who would have done something like this?”

“Someone wanting to keep tabs on you. Since we don’t know who, I think it best we assume they’re hostile.”

Devyn snorted at a comment so stupid he couldn’t believe it’d come out of Vik’s mouth. “You think?”

“Oh, sarcasm will definitely get you shot. Especially at this time of the day.”

“Sorry, V. You know that’s my stress release.”

“I suggest you learn to channel that into a new direction that won’t end up with you bleeding on the floor.”

“Thanks, Vik. Love you, too, man. Just out of curiosity, why couldn’t you tell me this in my room?”

He hesitated before he answered. “Because I’m not too sure Alix isn’t the source of it.”

Devyn’s stomach hit the floor as every alarm in his body went into high alert. “What do you mean?”

“I have suspicions where she’s concerned.”

Al technically weren’t capable of being suspicious. But Devyn’s father had wired a human central nervous system into Vik, and more than that, he’d crossbred human DNA with some of his wiring. While Vik may not have been born from a mother, he was damn near human in all ways.

All ways.

Which meant that his powers of observation were above reproach. If he was suspicious, Alix was basically guilty of something.

“What’s tripped your concerns?”

“Can’t put my finger on it and that’s pissing me off. Just that I’ve caught her trying to access some of our records. Shipping manifests and cargo inventory.”

“That could be natural curiosity. If I were on a ship and could go to jail for my duties, I’d want to know what we were carrying, too.”

“Perhaps. But it feels weird to me.”

Devyn would argue if he hadn’t had such a bad experience with Clotilde. After that, he’d lost all faith in his ability to judge people. Vik had never liked that bitch and if he’d listened to Vik then, it would have saved him an eternity of grief.

He pushed himself away from his console. “Keep an eye on her and let me know if you see anything concrete.”

“I take it that you don’t want me to watch her while she’s with you.”

“Goes without saying.”

“Thought so. By the way, she’s awake and getting dressed in your room.”

Shit. But if she was an enemy, then he shouldn’t care what she did. Something much easier said than done.

This definitely wasn’t what he’d wanted to wake up to. Licking Alix for a few hours… now that had been the plan. “By the way, thanks for ruining my plans for the morning, Vik. Appreciate it.”

“Ever my pleasure to irritate you, embryo.”

Sighing, Devyn headed for the door.

“Can I ask a question?”

He frowned as he paused in the middle of the bridge. “Sure.”

“I understand the physical nature of sex, but why didn’t you sleep with your redhead at the station?”

A wave of irritation went through him as he realized he’d been spied on. “Vik—”

“Not my fault. Your heart rate increased, and I peeked only to make sure you were all right. I overheard that tiny bit and then immediately shut down my monitoring.”

He would be angry if monitoring his vitals wasn’t part of Vik’s duties. Besides, there was no real malice in Vik, only an innate curiosity about human relations. “It’s complicated. There’s sex, which, don’t get me wrong, is a good thing. But it’s not as good as when you have a connection to someone. That kind of sex is astronomical.”

“I don’t understand.”

Devyn smiled. “Neither do I most days. It’s just something about it is more satisfying when you’re with someone you know.” He looked up at the speaker. “It’s one of those things you have to experience to understand, Vik.”

“Then I shall never know.”

Devyn heard the wistful tone and felt bad for his friend. While curious about human behavior, Vik had always kept himself apart from it. It was almost like the mecha was afraid of the human part of himself. Not that Devyn blamed him for that.

There were times when he was just as afraid of being human.

Wishing he could help the mecha, he made his way to the galley to start breakfast.

As soon as Alix finished dressing, she went to find water and a morning bar. But the moment she walked in, she froze. Something smelled wonderful.

Because of the expense, she very seldom smelled bacon. It was a wonderful, unmistakable scent and it made her stomach rumble as she watched Devyn cooking it.

She scowled at him. “I thought you didn’t cook.”

“I don’t. It doesn’t mean I don’t know how to, I just hate it passionately.”

“Why?”

He turned over two sizzling pieces. “My Aunt Kasen. Love the woman dearly, but she can harp with the best of them and I made the mistake as a kid of asking her how to make these cereal cups she used to give me. Three minutes in, I knew I was screwed.” He raised his voice to a falsetto. “No, Devyn, that’s not right. Stop that. Stir it this way. Not that way.” He let out a disgusted breath. “Two of the worst hours of my life to make a fifteen-minute dish. After that, anytime she caught me near a kitchen she’d start in on me. So I have an automatic sphincter clench any time I reach for a pan.”

She laughed at his term. “Then why are you cooking now?”

He leaned down and kissed her senseless. “I’m suffering for you, baby.”

Am I dreaming? This couldn’t be happening to her. Irn groping her with his cold, dirty hands whenever he caught her alone. Arkley grabbing her when he needed release… that was normal.

A man like Devyn Kell cooking for her.

Impossible.

Yet as he pulled back to finish making breakfast, she knew she wasn’t dreaming. This was real and it was wonderful.

But she didn’t understand it. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Devyn grimaced at her question. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t understand why you’re treating me this way.”

Damn, what had they done to her that she couldn’t comprehend a man making her food after he’d slept with her? He turned off the stove and pulled her into his arms. “Sweetie, this is how the people I’ve been around behave toward each other. Cooking you breakfast after the night you gave me is nothing. You wore me out and I need energy for the day ahead. Now eat up before it gets cold.” He let go of her and put the bacon on a plate before he held it out.

Alix took the plate he handed her. As she made her way to the table, Sway walked in and flashed a grin.

“Ah, man, I thought Vik was screwing with me by sending over the scent of real food.” He grabbed Devyn into a hug and playfully kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, man. You rule! Thanks for the food. It touches me deep in my tender place.”

Devyn bristled under his playful assault. “I don’t want to know nothing about your tender place, you freak.”

When Sway tried to take the plate from Devyn, Devyn snatched it back. “Get your own plate, giakon. I’m hungry.”

“You suck.” Sway stepped around him to make a plate of his own. He bit into the bacon and moaned. “I always forget how well you cook.”

“Yeah, well, you’re already married, so cut your eyes away from me.”

Sway sat down next to Alix. “You eat bacon?”

“Yes.”

He flashed Devyn a grin. “She needs more bacon.”

Devyn gave him a droll stare. “You want more bacon, make it yourself.”

“I always burn it. Alix, don’t you want more bacon?”

She held her hands up in surrender. “I’m so not in the middle of this.” But inside, she enjoyed the bantering and play, and she envied them for having grown up like this. She was only now beginning to understand a world where fear wasn’t a part of every day. No one yelled at her. No one grabbed her.

And as she thought of the future, her stomach shrank. Once Devyn was gone, what would become of her? She didn’t know how to do anything except work on a ship.

Her mother and Tempest didn’t even know that much. They had no education or skills at all.

“Are you all right?”

Blinking, she met Devyn’s concerned gaze. “Fine.”

But she could tell he didn’t believe her. Not that he should, since she was lying, and that thought only made her feel that much worse.

Maybe you could trust him.

Yeah, right. Tell him that she’d been sent here by his enemies to arrest him? That wouldn’t go over well. She’d kill her if she was him. It would only make sense. While they may have had sex, there was nothing more between them. No loyalty. Not even friendship.

She was his enemy.

CHAPTER 4

The next two days passed quickly as Alix tried to catch Vik unaware without alerting him as to what she was doing.

Damn him for being so attentive. Nothing she tried worked. It was like the mecha was everywhere.

And with every day that passed, she grew that much closer to Devyn and Sway. They taught her how to play VR games— something her father had never allowed them to do on board his freighter. While they took mercy on her in the combat and racing games, they were ruthless with each other.

She loved listening to them playfully insult and taunt one another. It made her miss her sister and wish that she didn’t have to hurt them.

But even better than the days were the nights she spent with Devyn. He showed her things about her body she’d never known. His mere touch could thrill her like nothing else, and his kisses…

She could spend eternity in his arms.

Now she sat on her bed, listening to the whir of the engines as Devyn brought the Talia into the docks of Nera VII. They’d invited her to dinner at one of the local pubs and she’d done her best to decline.

Apparently no wasn’t in Devyn’s vocabulary. So she planned to go and eat, then head straight back to carry out her mission.