Jayne grabbed a handful of his suit and hauled him after her. “Don’t worry, Darling. We have a secret weapon now that doesn’t explode.”
“And that is?”
She glanced back, over her shoulder. “Sumi. She’s able to bring down a thundering TAM with nothing more than a quirked eyebrow.”
Darling grinned. “Oh yeah, thank the gods, we now have the power.” He let out an evil laugh. “Let’s go make the most of it. Thinking I have payback to make.”
Sumi paused just outside the doorway. Her heart hammering, she looked into the hospital room where Dancer sat in bed with Kalea snuggled against his chest while she read to him. Of course, she was too young to actually read, so she was making up stories for the pictures.
“And see this one here is the sweet kitty, Daddy. And he’s saying that he don’t want to go to bed. He’s not tired. Not even a little.”
“But what if it’s past his bedtime?” Dancer asked with a smile.
“You’re not listening, Daddy. See, little baby kittens know when they need sleep and when they don’t.”
Sumi smiled. “Luckily, it’s not bedtime for little baby kittens.”
“Mommy!” Kalea sat up and smiled. Then she stood on the bed and launched herself.
Gasping, Sumi caught her. “Careful, sweetie! You could get hurt.”
“Sorry, Mommy.”
Sumi sat down on the bed and took Dancer’s hand. “Syn said that he thinks he got everything out?”
Dancer nodded. “He’s paranoid, so I’m here until morning.” He released a highly irritated breath. “I can’t stand this crap. I’d rather be beat than locked in a hospital.”
She fingered one of the braids at his temple. “I know, baby. But remember, if you’re a good boy…”
He laughed at her promise. “I’m being very good. I only hit Syn once.” Sobering, he brushed a portion of her face paint off and scowled at the bruise he uncovered. “That wasn’t there earlier. What did you do?”
She glanced about innocently. “How do you mean?”
His eyes darkened with anger. “Someone hit you. Who?”
Kalea gasped. “Mommy got a boo-boo!”
Sumi rubbed at the tender bruise Pera had given her. She met Dancer’s gaze. “It’s fine. I just went and made sure you were safe.”
“Pera?”
She nodded.
Hauk was stunned. He’d expected one of his friends to take care of her. But he should have known it would be his little mouse who did it. “You could have been hurt.”
There was no denying the ferocity in her gaze, or the sincerity. “No one comes after what I love.”
He reached out and touched Kalea’s head, then Sumi’s cheek. “I know the feeling. At least tell me you didn’t go alone.”
“I tried,” she said with a laugh. “But the number of beings wanting a piece of her just kept growing and growing. It was the weirdest thing, honey.”
He smiled. “Yeah. They’re like space barnacles that way. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t avoid them or scrape them off once they’ve latched onto your ass.”
“See,” Jayne said from the doorway. “I told you guys. He’s totally whipped.”
Hauk glanced past Sumi to see Jayne, Syn, Darling, Maris, Fain, Nyk, Nero, Bastien, and Caillen outside, laughing at him. He ran his finger along Sumi’s jawbone. “Not whipped, Jayne. Tamed.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she led the others into his room. “Is there a difference?”
“Yeah, a big one. Whipped means I’m broken.” He stared into Sumi’s eyes as he considered everything she’d brought into his world. Everything she’d given him that he never had before, including a beautiful daughter he still needed to kill Nykyrian over. “But for the first time in my life, I feel whole.”
More than that, he was finally whole. And best of all, he was finally accepted.
So no, he wasn’t whipped. He’d been tamed by a fearless little mouse who had boldly stood up to the beast inside him, and found the heart that no one else had ever claimed.
The heart that no one else would ever own.
For the first time ever, the War Hauk was at peace.
But he would always be ready to war anytime, anywhere against anyone who came for, or at, his family.
EPILOGUE
Sumi cringed at the sight of herself in her wedding “dress.” It was more like see-through wedding tissue paper. Gah, Fain hadn’t been joking when he’d told her what Andarions wore for their unification ceremonies.
She covered her breasts with her hands and wished herself on another planet.
“I know,” Kiara said with a laugh as she finished styling Sumi’s hair. “I felt the same way when I went through my formal ceremony with Nykyrian… and given the brevity of the costumes I’ve had to wear on stage for dance performances, it takes a lot to make me blush.”
Sumi could just imagine. She met Kiara’s gaze in the mirror. “I can’t go out there like this. I think I’ll die of embarrassment on the spot.”
“Yes, you can. Just think about Hauk and ignore everyone else.”
Much easier said than done.
But if the red material were thicker, it would have been a beautiful gown. The halter neck fastened to a choker made of rows of a rare red Andarion gem she’d never heard of before. The sheer material clung to her body and another piece fell from the back of the choker and was attached to matching bands on her wrists. The eton Anatole crest was embroidered in a thin, fine gold thread through the gauzy red material.
With the help of Dancer’s grandmother, Thia, and Cairistiona, Kiara had twined her braids into an intricate upswept hairdo that cascaded around a gold crown. And they’d painted the royal crest on her face.
They stepped back, pleased with their work.
Sumi, not so much. “I still feel like I need a blanket wrapped around me.”
Cairistiona patted her on the arm. “As Kiara said, think only of the male you love and the fact that from this day forward, you two will always belong to each other. Forget everyone else in the room. This is between the two of you and it is sacred.”
Sumi saw the sadness in her eyes as she spoke. Poor Cairistiona that she’d never been allowed to marry the one man she loved. While her heart would always belong to Nykyrian’s father, her life and service would be forever tied to the Andarion nation.
Reaching out, she hugged the queen. “Thank you. For everything.”
Cairistiona smiled. “It is my pleasure. I owe your male much for protecting both my sons. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him or you. And know that we’ll guard and spoil Kalea blind until the morning, when you two emerge.”
Laughing, she released her. “I know you will.” Kalea was already looking forward to spending the night in a real palace as a real princess. She’d been telling everyone about it for days.
A light knock sounded on the door.
At the queen’s nod, a guard opened it to admit Dancer’s mother. Her stern features softened as she saw Sumi. While she still wasn’t warm, she’d become much nicer to them both after she’d learned the truth about Dariana and her marriage with Keris.
And once she’d faced the fact that Dancer hadn’t cut the rope that killed his brother. Not that it would have mattered. The drugs Pera had given Keris to take on Dancer’s Endurance had been laced with a slow-acting poison that would have killed him before he returned with Dancer, anyway.
It was why Dariana had cremated the body and told them that Dancer had left Keris in the desert.