“I work hard,” I said. “And I would like to help. This way of record keeping is outdated and inefficient. I can make it so much easier. I know the Halo systems well. I can upload everything to a secure database that you can set up yourself, if you’d like, if you don’t trust me to do it.”
When I met Azur’s eyes, his nostrils flared.
“These are all just old harvest records anyway,” I said gently. “What harm could I possibly do?”
My heart was beating fast. I wanted this. Would he be cruel for no other reason than to deny me what I wanted?
“Don’t distract Maazin while you’re in here,” Azur finally said. “And stay out of his way once Laras’s yield reports come in.”
Hope rose.
“He’s already distracted enough.”
I’d noticed.
“I’m very good at keeping to a schedule,” I told him. “I can keep him on track.”
Azur grunted.
Frankly, I was astonished. But I held it together. This was also the longest we’d gone without flinging insults back and forth at one another.
There was a smoothing hum that was coming from the orb light Maazin had flicked on once the sun had set. They were meant to be silent, but like everything in this room, there was something disorganized about its innards.
Likely a frayed coil. I’d replaced enough in our estate in the Collis when we could no longer afford to have a tradesman come for repairs. I could probably fix it myself if I had—
“Your father will never stop, Gemma.”
I stilled, flicking my gaze from the orb light to my husband, who stood tall and proud in front of me.
“But you know that. Don’t you?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
Chapter 17
Azur
There was a flash of despair on her face that she couldn’t quite hide.
“He promised he would,” she murmured quietly. “He promised he’d stop taking credits. That he’d cut ties with the collectors.”
My jaw tightened.
It was odd.
Feeling this tight ball of sympathy in my chest for a Hara.
Even when it was filled with a blooming satisfaction, knowing that life hadn’t been kind to Rye Hara since the Pe’ji War. Only it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be enough for me.
“Do you truly believe that?” I wanted to know.
Gemma wasn’t a fool. It hadn’t taken me long to see that.
She didn’t answer. Which told me everything I needed to know.
“He doesn’t know about the credits I paid into your personal account, does he?” I grunted.
“No,” Gemma whispered, dropping her gaze briefly.
It had been a stipulation of her agreement to this marriage. That in addition to the debts being paid off, I’d pay her 200 vron into a separate account.
At first, I had thought it mere greed. That she’d wanted to wring out whatever she could from me.
Now…I wondered if I’d been wrong.
“Why?” I rasped, needing to know.
She confirmed my suspicions when she said, “It’s security for my sisters. Just in case…just in case my father…”
She didn’t need to finish the sentence.
For once, her voice went wobbly. She had the uncanny ability to keep her voice sword-sharp, even when she was crying or upset. But hearing it waver now made my chest squeeze.
No.
I didn’t want to feel anything for this female. Dislike and mistrust I could handle. Lust? It came with our unfortunate and unlucky bond, but it could easily be compartmentalized and tied only to my feedings.
This?
Seeing her on the floor, miserable? Telling me what I knew in my gut was the truth? That she had worked hard to try to turn her family’s situation around? That she had thought of her sisters’ futures only when she had accepted this marriage?
To the Kylorr, especially to House Kaalium, family was more important than anything else. Loyalty to family, to blood ran strong, the lines forged with steel and strength. I would die for anyone in my family. In a single heartbeat. I knew they would do the same for me. I would give up everything to ensure their safety.
I was coming to the uncomfortable realization that Gemma would do the same for hers.
That, I could respect. That, I could understand.
When she wiped at her cheek, I realized a stray, clear tear had fallen. She took in a deep breath, and to my fascination, she looked annoyed. Her lips pinched down and she frowned up at me.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she informed me. “I don’t like to think of my sisters when I know—when I know that it doesn’t matter. I’m here. And they are…far away.”
A little sound of frustration followed. My eyes were rapt on her.
“Aren’t you hungry?” she demanded quietly.
My brows rose at her unexpected question.
And just like that…I felt my fangs begin to drip with venom, elongating in a rush. My body went tight, bracing in anticipation as I watched her struggle to stand from the floor. She swayed, stumbling a bit, limping until she could feel her limbs again. But then she was standing tall. Proud. Her chin lifted even though she looked ridiculous in her high-necked dress.
And oddly appealing, I couldn’t help but think next.
Her eyes were glassy from her sudden tears, but her full, pink mouth was pinched in a scowl that made my cock thicken and my knot swell. Her hair was disheveled from her long day, untucked strands falling around her cheeks, softening her face. I wanted to see her hair unbound. I wanted to fist my hands into it when it was wild and untamed.
And she smelled divine.
My claws curled inward as she stepped toward me. I was watching, waiting to see what she would do, trying to understand the sudden shift in her.
“Isn’t that why you came to find me?” she asked next.
“Is this you wanting a distraction?” I rumbled, realizing what she was doing.
“We have an agreement, don’t we?” she asked, brushing off my words though I knew they were sticking in the air between us.
She wanted me to feed on her because she knew that the moment I did, she could get lost in my bite, in the pleasure. She wouldn’t have to think about the debts, about her father and her sisters. She could forget. She could forget everything, if only for those brief moments.
She was using me.
Just as I was using her.
Coming to that realization, I couldn’t help but feel a begrudging respect rise for my wife. At least she knew what it was she wanted from me.
“And what else did that agreement include?” I asked, deciding to play along.
Her lips parted, but I watched the tantalizing pink of her cheeks deepen.
“Was I meant to see this?” I pondered, reaching out to snag the high neckline of her dress, savoring her surprised gasp when I dragged her closer by it. “Did you want me to see this?”
She had a spine of steel, I’d give her that. For blatantly going against my orders. I’d told her to leave her neck bare. She’d covered it up until the material blended into her damn hair.
“Yes,” she answered.
I would’ve laughed had her answer not sent a dizzying rush of blood straight to my cock. Who would have thought that I’d be aroused by her bold disobedience?