Part III: The Sanctuary
Six Months Later
Chapter 13
Bitch.
Seth lifted his glass of bakrah and took a long swig. The lovely blond sitting in the booth beside him reached over and tried to fondle his leg, but he pushed her hand away. He didn’t want her, he wanted Calla—six bloody months since Jax had rescued him from the asteroid, and he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. It was killing him. With a frustrated sigh, he gestured for the woman to leave him alone.
Calla’s presence was with him always. the smell of her hair, her smile. The feel of her tight opening around his cock and the little noises she made when she came. Was she making those little noises for Jess now? Seth clenched his fist around the glass, his vision clouding over with black rage.
Bitch.
She’d left him to die, and now she haunted his every step. He could hunt her down; he’d thought about it a thousand times. But what would be the point? She didn’t want to be with him, and he didn’t want to be with her. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. At night, though, he ached for her touch...
It had been a hard six months. He had spent the first seven weeks recovering from his injuries, a process made more difficult by the constant stream of Saurellian intelligence analysts sent to pick his brains for information on the Pilgrims. Then he had joined his brother warriors in the fight. They were successful and the rebellion was over, at least for now. But casualties had been heavy on both sides, and the Pilgrims were still out there. They were hiding, licking their wounds and preparing to fight again.
Once upon a time, Seth had found the thought of new battles and new enemies exhilarating. Now he was simply tired.
A whooping cry came from across the seedy tavern, startling him out of his thoughts. Seth looked up at the source of the noise with little interest. Jax and the others were excited, slapping each other on the back and laughing. Whatever it was, Seth didn’t care. He drained the rest of his glass, threw a credit down on the table and got up to leave.
As he made his way across the room, Jax caught sight of him and bounded over, literally leaping over a table to get to him.
“Seth, I have great news!” Jax yelled, grabbing his arm. Seth shook him off, disinterested. “No, you need to hear this! Sit down.”
Realizing he wasn’t going to get rid of Jax that easily, Seth resigned himself and dropped into a chair.
“What is it?”
“Something wonderful has happened,” Jax said. His face was flushed with excitement, and something else. Hope? “You’ve heard of General Nikolas Tresky, haven’t you?”
Seth nodded tightly. Tresky had been among the leaders who negotiated the truce with the emperor. He had a solid reputation.
“Well, several years ago, before the war started, Tresky met a woman during a diplomatic mission to the Imperial court on Tyre, the capital planet,” Jax said excitedly.
Seth glanced at his time piece, willing Jax to go away. He had no interest in the younger man’s stories. “He had a brief affair with her. I guess he was never really able to shake the thought of her, and after the war he hunted her down. Guess what he found? She had a child by him, a girl no less, and the baby is Saurellian! He found a life mate who wasn’t Saurellian!”
Jax’s words caught Seth off guard. No Saurellian man had ever found a life mate outside their homeworld.
“Are you sure?” he whispered. If what Jax said was true, the implications were incredible. Suddenly there was new hope for all of them.
“Yes, the news came in an official dispatch from the Temple of the Goddess on Saurellia. Apparently he took her there to confirm their bond in front of the priestesses,”
Jax said breathlessly. “Do you know what this means? We have a chance! We could all find life mates. It’s almost too much to imagine.”
The younger man fell back against his chair, all but glowing with happiness. Jax’s words kept running through Seth’s mind again and again. There was hope. Maybe he could have Calla, if she was his life mate. Some of his anger fled at the thought of holding her, thrusting into her warm flesh. He wanted her so badly...
“Tell me about this woman,” Seth said suddenly, leaning forward. “Where did she come from? What do the priestesses say about this?”
“Well, she didn’t look Saurellian, but they did a genetic analysis, and she’s definitely of Saurellian stock,” Jax said, grimacing. “I know, it sounds incredible, but she was actually the daughter of two freed slaves. Genetically she’s a real mish-mash, because both her parents came from an imperial slave farm. But somewhere in there was a Saurellian. Thank the Goddess for dominant genes!”
“Calla came from a slave farm,” Seth said softly. Jax stared hard at him.
“She left you to die,” he said harshly after a minute. “You can’t think that she might be-“
“Maybe,” Seth said. He looked down and realized his hand was trembling. He held it up before him, fascinated at his reaction. “I haven’t been with another woman since I was with her. I can’t stop thinking about her. And when we were together, I wanted to stay with her, even after months of only one woman. Doesn’t that sound like a life mate?”
“Yes,” Jax said slowly. “But Seth, she lied to you. For all you know she’s already married to that slave rebel. I know she told you she wasn’t, but she lied to you all along.
If she was your life-mate, she wouldn’t even contemplate being with another man after meeting you.”
“But how else do you explain it?” Seth said after a moment’s thought. “Being with her felt so right, so different from any other women I’ve ever been around. She came from a slave farm. Maybe the Goddess chose her for me.”
Jax sat quietly for a minute, then looked up at him.
“If what you say is true, you have to go get her,” he said finally. “You have to know the truth. But why would the Goddess pair you with a woman you could never trust?”
“The Goddess has ordained stranger things,” Seth replied thoughtfully. “If she’s truly my life mate, I’ll simply have to learn to deal with it. And if I find Jess, I’ll take care of him, too. But if she’s really my life mate, then maybe she was telling the truth about him. I can’t imagine the Goddess would give me a woman who already belongs to another man.”
“She’s yours by law,” Jax said, warming to the idea. “You have the right to take her, regardless of whether she’s already with another man. If it’s the Goddess’ will, you don’t have a choice.”
No, he didn’t, Seth thought. He was filled with the most amazing sensation. Sudden joy ran through him as he realized that he, too, might have children. He could build a life for himself, rejoin his brother on Saurellia. He could have Calla. The thought of her, with her soft skin covered in freckles and her long, brown hair wrapped around his fingers made him instantly hard. He had known from the start she was his, he realized, there was simply no doubt about it. He just hadn’t believed such a thing was possible.
Now all he had to do was go and get her.
Jax read his thoughts. “I take it you’re going after her?” he asked with a grin.
“Oh, yes,” Seth said with dark determination.
“Want some company?” Jax asked. “I’m ready for another trip. Beside, the more I travel, the more likely it is I’ll run into my life mate. I want her, Seth. I’m ready for her, wherever she is.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Any ideas where to start?” Jax asked.
“I’ll start by tracing the ship,” Seth said with a smile. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find out where they sold it. We’ll take it from there. Neither of them had ever been out of the system before. They’ll stick out no matter where they go. We’ll find them.”