Tail Dark and Handsome Read online

  Mari agreed. She needed to work out her restless energy, and a walk into the village sounded good. Taking her hat and the dang comm unit, she set off.

  The island was a long, thin curve of dry land centered around a dormant volcano. The windward side boasted gorgeous white sand beaches. Hotels and resorts ran up and down the beach. Steep hills filled the center, and two villages crouched around harbors on the north tip of the island.

  A brisk fifteen-minute walk brought Mari into the closest village. Whitewashed cubiform buildings with azure blue tile roofs seemed to be stacked on top each over on the hillside, gleaming against the deep blue of the harbor. A constant sea breeze kept the temperature comfortable, despite the intensity of the sun.

  It was a beautiful spot in the universe. She could only imagine what it would be like to experience it with someone she loved.

  Thoughts of Tomas brought back the familiar sensation of sour worry and irritation. On the first day, she half-hoped he’d be foolish enough to turn up in their private cabin on the beach. It was part revenge fantasy but also a wish that he’d come back to beg forgiveness because he loved her, but no. It was just Mari and Valerian in the honeymoon suite. And no, she wasn’t disappointed because she was over him. So over him.

  She’d keep repeating that mantra until she believed it.

  A fresh start.

  That sounded so nice. She had her pilot’s license. She could fly anywhere in the galaxy. Well, the Interstellar Union. Nothing kept her at Olympus Station other than her mother. Finding a new job that took her away from the station would be good for her, a complete break from the old.

  It was a sweet fantasy, but only a fantasy. Nox would continue his pursuit. He might be satisfied if she paid on the interest, if the mood struck him. With luck and taking on more jobs, she could whittle down the principal. If not, he’d put a lien on her shares of the business.

  It was hard to predict which way he would go, as his moods were notoriously mercurial. He’d taken over other businesses in the station, but he’d also let people work off their debt. Some people were smart mouths to him, but they remained whole with all their fingers and toes. Other people gave him one wrong look, and Nox’s henchmen put them in the med bay.

  She hoped she amused him, given the way he seemed to enjoy invading her privacy and rummaging through her apartment. The only thing she knew for certain was that running away wouldn’t solve anything. If she stayed, she could shield Valerian and Joseph.

  Mari knew she should swallow her pride and accept Valerian’s offer of help. Her mother wasn’t sitting on a fortune, but together they could pay off the debt, or at least make a dent in it.

  She had a week before she had to deal with it. A week to pretend she was an average jilted bride on a not-weird honeymoon with her mother and not a woman with a ticking clock hanging over her head.

  So what if Nox sent her a message that morning with a photo of her cabin? Big deal. She would not buckle under a little light intimidation. She had a week.

  Mari hopped on public transport. The crowd thinned as it moved away from the beach and deeper into the island’s interior, climbing up to the temple ruins perched on the mountainside. Gray clouds rolled in, taking away the worst of the heat. As the transport reached the top, she felt as if she rose above her troubles.

  Alone, Mari disembarked to climb the steps to the temple site. Gravel crunched underfoot. The air smelled of sea salt and the pungent scrub plants that grew along the rough terrain. Above her, on a steep incline, the weathered stone columns of the ruined temple framed against the stormy sky.

  Her thighs burned from climbing the uneven steps. By the time she reached the top, she needed to sit for a moment to catch her breath. She brushed off a conveniently placed bit of stone and sat. Wind kicked up dust and stirred the loose strands of hair that escaped from her ponytail. The village below appeared tiny, like toy blocks stacked on top of each other, and the blue water stretched out endlessly.

  Maybe, after this mess was over, she could find a job on this planet. Shuttles moved tourists every day from the orbital station to the planet’s surface. The work was mindless, but she’d get sunshine, stunning views, and real weather.

  The wind changed direction, growing cool and damp. Droplets pattered against the ground. A splash touched her shoulder.

  Mari jumped to her feet in excitement.

  Rain. Real rain.

  The few tourists at the temple crowded around the main temple complex, despite the temple having no roof and offering no protection from the elements. Mari tilted her head back with a ridiculous grin on her face, letting the rain soak through her light dress.

  The rain did not last long, though the clouds remained. Mari soon found herself alone as she wandered through the ruins. A computer-generated voice lectured her about the history of the site through her communicator. The planet had been an early Tal colony, but the ruins predated the Tal’s arrival. An unknown people had lived on the planet, built monuments, carved roads into mountains, and shaped the landscape before vanishing.

  Unknown aliens. Mari had been born in deep space and never set foot on Earth, like her mother and her grandparents. She lived with aliens every day, but people came in six flavors: human, Fremmian, Tal, Gyer, Wyer, and Corravian. That was it. There might be more civilizations and people out there, but their corner of the galaxy was fairly empty.

  Well, there were the Edder, but no one had seen them in centuries. Stories of the Edder portrayed them as bogeymen—vicious, bloodthirsty, and merciless. Humanity’s first encounter with the Edder had been bloody and disastrous. The earliest history of Earth colonizing other planets included a prolonged war with the Edder.

  Then they vanished. No one knew why. Historians and conspiracy theorists speculated, but the fact remained that more was unknown about the Edder than known. Homeworld? Colony planets? Basic information. Why the aggression against outsiders?

  Mari had always wondered if the Edder really ate people. One of the more outlandish stories claimed that they raided unprotected colonies and harvested people like livestock, but that seemed unbelievable, like time had twisted the truth.

  Lost in fascination, Mari wandered away from the main complex and down a footpath. She failed to notice the darkening sky as she followed a winding path through scrub and trees, opening to a secondary location. The site lacked the towering columns of the temple. Half walls and exposed flagstones outlined where buildings once stood.

  Thunder rumbled. Mari jumped, suddenly realizing that she was alone as the oncoming storm drove everyone away.

  A cold wind swept in, and the rain poured down. This wasn’t the gentle sprinkle from earlier, but drenching and cold.

  Mari ran toward a reconstructed building with a thatched roof.

  In the darkness, rain pounded on the roof and came in through the narrow window slits and the open door. She huddled in a far corner, as far away from the rain as possible.

  The building appeared to be used for storage, at least according to the computer whispering in her ear. Pottery fragments with traces of oil, grain, and wine were found within the hut.

  A bot rolled in, all-terrain wheels digging into the packed ground. A red light flashed, and a garbled voice said something, but Mari couldn’t catch it over the narration in her ear.

  She tapped her ear to turn off the sound and peered down at the bot. Mud caked the undercarriage. She didn’t think she had wandered into a restricted area, but maybe it closed because of the weather. The steps were tricky enough to navigate in the sunshine. She’d hate to try in a downpour.

  “Hello? Can you repeat that?” She tapped the black dome at the top of the bot. The light flashed, and a panel slid open. Gears whirred, and the bot gave a full-body shudder, then went dark.

  Well, that wasn’t good.

  “Don’t touch that,” a sharp voice said.

  A Tal man loomed in the door, soaked from the rain. Shadows hid his face until he stepped inside. Dark hair plastered ag
ainst his forehead made his triangular ears more pronounced. He appeared disheveled, like he just rolled off a long transport ride with no sleep; his eyes were a sleepless red, and dark circles hung under them. The man looked worn and tired.

  And very, very pissed.

  Without thinking, Mari stepped between the bot and the threatening Tal man.

  “That’s a very sensitive instrument,” he said, pushing past her and falling to his knees in front of the bot. A tool appeared in his hand, and he removed the front panel. “This is completely ruined.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t let it roam through the mud,” she said.

  The man’s ears flicked back as she spoke, the only sign he heard her. Focused on the bot, he pushed back wet hair and muttered. His tail swept along the packed dirt floor, picking up a coating of mud. He reached for the internal circuitry, then drew back his hand. He slammed the panel shut and rose to his feet.

  “It has water damage. You did something to it,” he accused.

  “I did nothing.” She barely touched the bot.

  “Lies. You removed the front panel. Are you a spy? Did I interrupt your attempt to steal my prototype?” His tail lashed out behind him, angry like a whip. Rain pounded the roof, nearly drowning out his words, but she got the general gist.

  “A spy?” Nervous laughter bubbled out of her, which only seemed to make the man angry.

  The man clenched his fists, and his nostrils flared. Mari unconsciously mimicked his stance. If the first thing out of his mouth had been anything other than an accusation, she might think him attractive. You know, for a grouchy grumpypants.

  Taller than her, he had a lean runner’s build, slim but strong. The dark amber striation stood out against his pale amber complexion. Dark hair had outgrown a haircut ages ago and looked permanently tousled. Those eyes gave her pause; dark and flat, they were nearly human, but the pupil was a touch more oval than round.

  So what if he was attractive? She wasn’t in the market, and he had no social skills.

  She held his gaze. His ears pressed forward, and it struck her as remarkably arrogant. Even the way his tail lashed behind him seemed arrogant. He got her blood up and made her want to fight in a way that rude and screaming clients never did.

  Or Tomas, for that matter.

  Her eyes flicked down the open collar of his shirt and the striation that seemed to trace the column of his throat. She wondered how far down that stripe went, if it would map a journey all the way down his chest and abdomen.

  He cleared his throat. Heat rose in her cheeks, and she tore her gaze back to his eyes. Cold eyes. Frozen. Devoid of all except for contempt.

  Thankfully, whatever fleeting attraction she felt vanished.

  “Was it waterproof?” she asked, breaking the tension.

  He looked down at the bot as if considering that for the first time. “Water-resistant. The field tech would know.” He ran a hand through his hair, somehow making it more appealing rather than a wet, sopping mess. “This will set my research back. I don’t have time to wait for another tech.”

  “Maybe it needs to be cleaned and dried out.”

  His ears pulled back, and the glare he sent her way was cold enough to freeze the blood in her veins. His gaze swept over her, and Mari became acutely aware of her bedraggled appearance in a wet summer dress that clung to all her round parts, the strappy sandals that were the worst thing to wear in a downpour, and the sad, droopy hat. She had to be a sorry sight because the tension left his shoulders, and she imagined that his gaze lingered a touch longer than polite.

  “You are a tourist,” he said.

  “One who can’t read the weather forecast.” She gave a self-deprecating grin. “Take a walk, I thought. Try to relax, I thought.” She waved a dismissive hand.

  “You’ll never get down the stairs in this weather.”

  “I’ll wait.”

  “If you had bothered to check the weather, you’d know this storm will last all day.” His brusque tone pricked at her pride. She was on vacation. She wasn’t expected to check the weather.

  “I’ll call the resort. They’ll send a flyer,” she said, confident that she was not the only shortsighted person ever to be stuck up the mountain in a storm.

  “In this wind?”

  “It’s just a storm.”

  “Not just a storm. This is a major tropical storm.”

  “Oh.” She really should have paid attention to the weather announcement that morning. Had her mother tried to warn her when she said enjoy the sun while you can? That was vague enough to be Valerian’s idea of helpful.

  He huffed, and Mari somehow knew that it wasn’t an amused huff but a long-suffering, put-upon huff. The huff of a man whose conscience made him do something he did not want to do. Super flattering. Nothing like a total stranger treating you like a burden.

  “No, you had better come with me,” he said. He reached into a pocket and withdrew a coin-sized orb.

  “It’s not that windy.” She’d flown and landed in worse conditions.

  And because the universe was determined to spite her, a strong gust roared through and knocked down thatch from the roof.

  The sky flickered with lightning. The man flinched. Thunder clapped, this time reverberating right through her body. She may have jumped.

  And screamed.

  A little.

  Mari clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. She knew of lightning and thunder. Obviously. She’d been places with atmospheres and weather systems, but that had always been when she was working. Piloting through a thunderstorm was a heck of a lot different standing in a stone hut with a leaky roof and a floor determined to turn into a mud pit. In a ship, she had control and insulation to ground any lightning strikes. Here, she was exposed and wet, with mud squelching between her toes.

  “Make your decision quickly or you’ll be here all day,” he said.

  “Fine. Fine,” she said to no one in particular. “What I’m doing, I don’t even know. I’m taking your photo and sending it to my mother.” Before he could growl or complain, she held up her comm unit and grabbed his photo. “Caught in storm. Sheltering with this guy. He probably won’t murder me,” she spoke aloud as she typed the message.

  “I’m not going to…why would you think that?” He ran a hand through his hair again and tugged on an ear.

  “Safety first and…sent. Now, you wanted me to follow a stranger to a secondary location? I hope there’s candy.” She batted her eyes sweetly, which earned her another ear tug. He was sort of cute for a cranky guy.

  “My house is near. We need to go now before the path is washed out. Here.” He handed her the orb.

  She stared at her hand, confused.

  “It’s a shield.” He pressed the orb, and it unfurled into a thin, nearly transparent piece of fabric. “This is the hood. Fasten it here,” he said as he adjusted it on her shoulders. In that moment, when he was caretaking and not snarling, she felt the air spark with electricity.

  Thunder crashed again. She jumped.

  Right, those sparks were actual electricity and not attraction. She needed to get her head on straight. Lusting after the first guy she saw after Tomas was such a bad idea.

  The muddy floor squished under her feet. She didn’t love the idea of running out in the downpour, but she didn’t want to stay in the hut any longer. Her foot slipped and her arms flapped as she fought against gravity, but it was no use. She closed her eyes, prepared to land on her back.

  The man caught her before she hit the ground. His powerful arms wrapped around her waist, holding her above the muddy floor.

  “Oh,” she breathed. Those sparks? Not her imagination.

  “Ready?” he asked, helping her to her feet.

  Flustered, she adjusted the raincoat—poncho?—on her shoulders. “I’m Mari. You got a name?”

  “Winter.”

  Winter

  Merry. Human names were strange.

  He led the female to the old farmhouse. Water covere
d the path, rushing over the ground as it traveled downhill. He had planned to return before the storm. The bright flashes of lightning in the relative darkness of the storm promised a headache. He only wore the protective contact lenses, but they were not enough to shield against the bright flare of a lightning strike.

  The female stumbled on an unseen stone. Reaching out, he caught her elbow and steadied her. Her uneven gait suggested an injury, requiring her to be mindful of each step.

  Frustrated at her slow pace, he dropped the malfunctioning bot to scoop up the female. Cradled in his arms, she wiggled and squirmed. “Put me down!”

  “You are too slow,” he said, because that decided the matter.

  It was almost pleasant to carry the female, to feel her softness and her heat. He could do without the flailing of her feet and her voice wailing like a high-pitched alarm. Fortunately, the storm drowned out her pointless howls.

  The winds increased as they reached the building.

  Once they were inside the entry, she said, “You left your bot.”

  Odd how she managed to sound angry about the sacrifice he made to carry her. He appreciated how she was upset on his behalf; it showed compassion. She had a caring heart. His appreciation had nothing to do with the way the wet garment clung to her curves.

  “Yes. I am displeased,” he said, tearing his eyes away.

  He had wanted to capture as much data as possible before the storm. He issued a command for the bot to return to its dock, but it continued on, scanning and mapping as the rain increased, working mud into the treads and, no doubt, the inner circuitry. The machine should not have malfunctioned as it did from a little rain. He would have words with Chase.

  “Sorry. You didn’t have to leave it behind to carry me.”

  He wanted to say it was no great sacrifice to leave behind the malfunctioning machine. Most likely, it could not be repaired. Instead, what came out was a growled, “You were too slow.”

  His ears twitched. Winter fought the urge to hold them still. The gravity of the situation struck him. He invited a strange female into his home. He knew nothing about her. She could be a spy from a rival company, or a journalist there to sniff out secrets. He didn’t know what was worse, but he found it difficult to think when she was so wet and almost pretty.