Page 5 of Infiltration

Yuder didn’t mind. She was beautiful, and she was his. She could bathe in skin creams five times a day if it meant waking next to her each morning.

The notion overcame the exuberant lust filling him. “The clanning laws have changed significantly since my legal problems.”

“You wish us to be official?” Her eyes widened. “When did this happen?”

“Before the Galactic Council trial.”

“So long? You never hinted you were thinking of a registered union.”

“How could I when I was certain I’d have to serve a sentence? Or while I sat in prison? It was no place to propose.”

“We don’t have to, Yuder. You have my heart without government acknowledgement.”

“You don’t want to?” His heart pounded painfully.

Tara’s smile eased the stab of fear. “Of course I do. A public declaration of my happiness and devotion to you would be a gift. What of Clajak?”

“The great obstacle. At the homecoming, he seemed…fine. Maybe he wouldn’t be upset.”

“It’s a big maybe.” Sadness tinged her serene expression. “Jessica says he keeps a vigil at Irdis’ memorial each anniversary of her death.”

As Yuder had until a couple years before the scandal had sent his life into a tailspin. A year after he and Tara had become lovers. It wasn’t because he’d loved Irdis any less, but because he’d felt it was time to let the past rest. “I’d like to say he’s a grown man whose emotions are his problem. I could point out he rules an entire empire well, and therefore his grief is his affair and shouldn’t interfere in my life, but…”

“It isn’t that simple,” Tara finished. “Don’t you think I understand? I care for him. I hate to bring him any pain, though I’m at no fault for doing so.”

Love filled his being. Tara was so good. She’d allow their relationship to remain as it was, lacking the precious public declaration of their bond. If she’d been any less the woman she was, Yuder might have done so as well for his son’s sake.

He’d made numerous mistakes where Clajak was concerned. It had no doubt been his relentless demands Clajak had rebelled against when he was young. There had been a number of others: Yuder’s inability to protect Irdis from assassins, who’d murdered the mother Clajak had worshipped. His terrible decisions as emperor that had left a broken wreck of an empire, which Clajak had inherited.

But life had given Yuder the unexpected joy of Tara and her love, affording a second chance to be the clanmate to a woman he didn’t deserve. Irdis had been an incomparable gift. Tara was a miracle. He wished the world to acknowledge his unbelievable fortune.

“I’ll start with a few hints and see how he reacts. If he seems open, I’ll discuss it as diplomatically as possible.” He grinned as Tara did, agreeing he wasn’t known for his diplomacy.

“And if Clajak objects?”

“Then I’ll have to be the bastard he thinks I am and clan you anyway. I love you, Tara. After three years of living apart, I won’t hide it, even for my son.”

“He doesn’t think you’re a bastard. Every special occasion we celebrated in your absence, he mentioned you should have been there.”

Yuder blinked. He couldn’t speak. Despite his shortcomings, his son loved him.

Tara kissed him. “The problem between you two is you’re so much alike, both the good and the…challengingparts. Clajak inherited far more than your silver hair. You share a stubborn streak a mile wide.”

“Which has bitten us both in the ass more often than I can count.” Yuder had recovered most of his equilibrium and reached for the remainder. After all, he had a beautiful woman to make love to. “Enough of the sentimentality. I’m in danger of becoming as emotional as an Imdiko, and you’re wearing too many clothes. It’s getting late. Did I mention I’m determined to make love to you in every room of our home before the sun rises tomorrow?”

Tara burst into laughter even as her pulse sped. Yuder’s purple eyes had gone dark, and his sharp features had taken on the predatory air he wore when he was aroused.

As a Nobek, there was always a hint of savagery beneath the civilized mask he wore most of the time. He’d never been brutal when loving her, but Tara didn’t pretend she wasn’t excited by the idea he could be. He was strong, every inch a demanding male when he chose. Her heart fluttered when he looked at her as he did now: with merciless hunger.

She believed her love for him was as pure a light as any in existence, but there was no hiding from her darker drives, which he could awaken by casting her a mere glance. She gladly surrendered to those urges under his ruthless stare as he towered over her.

“Whatever you want of me is yours.” Her whisper trembled in the air.

The cat-slit pupils of his eyes widened, eclipsing his irises. His voice emerged in a growl. “Stand still while I undress you. Don’t move.”

She trembled as he slid her dress over her head, a mouse cornered by a cat, waiting to be devoured. He did so with his gaze, feasting on the flesh he exposed as he tossed her dress aside. She stood before him in a laced-trimmed ivory bra and matching panties, frozen in anxious excitement.

“Pretty. Did you wear these for me?” He smiled, but there was a touch of cruelty in it. Tara was wet in an instant at the aura of threat.

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