Deceived Read online

  “Really?” Dark stared at the box in his hands. “Good idea!”

  “Yeah—Sylvan thought you might need a little help getting away.” Baird nodded. “All you have to do is meet the Trollox at the door with a drink, wait until he’s out cold, replace the Shannom-rah with a fake, and leave with the girl. He’ll be pissed when he wakes up and sees his breeder and his robot cook are gone, but he won’t have any idea about the fake crystal. And he’ll probably put you and the girl being gone down to a rogue Replicant. That way you can’t be tied to the Kindred and the Trollox won’t start a blood feud with us.”

  Dark was nodding as the other male spoke.

  “It’s perfect!” He looked up at Baird. “Thank you! This is just the answer I needed. Right before you came I was wondering if I should just take Anna and run. But I didn’t want to abandon my mission.”

  “You don’t have to,” Baird said firmly. “You can get the crystal and save your little female.”

  “I see that now. I’ll do it and hopefully, I’ll be back at the Mother Ship within a solar week.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Baird nodded. “Oh, but just be careful the fucking Knower doesn’t get to the Shannom-rah first. Have there been any strange Replicants coming or going since you’ve been here? You know that fucking thing can enter any of them.”

  “None but the three that Gorn bought at the same auction where he bought me,” Dark told him. “And so far none of them has shown any sign of being anything but ordinary Replicants.”

  “Just keep an eye out,” Baird advised. “We don’t want the Shannom-rah falling into the wrong hands.”

  “I’ll fulfill my mission. Thank you, Brother.” Dark held out his arm for a warrior’s clasp and Baird took it and squeezed firmly.

  “May the Goddess be with you,” he growled. “We’re all praying for your safe return.”

  “Thank you. I’m praying for that myself,” Dark said dryly. “Please tell Commander Sylvan I’ll see him soon.”

  “I will.” Baird nodded and left, going back to the small delivery shuttle he was driving. Dark watched the Beast Kindred go, his heart feeling lighter than it had in ages.

  Everything is going to be all right, he thought, looking down at the box containing the fake Shannom-rah and the potent sleeping potion. I’ll be able to fulfill my mission and rescue Anna too.

  Of course how he would break the news to her that he wasn’t really a Replicant was a whole other problem. One he would deal with in the future, Dark told himself firmly. For now, they had preparations and plans to make. And he had a whole week to make Anna fall in love with him—hopefully so in love that she would forgive him once she found out she had been deceived.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “Is everything ready to go?” Anna looked around the kitchen worriedly. “He’s due to be back any time now.”

  “Ready as it’s going to be.” Dark nodded as he looked at the meal he had prepared for Gorn. The big Trollox had called ahead with an order of what he wanted for dinner and Dark had thought it was best to prepare it and have it ready, though they hoped the sleeping potion would work on him so quickly he wouldn’t get to eat it.

  “At the very least the smell of the food he’s ordered me to cook will put him at ease,” he’d pointed out to Anna. “He’ll feel that everything is well and be more willing to take the drink I offer him.”

  “Ugh.” She had wrinkled her nose. “Well, it certainly wouldn’t put anyone else at ease!”

  “Yes, well—Trollox cooking isn’t for everyone,” Dark remarked dryly. “In fact, it isn’t for anyone at all except the Trollox.”

  Anna couldn’t help thinking, as they waited for Gorn to get home, that it had been nice not having the stinky, foul food odors in the house for the time that her captor had been gone.

  In fact, the very first night after Dark had received the delivery of the fake crystal and the sleeping potion they planned to use on Gorn, he had made her a feast fit for a queen—all of humanoid food—and it had been delicious.

  “This is amazing!” Anna had told him surveying the delicacies he had prepared. “But I’m afraid if I eat all of it, I’ll get fat again. The only good thing about this whole, horrible ordeal is that I finally lost some weight.”

  “Baby, you don’t need to lose weight,” Dark had responded gently. “If anything, you need to put on a little. Some females are naturally slim and that’s all right but you’re meant to be an Elite with beautiful, bountiful curves. You should embrace them and love yourself for who you are.”

  Anna had sighed. “Well, that would be easier if I could find a man who felt like you do—or like your programming makes you feel, anyway.”

  “My ‘programming’ has nothing to do with it,” Dark had responded. “It’s how I feel. You’re beautiful and you like to eat. I like to cook. It’s perfect.”

  Anna had given up at that point and let herself dig in. Dark had joined her, to her surprise, but she supposed it was just another feature of his Replicant physiology—allowing him to eat to seem more humanoid. It was nice, sharing a meal with him and afterwards, he had come to bed with her without asking.

  She had wanted him to touch her again, but she hadn’t been certain how to bring it up. Dark, for his part, seemed to be trying to be careful of her. He probably thought that after the trauma she’d been through with Gorn, she might not want any sexual attention from him, though nothing could be farther from the truth.

  It seemed somehow that when he had healed her body, it had also healed her mind. That didn’t make sense but it was how she felt. But she didn’t know how to let him know that—let him know that touching her was all right. After all, he’d been mostly healing her the last time he touched and tasted her and she wasn’t hurt now.

  That had given Anna an idea. After they got under the covers together and turned out the lights, she had shifted restlessly on her side of the bed.

  “Is everything all right, baby?” Dark’s voice was low and intimate in the dim room and she was very aware that they basically had the house to themselves for the first time since he had come to serve as Gorn’s chef.

  “Fine, except… is it warm in here to you?” Anna asked. She was wearing the long black robes which were the only clothing her Trollox captor had ever given her but she wanted an excuse to take them off.

  Dark seemed to understand. He himself was wearing nothing but his black trousers and she could see the dim outlines of his broad, bare shoulders as he turned to face her.

  “It’s a little warm,” he rumbled softly. “If you’re uncomfortable, you can take off your robes. I don’t mind.”

  “All right.” Since he had told her how much he liked her full curves, Anna had felt brave enough to slip out of the robes and lay naked on the bed beside him. She thought how good it felt to lie comfortably in bed without an ice-cold spreader filling her and reminding her every moment of her eventual fate. Now, thanks to Dark, that fate had been averted. He was going to take her home and she would be safe and happy and never have to see Gorn or any Trollox ever again.

  But soon, she began to feel chilly. She gave a little shiver and Dark stirred beside her again. His bronze eyes were glowing softly in the dimness and Anna wondered if he could see her clearly, despite the darkened room. The idea that he might be looking at her naked body—and liking what he saw—made her feel hot and wet between her thighs.

  “You all right?” he murmured, reaching out to stroke a strand of hair out of her eyes.

  “Yes. Just…” She shifted a little closer. “Now that I’ve taken off my robes, I’m getting cold.” She gave a rueful little laugh. “I just can’t win.”

  “Would you like to come here and let me warm you up?” Dark asked softly. “It doesn’t have to be anything sexual—I can just hold you, baby.”

  Anna did want it to be sexual, but she still didn’t know how to say it. Still, pressing naked against him was definitely a step in the right direction.

  “All right.”