Surrendered Read online

  So then why did his heart ache when he looked at her? Why had the possessive fire burst forth and almost consumed him and everything around him when he saw her threatened?

  “You told me you were part Kindred and part Enfuego.” Neh’sa’s voice was sharp. “Did you lie?”

  “No,” Thorn said, shifting in the bathwater. Gods, he ached everywhere and the brand on his back burned like fire. Which was no more than he deserved.

  “Thorn—”

  “But I didn’t tell you the whole truth either,” he continued. “Enfuego is what we call ourselves. But what the rest of the galaxy calls us is…” He looked up at her. “Neh’sa, I’m half Pyro.”

  “Pyro!” She half recoiled from him, her eyes going wide in shock. “But those…those are the people who live in the hearts of stars. How can you even be here?”

  “That’s a myth, actually,” Thorn said mildly. “We can fly into the heart of a star and survive—or so it’s said. I’ve never tried it myself—though I’ve been tempted a few times,” he added darkly.

  “But how is it even possible for you to be alive? I mean, how could a Pyro mate with another species of humanoid like the Kindred?” Neh’sa demanded.

  “It’s not often done,” Thorn admitted. “But it does happen on occasion. It’s easier when it’s a Pyro female with the male of a different species, as happened with my parents. My mother was a Pyro and my father was a Kindred explorer who came to our planet. He was a Blood Kindred but his father’s father had been Pyro. The Kindred are genetic traders—they’re always interested in looking for new trade partners,” he added, seeing Neh’sa’s look. “Sometimes they’re willing to overlook obvious flaws to be with someone they love.”

  “Obvious flaws like bursting into flame in public?” she remarked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, like that.” Thorn looked down at his hands. “Anyway, my mother was a genetics specialist whose father’s father had been a Beast Kindred. My parents had a lot in common because of their shared ancestry and heritage. She helped him find out more about his Pyro relations and, well…” He shrugged. “They fell in love.”

  “And had you,” Neh’sa said softly.

  “And had me,” Thorn said grimly. “Though they didn’t really want me. My mother cried when she found out I was a son instead of a daughter.”

  “What?” Neh’sa frowned. “Why?”

  “Because a half-breed Pyro has a much more difficult time controlling the fire that lives inside us,” Thorn explained heavily. “For some, it’s nearly impossible—such children are often locked away for their safety and the safety of others.”

  Neh’sa shook her head. “I don’t understand. If all Pyros have a, uh, fire inside them—”

  “All male Pyros do,” Thorn corrected her. “Female Pyros don’t have the fire. And until they bond with a male Pyro, they’re vulnerable to it.” He shook his head. “My mother cried when she found out I was a male because she knew she’d have to give me up.”

  “Did they lock you away?” Neh’sa asked softly, stroking the long shallow cuts on his thighs where the night-slinker’s hind claws had raked him.

  Thorn could feel the warming heat of her healing power and see the pink glow of light that came from her palms as she healed him, just as he had when she healed his chest and cheek. It felt so good he wanted to push her away—he didn’t deserve to feel good right now or ever again.

  “No—but maybe they should have locked me up,” he said grimly, holding still under her touch with an effort. “The authorities wanted to, in fact. But my mother’s father swore he could teach me to control the fire. So I went to live with him and my mother’s mother.”

  “That must have been difficult.” Gently, she trickled water over the brand on his back, squeezing it from the synthi-sponge over the burning area.

  Thorn hissed through his teeth but didn’t flinch. He deserved this pain like all the rest. He was glad she didn’t try to heal him there.

  “Some,” he said when she was finished. “My parents came to visit me often. I burned my mother by accident so many times as a child…” He sighed. “It used to make both of us cry. I remember it well—the ache of causing pain to someone you love so much you’d rather die than hurt them. But she never stopped coming and finally, by the time I was in my teen years, my father’s father had succeeded in teaching me control.” He shook his head. “It didn’t come easily to me, you know. Full blooded Pyros have a kind of wall inside them—a wall they can throw up around the fire and cut it off at any moment. But I don’t have that.“

  “What do you have?” Neh’sa sounded interested.

  Thorn raked a wet hand through his hair, making it stand up in spikes.

  “The best way I can describe it is as a kind of net—a net I keep around myself at all times. Of course,” he said dryly, “A net isn’t nearly as good as a wall, especially when you’re trying to keep something from leaking out.”

  “But it did leak out, didn’t it?” Neh’sa asked softly. “Not just tonight—at another time—in your past.”

  Thorn frowned. “How did you know that?”

  “Besides the pain and guilt I feel coming from you? You told me yourself tonight. You said, ‘Do it before the fire kills you! Before it kills you the way it killed her!’ You shouted it when you were begging me to brand you,” she reminded him.

  “Gods…” Thorn put his face in his hands. “I guess I did, didn’t I?”

  “Do you want to tell me about it?” Neh’sa asked gently.

  “Tell you about it? Tell you the worst, most painful and fatal failure in my life?” Thorn demanded. “Hell no!” He sighed and looked at her. “But I will. You should know what I am…should know what you’ve taken into your house.”

  “Thorn, if you’d rather not—”

  “I was eighteen cycles old and full of myself,” he interrupted. “I hadn’t had what we call a ‘flame-up’ where you lose control of the fire, in almost three years. I thought I was invulnerable—that I could never lose control again. And so I allowed myself…” Gods this was hard to tell. “Allowed myself to love,” he said, forcing the words out. “Her name was Loreinalla but everyone just called her Lori. She was a year older than me—both our parents hoped she’d be a steadying influence on me.”

  “And was she?” Neh’sa asked simply.

  Thorn nodded. “Oh yes. Because of her, I learned a trade early. So that we could afford to be joined and bonded. I wanted no one else from the moment I saw her.” He sighed. “My father said that was the Kindred part of me. That when you find the right female you know it and you don’t want any other.”

  “What happened?” Neh’sa asked. “I mean, did it happen when you…penetrated her?”

  “No.” Thorn shook his head. “It’s the act of penetration—of bonding—that forms a protective barrier around the female—any female a Pyro mates with—and keeps her safe from his fire. In fact, if we had made love early, Lori might still be alive. But she wanted to wait—it’s very important to be a virgin on the joining night on my home planet—on Pyralis.”

  “So then how…”

  “We went on a trip together. A post-joining trip. The idea is for the male and female to spend time alone together after their joining day,” Thorn explained. “The people of Earth, the planet the Kindred Mothership is currently protecting, call it a ‘honeymoon.’”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Neh’sa murmured.

  “It is—in most cases. In our case, we decided to go to the Chalian woods. It’s a huge forest on the northern continent of Pyralis and Lori’s parents owned a small domicile there—a cabin.” He raked a hand through his hair again. “It was going to be perfect—spending our first night as a mated couple together in such a quiet, beautiful remote place.”

  “What happened?” Neh’sa asked.

  “We got settled in the cabin and like a fool, I left her alone.” Thorn gave a bitter laugh. “I went to gather some shalla blossoms for her. They’re a common