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The whip fell again and this time Charlotte couldn’t help trying to shield herself. The tongues of flame wrapped around her hands, burning both palms before she could pull away.

  “Let that be a lesson,” the male face of the Joined One snapped. “You must not try to impede the punishment.”

  “But at this time we will give you the option to change your mind,” the female face said as Charlotte held her wounded palms to her chest. “Would you rather forego the fire whip and visit the Temple of Regrets instead?”

  Stavros was certain she would say yes—even though he couldn’t feel much, he could tell that the whipping was extremely painful. But Charlotte shook her head.

  “Just…just finish,” she said hoarsely, turning to face the wall again. “Finish and let me go.”

  “Very well, my dear.” The Joined One raised the whip and let it fall again. Again Charlie flinched and gasped. Stavros watched helplessly as the fiery tongues branded her pale skin with bright red marks and curled around her upper thighs like eager lovers hungry for her flesh.

  Tears ran down her face now but she made no sound. Her eyes were shut tight and her wounded hands were fisted on the wall in front of her as she half leaned-half braced against it. The look on her face was sheer, stubborn determination. Clearly she wasn’t going to let the Joined One get the better of her, no matter how many times the whip fell.

  “Let her go—that’s enough! Let her go!” Stavros cried hoarsely. “Goddess damn you—let her go!”

  “Her mate makes a passionate plea, Joined One,” Nar’sa said hesitantly. “Perhaps…the punishment is nearly complete?”

  “Very well.” The Joined One was panting with effort. Slowly it turned towards them and let the whip drop to its side. The long spitting, sizzling tongues hissed angrily against the metal floor. “We suppose that will be sufficient to teach our lesson.”

  As soon as the whipping stopped, Charlotte slid down the wall to huddle in a heap on the floor. Stavros felt like his heart was going to burst if he couldn’t reach her.

  “Let me through—let me through to her!” he demanded.

  Instead, the Joined One reached down and grabbed Charlotte by the upper arm. It dragged her roughly upward and thrust her back through the invisible barrier that separated the outer hallway from the corridor leading to the inner circle.

  Stav barely caught her and as she came through the barrier, he felt the stinging burn of her wounds as he had been unable to before. He cradled her gently in his arms, trying to hold her without hurting her more.

  “You bastards.” He looked at the Joined One with real hatred in his heart. “If you ever—”

  “Save your threats,” the creature said. “Tend to your mate.” It shook the whip once and the tongues of flame disappeared, leaving only the black, stubby handle again. Ye’ha’Na’ho shoved the handle back into its robes, bowed briefly, and strolled off down the hallway as though nothing had happened.

  “Gods!” Stavros lifted Charlotte into his arms as gently as he could but though he tried not to, his arms connected with some of her burns. She jumped and moaned miserably.

  “Well, I am afraid you will be unable to enter the Circle of Oneness today after all,” Ta’no said, eyeing Charlotte with concern. “Perhaps it is best if you take your mate back to your rooms and tend her. We can try again tomorrow.”

  “The hell we will,” Stavros snarled. “I’m taking her home now. You and all the rest of the freakish bastards who live here can all go straight to—”

  “No…” To his surprise, Charlotte was plucking at his arm and shaking her head.

  “What?” Stavros looked down at her, certain she must be delirious with pain. Even though he was taking as much as he could from her, the stinging, burning he felt was obviously just a drop in the bucket.

  “No. Don’t want…to leave,” she whispered. “Stay.” Her eyes got wider. “Have to…stay. Earth…”

  She’s still thinking of her home planet—of saving it from the Dark Kindred, Stavros realized.

  “All right.” He nodded his head stiffly. “We will stay.”

  “I am glad to hear you say that,” Nar’sa said, smiling gently. “I know the punishment seems harsh but the Joined Ones are always just in their ways. They have reasons for what they do.”

  Knowing that Charlotte wanted to stay, Stav kept his mouth shut about how he felt about their “reasons” and simply nodded again.

  “Do not be discouraged, Stavros,” Ta’no said to him. “You and your mate may yet reach the Circle of Oneness. But for tonight, simply stay in your rooms and help her heal. There should be some sifra ointment in your cabinet when you return. If you apply it at once, it should ease her pain and prevent any permanent scarring.”

  Stavros opened his mouth to say he needed none of their ointment—he could heal Charlotte himself…then he closed it again. Knowing how she felt about him now, there was no way she would allow him to heal her with his essence. She wouldn’t want him licking her to apply it topically and she certainly wouldn’t want to let him bite her and inject it into her bloodstream to heal her from the inside out. It looked like he would be using the sifra ointment, whatever it was, after all.

  “Thank you,” he said briefly. “We will see you later.”

  “At first meal, perhaps,” Nar’sa said. “In the meantime, we will see that something is sent to you for last meal tonight. You are excused from the dining area since your mate is wounded.”

  “While you are making accommodations for Charlotte’s wounds, perhaps you might make our rooms a bit warmer,” Stav said acidly. “She nearly froze the first night and last night was bad as well.”

  “Of course,” Ta’no said. “I think you are past needing the Wardels. I will notify the keepers to let them disperse from your rooms though it may take some time.”

  “We should take the alarm off their door as well,” Nar’sa remarked. “Clearly they are past the stage where they need to be kept forcibly together.”

  “True.” Ta’no nodded. “It shall be done.”

  “Thank you,” Stav said stiffly. “And now, I must go tend to my female.”

  He knew that Charlotte wanted to stay despite her wound and the cruel punishments of the Joined One. He knew it and deep down, he agreed with her—they couldn’t leave. Not when they were so close to getting what they had come for. But that didn’t make it any easier to turn down the corridor leading to their rooms instead of heading for the docking bay where their ship was parked.

  He was fuming with anger and overcome with worry for her. She might hate him and everything to do with him but he still cared for her—cared desperately. And the fact that he had been unable to protect her from danger and keep her from harm ate at him as he carried her silently to their rooms.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Charlie was having an awful dream—something about sitting on a hot stove.

  “Ow!” she gasped, looking down to see the red hot surface under her bare bottom. But when she tried to get up, she couldn’t—she was stuck as though held down by some huge, invisible hand. The stove was scorching her flesh—not just the flesh of her bottom but of her inner thighs and between her legs as well. It hurt so much she couldn’t stand it! She pushed down against the stove, trying to get free and burned her palms too.

  “Let me up,” she pleaded with the owner of the hand. “Please let me go—it burns!”

  “I know it burns, falina,” a deep voice murmured softly. “Just be still—it will hurt less presently.”

  Charlie opened her mouth to say she couldn’t stand it anymore and she couldn’t be still…but just then something cool and soothing was spread over her burning bottom.

  She sighed with relief as the red hot stove melted away to be replaced by the cool tingling that continued to spread over the areas of pain and take the burning away. Well, most of the areas, anyway—her hands were still burning and so were her inner thighs and the area between her legs.

  “Please,” she whispered to