Morningstar by Robyn Bachar Page A

comfortable.”
    “I expect my jacket back when I return.” Jace crossed to them, bent and kissed her and Sabine on the tops of their heads. On the surface it seemed like an affectionate gesture, but Bryn recognized the dominance in it—Jace was claiming both females as his. She was grudgingly impressed by that as well, because he didn’t need her as he needed Sabine. Then again he could just be getting off on owning her after she’d thrashed him in their duel.
    Bryn snorted and shook her head. “By the time you return, clothing will be the last thing on your mind.”

Chapter Seven
    Jace scowled as he made his way through the corridors of the Talon II . What sort of monster dosed his slaves with uppers? Of course the answer was the same sort of monster that kept a female in phase for over a year so that he could profit from it. His stomach twisted—Jace was benefitting from Sabine’s phase, just as her former master had. Would she resent him for it once her head cleared? He seemed to have come to a compromise with Brynnaren, but was that solely for Sabine’s benefit?
    With those unpleasant ideas lodged in his thoughts, Jace entered the captain’s ready room, expecting to find Captain Hawke, but instead he discovered Malcolm de la Cruz bent over the data terminal at the desk.
    “I just got here. I don’t have answers for you yet,” he said.
    “I wasn’t aware you were supposed to have any for me,” Jace replied.
    The indexer looked up and blinked. “Oh. It’s you. I wanted to thank you for getting me out of the station, but the captain said you were indisposed.”
    “I was. I still am, I suppose.”
    Malcolm cocked his head to the side and studied Jace. “Is Sabine okay? Bryn was worried when she left.”
    “Left?”
    “My quarters. You paged her.”
    Jace blinked. “Bryn was in your quarters,” he repeated, incredulous.
    “Yes, she—oh. She didn’t mention that to you.” The man blushed so deeply that his ears turned red.
    “No. She didn’t.” Jace’s temper boiled at the idea that Bryn had left his quarters in favor of this scrawny human’s bed, and his hands clenched into fists. How dare she? She was his mate, and he had no intention of sharing her with anyone other than Sabine.
    The indexer flinched and cowered. “I’m sorry. Please don’t hit me.”
    Jace took a deep breath, shoved his hands behind his back and took two purposeful steps away. The phase was making him over-possessive. He would discuss what he expected of his mates to Bryn and Sabine later—calmly and rationally, but leaving no doubt that he expected to be the only male allowed in their bed. This arrangement was new to all of them, so while his instinct was to beat de la Cruz senseless, he had enough self-control not to. This time.
    “What are you working on?” Jace asked, changing to a safer subject.
    “The captain asked me to take a look at the ship’s systems. They’re very outdated. Well, first she wanted me to help with the engines, but that’s outside my area of expertise. Data networks and communications arrays, those I can deal with. It’d be faster if I had a direct uplink, but I need a handler for that.”
    “I see,” Jace said slowly, though he wasn’t certain he understood. “Do you need anything in the meantime?”
    Malcolm shook his head and ran a hand through his dark hair. “No, thank you. If you’re looking for the captain, I believe she wanted to speak with the ship’s doctor.”
    “Thank you. I will leave you to your work then.”
    “Wait, please.” Malcolm held up a hand, and Jace paused at the door. The indexer’s brow furrowed, as though he was searching for the right words. “I didn’t sleep with Bryn. Well, no, I slept with Bryn, but that’s all we did last night. Fully clothed. No sex. We were both too upset to be alone.”
    “I see. But you were a… client of hers?” Jace asked.
    “Yes. That’s not why she stayed with me last night. She needed someone to look after.