Yeah, but Dariana didn’t want him. Not for anything other than target practice.

Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to step back. But as he did so, he made the mistake of looking at Sumi. The hunger in her eyes matched his own. More than that, it stoked the heat in his body to a frightening level.

One kiss…

He could already taste it.

Don’t! Dariana waits for you.

But it wasn’t Dariana he wanted. She had been Keris’s love, never his. And in this moment, he totally understood why Keris had been willing to slit the throat of any male who glanced at her. Why Fain had denied them all to be with Omira.

He felt the same way for Sumi. A fierce protectiveness to keep her safe from all others.

The memory of the concern on her face when she’d found him pinned down and the way she’d handled herself in the fight…

He would kill to have the honor of lying inside her.

Just once.

But he knew better than to let such thoughts tempt him. That path led him straight to death.

Sumi held her breath as she waited for Dancer to deliver the heated kiss his eyes promised her. Never once in her life had she felt this kind of craving for any male. All she wanted was to bury her hands in his braids and straddle him until neither of them could walk without limping.

Kiss me…

Instead, he blinked twice then went to review their attackers. That aggravated her enough that she actually kicked the assassin’s body at her feet.

Damn, stupid Andarion customs! It was so unfair that she didn’t dare encroach on a male it was obvious Dariana had no intention of accepting. Ever. She didn’t believe for one second that the bitch would make good her promise to take him.

She had no doubt that Dariana would find a way to turn him away again.

You’re a League assassin, Sumi. Remember that. She was here to hurt him, not straddle him.

Yeah.

Even more frustrated, she kicked the assassin’s legs again, just for spite.

Dancer flipped one of the bodies over to search the man’s pockets.

“Incas?” she asked.

Nodding, Dancer moved to search another body. “Who are these bastards? Why are they coming for me now?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed as she scanned their civilian clothes. “But I know The League wouldn’t do this.”

“They would if I gave them cause.” He clicked his tongue teasingly. “But I’m not quite that stupid. At least not yet.”

She didn’t comment. As she searched the body at her feet, she froze. His armband had a receiver on it.

Was that…

Frowning, she pulled it off to study it and see if her suspicions were right. She angled it in different directions to pinpoint what it was tracking.

Sure enough, it went straight to Hauk.