“I know. I’m sorry.” But not as sorry as he’d be should Dariana ever find out. Guilt stabbed her hard. Please don’t get hurt because of me. Horrified over what she might have done to him, she placed her hand over his lips. “Please tell me you won’t be harmed for this.”

Hauk couldn’t answer that without lying. As part of their unification, he would be asked if he’d ever tasted another female during his pledge time. He’d be honor bound and under oath to tell the truth.

Dariana would have a fit when she learned of it. There was no telling what part of his body she’d demand as restitution.

But there was nothing to be done to correct this. He couldn’t change it. As with all things, all he could do was deal with the repercussions when they came for him.

Hauk brushed his thumb over Sumi’s lips and winked at her. “Don’t worry, mia.” Reluctantly, he pulled her arms from around his bare skin and stepped out of them.

Yet what he really wanted to do was carry her into a secluded corner and taste more of her. To lose himself in the warmth of her body until he was too sore to continue on.

Damn assassins. When he got his hands on more of them, they would feel the full weight of his displeasure over having to separate from his family and Sumi.

“We need to hurry before more are sent.”

She nodded. “Any idea who’s behind this?”

He laughed at her question as he gathered more weapons and ammunition from the bodies. “I’m on the hit list for more than two dozen nations. Then there’s all the assholes who hate me. That list is endless.”

Sumi could imagine, given how lethal he could be. Still, the list might give them some idea as to who would pay this kind of money for his life. “Who’s at the top of it?”

“Your boss. Kyr Zemin. Psycho cyclops bastard. You can’t really miss him in a crowd.”

She ignored his acerbic description. “Why is he your number one? What did you do?”

Squinting up at her, he tucked the weapons into a pack. “Showed him multiple times that in a fight between an Andarion and a Phrixian, the Andarion always wins.”

She arched her brow at that. Dancer wasn’t bragging. He’d said it very matter-of-factly. And it spoke a lot for his skill level. She’d seen the commander spar enough to know that even with no depth perception and a serious handicap on that eye, he was still a lethal opponent. She could only imagine how much more lethal he’d been without his current physical limitations. “Personal grudge?”