“I have to say I never had any doubts.” But then she’d never seen the “Darling Cruel” side of him. As Kere, with a tiny handful of exceptions, he’d been all testosterone, all the time.

That thought made her flash back to one of their first missions together. They’d been ambushed by Caronese troops. When the blaster volley had started, he’d caught her about the waist and pulled her out of the line of fire. With one arm only, Darling had lifted her and held her against him with so much ease that his strength had temporarily stunned her. He’d wrapped himself around her body so that they shot his armor and left her unscathed.

When their attackers had paused to recharge their weapons, he’d literally skated across the slick floor to dump her into an access hallway before he turned. His head low and lethal, he’d stalked down the smoke-filled hallway like the fiercest predator she’d ever seen, and opened fire on them.

She still got chills whenever she thought about the tough vision he’d made in that dimly lit hallway, surrounded by smoke and blasts, as he returned their fire, and set their enemies into retreat.

Single-handedly.

Yeah…

No one messed with Kere, or her, without feeling his wrath.

Now she understood a lot more about why Darling had always been so hungry for her whenever they’d been alone. If he’d been keeping all of the real him bottled up around everyone else, it made sense that he’d savor their time together.

And savor her.

There was nothing she loved more than the way he buried his face in the curve of her neck and breathed her in like she was a drug he craved with every part of his being. He could make love to her for hours without tiring. Whenever they were together, he was focused only on her and nothing else.

Always attentive. Always gentle.

Always feral.

Gods, how she’d missed those moments. Missed the sound of his deep, lyrical voice, talking to her for hours on end. No one pronounced her name the way he did.

And his laughter…

It never failed to make her smile. He had the most wicked sense of humor imaginable. Dark and sarcastic, he found amusement in the bleakest and most bizarre things.

Maris cleared his throat, bringing her back to the present.

And to the pain of the fact that she might never have those moments with Darling again.

Tormented agony glowed deep in his eyes. “You’ve no idea how many times I’ve wondered if Darling would have been better off had he not been my friend.”

She frowned. “Why would you say that?”

“Had we not become friends when we were so young… had he not known and accepted the fact that I was homosexual, he would have never thought to claim his mother’s boyfriend as his. It wouldn’t have even occurred to him to do it—all of that was totally my fault and I know it.”