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dug hard into his arms and she pushed back against him. His erection taunted her.
    Chae let out a slow breath. “The Nun-Samekh are one and the same, grown from a single pod. To shake on a deal with one is to trust them all.”
    “Dangerous…”
    Her heart beat hard. She cursed the fact that she couldn’t turn and find his mouth; shock the other passengers by taking him there in the carriage. She opened her eyes and found a cluster of women openly staring. She smirked at them. “And this isn’t?”
    He smiled, the curve of it pressed into her skin. “I suppose I’m a very dangerous man.”
    Her smirk faded and she wanted nothing more than to sink into his touch. The brush of his hair, this warm scent threading through the heavy odors of the carriage, wrapped around her. Living gold pressed through the material of her tunic, stirring the wild fire in her blood. She imagined it against her naked skin and her breath hitched. Shit, they had to stop. She focused on the wide windows, the myriad light patterns of buildings flashing past in blurred streaks and it eased the riot in her body. Chae hated that she had to be the sensible one.
    “Daned.” His name was only a soft whisper. “Our stop is close.”
    His fingers eased away from their hard hold on her hips and she knew he’d pushed back the insanity of the gold. “Ready.” The word burned hard and cold against the shell of her ear, and the shiver that rippled through her was unpleasant.
    Something caught her attention, a movement in the crowded carriage. The rock of the rail, tilting the train over as it shot around the curve of blurred buildings, exposed something that had her sharpened instincts screaming. A man in the shadows. Staring at her. Not Daned.
    She flicked her gaze to the information streaming over the ceiling. Darkhan Uul flared as the next station stop. One stop short from where they were meeting Zayin at Baruun Urt. Chae kept her face calm, just the slight hint of a smile on her mouth, while foul curses ran through her head. Was she ever going to get off this fucking planet?
    “Stai, Darkhan Uul.”
    The synthesized voice cut through the chatter of the passengers and Chae had an excuse to move away from the hardness of his body. She caught his leash and let the flexible metal bite into her palm. The other passengers watched her lead him to the exit doors as the carriage slowed. The back of her neck itched. She felt exposed, dragging Daned around with her, but this was what they were paying her for. So she had to ignore her natural instincts to slink back against the metal walls. If she kept whoever followed her busy, then the right backside would hit Daned and Govan’s precious throne. And the black crystal was hers.
    She just had to stay alive to enjoy it.
    The sky track jerked to a halt and the doors groaned, pushed out and clunked against the rounded side of the carriage. Night air, cool and thickened with the heavy stink of the industrial city, flowed into the hot compartment. Chae sucked in a quick breath and stepped onto the platform, pulling Daned after her.
    “Lady?” Daned’s soft question pricked her skin.
    “I’ve always liked Darkhan Uul.” The clear arc of the protecting barrier looked out onto the wash of lights from the industrial works, the heavy, toxic discharge coating the air and lying thick and acrid in her mouth. She almost laughed at her own words.
    Chae flicked her gaze back along the platform and Daned’s eyes narrowed briefly. Pools of light crossed the wide ledge, coalescing with the light from the carriages as the sky track sat in the station. The soft glow in the toxic air gleamed over the disembarking workers. “Not much to look at, or breathe in, but they cater to their workers. Some of their pleasure rooms…” She grinned at Daned. “They may even exhaust you, pretty.”
    A muscle jumped in his jaw and her grin deepened. He really hated the name Pretty. But Daned took a step closer and it wasn’t just the