Nari Khenti is running for his life. His contract holder has been murdered and he’s accused of the crime. Now, the real killer is after him, intent on killing Nari. The only place he can think of hiding is on Katzmann. Semyon Barak is concerned when Doctor Saris tells him someone stowed away on his ship until he realizes that the gorgeous green-eyed man is his mate—his very pregnant mate. Now he has to figure out how to keep the frightened man safe while keeping the hardest truth from him…the fact that they are mates. Taking Nari into the desert might not be the best choice possible, but it’s the only one Semyon has because the man after Nari is closing in on them and he has the power of the Elquone thrown behind him. Semyon will have to use every bit of training he’s ever had to keep his mate and their child alive, because if the dangers of the desert don’t kill them, the bands of roaming bandits just might.