Page 11 of Tamed By Her Touch

Clair stared at him.

“What is that supposed to mean? How do I look, exactly?” she demanded.

He shook his head.

“Never mind. The point is, you are difficult not to notice.”

Before Clair could shoot back a reply, the MRA gave a sharp electronic chime behind them and both their heads turned.

The three-dimensional molecular model was still hovering over the machine, but now the golden cluster Clair had noticed earlier had expanded. A second structure had appeared beside it, glowing bright blue.

Kaelus frowned.

“What in the Seven Hells did you put in my analyzer?” he demanded.

She shrugged.

“Just a petal from my Vellarian star-vine.”

His head snapped around.

“An active sample? You put an active sample in my analyzer?”

Clair lifted her chin. No point in denying it when he was already mad.

“Yes,” she said. “I did.”

The big Hybrid’s expression darkened all over again.

“I expressly told you never to put unprocessed biological material into my analyzer!”

She crossed her arms.

“No, you expressly told me never to touch your analyzer. You never got around to telling me what I couldn't put in it.”

“That is not a meaningful distinction!” Kaelus growled.

“It is if we're being technical,” she pointed out.

Kaelus made a sound deep in his throat that was somewhere between a growl and a groan of exasperation. Clair had the distinct feeling he was about to cuss her out—or whatever the Kindred equivalent of that might be—but then the machine chimed again and a line of text appeared beneath the two molecular models.

SECONDARY COMPOUND DETECTED. STRUCTURAL ALTERATION OCCURRING.

Kaelus closed his mouth and leaned closer, staring at the models.

Clair forgot all about their argument.

“Oh,” she breathed. “Look!”

They both moved toward the analyzer at the same time and their shoulders bumped.

Kaelus immediately stepped back but Clair barely noticed. She leaned closer to the display.

“There.” She pointed to the golden molecular cluster. “That's the compound I couldn't isolate on my equipment. It wasn't showing up at all until I ran the living sample.”

Kaelus frowned, all his anger abruptly replaced by intense concentration.

“The molecular structure is unstable,” he murmured, his voice a soft rumble.