Shield's Lady

she stood beside him at the rail and he felt a flicker of sympathetic amusement. “You adjust well, for the most part. We’ll make a true westerner out of you yet.”
    “I thought your goal was to turn me into a true Shieldmate.”
    “You already are a true Shieldmate.” He couldn’t resist catching a tendril of her loose hair between two fingers. Its silkiness fascinated him. He looked down into her eyes. “I knew that for certain the night you came to my bed. You proved it again this morning when you saved yourself from the man who followed you into the warehouse. A woman who can link with a Shield is strong in many ways.”
    She searched his face for a long moment. Gryph wondered what she was thinking. He knew that he would be able to sense certain strong emotions from her at times of stress or passion, but the link between them was not true telepathy. They wouldn’t be able to read each other’s minds, although gradually, over time, they would become more aware of each other’s thoughts. A few Shields and their mates who had been linked for years could almost read each other’s minds at times. But that kind of communication took many years to forge and it was certainly not unique to Shields. Gryph had known other couples who had lived together for years who seemed able to second guess each other.
    Nevertheless, there was something quite unique about the bonding that took place between a Shield and his mate. That bonding was at its strongest when there was an accompanying emotional intensity.
    In other words, the link was at its most intense when they were in the grip of passion or danger. Gryph preferred the grip of passion. He recoiled at the idea of Sariana in danger.
    “I did not come out here to discuss the strange customs and legends that lead you and people such as the Avylyns to assume I’m married to you,” Sariana said quietly.
    “Then why did you seek me out tonight, Sariana?”
    She looked out over the moonlit sea. “I’ve finally had a chance to calm down and think.”
    He smiled faintly. “Translated, that means you’ve found a way to convince yourself you can turn the situation to your own advantage. I admire your resilience, Sariana. No matter how bad things get, you always manage to come out fighting. Tell me what you’ve been thinking. You have a way with logic that leaves a poor, humble male breathless.”
    His sarcasm annoyed her, but she ignored it. “I was educated to be practical and efficient in my thinking and decision making. For the past two days I have not been applying the benefits of that education. Instead I have been leaping irrationally from one emotional peak to another. It’s a waste of energy, time and intelligence to operate in that manner. Tonight I’ve decided to take control of my own life again. I’m intelligent enough to know that, while I cannot always dictate the events of that life, I can certainly decide how I’ll deal with those events.”
    “Ah, Sariana, I knew it. You do not disappoint me. Once again you are busy building a fortress made out of words.”
    “I am trying to deal rationally with an irrational situation,” she retorted. “I’ve come to some conclusions and I have decided to offer you a working truce.”
    “We’re not at war,” he pointed out, curious in spite of himself.
    “That’s a matter of opinion, but never mind. My offer of a truce still stands.”
    “Why do we need this truce?”
    “Because we both want the same thing. We want to find the prisma cutter. After the violence that has taken place, I’m inclined to believe that getting it back will be a far more dangerous task than I originally anticipated. Going to the guards is out because you and the Avylyns will not back me up. I would look like a crazy easterner making wild claims about a theft that everyone else would deny.”
    Gryph lifted one shoulder. “True.”
    “I want to get that cutter back as badly as you do. A great deal of my future success is tied to completing my contract with the Avylyns. They have convinced me that, as ridiculous as it seems and no matter how effectively I manage their business affairs, they cannot retain their preeminence in their social class without that tool.”
    “They’re right.”
    “Very well, I accept the facts of the situation. The social and business position of the Avylyn Clan must be salvaged if I am to salvage my own future. That means the cutter must be retrieved. It is equally clear now that there is