Shada had always found Talon Karrde to be an attractive man, but never more so than when he was coolly expressing his dominance over a situation. It was rarely overt or heavy handed. Karrde was never obvious. It was seldom physical, although he could more than hold his own in any sort of physical confrontation. He usually preferred to have loyal and deadly people like her at his side.

Since joining his organization Shada had gotten to witness such a scene many times. Even after all this time she couldn't control the thrill that ran through her when she saw the realization come to his opponents that they had been deftly maneuvered and Karrde was in complete control of the situation. She had to work very hard to keep her expression bland when she saw Borsk Fey'lya's infuriated look in particular.

"I think that concludes our business," Karrde told the assembled New Republic High Councilors, his tone polite but brooking no further argument.

President Gavrisom did not look pleased at all, but he said courteously, "Thank you for your report, Captain Karrde."

Karrde stood and extended his hand to Shada. She placed her hand in his and met his eyes. His pale blue eyes darkened as he recognized the desire in hers. She rose to her feet and slid her arm through his.

"Good day." He inclined his head to the councilors and they strode through the doors of the council chambers without a look back. H'sishi, who was waiting outside, fell in behind them. The three of them drew their fair share of curious looks as they made their way through the Imperial Palace, but everyone stepped out of their way.

Dankin was waiting at the airspeeder. "Everything go okay, Chief?"

"Very well indeed." Karrde allowed a small triumphant smile.

"Back to the hotel?"

Karrde cast a sideward glance at Shada. She kept her expression nonchalant, but her fingers tightened on his arm. "Yes, please," he told Dankin. "Then you and H'sishi are both free to enjoy the Fete Week celebrations as you please."

"Thanks, Chief."

Shada slid into the backseat of the speeder and Karrde followed close behind her, his hand settling on her thigh. Before long his fingers had slipped between the fabric of the kick-pleat of her long skirt and found skin. She glared at him, trying to unobtrusively push his hand away. She didn't want to engage in that sort of game with two members of their crew sitting just in front of them. He gave her that arrogant smirk of his and persisted. She finally gave up trying to stop his exploring hand, not wanting to draw Dankin and H'sishi's attention. He slid the fabric of her skirt higher, his deft fingers teasing sensual patterns on her skin. His hand moved higher and higher and it was all she could do to keep her breathing regular and her expression bland. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning as she turned her head and tried to focus her attention on the traffic surrounding them. She didn't dare look at him.

Thankfully the trip to the hotel was short. Karrde pulled his hand from her skirt smoothing it back into place. She took a deep breath as the door to the speeder opened. Karrde handed her out and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. The air seemed to crackle with sexual tension between them as they walked sedately to their room.

The door to their suite was barely closed before Karrde had her pushed up against the wall, his hot possessive mouth covering hers. His hands pulled the zenji needles from her hair, casting them carelessly on the floor. She pushed his coat from his shoulders and began attacking the fastenings of his vest. Then one of his hands slid up into her loose hair and roughly pulled her head back holding her firmly in place so he could thoroughly devour her mouth as her hands involuntarily clenched the fabric of his shirt.

Shada loved it when he was like this.

Karrde liked to watch her style her hair almost as much as he liked to take all her hard work apart. She glanced up at the mirror of her vanity and saw his eyes on her from where he was still sprawled on the bed, propped up against the headboard and sipping a glass of Whyren's.

"If you don't get out of that bed and start getting dressed, I'm going to get back in with you," she told him inserting the final zenji needle into her coiffure.

"You really will do anything to get out of Leia's party, won't you?"

"I'm not sure getting in bed with you is exactly classified as 'anything'," she replied dryly. "Unless, of course, you have something particularly unusual in mind."

He grinned at that idea and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "No such luck at the moment. Perhaps I'll think of something later." He pulled on his robe and went over to her. He slid his hands underneath the neck of her dressing gown, massaging her shoulders and neck. "You're the one that wanted to be respectable," he reminded her. "What could be more respectable than a Fete party at the home of Princess Leia Organa Solo?"

"Not respectable. Legitimate." She leaned her head back to look up at him. "You know we're not like them." She and Karrde would never be great heroes of the New Republic and she never felt as if she quite belonged in such a crowd no matter how welcoming and friendly they were.

"No, but they are our friends." He leaned down and kissed her. She closed her eyes enjoying his lazy kiss. "It's Fete Week. Time to be with friends and family. Besides, this isn't a political party. We can relax and enjoy it." His hands began rubbing her shoulders again.

She opened a drawer on the vanity and pulled out her cosmetic brushes. "We didn't have Fete Week on Emberlene," she said changing the subject, thinking he would be sidetracked by his curiosity. She knew Karrde had didn't quite understand why she felt out of place. He always seemed comfortable in his surroundings no matter if it was a dive cantina or the New Republic High Council Chambers.

"No?" he didn't sound particularly interested or distracted.

She shook her head. His hands left her shoulders and he reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out something sparkling. He lifted the necklace over her head and fastened the chain. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Happy Fete, my darling."

She reached up and touched the pendant. The goldwork looked of Nubian design with a large ruby at the center. "It's beautiful. Thank you." She was much better at accepting his extravagant gifts than she used to be. She had learned it gave him great pleasure to give her beautiful things. He pulled out a pair of matching ruby drop earrings and fastened them to her ears.

"What else you got in that pocket?" she asked with an amused laugh.

"That's it. Were you looking for something else?"

"No. Thank you, Talon." She leaned back again and pulled him down to her, kissing him. "Go look in the closet."

"What?"

"Go look in the closet," she repeated.

He went over to the closet and opened the door. He stood there for a moment staring at their clothes. "What am I looking for?"

"You'll know when you see it."

Karrde reached in pulling out black nerf hide jacket and ran his hand down the sleeve. She knew he was looking for the hole that should have been there.

"You had my jacket fixed?" he asked, looking thoroughly astonished.

"I had it copied," she stood and walked over to him. "You had that jacket on the first time I saw you and almost every time I met you for 10 years."

"It was my favorite."

"I thought so. I always wondered what had happened to it when you stopped wearing it."

"Getting shot in the arm kind of ruined it," he told her.

"And yet you still kept it in your closet in the Wild Karrde for years after that," she pointed out.

"It was my favorite."

She took it from his hands and held it for him as he slipped his arms through the sleeves. He examined himself in the mirror. "Thank you so much, Shada. It's nice to have it back."

"I'm glad you like it." She slipped her arms around him and she rested her chin on his shoulder. "You're a hard man to buy for."

"I'm easy. As long it's from you, I'll always treasure it." He turned in her arms and held her tightly against him. She breathed in the scent of him mixed with the new leather. "Did you really notice I had the same jacket on all those years?"

She leaned back so she could meet his eyes. "You did catch my attention, Talon." She reached out and stroked his cheek.

"As you did mine." He turned his head and kissed her palm.

TBC