Page 5

Zoran woke by habit, his senses automatically searching for enemies. He found his mate instead. During their rest, she had rolled into him and draped herself across him. Her slight weight now pressed him gently into their bed. Her hand rested on his abdomen, just above his erection, and the dark spill of her hair fanned across the arm he’d protectively curled around her in his sleep. He ran a hand down her side, lingering on the sharp indention of her waist, the lush curve of her hip, the generous bloom of her ass. The middle two fingers of his free hand touched his forehead, mouth, and chest, then lifted to the heavens as he breathed a prayer of thanksgiving to the Pjorii.

For the Fates had truly blessed him with her presence, a gift beyond any he had ever received. He wanted to explore every inch of her, from the fascinating intelligence shining from her jewel-like eyes to the soft beauty of her skin. He wanted to dive into her, to bury himself within her tight heat, to breathe her in eternally, forever joined as one.

If not for duty, he might have awakened her then and found a way to ease her into taking some part of him now. But he had promised her time, his shift at watch was nigh, and much as he wanted to join with her, much as instinct demanded he claim her, the honor embedded in his bones since childhood would not be bent.

Gently, he slid away from her and readied for the day ahead. His gaze fixed on the clock above where Mia lay supine as he tugged on his skinsuit and boots. He had no understanding of her number system, and still, he recognized the countdown for what it was: the nearing of the deadline he’d given her.

He tried to push his anticipation down, to control the excitement simmering in his blood, for her sake if not his own. In this, he would not force her, as he had promised himself and his mother. But landing in Zephyria, ensconcing her in his home, brought them one step closer to their joining, and that he could fully embrace.

Once dressed, he smoothed the sheet over her and rubbed the tip of his horn along her temple. She stirred restlessly, her hand skimming the mattress where he’d lain before curling under her chest. The gesture warmed him in a way he had not expected, deep in the parts well-hidden by years of training and discipline, and he could not resist burying his face in her throat and breathing her in. She smelled of soap and woman and him, a heady combination that aroused and gentled him in one fell stroke. How could this tiny creature affect him so? How could he resist such beauty when it found him, human though she was?

While his discipline still held, he pulled away from her and left.

He found Ryrda on the bridge manning the captain’s chair, his expression thoughtful as he stared at the viewscreen.

“You are well?” Zoran asked.

Ryrda glanced around and rose, then dropped into the chair in front of navigation, twisting around to face Zoran. “Did you find it hard to leave your mate after claiming her?”

Zoran took the captain’s chair and began a systematic check of the logs. “I have not yet claimed her.”

Ryrda nodded, as if unsurprised. “I could not claim my own mate. She is…reluctant to accept me.”

“Mia is reluctant as well,” Zoran admitted. “She will learn.”

“Pray they all do.” An uncharacteristic frown tugged at the other warrior’s mouth. “My mate has informed me that she has no intention of being forced into a mating not of her choosing.”

“You threatened to force her?”

“Never. Yet it is upon me to try.” Ryrda rolled his shoulders, then lifted a hand and smoothed the short curls growing between his horns. “Perhaps when we learn one another, she will feel differently.”

Zoran relaxed into the chair, pleased that Ryrda was searching for a way to soothe his mate to him. The task in front of them had seemed enormous when they had first conceived of finding mates among a compatible species. Now that those mates were in hand, it seemed less mighty. Or, perhaps, mighty in a different way. Like Ryrda, Zoran worried that his own mate would never yield to him. The very thought threatened to bury the pleasure she’d given him merely by seeking him out in her sleep. Threatened to reawaken the horrors of having a hand in the loss of his family.

He shook the unpleasant thoughts away, burying them deeply so they would not tempt him away from duty. No, he would find a way to woo her to his side, and to the cause that would ultimately save his people. Not as a penance, but because the Fates had handed him this path to redemption.

“Where is your second?” Zoran said, as much to distract himself from thoughts of possible rejection and failure as anything.

“Retrieving a meal for the two of us. Searching for a healing salve.” Ryrda’s eyes brightened a fraction, and he clicked his teeth in humor. “His mate is not as biddable as my own.”

Zoran searched through his memory of the mock battle they had fought for the human females’ benefit. “She is the taller female with the yellow hair. Mia’s other friend?”

“That one, yes. Kira—”

“Kira?”

“My mate,” Ryrda said easily. “She called Lorik’s mate an Amazon.”

Zoran’s translator could not match the term with any like word or phrase in Xeruvian. “What is an Amazon?”

“She did not say, but I take it the female is a fierce opponent.”

Zoran grunted. “Then she will make a fitting mate for Lorik.”

“He has…” Again, Ryrda paused, as if searching. “Met his match. So Kira says.”

That phrase roughly translated, though Zoran feared not well enough for exactness. Still, he understood. “Your Kira must be very wise.”

“She knows her friends.”

“She related something about Mia?”

Ryrda shifted on his chair, replanting his feet against the bridge’s black metal floor, dangling his hands between his widespread knees. “Kira worries that we warriors will not treat our females well. It is an old worry with her, I think, though I cannot pinpoint its origin.”

Zoran breathed deeply for a moment, searching in his own way for the right words. “Human culture is very different from our own, but in some ways, it is very alike. Do our own females not crave a warrior’s gentleness? Do they not search for a mate who will love and protect them, someone worthy of their nurturing spirit?”

The other warrior was silent for a moment, his head bowed in thought. “Yes,” he agreed at last. “We are not so different in that regard. I never thought I would find a mate as kind and beautiful in spirit as Kira. After the disaster, it seemed an impossibility. I thought I would have to stand by and watch our people die out as the Var’Kol did, that we would be wiped clean from the great infinite reaches of the universe, forgotten for all time.”

“Such is no longer our fate,” Zoran reminded him.

“Aye, this is so.” Ryrda clapped his hands to his thighs and rose, his expression fixed with the good humor and determination for which he was so well-known. “Let it remain so forever.”

Zoran nodded formally. “Peace be unto you.”

“And unto you, my friend.”

Ryrda inclined his head in a respectful bow and left, and Zoran buried himself in his duty, forestalling any doubt that might intrude upon his peace.

Mia huddled on the bed, watching the countdown above the bed, her stomach a knot of nerves and some other emotion she refused to name. Naming it could get her into trouble, and she had plenty of that already.

Zoran had been gone when she woke, his side of the bed cool to the touch. She vaguely remembered half waking as he left, or maybe it was only her imagination that he’d rubbed the tip of one horn against her temple and licked her throat as a goodbye. Surely that would’ve awakened her.

She peeked at the countdown again and nibbled on her lower lip. Not that she’d wanted him to wake her. Only a few hours remained until they reached Zephyria, or Zephyrian space, or whatever he’d set the countdown to. Didn’t matter. One way or another, her time was up, and she had no idea what she was going to do about it.

Restless now, she thought about opening the console and digging more deeply into her favorite new subject, Zephyria’s biosphere. But her focus was so scattered, the worry lodged in her gut so distracting, she knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

With a sigh, she slipped out of the bed, washed off, and risked looking in the trunk at the end of the bed for fresh clothing. To her surprise, she found her own clothes clean and neatly folded inside. Oh, for this small piece of home! Quickly, she pulled them out, everything but her lab coat, and dressed. On second thought, she left her shoes inside. A spaceship was no place for heels, even the sensible ones she wore to work.

That done, she smoothed her skirt happily down her thighs and set off in search of her friends, pleased when the door opened to her touch. She retraced the path to the cargo bay, palmed the door open, and found a huge hunk of brooding warrior standing just inside.

She leaned her head way back—boy, did they grow ‘em big on Zephyria—and smiled. “Hello. I’m Mia. Um, Zoran’s friend?”

The warrior looked down at her, his expression implacable. “Nyklan of Clan Zikri.”

“Ah. Nice to meet you.” She glanced curiously between him and the women huddled against the far wall, every single one of them watching Nyklan with huge, wary eyes. “So, I just wanted to check on everyone?”

“They are well. We take care of our females.”

How to explain that the humans were not “our females”?

“Even the ones foisted on us by the Fates,” he muttered.

“Oh. I thought, since you were standing here.” She trailed off, uncertain how to broach such a sensitive subject. “I thought you hadn’t found what you were looking for?”

“How could an honorable warrior reject his duty? How could he ignore the Fates and forsake his chosen mate?”

He had her there, especially since she had no idea what he was talking about. “That is the question,” she agreed. “So you did find someone?”

His bright green gaze swung to hers and his expression shifted subtly. “Female, your questions would drive a sane male into a frenzy.”

With one final scowl at the women, he stormed out of the bay, his footsteps surprisingly quiet against the metal floor.

“Well, ok,” she said, baffled. “I guess that answers that.”

Quickly, she walked across the room and sat down in the middle of the pack, grateful when one of the women shared her blanket.

Later, after she’d answered what felt like dozens of questions, she searched out the women who’d been selected by warriors and carried off after the demonstration. She found another warrior first, leaning against a door with one hand pressed to his jaw.

“Hello,” she chirped. “I’m Mia, Zoran’s friend.” Why not? That introduction had worked the first time, sort of, and she absolutely, positively, one hundred percent refused to use the word mate .

“Lorik of Clan Voss,” he grunted. “My mate is your friend.”

“Which one exactly?”

“The yellow-haired one. Stubborn klika refused to give me her name.”

Mia bit her lip, hoping to hide a laugh. “Tell you what. I’ll give you her name if you let me check on her.”

He pushed off the door and scowled at it. “Check if you wish. Me? I would not venture within until her anger cooled.”

For a moment, Mia was concerned. What had the man done to rile up her friend? Had he hurt her or tried to force himself on her?

Then she remembered who they were discussing and had to bite back another grin. Of all the women who’d been captured, Leona could take care of herself, and had proven it to Lorik, if the bruise darkening his jawline was any indication. No, Leona was fine. Apparently, the same couldn’t be said of the warrior who’d tried to claim her.

Unable to resist, Mia asked, “What did you do to earn that bruise?”

“Nothing a warrior would not do upon meeting his mate,” he growled.

“Ah. Hmm. You tried to have sex with her?”

“She did not give me a chance to.” He narrowed his eyes at the door, his free hand curling into a fist. “Stubborn klika . Such a mating is to be treasured above all others. The pleasure of the mating bond makes it so. She would hear nothing of it.”

Mia held up a hand, then dropped it. Nope, she was not in any way ready to hear about mated sex. And she absolutely did not want to hear about one of her friends having mated sex. Not from the guy, anyway. That was strictly a girls-only kind of talk.

“Let me check on her.” Mia said. “On Leona.”

“Leona,” he repeated, almost reverently, then he dropped his hand and dipped his head to Mia. “May the Fates look kindly upon your union with Zoran.”

He pivoted on one booted heel and stalked away, his footsteps as quiet as Nyklan’s had been. What was it with these warriors? Did they take a special class in walking silently?

She shook her head and palmed the door open to a room laid out exactly as Zoran’s was. Leona was seated at the console, frowning down at a blank screen, her hair smoothed into a knot at the base of her skull. To Mia’s relief, the other woman looked unharmed. Unruffled, even. She’d exchanged her soiled business shirt and skirt for a long, apricot colored robe similar to the one Zoran had given Mia. Her spiky heels lay on the floor beneath the console, one turned over on its side.

Leona looked up when Mia entered, still frowning. “I can’t get it to turn on.”

“Oh! Let me try.” Mia walked over and placed her hand palm down. A mild shock pinched her skin, and she jerked her hand away with a yelp. “Must be print-locked. You’ll have to get Lorik to sign you in.”

“Lorik,” Leona said, rolling the name over her tongue as her eyes narrowed on the door. “You would not believe the nerve of that Neandertal.”

“I gather things didn’t go well,” Mia said dryly.

“He tried to have sex with me as soon as he dropped me on the bed!”

“Weren’t you the one encouraging me to take advantage of Zoran’s willingness?”

Leona waved a languid hand. “That’s different.”

Mia cocked her head. “How?”

“You’re you, and I’m me,” Leona said with a coy wink. “Don’t worry, Mia. I have things well in hand.”

Mia just bet she did.

They settled down for a good chat, gossiping about the women who’d been taken, worrying over Kira’s fate. Discussing the intriguing promise of new research awaiting them on Zephyria, and the research left behind when they’d been abducted.

“Years of work,” Mia groaned. “Down the drain now because of that barbarian.”

Leona squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, hon. Peter’s a sensible assistant. He’ll continue the work on his own until we get back home.”

“ If we get back home.”

“Still convinced your warrior won’t let you go?”

Mia glanced at the door, her conversation with Lorik upmost in her mind. “I don’t think any of them will. Yours certainly didn’t sound like he had any intention of doing so.”

Instead of rattling Leona, the statement seemed to please her.

Typical, Mia thought as she steered the conversation back to work and the fate of their friends. They had just decided to venture into the ship in search of Kira when the door opened and Zoran appeared.

He nodded respectfully to Leona, then held his hand out to Mia. “We have arrived.”

Mia’s stomach did a long, slow roll, whether in dread or excitement, she couldn’t tell. She swallowed once and scooted off the stool Leona had abandoned for her.

The other woman pushed off the bed and stood, one hand catching Mia’s. “Don’t worry so much,” Leona said softly. “There’s a way out. We just have to find it.”

Mia was very much afraid she already knew what she was going to have to do. She just wished she weren’t looking forward to it so much. “Don’t be so hard on Lorik.”

Leona winked. “I intend for him to be very hard before I’m through with him.”

Mia groaned and rolled her eyes, then she quit putting off the inevitable and stepped into the hallway and Zoran’s grasp.