by Sasha Gold
“You don’t have an emergency radio.”
“I do.”
“Where is it?”
His voice held an edge of irritation. For some reason that made a thrill of power rush through her. It wasn’t like her to taunt anyone, but for some reason, she wanted to torment Ragnar. The way his lips twisted with impatience made her want to provoke him.
She reached to a limb above her and hoisted herself up. Swinging her legs, she looked down at him. “The emergency radio is to the left of the cockpit, third drawer from the top. It’s labeled.”
He frowned. “It is?”
“Yes. It’s a secret code. Sort of.” She schooled her features to maintain a serious expression. “The label says, ‘This is For Sure, One Hundred Percent, Not the Emergency Radio.’”
His expression shifted from irritation to something entirely different. Her body responded again, her skin warming beneath his gaze. He ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth. “Is that so?”
She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you all that.”
“You’re a funny girl, Natasha.”
She pursed her lips and considered his words. No one ever told her that before. Maidens, especially pilots, were expected to be stoic, pragmatic. Not funny. This was a first. A small thrill ran through her. She’d just made a joke, a jest. She’d read about that sort of thing as a child.
The idea of aggravating Ragnar pleased her greatly, now that she was out of his reach.
“Maybe I am funny,” she said. “When I’m in a tree looking down at a Jaegarian.”
“Not for long.” He grasped the tree with both hands.
She yelped and grabbed the main branch, wrapping her arms around it as he began to make the tree sway back and forth. Was he insane? If she fell from this height, she’d get seriously hurt. He wasn’t shaking the tree as hard as he could, but he was probably just warming up. Giving her a warning of what was to come.
“You’re going to make me fall!”
“I will. And I’m going to catch you and teach you some discipline.”
The tree thrashed, not nearly as wildly as he could make it thrash. He could probably pull the tree from the ground, but the movement made her stomach churn with terror, nonetheless. “Stop! Stop! I’ll come down.”
He dropped his hands immediately and brushed them off. “You’d better be telling me the truth.”
Shaking and slightly nauseated, she lowered herself inch by inch. She didn’t want to stay on her perch and get tossed back and forth, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be on the ground next to Ragnar either. He looked angry. Smug and angry. When she got close to the bottom of the tree, he reached up, plucking her from the lowest limb.
He set her on her feet. “Do you know what will happen if you run from me?”
She retreated a few steps. “I suppose this is the part where I say you’ll catch me.”
“I will always catch you.”
A rustle in the brush behind her drew her attention. Something big moved in the thick foliage. Without thinking, she stepped closer to Ragnar. “What was that?”
Ragnar said nothing, but he swept her behind him, wrapping his hand around her arm. When she peered out from behind his shoulder she saw the cause of the noise. A huge, predatory cat stepped into the clearing.
The animal, both majestic and terrifying, eyed them as it slid its pink tongue over its chops. Icy dread washed over her. Weren’t the animals of Doranna nocturnal? The cat looked like the pictures of cougars she’s seen in the old books. Its amber eyes held her spellbound. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Was this the end? Would she die here on Doranna?
If she’d had her telum, she’d try to shoot at the animal, even just to scare it away. But Ragnar had taken it from her. The weapon lay broken somewhere back on her ship.
Ragnar shook his head and snarled. She watched in astonishment as his fangs lengthened. Baring his teeth, he snarled again, this time louder and even more menacing. His shirt sleeve tore as his body seemed to grow before her eyes. He didn’t shift fully into his wolf, but he increased in size enough to make his clothes stretch tightly across the expanse of his powerful physique.
Another cat appeared, a smaller animal than the first. It hissed and spat when it saw Ragnar. He responded by stepping closer. A deep, powerful rumble formed in his chest. He lunged toward the animals and they bolted, back into the brush from where they’d come.
Natasha stared at the spot where, an instant before, the two creatures had been standing. A leafy branch swayed, the only evidence of the animals’ presence. In the distance, the animals crashed through the undergrowth. The sounds faded.
“They’re gone,” she whispered.
“Good.”
His features had returned to normal. His teeth were the only part of him that looked slightly feral. She watched in stunned amazement as they slowly shortened.
Giving her a nudge, he motioned for her to return to the ship. She retraced her steps, trying to wrack her brain for a way to avoid getting on the Jaegarian ship that was surely on its way. Her mind, usually so efficient and methodical, had been thrown into total disarray. The last twenty-four hours had flipped her entire life on its head. Not only was her body changing, but her own people had turned against her. She was on a deserted planet with wild animals.
Almost as dire, her prisoner was now, most assuredly, her captor. He might be telling the truth about being a wolf shifter. He followed behind her, trailing her by only a few steps as she returned to her ship. She clung to the hope that her survival didn’t depend on this oversized, brooding and dangerous Jaegarian.
Chapter Eight
Ragnar
The little Andromedin was turning into a little headache. While he was certain she couldn’t really be his mate, he felt bound to her. Protective. He’d escaped from other planets before, but his escape had never involved a woman. Not only was she appealing in her own difficult way, she was in danger. His personal code prevented him from harming her. Worse, it kept him from abandoning her in the face of danger.
When he’d discovered she’d escaped the confines of the ship, a seething rage had erupted inside him. His wolf snarled and rose, threatening to emerge. That would have been a disaster. If she was worried about her safety now, she’d have been terrified to see his wolf.
Natasha confirmed everything he’d ever believed about women. They were trouble. Nuisances. This was the reason he was glad he hadn’t been saddled with a mate. If a random woman was this much of a bother, how difficult would it be to have a fated mate? A woman who would carry his young and need constant care.
So far, he’d been lucky. He’d escaped the burden of a wife and children.
When they returned to the ship, he closed the escape hatch. To be certain she wouldn’t slip away again, he blocked the small door with the control panel he’d torn loose the day before. For good measure, he ripped another panel free, piling it on top.
“You missed the navigation devices,” Natasha said as she examined her thumbnail. “Maybe you should destroy them while you’re at it.”
He eyed the controls she referred to, but decided against demolishing them. For now. He turned his attention to Natasha, who stood in the middle of the ship’s cabin with a bored expression on her face.
“Are all Maidens so impudent?”
She smirked. “You’re used to people being afraid of you, aren’t you?”
“Just intelligent people.”
Her laughter grated on him. He considered shifting, just to teach her a lesson in respect. The day passed slowly. She didn’t try to escape again. Still, he couldn’t relax, wondering if she might try when he wasn’t looking. He regarded the cell and contemplated simply locking her inside. Something had changed in the night. Something about sleeping beside her and keeping her warm. Then he’d protected her from the Dorannan creature. Now it seemed he couldn’t stick her back in the cell.
Impatient to be off the planet, he pieced th
e broken radio back together and sent another message to Gunnar.
Coming anytime this Solarum?
Finally, his brother responded with a message that one of his transport ships had been robbed. For the fifth time. Pirates had teleported an entire shipment of minerals from the hold and disappeared without a trace. He was delayed but had sent a ship.
Ragnar groaned. Gunnar had been mad with fury the first time the pirate stole his precious minerals from Minos. He tried to convince Ragnar to join him in tracking down the thief. Ragnar had his sights set on the Andromedin Blood Games and refused. There’d be no end to Gunnar’s foul mood now. His brother would act as if Ragnar himself had stolen from the Jaegar coffers.
The shadows grew long. The food supply was dwindling. Ragnar paced the small cabin, drawing a soft laugh from the girl.
“I hope I don’t have to spend another night sleeping next to you,” she said with a yawn. She strolled over to the bed. His eye was drawn to the way her trousers, a hideous dirt-brown, stretched across her ass. Yesterday, her pilot uniform had hung loose around her narrow frame. Now it showed off feminine curves he hadn’t noticed before.
His wolf stirred inside him. He smiled with satisfaction. Wouldn’t the little Andromedin be horrified to know how appealing she looked in the much-too-tight pants? He watched as she lowered and crawled across the bed.
The sight of her on all fours sent a jolt through him. His breathing quickened. His hands curled into fists. Inside, his wolf snarled, low, deep and savage. His response was wrong, of course. All wrong. His wolf never reacted to a woman, but maybe Doranna was affecting him. Maybe they both needed to get off the planet as soon as possible.
His hungered gaze remained fixed on her as she settled on the bed. She lay on her stomach, oblivious to the submissive and vulnerable position she offered. Natasha had a whip-sharp mind, but in many ways, she was child-like. Innocent. She knew nothing about attraction or lust. She wouldn’t know the first thing about flirtation or enticing a man. That had to be the reason his blood heated to see her lying on the bed.
He’d never spent the entire night with a female. Yet, last night, he’d tolerated the feel of her beside him. Perhaps even enjoyed it. Now he wanted to return to the bed, prowl over her and… what? Strip her down? Claim her? Pull her up to her hands and knees and take her from behind? During the night, he’d suffered with erotic dreams of the small, unpleasant female.
He shuddered, pushing the primitive thoughts aside. She was too small. A virgin. Arrogant and impossible. There were a hundred reasons why satisfying his needs with a fragile Andromedin like Natasha was a terrible idea.
She stretched. “Something about Doranna makes me sleepy.”
The way she stretched drew attention to her delicious curves. It seemed she was even more lush than when they’d woken this morning. He clenched his jaw and wondered if her curves extended to her torso. The bulky, leather jacket covered everything from the waist up. A trickle of sweat rolled down his neck as he imagined cupping her full, lush breasts. How would she respond to his touch? With dismay and disgust? Probably much worse.
“When are your people coming?” she asked, closing her eyes.
He moved closer to the bed, close enough to catch her tantalizing scent. He’d noticed her scent back on Andromeda, before they’d even gotten on the ship, and throughout the night. Now it seemed stronger. More potent. He steeled his mind against the primitive urges flooding his body.
His wolf wanted to sink his teeth into the tender expanse of her neck, but the rational part of his mind knew that couldn’t happen. He wanted to protect her, not only from her own people, but from himself. There was something special about the female. He couldn’t imagine what it might be, but his instinct told him she was exceptional in some elemental way.
“They’ll be here soon,” he said.
“And then what’s going to happen?”
“I’ll present you to my mother.”
She lifted, propping herself up on her elbows. “Andromeda has diplomatic relations with Jaegar. Perhaps your mother would consider returning me. Even if it’s a prisoner exchange.”
“My mother won’t exchange you if I advise against that.”
“Why would you? Out of spite?”
“Your people wish to harm you.”
She shook her head. “Once I get back, I can determine the problem. Rectify things.”
“Not if you’re dead.”
“That wouldn’t happen.” Her full lips pursed into a pout. “No Maiden would hurt me. I’m a decorated battle-hero.”
“One of them just shot at you.”
“It was a mistake.” She lifted her chin. “They must not have known who I was.”
“You seem to have a very high opinion of yourself.”
“Everyone has a high opinion of me. I graduated top of my class. I have more combat medals than any of my peers. I’m the finest flight instructor of any squadron.”
“In that case, you should be worth a lot. I’ll just see to it you’re held in a secure location and when I’ve decided it’s safe for you, I’ll ransom you back to the Maidens. They should be willing to pay to have you returned.” His gaze drifted down the length of her body. “Safe and sound.”
Her face brightened with a smile. “Do you promise?”
He’d expected outrage, not a happy smile. “To ransom you back to your people?”
“Yes. Ransom me back for, oh, I don’t know, whatever price you’d like. They’ll pay anything you ask.”
Her self-assuredness made him smile too. “I promise nothing. I’m only suggesting a possibility.”
She lay down and closed her eyes. “In that case, I won’t make it easy on you. I’ll be as difficult as I can. Before long, you’ll be offering them money to take me back.”
He moved closer, lowering his voice. “You don’t want to make me angry, little one.”
“You don’t frighten me, Ragnar. I had you figured out when I saw you on the flight deck. That’s why I had them remove your mask. One look, and I knew you were no threat to me.”
“And how did you know that?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Dunno. I felt it.”
“Did you?”
“Mm…”
“What else did you feel?” he asked softly.
Her lids lifted. She gave him a look of bemusement. “You say you’re a shifter?”
“I am.”
“Right. I suppose the other thing I felt was that you were all bark and no bite.”
She laughed at her own joke and then sighed. He watched as her expression softened. As the moments passed, she drifted toward sleep. “And don’t eat all the food,” she muttered. “I might want some too. Who knows what your people will bring, assuming they ever get here.”
He stood beside the bed watching her as the moments ticked past. Her body relaxed, sinking into the bedding. He watched as sleep came for her. She had no idea how vulnerable she was to him, fast asleep. Her nape, bare and exposed, drew his eye like a beacon. When she moved in her sleep, her scent hit him again. He circled the bed, keeping his eyes on her, wondering what he would do with the small female when he returned to Jaegar.
One thing was certain. He’d need some distance from her. She provoked him. His self-control hung by a thread. If she showed a single sign of interest, his restraint would snap. He’d been tempted by plenty of women, but he always managed to control it. The lust he felt for this aggravating, little female was a spark away from igniting into an uncontrollable fire.
Chapter Nine
Natasha
When Natasha woke, she was surprised to find it was late in the day. Doranna’s days and nights were much like Andromeda’s and given the waning sunlight she knew nightfall wasn’t more than a few hours away. She sat up in bed, shivering. Last night, she’d been so cold, she thought she might die of hypothermia. Sleeping next to Ragnar had kept her alive. Not something she wanted to admit to him.
He sat facing her in the cockpi
t chair, his large body sprawled across the small frame, a smile playing on his lips.
“You’re watching me sleep?”
“I was.”
“You find it interesting?”
“I do. You’re very beautiful.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’d like to remind you that I’m a Maiden. We’re untouchable. Chaste.”
He arched a brow. “You don’t look like a Maiden anymore.”
Stretching, she shook off the fog of her nap. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d napped. It was outrageously self-indulgent. Hedonistic even. Maidens prided themselves on self-deprivation. A spartan lifestyle was a virtuous lifestyle. Simple diet. Plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. Pleasure was for lesser beings like Nymphs and men.
“I’m aware I’ve changed, Ragnar. My physique has softened. Doranna is known for being hyper-fertile. On most mapped planets, animals give birth once, maybe twice a year. The creatures here give birth three or four times a year. It stands to reason my physiology would respond to the environment. I’m sure my body will return to its normal proportions once I return home.”
“Take your hair down. I want to see what you look like.”
She snorted. “And I want to see if you’ve left any food for me. When are your people coming? Didn’t you say the leader was your mother? Why is it taking so long? The sooner we get to Jaegar, the sooner I can negotiate my release with your Parliament”
He said nothing but his eyes lit with a feral light. In the last few moments, she’d unwittingly taken down her chignon. While she slept, it had come loose, but now her hair tumbled past her shoulders. She grew aware of her own movements and the fact that she combed her locks with her fingers. It was as if her body responded to his words. With some effort, she managed to force her hands away from her hair.
“Very pretty,” Ragnar said softly.
