He hooked his fingers over her hip and dragged her towards him. “I may have no seed left, but I can lick you until you cry for mercy. Shall I begin here?” He lapped at her throat, tasting her unique essence and his mixed now with the mating pheromones that permeated the sultry air of the observation room.
Mating. The word echoed in his brain and slowed his sensual attack. She was in estrus, primed for conception, and he’d filled her again and again over the past few hours with viable Sha-Shiri sperm.
Within her now might lie the very offspring the Val’tek had sought to create and the Sha’tek had plotted to destroy. His offspring--now doomed to death just as they were.
“Kash, what’s wrong?” Victoria’s round eyes creased at the corners and she raised her hands to smooth the thick mane that hung to his shoulders.
“We will stay this way for the rest of our lives ... joined together. In this moment we are mated forever.”
Her breath escaped in a soft whoosh followed by a sound that was half chuckle, half sob. “Forever....” She brought his head to her breasts and held him, her body heaving beneath his in an effort to calm herself. Kash wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her as tightly as he dared.
“How much longer is forever, Kash?”
“Not long enough. We have four hours perhaps before the shields give way. I think it would be wise to vent the atmosphere. Suffocation will be the quickest and least painful death. We don’t want to wait until the heat becomes unbearable. I’m sorry, Victoria. I truly am sorry.”
She placed a finger against his lips. “Don’t be. Just love me again, one more time before we run out of forever.”
Chapter Ten
“Who is it?” Victoria woke in a full blown panic, dizzy and disoriented. Had the phone rung? Had someone knocked on her apartment door? Good God, was she late for work?
She pushed herself up to a sitting position and shielded her eyes against the overwhelming yellow-orange glow coming from behind her. What light on earth could be that bright?
It took her a moment to process. She must have slept for hours--too many hours. Her entire body was slick with sweat, and the heat seemed to steal the air from her lungs. She’d woken up alone. In hell.
“Kash!”
He was gone. She scrambled to her feet and lurched toward the door of the observation room just as the deck tilted beneath her feet.
She fell backward and hit the floor, began rolling toward the observation port. Around her the Katavarri shuddered. A metallic clank echoed through the bulkheads and Victoria felt the vibrations come up through the floor and rattle her spine. Was the gravitational force of the sun starting to buckle the hull? Would they be crushed even before the solar radiation melted their flesh and baked their bones? Right about now, suffocation did seem like a pleasant alternative.
Victoria forced herself up to her knees. She refused to allow herself to look over her shoulder at the boiling surface of the sun. Instead she closed her eyes and bowed her head.
Mom and Dad, wherever you are, know that I love you and I’m sorry I never got the chance to say goodbye. I miss you, but I’ll always be with you.
Before Victoria could begin her final prayers in earnest, the door of the observation room slid open. Her eyes flew open and she prepared to throw herself into Kash’s arms, but the black-furred Sha-Shiri that shouldered through the narrow door was not her Avan’tek savior. He bared sharp teeth at her and hissed in Sha-Shiri. “There you are! Come with me, human!”
She backed away, stumbling on legs made weak by hours of lovemaking as well as dehydration from the heat and the ale. There was no place to run or hide in the observation room, though, and each step toward the view port only intensified the heat. If she touched the glass, she’d fry.
“It’s too late for you to kill me!” Victoria launched herself at the intruder, clawing and biting. “I’m already dead. You won. You destroyed the hybrid female, now you can burn in hell!”
Victoria went down fighting, her head pounding like a jackhammer and her lungs straining for oxygen in the motionless air. The black Sha-shiri closed his strong arms around her. He clamped one hand over her mouth and nose and in the blink of an eye, a cool, calming scent rushed into her lungs. Her body seemed to melt into a warm, comforting haze as the Sha-Shiri lifted her in his arms. Unable to struggle, and unsure why she wanted to, Victoria allowed herself to descend into darkness.
* * * *
“Such a fragile looking creature to have sparked so much controversy back home....”
“You’d think being part Sha-Shiri she wouldn’t be as ugly as the average human.”
“Use caution, she speaks Sha-shiri, you know.” A familiar voice interrupted the disparaging conversation that echoed in Victoria’s ears.
She shifted and stretched, luxuriating for a moment in the feel of cool sheets sliding over her body. A warm hand pressed against her forehead and she opened her eyes to a pair of tawny tiger eyes.
“Kash!”
“Victoria.” He lowered his head to rest on her chest and stroked her hair. “When I couldn’t wake you I went to the bridge to begin venting the atmosphere. I was just in time to see the Mura-jir docking with us.”
“The Mura...” Victoria peered over Kash’s shoulder, but the details of her surroundings blurred. She raised one shaky hand to touch his arm.
“An Avan’tek vessel came to rescue us. They intercepted Ashan’s transmission. Having already learned of his treachery, they sent the Mura-jir to retrieve us both.”
Victoria blinked. Her head still felt large and strangely empty. The world around her looked gray and shadowy, all except for Kash’s golden eyes. Behind him, the stark silhouette of the black-pelted Sha-Shiri was the first thing to come into focus. He moved forward and Victoria tensed. Kash turned to look over his shoulder.
“Don’t be afraid. This is Taimott. He is one of the leaders of the Avan’tek and my closest friend.”
Taimott drew closer, his expression curious and guarded at the same time. Had he been the one who thought humans so ugly? Victoria wished she could say the same about him, but like Kash, he was sleek and well-formed, a beautiful example of Sha-Shiri genetics.
Self-conscious under his scrutiny, Victoria gathered the cool sheet that covered her and forced herself to meet his silvery gaze. “I guess I owe you an apology, Captain. The last thing I remember was attempting to bite you.”
“Unnecessary. You didn’t injure me.” Taimott waved off her apology. “I am grateful that we arrived in time. Another hour and you both would have been dead. As it is, we could not save the Katavarri. Her shields had ruptured and her engines could not be restarted thanks to Kash’s...expert tinkering.”
Kash managed a contrite look, though Taimott chuckled.
“I did have some help destroying the Katavarri’s engines, you know. Ashan did most of the work well before I came along and started pulling on the wires.”
Taimott snorted and Victoria found herself grinning at the captain. Despite her initial fear, she liked him. He’d saved their lives, and he was close enough friends with Kash to tease him. He’d given them a future they could never have hoped for.
A future.
She caught Kash’s gaze. “My god! We’re alive. We’re actually alive!”
He nodded and placed a possessive hand on her sheet-covered thigh. “Yes. We’re alive, but we’re not yet out of danger.”
* * * *
An hour later Kash sat next to Victoria at the head of the Mura-jir’s conference table. Dressed again in her discarded shirt and a female Sha-Shiri jeweled belt and skirt that revealed her long legs from luscious thigh to ankle, Victoria looked confident and supremely sexual. Kash could barely take his eyes off her long enough to concentrate on Taimott’s words.
In addition to the Mura-jir’s captain, the rest of the crew had gathered for the briefing, as well.
Zhora, the medical officer, M’tash, the pilot and engineer, along with Zhora’s mate, Torvo
l, a tactical specialist, all sat around the wide table with the remains of an impromptu meal in front of them. Kash noted they all took turns glancing at Victoria, none of them ever having met or spoken with a human before.
She smiled at them and Kash’s heart swelled with pride once again at her ability to overcome her race’s natural fear of the unknown. No wonder K’vshtin, her father, had been drawn to a human female enough to forsake Sha-Shiri form and live out his life on earth.
“We believe the Sha’tek have monitored the Katavarri’s final orbit, and we’re confident they believe the ship has fallen into the star’s ionosphere with both of you aboard.” Taimott steepled his fingers in front of him and leaned back in his chair.
“That’s good, right?” Victoria asked. “You don’t look terribly pleased about it.”
Taimott chuckled. “It is good, but the Sha’tek are not stupid. They are paranoid. They will be cautious and are always expecting treachery. Kash will need to go into hiding when he returns to Sha-Shiri. He may need to change his name and appearance. If the Sha’tek find out he survived, they will assume you did as well and mount another mission to destroy you.”
Victoria caught Kash’s concerned glance. “How long would you have to hide?”
He shrugged. It didn’t matter to him. He’d saved Victoria. His own freedom was fair payment for her safety.
“I’ll come with you. We’ll hide together.”
Every head in the conference room turned in her direction. Zhora coughed and reached for a flagon of water to calm her surprise.
“What?” Victoria’s eyes fell and her shoulders sagged. “That’s stupid, I know. I’m sorry. How could you possibly hide me? I’d be a little conspicuous, wouldn’t I?”
“The shifter drug,” Zhora murmured. “It could be adapted to change your appearance to that of a Sha-Shiri.”
Now five startled glances bounced to the healer. Her blue eyes widened. “It’s a theory ... granted a far-fetched one, but it’s still an option.”
“I think it would be best if Victoria was returned to earth where we know she will be safe among her own people. We can remotely fly the Mura-jir’s lifeboat to the surface to drop her off and we can work out Kash’s new identity during our flight home.” Taimott’s voice was calm but firm, leaving little room for argument. “It was never our intention to rip you from your home forever, Victoria. I regret that the Sha’tek made you believe you would be a Sha-Shiri prisoner forever.”
“I don’t believe that. I do want to go home, but ... I don’t want to leave....” Her voice trailed off and she shifted her gaze back to Kash. He made no comment but moved his hand to rest on her thigh beneath the table.
Zhora sat forward, her gaze bouncing between the two. “Have you ... mated with Victoria, Kash?”
He rose so quickly that Victoria jumped. “Of course not. I would not do such a thing. It would be unethical.” He sensed rather than saw Victoria’s shocked reaction to his lie and shame washed over him. How could he admit he’d done something he’d always believed was wrong? How could he expose Victoria to the speculation of the crew? They would surely wonder if he’d taken advantage of his role posing at as a Val’tek, and they would pity her.
At a loss, he stormed out of the room and propelled himself down the Mura-jir’s unfamiliar corridors. He had no idea where he was going, only that he needed time away from his own tumultuous feelings to think clearly about how he would fare without Victoria by his side.
How could he harbor thoughts of keeping her as his mate, especially when their continued survival depended on keeping their existence secret from the Sha’tek and the Val’tek, as well?
On Sha-Shiri, even disguised as a native, eventually Victoria’s identity might be revealed. If she bore a partially human offspring, if he’d already impregnated her....
“What the hell was that about?” Victoria’s round human claws dug into his shoulder and despite her smaller size, she spun him to face her. “Unethical?”
“Victoria--” He covered her lips with his finger to quiet her. “The others need not know what happened privately....”
“Don’t you think they have a clue? Taimott found me in the observation room, naked. Any human would put two and two together.” She glared at him. “Kash ... you’ve been inside me. Are you embarrassed to admit that to your friends?”
He stepped close, drawing her trembling body against him. “I would take you as my mate in an instant, but knowing what we’ve done, the others might insist that you come to Sha-Shiri where a hybrid offspring would have a better chance of survival. Your life would be in danger there every day and I could not live with that.”
“So I should stay on earth without you? What if--” Her hand went to her belly in a protective gesture that arrowed to Kash’s heart. “What if I’m already pregnant? We were supposed to be dead by now, not worrying about where to set up housekeeping. I just want to be with you. I’m not ready to say goodbye forever.”
“There may be no other choice. You will be safer on earth.”
“And what if I have your baby ... alone on earth?”
“So you have mated.” Zhora appeared in the corridor behind Victoria at that moment. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the nearest bulkhead. “I knew it.”
“Zhora, it is not your concern,” Kash said.
“I’m the medical officer. It is my concern. If Victoria is pregnant, we should know about it. She’ll need to make decisions about how to proceed.”
Victoria whirled around. “How to proceed! What decisions?”
Zhora righted herself and her pointed ears twitched. “As Kash said--and yes, I was eavesdropping, I apologize--but the two of you were speaking loudly enough that I didn’t need to strain my ears. As Kash said, you will be safer on earth, but the best place for a Sha-Shiri child to grow up would be among his own kind. Both the Val’tek and the Sha’tek would be galvanized if news of such a birth reached them. Both groups would seek out the child for breeding or destruction.” Zhora paused and though her expression was sympathetic, Victoria seemed shocked by her words.
“Am I right in assuming, Victoria, that your child would not fare much better on Earth where xenophobia would cause a non-human child to be considered a monster? Would you raise your baby in seclusion, hiding from your people for the rest of your life?”
Kash swallowed hard. His throat had never felt so dry or his chest so hollow. What had they done? In celebrating what they believed would be the last hours of their lives, they might have doomed their child to a life of exile.
Victoria swayed and he caught her. She covered her face with her hands. “What am I supposed to do, Kash? How did this get so complicated?”
Zhora stepped up and took Victoria’s hand in hers. “First, let’s try to determine if you have conceived. Then we can talk more about options.”
Chapter Eleven
Victoria lay on one of Zhora’s medical cots, vainly trying to meditate herself into a state of higher consciousness while the Mura-jir’s medic studied various test results at a nearby computer monitor.
“Tell me, Victoria, did your father take the shifter drug before or after your conception?” Zhora asked without looking up from her work.
“During, I think.”
That drew the Sha-Shiri’s full attention. “During?”
“I don’t know all the details, obviously, but my mother’s told me that my father took more than one dose of the drug. The first time, he was too physically weak from a bullet wound to hold human form for very long. Later, he took the drug again, when he’d recovered completely from his injury. She discovered she was pregnant only a few weeks later.”
After a few more moments of study, Zhora put her instruments aside and tapped Victoria on the shoulder. “You may sit up now.”
Victoria obeyed. Despite the flock of butterflies in her stomach, Zhora’s gentle touch soothed her somewhat. The look in the medic’s eyes was understanding and compassionate. “Well?
”
Zhora sighed. “I’m afraid my instruments can’t tell me much about human physiology. It may be too soon, but all the tests I’ve run are inconclusive.”
Victoria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She blew out a breath and Zhora continued. “If you were full Sha-Shiri, I could tell almost at the moment of conception. While you seem to be in a receptive mating state, I’m not familiar enough with human blood chemistry to be able to pick out the proper hormones that might indicate conception. Perhaps in a day or two. Are there any early signs humans use to determine pregnancy?”
“A few, but they usually don’t appear for several weeks.” Victoria listed the signs she knew of for Zhora ending with queasiness and food cravings. In all honesty, she was a bit nauseas, but she was certain that had more to do with her mental state than her physical one.
“You will tell me if you experience any of these symptoms?”
“I will.”
“In the meantime, I’d like to you give you something.”
Victoria wrung her hands and tried to still her rampant thoughts while Zhora rummaged in a medical supply cabinet. When she returned to the cot, the Sha-Shiri dropped a red, jewel-like tablet into Victoria’s palm. “Do you know what this is?”
Victoria’s mouth went dry. She hoped she was wrong. “It’s not some kind of morning after pill, is it?”
Zhora tilted her head. “Morning after what?”
“A drug to prevent conception or reverse it in the early stages. It’s used in emergency situations among humans.”
“No.” Zhora shook her head and closed her fingers over Victoria’s. “It would be wrong for me to suggest such a thing to you. That would be your decision alone. This is the shifter drug.”
Victoria stared at the crimson pill. It looked like a multifaceted ruby lying in Zhora’s palm.
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