by Tana Stone
How did the High Command not consider his mission a failure? His entire team had been slaughtered. He’d been unable to save even one, and he’d been captured and tortured. He hadn’t broken, but he also hadn’t been able to save the other Drexian being held with him. In the end, he’d only escaped with his life and the knowledge that the Kronock were creating mutated versions of themselves. Hardly what he’d call a victory, but here he was on the Boat, being rewarded with a tribute bride and being treated like a victor. It didn’t feel right, although he did not regret being matched with Katie. She was the only part of this he did not want to give up.
After a few more laps, his shoulders burned and the water no longer felt cool. He pushed through, scissoring his legs harder to propel himself. As he reached for the wall again, a pain shot through his head and made him convulse as if he’d been electrocuted. He squeezed his eyes until the sensation passed and he could raise his head from the water.
Looking around, he expected the lights to go off, but he felt himself being lifted along with the water beneath him. His stomach dropped as he recognized the weightless feel of zero gravity. Shiny, black kick boards levitated over the pool deck and bathing suits rose from the cubicles and hovered in the air. The water surged up and covered the part of his upper body not submerged already.
Zayn tried to push it off his face but it adhered to him as if attached with glue. He forced himself not to breathe in as he thrashed in the undulating water, but the urge to suck in air was instinctive and powerful. His lungs seared as he tried to calm his mind. After surviving seemingly endless torture at the hands of his enemy, he refused to die in a swimming pool because of a gravity malfunction. His chest convulsed as he held his mouth and eyes closed, spots of light dancing across his dark lids.
As quickly as the water had covered him, it dropped away, and the contents of the pool crashed back down, the bathing suits and kick boards dropping to the floor. Water splashed over the edge, soaking the pool deck. Zayn landed where he’d begun and pulled himself over to the side and out, his torso splayed on the bumpy surface and his legs dangling in the water as he sucked in lungfuls of air. He crawled out completely and dropped, his breathing jagged.
These were no normal fluctuations, he thought. Something else was going on. He didn’t know what, but he knew the fact that his pains could predict each occurrence was not normal. Either he was going crazy, he’d become a seer of some sort, or…He didn’t want to think about the other alternative.
With shaky hands, he changed out of the bathing suit and pulled his clothes over his damp skin. He needed to talk to someone. But who? If he went to the medical bay, they’d hook him up to machines and poke him full of needles. He wasn’t sure if he could handle that after being tortured with devices that could have doubled as surgical tools. If he told the captain or the Inferno Force commander, he’d never serve as a warrior again.
He could tell Katie, he thought, as he stumbled out of the pool and through the gym. She already knew about his dreams and his pains. She hadn’t told anyone yet, so maybe he could trust her. She was the only person who wouldn’t be shocked by his admission, that, he knew for sure.
Zayn was distracted by his thoughts as he walked through the station and entered the Safari wing, not noticing the people he passed or the late-afternoon sun dipping low over the holographic horizon. The doors to his suite swished open, and he was halfway across the room before he saw Katie standing in front of him in a shimmery, black dress that hugged her curves and scooped down low in the front. Her hair spilled loose over her shoulders, and he could see the outline of her nipples beneath the thin fabric.
He tried not to gape, but his mouth fell open before he could stop himself.
“Hungry?” she asked, letting her tongue wet her lower lip and smiling at him.
Chapter Eighteen
Katie pushed her nerves aside as she stood in front of Zayn. He’d been staring at her for a full minute without speaking, and even thought she was pretty sure the open mouth was a signal he liked her dress, it would be nice if he said something. She’d purchased the dress two days before, but now that she stood there in nothing but black silk held in place by the thinnest of straps, she started to second-guess herself.
First of all, she wasn’t sure she was even wearing a dress. For all she knew, it could be a fancy slip. The second problem was that she’d never actually set out to seduce someone. Those weren’t the types of cons her dad pulled, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have used his daughter as bait. The man might have been a grifter, but he never risked her virtue in his schemes.
It’s all for the greater good, she reminded herself as she watched Zayn’s eyes rake over her body and his pupils dilate. The more she could learn about the Drexians, the tribute brides, and the station they were on, the better her story would be. The people of Earth deserved to know that aliens existed, she reasoned. The women of Earth definitely deserved to know they were being used as payment for the planet’s protection. And most of all, they needed to know about the Kronock, especially since the aliens were hell-bent on invading Earth.
“I thought we might have dinner on the balcony,” she said, clearing her throat and sweeping a hand to indicate the table for two set up outside with a crisp, white tablecloth and crystal candlesticks.
Zayn dragged his eyes from her and took in the setup, nodding at the levitating silver ice bucket chilling a bottle of wine and the silver domes covering two plates. He looked back at her. “Is this something humans do? Eat outside?”
Katie laughed. “Yeah. I never thought about it, but I guess we do. We spend tons of money on fancy restaurants and huge mansions, and then everyone flocks to the patios.” She turned and walked to the table, trying to throw an extra shimmy in her step. “Do you want to eat, or talk about how weird humans are?”
Zayn followed, taking a seat across from her. His eyes went to the bottle in the hovering ice bucket, and he raised an eyebrow. “Palaxian wine?”
Katie shrugged and tried to assume her most innocent face. “Reina said it was the best. Why?”
Reina had also warned her about it, reminding her about the spiked hot toddies from the chalet.
He gave a curt shake of his head as he lifted the bottle and poured. “No reason.”
She couldn’t help noticing how the muscles of his forearms moved under his scarred flesh. His shirt was short sleeved and tight, stretching across the bulges of his chest and the flat surface of his stomach. It also looked damp, which was odd. Katie was glad she couldn’t see any lower as they sat the table, since she knew his drawstring pants were just as thin and revealing as his shirt.
“Cheers,” she said, raising her glass once he’d filled both. Her voice sounded artificially cheery in her head, and she made a mental note to tone it down. One of the keys to a good con was appearing natural. She’d never get him to talk if he could sense she was forcing it.
They both drank, and the fizzy wine tickled Katie’s throat. He grimaced and put down the glass.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s sweet,” he said. “I got used to bland flavors.”
“When you were a prisoner?” she asked, taking another swallow and hoping the drink would relax her. As it was, she sounded like an interrogator.
Zayn twitched, but nodded. “The Kronock aren’t much for appealing food. Most of what they eat is glorified mush.”
Another big gulp and Katie felt her arms begin to tingle. She looked hard at the big muscular guy across from her and felt a tingle someplace much lower as well. She shifted in her chair, leaning forward and dropping her voice. “Was it awful?”
He met her gaze, and she saw something dark flash within it. “Let’s say I’m glad not to be there anymore.”
“Why do you think they took you?” she asked. “Were they trying to get command codes from you?”
He tilted his head at her. “Command codes? I am not a commander.” He stared into his wine glass. “They knew they were
not taking anyone important.”
“Don’t you think you’re selling yourself short?” She tried to bat her eyelashes, but felt ridiculous and ended up looking away.
“Is something wrong with your eye?” he asked.
It took all her self-composure not to sigh. “Nope.” She took a swig of wine. “So how were you able to escape?”
He shuddered as he thought back to working on his chains. “It took a long time, but I found some metal and filed at my shackles until they were weak enough to snap. Then I overpowered a guard and snuck off.”
“And they didn’t come after you?”
“No. I doubt they wanted to start a war by entering Drexian space after me.”
“Don’t they want a war anyway?” Katie asked. “ From what everyone says, those scaly creeps aren’t into diplomacy.”
The edges of Zayn’s mouth twitched. “Who told you they were scaly creeps?”
“Bridget. She’s the only person I’ve met who’s seen them.” She hesitated. “Aside from you.”
“Which one is Bridget?”
“The pretty one with black hair. You saw her when you burst into the bunker.”
“I did not burst,” he said. “I was worried about you, and may have been walking fast.”
She felt a flush of pleasure that he’d been worried about her. It had been a long time since someone had cared about her for a reason that didn’t have to do with what she could do for them. She decided not to push him for more information and instead set down her glass and lifted the silver dome off her plate. “I hope you enjoy steak. I had the chef prepare filet mignon with new potatoes. I had a feeling you were a meat and potatoes kind of guy. They assured me this is actual beef, but after the food I’ve eaten today, I’m not promising anything.”
He lifted his own dome. “It looks wonderful.” He picked up his fork and poked the filet. “What is steak?”
Katie thought for a moment. “It’s a type of protein we eat on Earth. If I tell you where it comes from, you may not want to eat it.”
He nodded, jabbing his fork into it and lifting it from his plate.
“No, no, no,” Katie jumped up, waving her hands, and giggling. The wine made her feel much lighter and happier than usual, and for a moment, she lost track of what she was supposed to be doing. “Let me show you how to cut it.”
She went to his side of the table and helped him lower his filet. She put his knife and fork in his hands and positioned them over his plate. “Hold the meat with your fork, and cut it with the knife.”
He sawed at the filet and the knife scraped the bottom of the plate, making Katie flinch from the sound. She ducked under his arm and sat on his lap, placing her hands under his and guiding them. “You don’t need to do it so hard, unless the meat is really tough, which this isn’t.”
She noticed, then, that his arms had gone stiff and his breathing had stopped. Was he having some sort of panic attack? She twisted around and saw that his eyes were molten, the bright blue almost obliterated by dark pupils that flashed with desire. His arms encased hers, but weren’t touching her, and he kept them bowed wide as if he was afraid to come one inch closer to her.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice coming out as a breathy whisper without even trying. “I didn’t mean to get in your personal space.”
He didn’t make a move, and as she shifted her weight on his lap, she felt his hard cock bump up against her leg. Her own body tingled from the fizzy Palaxian wine, and Katie was aware of her muscles tensing in response to his arousal. It struck her that she was playing with fire by trying to seduce a creature that could easily bench-press her over his head. She’d already seen how fruitless it would be to struggle against him, and her skin heated as she remembered the feeling of being trapped under his body with his cock thick between her thighs.
Was she really ready to sleep with him to get her story? Would she go that far for an exposé that would make her career? Or was this not really about the story, and more about wanting to feel the breathless surrender she’d felt the night before?
There was something about this Drexian that she trusted, and it had been a long time since she’d trusted a man. Or anyone. She knew it was stupid to trust someone she barely knew, much less an alien who was horny as hell. Hadn’t she learned anything growing up with a con man?
Her eyes dropped to his lips and her resolve wavered. It had been a long time since she’d let her guard down and actually had fun. What the hell, she thought as she lowered her lips to his. Unless these aliens had developed reanimation, you only lived once.
Chapter Nineteen
Zayn dropped the silverware and wrapped one arm around her waist, tangling the other in her hair and pulling her mouth in deeper to his. He loved the taste of her, and the feel of her tongue against his sent currents of pleasure through his body.
He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. She was too good for him. He was disgraced warrior. He needed to focus on what was important. But what was that? He couldn’t remember. He’d wanted to tell her something, hadn’t he? All he knew was he hadn’t felt this good in a long time, possibly ever, and he didn’t want it to end.
She moaned in his mouth and pressed her body to his, the points of her nipples grazing his chest. He slid his hands down until he held her by the hips, swiveling her until she was straddling him and had wrapped her legs around his waist. Grinding against him, she intensified her kiss and raked her hands across his back, her fingers catching on his hard nodes.
Even though the Kronock had used the bumps along his spine to torture him, he had healed, and his nodes were even more sensitive than before. The feel of her fingertips made him convulse, the need coursing through him. He needed her. Needed to bury himself inside her so he could forget all the pain and loss.
She pulled back and held his gaze, breathing heavily as she rubbed his hot, engorged nodes with her thumbs. “Do you like this? Is this the way you do it?”
He arched into her hands as his answer, getting a jolt from each touch to his sensitive bumps.
She grinned and pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth, watching him. “Do you want more?”
He leveled his gaze at her. “I want everything.”
Her green eyes widened slightly before she smiled again and lowered her head to his neck, biting him hard as she moved her hips. The nip made him growl and slide his hands down to cup her ass, moving the silk so his hands were underneath the fabric of her dress. He loved the softness of her, the curves that felt so good after living in a dank cell with nothing but hard, cold metal.
Zayn slipped one finger underneath the panties that were as soft as her dress and felt that she was damp. She bowed back as he stroked his finger between her legs, her moan throaty. He hadn’t expected her to be completely bare—he’d thought human females had hair—but the skin beneath his finger was smooth and slick.
“Surprised?” she asked, her voice breathy as she leaned her head close to his. “I like to be smooth.”
“You’re my first human,” he said. “Everything is a surprise.”
She rolled her hips so that his finger slid inside, and she gasped. “I’m your only human.”
His cock throbbed as he worked his finger deeper, feeling her tight folds clench around him. “And I am your only Drexian.”
“Yeah, you are.” Her words were breathy and vibrated against his ear. “Why don’t you show me what Drexians can do?”
She crushed her mouth to his, and he tasted the sweet Palaxian wine on her tongue as it met his. He stroked his finger farther inside her, as he brought his other hand to the back of her head, pulling her deeper into the kiss. Desire pounded through him as both his tongue and finger caressed her, and he savored the intoxicating feel of her wet heat. The curious Katie who asked him questions and hung on his every word had vanished, and the seductress who’d replaced her drove him to the brink of sanity.
With a growl, Zayn stood, pushing the chair back so suddenly it clattered to the floor. Her l
egs were wrapped around his waist and she didn’t stop kissing him as he strode to the bed, tearing aside the sheer fabric hanging around it. Lowering her onto her back, he leaned back and drank in the sight of her. Her skin was flushed pink, her red waves fanned out around her head, and the dress had slipped up to expose the sliver of black silk between her legs. He knew he didn’t deserve something so perfect, but he couldn’t deny her or himself.
He ran one hand up her stomach, bunching up her dress and revealing her panties. Slipping a finger through the string at one side, he ripped them off her in one motion. She yelped as he caught her by the ankles and pulled her so her legs straddled his hips.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, watching her nipples strain against the thin fabric of her dress.
She shook her head, her eyes burning as they locked with his, but the only noise she made was the sharp intake of breath as he drew his hands down the length of her thighs until his thumbs touched where she opened to him.
Where the black panties had been, there were only soft pink folds of her silken skin. Seeing her smooth bareness made a low rumble escape his throat. He dropped down and, taking her ass in both hands, he parted her with his thumbs. She was wet and ready, and he inhaled her feminine scent, his cock pulsing.
He trailed his tongue up, loving the taste of her, until he reached her swollen nub, then began licking. Her breath became jagged, and she gave a hoarse scream as he swirled his tongue over her, her hips twitching restlessly.
As she began to jerk, Zayn slipped a finger inside her, feeling her muscles tense as she bucked up and screamed. The sound of her pleasure enflamed him, but he kept sucking her slick nub as she trembled and her legs went slack. Need tore through Zayn as he reared back and jerked his pants down to let his cock spring free, fisting it in one hand and staring down at the woman so wet and ready for him.
