by Anna Hackett
Soon, Blaine led her into one towering spire. Inside, the lobby was finished with sleek tiles, and screamed elegance and wealth. He led her into an elevator that looked like a giant glass bubble, touched some controls, and then they were zooming upward.
When the doors opened, Zhim was waiting for them. His black hair was pulled back and tied at the base of his neck. He was wearing loose, black pants and a flowing, white shirt that dipped low in front, giving her a glimpse of smooth, bronzed skin. She dropped her gaze and saw he was barefoot.
He had nice feet. She shook her head. When the hell had she started noticing a man’s bare feet? Clearly, she did need to get away from her computer more.
Movement on the large balcony to the right caught her eye. A beautiful, golden-skinned woman, with long, blonde hair, was lounging on a low couch. She wore a pretty, blue twist of fabric and looked gorgeous.
Ryan sniffed, instantly feeling terribly underdressed in her simple trousers and shirt.
You aren’t here for a fashion show. She looked past the woman, to Zhim’s exceptional view. She could see the city stretched out below them, all the way to the brown desert in the distance.
“Blaine,” Zhim said. “Brigytta will get you refreshments, and you can stay out here on the balcony. Ryan, follow me.” He stalked inside.
Ryan poked her tongue out at his back, rolled her eyes at Blaine, and followed Zhim inside. His penthouse was gorgeous—all open arches, breezy curtains, and low, elegant furniture.
She wasn’t entirely sure that it suited him, or if it was just a statement of how much money he had. When she stepped into his windowless computer room, she looked around greedily. Now, this room reflected him.
He had the best tech jammed into the space, and multiple sleek screens dotted the walls. She had to admit she was more than a little envious. She touched an intriguing, octagon-shaped object on one desk. Lights blinked on its glossy, black surface. “What’s this?”
There were so many things she didn’t recognize, and a part of her hungered to learn.
“I designed it myself. It’s called a Nova. It helps enhance system speed to exceed anything currently on the market.” He shrugged. “I have people all over Carthago wanting one.”
She tapped a blinking light. “How rich are you, Zhim?”
“Filthy.”
“What do you do with it all?”
“Do?” A frown appeared on his face.
“How do you enjoy your money?”
His frown deepened. “Acquiring it and having it gives me all the enjoyment I need.”
She looked at him. “Surely that isn’t enough?”
“When you come from nothing, when you grew up with little more than rags for clothes, no shoes, and were once so hungry it hurt, you’re very motivated to collect wealth.” He blinked and scowled. “Let’s make that call.” He turned, heading over to a set of screens.
Stunned, Ryan stared at the center of his back. Zhim had come from poverty? In that instant, she had so many questions rattling around in her head, but something told her he wouldn’t answer them.
“Your call will go through in thirty seconds.” He gestured at a stool in front of a large screen. “It’s audio only. I’m still working to stabilize and increase the size of the micro wormholes to allow for visual.”
She sat down facing the screen and fidgeted.
“You’re nervous,” he said.
“A little. I’ve spoken with my parents, but I haven’t spoken to Charlie since my abduction.”
“You haven’t spoken to the man you love?”
“Well, we were friends for a long time, first.” Then sporadic lovers. She realized now they were just together by default. She fiddled with the buttons on her shirt.
“Five seconds,” Zhim said, his gaze unreadable.
“Ryan?”
Charlie’s familiar voice came through the speakers, and flooded her with nostalgia for home.
“Hi, Charlie.”
“It’s been so long, honey.”
Other noises came across the connection, voices, and the tinkle of glassware. He was out somewhere. She frowned. “Where are you?”
“Out at a work thing. I got the call patched through to me. I couldn’t get out of this party.”
He couldn’t forego a work party to call the woman he’d planned to marry. The woman who’d been abducted by aliens. Ryan’s fingers dug into her thigh. She knew Charlie was career-oriented, and loved his work as a busy talent agent for actors and singers. He’d always been attending parties and premieres.
“Work’s busy, then?” she asked.
“I’m swamped.” He launched into a spiel of what he’d been working on and who he’d signed recently. “It’s been so stressful, Ry-Ry.”
Ryan rolled her eyes. He’d been stressed? God, he hadn’t even asked how she was. Oh yes, I’m fine. Yes, I survived an alien abduction, thanks for asking.
She saw Zhim watching her, and it made her realize that Charlie had always been like this. Self-centered and self-absorbed. Having Zhim witness her mess made her cheeks burn. She waved a hand at him. Go away, she mouthed.
“I need to monitor this,” he murmured, gesturing at the equipment.
“I can’t tell you how terrible it was when I first learned that the space station had been destroyed,” Charlie said. “We had a memorial service for you.”
Ryan heard a tremor in his voice and her heart clenched. Maybe she’d been a bit harsh. Charlie had been her friend since they were small, and she knew he did care about her, in his own way.
“It’s been so hard for me,” Charlie added.
Ryan blinked again. Hard? For him?
“And then to learn that you’re alive. So hard, Ry-Ry.”
Zhim made a choking sound and Ryan ignored him. Anger was sparking in her belly. “How about for me, Charlie? I was abducted. By aliens. I was dragged across the galaxy, imprisoned, and beaten.”
Silence.
“I was just trying to tell you how I felt, that’s all.” Charlie’s voice had that hurt tone he’d used on her so many times in the past. “It’s been a trying time for everybody.”
She felt a headache forming and rubbed between her brow. “I know.”
“I’m glad you wanted to talk. I…have news.”
“Oh?” A change of subject was just the thing they needed.
“I’m engaged.” There was a hesitant hitch in his voice. “I’m getting married in two months.”
Ryan froze. Charlie was engaged? “I thought we were engaged?”
“Well, I thought you were dead. And you can’t come back anyway. Melody is an actress, she’s in the business, and she understands me so well.”
Zhim made another sound and Ryan refused to look at him.
“You were always into your computers, which I never understood. And you never liked my work parties.”
She dragged in a few deep breaths.
“Sorry, the wormhole’s destabilizing,” Zhim said. “You’ll have to wrap it up.”
Ryan sat there, stewing. “Charlie, we’ve been friends a long time and I know you aren’t a bad guy…but I won’t be calling you again.”
“Ry-Ry—”
“Oh, and you’re a self-centered asshole. I hope you get everything you deserve.”
Charlie made a spluttering sound, and Ryan made a cutting motion at Zhim. He ended the call.
She jumped to her feet, not sure how she was feeling. She’d always known Charlie wasn’t perfect, and was ridiculously self-absorbed, but she’d cared for him. Hell, she’d grown up with him, and for a while there, she’d thought she might have loved him.
Zhim stepped in front of her.
She held up her hand. “Don’t start with me. I am so not in the mood.”
“I was just going to say that losing him seems to be no great loss.”
Her gaze flicked up to Zhim’s sharp face, her mouth dropping open.
“He clearly didn’t appreciate what he had,” Zhim added.
She continued staring at Zhim, and he shifted uneasily.
“I mean, he didn’t value your skills and intelligence.”
Her chest went tight. “Don’t be nice to me, Zhim. I can’t handle it right now.”
“Okay.” He inclined his head. “I mean, you’ve got skills, but they hardly compare to mine.”
Now her chest eased and she wanted to smile. All was right in her world. Zhim turned away, tapping on his comp.
“Come and see what I’ve been doing with the Srinar data knot.”
“Did the data borer have any success?” Pushing her churning emotions aside, she leaned over to look at the screen.
“Not yet. But I’ve been working to help it. Take a look.”
She scanned the code. “Ingenious.” The man might be arrogant, but he was smart, as well. “That is so brilliant.”
“I know.”
She rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “But I can improve it. If you add this…” She tapped his screen. “It’ll amplify the effects.”
His nebula eyes widened. “Yes. You’re right.”
“I know.” Ryan grinned and wiggled her hips. She brushed against him. That’s when she realized they were standing really close together, their bodies touching. She stilled. Very different emotions trickled into her system.
Zhim reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Your fiancé is a sandsucker.”
“Ex-fiancé,” she said with a sniff.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Then he lowered his head.
He paused, his mouth a breath away from hers. Ryan threw caution to the wind and followed her gut. She went up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his.
His lips were firm, moving over hers. Then he made a sound and opened his mouth. Oh God, he tasted good. And Ryan hadn’t been kissed in so long.
She fisted her hands in his shirt, feeling the warmth of him, and the surprising hardness of his long body. His tongue thrust against hers and she pulled him closer. Her brain stopped functioning, and she let herself feel. Desire swamped her, and as he deepened the kiss, she was aware that it wasn’t sweet or nice. It was hard and edgy, just like him.
The sound of voices out on the balcony filtered in, and Ryan jerked.
They both sprang apart, breathing fast. Sweet baby Jesus, she’d kissed Zhim. Annoying, arrogant Zhim.
“Oh, no.” She shook her head.
Zhim looked a little shell-shocked, himself. “No, is right.”
“You and me?” She waved a hand between them. “We don’t even like each other.”
“I agree, one hundred percent.”
“We are bad together,” she added. “Like oil and water.”
“Like Tardan whiskey and Mulian firewater.”
“I have no idea what those are, but yes.”
“They explode.”
They stared at each other for another long moment, and then Ryan wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly he was reaching for her, and she was jumping into his arms. As his tongue thrust inside her mouth, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and sank her hands into his hair. The guy had such good hair.
This kiss was even more fierce. She moaned into his mouth, and his hands cupped her ass, kneading her flesh. A flood of desire arrowed between her legs, leaving her panties damp.
“Ryan?” Blaine’s raised voice. “Are you ready to go soon?”
Zhim and Ryan stumbled apart.
“Just a minute,” she called out to Blaine. God, her voice was husky. She shoved a hand through her hair. Zhim was staring at her like she was a ticking bomb.
She couldn’t cope with this right now. “Um, I’ll be going now.” She backed up and banged into a desk. After righting herself, she skirted it and headed for the door. “Never mention this to anybody.”
Zhim’s face morphed into its usual arrogant mask. “It’s already forgotten.”
Chapter Three
Zhim stood in front of Galen’s desk. Galen’s office was big, and dominated by windows that overlooked the training arena below. The muffled sounds of gladiators, busy with their training on the sand, drifted up to them.
The imperator sat at his desk, his hands steepled on the glossy surface. Ryan perched on the edge of the desk, watching Zhim steadily. She was wearing her hair loose today, and it almost reached her shoulders, in a dark, silky fall of black.
Zhim mentally shook himself. He wasn’t here to notice Ryan’s hair. His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered. He remembered the taste and feel of it. Drak. Focus.
“My data borer uncovered something problematic in the Srinar data.”
Ryan frowned. “What?”
“It has a liquescent lock on it.”
She leaned forward. “Which means what?”
“That it is uncrackable without a certain key. The encryption algorithm is like liquid, shifting and flowing. This one also appears to have an added layer to it. It lets you think you’ve broken the encryption, and then it delivers you fake data.”
“God.” Ryan ran a hand through her hair in a frustrated gesture.
Galen sat back in his chair, his mouth a flat line. Ryan slid off the desk and started pacing, her body moving with edgy energy.
“We have to get into that data, and find Dayna and Neve,” Ryan said. “We can’t forget about them.” Her dark, sad eyes speared into Zhim.
The concern on her face…bothered him. A part of him wanted to help her and take that look away.
And then he wondered if he was coming down with something that was giving him these ridiculous urges. He’d survived his own hell, and for years, he’d only focused on himself. He did as he pleased, when he pleased, and didn’t let other people’s worries and concerns get to him.
But Ryan…she was digging in under his skin and he didn’t like it.
“We won’t abandon Dayna or Neve.” Galen’s deep voice echoed in the room. “What do you suggest, Zhim?”
Zhim let out a breath. “There’s only one option, but it’ll cost you.” He saw Ryan shoot him a glare.
“Go on,” Galen said.
“I need to take it to a hacking den.”
Ryan moved closer. “A hacking den? What’s that?”
“Not a nice place,” Zhim answered. The less she knew about hacking dens, the better.
Galen shifted in his chair with a creak of leather. “Hacker junkies gather there, always plugged into the system, their bodies addicted to the flow of data.”
“But they’re the best at what they do,” Zhim said. “And a den’s combined hacking power means they can get into almost anything.”
Ryan rubbed her hands together. “Great, when do we leave?”
He turned slowly to face her fully. “You are not coming.”
She arched a brow. “Oh? When did the universe implode and you get the right to issue me orders?”
Frustration zinged through him. “Hacking dens are dangerous, unpredictable places.”
The toes of Ryan’s soft sandals bumped against his boots. “I can handle myself.”
“They know me at the best den in Kor Magna. You could spook them, and then we’d get nothing.”
She snorted. “I’m a foot shorter than everyone on this planet, Zhim. I’m hardly intimidating.”
But she was. She had an energy that radiated off her and made people pay attention to her.
He had to find a way to stop her from insisting on this plan. “And if you have a panic attack while we’re there?” he asked quietly.
She froze. “Low blow, Zhim.”
“Believe it or not, I’m trying to protect you. Hacking dens are dark and dangerous, and shut away from the real world—”
“Like I was at Zaabha. Like I was on the Thraxian ship.” Hands clenched and unclenched, tense lines bracketing her mouth.
He saw those terrible shadows darken her eyes again, and he hated that he was the one who’d put them there. But he was trying to help her.
Ryan lifted her chin,
her eyes glittering. “I have to go. I need to go, otherwise I’m letting the Thraxians, the Srinar, and the guards who beat me at Zaabha win.”
Drak. Zhim shoved his hands on his hips, and looked at Galen for help. He understood Ryan’s reasons for wanting to go, better than she knew, but he did not want to take her.
And he was starting to realize that saying no to this woman was a difficult thing.
Galen simply lifted a brow.
“You’re caving to this tiny woman from a distant planet?” Zhim ground out.
“I don’t respond to taunts, Zhim,” Galen replied. “But I’ve learned that all these humans are stronger than I ever expected they could be, and Ryan has the skills to help you.”
Drak, drak, drak. Gut churning, he glared at Ryan. “Fine. You can come.”
She broke out in a smile and pressed her hands to his chest. “Thank you, Zhim.”
Her touch burned through his thin shirt. She fisted one hand and knocked it against his ribs.
“Well. What do you know? There is a heart in here,” she murmured.
An electric tingle ran through him. “Don’t push your luck.”
Ryan followed Zhim down a rock-cut ramp and into the underground market.
Wow. The cavernous space was filled with rows of stalls, and crammed full of people. Some wore robes, others were in jumpsuits, and a few were obviously gladiators, with their bare chests, harnesses, and fighting leathers. The din of conversation and laughter echoed in the space.
Light filtered in from aboveground, through both natural and purposefully made openings in the roof, and the plain, rock walls were a creamy yellow. From the look of the vendors’ stalls, you could get just about anything down here: alien fruits and vegetables, weapons, clothes, jewelry.
She turned around, and almost tripped over the silver-gray cloak draped over her shoulders. It was sewn with the symbol of the House of Galen on it—the head of a helmeted gladiator in profile. It offered her some protection when she was out in Kor Magna. Zhim moved ahead of her, and she hurried to keep up with his long strides. Damn her short legs.
