Ronan

by Leslie Chase

  The wait had given me a chance to examine the sensor readings, but there wasn’t much to learn. Marak looked at them with me, and he confirmed what my instincts had already told me. I’d picked up the leakage from a hyperspace relay. To learn more, we’d need to examine the transmitter itself.

  Which I couldn’t do until I met the human foisted on me by this ridiculous deal. I stalked onto the Wandering Star’s bridge to see who would join me on this journey.

  Tamara, Auric’s mate, was there, speaking with another human. I took her for a female from the length of her hair, but could see no more until she turned to look at me.

  And then I stood, shocked into silence. I’d never seen this human before: if I had, I would surely have remembered that bright red hair, the green eyes that sparkled in the dim light. A pale face looked at me, full lips pressed together as her eyes moved over my body, and I saw a flush rise in her cheeks.

  Her loose overalls hid her figure from me, and I longed to see more. To pull those rough, patched, unflattering clothes from her and gaze on the body beneath, the curves hinted at where the fabric lay against her.

  Her eyes rose to meet mine and the connection took my breath away. In that moment I forgot about everything else. Mysterious signals? A chance to escape Crashland? Black holes could take those — everything I cared about was in front of me, bundled up in that gorgeous human female.

  Fate played a trick on me: my khara was a human. Auric made an amused noise as he moved past me to stand beside his mate. Another time I might have attacked him for mocking me, but now? It was just another distraction to ignore in favor of her.

  I stalked towards the human female, expecting her to move to meet me. To my surprise, she stepped back instead, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. I stopped, frowning and wondering what was wrong.

  Surely she felt the same pull I did? The inevitable grip of fate brought us together, and there was no fighting that. No resisting it. Ballads had been written of those who defied their fates, who refused to accept the mates the universe had sent them.

  It never went well.

  Whatever was wrong, whatever troubled her, I would find out and I would fix it. My khara had nothing to fear from me.

  Auric said my name, an edge in his voice, and I realized he’d spoken twice already. My khara’s presence filled the room with a heady aroma and paying attention to anything else was next to impossible.

  “Ronan,” Auric said for a fourth time, impatiently pointing to the hologram of a globe. “The mission.”

  “Yes, yes,” I said, trying to recall what he’d said while my attention was on the human. “You’ve located the source of the signal…”

  I trailed off, looking at the globe. A glowing point marked our destination, deep in uncharted territory. Without satellites or orbital surveillance, the map was fuzzy and inaccurate, but that position was probably in a jungle. Or in the mountains near a jungle.

  Or somewhere completely different. I growled at the useless display, my jaw tight enough to hurt. All I wanted was to spend time with my khara, and Auric wanted me to answer a quiz?

  I tried again, gathering what little information we had. No nearby human colonies remained, a few tentative red dots marking possible raider bases that might be responsible for the loss of contact. Though now another possibility existed — whatever sent the signal might have dealt with those humans who landed too close.

  Tamara tapped the white light that indicated the signal. “If we’re lucky, it’s an outpost of the Tavesh Empire and you can try to arrange for us to leave their planet. Or it’s the control center for whatever it is they used to suppress your technology and Becca can switch it off.”

  Becca. I mouthed the name, savoring the shape of it on my lips. It sounded strange, but somehow it suited my human. It was an effort to think about the rest of what Tamara said, as important as it was.

  If we freed ourselves from the grip of the Taveshi my fighter might fly again. It would take work, not least to dig it out of the swamp where I’d landed, but it was possible. I’d given up all hope till now.

  Don’t trust it, I told myself fiercely. Don’t give in to hope. It will just betray you again, like it has before.

  It didn’t matter, though. Whether we could free ourselves or not, this flight would take me and Becca to the far side of the world. Before I’d entered the room, I longed to make that flight alone.

  Now I burned to take her with me. My body vibrated with an aching need for her, and I hardened at the thought of claiming my mate.

  “We depart as soon as the flier is ready,” I said. Becca swallowed, still silent, her eyes locked on mine. Still she hung back. Why?

  “That will take a day at least,” Auric said, a touch of amusement in his voice. “Why don’t you two get to know each other before you leave?”

  I nodded and took another step towards her, but the human backed away fast. “I need… um.” Her voice trailed off to silence and she looked around, as though for inspiration. “I need to pack! Get things from home.”

  Giving me no time to respond, she turned and fled the room. My instincts told me to chase after her, to hunt her down and take what I wanted, what we both needed. One step into my pursuit, I ran into Tamara’s hand. The human barred my way and looked up at me with a determined gaze.

  Perhaps my khara wasn’t the only human with a warrior’s heart. It would have been trivial to push Tamara aside and chase down Becca, but that would mean laying hands on my Alpha’s khara. The fight that followed would slow me down, even if I defeated Auric.

  “Let me pass,” I snarled. “That is my khara and you will not keep me from her.”

  Tamara laughed, not unkindly, and Auric shook his head. “Humans are not like prytheen,” he said. “They do not feel the mating call as we do, they do not recognize their kharas immediately. Let Becca think on it and she will come to realize that she needs you, as my Tamara did with me.”

  “But if you keep pushing her, she’ll keep retreating,” Tamara said, lowering her hand and stepping out of my way. The path to the door was clear now, but I resisted the urge to chase after Becca. Tamara was a human female, she doubtless knew what she was talking about. And Auric backed her up.

  I resolved to listen to the voice of experience, just this once. Becca and I would be alone together soon and waiting a day wouldn’t kill me.

  Some part of my soul insisted it would, but I had the self-discipline to control myself. Barely.

  “Then I will prepare the flier for the journey,” I said, hands flexing. I had to find something useful to do or I’d end up tearing someone apart. “Tell the flight crews to expect me and to keep out of my way.”

  “They know that flier better than you do, Ronan,” Tamara objected. Auric put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Ronan will take it much further than it is designed to go,” he explained. “His life, and that of his khara, will depend upon these modifications — of course he wants to do the work himself, so that he can be certain of it.”

  Tamara didn’t look convinced, but that didn’t matter. Whatever the humans thought, I would not let it get between me and protecting my khara, and that meant taking charge of the vessel I’d be flying. I wouldn’t entrust her safety to anyone else.

  4

  Becca

  “Well? What happened? Are you in trouble?” Megan pounced on me with a barrage of questions the moment I left the Wandering Star, and I didn’t know how to answer any of it. The mission was a secret, not something I ought to share with other people.

  Screw that. This is my best friend, and I have to tell someone. I put a hand on her shoulder and waited for her concerned litany of questions to run down.

  “I’m not in trouble,” I told her when I finally got a word in edgeways. “At least, not that kind of trouble. I’ve got a new job.”

  Megan’s mouth opened in a silent ooh and her eyes sparkled. Looking around to make sure that no one else was close enough to overhear, I leaned in to
talk quietly.

  “You’ve got to promise not to tell anyone else, okay? This is a secret.”

  “An undercover mission?” Megan whispered back, a grin spreading across her face. “Spy stuff? Tell me more!”

  Already regretting letting her in on the secret, I shook my head and waited. After a second Megan held up her hands. “Fine. I promise, no gossip about your work. My lips are sealed.”

  She mimed zipping her lips shut. I laughed, shaking my head. How long would that last? Five minutes if I was lucky? But it was the best I’d get from her, and I needed to talk about it with someone.

  Outlining the mission in a quick summary, I watched her eyes widen at the implications.

  “You’ve got to keep quiet about it,” I repeated once I’d finished. “Captain Joyce is right, there’ll be chaos if everyone hears.”

  “Screw that,” Megan said, unable to contain herself. “I’m more interested in the fact that you’ll be flying off for a week with a hunky prytheen warrior. All alone in the middle of nowhere, just the two of you.”

  She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and I groaned. “Trust you to focus on the important stuff, Megan. For god’s sake, it’s just a working arrangement. Nothing’s going to happen.”

  Heat crept into my cheeks as I protested, and from the way Megan’s eyes sparkled I didn’t think I’d convinced her. Hell, I wasn’t sure I’d convinced myself. Remembering the rugged, overpowering good looks of the prytheen in question made me want to fan myself or take a cold shower.

  Deep breaths, Becca, I told myself, trying to remind myself why it would be a bad idea to be with him. No matter how gorgeous his abs looked, and how much I wanted to feel his skin against mine…

  “Hello? Mission control to Becca?” Megan waved her hand in front of my face and I realized I’d drifted off into fantasy. My blush deepened as I glowered at her, which only made her grin widen.

  “It’s just a job,” I muttered. “That’s all.”

  “Sure,” Megan said, all too sweetly. “I believe you.”

  “Shut up.”

  My best friend laughed and I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. I just need your help to get my gear together. We’re leaving as soon as the flier’s ready and I have no idea what to pack.”

  Taking my arm, Megan stopped teasing and focused on practical things. “We can go home and pick up spare clothes for you, that’s no problem. But maybe, if you’re working for the colony, the captain will advance you some maker credit? You are getting paid, right?”

  “I didn’t even think of that,” I admitted. “Probably? I mean, I’m sure Captain Joyce will pay for the work.”

  “Honey, you need an agent or something,” Megan chided. “Let me talk to her for you, I’ll make sure you get a good deal.”

  “It’s not important—” I started to object, but this time Megan mimed zipping my lips shut.

  “Hush. This is good for everyone: you get maker credits for those new boots you wanted, the captain gets to send you off properly equipped for your mission, and we’re all more likely to get off this planet if you’ve got everything you need.”

  And you get to haggle for higher stakes than the value of some alien fish, I thought with a smile. I hadn’t appreciated how much the bargaining mattered to my friend, but it couldn’t hurt.

  “Fine. You sort that out, I’ll start making a list of things that would be helpful,” I said, giving in as gracefully as possible. Once Megan set her mind on something, no one managed to talk her out of it.

  “Great!” My friend practically bounced, looking back at the hulking mass of the Wandering Star behind us. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, with a stack of credits to spend on your expedition.”

  Not giving me a chance to object, she rushed into the ship. With a sigh, I sat down against the hull of the Wandering Star and asked Athena to start a list.

  Let’s see… new boots, that’s first…

  There’d be no popping back to town if we missed anything, no chances to restock, so I tried to think of every possibility. Megan helped, adding more and more things to the list, until we had to give up and admit that anything we’d forgotten I’d have to do without.

  Looking at how much gear I’d ended up with, I had to wonder if we’d gone overboard. Freshly printed survival gear, still hot from the makers, filled the crates at my side. I’d taken advantage of the opportunity to order some fresh clothes for myself as well, and Megan waited at the maker for the last of them to finish printing while I loaded the crates aboard the flier.

  Except that there was less space than I’d expected. Ronan’s conversion work filled most of the cargo hold with giant batteries, and what little space was left over he’d filled with his own gear.

  Well, filled was a bit unfair. He’d made himself a nest of blankets against one wall, hung knives and swords and a blaster pistol over it. The pistol was for show, of course — like all prytheen technology, its batteries had drained as soon as we arrived on Crashland. If we needed to defend ourselves we’d have to rely on the laser rifle in the survival locker.

  Aside from his weapons, Ronan didn’t seem to own much. My crates took up more space than his possessions did, but after I maneuvered the crates inside it left just enough room for two people to lie down.

  If they were friendly.

  Sleeping in the same space as an alien raider sounded like a terrible idea — this was one of the aliens who’d attacked the Wandering Star. They’d planned to capture or kill us all, to sell the survivors into slavery, and now I’d be at his mercy.

  Worst of all, I caught myself liking the sound of that. When he’d stepped onto the bridge, I hadn’t been able to look away from him. That incredible body was one thing — every prytheen I’d seen was ripped, but Ronan was something else.

  It was nothing compared to the passion I’d seen in his eyes. The way he looked at me, the hunger in his gaze, the way he’d bared his teeth as though he wanted to pull me to the floor and eat me all up…

  I swallowed, took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the effect those thoughts were having on me. My cheeks burned and my heart raced, and all because I remembered how he’d looked at me once? Focus, Becca, focus. You’ve got a job to do and he’s just the taxi driver taking you there.

  I’d never met a taxi driver a tenth as attractive, though. My breath caught as I looked at the nest Ronan had built for himself and wondered what it would be like to share it with him. It took an effort of will to pull my mind away and get back to work.

  Grumbling under my breath, I unrolled my sleeping bag in the remaining space and looked around the small aircraft. There wasn’t much to it — cargo space, the cockpit, a tiny bathroom. Not even anywhere to prepare food: I’d be relying on the stock of nutrient paste I had with me. I shuddered at the thought.

  Even aside from the company, I wouldn’t want to spend a week cooped up in here. But then it wasn’t meant for long flights like this — normally the fliers would only travel a few hours.

  “It’s the only way I get to see whatever’s sending that signal,” I reminded myself as I stomped back to the exit. My freshly printed boots fit like a dream, made for my feet, and I tried to take comfort in that. If nothing else, I’d gotten those out of the deal.

  I reached the top of the cargo ramp and stopped dead. The alien waited for me at the foot of the ramp, blocking my exit. Trapping me aboard. His catlike eyes looked me over again with the same disconcerting intensity he’d shown on the bridge, and it was impossible not to stare back at him.

  He was tall, strong, muscular and not afraid to show it. Deep blue skin gleamed in the sunlight, accentuating every ripped muscle. Tight pants clung to his legs, showing off the muscles of his thighs, and on his torso all he wore were leather straps on which he kept an array of weapons and tools. My eyes followed the contours of his muscles, the perfectly defined abs and… nope. Not going to stare. Stop it.

  Try as I might, it was impossible to avoid looking at the impressive bulge in his pa
nts. My breath caught and I bit my lip, imagination filling in the details.

  With a herculean effort I pulled my gaze up to his rugged face. His dark hair was cut short, framing a strong face and piercing eyes. Lips parted in a hungry smile, showing sharp, predator’s teeth. My cheeks glowed bright red. He’d seen how I looked at him and had the arrogant confidence of a man who knew just how panty-meltingly hot he was.

  His gaze moved over me, looking at my body with undisguised interest. Fuck you. Just because you’re sexier than any human alive doesn’t mean you get to look at me like that. My hands balled into fists and I heard the blood pounding in my ears. How much of that was anger and how much was something else, I refused to guess.

  “Out of my way,” I snapped, but he didn’t move. Didn’t look away. The way he looked me over made me wonder if he could see through my jumpsuit, and a faint tremor vibrated through me at the thought.

  I pushed it aside and stomped down the ramp towards him. If this was some kind of bullshit dominance display, I didn’t have time for it.

  Every step closer made the prytheen loom larger in my vision, and he still blocked my way. I gritted my teeth and kept marching, and at the last moment that wall of blue muscle stepped aside.

  It was a victory, but somehow I felt cheated. What would that expanse of prytheen skin have felt like?

  I guess I’ll never find out, I told myself as I stepped past him and turned to glare up at the man towering over me. Because I’m not going to touch him. Ever.

  “We’re going to need some ground rules for this trip,” I said, trying to focus. A week alone with this alien wouldn’t be easy. “You stick to the cockpit, I’ll stay at the back, we can keep out of each other’s way.”

  His eyes narrowed, expression changing as though he’d bit into something sour.

  “We shall have plenty of time to get to know one another,” he told me. “I shall not hide from you, nor you from me, my khara.”

  “I am not your khara,” I snapped, face heating again. That wasn’t an easy word to translate into English. Mate came close, partner, lover, but it had a spiritual connotation none of those quite reached. And one of ownership, maybe. I wasn’t sure I understood exactly what it meant but I didn’t want any part of it. “So keep your hands to yourself.”