“I can’t get this necklace off,” she added nervously. Jana’s trembly fingers struggled with the stubborn clasp, as she fretted at its refusal to cooperate.
He turned her and removed it, tossing it on the bedside table. He pulled her around and eyed her up and down. She flushed a deep rose under his scrutiny. His body unexpectedly burst into flame. There was a fine line to be walked with this enchantress; first, he needed to find it! “You’ll pass.” He intentionally bedeviled her, attempting to hide his inner turmoil.
Jana frowned at him. Her reckless spirit was piqued beyond control. “I honestly didn’t see the gowns, Commander Saar, so your anger is quite unnecessary,” she rashly admonished. “I’m not some insensate piece of property to be decorated and displayed for you and your men. I have pride and feelings. What difference does it make which gown I wear tonight?” Her multi-hued eyes flashed in rising anger.
“Careful, little moonbeam,” he warned. Damn, what an enchanting picture she made: a blend of fire and ice. She was provocative, elegant, and radiant; she was refined purity. Varian smiled satanically. “You are what I say you are,” he softly declared in a husky voice. His hand possessively stroked her warm, satiny cheek and his finger caught the lovelock near her ear. He flashed a devastatingly breathtaking smile.
Jana’s heart fluttered wildly. She trembled. She lowered her lids to conceal his strange and maddening effect and the wanton feelings which coursed through her. To alter the smoldering mood his overpowering presence ignited, she asked, “And what am I, Commander?”
He laughed with a rakish air. “Fishing for compliments, Jana?”
“You missed my point, sir.” Damn you! she fumed in exasperation. He had such a disarming way of unnerving her with his enchanting smile and magnetism. A capricious mood captured her. She smiled up at him with glowing eyes. Her fingertips brazenly traced the proud line of his jaw and strong chin. She lightly ran her forefinger over his sensual lower lip with provocative slowness, then lowered her hand to rest casually upon his muscular chest, to study his heart rate. She murmured in a silky tone, “Compliments aren’t necessary, Varian. The fact that I’m your elite prisoner is proof of your high opinion of me. Is that not so?” she challenged.
Her tone was seductive. Her eyes held a hint of mystery and promise. Jana felt his heartbeat quicken beneath her hand as he responded to her actions. She caught the sudden tautness of rigid control that held his towering frame. His eyes began to glow and darken with a smoldering light. “You don’t have to be so mean to prove your power over me. I am at your mercy.”
Varian warmed noticeably as he questioned her motives. Flirtation or retaliation? Probing her status? Testing his self-control or attraction to her? His lips curled up at one corner in an enticing grin. His appreciative gaze swept over her. He warned huskily, “Careful, little moonbeam, you’re way out of your sector playing the bewitching temptress with me.”
“Am I?” Jana boldly discounted his taunt. “You don’t find me the least bit tempting or attractive?” Her sparkling eyes dared him to respond, to deny the truth.
Varian replied, “I’m a hot-blooded man, Jana. I suggest you back off before you start something I’ll be only too happy to finish.” His sapphire eyes flamed like twin blue fires.
Jana mistakenly assumed he was teasing her. He had already made his position on mingling with charls very clear, in public and in private. She smiled up at him and sighed heavily. As she dropped her hand away, she murmured, “Too bad…I wanted to test that irresistible magic your reputation boasts of so highly. Are you really that devastating to women? I suppose a lowly charl is beneath your touch or attention. Would you still spurn me if I were a free woman? Who and what are you, Varian Saar? Besides a magical creature who drives a woman wild with uncontrollable desire.”
Without warning, Varian seized Jana in his powerful arms and covered her mouth with his. His lips were warm and persistent. Caught totally unprepared, she helplessly melted into his embrace and surrendered her eager mouth to his demanding one. At her response, his arms tightened around her and his mouth seared across hers in a sudden blaze of unrestrained passion. His tongue tasted and stimulated her. Varian kissed until she was weak and breathless, as was he.
A fiery, unknown hunger raced unbridled within her veins, for she was still a stranger to sex. Jana pressed closer to Varian. Her arms voluntarily encircled his narrow waist and she clung to him in fierce longing. He besieged all of her senses at once, totally intoxicating her. She tasted him; she heard his erratic respiration and the husky murmuring of her name. His manly fragrance assailed her nostrils. Her hands explored the muscles on his back. Her senses fused to form one indelible image.
Suddenly nothing else mattered to Jana. Logic and discretion were tossed aside as she experienced emotions which were rampant, emotions as wild and fiery as the solar winds. Varian had been transformed from her alien captor and tormentor into a man—a man she desperately wanted, a man who stirred her very soul to sing with joy and elation, a man who told her there was so much more to love and passion than she had ever dreamed possible. At last, she was ready and eager to explore ecstasy, with this man as her guide.
To him, Jana had ceased to be his prized trophy with a purity and reputation to be protected. His plot to ensnare Ryker was forgotten. He felt an intense need for her which was obsessive and irrational. He was a master artist falling for his creation. No, he was a Star Fleet Commander, a special agent on a secret mission! He was supposed to fake a relationship, not entangle their emotions! As reality called out to him, Varian forcefully quelled the fires which had threatened to engulf him. Now, he had to do the same with Jana. “Does my irresistible magic pass your strict tests, Jana love? Am I as beguiling as you were told? Does my prowess have the same effect on alien women? Is your test over, or shall I fan those probing flames a little higher?” he challenged, his words drawing emotional blood.
Varian felt her stiffen in his arms as his words registered. Jana looked up at him, her face flushed with warring emotions. She was still clasped against him, as if too numb to move and too dazed to think. He felt her tremble as her gaze roamed his mocking expression. He wished she would look away before that mask slipped off! The shame and hurt in her eyes tore at him. He tried to push these unfamiliar and annoying feelings aside, but failed. Perhaps…No, it was deadly to even consider taking Jana as his mistress, more so to do it.
“I don’t understand you or your cruel games. Why must you be so vicious to me? Do I bring out some evil streak in you?”
“Listen to me closely and carefully, Jana. Don’t be misled by your status on my cargo list or your special classes. I’m having you groomed as a superior mate for a prestigious Maffeian leader. I am not in the market for a charl, and I never will be. Nor do I need or want an alien mistress. Save your fantasies to share with your mate. Please don’t provoke me to hurt you.” He added, “I’ll be your protector, teacher, and friend…until your auction on Rigel. Then and there, we part forever. Do you understand me?”
In a quiet voice Jana stated, “If you’re quite finished with your little joke, Commander, I believe the others are waiting for us.” Tears sparkled on her lashes and her poise was strained, but pride tinged her voice.
Varian could not send Jana out like this. To alter her anguish to spirited resentment, he pressed, “You did not answer my question, Jana. Did I pass your tests? Is your feminine curiosity sated, or do you require a further investigation? You scientists do have this thing about experiments and indisputable data, don’t you? Always wanting to examine or dissect or analyze everything, even emotions.”
Her answer stunned and pleased him. “If anything, Commander Saar, you are far more disarming than I was told.” But her next statement cut sharply. “If you can extract such an uncontrollable response from a woman who loathes you as I do, a woman who truly found you desirable would stand the same chance of survival as a fly caught in a spider’s web.” She glared at him with frosty eyes as she went
on, “As you well know, most women are petrified of spiders, especially a large and predacious species such as yourself or your scarfelli. Tell me, sir, do you spike my food with some powerful aphrodisiac just to supply you with amusement? Is it through magic potions or mind-controlling drugs that we charls will be mastered? Do us both a favor and stay the hell away from me! If your malicious sport is over, shall we go?” Her eyes sparkled with antagonism as she steeled herself against him.
“You took me by surprise, Jana, but I was wrong to accept your challenge and tempt you. I’m unaccustomed to dealing with such an innocent. Please don’t come on to me again. I can’t promise to resist you, but I can promise we’ll part soon.”
His words were painful and embarrassing to her. She ignored his apology. “My curiosity about your prowess has been permanently satisfied. In the future, make sure your generous lessons are verbal.”
Varian escorted a distant Jana to the Stardust Room. At the entrance, he remarked devilishly, “Chin up, moonbeam. It could have been worse. If I were truly the heartless beast you think I am, I would have finished what you unwisely began in there. My self-control amazes even me. You are a beautiful and tempting creature, Jana Greyson. In the future, I’ll have to be more cautious.”
Her eyes glared at him with open skepticism. “Depreciate the value of your investment?” she scoffed. “Not in a million years, Commander. I assumed you had spoken the truth about no mingling with your cargo. I should never have called your bluff, even if you did make me angry. Sometimes you provoke me beyond control! I suggest we both forget the entire episode. Mark it up to your expertise and my inexperience. Or it could be the strain of this contemptible situation. As you said, there are more important things to claim my attention. However, I do appreciate the value you place on my chastity. I only pray you continue to protect it so valiantly and unselfishly.”
“Rest assured I plan to do just that, little moonbeam.” Varian realized how wrong Jana was. She didn’t know how close she had come to his seducing her, and damn the consequences! If she knew her life would be in mortal danger from a devil who was kin to him, she would praise his rejection.
Jana’s gaze roamed around the room, taking in its elegance. Its decor was intended to give one the feeling of dining on an open terrace beneath the stars and moonlight. There were scenic outdoor murals on two of the side walls, while the remaining two walls were of a transparent glass. The ceiling was a retractable panel which could be moved aside to reveal the heavens. Small pinlike bulbs were mounted in such a fashion as to blend unnoticeably with the twinkling stars overhead. The remaining fixtures, furniture, and decorations were a careful harmonizing of amber, sky-blue, and forest-green. Nigel had been correct; it was indeed a romantic and tranquil setting. Soft music seemed to come from every direction at the same time. Muted laughter and quiet chatter filtered between the dreamy strains of music. The room was filled with an aura of peace and gaiety, neither of which she could feel at that moment.
“Well?” Varian prompted at her silence. “What do you think of it?” His hand made a sweeping wave over the view before her.
“Not that my opinion matters, but it’s beautiful. Are we going to sit down somewhere? I feel on display already.” The reason was simple: her blue gown and the other captives’ yellow ones. He led her to a table near the juncture of the two glassed walls and seated her.
Jana was relieved to discover the captives had been seated one to a table with several members of his crew. Besides Varian and herself, there were four others at their table—Nigel, Kara, Tristan, and Martella.
The others were perplexed by Jana’s silence. Each one wondered what had brought on this change in her, though Varian appeared to be his usual charming and entertaining self. He seemed oblivious to any problem or change in Jana. Or was it that he knew the reason behind her mood and simply chose to ignore it? Better still, was he the cause of it? Perhaps it was the same reason they were late in arriving.
Dinner was finally over. Martella asked Varian to dance, to see if the others could draw Jana out of her solemn mood. He readily accepted, eager to put some distance between him and Jana. He had pushed himself to appear calm and collected for about as long as he could stand it.
Nigel and Tristan observed the frigid glare in Jana’s eyes which glittered like chips of colored ice as she watched Varian’s retreating back.
Tristan remarked, “Jana, you look a little pale and tense.”
“I’m just tired and homesick,” she said to stifle their curiosity. “If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’ll freshen up.”
As time passed as slowly as the summer sun around Rigel, the Wanderlust’s home base, Varian began to shift restlessly. His worried gaze kept returning to Jana’s empty chair between Nigel and Tristan. He had danced with Martella, Susan, Heather, and Kathy. But what he truly wanted was the feel of Jana Greyson in his arms…
Varian felt at odds with himself. The frivolous chatter and amorous attentions of the other women were annoying and meaningless to him. He wished he could escape this dutiful game he was playing and merely enjoy that bewitching female for a few hours. He knew he could not, for many reasons. He must continue to play his satanic role—a part which he found most despicable at this moment. Too much was at stake, including her life.
Varian’s thoughts and emotions were plagued by memories of her feverish response. He could envisage her enchanting smile and sparkling eyes. Her fragrant lure had invaded his senses and recklessly he had sampled the heady promise of intoxicating passion she had offered to him. She had been within his grasp and he had chosen to repel her. But why did his rejection bring him such—such what? he wondered, unable or unwilling to explore his tumultuous dilemma.
Nigel was leaning against the transparent wall speaking to Kyle, who had just arrived. Nigel had been watching the storm clouds building in Varian’s eyes and wondered at their cause.
“Where’s Jana? I don’t see her around,” Kyle asked.
Nigel shrugged. “She went out. I hope she didn’t return to her quarters without permission. I would hate to see her get into trouble again.”
The concern in his tone alerted the sensitive Kyle. “What happened?”
“You tell me, Kyle,” Nigel parried. He could read the mild distress in Kyle’s face. “Do you know why she’s upset?” he probed.
“All I know is Varian was upset with her earlier tonight. Something to do with her dress. After he arrived in her quarters, I thought I should turn off her monitor. I’ve never seen Varian like this. I’m worried, Nigel.”
Varian walked toward them. “Nigel, I think it’s about time I go and check on our wayward Earthling. You had better come along,” he added mysteriously, as if afraid to trust himself alone with Jana.
To glean a clue to this mystery Nigel teased Varian, “Need a referee?”
“We might,” Varian replied seriously as his blue eyes frosted. “Kyle, you take over for me. Use that charm of yours to camouflage my absence.”
“Yes, sir,” came Kyle’s reply and affectionate grin.
Varian realized that Kyle must have observed what had taken place in Jana’s room. “I don’t have to remind you there are good reasons behind my actions toward Jana.”
“I know,” Kyle replied, then warned, “But you should be more careful, Varian. Others won’t understand this unusual behavior. Perhaps you should disconnect her monitor to avoid anyone else witnessing a similar scene.”
Nigel followed Varian out into the corridor. To their surprise, they saw Jana and Kara slowly approaching them laughing and talking like two old friends who had not seen each other in years. The men patiently waited.
“I was worried about you, Jana,” Varian said as the women drew near. “You’ve been missing for quite some time. Are you all right?”
Jana smiled sweetly and replied, “I’m sorry, sir. Kara and I started talking in the ladies’ room, and I lost track of time. That seems to be a bad habit of mine today.” She turned to Nigel. “I�
��ll forgive you for making me late tonight if you’ll be so kind as to instruct me in dancing.”
Nigel chuckled. “I must apologize for my part in your tardiness. Next time don’t be such an excellent student. At your service, my lady,” he remarked as he made a gallant bow, then offered her his arm.
Jana took it and was escorted inside. Varian turned to Kara. “I don’t know what you said or did, but thanks. It seems I was a little rough on her earlier this evening. Does she seem all right to you?” he asked.
Kara sent him a bewildered look. “Jana was upset and tense when you two arrived for dinner. It looked to me as if she only needed a little privacy and compassion. Did she do something wrong?”
“A slight misunderstanding. I hope you and Jana can become friends. Just remember to keep everyone’s private life private,” he advised.
Kara wondered if she was mistaken about the contrite tone in his voice. His eyes had glittered with jealousy and envy at Jana’s easy rapport with the first officer and her selection of Nigel as her dance partner. Perhaps Jana was getting to Varian after all…
It did not take long for Nigel to teach Jana several of his native dances. Tristan, Kyle, Nigel, and numerous other men gave her ample opportunities for practicing her new skills. With carefree abandon, she danced; she conversed; she laughed. Despite his earlier warnings, she subtly flirted. It was exhilarating and wonderful. She graciously yet gingerly accepted the much needed attention she was receiving from his crew. She hungered to feel and to display her worth as a woman and her esteem as a person. Knowing his rules for their conduct, she did not feel threatened.
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