“Better watch it with that shifter. You know they’re kind of acquisitive when it comes to females,” a male voice advised.
Jagger heard the teasing note, but his lips pulled back, baring his teeth. The thought of anyone warning her away from him raised his hackles. He wasn’t letting his mate go. Anyone who tried to get between them would be removed.
“You know he’s not serious. Nothing can come of this except a little sex in the small time that we’ll be here together. He knows that as soon as another ship comes we’ll be taken back to Common Space.” Ada’s voice sounded certain, a little bit amused, but he thought he heard regret in her tone.
He was more than serious. Even if a ship came today for them, she would be staying with him until the Vigilant arrived. She was his mate. Even a Central Command ship allowed into Shifter-Protected Space wouldn’t try to take her with them after he told them she was his mate. Any female in Shifter-Protected Space, unless given a promise of unrestricted passage, would be subject to that rule. Assurances such as that were very rare.
“I’ve seen the way the man looks at you and I’d say it’s more than sex.” One of her female friends laughed.
He didn’t know if they were teasing her simply to get a reaction or actually trying to warn her away from him. Either way, he didn’t like it. He didn’t want Ada backing away from him because she’d suddenly become cautious.
“I’m not his mate. You know everything they say about shifters. Subtle is not anywhere in those discussions,” Ada said.
Jagger couldn’t see her from where he’d stopped, but he thought she’d be shaking her red head quite vehemently.
“Maybe not subtle, but I have heard them referred to as cunning,” the female friend offered. “I can’t say about the mate thing. But he may want more than a few moments stolen when he can find some privacy.”
“There can’t be anything more. I’ll be leaving when the ship arrives. A nice quick totally sexual relationship is all I’m willing to think about. Anything deeper is impossible in this short time. Not to mention that I’m horrible at relationships.” Ada sounded sincere.
Horrible at relationships? What did she mean by that? He was definitely going to have to find a way to ask about that without giving away that he’d shamelessly eavesdropped on her conversation. That strange remark didn’t wipe out the determination brought on by her assertion that she was leaving. She wasn’t going anywhere without him.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’d have some input on whether any kind of relationship would be horrible or not.” The female friend laughed a little. “If you really wanted it, you’d work at it.”
“Dating and marriage don’t last. I learned that early. Add in my career and how much I’m gone. It would be impossible unless we’re in the same crew. That’s a whole other basket full of bad. When a work relationship ends, if it ends badly, someone would have to leave the crew. Short, merely physical is all that it’s going to be.” Ada’s voice hardened. She also sounded a little stressed.
What caused her to believe that dating and marriage couldn’t last? A mating was different, but he knew that she wouldn’t see it that way. He’d have to show her that a mating was something unlike anything she’d seen or done. There was no divorce. Mated couples stayed together. He wouldn’t leave her. They’d work through any problems that arose in their lives and come out stronger. The bond between mates would ensure that.
Time to make his presence known before they began talking again. As much as he wanted to find out everything about her, he’d rather hear it from her where he’d be able to ask the questions that he wanted answered right then. Confronting her now wasn’t a good idea. She’d be upset because he’d overheard their conversation.
As much as he’d like to walk up to her and tell her that there was no doubt about what she was to him, he wouldn’t. She was his mate, but he could wait. She wasn’t going anywhere. If there was a chance that she might be able to leave him, he’d press his claim and ensure she knew exactly what she was to him. From what she said, he could guess how she’d react to that.
It wasn’t necessary to panic her though. He could keep her calm and get to know her. She’d relax around him if he didn’t put any pressure on her. That was important to him. He didn’t want her to see him as an enemy and try to put distance between them. That would make solidifying the mate bond difficult. Not impossible, but he’d rather keep her close.
There were the dreams and the mind to mind contact. He hadn’t used either of them with her yet. She’d have wondered why he was speaking to her and not with the others of her crew. Any explanation would reveal that the relationship between them was more than an affair. The dreams he’d begin tonight. At first, she’d probably think they were normal dreams and perhaps he could strengthen their relationship that way.
He’d realized from the first that she’d resist the claim. That wasn’t so strange. Many women didn’t want to jump into a mating with a shifter. Jagger thought that with patience he could soften her resistance, but it appeared her problem was more than the normal unease over a sudden intense relationship.
As long as she was safe, he could go a little slowly and softly with her. The attack worried him, but since it hadn’t been near her, he felt comfortable giving her time. Even though he knew it wasn’t possible at the moment, he wanted her with him. He wanted to be near her, especially at night and not just because he’d like to spend all night exploring her body.
As soon as there was a lull in the conversation, Jagger walked out of the trees and bushes. He made sure they heard him coming. They turned as he walked into view. Ada smiled when she saw him.
“Hi, Jagger.” She stood and walked over to him.
Her smile was a little uncertain. He could tell she was a little nervous. She was probably wondering if he’d heard what they were talking about. She might not think shifters were subtle, but he could do better than a blatant snatch and grab of something he wanted. He also knew when to wait and when to push ahead. For now, unless she somehow worked the subject into the conversation, he’d wait on most of the answers.
“Hi Ada, I wondered if you’d like to go on a walk with me.” He reached out and clasped her hand simply because he wanted to hold her.
“That sounds wonderful.” Her hand tightened around his and she stepped in closer to him.
He was fairly sure she wanted to get him away from them before he tried to join their group and ask any questions. With her hand in his and her promise to go for a walk with him, he didn’t care. He’d enjoy the time with her and let the bond draw her closer to him.
* * * * *
Ada walked beside Lauren Desaint in one of the grassy clearings between the patchy trees. Boredom had driven them to get out of the camp. She was used to being busy for most of the day and there simply wasn’t enough to do to keep her occupied. Lauren seemed to be in much the same type of situation or at least, she’d been ready to go for a walk.
It felt good to be moving. The sun’s rays shone down on them. She felt the heat and strength of it, but overall, the day wasn’t too warm. The summer-like weather was more than welcome, but she was glad that they had water to drink and there was shade nearby. Even a short walk in the balmy temperature worked up a thirst.
She needed this time to get her thoughts straight. Her mind felt a little hazy. She was tired and had woken numerous times last night. It didn’t help that she’d had some strange dreams and every one of them had starred Jagger.
A couple of them had seemed so real that she felt his touch and smelled sweet scents of flowers on the air. They had talked and he’d shown her a house. Afterward, he’d led her through a grove of trees and he had made love to her under a large, arching arbor covered by some kind of vine heavy with round yellow berries.
She woke shivering with pleasure. The clarity and intensity of those dreams made her uneasy even though she knew they were merely products of her imagination. Maybe she was already too attached to that man.
> “Are you enjoying your time with Jagger?” Lauren asked. “He’s been very attentive in the last few days.”
Yes, he had. So much so that Ada was beginning to wonder if maybe there was something to her crew mates’ thoughts that he might want more from her. The thought should have sent a bolt of panic through her. She knew that no relationship was permanent. She’d seen too many of them end. Strangely, the idea of him having serious intentions didn’t cause much dread.
She felt a little afraid, but it definitely wasn’t the alarming fear that she expected. Intrigued might be a better word and she felt a little apprehensive, but not more than that. Part of her wanted more with him. She recognized the urge, even though she knew it was impossible, even though she longed to get close to him more every day. She wanted to sit with him and talk almost as much as she wanted to climb on top of his gorgeous body and ride him until they were both panting and sweaty.
“Yes, but I always seem to want more. We’ll talk and I’ll walk away with more questions for him. We’ll kiss and I’ll want to plaster my body against his and rip away his clothes.” Ada grinned. As much as the intensity worried her, she liked being near him.
“All I can say is enjoy it. Only he knows what his motives are and we’re not yet off this planet. Worrying about it is only going to hold you back. Once you get back to civilization and the daily drudge of work, you’ll regret not taking advantage of the opportunity. We don’t regularly come into contact with these types of men. If one of them would look at me with half the interest as that man does you, I’d jump on him.”
Lauren had a definite point. It wasn’t as if worrying was actually accomplishing anything. Even if Ada asked him about what he wanted and he said that he was looking for something more than an affair, she didn’t know if she could stop. She wanted him that badly.
“Well, I will enjoy it.” Ada smiled and continued walking. She loved talking to him, and the sex was extraordinary.
From the corner of her eye, Ada saw movement. She turned her head, almost expecting to see one of the graceful, hooved animals appear from the bushes as they did near dawn and sunset to graze on the tall grass. Her eyes widened and she stared in stunned amazement for a moment at what she did see.
Two figures rushed across the field. One she was certain was a man by his build, but the other one was small and could be a woman. Confusion quickly gave away to fear. They wore hoods that fully covered their faces except for an eye slit and some of the light-green clothing she’d seen in the physician’s tent. The type the physician would wear if he needed to work on someone badly hurt.
Her frozen astonishment allowed the two people to get too close to them to run. She didn’t know what Lauren was thinking. There wasn’t even time to look at her. They had to get help. Ada knew that. She didn’t think they could win against these two people even if one of them was a woman. Lauren could fight. Ada did okay in a bar brawl, but outside that, she hadn’t ever been in situations to develop the skill.
The big person went after Lauren and the smaller one ran up on Ada. The smaller attacker swung even as he took the last steps between them. Ada screamed as she ducked the punch coming at her head. She hoped that someone heard it and would come to investigate. She jabbed her fist into the smaller person’s gut. He grunted and swung at her again. She managed to turn so that the blow only landed on her shoulder. She screamed again.
“Help!”
“Shut her up before someone hears her,” the larger one ordered. “We’ll get them out of here and then they can tell us where the damn thing is hidden. Inject her. It will make carrying her easier. We can get straight to the questions.”
The smaller attacker lunged at her. She stumbled back away from his hands. His palms brushed her chest. He shoved. She lost her balance and fell. A scream of panic escaped as she landed on her ass. Pain jolted up her spine, but she didn’t have time to wonder about how badly she was hurt. The man was on top of her before she could roll away from him. One of his hands gripped her throat. He reached back and pulled an injector from his waist band.
Fear and panic swelled in her as the pressure closed off her airway. She punched at him, trying to drive him away from her. He grunted, his blue eyes narrowed and his grip tightened. She desperately fought to draw in a breath. Her chest felt tight and her eyes watered. She struck at him and grabbed for his hand when the injector got to close. Digging her nails into his wrists and anywhere she could reach, she scratched, trying to get his hand off her throat. She also wanted to keep whatever drug he had out of her system, but the need to breathe trumped her worry over what the medication would do to her.
A deep male shout sounded. The person above her turned his head. He tensed and cursed. His hands left her throat and then he jumped to his feet. He ran and his larger partner followed. Relief burst through her. She rolled to her side, coughing and gasping as she drew air through her burning throat. Her throat felt raw and pain seared with every sweet breath of air.
She saw the two people disappear into a group of trees. After feeling that person on top of her and the strength in those fingers, she thought it was a he, but she couldn’t be completely certain. She hadn’t felt any breasts when she’d been fighting the attacker.
“Ada!” She heard Jagger’s voice a moment before someone knelt beside her.
Gentle hands turned her to her back. She looked up at him through her teary eyes. He stared down at her worriedly. With a slow and almost hesitant touch, he brushed the hair away from her neck. His fingers lightly touched the skin she knew was probably red and bruising.
“Go after them.” Her voice sounded raspy and unfamiliar. Every word burned as it came out. It felt like she’d tried to swallow something covered with thorns.
“There are men chasing after them. Tell me where you’re hurt.” His eyes ran over her as if trying to see the injuries himself.
“I’m not really hurt. They weren’t here that long. He hit my shoulder and choked me to get me to shut up.” She tried to push herself into a sitting position, but Jagger curled an arm under her and lifted her.
“You haven’t seen your neck. He hurt you.” Jagger’s eyes fixed on her throat and the intensity in his gaze startled her. “So tell me about the two men.”
Ada grimaced and then confessed her confusion. “I can’t be completely certain it was two men. The one attacking Lauren definitely was a man, but the other I’m just assuming. I didn’t feel anything that definitely identified him as a man.”
“All right one definite man, one probably a man.” Jagger nodded. “Tell me about them and what happened.”
“I didn’t see them until they were running toward us. They wore hood-type masks that covered everything except their eyes and clothing similar to some I’d seen in the physician’s tent. The one on top of me had blue eyes and lighter skin.” Ada frowned.
A knot formed in her stomach. It wasn’t one of the pirates. They both had darker skin than that and it wasn’t one of the Zarain men. They were all larger than that small man, which meant that it had to be someone from their crew. All she’d seen was one man’s eyes though. Blue.
After the first attack, there had been a suspicion that it had to be one of the crew. Ada hadn’t given it too much thought. She hadn’t wanted to believe that someone from the crew would harm people they knew. She’d hoped it was some person stranded here who had wanted to steal supplies.
With this second attack though, she couldn’t blame an outsider. There was only one reason for the attack. They had nothing to take. Since they’d been stranded here, they barely had one set of clothing that belonged to them. On the other hand, there hadn’t been even a hint that it was a sexual assault. She couldn’t understand why they’d want to attack someone. What did they hope to gain? What questions were they going to ask and what was it? Given the fact that again they’d attacked someone from the Setona’s crew, she couldn’t deny the evidence. Someone among the crew was working with the pirates.
She had no cl
ue which of the newer members was responsible. None of the men among the trade crew had blue eyes. The one woman who did have blue eyes was so petite she couldn’t be even the smaller person.
“Did you recognize either of them? Did their voices sound familiar?” Jagger helped her to her feet.
“No, but only the bigger one spoke and it was only to tell the other one to shut me up. I don’t think his voice was familiar.” Ada touched her throat. Although she didn’t feel much pain on the outside, every breath felt as if something scraped over the raw inner tissues.
“Let’s get you back to the physician and he can see how bad this is. Are you having any trouble breathing?” He looked down at her silently. His gaze was intense.
“No, it just hurts.” She frowned. She’d have bruises but nothing serious.
His arm scooped under her knees and he lifted her off the ground. She gasped and her fingers clenched on his shirt. A sliver of panic stabbed through her at the unexpected move.
“Relax. I have you, Ada.” His arms tightened, holding her closer against him.
“I can walk.” She held on to his shoulders.
He was big and muscled. She didn’t doubt that he could carry her, but she knew she wasn’t exactly a lightweight. They weren’t that close to the camp and the ground was uneven. She didn’t want him hurting himself while carrying her.
“Let me do this.” He glanced down at her but didn’t even slow his pace.
There was such intensity in his eyes that it shocked her. She didn’t know what was behind that strong emotion. She stared at him but didn’t try to get him to put her down again. Her mind was too caught up in what his reaction might mean. It seemed too intense for simple protectiveness. Admittedly, there was danger, but there wasn’t anything that deep between them.
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