by Calinda B
At the far end of the long deck, Lisbet could see a giant of a man—even among the very large jit’suku warriors—coming toward her at a fast pace. He looked absolutely furious. And handsome.
Damn. Why did she have to notice how handsome he was? She should be completely immune to men after what she’d been through. But this guy—this angry guy—flipped her switches in all the right ways.
He grabbed something as he went, nearly tearing the piece of equipment out of a tech’s hands. It had to be magnetic because it clamped onto her canopy the moment he stopped and touched the device to her hull. He held something on a wire up to his mouth and suddenly his voice boomed through the internal speakers in her canopy.
“Stop playing games and come out of there now or I’ll have you cut out.”
Lisbet sighed. She would have to open the hatch sooner or later. She admitted to herself that she was scared. These jit’suku were all huge and everyone she could see so far was male. She had no idea what they had in mind for her, but she wasn’t looking forward to finding out. Still, she couldn’t hide in here forever. The time had come to take her punishment. Whatever that would be.
Releasing the hatch, the canopy popped with a hiss of equalizing air. Whirring gears indicated the hatch was rolling up and back the way it had been designed to do and as it cleared, she got her first good look at the glowering man with the captain’s insignia on his uniform.
Oh, boy. The captain himself had come down to get her. No wonder the crew had all jumped at his entrance. Lisbet wondered what she’d done to rate the captain’s attention.
Pushing herself out of the seat, she stood within the canopy. She should have been taller than anyone on the deck a foot or more below her, but she hadn’t counted on these giant jit’suku.
The captain’s eyes met hers and time stood still for a breathless moment.
His eyes were dark. The dark of space with a hint of golden brown that made them warm. They would have been inviting in another setting. As it was, she could see the flare of gold in his gaze as his expression tightened.
He held out one impatient hand and she took it before she could think better of it. He assisted her in the big step over the canopy lip and down onto the deck of the cruiser. She was truly in enemy territory now. Goddess help her.
Chapter Two
Val couldn’t believe what he was seeing as the small human female stepped out of the damaged cockpit. He’d almost killed her and the guilt and anger ate at him. What were these humans that they sent their women into battle?
Barbaric. That’s what it was.
Women were to be protected and revered. Not shot at and nearly killed in combat.
Val shuddered to think of the stain he’d almost incurred on his soul. Killing a woman in battle was considered one of the most horrific sins among jit’suku warriors. It would have cost him his commission, had it been discovered, at the very least.
As it was, his men were as horrified as he was. This strange woman had almost cost them all a grave price to their honor and their souls.
“Have you nothing to say for yourself, woman?” Val demanded. He was so incensed that he wasn’t thinking clearly. And he’d yet to let go of the female’s soft hand.
As soon as he realized that, he dropped her fragile hand as if it burned him.
Her head cocked at an angle that he sensed meant trouble, though he’d seldom run afoul of a difficult female. Those few left in his family were all quite well behaved and if they ruled the home with an iron fist, they also filled it with love. He had been lucky with the matriarchs in his clan.
“As I told you before, I’m Lieutenant Lisbet Duncan of Earth. Beyond that, I have nothing to say.”
Val felt his temper rise and knew he must not lose his cool any further in front of his men. He had things to say to this female that were best said in private. If he was going to blow a gasket, better that the whole flight deck didn’t witness it.
Val grabbed the female’s hand again and tugged her—trying not to use too much force—along with him as he exited the hangar. Mercifully, she followed without too much trouble. She probably had a hard time keeping up with his fast pace and longer steps, but he was in no mood to slow down and she skipped along at his side reasonably well.
He didn’t stop until they had left the hangar far behind, passing a number of startled crew members on his way toward officer country. That was the colloquial name given to the area that housed the private quarters of the captain and his staff. There were also guest chambers there that would serve his purpose, and it was toward one of those comparatively luxurious compartments he made his way with the human female in tow.
“Could you slow down a bit? Or walk smaller?” she complained as he dragged her along.
Val stopped in the wide, empty hall, dropped her hand and turned to assess her. He quickly realized she was breathing much too rapidly, laboring to keep up. He’d dragged her at double time the length of the ship. No wonder she was huffing and puffing. Damn.
He had caused her discomfort. First he blows her ship out from under her, almost killing her in the process, then he makes her jog to keep up with his longer strides, causing her to nearly hyperventilate.
Val let her go and bowed his head, holding her gaze. “My apologies.”
Some of his fury had cooled on the trek across the ship. Rather than anger, he was filled with dismay every time he looked into her pretty green eyes.
She was small and soft, though she acted tough. She piloted her vessel well, from what he had observed as she approached their hidden position, and she was an officer in the human armada that fought surprisingly well against jit’suku expansion.
“You’re the captain of this vessel, aren’t you?” Her voice was well modulated, almost soft as she asked the question, rubbing her wrist where he’d manhandled her a bit.
Shame filled him when he saw the red marks his fingers had left on her pale skin. He had tried to be careful of her fragility, but his anger had gotten the better of him.
“I am,” he replied to her question, then reached for her hand to examine the red marks on her wrist. “Again, I apologize. It is not our way to harm females.”
She looked at him oddly for a moment, then pulled her hand back. He let her go with surprising reluctance. She had very soft skin now that he had slowed down enough to take notice. Smaller than most jit’suku females, she was oddly fascinating. Her coloring was pleasing in the extreme and even her scent—soft female mixed with the oils and lubricants he associated with fighter craft—was wickedly attractive to him. He’d been a pilot when he was younger and even though he had never smelled those scents coming from a female before, he found the mix strangely arousing.
“It’s okay. My skin marks easily. It’s nothing.” She looked around the empty hall. “Where are you taking me?”
“To private quarters where you will remain as my guest until I can figure out what to do with you.” He hadn’t meant to reveal quite so much, but he could tell she was skeptical and scared behind her bravado.
“I expected torture and interrogation.”
He grimaced, his anger returning slightly. “I do not harm females.”
“You blew up my ship!” she countered, squaring off with him.
He was just in the mood to argue with her. Arguing wasn’t prohibited, though it seldom occurred with jit’suku females.
“I thought you were male. What kind of barbarians are your people that they send women into battle? Jit’suku women do not make war. They make—”
“If you say babies, I’m going to slug you.” She cut him off, her voice rising in intensity.
“They do that too, of course,” he replied, confused by her apparent anger. “Our women are the lawmakers. The leaders of our clans. The power behind our businesses. They do not put themselves in harm’s way by fighting on the front lines.”
That seemed to set her back on her heels and she looked truly confused. Adorable and confused. He really didn’t und
erstand why he found himself so attracted to this tiny female.
“Your women really have active roles in your society?” She blinked up at him as if unsure of the truth of his words.
“Of course.” What did she think? That his people were as barbaric and backwards as hers?
She looked away, peering absently down the corridor before returning her lovely green gaze to his. “I think the gender roles in our respective cultures must be very different. Among humans, anyone can serve in the military. While it’s true that most women don’t choose to serve, some of us do and some of us even seek out adventure on the front lines.”
“You came to be here by choice?” Val couldn’t credit her words. Patrolling a dangerous border was warrior work. It was too dangerous to risk a female on such tasks.
“I had to apply three times before I got assigned a fighter patrol. The rim sweep isn’t usually this exciting, but it is important.” Her chin jutted out defensively and Val realized she took pride in her assignment to the dangerous post.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, hoping to change the subject. She’d given him a great deal to contemplate, but first he wanted to be certain she was comfortable. He had treated her shabbily to this point and he wanted to make amends.
“I could eat,” she replied cautiously.
“Then follow me.” He walked more slowly this time, traversing the long hallway off which all his staff was housed. He was looking for one portal in particular.
Raising his hand to the lock plate, he keyed in his command code, opening the door. He stepped back, allowing her to precede him.
She walked in with some hesitation and he wondered if she hadn’t believed him about taking her to guest accommodations. Perhaps she still believed that he would throw her in the brig, or worse. She would soon learn Val was a man of his word. And he didn’t harm females. Not on purpose, at any rate.
Chapter Three
The room was spacious and furnished with high quality trappings. The captain might just be telling the truth after all, Lisbet thought as she took in her surroundings. This didn’t look like any kind of cell she could imagine and there didn’t appear to be anything more sinister than a couch and some chairs placed along one wall.
“Guest quarters,” he announced, moving into the room and making it seem a lot smaller all of a sudden. The captain was even larger than the other jits she’d seen since boarding.
Before today, she had only seen images of jit’suku warriors. They were all over six feet tall and built on the brawny side. As big as the biggest human men, they towered over most civilians. But this captain was a good six and a half feet to her five and three quarters. And he definitely kept himself in shape. The view she’d gotten of his muscular ass as he’d dragged her along behind him had been epic.
If she had been in any kind of position to truly appreciate the view, she might have found herself drawn to the incredibly handsome warrior. As it was, she was his prisoner—though not, perhaps, in as bad a situation as she’d feared. She was certainly a captive, but the conditions didn’t seem too bad at the moment. She would be wary, but something about the way he’d spoken to her made her think he was as unfamiliar with real humans as she was with real jit’suku.
All she knew was what she had been told by her commanders and seen in the news media. She had heard about the many battles along the rim and knew the death statistics. The war, which had been going on for a long time, was taking a definite toll on both sides. Many men had died. Women too, of course, but the jit’suku were very careful to only attack military targets and the only female casualties she was aware of were women soldiers.
Based on what she’d just been told by the captain, she would bet he hadn’t known before seeing her that women served alongside men in the human armada. She wondered what he would do when he thought through that surprising scenario. He had seemed truly upset to discover she was female.
“I will order food for you. It is almost dinner time, so if you have no objection, I would like to share the meal with you, so that we may talk more.”
“Interrogation?” She had to ask. It didn’t sound like he really wanted to interrogate her—not in the way she understood the term—but he would be asking questions, she had no doubt.
“Nothing so dramatic.” His lips lifted at one corner in the hint of a smile that almost stopped her heart. Damn, he was sexy when he wasn’t quite so angry. He would be devastating if he ever decided to turn on the charm. “I wish to ask more questions of you, but I will not force you to answer. It becomes clear to me that I do not know enough about humans. I had no idea women served as pilots and will have to rethink my strategy if I am to continue with honor, now that I have been made aware of this fact.”
That sounded promising. She thought over her options, coming to a quick decision.
“I’ll answer what I can, but I won’t betray my people. I don’t really know enough to do any serious betraying anyway, so you might as well get that thought out of your mind right now.” She took a fortifying breath, watching his handsome face carefully. “But I will answer cultural questions if I think they’re safe. I’d like to know more about your people too, while we’re at it,” she added.
“Then it is agreed.” He moved toward the door. “The sanitation cubicle is beyond the light green portal, in a corner of the attached sleep chamber. I will leave you to refresh yourself for approximately one standard hour. I will return when the meal is served.” He paused by the door. “You will be locked in for your safety. My crew is all male. I do not wish for you to interact with them at present.”
She was okay with that and merely nodded. Privacy in this luxurious suite was better than a cell, or being accosted by a bunch of giant men who hadn’t seen a female in who knew how long. And Captain Sexy would be back in an hour with dinner.
Life had just gotten very interesting, very fast.
The captain returned exactly an hour later with a team of men who brought in two floating trolleys loaded down with multiple domed platters. Both of the serving men gave her quizzical looks before departing with a crisp salute, but neither said a word.
The captain had impeccable manners and waited for her to be seated at the table he’d folded down from one wall so the men could set the table and place the main course ready and waiting for them. So far, the dining rituals seemed very similar to human practices, which surprised Lisbet a bit. She’d heard the jits were barbarians and had almost expected them to be ripping meat from the bones of some large animal with their teeth.
Instead, she got gleaming, monogrammed silverware and what looked like costly china with the crest of some noble house. Her finger traced over the design on the rim of her plate.
“It is the sigil of my house. The Fedroval crest.” He nodded toward her hand, still fingering the raised golden symbol when she looked up to meet his gaze.
“You said your name was Fedroval. As is the name of your ship. Fedroval’s Legacy, right? So if this is anything like human nobility, you’re some kind of overlord or come from a seriously rich family. Am I right?”
The captain bowed his head to one side, holding her gaze. “I am surprised humans have such things, but yes, to both questions. I am the Liege of House Fedroval, eldest male of the line. And yes, we as a family have more than most. Unfortunately, I am the end of the line for House Fedroval.” His expression turned grim as he busied himself with the snowy white cloth napkin, placing it on his lap.
The topic seemed painful to him, so she let it drop. For now. She followed his lead, glad of the etiquette her mother had tried to drill into her when she was a young girl.
Funny, she hadn’t thought of her mother in years, but she supposed the old girl would have approved of this situation. For once, Lisbet was behaving like a lady, sitting down to dinner with a rich and titled gentleman. Okay, so he was an alien. Her mother was long dead, so Lisbet figured it probably didn’t matter. Still, the thought brought a wistful smile to her face as he uncovered the steami
ng dishes that had been laid out for them.
The silence had lengthened, but she didn’t mind. There was a great deal of information to process here and if she wasn’t very careful, she would succumb to the captain’s pronounced charm. He said he wouldn’t interrogate her, but she wouldn’t put it past him to try to weasel information out of her while wining and dining her. She had to be on her guard.
“What amuses you, Lieutenant?” he asked as he poured blue liquid from a wine bottle into a crystal goblet and placed it before her. She watched as he poured another for himself and took a sip before she followed suit.
The flavor was fruity and delicious—and intoxicating, she had no doubt.
“I had a stray thought about my mother. She always despaired of my tomboy ways. She taught me the proper way to set a table and all the womanly things she thought were so important, but I always wanted to do things she thought were unseemly.”
“Like flying a fighter craft?” One of his dark brows arched and she got the impression he agreed with her long lost mother.
“It was good enough for my older brother. Why should he be allowed to follow his dream into the sky and not me?”
“And did you truly dream of the sky, Lieutenant? Did the stars sing to you?” He stared at her over the rim of his goblet, seducing her with nothing more than the tone of his deep voice and the look in his dark eyes.
“Always. My mother despaired, but my granny knew my destiny was in the stars. She had a bit of the sight, and she argued on my behalf with the family. They listened to her, thank goodness, and let me go. A month after I left Earth, my entire family was killed in an industrial explosion that leveled half the town.”
He stilled, his expression growing very serious.
“I am sorry for your loss,” he said in that deep voice, soft now with true emotion. She looked into his eyes and met sorrow there. He understood. He’d lost people close to him. She knew the look. It was the shared pain of losing those who made your life whole.