by Bianca D’Arc
“Did you go after them?”
“I tried, but without evidence, I cannot make war on another of my kind. Being dishonorable myself will not negate their dishonorable behavior. No, this despicable act—whether accidental or on purpose—has well and truly ended a noble House.”
“But surely you can marry and have children of your own to carry on the line?”
“Because I failed to protect my House adequately, no women of quality or honor would be willing to submit to the nij’ta. If my true mate is out there, she will not allow me to find her.”
“Wait a minute.” Lisbet was confused. “What is a nij’ta?”
He looked surprised by her question as he moved the plates around, making room for a second set of dishes by taking away the first, which were mostly empty at this point. He paused as he was lifting the dome off some sort of gel dish.
“The nij’ta is the ritual kiss. It is how we identify our perfect mate. Don’t you have something similar?”
“You can find your life mate through a kiss?” Lisbet couldn’t quite believe what he was saying, yet he seemed sincere.
“Of course. How do your males go about finding their perfect mate?”
“A lot of trial and error,” she admitted with a sigh. “We date.” At his puzzled look, she went on. “We see each other socially and the relationship progresses to more intimate levels if both parties are agreeable. After a time, the male can ask the female to marry him, legalizing the relationship—joining them in the eyes of the law, and any religion either or both might follow.”
“And then they stay together forever.” He stated it as fact rather than as a question, surprising her again.
“Not always. That would be the ideal, but a lot of times, people grow apart, which is why they invented divorce.”
“Divorce?” He looked even more puzzled and pronounced the word carefully, as if it were totally unfamiliar to him.
“When two people who are married, are legally divided and no longer married,” she explained.
“No longer mated?” He sounded scandalized. “There is no divorce among my kind. We mate for life.”
“Really? No divorce? Ever?” It didn’t seem possible to her.
“The nij’ta does not lie. A man must kiss a lot of women before he finds the one that makes his blood sing. I will never have that opportunity now and it is one of my deepest regrets. Since giving up my vocation to the Zenai priesthood, I would have liked to have a wife and children.”
“I really don’t understand why you can’t just ask a woman to marry you. Maybe she won’t be of noble birth, but judging by this ship, you’re loaded. There are a lot of women who would marry you for your money, at the very least. And you’re not bad looking.” She added the last bit out of sheer deviltry. The man was handsome as sin. If he weren’t her enemy, she’d seriously think about jumping his bones just to see if his lovemaking lived up to the advertising of his sexy body and almost beautiful face.
“That is not how things are done among my people. By my prior negligence I have proven to be careless with those I am responsible for. No woman of reasonable station will have me now. I could father children on a mistress who might come to me out of pity—or for the things I could buy her—but such children could not legally carry on my line. And mating cannot happen without the positive results of the nij’ta. I am in an unwinnable situation, which is why I commissioned this ship and set out on the warrior’s path.”
“So who’s running things at home while you’re here? I assume your family still has interests that pay for all of this.” She gestured to the luxurious suite, being nosey in the extreme, but she was learning a lot about the aliens in general, and this devastatingly handsome man in particular.
“The dowager. My mother. She heads the family. I am merely the Liege now that my brothers are gone. It’s funny. I thought I’d be a warrior priest. I’d given up the idea of a wife and children of my own, but now I want them more than anything in the world, and they are denied me as well. All I have left is my mission and your presence has brought that into question as well. The Lady of Chaos has touched my life repeatedly and altered my path in ways I could never anticipate.”
“I won’t pretend to understand how your society works, but I do feel for you, Captain. Losing your family is not an easy thing.” She made a move to cover his hand with hers on the table, but checked it. Maybe he didn’t want her reaching out to him. They were enemies, after all.
But he saw her slight motion and tilted his head, reaching out to take her hand in his.
“We have both suffered a loss that nobody should ever have to suffer. It changed the course of our lives and turned us toward paths we would otherwise not have chosen. I am amazed to find I have so much in common with someone I thought of as the enemy until now.”
She liked the rich tone of his voice as it dipped to compassionate, almost intimate levels.
“Me too, Captain,” she agreed softly.
“You might as well call me Val,” he replied in that same intimate tone.
“I’m Lisbet, but my friends call me Liz.”
He reached out with his spoon, not letting go of her with his other hand, and scooped up a small bite of the gel substance in the dish before her. He held the spoon up to her lips and smiled encouragingly. His dark gaze smoldered as she opened her mouth and allowed him to feed her the small dollop of sweet gel.
Flavor burst around her tongue in a display of bright notes that made her lips tingle. She swallowed, enjoying the cool sensation of the sweet confection as it slid down her throat.
“That’s delicious,” she admitted with a grin.
“I thought you’d like it.” His answering smile lit a fire in her belly that had nothing to do with dessert—or at least not the edible kind. She’d like to make dessert of him. She’d lick him like an ice cream cone if he was agreeable.
The look in his eyes seemed very agreeable. Before she knew what she was doing, Lisbet leaned toward him. Was he leaning too?
His eyes grew closer until the dark gold of his gaze was all she could see. Then his lips touched hers and time stood still.
Breathing became optional as his mouth covered hers, his arms wrapped around her shoulders and dragged her out of her chair and into his lap. Then, by slow degrees, he deepened the kiss.
His tongue bathed her mouth in his taste, his mastery. Her body squirmed against his, not trying to get away, but wanting to be closer. Her clothes were in the way. As were his.
She wanted nothing more than to feel his skin on hers, his hard muscled body against her softer skin, his hardness mastering her responses.
But it was not meant to be.
An urgent noise from the com panel broke them apart. Her senses were fuzzy with desire and for a moment, she didn’t know exactly where she was. In those stolen moments, Val had ceased to be the captain or the enemy. He was simply a man.
An entirely too attractive—some might say devastating—man.
Val stood, straightening his jacket as if he were uncomfortable and went to the door. He left swiftly, as if all the hounds of hell were on his heels.
Chapter Five
The captain disappeared and did not return that night. Nor did she see him all the next day. Her meals were served in silence and taken away just as quietly by a warrior who looked at her with curiosity but made no overtures toward her whatsoever. Neither friendly nor hostile, he merely brought the trays and took them away at regular intervals.
The food continued to be of gourmet quality, which surprised her. She’d understood being served the good stuff when she ate with the captain, but on her own, she expected rations. Instead, she continued to be treated as some kind of weird mix between prisoner and honored guest. She was locked into her quarters, but she had some limited access to the comp for entertainment and learning. No communications to speak of, but she was able to occupy her time learning more about jit’suku culture.
Of particular interest was the con
cept of the nij’ta. It seemed so foreign to her, but the jit’suku actually mated based on a single kiss. Some of the romantic fiction she’d been able to access from the comp was built up around the idea of a mating based on a single kiss that was totally inappropriate socially, but had to be accepted by the respective families because true mates could not legally be kept apart. Sort of a jit version of Romeo and Juliette with a much happier ending because nobody could deny true mates in jit’suku society.
It was kind of amazing. Humans really had no clue about these strange, noble people.
Nor, did it seem, the jit’suku really had any real understanding at all about humanity.
So many misconceptions on both sides. It saddened her to think that so many had died based on incomplete or misunderstood information. One thing was clear though—the jit’suku were a race of conquerors who had expanded to the farthest reaches of their own galaxy and beyond. Even had they fully understood humanity, chances were the war would still be waged because they needed more room for their growing population and the Milky Way was the next logical place for them to go. Humans didn’t like being invaded and jits didn’t respect those who operated on diplomacy alone.
It was an inevitable conflict. She didn’t have to like it, but there it was.
Her thoughts kept turning back to the sexy captain and that devastating kiss. Had he been as affected as she? Was he thinking of her while he ran the ship and did who-knew-what? She’d known him less than a few hours, but she missed him.
She almost… pined for him. Such an odd concept for a woman who’d thought she would live the rest of her life alone. She wanted to be with him and she didn’t care that he was an alien or part of the enemy army. Lust—or could it actually be love, so quickly?—didn’t care about such things.
All she knew was that she missed him and wanted to be with him. After only a single kiss it was like she’d become addicted to his presence, his touch, his taste.
On the third day of her confinement, the captain sent a message with her silent server, along with some clothing for her. She’d been able to freshen her flight suit using the sanitary chamber’s cleansing unit, but she was getting a little tired of only having one set of clothing.
The outfit he sent her was confusing at first, until she realized it was female attire in the jit’suku style she’d seen in images on the comp. She wondered where it had come from. Had some warrior on this ship been tasked with making women’s clothes in her size? One thing was certain—she would never have fit in any spare uniform parts from jit’suku stores. The men she’d seen on board were all at least a half a foot taller than her, if not more. And they were all broad shouldered and built on the huge side.
She would be swimming in uniform shirts or pants meant for them. All in all, she was glad of the new clothes that didn’t make her look like a child playing dress up, even if the style was different from what she was used to. There were wide legged pants in very soft fabric that were covered by a tunic of sorts. A jacket that tied at each hip, layered over the pants, with a wide sash completed the outfit. There weren’t any shoes to go with it, so she continued to wear her boots. It looked a bit strange, but she couldn’t very well go barefoot, and the long legs of the pants covered tops of her boots so only the tips of her feet showed.
Not too bad, she thought, twirling in front of the mirror in the bed chamber. She looked better than she had in a long time. The soft fabric emphasized her figure and the curves her flight uniform had hidden. She didn’t look like an androgynous pilot anymore. No, now she was definitely revealed as a woman, with all the usual curves and bumps.
She looked forward to seeing what the captain thought of her new style. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. She hadn’t been so impressed with a man since her first boyfriend back in high school. She felt as giddy as the teenager she had once been, though she knew she shouldn’t.
The man was an alien. An enemy. She’d been shot out of her fighter on his orders.
He’d been appalled after the fact, which counted in his favor. But he was still the captain of an enemy craft engaged in conquest of the Milky Way. She was sworn to prevent him from doing that. The conflict made her heart hurt.
Somehow, this strange man had wormed his way into her thoughts at every opportunity, though he hadn’t made any overt attempt to do so. One kiss and she was hooked. Addicted to him. She knew she was doing this to herself. Her fascination with the man was not normal. She’d tried repeatedly to stop thinking about him, but it was no use. Her heart seemed to be fixated on the captain and she had to follow along to see where it would lead her.
The note that accompanied the clothing asked her to be ready after lunch. It was worded politely, hand written in a bold cursive that she had to believe was the captain’s own handwriting. Val. He’d told her to call him Val. She’d thought a lot about that in the past two days. His family name was Fedroval, so maybe Val was a nickname for that? Or could his given name be something that shortened to Val? She’d have to ask him, if she got the chance.
She wanted to know ever little intimate detail about him. She had it bad. She was downright obsessed. Any minute now she’d be drawing little hearts and doodling their names inside.
Disgusted with herself, she checked her appearance one more time. It was about as good as it was going to get.
Promptly after lunch, a chime sounded near the door alerting her, as it had for the past day and a half, that someone had come to take the empty tray. She looked toward the door, but when it slid open, the silent guard was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Val filled the doorway with his presence, his gaze holding hers as he walked into the room.
He stalked toward her, speaking not a word. His gaze took in her new outfit with obvious approval before returning to face, her eyes, holding her attention as he walked across the room and took her in his arms.
There was no hesitation in his movement. No question but that he had a right to embrace her. His head dipped and his lips claimed hers. She didn’t protest. She wanted his kiss as much as he appeared to want it. She’d thirsted for him over the past day and a half, waiting for this. This moment, when he would kiss her again. Hold her as if he would never let her go. Make the two of them complete… together.
The thoughts raced through her mind. She’d never thought such things about a man before. She hadn’t known she had such a romantic imagination. Maybe this alien was bringing things out of her that had remained hidden with the other men she’d known. And maybe her fascination with him wasn’t all one-sided. Judging by the hard feel of him against her, it most definitely was not.
Val reveled in the kiss of his true mate, glad to know the positive response to his nij’ta he had perceived a day and a half ago had not been a desperate attempt at self-delusion. No. This was the real thing. This surprising human woman was his true mate.
Now he only had to convince her of that fact.
He’d spent the last day and a half pulling every string he knew how to pull. He’d contacted the High Priest of the Zenai Brotherhood. If anyone would know the legality and sanctity of mating outside his species, it would be the High Priest. What he had learned had given Val the first hope he’d had in years.
Reluctantly, he broke the kiss, knowing the time had come to speak his heart to the woman of his dreams. Would she be as receptive to mating with him as she was to his kiss? The High Priest had reminded him that the Goddess worked in mysterious ways.
Her faint protest as he pulled away from her luscious lips renewed his hope.
“There are matters we must discuss,” he whispered against her lips, finding it hard to let her go completely.
It was she who moved back, going to the couch and dropping onto it with her arms folded. She’d gone from receptive to combative in a flash and Val admitted to himself that he was worried.
“What did I say to make you wary?” He moved over to the couch and seated himself sideways, facing her.
“When someone say
s ‘we need to talk’ it usually means trouble.” She turned her gaze to him and he perceived hurt in the depths of her eyes. Hurt he had put there. Val couldn’t help but reach out and take her into his arms, holding her against him as he spoke. He couldn’t bear to see the hurt in her eyes.
“You’re not in trouble. I might be, but you’re not, sweet one.” He kissed the crown of her head, loving the feel of her in his embrace. “I have kept away until I was certain we could be together.”
She drew back, surprise replacing the hurt in her expression. “What?”
“I realize you are not used to our ways, but you had to feel the magic in our first kiss. It was the nij’ta, though I didn’t mean to kiss you. I couldn’t help myself. Your kiss proved we were meant to be.”
“Is that what that was?” Her words were soft, as if she were unsure.
“I’m not sure if it’s the same for humans is it is for us, but I knew the instant I kissed you that you were meant to be mine. You’re my perfect mate, Lisbet Duncan of Earth. Crazy as that may seem.” He knew he was smiling but he still couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I’d given up ever finding you. The one woman destined to share my life. I sank my efforts into building this ship and dedicated myself to my people’s cause of conquest. Without a wife or a future, I had no other recourse. But now that I’ve found you, everything’s changed.”
“Just like that?” She sounded as incredulous as he still felt.
“Just like that,” he agreed, dipping to place a quick kiss on her lips. Sparks seemed to fly whenever they touched and he reveled in the response only she could evoke in him. “We’re out of the Milky Way and on our way back to my home planet of Solaris Delta. It is my right and duty as Liege of Fedroval to quit the battle now that I have found my perfect mate.”