Chapter 11
Kat’Chinna stood on the bridge of the Zantharian flagship, watching as her home planet grew larger on the view screen. Once she’d taken command, she’d tightened security protocols, insisting that every crewmember exchanged energy every fifteen minutes, and with different partners each time. All non-essential crew had been confined to their quarters. So far they had yet to discover another Hareema agent, but she would never again relax her guard.
She’d sent out a sector-wide bulletin about the human ship, encouraging any ship in the area to report its whereabouts if encountered, and to capture it if possible. She had not encouraged violence, but she had stressed that the ship presented a very real threat to the Zantharian fleet.
She’d started a ship-wide search for the navigator who’d exchanged energy with Major Ontarii once he’d come back on board, but he hadn’t been found. Instead, they found his uniform shoved behind one of the storage canisters in the cargo bay. His absence worried Kat more than anything else.
It could be anywhere.It could be watching me right now.
She’d considered not returning to Zanthar because of the risk it would present, knowing there was a Hareema agent loose somewhere on the ship. Still, she had no choice. She had to share what had happened with Central Command, and it was no longer safe to assume their communication channels weren’t being monitored.
Plus, as Jeffrey had suggested, she wanted to get their prisoner to a Zantharian lab as soon as possible. They had to figure out exactly how the Hareema were able to imitate the energy exchange.
A million doubts floated through her mind, but for once she welcomed the distraction. If she was checking and rechecking her plan, she couldn’t be worrying about what had happened between her and the human in the interrogation chamber.
She’d surrendered to his kisses, had accepted his warm seduction, and he’d brought her the most intense orgasm she’d ever had. She might have gone further, might have allowed him to couple with her, if he hadn’t said those fateful words.
You’re different.
She’d heard those words too many times in her life, and they never failed to frustrate her. When she was a child, it was “You’re different. You’re too short.” It was true. By Zantharian standards, she was considered short, several inches shorter than most males and a few inches shorter than the average female.
In order to prove that her stature didn’t define her, she’d worked harder than her peers, pushing herself to be the best at whatever she set her mind to. This included pursuing a military command.
Although the Zantharian military had female members, it wasn’t a career that most women chose. Space detail on a military vessel didn’t leave a lot of time for raising a family, which was important to most females. Each Zantharian woman had a single egg that could be fertilized at her own choosing, generally leading to a sole offspring.
Those precious single babies were cherished and treasured by females, who often took long stretches of time off to raise their children. Long stretches of time off were incompatible with military command, unless one resigned her commission. It therefore made little sense to work hard and climb the ladder of rank, only to resign when the time came to breed.
Choosing to perhaps forego the chance to raise a child was yet another thing that set her apart. Since each woman could usually have only one child, it was something akin to duty to produce offspring. Instead, Kat had chosen to put her career first. Even when she’d allowed herself to fantasize about building a relationship with the dashing Major Ontarii, she’d always thought of them battling their way through space and not in a cozy nursery, bringing up a baby.
Kat had known she wasn’t your average Zantharian for years, and she’d accepted that, even at times felt superior because of it.
But now, for once, Kat didn’t want to be different. She wanted to be a normal woman, interacting with a man. She didn’t want to be special, something other than normal.
Those words had made her realize that she was a box to check for the human.One exotic alien female. Check.
While she’d been opening up to him, he’d been crossing a fantasy off his list.
Don’t think about it, she told herself, shaking her head to clear it. She concentrated on the swirling mass of colors that was Zanthar as it grew closer. Beautiful greens, blues, and purples coalesced to form the Zantharian oceans. She’d always loved this view, always felt a sense of wonder and purpose when she’d seen Zanthar from space.
Now she was worried, and had a sense of gnawing loneliness.
She was going to have to explain to the Supreme Regent of Zanthar that her commanding officer had been replaced by a Hareema agent, and that she’d lost the Earthling vessel, not knowing whether or not Major Ontarii was on that ship.
But worse, she was going to have to face Central Command alone. Major Ontarii had always been there to take charge, to charm the administration and to stand up for his crew. Now she’d be subjected to their barrage of questions with no one to have her back.
What about the human lieutenant?her inner voice whispered. He’d have your back, no questions asked.
Would he? He’d insisted that they needed to work together against their common enemy, and in the case of their current Hareema captive, they’d made a good team. But would he still feel the same way, now that she’d locked him back in his cell and not consulted him about her current course of action?
Zantharian men, although recognizing that women were their equals, still had a macho streak a mile wide. This went double for military men. Jeffrey was a military man, with a rank equal to her own. And yet she’d locked him away, preferring to proceed without his help.
She’d told him that she didn’t want to have to explain him to her crew, and that was true. But perhaps the bigger reason that she’d put him back in his cell was her own embarrassment at letting down her guard long enough for him to make his move.
Why does he have to be so freaking sexy? If he was a short man with bad teeth and spotty skin, I could have ignored him with no problem.
Instead, he was a tall, muscular male with a winning smile and eyes that burned her now, even in her memory. When he’d captured her lips, she’d realized that no one had ever kissed her in that way. She’d wanted more.
And when he’d touched her body, when he’d put his mouth on her core, she’d almost lost herself, giving herself over to a pleasure so intense, the thought of it now caused her to tremble.
