And she could get her answers from him in the meantime.
“You’ll make time to answer some questions I have,” she murmured, her eyes connected with his gaze.He had pretty eyes.They were strange, like cat eyes, but the color was the softest of blues, a surprising contrast for so severe a male.
His spine straightened at her words, making him seem suddenly inches taller.His brow twitched as he said, in a dry tone, “You think to order me about, female?I am the one in command here.”
“So youarethe captain then,” she replied.Well now…she’d always loved a man in uniform.She pursed her lips, thinking, as her eyes roamed the command center deck.“Fine, I can compromise.When will you be free to talk with me,captain?”
Lihvan stared at her, the scar that ran down his cheek pulling a little.Just when she thought he wouldn’t answer, he bit out, “Once my duties are seen to here and we are a safe distance away from the planet’s surface, then I will come speak with you, but not a moment before.Unless you wish to remain within firing range of the planet we just pulled you from…”
Beks lips pressed together, but she gave a curt nod, her eyes straying briefly to the vast expanse of inky blackness and stars just behind him.She’d been outmaneuvered by her scarred alien, but a part of her loved it.
Her chin tilted up.“That sounds reasonable.”
“Then if there is nothing else, female…” Lihvan looked behind her, motioning for the alien that had escorted her to the command center, no doubt ready for her to depart as quickly as she’d come.
Beks could take a hint.
But Lihvan was just within reach and Beks couldn’t resist.Before she turned to leave, she reached out and brushed her fingertips over his forearm.His skin was cool to the touch, the muscles hard as stone beneath his intriguing, shimmering, mirage-like flesh.
“Until later, captain,” she said softly, her lips curling at the corners.
The scarred alien’s jaw clenched so tightly that, for a moment, she was afraid it might shatter.
Game on, Beks thought.
FOUR
Lihvan watched the female leave, feeling tension coiling through his body, tightening his muscles.His Instinct clawed at his chest within him, urging him to go after his female, to pin her up against a wall and take her, hard and thoroughly, and to spend his seed deep within her.
Lihvan swallowed, wrestling with his control.He saw the sideways glances that his warriors were giving him, no doubt sensing the hints of arousal he was giving off.Herscent still lingered in his nostrils, so sweet and thick that he could almost taste her on his tongue.She’d been aroused by his body when she’d seen him.Her own scent had given her away.
Once Lihvan felt his control return and his Instinct recede a little, he strode over to his post, barking orders at the males with more frustration than he intended.
Pushing the female from his mind, he knew that his sole purpose at the moment was to get his warriors and the human females to safety and out of range of the Pit.Even though the Krevorags were not likely to follow them, they would soon be alerting their allies, like the Jetutians, whom Lihvan didnotwant to encounter, especially with their newly arrived guests.
Vikan came over to him from his post, his expression guarded.Vikan had always been more closed off than the others, which was perhaps why he and Lihvan got along so well.Out of all of the Prime Leader’s appointed Ambassadors, all males that Lihvan considered close friends, all males that he had gone through military training with, Lihvan and Vikan were most similar.
Vaxa’an, the Prime Leader, now mated to his human female, Kate, was the great leader of their people and had been raised as such.Rixavox and Cruxan enjoyed the more carnal pleasures of life, enjoying their share of females, Luxirian and otherwise, and relishing the pulsing heat of battles.Kirov, the technology advisor, pursued whatever he wanted—whether that was perfecting the tracking devices for their crystal-fueled weapons or determining exactly how many times he could make a female orgasm within the span of a few hours—with single-minded intensity, almost to the point of obsession.He was a genius and a ruthless warrior, a deadly combination.
Vikan kept to himself, continuing to mourn the loss of his Breeding partner after she’d been killed by the virus the Jetutians had unleashed among their female population, virtually wiping it out.Those that the virus did not kill were rendered infertile, thus the reason why Vaxa’an had sought out a Breeder in another species only to discover his fated mate in a human instead.
As for himself…Lihvan kept a level head.He was the peacemaker among the strong personalities of the Ambassadors and in the Luxirian council.Vaxa’an relied on him to make sound decisions that would further their race, decisions based on logic, not emotion.
Lihvan knew what others thought about him.They thought him cold, distant.His physical appearance didn’t help matters either.While scars were seen as markers of a warrior, the scar on Lihvan’s face distorted his features just slightly, making others avert their eyes.And his horn…his chipped horn.That was the worst of all.Horns were seen as a sign of virility among his people, a sign of age and strength.He’d injured his in a battle that had almost cost him his life.
“Why was the female here?” Vikan questioned, staring out over the command center.
Lihvan pushed his thoughts from his mind and tapped in coordinates into the system that Kirov had designed.It would take three spans to reach their home planet of Luxiria, perhaps shorter if they cut through the Jetutian’s territory, but he wasn’t sure whether it would be safe to chance it or not.The Jetutian had spies everywhere.
“She said she had some questions,” Lihvan answered, keeping his voice level, praying to the Fates that his friend would not sense his inner turmoil.
He wasn’t so lucky.Vikan was watchful, observant.His quiet friend said, “You know there is no place for the humans on our planet.The unrest that Vaxa’an’s mate has caused should be proof enough.”
Lihvan felt a swell of anger and cut his gaze to Vikan.Before he could stop himself, he said, “If your Instinct wakened for one of them, I do not believe that you would be saying that.”
“How do you know that my Instinct has not?” was all Vikan asked before he turned from Lihvan and returned to his post.
For a moment, Lihvan was stunned.Hadone of the females caught his friend’s interest?
