He cut her off, flipping around towards her, so suddenly that she bumped into his rock-hard chest before stepping back.
“Any reason for this interrogation?” he asked, his neck craned down, his eyes dark enough that they looked black.Cara was reminded that he might be her best option at the moment, but that he could still be unpredictable and violent.She needed to remember that before she poked him too much.
But she wouldn’t let him intimidate her.Her spine straightened and she never broke his gaze.“I want to learn more about you.”
“Part of your plan?” he said, voice deep but just mocking enough that it made her bristle.“Then you do not know who you are dealing with.I have been interrogated by much more fearsome creatures than you, female.I have been beaten and tortured during them and I have not broken once.What makes you believe you can get me to break?”
Her breathing went short, the flash of sympathy she felt at his words taking her by surprise.Cara was aware of how close they were standing.She barely had to reach forward and she’d be touching his chest.
His scent hit her for the first time.Something clean and all male that made her eyes widen in response.
Her voice sounded like a wisp of sandpaper when she said, “Perhaps you need softness instead of steel to break you.”
His eyes flashed again, the irises darkening even more.His horns lifted slightly from the crown of his skull.She watched his nostrils flare, but she wasn’t threatened.
Quite the opposite actually.
Because when she saw his muscles shift under his shirt, she became aware of the warmth between her thighs and the tingling in her belly.
His scent, she thought, dazed.It must be his scent, making her react like this.Some kind of crazy alien pheromone.
A rough purr rose in his throat, completely unexpected, but the sound was like velvet caressing her ears.Cara’s eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment, but then he growled, stumbling back, cutting off the sound abruptly.
She blinked, trying to clear the fog that had just swarmed her mind.When she blinked at him, lips parted, wondering what in the hell had just happened, he was leaning next to a door against the matte black hallway.His muscles were bunched, his chest heaving, horns lifted.
“I…” Cara started, but then trailed off, not knowing what to say.She had no excuse for her reaction.
The door he was leaning next to swished open with his touch.He straightened, seeming to compose himself more quickly than she could.He seemed angry, but whether it was at himself or at her, she couldn’t tell.
“I need to train,” he said, voice unreadable, the same sterile, monotonous tone he’d used on her before.“You have your freedom.Take advantage.”
Then he disappeared into the dark room to ‘train,’ whatever that meant.She thought she caught a glimpse of a blade hanging on the wall before the door closed firmly behind him.
Cara let out the deep breath she’d been holding, his words finally hitting her.
Take advantage, you say, Scar?she thought.
Straightening her spine, brushing off the strange encounter with him like dust off her shoulder, she turned heel and intended to do just what he’d suggested.
* * *
Cara’s nosiness didn’t yield much, however.She’d poked her head into every door she came across, except for the ‘fuel quarters.’She figured he’d probably know if she went in there and she didn’t want to risk her roaming pass on the ship.
The other rooms on the second level, however, were just that.Rooms.Sleeping quarters for a crew that didn’t exist.There was her room but the one directly across from her own, interestingly enough, seemed like Scar’s, as she’d taken to calling him in her own mind.
The moment she’d stepped inside, she’d been hit by his clean, recognizable scent.His room was almost identical to her own, except he had a large, floor-to-ceiling window revealing dark space and bright stars.It had awed her at first and she’d spent the majority of her time in his room, simply staring out, still unable to comprehend what she was seeing, what she was experiencing.
His bed had been neatly made, but he had no knick-knacks, no framed picture of family or lovers, no personal possessions that she could find.And oh, did she shamelessly look.She didn’t know what to expect, but the alien male was still a mystery to her.
Down the hallway, nearer to the elevator was a kitchen of some kind, which sent her heart racing in excitement.It was bare bones, however, and the existing equipment was nothing that Cara felt qualified to use.Perhaps Scar would show her how.All males liked food, didn’t they?Cara considered him fortunate that he’d been saddled with one of the ‘Top 30 Under 30’ rising chefs in the United States.
But after rummaging through the hidden cabinets, her excitement dwindled.There were no fresh ingredients on board, at least none that she recognized.She found more ‘travel rations’ in a silver container, but they looked slightly shriveled and grey so Cara thought better against eating another flake.
After she’d thoroughly explored the second level, her curiosity about the door Scar had disappeared into piqued.She wanted to know what he’d meant by training.And hehadtold her that the only restricted doors were to the fuel quarters, not the training room, so she felt no guilt as she approached it.
With a deep breath, she waved her hand in front of the screen, the way she’d see him do it, and it slid silently open.
Cara stepped over the threshold and when she fully took in the room, took inhim, she sucked in a sharp breath.
