Page 1

Chapter 1

“You’re breathing on me.” Daisy Roebuck adjusted her position against the cold, pale gray rock. Her elbows rested on the top of the smooth surface, her gaze glued to the night vision scope.

“I’m not.” The quiet, deep rumble of Rexx O’Libe came from beside her.

“Nothing will get me. Not when I have you literally breathing down my neck. Give me space. I can’t afford any distractions. One wrong move and we’ll lose this zinibar. This is the first confirmed sighting we’ve had in over six months. We’re not letting this one go.”

There was a quiet grunt and a faint shuffle.

Daisy glanced over her shoulder and had to repress a smile. Rexx’s shoulders were hunched. He’d moved about two inches away from her. He was her huge, super-toned, intimidating shadow, dressed in a bodysuit that covered his head, most of his face, and even his hands. Rexx was like a sexy Spiderman on steroids. And that Spiderman outfit showed off every muscled inch of him. There was nothing left to the imagination.

His purple gaze caught hers, and her breath caught in her throat. Daisy looked away. She was focused on the mission, nothing else. Sure, anyone would be physically attracted to this giant, muscled, hot to trot alien, but he was way too intense for her. He never laughed. And as for his private life, she didn’t know if he had one. If he did, he kept those cards close to his chest.

Rexx was a gorgeous mystery. But he was someone else’s mystery to unpack. Daisy was here for work. She’d not spent six years at university, then worked as a poorly paid apprentice under the late Alexi Domanov, to screw this up.

“We haven’t had a break,” Rexx said.

“I’m good. You take five minutes if you need it.” Of course, he didn’t need it. He was asking because he thought she did. That was one good thing about having Rexx as her partner. He was always taking care of her.

“You’ve not had a break for three hours. Your eyes will get strained if you keep using the night vision scope.”

“If they do, I’ve got your eyes as backup. And they’re way better than mine.”

One large hand clamped over hers. Rexx eased the night vision scope away from her. “Ten minutes.”

With a resigned sigh, Daisy stepped back. There was no arguing with Rexx. If he thought she needed a break, she took a break. If she didn’t, he’d start muttering and pacing, and then there’d be no way she could concentrate.

“I could do with some water,” she said.

He pulled a flask from his bag and handed it to her, along with her favorite flavor of protein bar.

“I didn’t think we had any of the dark chocolate salted caramel left.” She tore off the wrapping and took a huge bite. “You spoil me.”

“My partner needs the right nutrition.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not hungry.” His steady, intense gaze remained on her. He was always watching. When they’d first started working together, she’d found it creepy, but it was the norm these days. Rexx was just being, well, Rexx. Silent, lethal, and overly protective. It was an Apexian thing. But he took it to a whole new level with her.

She pressed her hand against her stomach as the food hit. That queasy feeling was back. It had been there for a couple of months.

“What’s wrong?” Rexx said.

Daisy lowered her hand. He didn’t miss a thing. “Nothing.”

“Why are you wincing?”

She looked at the protein bar. “I guess I wasn’t so hungry after all.”

“If you’re sick, we can abort the mission.” His hand was already moving to the comms device in his ear.

“Don’t you dare. This project is my baby. I’ve written a dozen papers on the zinibar. We’re getting him. If we can get a healthy adult male into the sanctuary on Tiavac, we’ll have babies by the end of the year.”

Rexx’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “Have something to drink. I need to report this to Cleo.”

“Cleo doesn’t need to know every time I have a gut ache. It’s probably my time of the month.”

“It’s not. I know your cycle.”