Maddison, Karly - Time Slip [The Xephon Alliance 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

Kash experienced a moment of regret that the planet-side trip was over so quickly. It seemed like they had arrived only moments ago, and truth be known, she was tiring of shipboard life. In the past she had always made sure she had plenty of shore leave to bolster her
 
between assignments aboard vessels. She just wasn’t cut out for such long excursions in space. Not that what they were living through now could be classed as a work assignment anymore. They were literally all lost in space.

Kash glanced around at the trees and bushes, at the darkening sky. As the soft breeze tickled her skin she found herself wishing she could stay right where she was for several more days. But the males moved hurriedly about, preparing to leave, putting everything that lay around on the ground back on the shuttle. As she watched them at work, she wondered how long it would be before Captain Zeba would choose her again for a planet-side visit.

Chapter Five

Kash wrestled with guilt on the way back to the
Xenxaphan
, knowing Tinny had to make the trip in sopping wet trousers. At least he had a warm shirt over his chest and a towel wrapped around his bare feet. He didn’t complain, and she secretly admired his stoic nature. It wasn’t the only thing she couldn’t help admiring. He was handsome, even made her heart speed up a little when he came near her. Hell, he was more than handsome, he was damned gorgeous.
  
Why did she think that about him and not the other three males? If she were fair, Chitra and Junner were equally as good looking as Tinny, and yet when she glanced at them, she felt nothing, not the slightest stirring of interest.
 

She glanced back to Tinny, and her heart skittered foolishly in her chest. Something had changed when he had held her against him by the river, something subtle, yet irrevocable. The thought annoyed her. He’s just a stupid alien, she told herself.
The atmosphere on Blueworld One has made you go batty in
the head, Kash
.

The others talked about the samples they had found and some life forms they had seen. Kash listened, but did not contribute to the conversation. She was too lost in her own troubling thoughts. Occasionally Mayla would cast her a curious look, no doubt wondering what was going on with her. She smiled back at the other woman and gave a small shake of her head.

Kash had not collected many samples. Her bags were half empty. She had been too busy enjoying herself exploring and bathing. She wondered as they walked back through
the Xenxaphan
if Captain Zeba would be angry with her for not making proper use of her excursion.

Quietly she went down to her room and took a long sleep, missing the meal break. Her dreams were strange and disjointed, some images seeming only half formed. Visions of the past and present merged, and she dreamt that she was home again, playing with her dog Thunder.

She awoke with a start, discovering she had completely tangled herself in the blanket she had slept under. She struggled for a moment then threw the covering off and went to have a shower. Later, after finding an old chocolate bar in her pack to munch on, she went down to medical to examine some of the plant samples Mayla had left there.

Some bark had qualities like willow, which might pan out to create an aspirin-type medication. She was no chemist though. She picked up some other plant matter and examined a tiny piece, realizing she was not much of a botany expert either. She’d done this kind of thing during her training, but such a long time ago, and any knowledge she had garnered back then had receded too far in her memories to be of much use to her now. Sighing, she put the samples away in a drawer and pulled out an ancient book on the subject of natural medicines.

She sat down near a dim lamp and leafed through it. Everything in the book pertained to Earth, so she had no idea how she was going to match such things to whatever Blueworld One provided. Still, it felt good to be doing something other than just sitting around listlessly dreaming of home. She fished in her pocket for her notebook and pen and made notes as she read through the first chapter of the thick volume before her mind grew too tired to absorb the information.

One of her crew members came in as she rummaged through notes. Nanda appeared very nervous as she approached. Kash managed to get out of her how she had been partnered with a young male and they wanted to have a baby.

“There’s no reason why you can’t,” Kash said. “You have the same chromosome count. But I wouldn’t be trying yet. The situation here is still new. Just wait a year from now. Who knows? We might make it back home by then. And that’s the best place to start a family. Not on an old Xephon warship.”

As she watched Nanda go, she realized it was a good sign that some of the pairings were going so well that couples like Nanda and her partner were thinking ahead to the future. But she was no midwife. She hoped like hell they were home before the first
Xenxaphan
baby made an appearance. She stared out the portal at the stars and wondered what such a hybrid child might look like.

A message came on her pager to visit the captain as she prepared to leave medical. She went down to his private office immediately. Fenra was already there talking to him.

“Kash, you have been assigned to your new mate now.” Captain Zeba did not waste words. “Fenra will take you there. Do not be argumentative and difficult this time.”

He dismissed her without a second glance. She stared, wide-eyed and was about to argue when Fenra grabbed her by the arm and wheeled her out of the room. Who the hell had she been assigned to now? She went rigid as he led her down the halls, but he barely seemed to notice her resistance. Why should he? He was over six and a half feet tall and easily double her weight.

She gritted her teeth as he pushed her into a room like a suspect package that somebody was quickly trying to get rid of. Immediately, she adopted a defensive posture, arms up ready for combat. The Earthlings were already well known for their physical fighting prowess. However, the Xephon soldiers didn’t bother with such tactics despite superior physical strength. They had other skills to keep opponents at bay, such as mind taps. They weren’t supposed to use them on the Earth women unless they needed to protect themselves from physical harm. Kash had caused enough physical harm to her first two partners that she had experienced mind taps a few times. Would this next partner tap her into place, she wondered?

He was standing on the other side of the room with his hands behind his back, staring out the porthole at the stars. He turned around and looked at her, tall and imposing, any thoughts he was holding totally masked. Somewhere inside her, she let out a small sigh of relief that it wasn’t Chitra. Junner would have been okay, but it wasn’t him either.

“I know you are bad behaved,” Tinny said. “But here you will be good.” He tapped his head, indicating why.

“You’re not supposed to do that,” she said angrily.

“You have been made exempt of the rule because of your treatment of the others,” he answered.

She swallowed hard. Things didn’t look too good right now. At least not from where she was standing. It was one thing to tolerate him as a work colleague and fellow traveler, but quite another to be thrust at him as a potential mate.

“Sit.” He pointed at the couch in his tiny lounge.

Kash knew this was her first test. And she just had to test, because she wouldn’t be Kash if she didn’t. “No.”

Come on, let’s see what you will do now, Tinny.
She could feel her own will being bent to his almost immediately. Her stupid legs carried her over to the couch, bent at the knees and plunked her down onto it.
Holy asteroids!
He was much more powerful than Lunox or Tipha. She glared up at him, trying to stand up, but it felt like she had an elephant sitting in her lap. The only weapon she had left now was her voice. Or could he influence that, too?

“Is this fun for you?” she snapped.

“Not at all. But you set the tone.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean? She tried to stand up again, but the elephant still reclined in her lap. He came over and sat next to her, catching her chin in his hand and turning her face as if he might find something by examining her so closely. Anger leaped along her nerve pathways from her jaw where he was touching her to every other nerve cluster in her body. Her mind tempted her to twist free while her stupid body leaned into him as if the connection to her brain had snapped off at her neck.

“Only the young males were promised partners, due to the mismatch in numbers. It seems I have ended up wif one by default.”

“You sound about as pleased as I am,” she said snarkily to hide the stupid thud of her heart as her eyes slipped over his wide lips. She licked her own nervously, and his gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth for a moment, following the track of her sliding tongue. The focused intensity in his eyes made her traitorous heart lurch dangerously behind her ribs. Why was breathing suddenly a conscious act? Wasn’t it supposed to be unconscious?

“Oh, I am pleased.” His dark eyes narrowed slightly. “We could be stuck here forever, and my kind is not accustomed to facing a future without the prospect of a mate.”

Gods, why was his voice so low and deep and velvety and sliding down her spine like warmed syrup? It wasn’t right that a male could make her feel like that with just the sound of his damned voice. It was immoral. She signed through her nose, trying to gather her defenses around her.

“You should try singledom. It’s not so bad,” she quipped cheekily in an effort to hide her nerves. He raised a fine eyebrow at her comment, and for a heartbeat she thought she was going to drown in his eyes, be tugged away by the turquoise flecks and lost forever. She would have to say something smart now. Otherwise he would see the effect he was having on her.

“Like what you see?” she asked as her eyes slid sideways to witness his scrutiny of her.

* * * *

By Earth standards Tinny realized she was probably considered a stunning beauty, though she seemed oblivious to such notions. She had caused many of the males on the ship to almost literally fall at her feet. His comrades had commented on her lush figure, immaculate skin, thick, platinum-blonde hair to her hips, and sapphire-blue eyes which turned their heads wherever she went. However she clearly didn’t like the Xephons. He had heard her say to her own colleagues that they looked vampirish with their claws and fangs and narrow pointy ears, pitch eyes, and long hair always matted as if they’d never heard of combs before. He also had overheard on several occasions how she dropped comments about his kind appearing scruffy, intimidating and way too tall. They loved to wrestle and play fight amongst each other, hang about gaming or listen to overly loud music when they weren’t busy at work. He had to admit that some of her observances were true.

* * * *

Kash blinked as she sat under his scrutiny. He had to be well over six and a half feet in height, a considerable jump from her five seven. His hair was too damned long, just like his curved talons and bent fangs. And his near black eyes were just creepy. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking when she couldn’t see into them.

“Do you care if I like what I see?” He answered her question with one of his own, his eyes searching her face making her wonder if he could read her mind. The idea made panic leap through her like wildfire. She swallowed it down hard. “I don’t give a horse’s arse,” she replied smoothly.

“Hmmm, a potty mouth too I see.” He frowned and then gave her a mild look of disapproval. Even a frown didn’t mar his male perfection. Sparks of fire skittered along her skin everywhere his damned gaze fell on her. Well one could always fight fire with fire, couldn’t one?

She had a sudden idea as he sat gazing at her with his claws on her chin, an idea that she had half tested on Tipha. “Why don’t you kiss me?” she said silkily. She watched as his grave expression wavered slightly with surprise and shock. He hadn’t been expecting such a suggestion from her.

“I don’t like to kiss creatures that don’t like me,” he answered softly. His voice had dropped a little and become huskier than before. He must’ve gone without female contact for ages, so she was sure she had scored a hit where it hurt. Xephons didn’t have kissing in their culture, but since the Earth women had introduced them to it, they had become quite enthusiastic for the habit. It wasn’t hard to pass a couple somewhere on the ship getting in some kissing practice. But Tinny hadn’t touched an Earth woman yet. Was he curious?