The Challenge (10 page)

She didn’t attempt to fight him, not that it would have done any good. Apparently, she didn’t fear him, either, but seemed convinced she could make him see the error of his ways.

Kahn set her on her feet. “You would prefer—”

“Your touch to what the suit is doing to me. The suit is mechanical and leaves my heart cold. But then again, maybe you do not have such skills?”

She was baiting him! First she questioned his honor, then his courage, now she was daring him to touch her. He should be angry but found himself intrigued instead.

Since the moment he’d learned the Earthling would be a woman, Kahn had planned her psi training using sexual frustration as a key motivator, but according to the Federation manuals, he should have seen some sign of success in her first day wearing the suit. But she had yet to perform one psi function, not even a basic color change. Obviously, the suit’s manipulations weren’t causing the right kind of frustration.

Her response might make no sense to him, but failure mattered. If she couldn’t respond to the technology, but would react that way with him, then he needed to change tactics—even if he didn’t like the idea of making her training more personal.

She’d asked him to touch her, but until he understood her reasoning, he would not deviate from his instructions. Even if he did as she requested, she still would not get the release she wanted. That would not happen.

However, if she
thought
she might attain relief—and then did not—he might be able to finally boost her frustration level over the threshold needed to stimulate her psi abilities. The concept of deliberately misleading her, of giving her pleasure and then holding, back was cruel—but so was starvation.

Kahn wished he knew some other way to bring out her psi. He didn’t. It was one thing to program a suit to cause her discomfort, quite another to do so with his own hand. Yet, to succeed he might not have the luxury of keeping his distance. “Woman, you do not know what you ask.”

“I may be a virgin, but I am not ignorant. I know that I would find the touch of a man more pleasing than that of this sterile suit. However, if you are not interested, perhaps there is another man more willing?”

Her suggestion annoyed him. “There is no one else aboard this ship.”

Too late he realized that he hadn’t meant to reveal that information, and although she tried to hide her satisfaction in his unintentional revelation, his mistake was minor. The lack of a crew wasn’t classified knowledge but proved to him how susceptible he could be to her feminine wiles.

She smiled at him, a charming smile that nevertheless didn’t quite reach her eyes as she ran the tip of her finger over the opening in his vest, stroking the bared skin of his stomach. “Then I suppose I’ll have to settle for you.“

Settle? Another insult to push him into doing what she wished.

He grabbed her finger and gentled his voice. “Is my touch truly what you want?”

“Why?”

“Because you are asking me to break Rystani custom.”

“You belong to another?” She attempted to snatch back her hand.

“No.” He held her fast, marveling that she looked so cool when her pulse beat so quickly. “Because men do not touch virgins until they make them their wives.”

She shrugged a slender shoulder, and her enchanting breasts quivered. “Earth customs are different.”

“Yet you are a virgin. Why?”

She flushed, a pink hue rising from her graceful neck to her cheekbones. “That is none of your concern.”

“Everything about you is my concern.”

She stood and stared at him, saying nothing, refusing to answer. He couldn’t accuse her of insolence, but she was defiant in her bold refusal to say another word. She merely waited for him to respond as if she was in charge.

“Your behavior is unacceptable.”

“If you say so.“

How was he supposed to argue with her when she perversely agreed with him? “You need to adapt.”

She leaned forward, her eyes beckoning and lifted her lips to his. “On my world we have this saying when men and women argue.”

“What is this saying?”

“Shut up and kiss me.” She was smiling sexy now, reaching into his hair, massaging his scalp with her fingertips, tugging his head down until his lips brushed hers. Stars. She was a wonder of complications. A sexy virgin. Who would have thought?

He should raise his shields, but as she combed her fingers through his hair, creating delicious sensations, he hesitated, reluctant to break their kiss. When her back arched with feminine grace and those wonderful breasts brushed against his chest, a wild fire strafed his belly.

With the tip of her tongue delicately tracing his lips, she was upping the stimulation. He should be pleased by her incomprehensible behavior. Although he didn’t understand why she preferred his touch to the suit, the method didn’t matter—results did. But their discussion was not done. He didn’t understand why she would keep herself apart from men when that was not the custom of her world then offer herself to him as if her virginity meant nothing to her.

He pulled his mouth back an inch from hers. “You have not answered my question.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Now you want to talk? When we could be doing much more pleasant things?”

“I am a stranger to you.”

“And your point is?”

He frowned at her. “You aren’t thinking clearly.”

“No thanks to you. How can I think clearly when this suit won’t give me a moment’s peace?” She nestled against his chest. “Would I act like this on Earth? No. But as you so aptly pointed out, we are no longer on Earth.” She stroked his chest, enticingly. “This suit is driving me crazy, and you happen to be right here. Available.”

She should be begging him to stop the caresses, not encouraging him to do more, but then she probably figured if he touched her, she’d derive the ultimate satisfaction and relief from his touch—but he couldn’t go that far. Irritated by what she was asking him to do and yet admiring her courage, he snapped, “I like obedient women.”

“In that case, we have a problem.” She laughed, her silken palm rising under his vest, flattening his chest, tempting, tickling, taunting.

“You just told me you could adapt.”

She leaned her head back to look him in the eye, her expression both feminine and brazen. “What will obedience get me? My life back? My freedom?”

“You are not a slave or a prisoner.”

“Yeah, right.” She tossed a lock of hair over her shoulder. “But I’m not free to leave, either.”

“After you win the Challenge, you may return to Earth.”

“And if I lose?”

“You will die.” She needed to know the truth, and he spoke plainly, expecting her to at least cringe, but she simply shrugged away the danger.

“Well, there you go. You’ve given me one more reason to have sex. I may never get another chance to savor the experience.” He allowed her to tug his mouth back down to hers, but he saw the questions in her eyes and wasn’t surprised when she hesitated. “Will you tell me when the Challenge starts?”

“Yes.”

Tessa stared into his eyes, as if wondering whether she could believe him. The point seemed important to her, but Kahn didn’t know why. He realized that despite the bold front she portrayed, this Earth woman had concerns he might not have considered. For all she knew, the Challenge had begun the moment she’d traveled through time. At the moment, he had absolutely no idea what she was thinking.

FINALLY, KAHN decreased the stimulation in Tessa’s suit. After several minutes of diminished intensity, she’d recovered enough to concentrate better on his words, but focusing wasn’t easy.

Kahn folded his arms over his chest. “We have less than a month to train you for the Challenge. Our goal is for you to operate your suit and our machinery at the highest proficiency possible. Watch and do not be alarmed.”

Tessa blinked as the man went from seductive to businesslike. She’d thought he would accept her invitation for him to touch her without hesitation—but he wanted to talk about machinery. Kahn had picked a hell of a time to change the subject, and her elevated hormones were going nuts.

She fought those hormones by telling herself that her body had simply responded to the unwanted stimulation in a natural manner. She drew in deep breaths through her nose and forced air from her mouth in an attempt to clear her head.

Kahn opened a wall panel and again showed her the communications screen. “Beside the screen is a musical library and a holovision system for entertainment.”

“Okay.” She forced herself to listen even while her nerves endings demanded attention. At least her suit had stopped the nonsense, but she still tingled from the after effects.

And she couldn’t help noticing Kahn’s muscular body in a way she hadn’t before Dora’s suggestion. No longer could she assess his musculature only as that of an opponent. Now she saw his muscles as pleasing to the eye, his flesh satisfying to her touch, his lips gratifying her desire to be kissed.

A startling idea popped into her mind, unbidden and definitely unwanted. Suppose the suit wasn’t the only reason she’d wanted sex? What if neither her current life or death situation, nor her mission for Earth could account for her yearnings? Or worse—what if this mountain of a man with all his rules and customs and manipulation really turned her on?

The thought shook her so badly, she missed part of the conversation. She made herself listen by digging her nails into her palms.

“This entire room can be programmed to put you right in the middle of the entertainment, and you can take part in the vidstream if you like.”

Her mind bubbled at the possibilities. “You mean we could create a romantic island with lapping cerulean water and a powder sand beach?”

“Yes.”

The room around them seemed to vanish, and now ocean waves lapped at her feet as she stood under a hot red sun amid yellow foliage she didn’t recognize. The air smelled sharp, pungent, and she could have sworn the gravity had altered slightly, too. She bent, scooped some warm water into her hand, then flicked droplets at him. He frowned.

She rolled her eyes at the strange sun. While she had conflicting feelings about Kahn, she didn’t understand why he hadn’t accepted her invitation to touch her—especially after he’d reacted to her kiss. She’d seen the pulse throbbing in his neck and his pupils dilating, clearly indicating interest. But he’d pulled back.

Tessa gestured to their surroundings. “Why do I get the feeling that you aren’t setting the stage for a romantic encounter?”

“I’m not.”

So then why the hell had he aroused her? Sensing she was on to something important, but not sure exactly what, she demanded answers. “You mean I have to remain a virgin until after the Challenge is completed?”

He shook his head. “Your virginity no longer matters now that you have been chosen as your people’s candidate. I was talking about the need for you to focus on learning to use your psi to succeed during Challenge.”

What was she missing? She knew better than to ask direct questions and tried to come at the problem sideways. “Seems to me everything fun is forbidden. Masturbation. This holo technology.”

“On the contrary. I’m eager for you to put this expensive machinery to work. To employ it, you must develop your psi abilities.”

She noted how he ignored her comments. “What else does it do?”

Exercise equipment unfolded from the wall, revealing a running machine, a high-level holographic opponent ready to spar, and a simple weight bench. “The hologram you see can be programmed for different skill levels and styles of fighting.”

“Now that could be useful. A partner who isn’t afraid of me.”

He ignored her double entendre. “Unless you learn to use your suit, your fist can’t even touch someone,” he reminded her. “The third
bendar
wall consists of a complete kitchen facility with cooking, freezing, and preparation machinery. Are you ready to eat?”

She turned to the one remaining blank wall, curiosity burning away some of her frustration. “What’s that?”

He changed the shimmering gray
bendar
to a transparent portal, and she gasped at the spectacular sight of her solar system. She knew Kahn was preparing their food, but she couldn’t take her gaze from the stars. Earth was already so small it appeared a tiny star in the solar system, but she sought out the planet with a hunger, loneliness, and sadness. This might be her final goodbye, and yet some of her grief was lifting. Kahn had shown her gadgets from his Federation that appealed to her sense of adventure. She itched to try out the fighting holo-machine, the exercise equipment, and the vidscreens, but at the same time she longed for a comforting cup of coffee.

Kahn made a table rise out of the floor, complete with some hot food. “Come, you will eat.”

Still unaccustomed to his speech patterns which made everything he said sound like an order, she refrained from sarcasm. Clearly, he had a difficult job, and the tension in his stance told her he wasn’t pleased with her progress, yet he had turned off the damn suit stimulation.

Although her body was no longer screaming for her to jump his bones, she hadn’t totally shut down, either. She was too aware of the tension simmering between them. He hadn’t forgotten that she’d asked him to touch her. She saw questions in his eyes every time he looked at her.

She joined him at the table where he’d arranged his suit to hold him in a position where he sat on air. The sight looked odd to her, almost silly, but she realized that in his world where there was no need for chairs, she was the anomaly.

“You will stand until you learn to operate your suit.”