The Challenge (17 page)

She gently touched the swelling and winced. “I’ll live. But what happened?”

“I hit you. Then you smashed into the bulkhead.”

“Before that?” she demanded with exasperation. “I attacked you, but with a force . . . that shot me across the room like a cannon ball.”

He grinned. “You did it.” Then he kissed her forehead, relieved she would be okay, happy that she’d finally succeeded.

“I did what?”

He kissed her cheek. “You used your psi power.”

She jumped off his lap and paced, totally ignoring her injuries. Tessa acted as if the pain was inconsequential. He would have thought she was fine, except he could see the swelling above her ear and the blood trickling down her face before the suit absorbed it.

“I have psi power.” Her voice raised an octave in wonder. “I never really believed you.”

“If you hadn’t taken me by surprise . . . I would have not hurt you.”

“I understand.”

How could she be so casual about his negligence? He could have killed her. She must not comprehend the gravity of what he’d done. “After you launched that attack, I reacted instinctively, I should never have—”

“Look, you defended yourself. It’s not a problem.”

“
It isn’t
?” He would never understand her. She caused this huge fuss over his stopping before she reached sexual completion, yet when he’d raised his fist to her, she acted as if he’d simply tripped and bumped her.

She stopped pacing and placed her hands on her hips. “Kahn, how did I activate my psi?”

“You tell me,” he challenged her. Proud of Tessa for going straight to the most important detail, he restrained a grin.

She shook her head as if recalling a terrible moment. “I don’t want to go there again.”

“You must.” At the dark look on her face, he tempered his demand. “But if you wish to rest or wait until you heal—”

“I’m fine.”

She wasn’t fine. The skin around her eye was bruising. Tomorrow, she would no doubt sport an ugly bruise. Every time he looked at her, he would remember his shame.

She gestured for him to rise to his feet. “I want to try that maneuver again.”

His lower jaw dropped. “What did you say?”

“I want to attack you again.”

“No.”

“Look. This time you’ll be prepared. This time you won’t hurt me.”

“This is not the way we train females.”

“Yeah, well,
your
method didn’t work, did it?” She looked as if she wanted to say something, hesitated, then took a deep breath. “Exactly how do you train men candidates?”

“With combat.”

“Well, duh. Did you ever think that combat might work for me?”

She stared at him as if he was the most stupid man in the universe, waiting for an answer. Tense, balanced on the balls of her feet, her hands loose, she looked ready for action.

“You have no idea what you’re suggesting. I can’t believe you’d even think such a thing. On Rystan men don’t battle women, they protect them.”

“I’d rather go to war than have you keep ‘protecting’ me,” she sneered.

“You have no cuts, bruises, or broken bones.”

“Those are acceptable risks. And much better than torture.”

No, what she asked was unthinkable—except that her outrageous suggestion might be the only way to train her for the Challenge.

She fisted her hands on her hips. “I shouldn’t be the only one expected to make adjustments. Perhaps you should reconsider.”

Perhaps he should. Yet, no matter how much yielding to her suggestion went against his Rystani customs, winning the Challenge had to take precedence, didn’t it?

He needed more time to come to a decision. “We will talk no more about your training for now. Today is our wedding day. You must learn our customs and what a Rystani man expects of his obedient wife.”

She sputtered. “Excuse me. I’m more interested in—”

“Rystani wives don’t argue with their husbands.”

“Really? If the other men are like you, I find that impossible to believe.”

He stood, placed his hands on her waist, and lifted her until her eyes were on the same level with his. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She chuckled, a deep rumbling laugh that made him want to shake her. Had the knot on her head made her lose her sense of reason?

When she finally stopped laughing, she cocked one haughty eyebrow. “Do good Rystani wives cook?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t know how.”

He set her back on her feet and loomed over her, trying hard to forget the delicious meals Lael had once prepared for him and how she’d enjoyed his praise of her cooking. “You will learn to cook. In fact it’s your job to prepare a wedding feast for us.”

“Nor do I know how to clean. Or sew. Or take care of children. I am not good-wife material any more than you are good-husband material.”

“Lael never had any complaints,” he muttered, thinking that he’d never have thought he would be so happy to hear Tessa insult him again. Relief that he hadn’t caused real damage must be blindsiding him to his fate of having to put up with her for a lifetime.

“Lael?” Tessa’s eyes narrowed.

“My wife. An Endekian killed her.”

“I’m sorry,” she told him, her tone sincere. “Do you have children?”

He shook his head, his throat clogged with grief that wasn’t quite as thick as it had been before he’d met Tessa. He recalled her words that no one would replace Mike in her heart but that she was sure she could love again. Sometimes she seemed so wise and well balanced. However, he’d never wanted to care again. Caring caused pain, and he’d certainly had enough loss in his lifetime. But then so had she, and he marveled at her courage.

Tessa must have seen the torment in his eyes. “Didn’t you once tell me that if a Rystani’s mate died, another would be found?”

“I refused. As leader of my people, I had enough to worry about. I didn’t intend to remarry.”

“You can still change your mind.”

“No, I can’t. I can’t let you die for stealing the spaceship—not when it was my fault that you escaped. Not after you’ve proven you have psi ability that might allow you to win the Challenge.”

“Kahn, you deserve a wife who will be proud to keep your home and raise your children. I’m sorry that you’re stuck with me because I’m so obviously unqualified. Perhaps after the Challenge is done, we can go our separate ways.”

“You will adjust. Don’t think to fight me on this, woman. Life on Rystan is hard enough without a man coming home to strife. Since we must make this sacrifice of marriage and since we will live in my world, the least you can do is adapt to our customs.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to live on Earth? The air might not be fit to breathe but at least there’s enough food.”

“My people need me. And you have no ties on Earth.

She hesitated, then words burst out of her as if she couldn’t keep them inside. “If we wed, I also want something in return.”

He would make no concessions. Didn’t she yet understand that the winning the Challenge came before their own preferences? “You will do as I say.”

“Wouldn’t you rather I was willing?”

Yes
, and admitting so would give her negotiating powers. Yet his silence seemed to tell her what she wanted to know.

She bit her bottom lip, then raised her eyes to his. “I’ll agree to follow your customs as well as I’m able. In return, you train me for the Challenge as you would a man.”

Such an important decision could not be made without much thought. “I will consider your request.”

Her eyes darkened. “I understand that to you hitting a woman is unacceptable. But torturing me sexually is fine and dandy?”

He glared at her, wishing he could explain that his behavior was no more acceptable to him than to her. “I would never treat a Rystani woman that way.”

“But since I’m not Rystani, it’s okay?”

“The necessity of winning the Challenge changes the rules of acceptable behavior.”

“Not in my mind.” She shook her head. “The ends don’t justify the means.”

He couldn’t argue his reasons for his actions without explaining more than he should. And for now, it would not hurt her to believe that she had to obey him or suffer consequences she wouldn’t like. “You will abide by Rystani marriage laws.”

Stubborn as a warrior, Tessa wouldn’t give up, and she shot him a saucy grin. “What would you say to a little bet?”

He deliberately looked her up and down, knowing her nudity bothered her and needing to prove a point—that she couldn’t manipulate him. Winning the Challenge was simply too critical to too many people for him to let her think she could do what she pleased. “I will take what I want. You have nothing to wager.”

“Actually, I do. Wouldn’t you prefer to have my cooperation?”

“I’ll have that either way.”

“You said life was hard on your planet. You don’t want strife. Do you really want to spend the rest of our lives fighting one another?” He didn’t appreciate her using his own words against him. When he didn’t answer, she continued, “Must I remind you that for me to win the Challenge and save your people that you need my cooperation? I’m willing to bet that I can defeat you in unarmed combat—if you don’t use your suit.”

“You wouldn’t know if I used it or not.” As abhorrent as he found her suggestion, in truth, he was actually considering her request. He couldn’t ignore that she hadn’t responded at all to the sexual frustration or that her first use of psi had been an attack. She wasn’t Rystani, she was from Earth, and he should have taken her background into account sooner.

“Your honor would forbid you from cheating. I’ll trust you to be true to your word. And if I defeat you, you’ll train me as a man.”

Still undecided, he asked, “And if you lose?”

She spoke boldly. “If I lose—we’ll do everything your way—and with my full participation.”

As if knowing that he couldn’t make up his mind on the matter, she eyed him with a distinct twinkle in her eyes. “I’m sure a man of your enormous fighting abilities can subdue little ole me without throwing a punch.”

True
. He could wrestle her to the floor and pin her with his weight. Or he could use
mai-slan-hi
against her joints. Perhaps a gentle wrist twist to put her on her knees. He could defeat her without striking her, yet it bothered him that she seemed to know he could do so, and yet she’d still asked to make this strange bet anyway.

“I agree.” With a psi thought he lowered the dais until it once again became part of the deck, leaving them a wide, flat surface and nothing to trip over or run into. Then he deactivated his suit.

She widened her stance and raised her hands in a defensive gesture. “Shall we begin?”