“You were not doing a very good job of it.”
“Says the alien abductor who introduced himself by killing a man in front of me.”
“I was protecting my mate by destroying her attacker.”
“And that’s another thing—this mate business. What kind of backward-ass world allows men to just show up and announce that some woman is now his mate? I’m not your mate. That’s a disgusting word, anyway. I am more than just some sort of baby-making factory.”
“Not my mate? Let’s check that.” I tilted my head up toward the receivers and strolled around the room. “Computer? Explain how Nora got control of your systems.”
A recording of Nora’s voice began playing back through the announcement system. “Please verify that I am Nora Marlin, mate of Commander Lutro Dax.”
“Computer,” Nora said mildly, “shut up.”
The computer fell silent.
Wait. That wasn’t supposed to happen. She’s not supposed to be able to control the computer.
“Computer, please continue,” I ordered.
The computer stayed silent.
Oh, flark. Something was terribly wrong.
“And furthermore,” Nora began, still in fighting mode.
“Hush,” I told her.
“Don’t shush me.”
“Computer, where are the Karlaxon warriors?”
When Nora realized what I was asking, she too fell silent.
“The Karlaxon warriors are amassing in the cargo hold.”
“Flark, flark, flark. We are both idiots.” I rubbed one palm over my eyes. “Computer, prepare to complete the following steps in rapid succession. Open the cargo hold to space, pull away from the airlock walkway to the Karlaxon battleship, and move into immediate hyperdrive. Codename Dump and Jump.”
Ripping away from the Karlaxon warship and straight into hyperspace could very well leave both ships damaged, but it was our best way out. Perhaps our only way.
“Strap in, this is going to be a bumpy ride,” I ordered Nora. Her jaw clenched, but she followed my instructions.
“Preparing for hyperjump.” The computer’s voice regained some of its usual equanimity. A few seconds later, it continued. “Ready to execute Operation Dump and Jump.”
I glanced over at Nora to make sure she was as prepared she can be. “Ready?”
She gave a tense nod.
“Computer, commence Operation Dump and Jump.”
I could almost feel Nora rolling her eyes at the name.
“Operation Dump and Jump commencing in three, two, one…”
The ship shuddered, and I felt it tearing away from the connection the Karlaxons had made between the two ships. At the same moment, it jumped into hyperspace.
This jump seemed to take longer than usual, the vision-bending effects roiling my stomach even after all the hyperjumps I had made in my career.
We came out of the jump into a completely empty area, the nearest stars twinkling as tiny lights so far away I could barely make them out.
My hands danced over the nav control panel as I brought up star chart readings to verify our position. I couldn’t find it. “Computer, where are we?” I asked.
There was a long silence as the computer worked to come up with an answer, and I kept trying to match our location with known star charts.
“Uncertain,” the computer finally said.
Uncertain? What the hell does that mean?
“Computer, verify.” I glanced over at Nora, who had turned a peculiar shade of pale green and was clutching the armrests of the chair she occupied.
“Verified,” the computer said. “We are currently located in no known part of the universe.”
I slammed my hand down on the console in front of me and cursed. Then I shoved it out of my way and stood up. Turning to Nora, I grabbed her by the upper arm and dragged her out of her chair, planning to explain to her exactly how the predicament we now found ourselves in was completely her fault.
Instead, when I touched her, the mate-bond of my people flared to life, allowing me to feel everything she felt in that instant.
The top layers of her emotions were full of anger bubbling up against me. Her rage popped like tiny bubbles in an effervescent drink, fizzing through the bond.
In the next layer down, I felt a swirl of other emotions. Fear—absolute terror, actually.
Attraction, drawing her toward me.
And below that, sadness and loneliness, a deep well that colored everything else.
That last emotion awoke my protective instinct.
Mine, my inner beast growled. Mine to protect.
With a frustrated snarl, I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her and pressing my lips to hers in the most ancient of mate-bindings. With my mouth, I claimed her as I kissed her, capturing her tongue with my own, holding her steady as she melted in my arms, her body conforming to mine. My cock hardened at the feel of her in my arms, and she moaned into my mouth as it pressed against hers.
When I finally pulled away, we were both breathing hard.
“Commander,” the computer spoke into the silence of our heaving breaths. “There’s a problem.”
“What is it?” I asked impatiently.
“This woman is not your mate.”
Chapter Eleven
Nora
Dax’s kiss worked on me like a drug, leaving me aching and wanting more.
When he dragged me out of my chair, I had half expected him to toss me out the nearest airlock. The last thing I anticipated was for him to pull me up against him and kiss me senseless.
The computer announcing that I was not his mate made my head spin even more.
When he kissed me, I was certain I felt emotions actually coming from him. Frustration, anger, and a deep, longing desire like nothing I had ever felt before.
As we stared at each other after the computer’s announcement, all I could really think about was how much I wanted him to kiss me again. My lips felt almost bruised from the intensity of that first kiss.
“What do you mean, she is not my mate?” Dax didn’t loosen his hold on me as he queried the computer.
If nothing else, at least that kiss had apparently ended our argument.
A surge of amusement flew through me, and Dax gave me a confused look, almost as if he wanted to ask what was so funny.
But if
