Alien Intent (Captured by Aliens Book 3) (7 page)

Dar sat
up on the couch. She found herself fascinated by the reactions of his muscles,
one by one, as he moved with fluid grace swinging his legs to the floor and
standing. He crossed the floor, stopping on the other side of the couch and
leaning a hip against it. He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Thank you. You are right. It is wrong for me to not come forward with my
feelings. To insinuate. You deserve more respect than that. I do want you,
Jasmine. It is all I can do to resist crossing this space and taking you into
my arms and showing you just how much I want to please you. Go back upstairs.
Get into bed. Leave if you don’t want to find out right now that I mean every
word I say.”

The wind
gushed from her lungs in a shocked gasp. She backed up a step; felt the
bannister hit her in the backside. His eyes gleamed, glittering with lust. She
wasn’t sure if it was his carefully constructed announcement or the tone of his
voice when he’d said it, but she believed every word he said and it sent a
thrill racing through her. If that wasn’t enough to convince her she’d lost her
ever-loving mind, she didn’t know what could.

“I’ll
give you one more chance to go upstairs and bar the door from me. All it takes
is one word from you, and I’ll join you tonight—yes.” He stepped forward,
closing the distance between them and sucking all the oxygen out of the room.
Her heart pounded. Blood throbbed in her temples. She couldn’t look away from
his face—felt mesmerized by his eyes as he slowly approached his prey. “You
aren’t running. You aren’t trying to escape. Could it mean you want me as much
as I want you? You tempt me to do things I should not, Jasmine.”

He
stopped again—close. Too close to evade. She willed her legs to move, but
curiosity and intrigue kept her rooted to the spot. He grabbed her hand,
bringing it up to his mouth to kiss her fingertips. His mouth branded her skin
like fire. She licked her lips, trying to remember the last time she’d been
kissed by someone that made her body respond like this—and came up empty.

Rubbing
a thumb in her palm, he held her gaze with his heavy lidded eyes. “Just say you
want me, and I’m yours, Jasmine. Say yes.”

She
shook her head, pulling her hand free of his and immediately feeling better.
“No. I don’t. I just wanted to apologize.”

He
smiled slowly, looking so much like a cat toying with a mouse. “You will. It is
only a matter of time. Run away, Jasmine. Go upstairs where you are safe. For
now.”

Jasmine
slammed the door shut and collapsed with her back against it, holding her chest
and gulping air to calm the fuck down. “Jesus H. Christ,” she said, trying to
control her shuddering response. “What the hell just happened? Did someone slip
him some Spanish Fly?” she wondered aloud. Her legs felt like jelly, and it
wasn’t from running up the stairs like the hounds of hell were after her. Hell,
she was surprised her thighs weren’t quivering like some bad purple prose.

How an
apology had erupted into a near miss with a
sexplosion
, she had no idea.
She realized her clit throbbed with need and her slit was wet from his sensual
threat. That bastard had just kissed her fingertips, and she was halfway to
falling into bed with him.

She
tried to list her reasons for abstaining from sex. The biggest one was she
didn’t want to end up pregnant. It would be just like him to have a potent load
ready to impregnate her with triplets. She shuddered.

“I’m a
fucking idiot, tempting fate like that,” she muttered to herself. She continued
shaking and couldn’t seem to stop. He’d totally taken control of that
situation. And could she have reacted any hornier? If he’d tried to kiss her,
she probably would have melted into him and done anything he wanted. She was
disgusted with how easily she’d been aroused.
Stupid
.
Stupid, stupid,
stupid
.

Jasmine
locked the door and jiggled the handle, making sure he couldn’t come through without
making a warning noise. Satisfied, she threw herself into the bed, wrapping up
tightly in the blanket. If she’d thought she’d get a good night’s sleep by
making amends with Dar, she couldn’t have been more wrong, for he invaded her
dreams in much more disturbing ways than she cared to admit.

***

Samara
found Cyndy in the main gathering room. “Have you seen Jasmine? I’ve been
looking for her all day. She didn’t come in last night. I thought she was with
Mai, but I found her wrapped up with one of the guards. She hadn’t seen Jasmine
either, though she probably hadn’t seen
anything
past sucking that guy’s
face. He is so fired when his boss finds out.”

Cyndy
looked up and blinked, her face frozen and hiding something. “Oh. Well…not
today. Good for Mai though. That’s awesome.”

Samara
plopped onto the pillow pile right beside Cyndy. “What gives? Don’t even try to
lie. I know you’re hiding something. You ain’t never been able to hide the
truth from me. Not with that face.”

Cyndy
sighed and twirled a strand of her silky dark hair between her fingers. “She
went out. On tour. With that Captain guy. What’shisname—Dar Tagnon.”

Samara
screwed up her face. “I thought she hated him? Or at least didn’t like him. Why
didn’t she tell me she was going?”

Cyndy
twisted the strand around her finger, released it, and started again. It was a
nervous habit of hers they all knew well. “I guess she didn’t want to give you
a chance to stop her.”

Huffing,
Samara crossed her arms over her chest. “She’s right. I would have. She say why
she had a sudden change of heart?”

Shrugging,
Cyndy said, “Guess we’ll have to wait and ask her that. She’s supposed to be
back today. Maybe we should start worrying he took her off and dumped her
somewhere so he didn’t have to deal with the headache. She did say she wanted
to explore our new home.”

“I heard
that too, but I thought she meant the city. That girl’s insane, going off with
a stranger in an alien world. I don’t like it. I say let’s go find where this
Captain Tagnon is stationed and check up on him. Surely he’s got to report to
someone of higher rank. It’s almost lunch time and my cousin’s been gone twenty-four
hours. I’m not waiting until they drag back a dead body. There’s got to be some
protocol in place!”

“Let’s
ask the guards here. We’re not prisoners, right?” Cyndy asked, getting to her
feet with her friend.

“I’m not
above ordering one of them to show me headquarters,” Samara said, leading the
way out of the extensive quarters and into the marbled hallway that lead past
lush, exotic gardens. Beside a double set of metal doors stood their victim,
garbed in a high collared black uniform. He held a silver staff with prongs on
one end. It reminded her vaguely of a cattle prod, and irritated her with the
idea that she and the other women were merely chattel in this place.

“You,”
she said, pointing at the guard. His eyes widened.

“Yes,
madam?” he said.

“What’s
your name?” Samara asked, feeling Cyndy quietly standing behind her backing her
up. Two against one was better odds in any situation, even a verbal attack if
he chose to resist.

He
cleared his throat. “I am called Grail Arkane.”

She
grinned, batting her lashes. “I’m Samara. This is Cyndy. I’m glad you’re not
one of those stuffy soldiers that’s all rigid and proper about procedure. We
need your help. I need to know where Captain Tagnon is stationed. It’s
important, so don’t think about not answering. We have ways of making you talk.”
She giggled, hoping he thought her jokes were funny enough to get the stick out
of his butt.

Cyndy
elbowed her ribs.

Grail
looked torn about giving her the information, but finally relented with her
most stunning smile. “He is usually at the zhala stables. On the edge of the
city. It is unwise to travel there alone, however.”

“Why is
that?” she asked.

“As
females, you are precious and rare—highly sought after,” he said, measuring his
words.

She
refrained from narrowing her eyes at him in a sour face that would set up his
guard again, but his careful wording gave her pause. Desperate men could be dangerous,
and it made her worry even more for Jasmine. She had to trust that no one would
harm her. These people needed them alive and willing, right?

Cyndy
twirled her hair, eyeing him up and down like a choice piece of beef. “Perhaps,
since you’ve been so helpful, you could get special permission to escort us.
Princess Adrienne said we had run of the palace and city. We would love to see
the zhala and other sights with a handsome guard like yourself.”

He nodded,
his eyes slightly glazed as he looked down at her. “I can call it in.”

***

“Sleep
well?” Dar asked as she came down the stairs. The fire had burned down to ashes,
and he sat at the table, munching on nuts.

“Wonderfully,”
she lied, going to the sink to wash her face.

“Better
than I did, I’m sure. I had a stiff leg. Kept me up all night.” He made a
pained face and rubbed his upper thigh.

She
snorted, rolling her eyes. “Funny.”

“I try.”

“I’ll
have to remember you’re a bundle of sunshine in the morning. I need a coffee.”
She yawned, settling for water, fruit, and nuts. At least she wasn’t hungry.

“I’m
afraid I’m all out of stimulants. Unless—”

She put
up a hand. “No. Don’t start that.”

He
looked wide-eyed and innocent. “What?”

She
cocked her head. “Your flirting—if that’s what we’re going to call it. I’d
swear you were southern if I didn’t know better. Maybe ladling it on thick is
just a man thing.”

Dar
clutched his chest, wounded by her sarcasm. “I could cease trying to win your
favor as I could cease breathing.” He looked sincere when he said it, which
made her want to laugh and hit him at the same time.

“I’m on
overload right now. Still trying to decide if I believe any of it—the serious
tone and the corny love gushing. I think the more you’re around me, the less
you’ll be inclined to win my favors.”

“I am
not so easily dissuaded by mere words.”

Jasmine
laughed. “I’ve got action to back them up. My bite is as sharp as my bark.”

“Your
Earth language evades me,” he said with a frown.

“I
noticed. It is kind of cute how clueless you are at times.” She smirked and
finished her breakfast.

He
waggled his eyebrows and she choked on a sip of water. “I grow on you.”

This
only made her laugh harder. “If you don’t stop I will never finish. What’s the
plan for today?”

He
shrugged. “I’ve taken stock of our supplies. I have my gun and the zhala call.
I’ve also found some canisters for water, two bags, a firestick…” He pulled the
stick from the front of the bag and clicked it, showing her the flame. “…and
packed up fresh fruit and nuts. Change of clothes for us too, though they might
be ill fitting for you. As soon as you’re ready we can leave. We can follow the
river down to the generator mill and possibly find a communicator. Most of the
valuables here are gone. I woke early and looked.”

“Let’s
go then. I’m ready for civilization again.”

Dar led
the way outside the house, shouldering the weight of the heavier bag while she
carried one container of water, a blanket, and the clothing. It was early yet,
and she watched as he looked up at the sun, arching his neck in an alluring
angle that normally would have her tracing her fingers down the column of his
throat. What was it about the dark shadow of hair bristles on a man’s jaw that
looked so sexy? She’d always been a sucker for a bit of scruff.

“It is
not difficult travel, as you can see,” he said, pointing to where the road
wound down the rolling hills through the trees. “The road was maintained for
ore pickup for years before the mine and town were abandoned. They still come
through and occasionally fight the wild from taking back her terrain.”

Jasmine
nodded, walking beside him along the wide, smooth road. As the day wore on and
they descended the higher altitude, the air grew humid and warm. “You seem to
know the area.”

“My
mother’s parents lived here. She had the good fortune to marry up—my father was
a king’s guard and passed that heritage to me. If she’d married someone from
the village, I most likely would have spent my days breaking my back in the
mines.”

“Another
reason to love the new king, right? For giving you all your freedom?” she
asked.

Dar slid
a glance her way. “He is not loved, nor probably ever will be. He’ll spend the
rest of his reign continuing to make up for the harm he’s done our people. We
support him because it is his birthright. You cannot overlook the genocide of
our women and forgive so easily. We all live under the shadow of doom.”

She took
a deep breath, remembering the flood of pain and loss of her own. She nearly
drowned in it before, and she could empathize with these people. “That’s
depressing.”

“Depressing
cannot begin to describe our hopelessness for so long.”

She felt
the need to offer him comfort and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. I wish I knew
something to say. I’m not that wise or eloquent.”

He put
his hand over hers, and it was warm. Her fingers tingled with awareness and she
felt his hooded look touch her heart. It was difficult to recognize pain and be
unable to ease suffering. Loss was a commonality between them. “My parents are
gone. Samara’s too. They were vacationing together and died in a car accident.
It was so sudden and awful. I just never thought something like that could
happen. I still think about them almost every day. Some things you learn to
accept, even if you never get over them.”

They’d
slowed their walk to a snail’s pace. He stopped and looked at her. “You have a
kind heart.”

“Yeah. A
little. It’s hard to tell since I spend most of my time chewing people to
pieces,” she said quietly.

He shook
his head. “You’re defensive. It’s understandable considering what’s happened.
Here,” he said, stopping to pull aside the brush from the side of the road.
“Time to take a detour.”

She eyed
him dubiously. “Why don’t we just follow the main road? I don’t want to get
lost in the woods.”

Dar held
his hand out, waiting for her to take it. “Trust me. This is better. It’s a
surprise I wanted to show you. Just about the right time of year, I think.”

Hesitantly,
she took his hand and ducked under low hanging branches. As she did, she saw
that they were on something like a game trail. Grasses parted for a well-worn
path. The ground sharply descended. The river babbled noisily in the distance
ahead, and a breeze rattled the grasses brushing against her legs.

“I don’t
see what’s so special…” she said, noticing tiny purple petals on the ground on
top of trampled brown grass.

Dar
pulled her forward until she was in front of him and could see a trail of deep
violet blooms covering the ground like confetti. Above, the treetops
intertwined with one another, forming a tunnel of fragrant green berries and
more flowers. A heavenly, sweet smell permeated the air. She breathed deeply,
walking slowly through the living tunnel.

“Wow,”
she said quietly, looking around as she strolled. “It’s beautiful.”

“They
aren’t ripe yet. They’ll turn a dark blue when they’re ready. I thought you
would like it. I used to spend my summers down here, eating berries and
swimming. The mill is just over this hill. Hear the river talking to us?”