Desperate Measures (17 page)

It was as if it was something normal to them. Not all of the families reacted that way, but I don‟t

think I could ever take the disappearance of someone I loved that casually.” She shook her head

as she recalled the matter-of-fact responses of some of the people. They‟d seemed numb to the

fear and horror of having a loved one simply disappear.

“Are there any other reasons why you think Everett couldn‟t be behind it?” His eyes ran

over her.

Heat sizzled over her as his eyes drifted lower even though that look wasn‟t overtly

sexual. It really wasn‟t time to be thinking like this, but just looking at him sometimes made her

mind wander. It wasn‟t that he was handsome, even though he was. He drew her and she wanted

to get close to him. Not only for sex, but to get to know him. She pulled in a deep breath and

forced her thoughts back to the present.

“I just want to remind you of one thing. It took us months to get to even the minor players

in that group. We had a few clues about where to look thanks to a few officials on Deveae. Do

you think Everett had even that much information considering how quiet the officials keep this

crime?” She tilted her head. If what she‟d said hadn‟t convinced him only solid proof would do

it.

“I can understand part of your reasons behind your belief. I‟m concerned by his

continued presence on the planet and we‟re not going to stop looking into that.” He frowned and

leaned back in his chair. “We‟ll still need you and the others to check for known associates at

times. You‟ve voiced your concerns. Go find something to do. You‟re not on duty now and I‟m

sure you have other things to do than looking over our shoulders.”

The tone and the way he immediately turned his attention back to the screen in front of

him said that was an order he expected to be followed. Her eyes narrowed and her vision

funneled down to just him. She had to fight the urge to stalk over to him and take a swing at him.

She did walk over to him, but only after she‟d taken a few deep breaths and calmed down a little.

She stopped in front of him.

“Stick to ordering your people around, Captain Drevan. I‟m not one of them. You‟re a

client and we‟re here to search for your crew member. Just don‟t get in our way or delay us with

your stubborn blindness. While you‟re doing your looking, you might want to figure out where

he is planning to target you if he does take the chance and come at you here.” She whipped

around and left before he could say another word. If he came out with another one of those

orders or said something condescending, she would hit him.

* * * * *

“You‟re falling for him, aren‟t you?” Gianna asked.

Raine looked up and found her friends staring at her. They had all gathered in one of the

rooms and most of them sat on the beds talking, but Krissa and Deanna had each taken one of the

chairs. Deanna had her feet propped on the end of the bed. It was the first time they had been all

together since they‟d arrived on the ship. The men were watching the search programs now since

they were doing routine searches. If anything happened, the men would call. It was good to be

together, but she couldn‟t get her mind off Connal.

It was a hard question to answer. In some ways, she was drawn to him and wanted to

know everything about him, but in others, she couldn‟t wait to get as far away from him as

possible. She didn‟t have an answer for her friend. Confused and still angry over the scene earlier

today, she shrugged. Hell, she hadn‟t even seen him since she‟d walked out of the conference

room. She didn‟t know how he‟d taken her words or what he felt.

“You‟re not getting away with that, Raine. Talk. When you two get near each other, it‟s

impossible to miss the attraction between you. It rolls off both of you in waves.” Gianna moved

over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“I don‟t know what I feel, other than a little panic.” Raine shook her head and wrapped

her arms around one of her bent legs as she leaned back against the wall.

“Because you‟re afraid or because of something else?” Nara asked. She had parts of a

little handheld comp spread out in front of her, but Raine knew that she‟d heard and noticed

everything that went on around her.

She grimaced. In a way, she didn‟t want to get too deep into that, but she knew she had to

face it. The panic and the fear weren‟t going away on their own.

“I am afraid, but there is more to it. I don‟t know if I trust my judgment when it comes to

him. The pull is so strong. It‟s not the sex that scares me. If that was all it was, I wouldn‟t worry about anything. It‟s my feelings.” Raine took a deep breath, but even talking about it wasn‟t

helping much.

“You feel like you can trust him, but your mind tells you that you can‟t trust him because

he‟s part of a pack. In your case, he leads the whole freaking thing,” Gianna said quietly.

Raine looked at her friend. She‟d been so wrapped up with her own anxiety that she

hadn‟t realized that Gianna was in much the same situation with Terrell, one of the engineers on

the ship. The man had been almost as intent in his pursuit as Connal had been.

Raine nodded. “The conflict is wrenching and I hate the feeling. Part of me is almost

frozen by the choices. If I make the wrong decision, it could ruin everything. There‟s a part of

me that thinks that if I do nothing, I could miss something special. Then there‟s the part that

thinks that‟s insane and that letting him close will just lead to pain and disappointment, but I

want to savor every moment I have with him.”

“Sounds like more than attraction, Raine.” Deanna‟s voice was quiet and steady. “It

sounds like you‟re beginning to love him.”

Raine swallowed hard. “His kind doesn‟t do love. He‟s very in tune with the
Feiral

within. He‟ll want his biological mate and nothing less. Feelings for another woman won‟t stop

him from claiming the woman who‟s his true mate. I can‟t discover if he‟s my mate unless I get

the drug out of my system and by that time it would be too late, he‟d know and he wouldn‟t ever

let us out of his sight. That‟s not even taking into account the fact that I‟d be revealing your

secrets too. I won‟t do that.”

“I don‟t want to do the big reveal myself,” Gianna volunteered. “I feel like such a wimp

for simply letting things continue as they are.”

“Yeah, you want to do something, but you don‟t know what to do that won‟t either reveal

everything we‟re still hiding or completely push him away. I don‟t want to do either of those.”

Raine felt a little better at Gianna‟s admission. Simply knowing she wasn‟t the only one who felt

lost gave her some comfort. She still needed answers though. Letting the situation remain as it

was would be almost as bad as either of the extremes.

“Well, both solutions would be a little drastic at this point, but you could steal something

of theirs to take with us when we leave so that you‟ll know for sure one way or the other. I know

it doesn‟t give you any clue about what to do now.” Krissa brushed her hair back over her

shoulder as she came to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Stealing a piece of clothing wouldn‟t be as easy as it sounds. And how would I explain it

if I was caught? I don‟t even have a small bag to carry so I could stash it. I‟d have to tuck it

under my own clothes and could easily be caught.” Gianna laughed, but there was little humor in

the sound.

“And I‟m pretty sure that it wouldn‟t take Connal much time to decipher why I‟d be

trying to smuggle out a small piece of his clothing. He‟s not stupid and he has a strong suspicion

that we‟re shifter already. If he caught me, he‟d be fairly certain what I was.” Raine shook her

head, but the idea had been planted and she couldn‟t stop thinking about it. Once they were away

from the ship and the men, she‟d know for sure if she was walking away from her mate if she

could do it. She wasn‟t sure what she‟d do about it if she did find out he was her mate. There was

still the fact that he was part of a pack.

“Now are we going to spend all night in here and let Connal think that you‟re sulking or

are we going out and have as much fun as we can on this ship?” Nara finished putting the last

few pieces of the small device back together.

“I am not sulking. I‟m angry, but we can go do something. It‟s almost time to eat. Let‟s

start with that and then we can decide what else we want to do.” Raine shook her head at her

friend. She knew what Nara was trying to do. The woman wanted to nudge her with that

challenge. “I‟m not making the first move. He was an ass. He can do it.”

Nara laughed. “He was doing what he thought was best to protect his people.”

Raine didn‟t completely buy that although she wouldn‟t dismiss it as one of his reasons.

“He doesn‟t want to admit that he‟s wrong, but I‟m not going after him.”

“He could be more stubborn than you are. If he is, any chance of getting anything of his

to take with you will be gone,” Krissa offered quietly.

“Won‟t happen. The attraction‟s too intense. One of us will give in before then even if it

is on the last day we have together.” Raine grinned. That was one thing she was certain of. She

just didn‟t want to give up on him making the effort before the first night had even passed.

“You sound confident of that.” Deanne grinned as she rose from the chair and stretched.

“I‟m just realistic about how much I want the man. I‟m hoping that the pull is as strong

for him as it is for me.” Raine shrugged.

“You haven‟t seen the way he looks at you when you‟re not watching.” Nara rose and

walked over to put a hand on Raine‟s shoulder. “He wants you just as much, if not more, than

you want him.”

“I‟d like to see that, but we‟ll have to wait and see if he makes some kind of move or

leaves it up to me.” Raine rose and slipped into some shoes. “Who‟s hungry?”

“Well, I‟m a little hungry, but you know, I don‟t think it‟s going to be a peaceful meal.”

Gianna cast a look over at Raine.

“Hey, I‟m not going to start anything.” Raine gave her best innocent look, but she knew

no one would believe it.

“You‟ve already started it and now you‟re insisting that he be the one to finish it,” Nara

teased.

“He started it by being so arrogant and condescending.” Raine felt her lips twitch.

“Did not.” Deanna tugged Raine‟s hair as she went by on her way to the door. “You went

in there ready for battle.”

“Of words about the man he suspects of being behind this. He could have left it there, but

no, he had to go and dismiss me like a servant.” Raine narrowed her eyes at her grinning friend.

“Did you have to say what you said to him?” Nara asked.

“Yes, I‟m not a member of his crew and he won‟t treat me like one. He can order them all

he wants, but he‟s the client. He‟s the one who needs help and we don‟t have to do it here.”

Raine was still angry enough not to give any ground.

“Well, he really ticked you off, didn‟t he?” Gianna laughed as she fell into step behind

them.

“Yes, he did.” Raine reached past Deanne and opened the door so that that conversation

would end.

“Spoilsport. It‟s not often we get to tease you,” Deanne tossed over her shoulder as they

walked out of the room.

“Hah, you do it all of the time. You just usually don‟t have this much ammunition.”

Raine wasn‟t going to fall for that never-get-to-have-any-fun routine. “Move it.”

When they walked into the large, pale-blue dining room, the conversation there dimmed

noticeably. Raine shook her head. That was a little obvious. Their reaction was out of proportion.

She hadn‟t challenged him or even taken a swipe at him. She‟d just told him what he could do

with his attitude. Hadn‟t anyone else ever done that?

“Well, let‟s get something to eat. It‟s a good thing we‟re used to working under

pressure.” Deanne‟s voice was so low that Raine barely heard the words.

They got their food and found a free table. Raine had just picked up her drink when she

noticed the room had gotten quiet again. She didn‟t need to turn her head to know that Connal

had arrived. It was the only reason the crew would have done that again. They were anxiously

waiting to see and hear what happened between them this time. Raine took a deep breath and

promised herself she wouldn‟t let her anger rule her words. She‟d give him a chance to say what

he had to say. Tension slowly built and she could feel it gathering between her shoulder blades.

When a hand landed on her shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her chair. She‟d expected

him to talk, but she hadn‟t thought he‟d touch her. His hand tightened as if he‟d hold her in place

if she tried to bolt. She relaxed back into her seat and looked back over her shoulder. He wore

the clothes he‟d had on earlier, but his hair looked mussed and his mouth was pulled into a tight

line. She took a little satisfaction in those signs of stress.

“Did you forget we were supposed to have dinner together?” His voice was smooth and

controlled.

“I didn‟t know we were supposed to have dinner tonight. I don‟t remember making any

plans.” She drew in a hissing breath as the hard tip of someone‟s shoe hit her shin. She turned to

glare at the women around the white table.

“It must have slipped your mind. I have everything set up in my room. You can leave that