Her Commander: The Orion, Book 2 Page 8

  It was a welcome reprieve from the rising tension as Navos searched relentlessly for the malcontent in their ranks.

  Tessa had just begun a most gratifying public flirtation when Winder’s com-link buzzed. He had poured her a glass of wine, served her from the dishes at their table, and done everything except crawl into her halter top to show her how glad he was that she was open to his advances.

  She sipped her glass of mild berry wine as she waited for him, looking through her lashes. She was gratified to see that her table was in full view of Captain Steven Craig. However, he did not appear to notice the fact. He sat relaxed in his chair, also talking on his com-link. She tossed her head, resolving not to look his way again.

  “Tessa, my beauty,” said Winder, leaning over her and stroking her bare shoulder with the back of one finger. “I’m very sorry. I’m on call, and it seems there is a problem with security. May I come to your room later?”

  She looked into his golden eyes. They were too narrow, really, and too self-absorbed.

  She gave a tiny shrug that threatened her halter even more. “Maybe. Call me.”

  He rose, bowed to her with a smirk, and was gone, striding through the tables. Suddenly she thought of the ramifications of two com-links in the dining hall in use at one time and turned her head so swiftly her hair bounced against her cheeks.

  At the head table, Craig conversed with Navos, not even looking her way. She shook her head—of course Craig had nothing to do with Winder’s summons to duty. Why, he had as good as told her to go ahead with her plan—the cold bastard!

  Izard grinned at her and so did Yvene. Raising her chin defiantly, she picked up her fork-sticks. Cutlet of Mauritanian pheasant, an artful swirl of Pangaean water potato, a delicate green salad laced with star fruit and baby cucumbers. She thrust a cucumber into her mouth and bit it, snapping it in two. Izard winced.

  Tessa ignored him. She knew that Winder would have given other males in the vicinity a clear signal that Tessa was his first. Since he was a formidable fighter, his claim would be heeded, at least until she made it clear the field was still open.

  She looked at the mouthful of tender pheasant on her fork-sticks, then set it down, not hungry any longer. She should be casting signals, looking for another male, if she were going to make good her threat to Craig to work her way through a string of males on shipboard. But somehow the thought killed her appetite.

  “Tessa, my ssweet,” hissed a low voice in her ear. It was followed by the flick of a reptilian tongue. Tessa pulled away, frowning at the lean, green-skinned Serpentian male who leaned over her chair, gazing down her halter. Ssaar again. He seemed to be always near, lately. Of course the guard spent most of their waking hours together, but she had always kept her distance from Ssaar. He was an expert fighter, and she was sure he was a loyal guard, but for some reason he made the fine hairs stand up on the back of her neck.

  “Ssince that fool, Winder, has deserted you, why don’t you and I slip off to my quarters,” he suggested.

  She clenched her fork-sticks in her hand.

  “You misunderstand the situation,” she replied. “I await his return. Please take your hand off me.” Not even to thwart Craig was she willing to let Ssaar touch her.

  “Better do as she says, Ssaar,” said Izard mildly. “Winder won’t take kindly to anyone hunting in his den.”

  The two males stared at each other for a moment, and then Ssaar slowly stood upright, although he slithered one finger down Tessa’s back, making her shiver with revulsion and a tinge of fear.

  “Very well. For now. I’ll see you…soon, my ssweet.” He laughed, a low, malicious sound that made her skin crawl.

  Without waiting to see if he still watched, she bolted out of her chair and attached herself to a group of female guards headed off to watch a new Chaz Jaguari holo-video in one of the viewing lounges. The galaxy-wide star captivated female audiences with his beautiful singing voice and his smoldering gaze.

  Tessa would have watched advertisements for retirement communities on Mars if it meant getting away from her two would-be lovers—especially Ssaar. She did not admit to herself her feeling of intense relief that her threat to Craig had been postponed.

  The following evening, her resolve renewed, Tessa wore a top she had bartered from Hdatha, a cadet interpreter who had recently vacationed on Pangaea and returned with too many souvenirs for her credit account. This top was fashioned of lii leaves, which clung to the skin and changed color according to the wearer’s mood and activity. On Tessa, it was a shifting red gold. In the deep vee hung a deep red Serpentian garnet on a fine gold chain.

  Since she had not responded to Winder’s com message, he had moved on to another female. He sat gazing into the golden eyes of Siri, one of the other cadets. Tessa wanted so badly to look up at the captain’s table that she did not even notice Raile and Tahh until they stood before her.

  “Tessa,” Raile said approvingly, looking down her cleavage, “you are looking very well. Come and sit with me.”

  She looked up into his handsome face and shrugged inwardly. At least he was a known quantity. He wasn’t exciting, but he would not hurt her or demand acts she would not do. Although after her night with Captain Steven Craig, that scope had certainly narrowed.

  Smiling apologetically at Tahh, she followed Raile to his table. As he seated her she noted with a swift glance under her lashes that her seat was in clear view of the captain’s table. Raile leaned over her chair, his arm over the back.

  “I have thought of our night together often,” he said softly into her ear. “And how much I would give to repeat it.”

  “Really?” she asked, gazing into his eyes. His attention was gratifying, even if she was not sure why he considered their night memorable. She knew now what memorable really was.

  Izard and Yvene chose that moment to slide into the chairs beside her. She wished they would sit somewhere else if they were going to grin like Serpentian alli-cats. She pushed her dinner about with her fork-sticks, listening to Raile talk about his new air-cycle.

  The hot curry had just been cleared when there was a disturbance of some kind from the passenger dining area. All the guard immediately looked around, some of them rising to their feet, ready to assist. A small beep began to pulse from Raile’s com-link.

  “By the Great Horned Lizard,” he hissed, shoving back his chair. “Excuse me, Tessa. I am needed to escort an inebriated Barillian back to her quarters. I will be lucky to get back at all.”

  He strode away. Around Tessa, most of the other Serpentians had paired off. She sat back in her chair, scowling. It seemed to her a large coincidence that for the second evening in a row, her chosen partner had been called away. She peered suspiciously at the captain’s table, but Craig and the other commanders present were watching as the Barillian was escorted firmly from the mess hall, trilling loudly through the cartilage pipes that protruded from the top of her lavender skull.

  She would have gone with Raile, she told herself, tossing her head. She would have… No, she wouldn’t, she acknowledged glumly. She wanted to throw her willingness to in Craig’s face, but she couldn’t actually stand to let another male touch her. The realization made her want to weep, or hit someone.

  “You can always join us for a game of holo-dice,” Izard offered. “Or, Ssaar is coming this way.”

  Tessa bolted to her feet. “I’d love to play dice with you. Can we go now?”

  Izard raised his brows inquiringly at Yvene, who nodded. The three of them rose and walked out together, past a scowling Ssaar.

  Ssaar pulled Scala aside as she walked out of the mess hall. He had a hard, eager light in his eyes.

  “Why have you not brought her to me?”

  “I’m working on it.” Scala did her best to look unconcerned as Sirena strolled past, glancing at them as she passed. “These things take time.”

  “We don’t have time, or have you forgotten?” He squeezed her arm cruelly.

  “I have no
t forgotten. Now take your hands off me. I am not your sparring bag.”

  As a pair of male guards strolled toward them, she jerked free of his grip.

  Chapter Thirteen

  That night Tessa tossed and turned in her bed, seeing Craig each time she closed her eyes. The implacable set of his jaw as he had told her that if her personal life interfered, she might not become a guard. Her eyes flew open, and she clutched at her pillow. He had meant it, she knew. Oh, she was glad she had kicked him, the bastard.

  Scowling, she rolled over onto her back and plumped the pillows behind her. At the moment, he was winning the battle in which they seemed to be locked, for she was thinking of him, not other males as she had threatened. She should be deciding which male to go after, not mooning over the one man who did not want her. She needed something to get her mind off of him.

  “Holo-vid, activate.”

  She finally fell asleep to the closing credits of one of her old favorites, The Serpent and the Stone, to wake with a start as her alarm jolted the bed. She had slept through the first, gentler levels of the alarm.

  She dashed into the shower, ran her fingers through her wet hair, yanked on a clean workout unitard, and jogged into the gymnasium just as Sirena and Slyde were mounting the podium.

  As she passed, Scala and Tuala looked at her, then each other and smirked. A trio of the male guards did the same. The hair on the back of Tessa’s neck stood up. She stopped beside Yvene.

  “Yvene, you always know things. Why are the others staring at me?”

  “There are many trails in the sand when beings live and work together as closely as we do,” Yvene murmured. “Only you choose the one you follow.”

  Tessa wanted to hiss at her. She might have known the maddening Yvene would refuse to help. There was no time to ask more, as the other guard began to fill in around them. She turned, stepped into formation, and began the simple warm-up drills. At least Captain Craig had not made an appearance this morning. She didn’t have to worry about facing him in sparring. She knew it would happen sooner or later, but not yet.

  As usual they worked out hard, and she was sweating and breathing hard when they were finished, her muscles tired.

  “Have a lonely night, little one?” asked Scala’s mocking voice as they walked toward the showers.

  Tessa stared at her. “How do you know I was alone?”

  “Everyone knows.” Scala leaned closer. “Don’t you wonder who is calling away your lovers each night?”

  “They were needed.”

  “With twenty other guards around them?” Scala smirked. “Just happened to be your suitors who were called? What a coincidence!”

  Tessa stared at her. “You think Craig was the one who called them?”

  “Snake eyes,” approved Scala mockingly. “Now you’re getting it.”

  Fury flooded Tessa. How dare he interfere with her private life? He was the one who had told her their liaison was over. How dare he try to prevent her from taking another lover, or even a hundred!

  With the heat of purpose burning inside her, she showered, dried her hair, applied cosmetics and a touch of smoky, mysterious scent, dressed in the lii leaf top and tights, and went after him.

  As Craig stepped out of his elevator, he found Slyde Stone waiting. The big Serpentian looked grave.

  Craig nodded at him, still walking toward the command deck. He had a meeting with Halix, Ogg and Panthar to discuss the heat shields.

  “Commander Stone, what is it?”

  The other male fell into step with him. “Captain. Ah… I don’t know quite how to put this, but a situation has arisen that I believe you must address.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “It’s Cadet Alligon. I’m sure you’ve noticed that she has shown her readiness to, er, take a lover. Several of the Serpentian males have become quite competitive in their efforts to gain her favors.”

  Craig stared at him. “You’re saying they are ready to fight over her?”

  “It has already begun, Captain. Raile and Ssaar had words today. Raile had to be taken to the medical unit. This is not the clean sparring you see at workouts. Serpentian males can be ruthless in pursuit of a female.”

  “Damn it to the seven hells!” Craig scowled as he stopped before the door of the command deck. “Is Raile all right?”

  “He is fine.”

  “I trust both of them are barred from active duty for a few days. I will not have fighting on my ship.”

  “Nor will Commander Sirena and I, sir. Do you wish me to deal with, ah, Cadet Alligon?”

  “No,” said Craig, his eyes narrowing. “I’ll take care of her.”

  “May I ask what you will do, sir?”

  “What I should have done from the beginning,” Craig said. “Take her off the market.”

  “Ah. Well, you are the one male on board with whom no one dares argue.”

  “Exactly. And, Commander, you may begin to spread the word immediately.”

  The meeting in the command center had been underway for the better part of an hour when the door whooshed open. Craig looked over the top of the holo-grid of the ship’s heat shields Ogg had just brought up, and adrenaline surged through him.

  Tessa Alligon stood in the doorway, looking as lovely and sexy as he had ever seen her. But fury radiated from every inch of her slender body.

  “You!” she hissed, completely ignoring Ogg, Halix, and Panthar, who watched with varying degrees of fascination and amusement as she stalked into the command center and around the holo-table to where their captain sat in his chair. She didn’t stop until she was toe-to-toe with him. “You are interfering with my private life. I will not have this, do you understand me?”

  “I understand you,” he shot back. “Now you understand me, Tessa.”

  He surged up out of his chair like an Earth croc coming out of the water, hauled her into his arms, and kissed her, hard. Thoroughly, until she stopped struggling in his arms and was still. Until she began to kiss him back. He was on fire, the blood singing in his veins, rushing through his body.

  Then he lifted his head and looked down at her, her lovely face flushed, her lips swollen and wet, her slanting green eyes dazed. He felt a surge of tender satisfaction.

  “Does that clarify the matter?”

  “No,” she said aggrievedly.

  “Then we’ll talk later,” he said. “After dinner.”

  Everyone knew evening was the time for liaisons. She opened her mouth to argue, and he leaned closer.

  “Do you really want to continue this now?” he murmured, with a slight jerk of his head at their audience.

  She froze, her eyes widening. They narrowed into another glare, as if the incident were completely his fault. Then she lifted her chin. She cast one haughty look around at the assembled crew leaders and walked out of the room.

  Pride rose in him. She looked like a queen who had had her dignity ruffled, but not destroyed. He looked around at his crew leaders, watching her go. As one, their eyes turned to him.

  “Back to the heat shields?” he suggested mildly.

  For a moment, no one said a word. Then Ogg grinned and rocked back in his chair.

  “Looks like we’re gonna need ’em.”

  “Indeed,” said Panthar, his golden Tyger eyes gleaming. “Perhaps an additional set around the captain’s quarters.”

  Halix gave a surprised snort of laughter. Ogg joined him, and Panthar grinned like the large half-cat that he was.

  Smiling, Craig waited for them to calm themselves sufficiently to continue their meeting, but his mind was out in the corridor, following the retreat of one sweet cadet. He was going to waylay her, very soon, and continue their discussion, with both words and actions. He was looking forward to both.

  When Tessa received a message from Craig to meet him in a small conference room, she accepted with alacrity, ready to tell him what she thought of his autocratic behavior. She was embarrassed by Raile and Ssaar’s fight, too, which did nothing
for her mood. She was off duty, so she still wore the lii halter with her tights. Feeling vulnerable, she shrugged a light jacket over it.

  She found her captain leaning back against the holo-table in the center of the room, arms crossed over his chest. But this time, instead of standing back, he strolled between her and the door.

  “Tessa,” he said ruefully. “You’ve opened up a firestorm on board my ship. I cannot have half my guards ready to sink their, er, fangs into each other over you.”

  An angry blush swept over her face and throat.

  “I did not know this would be the outcome of my—my decision to take a lover.”

  “I know.” He moved nearer to her. She stared at his broad chest, unwilling to look higher. “That’s why I’m not going to send you back to port in restraints, Cadet.”

  She looked up at him now, outraged. And found him looking down at her in such a way that her heart stuttered. He was implacable, and yet almost…tender.

  “Wh-what are you going to do?”

  “Simple. I’m going to remove you from the competition.”

  She stepped back, then stiffened when she realized she had retreated from him. Proudly she stood her ground as he followed her, closing the distance between them. He loomed over her, blocking out the small room, enclosing her in the curve of the built-in cabinets. His scent filled her nostrils, the heat of his body reaching hers through their thin clothing.

  “How will you do that?” If he was going to confine her to quarters, or hide her away in some tiny office, filling out holo-forms, she would…do nothing, she acknowledged to herself bitterly. He was her captain, her commander-in-chief, and she must accept any penalty he exacted.

  He lifted one hand and cupped the side of her face. His thumb stroked across her lips, parted them, and then exerted gentle pressure, forcing her to resist, or open her mouth to him. When she did, lax with shock and a slow, thrumming excitement, he slipped the tip of his thumb into the yielding warmth of her mouth.