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Damn. Why did she have to notice how handsome he was? She should be completely immune to men after what she’d been through. But this guy – this angry guy – flipped her switches in all the right ways.

He grabbed a piece of equipment as he went, nearly tearing it out of a tech’s hands. It had to be magnetic because it clamped onto her canopy the moment he touched it to her hull. He held something on a wire up to his mouth, and suddenly his voice boomed through her internal speakers.

“Stop playing games and come out of there now, or I’ll have you cut out.”

Lisbet sighed. She’d have to open the hatch sooner or later. She admitted, if only to herself, that she was scared. These Jit’suku were all massive, and everyone she had seen so far was male. She had no idea what they had in mind for her, but she wasn’t looking forward to finding out. Still, she couldn’t hide in here forever. The time had come to take her punishment. Whatever that might entail.

Releasing the hatch, the canopy popped with a hiss of equalizing air. Whirring gears indicated the hatch was rolling up and back the way it had been designed to do. As it cleared, she got her first really good look at the glowering man with the captain’s insignia on his uniform.

Oh, boy. The captain himself had come down to get her. No wonder the crew had all jumped at his entrance. Lisbet wondered what she’d done to rate the captain’s attention.

Pushing herself out of the seat, she stood within the canopy. She should have been taller than anyone on the deck from where she was, but she hadn’t counted on these giant Jit’suku.

The captain’s eyes met hers and time stood still for a breathless moment.

His eyes were dark. The dark of space with a hint of golden brown that made them somehow warm.

His molten gaze would have been inviting in another setting. As it was, she could see the flare of gold in his eyes as his expression tightened.

He held out one impatient hand and she took it before she could think better of it. He assisted her in the big step over the canopy lip and down onto the deck of the cruiser. She was truly in enemy territory now.

Goddess help her.

Two

Val couldn’t believe what he was seeing as a small human female stepped out of the damaged cockpit.

He’d almost killed her, and the guilt and anger ate at him. What were these humans that they sent their women into battle?

Barbarians. That’s what they were.

Women were to be protected and revered. Not shot at and nearly killed in battle.

Val shuddered to think of the stain he’d almost incurred on his soul. Killing a woman in battle was considered one of the most terrible sins among Jit’suku warriors.

His men were as horrified as he was. This strange female had almost cost them all their honor.

“Have you nothing to say for yourself, woman?” Val demanded. He was so incensed that he wasn’t thinking clearly. And he had yet to let go of the female’s soft fingers.

As soon as he realized that, he dropped her fragile hand as if it burned him.

Her head cocked at an angle that he sensed meant trouble, though he’d seldom run afoul of a difficult female. Those few left in his family were all quite well behaved, and if they ruled the home with an iron fist, they also filled it with nurturing love. He’d been lucky with the matriarchs in his clan.

“As I told you before, I’m Lieutenant Lisbet Duncan of Earth. Beyond that, I have nothing to say.”

Val felt his temper rise and knew he must not lose his cool any further in front of his men. He had things to say to this female that were best said in private. If he was going to blow a gasket, better that the whole flight deck didn’t witness it.

Val grabbed the female’s hand again and tugged her along with him – trying not to use too much force – as he exited the hangar. Mercifully, she followed without too much trouble. She probably had a hard time keeping up with his fast pace and longer steps, but he was in no mood to slow down, and she skipped along at his side reasonably well.

He didn’t stop until they’d left the hangar far behind, passing a number of startled crew members on his way toward officer country. That was the colloquial name given to the area that housed the private quarters of the captain and his staff. There were also guest chambers that would serve his purpose, and it was toward one of those comparatively luxurious compartments that he made his way with the human female in tow.

“Could you slow down a bit? Or take shorter steps?” she finally complained as he dragged her along.

Val stopped in the wide, empty hall, dropped her hand and turned to assess her. He quickly realized she was breathing much too heavily, laboring to keep up. He’d dragged her at doubletime the length of the ship. No wonder she was huffing and puffing. Lady of Chaos!

He’d caused her discomfort. First he had blown her ship out from under her, almost killing her in the process, then he had made her jog to keep up with him, causing her to nearly hyperventilate.

Val let her go and bowed his head, holding her gaze. “My apologies.”

Some of his fury had cooled on the trek across the ship. Rather than anger, he was filled with dismay every time he looked into her pretty green eyes.

She was small and soft, though she acted tough. She had piloted her vessel well, from what he had observed as she had approached their hidden position, and she was an officer in the human armada that fought surprisingly well against Jit’suku expansion.

“You’re the captain of this vessel, aren’t you?” Her voice rolled pleasantly over his senses as she asked the question, rubbing her wrist where he’d manhandled her a bit.

Shame filled him when he saw the red marks his fingers had left on her pale skin. He’d tried to be careful of her fragility, but his anger had gotten the better of him.

“I am,” he replied, then reached for her hand to examine the red marks on her wrist more closely.

“Again, I apologize. It is not our way to harm females.”

She looked at him oddly for a moment, and then pulled her hand back. He let her go with surprising reluctance. She had very soft skin now that he’d slowed enough to take notice. Smaller than most Jit’suku females, she was oddly fascinating. Her coloring was pleasing in the extreme and even her scent – female mixed with the oils and lubricants he associated with fighter craft – was wickedly attractive to him. He’d been a pilot when he was younger and even though he’d never smelled those scents coming from a female before, he found the mix strangely arousing.

“It’s okay. My skin marks easily. It’s nothing.” She looked around the empty hall. “Where are you taking me?”

“To private quarters where you will remain as my guest until I can figure out what to do with you.” He hadn’t meant to reveal quite so much, but he could tell she was skeptical and probably scared behind her bravado.

“I expected torture and interrogation.”

He grimaced, his anger returning slightly. “I do not harm females.”

“You blew up my ship!” she countered, squaring off with him.

He was just in the mood to argue with her. Arguing wasn’t prohibited, though it seldom occurred with Jit’suku females.

“I thought you were male! What kind of barbarians are your people that they send women into battle?

Jit’suku women do not make war. They make—”

“If you say babies, I’m going to slug you!” she cut him off, her voice rising in intensity.

“They do that too, of course,” he replied, confused by her apparent anger. “Our women are the lawmakers. The leaders of our clans. The power behind our businesses. They do not put themselves in harm’s way by fighting on the front lines.”