He was still the captain of an enemy craft engaged in the conquest of the Milky Way. She was sworn to prevent this conquest. The conflict made her heart hurt.
Somehow, this strange man had wormed his way into her thoughts, though he hadn’t made any overt attempt to do so. One kiss and she was hooked. Addicted to him. She knew she was doing this to herself.
Her fascination with the man was not normal. She’d tried repeatedly to stop thinking about him, but it was no use. Her heart seemed to be fixated.
The note that accompanied the clothing asked her to be ready after lunch. It was worded politely, handwritten in a bold cursive that she had to believe was the captain’s own handwriting. Val. He’d told her to call him Val. She’d thought a lot about that in the past three days. His family name was Fedroval, so maybe Val was a nickname for that? Or could his given name be something that shortened to Val? She’d have to ask him, if she got the chance.
She wanted to know every little intimate detail about him. She had it bad. She was downright obsessed.
Any minute now she’d be drawing little hearts and doodling their names inside.
Disgusted with herself, she checked her appearance one more time. It was about as good as it was going to get.
Promptly after lunch, a chime sounded near the door, alerting her, as it had for the past three days, that someone had come to take the empty tray. She looked toward the door, but when it slid open, the silent guard was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Val filled the doorway, his gaze holding hers as he walked into the room.
He stalked toward her, speaking not a word. His eyes took in her new outfit with obvious approval before returning to her face. He walked across the room and took her in his arms.
There was no hesitation in his movement. No question but that he had a right to embrace her. His head dipped and his lips claimed hers. She didn’t protest. She wanted his kiss as much as he appeared to want hers. She’d thirsted for him for days, waiting for this. This moment, when he would kiss her again. Hold her as if he would never let her go. Make the two of them complete . . . together.
The foreign thoughts raced through her mind. She’d never thought such things about a man before.
She hadn’t known she had such a romantic imagination. Maybe this alien was bringing things out of her that had remained hidden with the other men she’d known. And maybe her fascination with him wasn’t all one-sided. Judging by the hard feel of him against her, it most definitely was not.
Val reveled in the kiss of his true mate, glad to know the positive response to his nij’ta he had perceived three days ago had not been a desperate attempt at self-delusion. No. This was the real thing. This surprising human woman was his true mate.
Now he only had to convince her of that fact.
He’d spent the last three days pulling every string he knew how to pull. He’d contacted the High Priest of the Zenai Brotherhood. If anyone would know the legality and sanctity of mating outside his species, it would be the High Priest. What he had learned had given Val the first hope he’d had in years.
Reluctantly, he broke the kiss, knowing the time had come to speak his heart to the woman of his dreams. Would she be as receptive to mating with him as she was to his kiss? The High Priest had reminded him that the Goddess worked in mysterious ways.
Her faint protest as he pulled away from her luscious lips renewed his hope.
“There are matters we must discuss,” he whispered against her lips, finding it hard to let her go completely.
It was she who moved back, going to the couch and dropping onto it with her arms folded. She’d gone from receptive to combative in a flash and Val admitted to himself that he was worried.
“What did I say to make you wary?” He moved over to the couch and seated himself sideways, facing her.
“When someone says ‘we need to talk’ it usually means trouble.” She turned to him and he perceived hurt in the depths of her eyes. Hurt he had put there. Val couldn’t help but reach out and take her into his arms, holding her against him as he spoke. He couldn’t bear to see her pain.
“You’re not in trouble. I might be, but you’re not, sweet one.” He kissed the crown of her head, loving the feel of her in his embrace. “I have kept away until I was certain we could be together.”
She drew back, surprise replacing the hurt in her expression. “What?”
“I realize you are not used to our ways, but you had to feel the magic in our first kiss. It was the nij’ta.
Though I didn’t mean to kiss you, I couldn’t help myself. Your kiss proved we were meant to be.”
“Is that what that was?” Her words were soft, as if she were unsure.
“I’m not sure if it’s the same for humans as it is for us, but I knew the instant I kissed you that you were meant to be mine. You’re my perfect mate, Lisbet Duncan of Earth. Crazy as that may seem.” He knew he was smiling, but he still couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I’d given up ever finding my mate, the one woman destined to share my life. I sank my efforts into building this ship and dedicated myself to my people’s cause of conquest. Without a wife or a future, I had no other recourse. But now that I’ve found you, everything’s changed.”
“Just like that?” She sounded as incredulous as he still felt.
“Just like that,” he agreed, dipping in to place a quick kiss on her lips. Sparks seemed to fly whenever they touched, and he reveled in the response only she could evoke in him. “We’re out of the Milky Way and on our way back to my home system, Solaris Delta. It is my right and duty as Liege of House Fedroval to quit the battle now that I have found my perfect mate.”
“Wait a minute. You’re taking me home? To your home? Don’t I have any say in this?”
Her anger set him back. He moved away, facing her as they sat on the couch. “Do you wish to part from me? Do you believe you can . . . what is that human word . . . divorce me so easily?”
“We’re not married,” she said, causing pain to lance through his heart.
“In the eyes of my people, you are already mine, Lisbet. I would have you come willingly, but if necessary, I will give you little freedom and no opportunity to desert me.”
“I’m your prisoner?” Her beautiful green eyes went wide with dismay.
“Only if you want to be. I’d rather have you as my bride. My loving wife. The mother of my children, if we are so blessed.”
She sat back, air puffing out of her as if in shock. “This is a lot to take in.”
“Don’t you want to be with me?” He knew he sounded desperate, but he couldn’t help the way he was feeling. He had to do everything in his power to convince her.
She looked at him and he saw the uncertainty in her eyes. “This has all happened so fast.”
He tried a different tack. “Do you believe in a power higher than our own? I believe most humans call it God.”
“I believe God is female.” Her brows knitted, as she tried to follow his jump in conversation, no doubt.
“You do?” He grinned again. This was a good sign. One might even say a sign from the divine.
“Jit’suku believe in the Goddess. It was she who allowed us to find our destined mates by means of the nij’ta. It was she who guided me to you, I now believe. I have conferred with the High Priest of the Zenai Brotherhood, an order dedicated to her service, and I’ve learned there is some precedent for human women being the true mates of Jit’suku warriors. Now that our races have come into contact with each other, ours is not the first such pairing, though it is the highest ranking. Still, those who came before us will ease our way.”