Bianca D'Arc (6 page)

And she had definitely not foreseen bedding Alex. If
she had, she might’ve jumped aboard this tub sooner. She had wanted
him since that first vision and the need for him had never
abated.

“
I want you Alex.” She couldn’t
disguise the need in her voice and didn’t want to. It was time she
laid her cards—at least some of them—on the table.

“
You’ve got me, sweetheart.” That
devilish smile of his had turned more than one woman’s head. She
squeezed him, using light pressure she hoped would drive him
wild.

“
Right where I’ve wanted you for a
long, long time,” she agreed, slipping downward and positioning
herself over him. “Why haven’t we done this before, Alex?” Her
voice was breathy as she slid onto him, taking him fully within her
in a move that made her quiver with need. “Damn, that feels
good.”

Her eyes closed to slits as pleasure washed over
her. It was only the beginning, she knew. Alex had given her more
pleasure than she’d ever dreamed and she wanted it again. And
again.

“
To answer your question—” She
could see it took some effort for him to reply. He was as affected
by their joining as she was. Good. “I wanted you the moment I saw
you, Del. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“
Hurt me? How could this hurt me
when it feels so good?” She began to move on him, starting slow,
enjoying the feel of him inside her. “Unless you have some penchant
for violence I don’t know about.” She leaned forward, placing both
of her hands on his chest as she dropped a kiss on his lips. “Or
are you kinkier than I thought? Mmm…I might like that, you
know.”

“
Della,” he growled. “Are you
trying to make me crazy?” She saw his grin and knew he liked her
teasing. “If you don’t watch out, you’ll find out just how kinky I
can be.”

“
Promises, promises.”

She sat up and began to ride him in earnest,
watching him as she bounced over him. She saw the way his eyes
followed her breasts, delighted in the way his strong hands molded
her hips. Before long, he was guiding her, helping her lift upward
on each stroke. He was so strong, even from that position, he could
manipulate her body, using his strength to aid her in moving just
the way he wanted her to move. The way she wanted to move. The way
guaranteed to bring them both to ecstasy.

It didn’t take long. Between the two of them, he
reached deeper within her than any man ever had—physically and
emotionally. She held his gaze as they both tumbled over the edge
together. She screamed his name as she came and she heard his
answering shout as she collapsed over him. Hot jets of his come
filled her, warming her from the inside out while his arms
surrounded her, making her feel safe and... loved.

She hugged the forbidden thought to her heart.
Wouldn’t it be nice if he could feel just an ounce of the love she
felt? Would he ever be able to give his heart? She didn’t know.

Would he accept hers if she offered it? She didn’t
know the answer to that question either.

For a gifted seer, there was a lot about which she
had no clue. It would be embarrassing if it weren’t so
heartbreaking.

With a weary sigh, she snuggled into his arms,
allowing him to reposition them on the big bed. She was exhausted.
They fell asleep in a tangle of limbs.

* * *

Just before lunch, the door chime sounded and the
hatch clicked to indicate its seals had been unlocked. Alex stood
ready to face whoever had come to call. Della was by his side.

“
Enter,” he called.

The hatch slid open and the doctor stepped in.

“
Glad I am to find you both well.
His highness asked me to escort you to him after removing the
sensors.”

Della blushed as the doctor moved inside and the
hatch shut behind him.

“
I didn’t get your name, doctor,”
she said conversationally. “I’m Della Turago.” She held out her
hand as she would have to any human, but the doctor apparently
didn’t understand the gesture. He merely took her hand and removed
the small adhesive sensor that had been placed over the pulse point
in her wrist. The clear sensors were so small and lightweight, she
hadn’t really noticed them.

“
I am Doctor Hugo Tervanian, royal
physician,” he said politely. “Many of my patients call me simply
Doctor Terva.”

“
I will do the same, if I may. And
you can call me Della.” She smiled prettily at him while he removed
the sensor that had been adhered to her temple.

“
If I may ask...” The doctor
seemed to hesitate, then regrouped. “Are all human women as
responsive as you? You see, yours are the first readings I’ve had
the opportunity to see during... uh... intimacy. I grew alarmed
before I realized why the readings were spiking.” Doctor Terva shot
an amused look at Alex. The big lug looked smugly pleased, but it
didn’t really bother her. She was feeling kind of smug after last
night too.

“
I can’t speak for other women,
but I can honestly tell you that I have never responded to anyone
the way I respond to Alexander.” She held Alex’s gaze as she made
the admission, pleased to see the fire leap in his eyes.

The doctor looked satisfied. “That’s as it should be
between true mates. Still, your readings were higher than any I’ve
seen before.”

That got her attention. “Made a habit of being a
voyeur, have you?”

The doctor looked confused as he removed the sensor
on her neck, then bent to remove one from each of her ankles. When
he straightened, Alex was at her side.

“
I believe Father Theos is waiting
for me,” he said, smoothly changing the subject. “And he said
something about Della being welcome in the off duty crew lounge. I
would like to see that area first, to be sure it is suitable for my
mate.”

Mate?
Oh,
she liked the sound of that, even if it did seem a little
barbaric.

“
Of course,” Doctor Terva
responded as he removed the last sensor from her other wrist. “That
is only proper. I will escort you today. Tomorrow and in future,
the door will merely unlock at the appointed hour and you can make
your own way to your destinations. I am forced to warn you that
your life signs are being monitored from the bridge. If you stray
from your appointed paths, guards will be sent to redirect
you.”

Alex nodded. “We understand. We won’t make
trouble.”

“
Excellent.”

The doctor led the way to the off duty crew lounge
and Della was relieved to see that even here, in a place designed
for relaxation, the military expectations of this ship were held in
high regard. It was a clean, orderly room with several men sitting
around a card table while others were reading or playing games of
skill or chance at various stations around the brightly lit
room.

“
Will you be all right here, Del?”
Alex took her hand and she met his gaze. She read concern and
caring there that touched her deeply. She was moved to cup his
cheek in her palm as she moved closer.

“
I’ll be fine.” She smiled softly
at him as his head lowered and he kissed her briefly, gently,
tenderly. The room around them had ceased to exist for just a
moment but came back into sharp focus when Doctor Terva cleared his
throat. “Go on. I’ll be okay.”

Alex drew away. “I’ll hold you to that, Del. You
know I’d hate to have to kill anyone for upsetting you.”

His voice was pitched just slightly louder so every
man in the room could hear the veiled threat. He might as well have
let out a yell and beat his chest. It was a very Neanderthal thing
to do, but it seemed to generate a new respect in the air around
the room.

Some of these men, no doubt, had seen Alex fight on
the departure concourse. They knew he wasn’t bluffing. He could
kill with his bare hands and he moved faster than lightning. She
doubted any single warrior here could take him in a fair fight.

She blew him a kiss as he gave her one last,
lingering glance from the door. Doctor Terva was already out of
sight when Alex followed. Della stared after him, a gooey feeling
in her heart and what she knew had to be a silly grin on her
face.

Slowly, she became aware of the expectant air in the
room. She turned to the men, all of whom were watching her, and
smiled. She walked over to an empty card table, picked up a deck
that had been waiting in a holder at the dealer’s place and
expertly shuffled.

“
Anybody up for a hand of
poker?”

Chapter Six

Alex was surprised when Doctor Terva led him to what
looked like a gym. The padded floor and single, mirrored wall led
his gaze to another wall, this one stocked with old fashioned and
well worn weapons. Practice weapons. Sticks of every size, wooden
blades carved to mirror the real thing but unable to cut students
while they learned knife and sword techniques.

Alex had studied martial arts in just such a place
both as a child and as an adult. He continued to hone his skills in
private and had made the fighting arts a lifelong study. He was
surprised to see Father Theos appeared to have done the same.

“
You do not hide your surprise
well, young Alex. At least not to my eyes.”

Alex bowed, removing his footwear before entering
the padded room, as was the ritual he had learned in human martial
arts studios. Theos’s smile and return bow made him realize these
jit’suku had more in common with humans than he had known.

“
I thought you were a holy man,”
Alex explained as he stood his ground on the mats. “There are
traditions of warrior priests in some human cultures, but I didn’t
realize the Zenai were like that.”

“
We are.” Father Theos moved
forward to face Alex, in the center of the room. Both men sank into
ready poses. “Before we can make a final decision about what to do
with you, I must take your measure. Today is for
testing.”

Alex looked forward to it. Theos was older, to be
sure, but he was also clearly fit. Now that Alex knew the Zenai
were warrior monks, he realized Theos had the look of a master. It
would be an honor and a challenge to pit his skills against this
man.

“
I have been tested many times,
Father. I hope only that I can live up to the challenge you
pose.”

Theos didn’t answer in words. Instead, he engaged.
He used a dizzying array of fast and slow techniques, the soft
strike and the hard parry. He systematically tested each and every
one of the Alex’s skills. The movements were both familiar and
strange. There was no doubt Theos had been trained in a very
different style from the human martial arts Alex was used to.
Still, they were well matched.

Alex didn’t have to call on any of his Enhanced
senses to keep up. He worked hard to suppress the instinct to use
his superior speed and reflexes. Part of being Enhanced was
learning how to appear normal. Alex used all those skills while
Theos evaluated him, glad to know he could make an impression even
without his Enhancements.

At length Theos called a halt. Alex was sweating
lightly when he bowed to the older man. Theos looked cool. That was
the first clue Alex had that Theos had also held back.

“
You are well trained,” Father
Theos commented as he handed Alex a bottle of water on the
sidelines, taking one for himself also. “Thank you for the
exercise. You are skilled at evasion both physically and
mentally.”

Alex’s frowned. “It wasn’t my intent to
deceive.”

“
Was it not?” Theos gave him a wry
smile. “I am old enough to respect your need for secrecy, but
stubborn enough to demand that it cannot stand. Not between us. Not
if you ever wish to see your home galaxy again.”

“
You guaranteed a safe passage,”
Alex reminded the old man.

“
I did,” Theos agreed. “I did not
say when. If you continue to cloud your true nature, the safe
passage will be granted to your corpses.” Now Alex saw for the
first time the emperor in Theos. His will was strong and his decree
intimidating. This was his galaxy. He could very well do just as he
threatened.

“
You understand loyalty, duty and
honor, don’t you?” Alex tried to placate the ex-emperor. “I vowed
all three to my race, and my galaxy. Revealing military secrets to
you goes against the grain, no matter how kind you appear at the
moment. Jit’suku are still the enemy of the human race.”

Alex was afraid for a moment he might’ve pushed too
far. Then Theos sighed and took a seat on the bench against one
wall.

“
And therein lies the real
problem.” He sighed heavily as he folded his hands and assumed a
somewhat meditative pose. “Jit’suku do not make war on their own
kind. It is one of our first and most important tenets of warfare.
You are human. And yet you are also jit’suku. You are a paradox, my
friend. Human, but not. Jit’suku, but not. You are stuck between
worlds and neither, I think, knows exactly what to do with
you.”

“
Humans don’t seem to mind me at
all,” he felt compelled to say.

“
Would they allow you to walk so
freely among them if they knew what you really are? I think not.
Even I have heard of the so-called purity movements. If it were
known you carry jit’suku DNA, you would not be so welcome as you
think.”

Alex sat on the bench a few feet down from the old
man. “I can’t change the fact that I was born human. My loyalties
lie with the human race. I won’t lie to you just because we share
some DNA.”