Captured & Seduced (3 page)

“Gabriel,” she whispered, realizing she’d landed in hell. Gabriel wouldn’t be here. Only she had sinned enough to gain entrance to hell.

“Stop crying,” the warrior woman snapped, her blue hair flying around her head in a halo. “Can you understand us now?”

She could, but nausea tiptoed through her stomach. Camryn’s entire body shuddered with the depths of her misery. She’d heard hell was fiery hot, but ice enclosed her heart, her body. Nothing had changed. She still missed Gabriel.

The woman bent, tipped Camryn’s head back and struck her face with the palm of her hand. Camryn jerked back, stopping her crying mid-sob.

“Stop cryin’ and hold still while I take the seat harness off you.”

“Keep still, child,” Changing Man soothed. “We intend you no harm.”

Something in his calm violet eyes told her he spoke the truth. Maybe they didn’t intend to cut her up for experiments. Camryn cast a quick glance at the leopard and her anxiety ramped up again. The feline looked as if it would devour her in a few bites, gobble her up until nothing remained.

“And him?” she croaked, heart fluttering like the starter’s flag in a stiff breeze.

“Ry, back up and leave the woman alone. Shift.” The changing man didn’t seem frightened of the kitty at all.

Camryn held still while the warrior released the restraints holding her in place. Her attention remained on the black leopard. She didn’t like the way the animal stared at her. The leopard curled its top lip and twitched its whiskers. Then, as she watched, the leopard started to blur. The warrior pulled the harness away. Camryn blinked, her spine slamming against the back of the chair. Tension seeped through her, finding an outlet in clawed hands, gripping the armrests. Under her horrified gaze, the leopard transformed to a man wearing tight black trousers and knee-length black boots. Tall and muscular with a wild mass of black hair falling down to his shoulders. A green gaze pinned her in place, studying her just as intently as she examined him. Her heart did a crazy flip, slowing and suddenly galloping into a frenzied beat. For the first time since she’d met Gabriel, she looked at a man in a sexual way, even if fear tinged the curiosity.

The muscles in his chest rippled when he moved, the skin the color of burnished copper. A tattoo of a cat decorated one biceps, so real Camryn wondered if it might spring to life in the same swift manner the leopard had transformed to a man. The man’s trousers clung to his long, muscular legs and slim hips. The bulge at his groin proclaimed his maleness without a shred of doubt.

“You’ve got clothes on,” she blurted. Mortified color spread to her face when she realized what she’d said. In all the books she’d read about shapeshifters they’d ended up naked after their change. When he’d morphed, his lower half remained covered.

“I could always take them off,” he said in a husky voice.

They stared at each other, the moment so intense Camryn forgot they weren’t alone. Spellbound, she studied his very masculine body, his musculature and his heavily fringed green eyes. She blinked when he stepped closer, and again when he squatted in front of her to cup her cheek with one callused hand.

“You’re female.” His sigh sounded like a purr, and it dragged every receptor on her body to high alert. Her breasts pulled tight, the hard points dragging across the cotton cups of her bra with every rapid breath. In breathless anticipation, she waited for his next move even as part of her rebelled at the unwanted feelings coursing through her body. This wasn’t right. These people had kidnapped her. She shouldn’t—she refused—they’d given her something, made her react to this man, this animal.

Camryn sprang to her feet and squeezed past him, fear lending her speed and agility. She leapt for the open doorway and ran down a short passage before coming to an abrupt halt. Whoa. Whoa!
This was not happening
.

“Where am I?” Camryn stared in stupefied horror at the vast blackness. A man—at least she thought it was a man because he seemed relatively normal with his black ponytail—flew the spacecraft. He’d turned on hearing her question and stared with something akin to shock.

“We’re orbiting Earth, waiting to meet up with the
Indefatigable
,” the man said.

“It’s a woman,” the warrior said in disgust. “You kidnapped the wrong one.”

“No crap.” The pilot’s bushy eyebrows squeezed together in a scowl when he looked over his shoulder again. “No, we kidnapped a man. He wore the same coat as the man in our depictions.”

Camryn said nothing, backing away from the fierce man. They’d kidnapped her because she’d taken her brother’s coat to ward off the cold? Her head throbbed and her ears felt tender. At least the caterpillars had ceased their wriggling. She hated to think what they were doing inside her head.

“We seemed to have kidnapped a woman masquerading as a man.” The warrior glared at the pilot. “You stuffed up.”

“We had a depiction of the man in that coat.” The pilot pointed at her.

Camryn studied the view through the huge port, thoughts bouncing through her mind. The pilot had taken both hands off the controls. She couldn’t see any traffic but surely he should watch for obstacles?

Gabriel…

Tears welled in her eyes. A raging thirst made her swallow but nothing encouraged saliva. God, she needed a drink. Bad. She stepped back and bumped into a muscular and warm naked chest.

“Turn around,” Changing Man said. “We’ll take her back and find the right man this time. The real horse trainer.”

Belatedly it occurred to Camryn they were talking about Max. “No!” she cried. “No, you can’t take Max. He has a wife and a child. They need him.” Her heart pounded anew. They couldn’t take Max. God, she was such a screw-up. No one would miss her. “Take me instead. I’ll do anything. Anything at all.”

Without Gabriel, she was nothing. It didn’t matter what they did to her. She didn’t have a life to wreck while Max…Max had everything to live for. His family. His business. The success starting to come his way. Owners demanded his training skills while they ran in their haste to escape her.

“Take me,” she repeated.

“Our goal is to win,” the warrior said, her words directed to the half-naked man. “Captain, that’s the whole point.”

A hand grasped her shoulder. “You’re right. Yep, turn back.”

“No, wait,” Changing Man raised his right hand in a stop gesture. His violet eyes seemed to drill into hers. She trembled under the close attention because it felt as if he stared into her soul. “What if this is fate? I read the night skies while I waited for your return. They spoke of change and opportunity.”

The warrior snorted. “Which could mean anything. Things are always changing.”

“True,” Cat Man said, although he didn’t sound as disbelieving as the warrior.

“We’ll have to take her back and get the right one,” the warrior persisted.

It had become crowded in the front of the ship, and Camryn realized she had nowhere left to run. “Leave my brother alone.” Unfortunately, her order emerged in a scared, girly voice. A fine tremor slid through her body.

“Let’s be sensible about this,” Changing Man said. “Return to the rear of the tender and let us discuss what can be done.”

Camryn saw Cat Man’s quick nod of assent.

“Send Jannike a message. Tell her we have a delay. Return to the same landing space,” he said.

The pilot nodded and flipped several buttons, taking Cat Man’s orders in his stride. Camryn frowned. If Cat Man was in charge she didn’t rate her chance of survival. His expression bore such hunger and the color of his eyes darkened each time he stared at her. The speculation, the sheer lust in his gaze made her nerves shriek. Camryn backed away slowly. She bumped into the changing man and the warrior and at once felt marginally safer.

Changing Man reached for her with his pearly-gray hand. He clasped her forearm in a gentle manner. “This way, my dear.”

Camryn couldn’t help it. Visions of Red Riding Hood rushed to mind. Wrong fairy tale but the principle remained the same. Sharp teeth were better for eating red meat. They intended to kidnap her brother. God, she couldn’t let them.

She turned to Cat Man, took a deep breath. “Please, you can’t take my brother. You can’t.”

“Child, we need him,” Changing Man said. “He has expertise we require.”

“What expertise?” There must be a way to save Max from the aliens.

“We require a horse trainer,” Cat Man said. Once again he’d moved close, and she hadn’t noticed until their bodies touched.

Camryn flinched at the electrical surge that zapped the length of her body and edged away with a soft gasp. She forced herself to concentrate. “I can train horses.”

“You?” the warrior asked with a sneer.

“Yes,” Camryn said, resisting the urge to shuffle her feet. Cat Man had stepped into her personal space again, leaving her nowhere to move. “I’m a jockey. I ride horses for a living, and I know how to train them. Take me with you. I can do it. Leave my brother with his family. Please.”

Ry listened to her impassioned words and wanted to follow her suggestion. Giving in to temptation, he stroked his hand across her cheek. He detested her scent but her skin felt soft, like the finest, expensive fabrics they’d seized from one of his brother’s shipments. He wanted to unwrap the female, toss her in the sanitizer then rub his scent all over her. Mark her as his. The urge thundered through him. His fingers slid across her jawbone, down her neck until he felt the jump of her pulse beneath his fingertips. She was a tiny thing, smaller than Kaya he saw now, with brown or black hair slightly shorter than his. He wasn’t entirely sure because it hung in damp, oily clumps around her head. Her eyes were golden brown while her lips…her lips were full and sensual and enticed him to explore at closer quarters. He traced her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, savoring her quick, ragged intake of air.

“Captain. Ry!” Kaya grasped his arm and shook it, her nails digging into his biceps like talons.

He growled under his breath and she released him, stepping away, head lowered in submission.

“You weren’t listening.” Apology coated her voice but she negated it when she lifted her head to glare. “Have you taken your medicine?”

“Yes.”

“When did you take the last vial?” Mogens asked.

“Before I left the tender.” Ry forced himself to release the woman, full of resentment at their accusations. He’d taken the medicine. It wasn’t his fault the fraggin’ stuff didn’t work. “How many horses have you trained?” He’d disliked the idea of stealing the man from his family. It hadn’t seemed right, even if they needed his help.

“I started training horses when I was fourteen years of age, before I became an apprentice jockey.”

The woman refused to look at him. Her reluctance pricked his temper, and he growled. Gasping, she backed away until her body touched the curved wall of the tender. He countered, stepping near enough to smell the layer of enticing femininity beneath the stench of her clothes and alcohol-laden breath. His nostrils flared while his cock reared, thrusting painfully against the placket of his trews.

“Captain. Concentrate,” Mogens ordered.

“Get me more medicine.”

“I didn’t bring any with me. I have more on the
Indy
.”

Ry closed his eyes, attempting to center his mind and push all thoughts of the woman away. It worked until he heard her swallow. His lids opened to see her pink tongue swipe across her lips. They glistened and made him yearn for a taste. A rumble of pure desire rattled his throat, emerging as a barking cough. He didn’t want to spend time with a woman who feared him, yet the idea of sending her away disturbed him more.

“If you are lying about your ability, your brother will suffer.” He forced strength and a hint of brutality into the announcement.

This race and beating his brother was too important. He wanted his name cleared. They had to do the best they could in the limited time.

“I am a good trainer. I can do the job. You won’t be sorry.” Her expression appeared open and without deceit. She meant her words. “I’ll train your horse and when I’m finished, return me to Earth.”

Ry wasn’t so sure.

“Captain, step away from the woman. Let her breathe,” Mogens said, tugging at his shoulder. His behavior had agitated the seer because the male’s color flickered toward black, the black, white and gray moving in crazy swirls over his skin. The rapid change made Ry dizzy. “Captain.”

Ry allowed the seer to pull him away from the woman.

“What’s the verdict?” Yep waited for his decision.

It appeared as if they all waited for his assessment. Gut instinct gnawed him again, telling Ry he needed to best his brother and settle the dispute between them for once and all. Ry knew his brother hated him and would do anything to destroy him. He was surprised Talor had even suggested the bet and wasn’t about to lose the opportunity to clear his name. The Earth woman could help him gain an edge.

Ry inhaled, his furtive gaze heading once more for the woman. He took half a step forward before he stayed the move. Damn, he was doing it again. The woman called to him on so many levels. Ry prowled across the tender, placing as much distance between them as possible. He flung himself into the chair beside Yep and stared moodily at the woman.

Temptation. Trouble. She presented both.

He sighed. “Set course for rendezvous with the
Indefatigable
.”

Ry hoped like hell he wasn’t making a huge mistake taking the woman with them.

Chapter Two

“It went well?” Jannike met them in the transport bay. “Captain?”

Ry didn’t answer, brushing past his second-in-command, desperate to escape the woman. This shouldn’t be happening. He’d fukked himself to exhaustion on Ibrox after learning of his mother’s death, and since then he’d taken Mogens’ medicine and grabbed every opportunity to bed women during reprovisioning stops.

Aware of his shaky control, he stormed down the corridor, heading for his quarters. Privacy. He wasn’t sure what he’d do when he arrived there—more medicine for a start, to bolster his tenuous willpower.