End of the Line (2 page)

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 a foot or more below her, 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 warm. They would have
been inviting in another setting. As it was, she could see the
flare of gold in his gaze 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.

Chapter Two

Val couldn’t believe what he was
seeing as the 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?

Barbaric. That’s what it
was.

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

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 horrific sins among jit’suku warriors.
It would have cost him his commission, had it been discovered, at
the very least.

As it was, his men were as horrified
as he was. This strange woman had almost cost them all a grave
price to their honor and their souls.

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

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 love. He had 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—trying not to use too much force—along with him 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 had 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 there that would serve his
purpose, and it was toward one of those comparatively luxurious
compartments he made his way with the human female in
tow.

“
Could you slow down a
bit? Or walk smaller?” she 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 rapidly, laboring to keep up. He’d dragged
her at double time the length of the ship. No wonder she was
huffing and puffing. Damn.

He had caused her discomfort. First he
blows her ship out from under her, almost killing her in the
process, then he makes her jog to keep up with his longer strides,
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 piloted her vessel well, from what he had observed
as she 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 was well modulated, almost soft
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 had tried to be
careful of her fragility, but his anger had gotten the better of
him.

“
I am,” he replied to her
question, then reached for her hand to examine the red marks on her
wrist. “Again, I apologize. It is not our way to harm
females.”

She looked at him oddly for a moment,
then pulled her hand back. He let her go with surprising
reluctance. She had very soft skin now that he had slowed down
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—soft 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 had 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 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.”

That seemed to set her back on her
heels and she looked truly confused. Adorable and confused. He
really didn’t understand why he found himself so attracted to this
tiny female.

“
Your women really have
active roles in your society?” She blinked up at him as if unsure
of the truth of his words.

“
Of course.” What did she
think? That his people were as barbaric and backwards as
hers?

She looked away, peering absently down
the corridor before returning her lovely green gaze to his. “I
think the gender roles in our respective cultures must be very
different. Among humans, anyone can serve in the military. While
it’s true that most women don’t choose to serve, some of us do and
some of us even seek out adventure on the front lines.”

“
You came to be here by
choice?” Val couldn’t credit her words. Patrolling a dangerous
border was warrior work. It was too dangerous to risk a female on
such tasks.

“
I had to apply three
times before I got assigned a fighter patrol. The rim sweep isn’t
usually this exciting, but it is important.” Her chin jutted out
defensively and Val realized she took pride in her assignment to
the dangerous post.

“
Are you hungry?” he
asked, hoping to change the subject. She’d given him a great deal
to contemplate, but first he wanted to be certain she was
comfortable. He had treated her shabbily to this point and he
wanted to make amends.

“
I could eat,” she replied
cautiously.

“
Then follow me.” He
walked more slowly this time, traversing the long hallway off which
all his staff was housed. He was looking for one portal in
particular.

Raising his hand to the lock plate, he
keyed in his command code, opening the door. He stepped back,
allowing her to precede him.

She walked in with some hesitation and
he wondered if she hadn’t believed him about taking her to guest
accommodations. Perhaps she still believed that he would throw her
in the brig, or worse. She would soon learn Val was a man of his
word. And he didn’t harm females. Not on purpose, at any
rate.

Chapter Three

The room was spacious and furnished
with high quality trappings. The captain might just be telling the
truth after all, Lisbet thought as she took in her surroundings.
This didn’t look like any kind of cell she could imagine and there
didn’t appear to be anything more sinister than a couch and some
chairs placed along one wall.

“
Guest quarters,” he
announced, moving into the room and making it seem a lot smaller
all of a sudden. The captain was even larger than the other jits
she’d seen since boarding.

Before today, she had only seen images
of jit’suku warriors. They were all over six feet tall and built on
the brawny side. As big as the biggest human men, they towered over
most civilians. But this captain was a good six and a half feet to
her five and three quarters. And he definitely kept himself in
shape. The view she’d gotten of his muscular ass as he’d dragged
her along behind him had been epic.

If she had been in any kind of
position to truly appreciate the view, she might have found herself
drawn to the incredibly handsome warrior. As it was, she was his
prisoner—though not, perhaps, in as bad a situation as she’d
feared. She was certainly a captive, but the conditions didn’t seem
too bad at the moment. She would be wary, but something about the
way he’d spoken to her made her think he was as unfamiliar with
real humans as she was with real jit’suku.

All she knew was what she had been
told by her commanders and seen in the news media. She had heard
about the many battles along the rim and knew the death statistics.
The war, which had been going on for a long time, was taking a
definite toll on both sides. Many men had died. Women too, of
course, but the jit’suku were very careful to only attack military
targets and the only female casualties she was aware of were women
soldiers.

Based on what she’d just been told by
the captain, she would bet he hadn’t known before seeing her that
women served alongside men in the human armada. She wondered what
he would do when he thought through that surprising scenario. He
had seemed truly upset to discover she was female.

“
I will order food for
you. It is almost dinner time, so if you have no objection, I would
like to share the meal with you, so that we may talk
more.”

“
Interrogation?” She had
to ask. It didn’t sound like he really wanted to interrogate
her—not in the way she understood the term—but he would be asking
questions, she had no doubt.

“
Nothing so dramatic.” His
lips lifted at one corner in the hint of a smile that almost
stopped her heart. Damn, he was sexy when he wasn’t quite so angry.
He would be devastating if he ever decided to turn on the charm. “I
wish to ask more questions of you, but I will not force you to
answer. It becomes clear to me that I do not know enough about
humans. I had no idea women served as pilots and will have to
rethink my strategy if I am to continue with honor, now that I have
been made aware of this fact.”

That sounded promising. She thought
over her options, coming to a quick decision.

“
I’ll answer what I can,
but I won’t betray my people. I don’t really know enough to do any
serious betraying anyway, so you might as well get that thought out
of your mind right now.” She took a fortifying breath, watching his
handsome face carefully. “But I will answer cultural questions if I
think they’re safe. I’d like to know more about your people too,
while we’re at it,” she added.

“
Then it is agreed.” He
moved toward the door. “The sanitation cubicle is beyond the light
green portal, in a corner of the attached sleep chamber. I will
leave you to refresh yourself for approximately one standard hour.
I will return when the meal is served.” He paused by the door. “You
will be locked in for your safety. My crew is all male. I do not
wish for you to interact with them at present.”

She was okay with that and merely
nodded. Privacy in this luxurious suite was better than a cell, or
being accosted by a bunch of giant men who hadn’t seen a female in
who knew how long. And Captain Sexy would be back in an hour with
dinner.

Life had just gotten very interesting,
very fast.