He howled as beads of sweat dripped off his skin onto mine and I squeezed my cunt and ass muscles as another climax became a wave, shooting into my legs.

  “Yes…”

  I could feel his body changing, every inch of his skin on fire and only seconds later, I felt the thick streams of cum shoot into my body. And I could only smile.

  He flopped onto the bed, pulling me against him, crossing his arms, his hands on my breasts. As he eased one leg over mine, I realized I’d never felt so safe. The irony created a skipping in my heart.

  We stayed in the same position for several minutes, our breathing slowing, our bodies molded together. I sensed his mind was full of disarming thoughts, and deep concerns about the future. Would he ever be able to confide in me?

  “Why did you listen to my conversation?” he asked ever so quietly.

  I should have known he’d realize I was watching his actions as well as eavesdropping. “Kalek mentioned that your father was the king.” He stiffened, almost cutting off my air supply. “You are a prince?”

  He allowed a long breath to escape. “I am Prince Drateq of the Cenzan people. I am the only son of our king and the heir to the throne. I am expected to lead, to take full control, and to find peace and happiness once again for our stricken land and barren people.”

  “But you’ve wanted nothing to do with the throne.”

  Kissing my neck, he kept his lips against my skin for a full ten seconds. “Not until recently. No.”

  “That’s why you volunteered for the mission.”

  “Yes, in part.”

  “And now?”

  Shandar released me, rolling onto his back, his hands over his head. I sat up, crossing my legs, tilting my head. This was as close as we’d been.

  “I have reason to believe my father will be overthrown, even killed. Our mission could be compromised, and this is our only hope. Therefore, I must figure out the identity of the traitor.”

  “You think it’s Logan?” The single twitch of his lip gave me some sense I was close.

  “Only to a degree. He would need help from my people. There was no other way for your captain to know that poison is one of the few ways we can be exterminated. I must find and interrogate him.”

  “You mean kill him.”

  He exhaled. “Yes.”

  “Then you’ll need my help.” I placed my hand on his chest, giving him a respectful nod. His eyes held more than just surprise. I hated Logan on several levels and had thought about his death more than once. “You know that the way Braga was poisoned was a test. If they are really going to use the poison, there will be other methods they’ll use. Let me help you. I know what I’m talking about.”

  A slight smile gave way to a shake of his head. “I cannot allow your help, although I must admit, having you by my side would be truly amazing. You are a prisoner of the Federation and that’s not allowed.”

  “I am your mate as well as your slave, but I am no prisoner. You are the leader of this mission. You can decide.”

  He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me and I knew he was debating internally. “That is true, but there are many dangers with what I’m planning. I don’t want to lose you and I can’t protect you.”

  “I don’t need to be protected. I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself.” I knew the look. I’d seen the same one from human men my entire life. Even during the two years in the prison, what I knew to be nothing more than a glorified labor camp, I’d been subjected to more than just a single guard discounting my skills. “I’m trained in weaponry.”

  He smirked and moved to a sitting position. “I didn’t realize that your scientists were trained in the military. Guns? Bombs?”

  “I wasn’t instructed by anyone. I educated myself through trial and error.”

  His eyes glowed in the dim lighting, the bright orange burning into my very soul.

  “Tell me how.” His words were a command as he took my hand into his.

  “I…” I was overcome with emotion, fighting the hurt little girl inside, the armor I’d encased around myself crumbling. “Just trust me in that I can use a gun, a knife. Maybe even one of your swords.”

  “With trust comes respect. Yes, I understand more of the importance. Allow me in, Fiona. I can tell you went through a terrible ordeal. It is time for you to trust me enough to tell me.”

  A cold shiver slithered down my back, rushing into my extremities. I’d never told anyone about my experiences, including Logan, although he’d certainly been privy to many of the stories. Hell, he’d sanctioned the wretched facility in the first place. I took a deep breath, holding it while I calmed my nerves. After exhaling, I was no longer able to look into his eyes. “Our world went through a cataclysmic change fifty years ago. Powerful leaders believed the best thing to do was to eliminate their enemies, unleashing weapons unlike anything that had ever been experienced before. Their choice of mass destruction was horrific, killing millions. There’d been enough talk, rumors through the various countries that almost forty percent were saved, finding safety in caverns underneath the Earth’s surface.”

  “But the Earth was not destroyed.”

  “They’d learned from their previous mistakes in that nuclear bombs would wipe out everything in a large radius. The scientists had created the perfect weapon of choice, one that would affect only human life, not animals or vegetation. Their calculations were brilliant, almost perfect. Those deemed worthy of saving were given passage to the underground. The unsuspecting died a violent death. From what I understand, it took five years for the atmosphere to be deemed safe, another eighteen months before all the bodies were eradicated. By then, humanity had changed, the desire for survival taking on an entirely new meaning.” I remembered the history as if I’d lived the ordeal, even though there was little written about the wretched event. I’d learned a great deal from the stories my mother had told me, at least before my father had forbidden any talk about the past.

  “That is unfortunate,” he said with no inflection, as if our lives didn’t matter.

  I snapped my head, leaning closer and hissing. “Unfortunate? Our world was ceremoniously destroyed, and a new creation born, men and women with no care of anything other than right versus wrong, good versus evil. The scientists truly ruled, which is why when I was born, there was no other choice what my profession would be. My parents wanted their little girl to live in a safe environment and for a while, I had no clue of the horrors they’d endured. The new governments did a damn good job of hiding their atrocities, their lies in order to mandate life the way they saw fit. There was no reason for me to balk the system. I had my perfect world wrapped up in my parents.”

  “And then?”

  Pain shifted between my eyes, the memories almost crushing. “I was different. I was a child with a gift from God or the devil, as my father would say.” I laughed bitterly, remembering the first time I’d encountered opposition to my supposed grace from some deity. “I had a healing touch. It started with small animals. I cured them. My parents paid no attention, and my guess is on purpose, until I healed a child, a little boy in the school I attended. Then everyone knew. Suddenly, my parents were shunned, my father fired from his job. They had to make a difficult decision or face punishment, so they formulated a plan of their own in order to protect our way of life. From that day on, my parents forced me to ignore my gift, hide what I was. I became a freak show.”

  He wrapped his hand around mine, squeezing. “You have no idea how valuable your ability is. We need healers. We must keep you safe.”

  “What safety is there at this point?”

  “You don’t know about my abilities just yet.” He half smiled. “I am angry at what you endured.”

  “I coped even though I was treated like a freak. I learned much later that I wasn’t the only one with healing abilities as well as other gifts. Some could pinpoint the location of weapons. Others could read people’s minds. Anyone with a difference was rounded up, thrown into labor camps, imprisoned as if they didn’t exist. After my parents died, I cared less about the government or the rules.”

  “You started using your gift to help others.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “You bet. I threw it in the face of officials. For a long time, I was able to hide after I’d performed a miracle, until one day I was caught. I have no doubt I’d been set up by people I thought I could trust. There was so much terror and still is. Two days after I was arrested, I stood in front of a judge. There was no trial, only a decision and I was sent to a brutal camp, one for the worst of mankind. I learned very quickly how to defend myself. The atrocities I witnessed, the horrors would give even a mighty warrior nightmares.”

  “Then why are your people worth saving?”

  I weighed the answer to his question, having asked that myself more than a few times. “Because I believe event after my imprisonment, the beatings, and the other things that…” The words caught in my throat, my mind flashing back to the two significant events that would forever change me. I looked him straight in the eye, my conviction stronger than it had been perhaps ever before. “Because I do believe that some humans are good people and deserve a chance at a normal life. Our world was finally healing to a point when diseases began to take their toll, as if punishing everyone for their decision to play God.”

  “That’s what you were working on,” Shandar said quietly, gazing off into the darkened space. “Fighting to keep your humanity by healing in another way.”

  I nodded several times. “I was freed from the prison for my other expertise: holograms, and my work with infectious diseases.”

  “By Logan.”

  “Yes. I’d saved someone he cared about and he remembered.” I laughed again, jittery from telling the story. Had there been an ulterior motive?

  “And you became his lover.” This time, I heard a slight hint of jealousy in Shandar’s statement.

  “We weren’t lovers in any traditional sense. I became his slave and trust me, there was nothing else between us but his sadistic desires. And he made me crave them.” Leaning forward until our lips almost touched, I breathed the last words, uncertain if they were even audible.

  An unearthly sound permeated the room, rumbling in the air. He snarled, his upper lip curling. “Then he is the true monster.”

  “But he saved me from much worse.” The irony lingered. I’d been allowed out of a human prison into the arms of a sadistic man who’d imprisoned me in his own way. Sighing, I rubbed my fingers across his, marveling at the connection, so strong, so electrified. “I think there is some good in the man, even though I consider him a true brute. However, if he’s behind the attempt at killing your kind, then I won’t stand for it any more than I will you killing humans. If that lands me in your prison system, then so be it. I’m prepared to die for what I consider worth fighting for. Can you understand to any degree?”

  “Yes, but I’m not certain what you can do to change the inevitable.”

  “Maybe nothing but I’ll die trying.”

  Pulling my hand to his lips, he kissed my fingers and the gesture was by far the most tender I’d seen from him. “I believe that you are one of the strongest females I’ve ever met.”

  “Then allow me to help you find Logan. I know him well enough to catch him in a lie. I know him inside and out. I’m also certain where he’d hiding, working on this poison, and my guess is that he’s sequestered the finest scientists to work with him. If he’s behind this poison, there is one location that he’ll be in order to secure the final resources as well as the manpower.”

  “Then tell me.”

  I followed my instinct, perhaps damning whatever this relationship might be. “No. Unless you take me with you.”

  His eyes were like burning embers, his face contorting in disbelief as well as anger. “You will not defy me, Fiona. If you have knowledge of Captain Hicks’ whereabouts, you will divulge it as well as any additional information you deem vital to our invasion.”

  “I can’t. This is important to me.”

  He huffed, holding his breath for a few seconds. “I care for you immensely, Fiona. Please. Tell me.”

  “That answer is still no, Shandar. I will do what’s necessary.”

  The line in the sand would tear us apart.

  He moved off the bed, roaring, his body shaking. “Then you will pay the consequences for your decision.”

  “Then so be it. I will heed to the majority of your commands as required, but not this one, Captain or should I call you Prince?”

  Shandar glared at me, incredulous at my confrontation. “Then I have no choice. You are to be punished in the ways of our people and trust me, slave, you will learn your lesson.” He stormed away from the bed, leaving me alone as well as terrified.

  I’d defied him in a manner he couldn’t handle, usurping his authority in a belligerent fashion, but I had my reasons for wanting to get to Logan.

  And it wasn’t anything I was prepared to mention. I grabbed for the sheet, wrapping the soft material around my body, crumpling onto the bed as I heard him cursing. Only minutes later, the sound of other voices floated into the room.

  “Take this… human to her quarters and prepare the punishment chamber for two hours,” Shandar directed.

  “Yes, sir,” a male voice stated.

  Rough hands gripped my arms, yanking me off the bed. As I was taken out of the room and past my master, he refused to even glance in my direction, but I knew he was in turmoil, conflicted about his decision. My heart was crushed, but my mind and soul were intact. I was doing the right thing and maybe one day, he’d truly understand.

  I was tossed into my quarters, the sheet ripped from me. There were no other words, no sign of any humanity in the two guards who’d brought me here. They were simply following orders. I was freezing, chilled from fear and anxiety. I struggled to find a uniform, fumbling to get into the tight confines. Why did I balk his orders? Why did I bother to share what I’d endured? The second guessing was gut wrenching, driving my mind into the same darkness I’d experienced in the prison.

  I was convinced my insistence at going with Shandar was the right decision. My gut had been nagging me since the incident in the lab on Earth. I knew Logan better than anyone, perhaps even better than he knew himself. He was part of a governmental plan to overthrow the Cenzans but how much clearance had he been given or was he merely a soldier following orders? I paced the floor for several minutes, trying to establish any connections during the time I worked at the lab. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been privy to top secret meetings, documents, or federally approved drugs. My research was merely to find the source DNA and components for various diseases.

  A realization hit me. There was little difference in finding the source elements for poisonous effect on bodily tissue or from a disease. If Vlanea could provide holographic equipment, perhaps I could identify the exact cause and the full effects. If only Shandar would allow my assistance at this point.

  There was no reason for him to do this. None. I dropped onto the bench, folding my arms and leaning over. I was sick, inside and in my heart. God, oh, God. Help me. But there was no God. None. The world, my world was coming to an end at the hand of…

  An odd memory floated into the back of my mind. The snippet was fleeting, lasting maybe three seconds at the most. I tried to grasp it, but for some reason the entire scene disappeared. Still, the flash gave me dozens of additional thoughts, methods to test the poison and develop more than one remedy. If I knew anything about the powers of the government, they weren’t resting their laurels on a single poison or method of inducing. They’d cover all their bases. If Logan was involved, why did he request my presence? Come on, think. Think like the sadistic son of a bitch. “If I realized Braga had been poisoned, Logan would know the Cenzans would show a use of force.” Saying the words out loud did indeed help.

  Captain Hicks and the people he was working for had fully anticipated I’d find the source of the Cenzan’s illness. When the Cenzans retaliated, there’d be no doubt what their intentions were. Then Logan could direct all the people working for him to unleash their full plan of attack. Even with my detection, it would be already be too late. The poison had been put into place long before the event in the lab. “Shit. Shit!” I’d been played just like the Cenzans.

  I was shaking from anger, fear of the unknown, and worry for everyone involved. I had to learn how the Cenzan body functions worked; how their organs differed from ours, as well as their tolerances to heat, light, and certain gasses. Every scrap of information could prove to be useful.

  If only Shandar would get his head out of his ass.

  At least the thought fueled my mind. I needed pen and paper, a computer of any type, something in order to jot down notes. After searching through the locked-down quarters and discovering nothing of use, I stormed toward the door. There appeared to be a small communication system secured on the wall. I had no way of knowing if there was an energy field but at this point, I didn’t give a shit. Thrusting my hand to full length, I prepared for a shock. There was nothing but dense air.

  Relieved, I moved toward the rectangular box located at eye level. As soon as I was within six inches, the apparatus began to glow in an eerie blue, the force around it undulating as if the damn thing were alive. There were no buttons to press, no indication of how to communicate, but I had a feeling someone or something was listening. “I need to talk with Captain Drateq. It’s urgent. Please have him come to my quarters.” While the glow brightened, there was no other indication anyone gave a shit.

  “Is anyone freaking listening to me? This is important and about the poison. Time may be running out.”

  Nothing.

  Time for another tactic. “Then I’ll direct my direct my comments to Vlanea. I have reason to believe that the true poison is lying dormant within various cells of Braga’s body. For how long, I have no idea, but I believe that if you run a blood sample, you’re going to detect some irregularities.”