CHAPTER 6
One minute, Xaviara’s body was aflame with the close proximity to this muscled dream in his tiny quarters—and she could get in so much trouble for being alone with him. The next, he was pressed up against her with her back to the wall and a knife hovering near her throat. She swallowed and said, “Nicholen, if I’d wanted to harm to you or your prince, would I have told you I know your secret?”
The knife wasn’t touching her, but his entire torso was against hers and his lips were mere inches away. She was relieved to note that he wasn’t aroused by this display of machismo—only, perhaps, resigned, by the hard set of his jaw—but she wasn’t in the same boat. Something about his stance and the way he held the knife told her this was all bravado, or maybe even an automatic reaction to show his command of the situation, fueled by years of training.
She lifted a hand and gently placed it on the knife. “You need my help. The saboteur could be anyone. And I’m the only one who knows how dire the situation is. Unless you want to announce to all the humans that your prince is stuck on a wild planet. I assume all the kadyyza already know?”
His intake of breath told her they did.
She pulled the knife from his grasp and tossed it aside. It clunked onto the desk, coming to rest on the console open to a screen more fit for a captain of the guard than a trincaar. If she’d had any doubts about his true identity, they were washed away with the symbol displayed in the upper corner, the official seal of the Imdali Royal Guard.
His head moved almost imperceptibly in a nod. Without the knife, they were just two people alone in a room, bodies pressed together, attraction sizzling between them. The forbidden fraternization made the captain all the more delicious. Her nipples bloomed as she realized the shifting movement at her waist was a clear sign that he was responding to her closeness. She held still, though she longed to press herself against his erection and see how far she could take this.
But they had bigger things to worry about.
She licked her lips. “We need to start an investigation. Find out who it is.” When is he going to pull away? she wondered at the same time her entire body screamed, No, stay. Kadyyza body temperature was warmer than human, and his proximity was heating her up in more ways than one.
He cleared his throat, his eyes roving over her face like he was trying to drink in her features. “We need to stop whatever plan they have.” His half-erection shifted against her leg.
“Yes, I agree, but…” Her hand was drifting toward his torso. If he kissed her, she wouldn’t be able to hold back. “… we can only stop what they’re doing when we know who they are.”
He blinked and pulled back. “Sorry… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” And then, sadly, his warmth—and manhood—were gone. “It was just…”
“I get it,” she said. He was so protective of the prince, it made her knees weak. “Your first loyalty is to your trincaar.”
“That’s it. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m so sorry. That was completely uncalled for.” He ran a hand over his short hair.
“You can make it up to me by letting me help.” She lifted an eyebrow, forcing her gaze to stay on those burning violet eyes instead of drifting downward again. “That’s all I really want—to get to the bottom of this.”
“You’re an uncommon woman, aren’t you?”
Xaviara was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“I thought at first you might only be interested in me because I’m posing as the prince. I’ve watched women fawn all over Camlan his entire life. Most of them don’t care about him as a person. I finally got him to understand that years ago.” The last part was muttered. “But you’ve known all along I’m not the prince. You’re interested in me.”
Xaviara decided to be bold. “You intrigue me.”
“Because I’m an alien?”
“Because you’re well-traveled. A fighter. Sexy.” Just the kind of man she was looking for, the complete opposite of Boring Tom.
His eyes widened. “You’ll have to excuse me. Kadyyza women are forthright, but a different kind of forthright.”
She’d seen the videos of purple- and blue-skinned women throwing themselves at Camlan. They were a people of action rather than words. His amazement was rather endearing. “This is new for me. I’m not usually forthright.”
“I like it.”
Xaviara shuddered.
“We probably shouldn’t…” His eyes roamed over her body. “The treaty… And I can’t relax until I know Camlan is safe.”
Their eyes locked, and an electric shock of desire snapped through her. Forthright, am I? Deciding to seize the moment, Xaviara stepped forward and kissed him.
The warmth of him was delicious. She closed her eyes and leaned in, flicking a tongue across his bottom lip and moaning almost involuntarily. She was already slick from his heat against her, and she clenched at the sheer deliciousness of him.
He tasted like an exotic fruit from his solar system that she’d had once in preparation for this assignment. The outside was covered in spines she’d carefully pulled apart, but the inside was juicy and sweet. He met her fervor with passion of his own, pressing against her again. She reveled in the feel of him against her belly before pulling away.
His eyes were closed, his lips parted, and she leaned back against the wall to stop anything more from happening.
“You’re right,” she said.
His eyes fluttered open.
“We probably shouldn’t.” Heat crept from her hairline, over her cheeks, down her neck and past her breasts.
His hands clenched at his sides, as though he was willing himself not to grab her and push her against the wall again.
Before she gave in to the desire burning in his expression, Xaviara brushed past him toward the door. She hit the open button and waited as he blinked, swallowed, and stood up straight. The erection was now straining in his pants. If they were going to get out of this without breaking any more rules, they needed to go somewhere public.
“I’ll give you a moment,” she said. “I’ll see what I can find out from the bridge, and then we can meet in the ship’s library, start an investigation.”
Nicholen looked like he was going to say something, but then just nodded.
“See you there in fifteen.”
She gave him a wink—so saucy, Xaviara, completely unlike her—and swaggered out the door.