4. Chapter 3

Jasmine closed her eyes against the light flooding down from the ceiling, but she couldn’t fall asleep. Too many nagging questions plagued her mind. What was she thinking, getting involved with Rex Masters in the first place? She never really respected him. She respected other officers in the Allied Command a lot more.

Now she knew for certain she could never let him touch her again. He lied to her face while he distracted her with bodily pleasures. She hated herself for ever wanting him. She was a lot madder at herself than at him.

His revelation infuriated her, but not as much as it should have. So many things made sense now. So many missions she undertook to so many other planets, and all of them ended with those planets joining the Allies. The more a population resisted, the more resources the Allies bent to persuade them. The Allies used all their economic might to force them to join. The Allies got so successful at convincing people to fall under their sway, they didn't even have to use their military anymore. No one could stand up to the Allies.

Now the Krataks would fall, too. Jasmine helped the Allies take over so many planets, and none of those conquests bothered her in the slightest. None of them bothered her because she didn't realize at the time what she was doing. All she did was study them. She recorded their biology, their geology, their vegetation and animal life. Then she went about her business and never gave it a second thought.

How could she walk out of this room, now that she knew what was going on? How could she face the Krataks again? She couldn't talk to them. She couldn't study them. She couldn't look them in the eye.

She was one of the conquerors. Her job entailed pulling the wool over these people's eyes until the Allies stormed in and took over. They would supplant the native population's autonomy and replace it with their own government. They would send in their own governors, and it all started with Jasmine herself.

She couldn't undo what she'd already done. She and her team were already on the planet. No wonder General Duncan didn't put up much resistance to the team remaining behind a little longer. They'd gotten their foothold here. The longer the team stayed on the surface, the more they solidified the Allies' presence.

There must be some way to mitigate the coming disaster, but Jasmine couldn't think of anything. Rex was right. As long as the Assans focused their hostility on the Ulasso, they couldn't combat the Allies at all.

If only there was some way to talk to Rocor, to get through to him. She had to turn him away from this misguided attack against his own people. So, the Ulasso were different. She couldn't believe they were as dangerous as the Assans made them out to be. They certainly weren’t as dangerous as the Allies.

Once she made up her mind, she marched right out of the room. She was too hungry to stay there anyway, and she wasn't getting any rest lying on that bed. She swung the door open and stopped. Rocor stood right outside her room. She looked up and down the passage, but no one else disturbed the place.

He nodded to her. "Are you coming down to the hall?"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in the armory."

"I was. I came to see if you.... I mean, your people— to eat with us."

"Freya already invited us." Jasmine looked around again. "Where are the others? I thought they would already be down there."

"I haven't seen anybody, and I've been standing here waiting for a while."

Jasmine shook her head and shut the door. "Never mind. We can go alone and they can come afterwards."

He fell in at her side. "I trust the room is to your liking."

"It's very nice. Thank you. Your family has been very kind to welcome us here."

"I understand you want to look into our genealogical records and perhaps study us from a medical point of view. You'll want to examine us and maybe take samples."

Jasmine blushed at the thought. "I won't be. Maybe Dr. Simons will want to. I'm a biologist. I'll be studying the planets plant and animal life. I'll leave the intricacies to someone else."

He chuckled. "Good. I was worried."

Jasmine's head whipped around. "You? I doubt you were worried about anything."

"You're right. I wasn't. I was just making conversation."

"How are the preparations going for your attack?"

"Very well. We have all the weapons we need, so we'll be ready to fly as soon as our people get organized."

"How long will that take?"

He cocked his head. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you really think this attack is a good idea? Won't you be leaving the Keep open to dangers from somewhere else?"

"Like where?"

She hesitated to tell him too much. "I just wonder how you can attack the Ulasso when only one man came into your territory."

He growled under his breath. "One man is as good as an army with those people. If we don't squash them now, we'll have their whole army on our doorstep in a matter of days. The Ulasso are blood-thirsty and vicious."

"I find that hard to believe. Fawks was just helping us. I never met anybody more helpful and generous. His crossing into your territory could have been an accident."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew anything about the Ulasso. How did you happen to meet him, anyway?"

"Our shuttle crashed on entry into the planet's atmosphere. He found us and helped us make our way to your Keep."

He stopped walking to study her. "Your shuttle crashed? Did you have some sort of mechanical malfunction? Was your shuttle incapable of coping with the atmosphere?"

"No. A dragon attacked us. It shot fire all over us and sent us spinning out of control. If our pilot Sheena hadn't been so skilled and quick-witted, we would all have fallen to our deaths."

His eyes sparkled. "A dragon attacked you! What color was it?"

"It was pure white, and huge. It covered half the sky."

He set off walking again. "I thought so."

She hurried after him. "What do you mean—you thought so? What did you think?"

He didn't stop walking. "Don't waste your breath telling me again how helpful and generous the Ulasso was to you. Don't tell me any more about him saving your lives—not after what you just told me."

"I don't understand you at all. What does that have to do with the Ulasso?"

"You just told me. He caused you to crash, and then he found you and saved your lives."

"He didn't cause the crash. He was nowhere near us."

"Of course, he did. He tried to kill you."

Jasmine stopped dead in her tracks while he strode on. "You're out of your mind."

He spun around to face her. "Am I? How do you think he found you so fast after you crashed? How could he know where you were?"

Jasmine threw up her hands. "You're making this up. You hate the Ulasso. You'll say anything to incite the Allies and everyone else against them."

"I don't have to incite anybody. Everybody knows the Ulasso deserve to die for what they've done."

Jasmine set off down the passage, back the way she came. He confounded her plans. She wanted to tell him about the Allies threatening the planet. Instead, they wound up bickering about this. "Forget it. You go have your meal. I'm not talking about this anymore."

How he wound up in front of her, she never could understand. He flew so fast the human eye couldn't follow him. One minute, he stood a dozen paces down the passage. The next, he appeared in front of her and blocked her path. "Stop, Jasmine."

She squared her shoulders at him. "Get out of my way. I don't know what kind of woman you're used to dealing with, but where I come from, men don't block a woman's way. Stand aside and let me pass."

"You won't get anything to eat down there. At least come to the hall and share a meal with us."

"I'll take care of myself later. I'm not going anywhere with you."

He arched one eyebrow. "With me?"

Jasmine looked away.

He didn't move. "Is it me you don't want to eat with? If that's the case, you can go to the hall by yourself. I'll leave you alone so I don't disturb you so much."

She refused to look at him. She only wanted him to go away, but she couldn't stop her heart racing. Why did he have to stand so close? Why did his presence have to excite her this way? She shouldn't give him the time of day. She should hold him at a professional distance, but she couldn't.

In spite of all her efforts to the contrary, she gravitated toward him. She wished she could study him at close range. She wanted to inspect his skin under a powerful magnifying glass. She wanted to taste him and understand him. She wanted to see this alien world from his point of view.

He stood still and waited. When she didn't respond or look at him, he took hold of her chin and turned her head to face him. His eyes burned her soul. The swirling pictures flowed and rippled under his skin. What was he thinking about right now?

The moment her eyes met his, her resolve dwindled to nothing. She couldn't walk away from this. He glanced down at her mouth, and a sudden burst of sparkles shimmered away from his lips. They faded across his cheeks.

His voice rumbled down the passage. "I asked you a question."

She sucked her breath through her teeth. For some reason, him holding her by the chin didn't strike her as strange. "What?"

"I asked if you want to go to the hall alone. I asked if it was me you objected to."

"No!" she cried out. "I mean, no. I don't object to you."

"You object to something. Tell me what it is."

Her mind tumbled in confusion. "Nothing."

His eyes widened. "You don't object to anything?"

"I... I don't want to go to the hall alone. I... I don't want to go to the hall at all."

"Oh." He let go of her face. His hand fell to his side.

His touch left a burned place on her skin. She couldn't think of walking away now. "Are you going to the hall?"

"I told you I was."

She wanted to slink away and hide. What was wrong with her?

He started to turn away. Jasmine's heart ached—but why? Why should she care so much about him walking away? She didn't even know him. He was alien and horrifying and incomprehensible.

He glanced back over his shoulder. "Will I see you again later?"

As suddenly as she sank into the blackest despair, she exploded into joyous light. "Yes! Oh, yes! I'd like that very much."

He frowned. "You would?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Nothing is making sense right now. I didn't mean to walk away from you over a silly misunderstanding about the Ulasso. You obviously understand them much better than I do."

He shrugged. "Don't talk about the Ulasso anymore."

She couldn't stop smiling. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. "I don't want to. We can talk about anything else."

He jerked his head sideways. "So...do you want to go to the hall?"

"I'd rather talk to you here."

His face brightened. The patterns swirled faster than ever. "Okay. What would you like to talk about?"

Jasmine laughed. "Nothing."

He blinked at her. He looked around, but when he didn't see anything, he came back to looking at her.

Her pulse raced in her veins. She didn't understand her own reaction to him, but that didn't matter. He was here, in front of her. She had to find a way to keep him there. "Tell me about your tattoos."

He didn't say anything. He studied her face in the closest detail. What was he seeing? She didn't have any tattoos to fascinate him. Maybe that's what he found so curious. Maybe he’d never seen anybody without those patterns. Maybe she confounded him as much as he confounded her.

He nodded toward her room. "Did you find everything you need in there? Is it comfortable enough for you?"

"You already asked me that. It's perfect. Thank you."

What were they doing out here, gabbling back and forth like a couple of nervous teenagers? Where was Jasmine's professional reserve now? She ought to walk away. She ought to go on with her work.

"Listen, Rocor, I want to tell you something."

Before she could say anymore, he moved in and planted a quick kiss on her mouth. The instant their skin touched, he darted away to the same place in front of her.

She gasped out loud. "What was that for?"

He regarded her as if nothing had happened. "I just wanted to see what it was like. I've never kissed one of your people before."

She stared at him. "Are you making some kind of study of me?"

"You're studying me, so why not?"

She looked down at his mouth. She never stopped thinking what it would be like since she first laid eyes on him. She would never kiss him, though. Why wouldn't she? How could he have more courage than her to satisfy his curiosity? "You shouldn't have done that."

His spine stiffened. He drew himself up to his full height to dwarf her. "I definitely should have."

She caught her breath. She would have asked why he should have when he rushed in to kiss her again. He didn't peck her on the lips this time. He grabbed her around the waist and smothered her with his mouth.

She started back in surprise, but he held her firm against his enormous body. His arm crushed her like she couldn't believe. He must be ten times as strong as any human man. His lips mauled her to pieces, but she couldn't fight back the way she fought off Rex.

His mouth and body and his eyes boring into her soul hypnotized her the way the tapestries did. Those winding leaves and vines sprouting out of his skin sank their hooks into her flesh. They held her against him tighter than his arms ever could. She couldn't get away. She had to stare into his eyes while her body melted in his clutches.

His arms closed around her, and the medallion in his buckler dug into her chest. His great heart thumped through her ribs until both their hearts beat in time with each other. Were those patterns swirling in his eyes, too? She couldn't make her mind function. Nothing made sense but his lips on her.

She sagged into his arms, and he understood the invitation. A primal growl bubbled out of his throat. He spun her around and hustled her into a corner behind one of the tapestries. He pushed her against the wall, and his body fell on top of her.

She stared straight in front of her. He blocked out her whole field of view. What was happening to her? She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't be kissing him and....His hands grappled all over her. They squeezed her neck and arms. They stroked down her waist to her hips. He scooped up one thigh and pressed his pelvis between her legs.

Everything he did shot daggers of thrilling excitement into her. Her heart fluttered in its cage to break away against him. Adrenaline burned her guts, and that fire raged down her stomach to her crotch.

Where was her authority now? If the team saw her like this, she was finished. They didn't like her cozying up to Rex, and everybody knew they had a relationship going. She barely set eyes on Rocor once, and here she was, giving herself to him in the passage for all to see.

She couldn't stop herself. He dominated her whole soul. He blocked out everything else. She needed this more than the air she breathed.

He gobbled and mouthed her lips off her face. His tongue swished between her cheeks. His sharp spike stabbed between her legs to nudge her clit to raging fury. Where would it end? He'd have her pants off in a minute, and then it would be all over.

She saw herself from down the passage. She saw what her friends would see if they came around that corner right now. What if one of the Simons’ girls saw her? What would they think of an Allies’ officer then?

Jasmine couldn't let this happen. At the last second, she broke loose. She dragged her mouth away from his, and she let her leg fall. The sizzling energy holding them together died, and the powerful passion smoldering in his eyes faded. He regarded her with the same distant scrutiny he gave her before.

She wiped the saliva off her mouth with her wrist, and he eased off her. She didn't have to explain anything. He already understood.