Zhim followed Ryan through the corridors of the House of Galen. She was an infuriating woman. Always finding ways to poke and prod at him.

But as they entered her small computer space down in the maintenance area, he shook his head. He stared at the system she’d put together. Drak, she was something with electronics. Especially since most of it had been foreign to her until a few months ago.

He watched her head over to her screens. It was clear Galen had purchased some good tech for her. She leaned over to swipe one of the screens, and Zhim’s gaze fell to her trim ass under her trousers.

He scowled and looked away. He had no desire to stare at this small Earth woman’s ass.

“Everything looks okay.” Her tone was suspicious.

Zhim lifted his hand and buffed his nails on his shirt. “Does it?”

Ryan scowled at him. She tapped on the screen to log in to her system.

“Access denied,” a modulated voice intoned.

She tried again.

“Access denied.”

Lines creased her brow. “I don’t know what you did, but I can bypass it.”

He just raised a brow.

Ryan started tapping and muttering to herself. Zhim smiled, feeling very pleased with himself. He hadn’t felt this amused in a long time. He wasn’t going to admit to her that he’d spent several hours hacking her system and working to lock her out.

He listened to her mutter, enjoying the drawl in her voice. From his research, he’d learned the drawl was because she came from a place on Earth called Atlanta, Georgia.

With a sharp hiss, Ryan dropped into her chair and huffed out a breath. “Damn you, I can break this, but it’ll take me hours. What’s the password?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“Zhim!”

“No more pictures of those odd fluffy creatures.”

“Fine.”

He nodded. “The password is Zhim is amazing.”

She shot daggers at him, and reluctantly typed it in. The screen cleared and he saw the Srinar data on the screen—a glowing, knotted ball.

He frowned. “Any luck cracking the data?”

She shook her head. “You?”

“Not yet. It is far more complex than I would have expected of the Srinar.” It was proving a big challenge.

“It’s like a damn onion,” Ryan said. “Layers on layers. And every time I peel one bit back, I find it’s interlocked with another, and I want to scream.”

Zhim had no idea what an onion was, but he couldn’t argue with her analogy.

She held her hands out like a ball. “I can make it through a few layers, but just as I think I get one off—” she lifted a hand “—it snaps back into place.” She jammed her hands back together.

“Exactly,” he said. “That’s a perfect description of it. I haven’t had any luck breaking through the interlocking threads either.” It was nice to have someone understand what he was talking about, for a change. Usually, the gladiators wanted him to talk in very simple terms. They understood swords and axes, not comp systems.

“I need to find Dayna,” Ryan said. “She deserves to be free. She’s suffered enough.”

Silently, Zhim agreed with her. All these women of Earth had suffered enough. He saw the shadows shift through Ryan’s dark eyes, and felt his own shadows stir.

“Who knows what she’s suffering? Beatings, no food, injuries—” Ryan’s voice broke off, her breaths sawing in and out of her lungs. She pressed a shaky hand to her chest and he saw her face go pale.

Drak. Her distress hit him right in the center of memories he’d prefer to forget.

“Take it easy.” Hesitantly, he reached out, and touched her shoulder. She jerked. Drak, he had no idea how to calm her attack. “Slow your breathing, or you’ll faint.”

She dropped her head forward and pulled in a shaky breath.

He studied the slim nape of her neck and, unable to stop himself, stroked her skin. “That’s it. In and out. Slow and easy.”

A few minutes passed, and when she lifted her head, her color was back. He pulled his hand away and cleared his throat. She looked embarrassed. Zhim preferred her driving him crazy over this vulnerability.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m sure that’s just what you wanted. A hysterical woman.”

“You were hardly hysterical.” He paused. “Does this happen a lot?”

“Not as much anymore.” Her chin lifted. “The panic attacks will pass.”

He nodded. But knowing the other human women were out there, suffering, didn’t help. “I have a proposition for you. Let’s combine forces, and see if we can crack this data together.”

“Work together?” Her tone was skeptical.

“I promise I don’t bite.”

She snorted and nudged a chair toward him.

Zhim sat and pulled up beside her. “I have a new program I’ve been working on. It burrows through data layers to find a way in. I call it a data borer. I named it after the death borers the gladiators encountered in the desert badlands.”

Ryan grimaced. “I heard the stories about the death borers popping up through the sand, and would prefer never to see one in person.” She nodded to the comp. “Show me this data borer.”

They started working together, both tapping and swiping. He called up his data borer program, and she tossed some ideas at him as he set it to work. Good ideas, too. Ryan Amaya Nagano had a quick mind.

Zhim paused to push up his sleeves. “We could try a modulating luma codebreaker.”

“Show me.”

He talked her through it, and watched her pick it up fast. They set it to work on the data, but hit wall after wall. The encryption on the Srinar data was tough.

“Dammit.” Ryan slapped a palm against the desk.

“We need to give the data borer time to work.” He turned his head and she did the same. He found himself with his nose a whisper away from hers. The fresh, citrusy scent of her filled his senses.

She blinked and pulled back.

Zhim cleared his throat, but kept his gaze on her. He realized how much more relaxed she looked now. Those shadows in her eyes had receded for the moment.

She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Ah, thanks for the help, Zhim. But just so you know, I’m changing my password back.”

He smiled and rose. “I never expected anything else. Let me know if the borer has any success.” He turned to leave.

“Zhim?”

He glanced back. She was standing, fiddling with her shirt.

“I’d like to make a call to Earth.”

He’d improved the wormhole technology tenfold, and could now place live audio calls to Earth, not just send messages. “Very well,” he said. “I’ll arrange it. Who are you calling?”

“My fiancé.”

Fiancé? Zhim stiffened. He knew the word from the other Earth women. It was the man Ryan had planned to marry. The man she was in love with.

“Send me the details and I’ll arrange it for later today. Come to my apartment.”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

Ryan was in love with someone. As Zhim strode out, he pushed back the unsettling feeling in his gut. She was nothing to him, and he had learned very young that love and caring were far-too-risky emotions.

Besides, he had things to do, information to uncover, and no time to spare on a small, annoying woman from Earth.

* * *

Ryan skirted some massive aliens on the sidewalk. “Thanks for escorting me.”

Blaine Strong smiled down at her, his teeth white against his dark-bronze skin. “My pleasure, Ryan. It’s good we have a way to call back to Earth. I check in with my sister when I can.”

Blaine had, like Harper, also been security on the space station. He was the only human male to have survived the Thraxian attack. After enduring the Srinar’s vicious underground fight rings, he’d been rescued by the House of Galen.

“Do you miss your family?” she asked.

“Yes, but I have a new home now.” His smile widened.

With Saff. Ryan couldn’t argue that the two made an exceptional couple, and Ryan was happy for him.

She missed her parents—her Southern belle mother and her Japanese-American businessman father. She sighed. At least she could talk with them.

They entered the District. Buildings speared up into the sky, and lights and billboards blinked from every surface. The sidewalk was packed with people of all different species. She loved the District—the glitz, the glamor, and the action. There was so much to see, and so many different people to watch. And she was dying for a night out at one of the casinos.

Soon, Blaine led her into one towering spire. Inside, the lobby was finished with sleek tiles, and screamed elegance and wealth. He led her into an elevator that looked like a giant glass bubble, touched some controls, and then they were zooming upward.

When the doors opened, Zhim was waiting for them. His black hair was pulled back and tied at the base of his neck. He was wearing loose, black pants and a flowing, white shirt that dipped low in front, giving her a glimpse of smooth, bronzed skin. She dropped her gaze and saw he was barefoot.

He had nice feet. She shook her head. When the hell had she started noticing a man’s bare feet? Clearly, she did need to get away from her computer more.

Movement on the large balcony to the right caught her eye. A beautiful, golden-skinned woman, with long, blonde hair, was lounging on a low couch. She wore a pretty, blue twist of fabric and looked gorgeous.

Ryan sniffed, instantly feeling terribly underdressed in her simple trousers and shirt.

You aren’t here for a fashion show. She looked past the woman, to Zhim’s exceptional view. She could see the city stretched out below them, all the way to the brown desert in the distance.

“Blaine,” Zhim said. “Brigytta will get you refreshments, and you can stay out here on the balcony. Ryan, follow me.” He stalked inside.

Ryan poked her tongue out at his back, rolled her eyes at Blaine, and followed Zhim inside. His penthouse was gorgeous—all open arches, breezy curtains, and low, elegant furniture.

She wasn’t entirely sure that it suited him, or if it was just a statement of how much money he had. When she stepped into his windowless computer room, she looked around greedily. Now, this room reflected him.

He had the best tech jammed into the space, and multiple sleek screens dotted the walls. She had to admit she was more than a little envious. She touched an intriguing, octagon-shaped object on one desk. Lights blinked on its glossy, black surface. “What’s this?”

There were so many things she didn’t recognize, and a part of her hungered to learn.

“I designed it myself. It’s called a Nova. It helps enhance system speed to exceed anything currently on the market.” He shrugged. “I have people all over Carthago wanting one.”

She tapped a blinking light. “How rich are you, Zhim?”

“Filthy.”

“What do you do with it all?”

“Do?” A frown appeared on his face.

“How do you enjoy your money?”

His frown deepened. “Acquiring it and having it gives me all the enjoyment I need.”

She looked at him. “Surely that isn’t enough?”

“When you come from nothing, when you grew up with little more than rags for clothes, no shoes, and were once so hungry it hurt, you’re very motivated to collect wealth.” He blinked and scowled. “Let’s make that call.” He turned, heading over to a set of screens.

Stunned, Ryan stared at the center of his back. Zhim had come from poverty? In that instant, she had so many questions rattling around in her head, but something told her he wouldn’t answer them.

“Your call will go through in thirty seconds.” He gestured at a stool in front of a large screen. “It’s audio only. I’m still working to stabilize and increase the size of the micro wormholes to allow for visual.”

She sat down facing the screen and fidgeted.

“You’re nervous,” he said.

“A little. I’ve spoken with my parents, but I haven’t spoken to Charlie since my abduction.”

“You haven’t spoken to the man you love?”

“Well, we were friends for a long time, first.” Then sporadic lovers. She realized now they were just together by default. She fiddled with the buttons on her shirt.

“Five seconds,” Zhim said, his gaze unreadable.

“Ryan?”

Charlie’s familiar voice came through the speakers, and flooded her with nostalgia for home.

“Hi, Charlie.”

“It’s been so long, honey.”

Other noises came across the connection, voices, and the tinkle of glassware. He was out somewhere. She frowned. “Where are you?”

“Out at a work thing. I got the call patched through to me. I couldn’t get out of this party.”

He couldn’t forego a work party to call the woman he’d planned to marry. The woman who’d been abducted by aliens. Ryan’s fingers dug into her thigh. She knew Charlie was career-oriented, and loved his work as a busy talent agent for actors and singers. He’d always been attending parties and premieres.

“Work’s busy, then?” she asked.

“I’m swamped.” He launched into a spiel of what he’d been working on and who he’d signed recently. “It’s been so stressful, Ry-Ry.”

Ryan rolled her eyes. He’d been stressed? God, he hadn’t even asked how she was. Oh yes, I’m fine. Yes, I survived an alien abduction, thanks for asking.

She saw Zhim watching her, and it made her realize that Charlie had always been like this. Self-centered and self-absorbed. Having Zhim witness her mess made her cheeks burn. She waved a hand at him. Go away, she mouthed.

“I need to monitor this,” he murmured, gesturing at the equipment.

“I can’t tell you how terrible it was when I first learned that the space station had been destroyed,” Charlie said. “We had a memorial service for you.”

Ryan heard a tremor in his voice and her heart clenched. Maybe she’d been a bit harsh. Charlie had been her friend since they were small, and she knew he did care about her, in his own way.

“It’s been so hard for me,” Charlie added.

Ryan blinked again. Hard? For him?

“And then to learn that you’re alive. So hard, Ry-Ry.”

Zhim made a choking sound and Ryan ignored him. Anger was sparking in her belly. “How about for me, Charlie? I was abducted. By aliens. I was dragged across the galaxy, imprisoned, and beaten.”

Silence.

“I was just trying to tell you how I felt, that’s all.” Charlie’s voice had that hurt tone he’d used on her so many times in the past. “It’s been a trying time for everybody.”

She felt a headache forming and rubbed between her brow. “I know.”

“I’m glad you wanted to talk. I…have news.”

“Oh?” A change of subject was just the thing they needed.

“I’m engaged.” There was a hesitant hitch in his voice. “I’m getting married in two months.”

Ryan froze. Charlie was engaged? “I thought we were engaged?”

“Well, I thought you were dead. And you can’t come back anyway. Melody is an actress, she’s in the business, and she understands me so well.”

Zhim made another sound and Ryan refused to look at him.

“You were always into your computers, which I never understood. And you never liked my work parties.”

She dragged in a few deep breaths.

“Sorry, the wormhole’s destabilizing,” Zhim said. “You’ll have to wrap it up.”

Ryan sat there, stewing. “Charlie, we’ve been friends a long time and I know you aren’t a bad guy…but I won’t be calling you again.”

“Ry-Ry—”

“Oh, and you’re a self-centered asshole. I hope you get everything you deserve.”

Charlie made a spluttering sound, and Ryan made a cutting motion at Zhim. He ended the call.

She jumped to her feet, not sure how she was feeling. She’d always known Charlie wasn’t perfect, and was ridiculously self-absorbed, but she’d cared for him. Hell, she’d grown up with him, and for a while there, she’d thought she might have loved him.

Zhim stepped in front of her.

She held up her hand. “Don’t start with me. I am so not in the mood.”

“I was just going to say that losing him seems to be no great loss.”

Her gaze flicked up to Zhim’s sharp face, her mouth dropping open.

“He clearly didn’t appreciate what he had,” Zhim added.

She continued staring at Zhim, and he shifted uneasily.

“I mean, he didn’t value your skills and intelligence.”

Her chest went tight. “Don’t be nice to me, Zhim. I can’t handle it right now.”

“Okay.” He inclined his head. “I mean, you’ve got skills, but they hardly compare to mine.”

Now her chest eased and she wanted to smile. All was right in her world. Zhim turned away, tapping on his comp.

“Come and see what I’ve been doing with the Srinar data knot.”

“Did the data borer have any success?” Pushing her churning emotions aside, she leaned over to look at the screen.

“Not yet. But I’ve been working to help it. Take a look.”

She scanned the code. “Ingenious.” The man might be arrogant, but he was smart, as well. “That is so brilliant.”

“I know.”

She rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “But I can improve it. If you add this…” She tapped his screen. “It’ll amplify the effects.”

His nebula eyes widened. “Yes. You’re right.”

“I know.” Ryan grinned and wiggled her hips. She brushed against him. That’s when she realized they were standing really close together, their bodies touching. She stilled. Very different emotions trickled into her system.

Zhim reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Your fiancé is a sandsucker.”

“Ex-fiancé,” she said with a sniff.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Then he lowered his head.

He paused, his mouth a breath away from hers. Ryan threw caution to the wind and followed her gut. She went up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his.

His lips were firm, moving over hers. Then he made a sound and opened his mouth. Oh God, he tasted good. And Ryan hadn’t been kissed in so long.

She fisted her hands in his shirt, feeling the warmth of him, and the surprising hardness of his long body. His tongue thrust against hers and she pulled him closer. Her brain stopped functioning, and she let herself feel. Desire swamped her, and as he deepened the kiss, she was aware that it wasn’t sweet or nice. It was hard and edgy, just like him.

The sound of voices out on the balcony filtered in, and Ryan jerked.

They both sprang apart, breathing fast. Sweet baby Jesus, she’d kissed Zhim. Annoying, arrogant Zhim.

“Oh, no.” She shook her head.

Zhim looked a little shell-shocked, himself. “No, is right.”

“You and me?” She waved a hand between them. “We don’t even like each other.”

“I agree, one hundred percent.”

“We are bad together,” she added. “Like oil and water.”

“Like Tardan whiskey and Mulian firewater.”

“I have no idea what those are, but yes.”

“They explode.”

They stared at each other for another long moment, and then Ryan wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly he was reaching for her, and she was jumping into his arms. As his tongue thrust inside her mouth, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and sank her hands into his hair. The guy had such good hair.

This kiss was even more fierce. She moaned into his mouth, and his hands cupped her ass, kneading her flesh. A flood of desire arrowed between her legs, leaving her panties damp.

“Ryan?” Blaine’s raised voice. “Are you ready to go soon?”

Zhim and Ryan stumbled apart.

“Just a minute,” she called out to Blaine. God, her voice was husky. She shoved a hand through her hair. Zhim was staring at her like she was a ticking bomb.

She couldn’t cope with this right now. “Um, I’ll be going now.” She backed up and banged into a desk. After righting herself, she skirted it and headed for the door. “Never mention this to anybody.”

Zhim’s face morphed into its usual arrogant mask. “It’s already forgotten.”