Oh draanth.

Rynn had known he was screwed from the moment he’d stepped through the door and Jac’s unique and delicate scent had wound around him. Elation had surged through him for a second. He hadn’t expected to see her again.

Although his heart had yearned to, he was too much of a professional… while on mission, that came first. He’d tossed and turned all night, knowing that no matter how much he wanted to see the beautiful Terran woman again, he really should return Lady Jessica’s sister to Lathar prime as soon as possible.

No stops. No visits. Just the mission.

That hadn’t stopped him from daydreaming of dropping by before he left. Or even of throwing her over his shoulder and kidnapping her as his warrior’s instincts urged him to. In his fantasies she’d welcomed him, going with him willingly, if a little shyly, and accepted his claim immediately.

As soon as her eyes met his in the cold light of day, though, all those thoughts died a swift and sudden death. Far from being warm, her pale eyes were cold and suspicious.

“Well?” she demanded, folding her arms over her chest.

He tried hard not to let his gaze flick down to the enticing swell of her breasts. He’d dealt with all sorts of females over the years, stunning women any warrior would kill to have in his bed, but none of them had affected him as this little human did.

There was obviously something wrong with him. He’d have to get Keris to check him out as soon as he was back on board. Perhaps his words to Amanda Kallson hadn’t been so far off the mark. Could there be an Earth virus that would affect a Latharian warrior?

“I apologize for the confusion…” he started with an ingratiating smile, playing for time as he figured out how to explain. Meeting her here was the worst luck, but, she hadn’t blown his cover. She’d waited until the mother was out of the room before confronting him. So how did he play this?

“… and for leading you to believe I was an actor. Well, that part is actually true,” he added, not quite lying. He knew he had to lie through his teeth here. How could he tell her what he really was, even though every instinct he had clamored for him to do just that?

He couldn’t, though.

If it were known that a warrior of the Lathar had set foot on any Terran-held planet or colony, all the progress the delegation even now dealing with their leaders had made would be destroyed. The emperor wanted an alliance, not a war… Unless it was absolutely necessary.

She arched an eyebrow but remained silent. He had the feeling she was giving him enough rope to hang himself.

“I act on the side,” he explained. “A hobby, if you will. I don’t usually tell people I’m a doctor because, well…” he chuckled a little and indicated himself. “Would you believe me?”

She didn’t move, her expression set as she studied him. He’d resisted the urge to modulate his voice, even though it would be easier. That would make her sick, though, and he wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t cause her pain on purpose, not even for his mission. His eyes widened at the realization. That was new. Normally nothing came before a mission.

Then she sighed, looking him up and down, and he sensed the small softening in her resolve.

“No,” she admitted. “You don’t look like a doctor. Not a real one anyway. Maybe the wet-dream porn version.”

“I’m sorry?” He blinked. That had not been what he was expecting at all.

He knew what porn was. All the warriors did. They’d found stores of it in the Sentinel’s computer core and had been both horrified and fascinated. He admitted, some of it was… arousing… but there was a wealth of other, darker stuff that just made him want to track the males down and remove their ability to breathe. Permanently. Why a male would want to treat a female that way… he almost shuddered at the memory.

“Oh, come on,” she laughed, the sound still a little harsh, and flicked a hand in his direction. “You have to know what you look like. Any red-blooded woman would be gagging to get you into bed and ride all that.”

He focused on her. On the tiny clues she was giving him.

“Any red-blooded woman? How about you?”

She snorted. “You want me to massage your ego? Yeah, before I found out you were a liar, I wouldn’t have kicked you out of bed.”

Triumph and despair wrapped around themselves in his heart. She found him attractive but thought he was a liar. And from her expression, that was not a good thing. But he was. He was a liar of the highest order. He wasn’t even human…

Movement in the mirror opposite the window caught his attention. It was just a flicker, but it sent all his warrior’s instincts into overdrive.

“Does the family have a…” he searched for the right word. “A male responsible for the upkeep of the grounds?”

Jac frowned. “You mean a gardener? No, not that I’m aware of. Lizzie used to take care of it.” She flicked a sad smile at the woman on the bed. “She was doing something like that at college. Plant studies or something.”

No gardener. He’d done his reconnaissance when he’d arrived, mapping the location of the house and its surroundings, so he knew the layout. With the older Kallson woman out, there should be no one passing by that window.

“Does anyone else visit on a regular basis?” he checked, moving to the side slightly. He didn’t raise his voice or inject any note of urgency into it, just in case. The flicker came again in the mirror. Okay, he hadn’t imagined it the first time. That was a deliberate movement. Just to the left in the window but low down. Like someone had scooted past the window trying to remain unseen.

“Not that I know of. Why?”

“Commander,” Keris broke in over his internal comms. “Non-Terran life signs detected in your vicinity. Recommend immediate return to the ship.”

“Got it. Give me numbers and locations,” he replied, ignoring Jac’s startled look.

“Who are you talking to?” she asked, gasping as he pulled her away from the window.

“Four Lathar,” Keris announced. “Something’s blocking me. I can’t get a read on their locations.”

“Stay down and out of the way,” he ordered, moving swiftly to the bed Elizabeth Kallson lay on. Sliding pod activators out of his pocket, he attached them to her wrists, ankles and temples with swift movements.

“Wh… what the hell are you doin—” she screamed as the window exploded inward, two huge figures in leather crashing through and spraying shattered glass everywhere.

Rynn hit the activators on the unconscious girl and reached for the pulse pistol hidden beneath his ridiculous doctor’s outfit. Turning, he dropped the one on the left without blinking, but the other was on him before he could fire again. With a roar of battle-rage, he charged Rynn, eyes wild and hair flying. Rynn’s pistol went sailing, knocked out of his hand by a wild blow, and he found himself slammed into the wall behind.

The air flickered with blue from the stasis pod as he fought back. Blocking lightning fast blows that would have broken bones on any other species, he traded them with heavy punches from his own fists. The warrior was well trained and fast, but Rynn was better.

He was the emperor’s shadow. He’d been born better.

“Two in the room with you,” Keris said over comms. “Two more at the front of the house.”

His jaw set, he blocked a punch that should have left him dazed and slid up under his opponent’s guard. Moving faster than his enemy could process, he snaked an arm around the warrior’s throat and twisted, coming up behind him. A sound of panic escaped the other male’s throat as he realized the situation he was in.

Rynn didn’t think. He gave a vicious twist, snapping the warrior’s neck in one brutal move, and dropped the body to the floor. Immediately, he lunged for his pistol on the floor by Jac’s foot.

“Keris, get your metal-coated ass here now!” he bellowed, as the door to the bedroom exploded inward, peppered with energy-fire. “We need immediate extraction at my location!”

He yanked Jac down with him, using the bed and the stasis field for cover. Contained within it, Elizabeth Kallson was perfectly safe. It would take more than these measly handheld weapons to even put a scratch on a stasis field, perhaps something along the lines of a planet killer. But he wasn’t worried about her.

Elizabeth might be perfectly safe in her energy cocoon, but they weren’t. If either he or, lady forbid, Jac were hit, then… yeah, he wasn’t going to think about that. Pressing his lips together, he ducked out of cover and returned fire through the ruined doorway.

A second after he’d ducked back into cover, energy bolts slammed into the bedside table less than a foot away from them. Jac squealed, trying to tuck herself into an even tighter ball as shards of wood peppered the air.

“KERIS! NOW would be a good time!” he yelled, leaning out to fire again. A strangled scream and a dull thud told him he’d taken at least one of them out of commission. Grim satisfaction filled him. Three down, one to go… teach them to try and fuck up his mission.

“…ohmygodohmygod…” Jac muttered behind him. He couldn’t reach out to reassure her. First they had to stay alive. Then he would comfort her.

“Incoming on your location,” Keris announced. “Weapons hot.”

“Rear of the dwelling,” he ordered, still exchanging fire with the warrior in the hallway. The walls and furniture around them both were taking heavy damage now. Human houses were not designed for this kind of combat. “Drop the ramp and be prepared for boarding. Bring the rear weaponry online to cover our retreat.”

“Yes, Commander. Arrival in three… two… one.”

Rynn felt more than saw the flyer arrive, the whoosh of air filling the room from outside and battering his back as the violet laser sights of the ship’s rear weapons arrays were hunting-seeking a target on the inside of the building.

“Gogogogogo!” he ordered.

Grabbing the stasis pod and its passenger, he pushed Jac toward the demolished window. When she faltered, he boosted her up and over with more brute strength than finesse, making sure to keep the bulk of his body between her and the warrior behind them. Plaster exploded on the walls around them as they were fired upon. Keris’ rear weapons array replied, the air cut with violet as the ship fired back.

Then they were through the window, running toward the ship and its lowered ramp. Jac stumbled. Rynn grabbed her under the arm, half dragging and half carrying her toward the ship. When they reached the ramp, he practically threw both women up it ahead of him into the main body of the shuttle.

“Keris, get us out of here!” he yelled, hitting the ramp on his back and turning to fire at the warrior leaping through the window in pursuit. He was a big bastard, a scar running down one side of his face and fury in his eyes as he fired back, trying to take out the flyer’s shields.

But with a roar of her engines, Keris took flight. The Kallson house and those around it dwindled to nothing more than specks. Rynn closed his eyes, allowing his head to clunk down to the metal of the ramp for a moment as the ramp retracted into the body of the flyer.

Draanth. That had been close. Too close.

Her world had become a nightmare and Lizzie was a popsicle.

Jac curled up in a ball at the back of the airplane, huddled up next to the blue tube around her charge, trying to stay as small as possible as bolts of light zipped through the air. They snuck their way through the ever-closing gap of the ramp, slamming into the metal wall by her head.

She squeaked and tried to make herself even smaller. She’d seen what damage those things could do. They might look pretty, but they put normal bullets to shame, ripping through furniture and walls like they weren’t even there. She didn’t want to think what they’d do to the human body.

Instead, she focused on Rynn. He lay on his back on the ramp as it was closing, firing the biggest gun she’d ever seen. He looked nothing like the doctor he’d claimed to be. His hair was loose, whipping around his face and shoulders, and his expression was grim. Jac’s eyes widened. His sweater and shirt were torn and loose over his ribcage, a smear of blood against the metal of the ramp saying he’d been hit. It didn’t seem to bother him, though. In fact, the loose clothing seemed to irritate him more. As soon as the ramp closed, he rolled to his feet with predatory grace and, with a snarl, ripped the shirt and sweater clean off.

Jac swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry at the display of prime male flesh right there in front of her. She’d known he was well built, but… fucking hell, he was utterly ripped. Each muscle in his torso was carved in high relief, his abs solid enough she was sure a frontier woman could have done her washing on them. Looking down, he huffed in irritation at the bloody furrows across his stomach and side.

“Draanthic got a lucky shot,” he growled, using the ruins of his shirt to swipe at the blood.

Jac couldn’t do anything but watch him, riveted to the spot. Then a bright violet orb appeared in front of her. It looked for all the world like an eye on a metallic stalk.

It blinked. Jac screamed, but no sound came out.

It was an eye. On a stalk. Right there in front of her.

Then it talked.

“Two females? Why do we have two females? Our mission was to recover one female.”

The eye “turned,” rotating on its stalk to look at Rynn as he stalked through the cabin toward what looked like a front screen. As she watched, a chair rose up from the floor, unfolding and assembling itself.

“Change of plans. Secure them both.” Rynn looked over his shoulder as he dropped into the chair. “And stop scaring her, Keris. That’s an order!”

Jac squeaked again as the eye turned around. At the same time, metal arms shot out of the walls to wrap around the tube Lizzie was in. They tried to wrap around her as well, but she batted them away, her heart pounding fit to burst as she wriggled free.

“Hey! This female won’t stay still,” the Keris-eye-thing shouted as Jac scuttled toward him on her hands and knees. Before the eye could send more of its demon-possessed arms after her, she jammed herself in the gap between Rynn’s chair and the wall.

“Pleasedon’tletithurtme,” she gabbled, casting about for something she could use to defend herself. Rynn’s gun was in reach, so she grabbed for it. Barely able to hold it in both hands, she leveled it at the eye as it surged across the floor toward her.

“Hey, calm down.” She looked up as Rynn reached a hand down and plucked the gun right out of her hands. “Keris is the ship. You shoot her and she’ll be pissed, not to mention, holes in the hull? Not good in high orbit.”

“She? Ship? Orbit?”

Things were moving too quickly for Jac to process. She twisted to look at the front screen, her mouth dropping open as Rynn did something, and a view of the ground filled the screen.

“That’s Stanton,” she gasped, watching as the town rapidly got smaller, all details blurring into one as they raced higher and higher. Rynn reached out an arm, and she stood shakily, snatching her hands back as soon as she could. “That’s… Earth. Orbit… You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“Keris, set a course for Lathar Prime,” Rynn ordered and turned to look at Jac directly.

Now that she knew, it seemed so obvious. Why hadn’t she seen it before? He had the same tall, well-built physique all the aliens she’d seen on the vids had, and the hair. They all seemed to have long hair. Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t have braids. And your eyes are round, like ours.”

The corner of his lips quirked.

“Braids can be removed. And my eyes?” He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, Jac gasped.

They were the same blue as before, but instead of round pupils like hers, his were now slitted like a cat. “Our eyes used to be the same as yours, but they were altered many generations ago to allow us to see in different planetary spectrums.”

“Oh.” She felt dumb now. How easily she’d been fooled. Just two things and she’d assumed he was as human as she was.

“Don’t feel bad,” he said quietly. “I’m an a… I’m an infiltration expert. This is literally what I do.”