Jac was driving him mad. Having her so close yet being unable to claim her would make any male utterly insane.

Rynn sat at the command console of the shuttle and tried to ignore the small woman at the back. All he could think of was striding across the cabin and pulling her into his arms. Plundering her lips and then tumbling her down to the soft bed and claiming her as his own.

He couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t.

The old rules of claiming didn’t apply now that the emperor had extended his protection to all Terrans. To claim one of them, he would have to ask Daaynal’s permission first, or risk incurring his wrath. And while Rynn knew he could be reckless at times, he wasn’t suicidal.

It didn’t stop him wanting to claim her, though.

Growling in the back of his throat, he leaned back in his chair, running his hand through his hair and lifting the heavy weight off the back of his neck. He’d laughed at the other warriors when they’d fallen for the captured human women, unable to see how they’d managed to tie the males, all respected and intelligent, into knots as they had.

He’d assumed it was a hitherto unseen flaw in their makeup or thought patterns that had allowed them to become weak. Susceptible to the human females. Something that would never, could never, happen to him. Because he was made of sterner stuff. He had to be. He operated undercover and behind enemy lines all the time. One slip of the tongue or lapse in concentration could blow his cover and reveal his true identity. Alone and outnumbered, his reputation would do him little good.

So he’d patted himself on the back and told himself that he’d never fall as Tarrick, Karryl and Laarn had… Hell, even his own father was showing signs of being enamored of a human, and he didn’t know a stronger-minded male. Yet, there Xaandril had been, with a blue ribbon around his wrist even through all his recent surgeries.

Now him.

Jac must have done something to him. Slipped him something in his drink last night, or there must have been some kind of airborne pathogen that had weakened his resolve.

“Keris,” he ordered, making sure to keep to Latharian. Since Jac hadn’t received the translation implants, she wouldn’t be able to understand him. “Do a scan of environmental levels within the cabin. Extend it to biological function of all occupants.”

“Initiated,” the AI replied automatically. She’d taken the hint and replied in the same language. “Do you want me to look for anything in particular?”

“I’m not sure. My responses are off at the moment. Check for any virus that may be affecting me or either of the two females aboard.”

As he spoke, he cast a glance over his shoulder. Jac had retreated to the bedroom area behind the blue tube that contained her friend. The large bed had risen automatically and, after watching it warily for a while, she’d finally lain down with her back to him.

She was scared. He could understand that. Still, a part of him, a very small part, worried that her withdrawal was more to do with his parentage. That perhaps she saw him as less than Lathar because of his gestational carrier. It was stupid. He knew it was stupid, but the fear was an old, deeply buried one.

Noting the deeper breathing that indicated she was asleep, he turned back to the console in front of him. With quick, efficient movements, he pulled up all the information Keris had recorded during the attack on the Kallson dwelling. Leaning back in his chair, he rubbed his fingertips idly over the day-old growth on his chin as he studied the playback.

“Freeze on sector three seven five,” he ordered, frowning. Instantly the AI stopped the playback and zoomed in on the required area. The face of the last warrior came into view. Tall and broad-shouldered like most Lathar, he had shoulder-length dark hair and a large scar over one side of his face.

“Keris, can you identify that warrior?” he asked, trying to place him. Rynn had never seen him before, but something about the male was familiar.

“Negative,” Keris replied after a moment. “He doesn’t match any visual records in my databanks. Certainly no match for any living member of any clan in the Empire.”

“Hmmm, okay. Analyze his features and run a facial recognition scan. He has to have been picked up on surveillance feeds somewhere. Find them.”

“That’ll take a lot of processing power,” the AI informed him. “Particularly without a hard-wired uplink. I’ll have to take internal sensors offline.”

Rynn’s lips curved at the ship’s apparent concern over him. Turning in his seat a little, he glanced at the sleeping human female. Even if she’d been awake, she was half his size and so delicate he was worried about breaking her if he even breathed on her the wrong way.

“Yeah. I’m sure I can manage on my own in here.”

There was a small chirp and the lights on the AI’s housing dimmed. They still flickered slightly, but he knew her attention was now elsewhere as she filtered through every database she could reach trying to find their scarred assailant.

With the ship occupied, there wasn’t much else Rynn could do. With a sigh, he levered himself up from his chair and stood in the middle of the main area. Jac was asleep and all the lights on the stasis pod showed green.

Rolling his shoulders, he winced at the tightness across them. A light workout would do him the world of good. Emptying his mind, he moved through the first few sequences of diraanesh, the warriors’ training pattern. Each time he completed a circuit, he either sped the movement up or deepened the exercise if it was a bodyweight one.

He dipped and twisted, turning and ducking as he transferred his weight from foot to foot, or foot to hand, and then hand to hand. He moved through the 360-degree patterns with poise and grace as he’d been taught as a child. The diraanesh was a fundamental part of a warrior’s training, something they did every single day, training that prepared them to fight under any circumstances.

Normally, he would keep going for hours, each cycle becoming faster or more complex as he added sections on, but after a few rounds to ease the kinks out of his muscles, he drew to a close. Glancing at the bed, he reassured himself that Jac was still asleep and finally approached.

While he could, and often did go days without sleep when operational, there was no reason for him to now. They were safe aboard the Keris and on a direct route to Lathar Prime. With the stealth cloaks on the ship, there was no way anyone would spot them. Even if they did, his ident signal was that of the emperor himself. In other words, no one would dare challenge them.

Besides, he admitted with a sigh as he lay down next to Jac, he wanted to be well rested when they arrived. The Imperial Court was not a place to be caught on the back foot at the best of times, and definitely not when he had two females under his protection. He lifted an arm to pillow his head and closed his eyes. There was also the fact that once they got to the court, he planned to ask the emperor for permission to claim Jac. Which also meant he was likely to have some challenge fights to deal with before he could claim his little human.

The thought of her face when he told her brought a smile to his lips, and he concentrated on the female lying on the bed next to him. Only to realize she wasn’t asleep after all…

Thank fuck for that. She didn’t think he was ever going to sleep.

Jac lay on her side, her breathing deep and even as the big alien warrior settled onto the bed next to her. She didn’t tense up or do anything that would indicate she was awake as she waited for him to do something. Touch her maybe. Roll her over and… who was she kidding? He wasn’t interested in her that way. He’d practically said as much earlier.

She was curled up, facing the middle of the big padded surface that doubled as a bed. It had risen out of the floor earlier, like the rest of the furniture. Fortunately, she’d been on this side of it, so she’d seen the little compartment on the side where the door didn’t quite close. It was perhaps a maintenance issue… something that was entirely possible when the whole interior of the ship seemed to change as per its owner’s whim. With that many moving parts, including the weird eye on a stick, she was surprised it wasn’t in the space ship garage every week.

But his problem was her opportunity. Under the guise of lying down and going to sleep, she’d managed to get the tips of her fingers under the raised edge and pry it open. Inside the little compartment there had been a collection of wicked looking knives and a bat. She’d bitten her lip to keep her whoop of triumph inside. Ignoring the knives—she didn’t want to kill him, just put him out of action for a while—she’d selected the bat, sliding it from its hiding place as quietly as she could and tucking it down the side of the bed, beneath the fold of the big blanket that covered it. In easy reach.

She wasn’t letting him take her and Lizzie back to the Lathar planet. No way, no how. While he might talk a pretty game, and she was sure he wouldn’t hurt her, she didn’t know or trust the rest of his people as far as she could throw them. After all, they’d refused to let Jessica come home even though they knew how ill Lizzie was.

Plus, there was this thing they had about “claiming” women. There was no way she was going to risk one of the assholes taking a liking to her and trying to claim her. That would be one alien hottie with some very bruised balls if he tried it. Rynn, yeah. Heat flushed her cheeks at the thought. She’d definitely think about him, but not some asshole she didn’t know. She could easily end up in a worse situation than she had with Buck a few years ago.

Not. Happening.

Finally, though, he’d come to lie down next to her, stretching that big body out on the soft surface and getting comfortable. Every cell in her body alive at his nearness, she waited for his breathing to level out and for him to drop off—

“I know you’re awake, little human.” His deep rumble was intimate in the silence of the cabin.

Bollocks. Rumbled.

She opened her eyes to find him watching her, his expression amused. Rather than be annoyed, the devil of mischief on her shoulder prompted her to stick her tongue out at him.

“Am not. This is just a dream.”

“Really now?” He smiled, head pillowed by his arm, the long blond curls almost within reach. Her fingers itched to touch. To see if they were as soft as they looked. “If this is a dream, what’s to stop me doing this…”

Her breathing hitched as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. They were softer than she’d thought, like warm silk against hers. It was the softest kiss anyone had ever given her and totally not what she’d expected from a barbarian alien warrior. His lips clung to hers for a moment, and then he pulled away.

She bit back her moan of disappointment and then realized that he hadn’t pulled away completely. His lips hovered a hairsbreadth from hers. So close that she’d only have to smile to kiss him back.

The message was clear. It was her choice to kiss him back or not.

Her heart thumping in her chest, she closed the gap and did just that. He groaned the instant their lips made contact, strong arms snaking around her to pull her into his embrace.

She went willingly, all thoughts of retaliation and escape scattering from her mind as she nestled against his broad chest. Rolling to his back, he pulled her half across him, a strong hand driving into the mass of curls at the nape of her neck as he took over the kiss.

And god could he kiss.

His lips moved over hers, feathering and exploring the shape as though they had all the time in the world. Before she could become frustrated, though, he moved, hand in the small of her back as he deepened the kiss. Tilting his head, he demanded entrance with a gentle nip at her lower lip. The sensual sting made her gasp, and he took full advantage of her parted lips.

She moaned as he swept within, seeking out the softer recesses of her mouth and exploring. His tongue found hers, stroking and caressing. Heat hit her broadside, a shiver running through her body to settle in the apex of her thighs. Her hands buried themselves in the chaotic tumble of his hair and she groaned again at the feel of the silken strands. They felt like heaven against her hands… what would they feel like brushing against other areas of her skin?

“Sweet,” he pulled back to murmur, hands on her waist easily lifting her to straddle him.

Her eyes widened as she settled in his lap, the thick, hard bar of his cock pressing against her. A rush of heat dampened her panties and he smiled, carnal knowledge heating his beautiful blue eyes.

“Oh my god, please tell me you didn’t—”

“Smell your need?” He claimed her lips again in a hard, drugging kiss that left her breathless. “Of course I did. You want me.”

Yeah, she did. Badly. A whimper escaped her as he rocked his hips, cock constrained in his pants pressing against her needy clit. Her heart rate kicked up, her pussy clenching savagely. If he kept that up, she would come just from dry humping him.

“And I want you,” he murmured back, holding her hair out of the way as he half-sat to kiss her again. “Maybe I’ll keep you after all.”

Ice washed down her spine like someone had thrown a bucket of water over her, and any arousal she’d felt fled. He’d keep her, would he? She’d see about that.

Breaking the kiss with a gasp, she looked toward the front of the cabin with a frown. “Did you hear that?”

“What? No… what did you hear?” His hands froze. The rocking of his hips stilled as he looked toward the pilot’s chair.

“I don’t know. It sounded like some kind of alarm.” She looked at him, her eyes wide. “What if that scarred guy followed us?”

Rynn sighed, sliding her off his lap. “I’d better check it out. Then we can get back to more pleasurable pursuits.”

Oh, she didn’t think so. Jac reached behind the bed and lifted the bat, rising off the mattress and padding after the big warrior. Before he could reach the pilot's chair, she gathered herself and swung the bat with all her might.

It hit with a sickening crunch across the back of his neck and shoulders. He went down without a sound, sprawled across the cold, hard floor of the ship.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, the bat dropping from nerveless fingers as she fell to her knees beside him. Crap, what if she’d actually killed him? She hadn’t meant to really hurt him… just knock him out for a while so she could escape. Her hands shook as she reached out, pressing two fingers against where the pulse should be in his neck. At least, she hoped so. Lathar were supposed to be built the same as humans, weren’t they?

Relief hit her hard and fast when she felt the strong beat against her fingers.

“Thank god,” she whispered, feeling weak for a second. She hadn’t killed him. He’d wake up with a cracking headache but he’d be okay.

Determination renewed, she surged to her feet and scrambled to the control panel. Once there, she pressed the sequence of buttons she’d seen Rynn use to talk to Fenriis.

“Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is Jacqueline Wright from… uhh… from Earth. I’ve been kidnapped and I’m in a space ship with an alien. Please help.”