The shock of the human’s lips contacting his own shorted out Qaiyaan’s mind like a solar flare, sending fiery trails of lust through his veins. The hand he held behind her head, the one he’d placed there to sense her pulse for truthfulness, was instead inundated by her desire. His blood went from red-hot to molten, settling hard at his groin. His pants were immediately far too tight against his crotch, and he shifted, sending his body even closer to hers.

She wove her fingers into his hair, sending tingles along his scalp. Holy Ellam Cua, he hadn't believed it was possible for a non-Denaidan to elicit a response like this, even if it was merely physical. He groaned against her lips. He shouldn't do this. Needed to pull away, now. Unlike his men, he'd never been comfortable engaging in foreplay with a woman, knowing he'd need to stop before consummation. But her kiss… Her kiss fed his soul like a long drink of water after a trek over the Favianese desert.

Her mouth moved against his with soft insistence, and he claimed her kiss, making it his own. Perhaps a few moments of bliss wouldn’t hurt. Wrapping his free arm around her waist, he drew her closer, relishing her soft body. Every part of her felt like it was meant to be pressed against him. She smelled of Denaidan lilacs and honey, warm and rich and completely edible.

Bending over her, he ravaged her mouth like a starving man, plunging his tongue into her to taste deeply. Before he knew it, she was lying back against his mattress, her breasts crushed against his chest, his hand knotted in her silky tresses. Every spot his skin made contact with hers tensed with desire and his erection was an agony of pleasure against her hip. How would it feel to plunge himself, long and thick, into her folds? It had been fifteen years since his few bungling sexual encounters with Denaidan women, but his body had not forgotten. His cock might not be able to experience that pleasure, but he could still touch her. Taste her. He could make her moan his name. What would she sound like when she came? A few intimate hours would serve him well in the lonely years to come.

Sliding a hand over the thin silk shirt, he cupped her breast, barely able to breathe from anticipation.

She, too, seemed as if she was starving. Her tongue matched his movements, flicking his teeth, stroking smoothly across his lips. Their shared breath settled deep into his chest, filling him with incredible warmth. His hand slid down her ribcage and molded itself to her waist, his thumb stroking her hip bone, highly conscious of her nakedness beneath the shirt's thin silk. More than he'd ever desired anything, he wanted to explore beneath the hem, discover her moist, hidden well, envelop himself within her heat.

As if in invitation, she arched, rolling her hips against him. He groaned again, knowing this fleeting indulgence was an illusion. He could never fully be with her. But the desire to grasp whatever he could before reality came crashing down overwhelmed him. He moved his hand back up to where a breast awaited him, nipple thrusting against the fabric. Cupping her soft flesh, he circled his thumb over the pebbled peak. The nipple grew even harder, and a whimper of pleasure escaped her. His cock jumped at the sound and his ionic senses reached toward her, seeking to envelop them in preparation for the most intimate act. The fuzzy sensation of her own resonance met him, spongy against his pressure. Inviting him to settle in. To find a home. That sexual resonance was a deep well only another of his people should be able to touch. Holy Ellam Cua, she was going to make him lose control.

Breaking the kiss, he lifted his head to look down on her. Her ivory skin was nothing like a Denaidan’s lustrous copper, but it had a satin quality all its own. Her cheeks were flushed a delightful pink, the pupils of her slate gray eyes wide and dark as she gazed upward at him. Her fingertips stroked his jawline, tracing his beard with two delicate fingers to its very tip. The filaments there vibrated straight into his secondary heart. This wasn’t normal. He wrapped a hand around her smaller one, stilling her caress so he could think straight. “You sure you’re human?”

“Yes.” Her breathy answer once again made his cock throb painfully. “What is your race called again?”

“Denaidan.” He breathed deeply of her scent, wondering if the impossible lay here before him, both terrified and encouraged by what he was feeling. Could she be a mate? Testing the possibility might be deadly for her; during the moment of climax, a Denaidan male emitted an ionic frequency which nature had designed to cause a female of his species to ovulate. A successful match was binding. Permanent. Undeniable. The alignment required between mates was an almost spiritual thing, a combination of effort by both parties to create an empathic connection which could only be broken by death.

Unfortunately, the mating frequency destroyed a non-Denaidan partner’s synapses.

Because of that, any Denaidan with any self respect denied himself the pleasure of women. Qaiyaan’d heard that men on other pirate crews didn’t hold to such standards, but what a fellow captain allowed wasn’t Qaiyaan’s business. What remained of his people were no longer under any central governance, and each captain could choose to rule any way he chose. Qaiyaan’s crew were honorable men, and that’s all he cared about. He refused to endanger a female with his unbridled passion.

Lisa’s fingers had resumed tickling his beard, and his eyes were about to roll back in his head. He couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Yet her sexual resonance brushed against him as surely as her breasts crushed against his chest. What if he was passing up the one non-Denaidan in the galaxy who might, miraculously, be a match for him? Her lips trailed fiery kisses along his jaw, working upward until the tip of her tongue prodded the corner of his mouth. He groaned. There had to be a way to test his hope. If nothing else a way to convince himself to stop. What if instead of physical consummation, which meant a loss of control, he only used his ionic power? He could throttle his frequency. Test her power to accept him. If she showed any stress at all, he’d pull out.

Taking a deep breath, he sent out a tentative pulse, releasing tendrils of power along the outer shell of her resonance. The kind he’d send a female to see if her vibrations might possibly match his. Lisa shuddered, her fingers clawing against his shoulders. Her hips rolled against him again, sending his cock into a spasm.

“God, that’s good.” She murmured against his lips.

He placed his mouth over hers, devouring her words. It was good. So incredibly good. Connecting his frequency with hers felt as natural as breathing again after a long stint in void without a suit. Still kissing her, he opened his eyes, drinking in the long lashes feathering her cheeks, the slight arch of her brows, the tiny pulse of her veins beneath her eyelids. She brought one of her legs up and hooked it over his hip, drawing him closer to the heat between her thighs. He ground against her, imagining himself sheathed by her slippery folds. Plunging his tongue into her, he sent another ionic pulse.

Her eyes flew open in shock. She stared at him, brows drawn into a questioning line.

Then her eyes rolled back into her head, and her entire body went stiff as a board.

* * *

Lisa cracked her eyes open, lips tingling and swollen from the hot alien’s kisses, feeling cold where his body had been. Why had he stopped? Overhead, the lights of the med bay threatened to burn through her eyes straight into her brain. Qaiyaan appeared in her view, his shaggy head blocking the painful light. Concern tightened his features. “You all right?”

Her nanites boiled with nasty intensity and her head ached. Reaching a hand to her temple, she found Mek’s diode back in place. She ripped it away, exhaling with relief as the pain reduced to a simmer. “What happened?”

Over Qaiyaan’s shoulder, the young man with the scruffy beard—Tovik?—appeared, eyes bright with excitement. “She’s awake?”

Qaiyaan frowned, ignoring the young man’s question. The look in his eye was wary. “You had a seizure. Mek got his equipment working and was able to run some tests.”

Uh oh. Her weak smile faltered. They’d discovered the nanites. She braced herself, wondering what came next. “What kind of tests?”

The copper-skinned doctor appeared next to Qaiyaan, elbowing the big captain out of the way. “Don’t stress her. I’m not sure what sets the little buggers off.” Mek lifted her eyelid and directed a bright light into her vision. She flinched and tried to twist away, but he pressed a cool palm to her forehead, holding her still. “Were you aware you’re infected with nano-bots?”

She scrunched her face in discomfort, grateful when he released her eyelid. Keeping her eyes closed, she nodded. Never in her life had she regretted a grift as much as she did at this moment. These men weren’t cartel, they weren’t Syndicorp, and even though Qaiyaan was an admitted pirate, his history made him more vigilante than villain. Best face the truth right now, come what may. “They’re part of the Syndicorp medical testing I was telling Qaiyaan about. I was in cryo to keep them stable for space travel.”

Qaiyaan’s voice cut through the darkness behind her closed lids. “You said your brother was the test subject.”

She slit one eye to look at him. "I told you we both were."

Qaiyaan crossed his arms, seeming to fill the small room with his presence. His concentration on her was an almost physical thing. “You most definitely did not.”

“I said we were both at the test lab,” she said weakly. Qaiyaan’d agreed to help her find her brother, and she repaid him with a lie. Waves of disappointment radiated off him, clawing at her to soothe him, to reassure him. This big alien was not one to be coddled, though. This man was the epitome of masculinity. Her sensitivity to his mood had to be some sort of girly hormonal response. Some biological drive she’d never experienced before.

From somewhere near the door, a gruff voice said, “She probably works for Syndicorp.”

Blue eyes flashing with cold fire, Qaiyaan asked, “Are you working for the ‘corp?”

Her ire rose. They may not have gotten off on the best foot, but she thought they’d had a pretty good conversation back in his room. And a good kiss. She didn’t just kiss anyone like that. She clenched her fists at her sides. “You think I want these things in my head? I’m a slave to Syndicorp. You said so yourself.”

“She’s a spy.” Noatak’s shaggy head appeared over Qaiyaan’s shoulder. “What’d they pay you to infiltrate our ship? ‘Cause I can tell you now, it’s not worth it.”

“Pay me?” Her voice rose an octave. “They tried to kill me!”

Mek elbowed the men aside, pointing at the door. “Out, all of you. I said don’t get her stirred up.”

“Hey, what’d I do?” the younger man complained.

The gruff man continued to glare at her without moving. “We need answers. What if she infected the ship with those bots from her head?”

Qaiyaan closed his eyes, his chest rising in a large breath. He pointed to the door. "Noatak, if you're worried, go run some diagnostics." He opened his lids and stared at the younger man. "Tovik, isn't there something you ought to be tinkering with in the engine room?"

Grumbling, both men disappeared.

“You too, Captain,” Mek said.

The urge to reach out and grab Qaiyaan's hand overwhelmed her. For whatever reason, she wanted to keep him near. Did Denaidans have a special power over women or something? She wished she knew more. Relief washed over her when his hand gripped hers, and she wondered if he felt the same need to touch her. He must since he'd reached out, right?

“I’m not leaving.” Qaiyaan opened his eyes to meet Lisa’s gaze. “I need you to tell me everything you can about these nanites. The truth. Were you attempting to infect my ship?”

She fought to control her trembling lips. “The only reason I was trying to hack your ship was to contact my brother.”

“So you were trying to hack it?” He seemed to grow several inches taller and drew back.

Lisa tightened her grip, refusing to let go. She yanked the towering captain toward her and sat up so she could glare at him more easily. “I’m carrying very secret, very expensive Syndicorp tech in my head, and my ship was just destroyed by pirates. Can you blame me for wanting to figure some shit out before blabbing the whole truth to you?”

Qaiyaan’s lips thinned. “Your ship was destroyed by Syndicorp. Every second you’re on board my ship puts my crew in danger. Are there any other details you might want to tell me before we have troopers breathing down our necks?”

She sank back against the pillows. “I didn’t ask to be brought ab—”

Mek interrupted their battle of wills by pressing a scanner to her temple. Pain arced outward from the point of contact, sending her flopping back against the pillow. She released Qaiyaan’s hand, pressing both palms against her forehead and squeezing her eyes shut.

“What did you do to her?” Qaiyaan bent so close she could feel his breath on her skin. The sensation cooled her pain.

She opened her eyes to see Mek holding up the scanner in submission. “Her nanites aren’t something I can read without equipment. She’s going to need to withstand a little pain until I have more information.”

After a moment, Qaiyaan straightened, making room for the doctor to continue his exam.

Mek lowered the scanner and squinted at Lisa as if trying to read her mind. "What were you doing when you lost consciousness?"

“Kissing your captain,” Lisa groused, glaring at Qaiyaan.

Qaiyaan’s copper skin flushed an adorable blue-green. Lisa wished he’d come close and kiss her again. The big man stared into her eyes as if he was thinking exactly the same thing. She licked her lips in anticipation. All she should be thinking about was getting well and finding her brother, and the topmost thing on her mind was making out? What was wrong with her?

The doctor cleared his throat. "I see. Well." He focused his attention on his captain as if his words weren't for Lisa at all. "I feel it's my responsibility to warn you that having sexual intercourse with captain Qaiyaan—with any Denaidan—will kill you."

Qaiyaan made a choking noise. “I wouldn’t! I didn’t.”

Kill me? Lisa frowned, examining Qaiyaan’s broad shoulders and copper skin. The thrill of his massive erection prodding her hip and the pliable yet demanding way his lips had covered hers still coursed through her blood. She couldn’t remember wanting a man that badly before, let alone an alien. “I don’t understand.”

"It has to do with ionic frequencies and brain waves. In the moment of climax, he would basically short-circuit your synapses." Mek's face was grim.

Lisa blinked, trying to understand. Sex with Qaiyaan would literally blow her mind? Damn. She wasn’t sure if the tingling in her core was fear or curiosity. Probably both.

Mek returned to reading his scanner. “Qaiyaan, did you by chance test her resonance?”

Qaiyaan’s answer was husky. “I thought I had it under control.”

Mek shifted to access his computer on the nearby counter. “Lisa, you said you were in cryo to keep your nanites stable. Did any of the Syndicorp doctors happen to mention why?”

The headache his earlier scan had caused was rising again, and she could barely focus. Looking at Qaiyaan seemed to be the only thing grounding her. She wished he’d take her hand again. “Something about sensitivity to energy fluctuations during engine burn.”

Mek twisted to look pointedly at his captain. “She’s sensitive to ionic pulses.”

“I get that. Believe me.” Qaiyaan’s brows were knit, but she no longer thought it was due to anger. He seemed… concerned? And he was fighting the urge to touch her again, she knew it. He pressed his palms against his rock-hard abs.

"But she survived." Mek raised his brows as if there was far more to his words than he was saying.

Qaiyaan’s eyes widened. He looked at Lisa again as if seeing her for the first time. “How?”

“I need to do more tests.”

“Wait a second,” Lisa raised a hand, not sure her throbbing head was letting her follow this conversation. “Survived what? We didn’t have sex.”

Qaiyaan wedged his body between her and the doctor. “I won’t touch her again. Just keep that scanner away from her. It obviously hurts her.”

“I need more data if I’m going to keep this from happening again. Her nanites are extremely unstable right now, but I don’t believe they’re the problem. I have a hunch it’s something deeper, perhaps like an empathic migraine.” Mek shifted to one side so he could see her around his captain’s body. “Lisa, I believe I may be able to regulate your synapses. Do I have your permission to try?”

Syndicorp had said her nanites weren’t stable, but even they hadn’t known just how unbalanced she was; Doug had secretly reprogramed them a couple of times to get things under control. Even his expert hacking could only go so far. Her mind just didn’t play well with the Syndicorp technology. The thought of Mek’s scanner touching her again made her want to cry. But the doctor spoke with such confidence, she wanted to believe him. Wanted to trust him. What if the problem wasn’t with her nanites, but with her mind? Could Syndicorp have missed that possibility? She stretched and put a hand on Qaiyaan’s hip, finding solace in the contact. “I want to try.”

He turned back to look at her. “Are you sure?”

Biting her bottom lip, she nodded. She wasn’t sure of anything, especially this strange connection to an alien captain. Needing Doug was awful enough. Attaching herself to Qaiyaan wasn’t an option. Yet she required his help to find her brother. Whether Mek’s tests fixed her or not, she needed time to think. “You should go.”

Qaiyaan frowned and backed away. A moment later, he pivoted and left the room. Lisa took a deep breath and made a point of focusing on the doctor.

Mek watched him go, then lifted the diode from where she’d flung it aside and showed it to her. “I’m going to reattach this. Try to endure it as long as you can.”

Lisa braced herself, just like she had during countless tests in the Syndicorp lab. “All right.”

As the electric pain dug into her temple, she stared at the open doorway. She wasn’t the kind of woman who needed a man in her life.