There was very little time to talk after they entered the skiff.  Jax was grateful for that.  It was a small one-man battle skiff, which meant it had been mainly used as a spy plane to get into atmospheres where bigger ships would have been noticed.  It had solid engines, above average stealth tech and the weapons were equal to any Alliance convoy.  It was also old and needed a great many small repairs everywhere Jax looked.  Plus, it was small enough that they were forced into close association anytime they both left their seats at the same time, but after what he had pulled, Tolan was on his best behavior. 

That was not to say that he did not brush up against her whenever he had the chance, or scent her hair, touch her arm--a thousand small things to keep her awareness centered on him while they went about the business of prepping the ship for departure.

Her skin hummed and her body ached even before they left the moon’s orbit.

"Stop that," she finally said when she could not take one more touch without jumping him.  "You know I'm still furious with you, and we don't have time to play anyway.  We have wasted too much time already.  Time the child may not have.  And we have no idea how long it will take Cor Warrung to take the bait."

"Not long," he said, moving at her back where he had casually pressed her into the console with his body.  He scented her hair and nudged it to the side so he could run hot lips over the back of her neck.  "I had a conversation with an associate from my less than reputable days and let slip I had seen this gorgeous mech, a Dainaree, can you believe it?  I heard tell she was headed for Frian and I thought to catch her there."  He nuzzled down into the curve of her shoulder.  "I asked him if he had heard anything about a missing Dainaree royal that might make me some money; as expected, he had heard nothing."

Jax shivered but turned and shoved him back with a hand on his chest.  "If he had heard nothing, how does that help us?"

"Oh, he heard something all right, and promptly decided to cut me out, as expected.  No doubt he sent word to Warrung’s contacts for the reward.  I won't be surprised if they are waiting for you when we dock."

"And this friend of yours is foolish enough to believe that you would give such information away?"

Tolan shrugged.  "If I had told him the information knowing it was worth something he would have expected an ulterior motive, but asking for information on possible warrants, legal or otherwise, would be expected behavior.  He sells information, so he is usually in the know.  Generally, you get the info from him, you send him a cut of the bounty for his help.  You don't and the next time you get nothing when you need it."

"But you expected him to cheat you?"

"If it's Warrung, then it means he will not only get the full bounty but he will be doing a powerful man a favor.  He would not pass that up."

While Jax was dissecting that and pressing away the hand that tried to land on her waist the ship signaled they had passed a boundary.  They had reached the outer marker of Frian.  Their eyes met and Jax took in a deep breath at the heat and worry she saw there. 

"I will be fine," she said quietly.  "You need to find a place to hide while we land, in case security decides a walk-through is needed."

He snorted, looking around at the sum of the entire ship in the one small area they piloted from.  "They won't bother.  The ship is too small and old to catch their attention if they are hoping for a bribe or two."

"Maybe so, but you're distracting me, so hide anyway."

Tolan leaned down and took her mouth hard and deep, distracting her more than he had a right to just before she went into danger.  Jax bit his lip and tasted blood, which did nothing but please the obtuse bastard.  He did pull back, licking his lips in pleasure at her mark.  His eyes had bled to lavender and he smiled at her.  "No matter where you end up, I'll come for you."

His serious eyes and words did not match that smile but she nodded, tasting him on her lips and liking it despite his arrogance.  "I know."

She did know that; he had proven beyond a doubt that she was the most important thing to him. She did not care for his methods, but she understood the message.  Tolan Lark, the man who would risk anything and anyone to bring down Warrung, would not risk her.  It was the first time in her life she was first in someone's eyes.  She just never expected how that would feel.  Not a single person in her whole life had been willing to do that.  No wonder she had already mostly forgiven him. 

This time she kissed him, and by the time she pulled back he growled at the loss of her heat.  She looked into his eyes once again.  "You stay safe too.  Warrung will be looking for a trap, if everything you have said about the man is true."

This time that wicked smile reached his eyes.  "He is welcome to try again, as he has tried in the past, but I will just slip away in the same way I always have."

"You won't if you are so concerned with watching me that you don't watch your back."

"And would you miss me if I were gone?" he asked, his voice going quiet.

Jax shook her head and smiled a secret smile of her own.  "You really know absolutely nothing about a Dainaree mating, do you?"  She laughed at his raised eyebrow.  "Remind me to explain a few things when we get through all of this."  She slipped away from him with a final brush of her lips over his.  She felt him watching her, but she just shooed him away as she went to the beeping com and flipped the switch to open communications with Frian.  "Greetings, Frian.  I have received the landing docket and agree to the terms set forth in the Alliance charter.  I have nothing on board that would be deemed hazardous."

By the time Frian port security cleared her, Tolan was nowhere to be seen.  Jax had to assume he had found a place to lay low but it was still a shock to see him disappear so quietly and completely.  She was tempted to go looking for him, just to see where he could have hidden in such a limited space, but she restrained herself.  From now on she needed to pretend he was not around and ignore that shimmer of heat that seemed to ride her skin and tickle her thoughts whenever he was around. 

Lucan had filled her in that Cor was a bit of a reader himself while they were traveling to Frian.  She did not like to think that her thoughts would betray her mate if she was so pathetic that she could not keep him out while she was being caught and transported.  She was Dainaree and probably she could block out anyone like she had Danika, but it would be foolish to take the chance.

The fact that for this plan to work she would need to be at the mercy of such a man made knowing what to wish for difficult.  Did she hope they could stay safe, or that they could not?  Either way, her job was to be visible on Frian; the rest was out of her control.

***

The bar was a pit; even being the best that the Frian space port could offer, it was unfortunate.  If Jax had any choice in the matter she would never be in such a place, but the story she was passing around was that she was a mech looking for work.  She had turned down a few offers already. Most of them had nothing to do with mech, and a few males had needed to be more forcefully persuaded to accept a no as her answer. So enough people should be talking about her that word would get to the right ears soon.  It would probably be safe to head back to the ship for the night, but after four days on this rock the thought of returning to her lonely bed was a dismal one. 

Tolan Lark had been as good as his word.  He had disappeared at some point from the skiff and had not returned.  She knew that because she could feel him shadowing her but never since the first day had she felt him near her on the ship.  If anyone was watching they would see her very much alone.

She had been with Tolan since she left Rindel, a short time really, and already she had forgotten how lonely being alone felt.  She missed him, would have even if they had not mated.  The fact that they had meant she dealt with more than loneliness now.  It was like they were connected by long strings; the longer he was gone, or the farther away he moved and the thinner the strings pulled, the more uncomfortable she felt.  It was not a Dainaree mating practice to constantly need your mate, so she wondered if it was Shakien, and what else she did not know about the mating she had so quickly fallen into.

A man sat down at the bar beside her, drawing her thoughts back to the dingy bar.  Another space marine, she thought with a grimace, seeing his uniform.  They really were horny assholes, no matter what Mac said.

He started to say something, but she interrupted him while his smile was still half formed.  "No," she said with a glare.  The tone of her voice more than her words arrested the big man before he could fully commit to his seat.  He looked at her, his eyes widened at her hand on her stun stick, a stun stick she had made pains not to conceal from anyone.  She had demonstrated more than once she knew how to use it, and either word had spread or he saw the threat in her eyes.  He stood right back up again and left.  She hoped Tolan appreciated just how fast she took care of things. 

At the thought she grinned, a little prematurely as it turned out, because when she pulled the drink she had been nursing for the last ship standard hour to her mouth she scented bali berry.  Between her last drink and this one someone had doctored her drink.  She had no time to marvel at the skill that had taken when she had never left the drink alone; she was too busy pretending to take her drink.  It was a strong sedative and would affect her quickly.  She wondered that whoever chose this attack did not know much about the powers of a Dainaree's nose.  Or maybe they did not realize her drink had no alcohol fumes to disguise the smell?

She waited a few minutes and then stood, pretending to falter when her feet touched the ground, then she clutched at the bar with her head hanging down and tried to look unsteady.  It must have worked because a second later a man took hold of her arm, pulling her from her grip on the bar and guiding her unsteadily from the room.

"Let's get you out of this place, shall we?" he asked in a friendly voice, but he did not wait for an answer and within minutes he had her out of the bar and into a waiting hovercraft.  Jax had given a token protest and collapsed into the vehicle, she hoped in a believable way.  She knew bali berries would knock out a large man in under two minutes, but she was not sure what the process from ingestion to collapse would be on a smaller female.  A Dainaree's metabolism was such that the effects would wear off quickly but she was hoping whoever was doing this did not know that.  It was only when she felt the prick of the hypo that she knew her hopes were in vain.

"Wouldn't want you to wake up too soon, now would we, Princess Da'nee?"  She was already fading from consciousness when she realized her mistake.  Her captor called her by her birth title and spoke in Dainaree.  Her last thought was a wish that she could speak and tell them they were not the right kidnappers.  But talking was beyond her.  A moment later the blackness took her over, and even thinking was out.

***

Tolan saw his mate taken and had to fight every instinct he had not to rush forward and intervene.  He did not like that she stumbled along after the man as if drugged.  He gave them until they had cleared the door before he followed.  He was in time to see them enter the hovercraft and saw the hypo spray they injected her with before the vehicle was out of even his Shakien night vision sights.  He growled low in his throat and it was all he could do not to shift to his warrior form and pursue his helpless mate.  Instead he ground his teeth and headed for a more private spot where he could make a com call without chancing listeners.  It was time to call in the others.  Warrung had made his move.  They needed to be there when Jax's journey ended, or she would be the one to pay the price.

"Tolan Lark," a voice he did not recognize said behind him.  "And here I thought the lady would be the only moneymaker I found on this wreck of a planet."

Tolan turned to find a Gorson raider grinning at him with his fangs on full display, and a blaster pointed at Tolan’s chest.  The insignia on his shoulder proclaimed him a war general. 

Not good, Tolan thought, trying to keep the general in his sights while he searched for the rest.  Because there would be more.  That they had gotten this close to him without him noticing the smell meant that Jax was right; he should have paid more attention to his own back.  Here was hoping his carelessness did not get him killed before he could rescue his mate.

"There is someone who wants a word with you," the General continued, his green skin tingeing gold with his emotions.  Gold for happiness--the general was thrilled to be capturing him.  "I don't expect you will survive the encounter, but if you do, I will have a word with you as well.  It would bring me great joy to string up the man responsible for my ships deserting me during a battle because of a computer virus."  By the time he practically spat out the last words his skin had lost that happy golden glow and faded to an angry green tone that brought out the red of his eyes.

"Ah," Tolan finally said, realizing who he had to be.  "You commanded the Gorson legion that was defending Cor Warrung.  I don't know that you need to be mad about my virus.  After all, you were trying to capture or kill me; you should consider it a testament to your battle prowess," he shrugged adding almost lightly.  "Or the fact that you had me outnumbered five to one.  You can hardly blame me for doing what I had to do to stay alive."

"Oh, but I do blame you." The General practically bit each word out between clenched fangs.  “I lost face with my men. I am thrilled I have the chance now to get it back."

Tolan Lark was about to make a rude comment about the man’s standing, a comment that he hoped would incite an angry reaction he could take advantage of, when he felt the sting of a stunner dig into his back.  It was nearly as powerful as Jax’s creation.  This one was not enough to knock him cold, but he felt his legs give out as he dropped like a stone.  He could feel the energy pulse through him, but he moved through it, slower than normal, but fast enough so he shot up and broke the arm of the man holding the stun stick. 

He took it from the Gorson and shoved it into his face with a squishy crunch, flipping on the power as he did, so that the mess he was making of the Gorson's face was the least of the injuries.  The raider dropped to the ground unconscious.  He would not consider him dead, though he very well might be, but Gorson were hard to kill.  He would not make the mistake of underestimating them, which was why he dropped the stun stick and used his own blaster to take out the next attacker that came at him from the shadows.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way,” the General said with apparent glee at the thought.  Even as Tolan felt the blaster fire glance off his nanite, he wondered if the man was glowing gold again, or angry green.  He moved faster than the next two could react, moving so fast in fact that the blaster shooting at him missed him completely and took out another raider in the shadows.  After that, they just kept coming. 

Too many, he thought, even as he moved.  If he survived long enough to be rescued, would he survive the sting to his pride, that Lucan, Barnos and that damn Captain Tyber were going to have to rescue him along with his mate?  If he was lucky he would live to find out.

Eventually they took him down with numbers, and a stunner to the back of his head.  He was down, but not out.  He felt his limbs twitching from the currents of power they had sent through him, and he was aware that he was losing more than a little blood, though his Faustian nanite armor was already adjusting to staunch the flow, so he would not bleed to death.  But he could not move.  He could only listen as the General of the Gorson sent his men, the ones that could still walk, after the Dainaree party that had taken the girl. 

"Warrung wants them both unharmed."  Tolan barely felt the kick to his side that accompanied his next word.  "Relatively.  Make sure she comes back looking better than this one, or you'll be explaining to the man how she was hurt."

The kick to his face Tolan did feel, then he felt nothing at all for a while.  It was almost a blessing.