Alcandian Soul (4 page)

But that wouldn’t get him through the main gate. He forced his face to look calm. Gate sentries looked for current tags and body language. He and Dyne looked like a pair of enlisted men carrying out their duty. Their key to success was making sure the man on duty believed that image. If he looked in the back, they were screwed. Running the gate wasn’t a good option considering the number of helicopters behind him. The Rangers would consider it a little evening entertainment to run them off the road.

Cole slowed down and stopped. The soldiers on duty considered them before flashing them a large “C” formed by his right hand. With a bored nod he waved them through the gate and Cole felt his anticipation rise. He shouldn’t have been so pleased with becoming a kidnapper but a grin threatened to curve his lips.

They cut through the night, Cassandra oblivious to the journey. That sour taste invaded his mouth again as Cole considered the reality of his completed mission. It meant Cassandra was going to become a prisoner on Alcandar.

Despite his distaste for that fact, his body surged with anticipation of battling her emotions on the subject. Anger and desire were close cousins.

That was a harsh idea, but it sprang up from his newly emerging senses. While advancing, Alcandians had discovered triggers hidden in the brain that could be hit to reconnect the logical, evolved male with the hunting instincts that had helped him survive during primitive times. Harnessing both parts of the brain allowed Alcandians to become the warriors they were today—males who cherished honor, and with the ability to be deadly fighters. Their bodies were an extreme meshing of both sides of evolution—the primitive and the advanced.

Tonight Cole was enduring the first rush of emotion from those primitive instincts. Learning how to use his extra-keen hearing and improved eyesight hadn’t prepared him for the level of intensity connecting with Cassandra was producing. Her scent was still lingering in his senses. The feel of her lips remembered across his palm. At the moment, he would have torn another man limb from limb for looking at her.

His cock was rock-hard and impatient for the drug to release her. He wasn’t thinking, emotion flowed through his veins, sweeping logic away in the current. It was hot and primitive and it felt damn good.

He couldn’t wait to tell Cassandra that.

Chapter Three

Alcandar

She felt wonderful.

Cassandra stretched and smiled as she filled her nose with sweet spring air. Her eyes popped open and she looked around. It was November. Even in California, spring was a distant dream.

Reaching up, she rubbed her eyes and looked around once again. There was no stark little room with its dreary mid-Seventies chest of drawers. Instead, her gaze roamed over a polished tile floor that looked like stone. There was a thick area rug cast over the middle of the room, where three huge padded chairs were faced towards each other, forming a triangle. A window was slid open, explaining the fresh air. Dark blue transparent lengths of some silky fabric fluttered as the breeze blew into the room. The walls were another sort of stone-looking material, like some Greek temple. Rustic, but classical in its beauty.

Pushing her body up, she investigated the bed she was lying on. At least she figured it was a bed, but it was round and all the bedding was round as well. There was no headboard and the thing wasn’t touching any walls. It was also huge. She was lying in the center of it, and her feet were a good two feet from the edge and her head three feet from the opposite side.

Cassandra rolled to the edge and stood up. A little shiver shook her because lying in the center of the large circle felt a little too much like a sacrifice being positioned on an altar.

There were curtains in front of her too. These were thick, velvet-looking in another shade of blue. Moving across the stone tile floor, she ran a fingertip over one and smiled at its smooth texture. Wherever she was, even a coma, it was a feast for the senses. The air smelled so…clean. No hint of car fumes, nothing but that sweet-smelling air you only found outside wineries and in national parks.

Sound drifted up from behind the blue velvet curtain. Pressing lightly on it, Cassandra discovered that there was only a half wall running the entire length of the room. Plucking the fabric gently, she peeked under the hem as it rose above the top of the half wall. It was finished up like a balcony, with a wide lip to prevent any accidental diving off the second floor.

Her breath froze in her lungs as she looked out of her room. Below her was a large open area. There were balconies going around the building, all of them with curtains. Some of the curtains were pulled back to let her see into the rooms. But below was a gathering hall of some kind. Long tables filled it, with benches and chairs. Several huge men sat at those tables. Some were eating and others were talking. Most of them wore maroon-colored clothing of some kind. There wasn’t a crew cut in sight. Shoulderlength hair crowned each male below. Cassandra dropped the blue velvet as she jumped away from the wall.

She needed to think! And fast!

Fear bubbled up as she looked around the room again and noticed the little foreign details of technology. But her curiosity refused to be drowned by fear. She moved towards the open window and gazed down into a huge courtyard, bounded by graceful columns soaring thirty feet into the air, that would have made the Parthenon blush. Plants were held in large urns atop each column and they were dotted with blue flowers while thick vines twisted down those columns.

More of the maroon-clad men walked through that wide expanse of gleaming white stone a floor below her. Their coats were three-quarter length and split up the sides to their hips like those seen in some kind of Japanese martial arts movie. The only thing missing was the katana sword strapped to their backs. Even from her distance, Cassandra noticed how huge they were. There wasn’t a flabby tummy in sight. Having lived the last year among the elite of the Army, she noticed the same stance and powerful motion in these men.

Wherever she was, she was back among their Special Forces.

“Hello, Cassandra.”

She shrieked. Cassandra snarled a second after the feminine sound escaped her startled lips. She landed neatly in a balanced stance as she popped around to face the owner of that voice. It was oddly familiar but richer and deeper than her memory.

That wasn’t the only thing that had changed about Cole Somerton.

Cassandra ran her gaze over the sight in front of her as she resisted the urge to step away from him. Cole had never been a small man or a weak one, but the male waiting just inside the doorway curtain was huge. He had to stand over seven feet tall and his shoulder span was incredibly wide. Seeing others like him from the window hadn’t really impacted her with the true immense size of these people.

“I thought you were human.”

One side of his mouth twitched in response. He stepped forward and her feet moved away from his imposing stature. She detested the impulse but was too late to stop her body from responding to his presence.

“The Alcandians have improved a great many things, including food. While they learned that nature shouldn’t be tampered with often, a little enhancement isn’t misplaced from time to time. I am human.”

Well, he didn’t look it. He was wearing one of those maroon coats, but you could just see the amazing condition of his body. She felt petite just sharing the room with him.

“Are you hungry?”

Her stomach said yes. Cassandra shook her head as she forced her attention to the real problem. She suddenly realized exactly what he’d said.

“How in the hell did I get here?” To Alcandar. It was a huge idea. It went beyond journey because talking about another world out there in space was a far cry from embracing the reality of being able to place your feet on it.

“I abducted you.”

Three little words. Cassandra glared at Cole as he closed his mouth and offered her nothing else. No explanation, no reason, just a confession.

“Well, you can just ship me back, Cole Somerton. And I mean right now!” Her temper overrode any caution signals her brain might have been sending out. She stomped across the room and stuck a finger out at him. “Overgrown pectorals and all…you will send me home!”

She was too close. Cole stiffened as his next breath drew her musk deep into his lungs. He identified her particular scent and his cock twitched as it began to swell. He enjoyed the burn as his eyes narrowed and he remained in place out of sheer willpower. She hissed as he remained silent, and actually stomped her foot in outrage. The finger hovering over his chest tightened into a fist. It was all the excuse he needed to touch her. Every instinct he had was urging him towards her, into contact with her, where he might discover what she tasted like.

Her fist was gripped as he turned and wrapped her own arm around her body. His hard body pressed up against her back as his second arm clasped her around her hips to hold her steady. A deep shiver shook her as her back identified his hard erection. It should have been the last thing she wanted to know, instead her clit throbbed approval.

“I’m sorry.”

“Boy, Somerton, you’ve got a gift for keeping your statements short!” She struggled against his hold, but froze when he stroked her belly with the hand sitting over it. A soothing gesture, meant to gentle her like some kind of unsettled doe.

“Why am I here?” She didn’t like the desperation lacing her voice, but she needed to understand. Her body was heating up and her heart was accelerating as her nipples tightened. Maybe it was some form of trauma from being his hostage, but she couldn’t control the ache in her clit. The arousal was gaining force as he stroked her belly once again before spinning her out of his hold.

Cassandra moved out of his reach and glared at him. His face was tight with strain. He crossed his arms over his chest before answering her.

“You remembered.”

“Yeah. So what? I remember that you tied me up and stuffed me in the trunk of a car. What? You thought you needed to show up and give me a second dose of criminal activity? The first time around wasn’t that great, Somerton. I wasn’t looking for an encore.”

One of his eyebrows rose. The curtain behind him moved as a second maroon-clad man entered. Cole shot him a glance before looking back at her.

“This is Dyne. He’s a Judgment Official. That’s the law-keeping branch of their armed forces.”

Dyne was as large and imposing as Cole, but his eyes were dark and slanted, hinting at Asian blood. Another shiver went down her spine as her memory offered up some of the gossip she’d heard while Zeva was working with her.

Breeding mates
.

The Alcandian warriors wanted contact with Earth in order to seek out mates, and their unions were not monogamous. Cassandra shook off the ideas before they clouded her thinking.

“I want to go home.” A direct approach just might be the right ticket to getting out.

Dyne moved closer and she ordered her feet to stand in place. Backing down from the hulk wasn’t going to get her what she wanted.

“What psychic training techniques have you been practicing?”

His question caught her off-guard. “What? I tried a little Japanese meditation, if that’s what you mean.” He nodded approval at her answer and Cassandra suddenly understood.

“Do you mean to tell me, I broke through some kind of…ah…”

“Memory shifting.” Cole moved forward and stopped, making her shift her

attention between the two men. “It’s a technique used to move unpleasant experiences to dormant portions of the victim’s mind. Congratulations, Cassandra. Dyne is considered one of the best memory shifters on the planet. Breaking through his work took a lot of skill.”

More like dumb luck
. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she absorbed Cole’s words. His voice sounded a little too final. She turned her attention to Dyne.

“Fine. You’ll just have to do a better job this time around.”

His face tightened with an unrelenting look. “My apologies,
darmasha
, but you have too great a command of your natural psychic abilities.”

“My what?”

Dyne offered her a grin. A cocky sort of male appreciation of her talents. The kind of look you got from a guy when you managed to change a flat tire without asking for help. “You will also become accustomed to understanding that psychic senses are a reality, although not in the manner your movies portray them. They are simply another sense that can be used to deepen your perception of life.”

Cassandra took a step away from the finality of Dyne’s words. She lifted a hand and waved a finger in a negative motion at both of them. “I am not going to get used to anything. So what if I remembered being kidnapped? I can live with the memory. Send me home.”

“Send you back to incarceration?” Cole wasn’t trying to be gentle anymore. His voice was edged with harsh displeasure. Cassandra snapped her eyes to his and stiffened as she caught the flare of determination blazing through his.

“My life isn’t your problem, Somerton. I want to go home, that’s all you need to think about.”

“Wrong.” Cole wrapped his fingers around the hand she held in front of her like a shield. For some reason, that gesture abraded his temper, demanding action on his part. Any barrier between them felt wrong. There was an urgency ringing through his head to smash every barrier she erected into bits immediately. He pulled her forward as he stepped towards her, to close the space between them. Savage enjoyment surged through him as her scent became stronger. Her eyes were filled with resentment and anger but there was also a flare of excitement that pleased him immensely. He intended to investigate that interest just as soon as possible and the first step was to make sure she stayed in his world.

“On Alcandar, honor is more important than career advancement. We are warriors, Cassandra, and that means a great deal to us. I will not return you to a place where you are mistreated because of other people’s actions.”

Her eyes were wide with disbelief. Cole stroked her face with the back of one hand and she shivered as their skin connected. She instantly jerked to break his hold. Cole let her loose before she ended up bruised by his superior strength. That was the warrior in him, that constant control over his body. Alcandian warriors spent their lifetime dedicated to protecting. Even in the grip of passion, a warrior was expected to treat his female gently. One tiny bruise, inflicted without her permission, was intolerable. No excuse accepted.

“You’re insane, Somerton.” But she wished she were instead. That way, this wouldn’t be real. A little shock treatment and she’d be just fine. A bolt of electricity would snap her mind back into reality real fast.

Her sarcasm failed miserably.

Frustration flooded her as she struggled against its suffocating strength. She was powerless to help herself return to Earth. The wound that fact ripped in her heart was raw and painful. She looked at Dyne in the hope of finding some shred of relenting. Instead, the warrior offered her a kind smile. The sort of look you got right before your parents grounded you. Dyne felt superior to her. Both men were justifying their actions by thinking it was for her own good. That cast her into the role of a temper-tantrumthrowing child who had no idea it was being told “no” in order to protect it.

“My life is my choice. Where is the honor in making me a prisoner here? Isn’t that the same thing you’re accusing Earth of doing to me? That’s not saving me.”

“You are not a prisoner here.” Dyne’s eyes were filled with determination as he took a step towards her. “Warriors do not imprison females. But you have seen too much to risk letting that information be passed to your dishonorable brethren. It pleases me to see that your mind is stronger than I first believed.”

He spoke the words like a compliment but they bit into her like a whip. A snarl escaped her lips, and Dyne looked surprised by the sound. A second later he lost some of his control over his features as a grin covered his face. A hint of appreciation crossed his eyes before he forced himself to move away from her.

“We will end this conversation now. You require time to absorb what has been said. My mother will come and begin to introduce you to the Alcandian lifestyle.”

Dyne shot Cole a hard look before he turned and left. The curtain remained open as she watched his back descending a set of stairs.