Enemy Overnight (24 page)

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“As am I. The protected claiming time is now over, and until I’m fit to mate, you are at risk of being claimed by the first male who happens on you unprotected.”

“She won’t be unprotected,” Shauss promised. “Kellen, Zannen and the minister are committed to keeping her safe until this mysterious malady has passed—as is Monica, who can make a grown warrior cry for his mommy,” he added with a grin. “Between the seven of us, we should be able to preserve her until you can finalize your claim.”

“What are you talking about?” Ketrok asked.

As Tiber explained, Ketrok’s expression became more and more thoughtful. Then his gaze slid between Jasmine and Hastion, alight with speculation.

“Miss King looks quite different since her transition,”
he said.

Confused by the change of subject and the switch to cerecom, Tiber said,
“Not all that much. Certainly not like Dr. Teague did.”

Ketrok watched him intently.
“Look at the two of them, Tiber—Hastion and Miss King.”

Tiber did, trying hard to see what Ketrok was seeing. When he did, he felt as though he’d been struck in the chest by a meteor. Opening the link to Shauss and Ketrok, he ordered,
“Empran, DNA comparison between Jasmine King and Lieutenant Hastion.”

Almost instantly, Empran replied,
“Jasmine King and Lieutenant Hastion share twenty common alleles. Likelihood of sibling relationship ninety-nine point nine two percent.”

Shauss jerked in surprise and stared at Jasmine and Hastion. “Ho. Ly. Shit!”

Then he burst into belly laughs.

“That would certainly explain his symptoms,”
Ketrok said.

“What?” Jasmine smiled uncertainly as Hastion frowned at them. “What’s the joke?”

When Shauss just leaned against Ketrok’s bed and held his sides as he guffawed, Tiber asked, “Hastion, what, exactly, happened to your mother and twin sister?”

Hastion’s frown deepened. “They were kidnapped and killed.”

Shauss sobered instantly. “How?”

“Well, I wasn’t there, but my father told me that he tracked the kidnappers to a vacant distillery and saw my mother lying sealed in one of the tanks with my sister in her arms. When he tried to open the hatch, it triggered a feyo shell that incinerated both of them.”

“Oh my God,” Jasmine breathed. “That’s despicable!”

“Why do you want to know?” Hastion asked.

Tiber looked at Shauss before asking,
“He was absolutely certain your sister was there?”

“Yes. Father said she was wrapped in her…blanket…”
His eyes went wide with shock and he stared at Jasmine.
“By all the Powers, are you saying she’s…?”

“Unless you had another sister, yes—she’s your twin
.”

Hastion opened his mouth but no sound emerged as he continued to stare at her.

“Are you okay?” Jasmine asked, laying her hand on his arm.

That broke his trance and he grabbed her to him, laughing as tears streamed down his face. Jasmine tried to push away from him, but he held her tight, burying his face in her neck and breathing in her scent as if to affirm what he already knew.

“How in Peserin’s name did she wind up on Terra?”
Ketrok asked.

Shauss raised a brow.
“That’s a question I’d like answered myself.”

“What are you doing?” Jasmine demanded, working her hands between them and shoving at his chest. “Hastion, have you gone crazy?”

“Oh Peserin,” Hastion breathed. “I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just say the words,” Ketrok advised as both the commander and Minister Cecine appeared in the doorway. Shauss must have summoned them.

“What’s happened now?” Kellen sighed.

Hastion looked at him and wiped his eyes with fingers that shook before turning to Jasmine again. Taking a deep breath, he said, “You’re my sister.”

She stared at him blankly. “What are you talking about?”

“Jasmine, you’re my sister.” He took both her hands in his. “You’re Aylee, my twin sister.”

“That’s why he’s been unable to claim you,” Tiber explained. “Like many Terran species, we’re often able to recognize family members by their pheromones, and the scent of yours was incompatible with Hastion’s reproductive instincts—the thought of mating with you made him physically ill.”

“Oh, this just gets better and better,” Kellen said.

She pulled her hands away as if she’d been shocked and wiped them on her suit as she stood up. “That’s crazy. How could I be your sister? She’s
dead
, Hastion. And I’m
Narthani
.”

“Actually, Tiber and I suspected you weren’t even before you transitioned,” Shauss said softly, curving his hands around her upper arms. “You were very tall for a Narthani Sparnite, especially given your parents’ unremarkable dimensions. And though common mutations make it difficult to differentiate Narthani DNA from Garathani, the fact that you have now reached nearly seven feet in stature makes your being Narthani extremely unlikely. While you were deep in transition, I took a small team down and collected numerous DNA samples from two of Ragan King’s homes. I found only yours and two others, and Empran confirms that neither was in any way related to you.”

Remembering how close Shauss had come to being killed on that expedition made Tiber tighten with anger. Someone had prepared for the team’s arrival with a powerful explosive device that nearly incinerated them all. If Empran’s blast protection system had activated a nanosecond later, they’d all have been lost. The fact that neither of Ragan King’s other two residences were wired with explosives told them whoever had planted the explosives knew which residence they were going to first, and the only ones privy to that information were the commander, the high council, and the expedition members themselves.

Jasmine looked utterly lost. “But…but my mother was…my mother. She
was
. She loved me.” Her voice broke. “Shauss, she loved me.”

Shauss pulled her to him and rubbed her back. “I’m sure she did,
aramai
. But she wasn’t your mother. And Ragan King isn’t your father.”

Tiber’s chest ached for her. She’d already lost her mother once, and now she was losing her all over again.

“None of this leaves this room,” the minister ordered.

“Agreed.” Kellen looked at Shauss.
“Can Miss King be persuaded to keep it to herself for the moment?”

“I doubt she could be persuaded to even speak of it yet, but I’ll convince her of the necessity,”
Shauss said.

“We need to come up with a plan to draw out the traitor or traitors on the high council,”
Cecine said in a dangerous tone.
“I should have realized when that flare defense field appeared over Washington DC that one of them was in on it.”

“I hate to upset her further, Shauss,”
Kellen said,
“but find out if there is any additional information Jasmine can provide to help us find Ragan King.”

Shauss nodded, rubbing his cheek against her hair.

“Empran, record an official report that Hastion has finalized his claim on Miss King,” the minister said aloud.

“Recorded.”

Jasmine looked up, confused.

“That will keep potential rivals from trying to claim you while we’re sorting this out,” Shauss explained softly. “His bond with us will be annulled when it’s safe.”

“So does this mean I’m cleared for duty?” Hastion asked.

“Indeed it does,” Tiber confirmed with considerable relief. Wondering what he was missing had been driving him mad.

Hastion hopped off the bed. “Then let’s go find these bastards.”

* * * * *

Jasmine was sick at heart as she lay on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. How could her mother have lied to her all those years?

Shauss climbed into the bed behind her and just hugged her close.

“They lied to me about everything,” she whispered.

“It would appear so.”

“My father used me.” Shauss didn’t answer, but she felt his agreement. “He really didn’t care about me at all. I thought I was just expecting too much, that he was a scientist and a perfectionist and he could just never understand a girl like me, but Shauss…he really hated me,” she squeaked before sobs racked her.

“He didn’t hate you because he never knew you,” he said, kissing her hair and holding her tight. “He hates the Garathani, and it’s blinded him to everything good in his life.”

She sniffed. “God, it’s almost like you know him because you’re right—he never saw anything good in anything, except maybe Mom. And there was a lot of tension between them. She was always defending me and doing things to make me happy on the sly. Sometimes he’d get really angry when he found out about the things she’d done for me, and it made me feel so…worthless. Not only that I’d gotten her in trouble, but because he didn’t want me to be happy.”

“He’s not deserving of your tears,
aramai
—or your loyalty.”

She sat up. “You still think I’m hiding something about him? Shauss, I’ve told you everything. I never knew anything important, and you know he would have made sure of that.”

“I agree, but you lived together for seventeen years. That’s a long time to keep your entire life a secret.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve been to all three of his homes and they look as though they’ve been vacant for many months. Was there any place besides the homes and his offices that he spent a lot of time in? Any time at all in?”

“If he did, I have no idea. I only saw him at home. He never came to school functions, never saw the plays I was in, never came to the games I cheered at…” She sighed. “And you know, I was actually glad. He would have put a damper on any event and I knew it. Mom always just handed me a wad of cash and told me to have fun.”

“Did you ever travel together?”

“Not very often, and only for business weekends with his…” Her eyes widened. “
Associates
. Shauss, he met with some associates several times a year at an isolated camp way up in the mountains.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she grabbed his arm. “Oh my God, there were four cabins.
Four!
Didn’t you say the Narthani sent four couples?”

“I did,” he said tensely. “Go on.”

Jasmine shook her head, floored at how completely ignorant she’d been. “I never could figure out why he didn’t have his meetings in the office like everyone else because those cabins were really hard to get to. They’re built around an old mine shaft, and even though he told me to stay out because it was unsafe, he and his associates always seemed to spend plenty of time in there.”

“Where exactly was this camp?”

“Oh Lord, I don’t know how to tell you exactly where it is. We usually got there on snowmobiles, and once I started on the pheromone blocker, he never took me again.” She gave him a determined look. “But I think I could find it.”

The next morning, Jasmine and Shauss ignored Tiber’s rigorous objections and flared down to the planet’s surface without an escort. In the interests of preserving the element of surprise and avoiding avalanches, they’d foregone snowmobiles in favor of skis, and Jasmine had insisted that guiding one inexperienced cross-country skier over the terrain would be challenging enough. Shauss had agreed. Once they reached the mine and determined whether or not anyone of interest was there, they could either flare out or call for the reinforcements who were standing by in the transport bay.

When the flare field disintegrated, they were right at the boundary between a forest of lodgepole pines and a large, open snowfield that led down into a wide valley. The late-morning sun shone brightly against the blanket of white that still covered the gentle slope. As they stood there, their skis settled into the softening snow.

“Does this look like the right place?” Shauss asked.

“Yes. I haven’t been here since I was a teenager, but I distinctly remember that rock face.” She used her ski pole to point at a rock face on an opposing mountain that looked like an enormous frowning countenance. “And that stream.” She pointed off to her right.

Adjusting her goggles on her face, she looked at Shauss doubtfully. “Are you sure you’re up for this? Cross-country skiing can be difficult for those who’ve never done it.”

“You just worry about trying to keep up,” he told her with a grin. “Which way?”

“North,” she decided. Pushing off, she maintained a steady distance from the tree line. It was slightly uphill, and after a while, the select muscles that hadn’t gotten a workout from her daily runs started to burn pleasantly. She’d be sore tomorrow, but right now she didn’t care. She was in heaven.

“Oh, how I’ve missed this!” she cried. “Just smell that air! There’s nothing like the smell of a pine forest in the winter. I don’t care what kind of purified air that pad supposedly produces on board the
Heptoral
—it’s nothing even close to this.”

“It’s spring.”

She threw him a look over her shoulder, surprised to see that he was right behind her. Her transition must still be slowing her down. “It’s not spring until I see flowers.”

“You and Monica share one trait in common—contrariness.”

“It’s a woman’s prerogative.” She glanced back again. He didn’t even seem to be breathing hard, gliding along, arms pumping as easily as if he’d done this all his life. “Are you sure you’ve never skied before?”

“No, but I studied it before we came down.”

Great. It had taken her years of practice to become this proficient and he’d picked it up from a book. It was a good thing the Garathani had no plans to emigrate—Earth’s athletes would never stand a chance in the Olympics.

“So where did you guys come up with all this gear?” she asked, breathing evenly. The birdsong was thrillingly loud in the hushed mountain altitude. “Did you synthesize it or something?”

“No, our technology hasn’t moved in that direction yet.”

“So where? Don’t tell me you just happened to have some in your closet.”

“We appropriated it from a ski shop.”

She skidded to a stop and stared at him when he pulled up beside her. “You stole it?”

“We purchased it. They just have no idea who their mysterious buyer might be.”

He moved off ahead of her before she could answer and she had to push it to catch up as he went over a rise and down the hill on the other side. “Turn!” she yelled when he picked up incredible speed.

Too late. He caught an edge and tumbled end over end in a spectacular agony-of-defeat moment. When he came to a stop, he was half buried in the snow.

“Shauss!” Jasmine raced after him and skidded to a stop beside his prone body. He wasn’t moving. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

“Fuck me,” came the muffled expletive from the snow. When he raised his head, his lashes and brows were caked with crystals. He licked his lips, blinking into the whiteness. “Tastes metallic.”

Jasmine laughed as she brushed snow out of his hair, half of which had come loose. “Well, that was a pretty dramatic crash. Total yard sale,” she grinned.

“Yard sale?”

She gestured up the hill behind him. The snow was littered with his gear—one ski, his goggles, poles and a glove. He pulled his right hand out of the snow and grinned to see the other glove. “Well, I didn’t sell everything. And I’m still wearing my pack.”

“I’m glad you can see the silver lining here, but damn it, Shauss, that was really stupid!” She rolled her eyes, pushing to her feet. “You could have been killed skiing so recklessly. From now on, you stay behind me and do as I say. Is that clear?”

“I think you’re forgetting who’s the Dominant here,
aramai
.”

“I think you’re forgetting who’s the Terran here, Shauss.” She grimaced. “Former Terran, anyway, and I know this sport and I know this mountain, and I
know
how to get where I’m going in one piece.”

Groaning, Shauss struggled to his feet on one ski. “I’ll let you get by with the attitude for now, but you’re going to pay for it when we get back to the ship.”

“Promises, promises,” she said lightly.

Turning away, she chastised herself for issuing the subtle challenge. Even if he were inclined to pick it up, now wasn’t the time. But he hadn’t made love to her last night, although Tiber’s ban on sex was lifted, nor had he returned her collar. He hadn’t even kissed her, and it was really starting to worry her. Was he punishing her for her deception, or did he just not want her anymore?

Spying one of his skis, she zipped up to collect it and examined it carefully. It didn’t look like the safety strap had malfunctioned. “Weren’t you wearing the strap?”

“No. I didn’t think I’d need it,” he said dryly. “Live and learn.”

She skied back down, scooping up his other yard sale items on the way.

“No, it’s more like learn and live to tell about it,” she commented as he reassembled himself and adjusted the backpack. He was lucky it hadn’t popped open and distributed all his alien secret-agent equipment.

“Yes ma’am.”

They started off up the hill again and this time Jasmine made sure she kept the lead. When they reached a rock overhang, which was laden with a dangerous cornice of crusty snow, she cut a wide path around it. On the other side, she veered off into the trees. The snow wasn’t so deep along the path, but it was softer since the sun’s light barely penetrated the dense forest of evergreens. They were still moving uphill, and the incline started to become even more challenging.

“This is truly amazing,” Shauss said behind her. His breath was deep and steady, like a machine. The man was a machine. He’d taken that spill without a whimper and barely seemed fazed by it.

“Which part?”

“This…”

When he didn’t continue, Jasmine came to a stop and looked back at him. He’d already stopped and was looking around in wonder.

“I can’t even describe it,” he said hesitantly. “We have nothing on Garathan to compare it to. It’s so cold, and yet the air reeks of life. It’s…vivid. Stark and beautiful.”

Jasmine’s eyes filled with tears. He’d just described himself. “It is, isn’t it? Now do you see why I love this planet so much? I would never do anything to endanger it or those who inhabit it. I have a deep respect for this and every planet—each is precious to its people.”

He sighed as he leaned on his pole and looked at her. “Jasmine, I never believed you could be knowingly involved in the attacks on the military bases. Or in the contamination of the pad or the steripod in Ketrok’s lab, for that matter—even if you had been working to sabotage the ship, you wouldn’t have risked Monica’s safety.”

“Thank you.” Her lip trembled and then the tears slipped out.

Shauss dropped his backpack in the snow. Gliding over beside her, he looped his poles over his wrists and pulled off his gloves and pushed her goggles up over her brow. After plucking off his own and letting them fall to the ground, he took her face between his palms.

“You are an enchanting female, and despite my apparent bent toward erotic sadism, it pained me to respond to your deception as brutally as I did. I derived no enjoyment from tormenting you as an enemy.” He brushed his lips over hers and wiped away the tears that continued to skim down her cheeks with his thumbs. “I need you to trust me and I need to be able to trust you.”

“You can!” Jasmine dropped her poles and hugged his neck, a task that was much easier now that she’d grown so tall. “I love you, Shauss,” she whispered.

“I’m glad to hear it,
aramai
,” he murmured, squeezing her tight.

Suddenly embarrassed and annoyed and embarrassed about being annoyed, she broke away from him. Why couldn’t she stop saying that to him? It wasn’t like he was ever going to say it back.

“We’d better keep moving.” She picked up her poles and scooted off up the path at high speed, not really caring whether he kept up or not.

“How far are we from the camp?” he asked after a few minutes.

“Not far. It should be just over that rise.”

“Let me go first,” he said.

She continued without slowing down. “Why?”

“It could be dangerous.”

“Shauss,” she threw over her shoulder, “as far as he knows, I’m still laboring under the delusion he’s my father, and I
can
defend myself. I could probably just—”

Something snagged her pole and she was jerked off balance. Barely managing to avoid a face-plant in the snow bank, Jasmine turned and glared at Shauss, who held the tip of her pole in his hand. She yanked hard, but he didn’t let go.

“Get behind me now or I’ll put you there.” His look was impenetrable.

Knowing she stood no chance against his brute strength, she stepped off the path with an offended glare and swept an arm out. “After you, Master.”

“Ah, now there’s a word I intend to hear from you a lot more often,” he said as he poled by. Although his statement made her tummy twist, she stuck her tongue out at his retreating back as he powered up the trail.

But her eyes were drawn to the tight buttocks, flexing rhythmically beneath his form-fitting suit, and she sighed with longing. Was she ever going to get her hands on that butt again?

* * * * *

Just before he hit the top of the rise, Shauss halted and waved at her to stop several meters behind him. She didn’t look happy about it, but she stopped with a roll of her eyeballs and leaned on her ski poles. Being in her own territory certainly dampened her submissive nature, but rather than irritating him, it made him eager to show her the error of her ways.

She looked sexy as hell in her Terran ski apparel, and if they had more time, he’d pursue making obscene snow angels with her. He’d seen pictures on the internet and thought that would make a tempting image to store for their later enjoyment.

Kicking off his skis and dropping his poles and pack, Shauss did a walking crawl up to the crest of the rise and peered over carefully. The camp appeared to be deserted. No tracks led in or out of any of the structures, and it looked as if it could have been years since anyone had been here. Beyond the four small cabins, he could just see the mine entrance through the scraggly boughs of the trees.

Shauss linked with the server.
“Empran, scan for humanoid life forms and electronic surveillance within a thousand meters of our location.”

“None detected.”

Which didn’t mean none existed within the mine’s entrance, but he would take what he could get.

Skidding back down the hill, he picked up his gear. “It looks secure enough for the moment. Stay here until I signal you.”

“Are you sure you trust me out of your sight?” she smarted off.

“You’re really dying for discipline, aren’t you?” The mere idea was sufficient to give him an incredible hard-on.

“Like I said, promises, promises.”

The jolt of annoyance he felt was out of proportion to her comment and he knew it, but he dropped his gear as quickly as he’d picked it up, his breath ragged with impatience and arousal. He was damn well going to
make
time for her to take care of the problem she’d created.

“Take the skis off and get on your knees, Jasmine.”

He heard her breath catch. “I don’t think so.”

“I thought you enjoyed performing oral sex on your Dom.”

“Oh, so you’re still my Dom? I thought you’d forgotten.” She tried to look flippant, but he saw the pain and insecurity in her eyes.

“Jasmine.” He pinned her with a stern look. “Allowing you time to fully recover from your transition doesn’t make me any less your Dom and you’d do well to remember it. Now get on your knees. I won’t tell you again.”

Excitement flashed in her eyes, and she licked her lips before whispering his favorite words. “Make me.”

She could have taken off down the path and lost him quickly, but she stood there, steam flowing from her mouth in deep uneven breaths, waiting for him to do just that.

Shauss strode toward her without a word. When he reached her, he knelt to remove her skis and then began tossing her accessories carelessly about.

“Hey!” She moved as if to catch some of them, but he held her in place with his hand gripping her forearm.

Once he’d divested her of her gear, he placed his hands on her shoulders and forced her downward. She fought the pressure but he was too strong for her to hold out against. She fell to her knees and he held her there with the one hand on top of her head while his other hand drew down the zipper of his American-issue parka and then the zipper of his uniform. When his rock-hard cock sprang into the cold air, he immediately pulled her face against it.

“Suck,” he ordered gruffly. “And since I’m giving you the gift of my cock in your mouth, I want you to make sure I enjoy it.”

She whimpered, holding her lips closed for the briefest moment before placing her hands on his thighs and opening to accept his rigid length. The interior of her mouth was hot and humid, a biting contrast to the chill outside. He kept his palm curved over the back of her head for leverage and began thrusting evenly into her mouth, coming into contact with the back of her throat with every push. He spared a fleeting thought for the traumas of the past, but they no longer held any power over him.