The Xephons and Tarourkes have just come to the end of a long and bitter war that has made their shared planet temporaraly uninhabitable. While the new human allies from Earth help the Xephons clean up their home world, two ships from Earth and Xephon are temporarily lost in a strange tunnel anomoly.
Thinking there is no way back home, the Xephon Captain begins pairing the human females off with his male crew members. Kash Ryder has her first two relationships annulled and she thinks that's the end of it, until Captain pairs her off again with the dark and mysterious ship's engineer, Tinny of Xephon.
When Kash has a foolish accident with Tinny’s time machine, he ends up being the only person she can rely on to pull her back to reality. Suddenly Tinny’s not so easy to ignore, and Kash is forced to see him in a whole new light.The Xephons and Tarourkes have just come to the end of a long and bitter war that has made their shared planet temporaraly uninhabitable. While the new human allies from Earth help the Xephons clean up their home world, two ships from Earth and Xephon are temporarily lost in a strange tunnel anomoly.
Thinking there is no way back home, the Xephon Captain begins pairing the human females off with his male crew members. Kash Ryder has her first two relationships annulled and she thinks that's the end of it, until Captain pairs her off again with the dark and mysterious ship's engineer, Tinny of Xephon.
When Kash has a foolish accident with Tinny’s time machine, he ends up being the only person she can rely on to pull her back to reality. Suddenly Tinny’s not so easy to ignore, and Kash is forced to see him in a whole new light.
He was standing on the other side of the room with his hands behind his back, staring out the porthole at the stars. He turned around and looked at her, tall and imposing, any thoughts he was holding totally masked. Somewhere inside her, she let out a small sigh of relief that it wasn’t Chitra. Junner would have been okay, but it wasn’t him either.
“I know you are bad behaved,” Tinny said. “But here you will be good.” He tapped his head, indicating why.
“You’re not supposed to do that,” she said angrily.
“You have been made exempt of the rule because of your treatment of the others,” he answered.
She swallowed hard. Things didn’t look too good right now. At least not from where she was standing. It was one thing to tolerate him as a work colleague and fellow traveler, but quite another to be thrust at him as a potential mate.
“Sit.” He pointed at the couch in his tiny lounge.
Kash knew this was her first test. And she just had to test, because she wouldn’t be Kash if she didn’t. “No.”
Come on, let’s see what you will do now, Tinny. She could feel her own will being bent to his almost immediately. Her stupid legs carried her over to the couch, bent at the knees and plunked her down onto it. Holy asteroids! He was much more powerful than Lunox or Tipha. She glared up at him, trying to stand up, but it felt like she had an elephant sitting in her lap. The only weapon she had left now was her voice. Or could he influence that, too?
“Is this fun for you?” she snapped.
“Not at all. But you set the tone.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? She tried to stand up again, but the elephant still reclined in her lap. He came over and sat next to her, catching her chin in his hand and turning her face as if he might find something by examining her so closely. Anger leaped along her nerve pathways from her jaw where he was touching her to every other nerve cluster in her body. Her mind tempted her to twist free while her stupid body leaned into him as if the connection to her brain had snapped off at her neck.
“Only the young males were promised partners, due to the mismatch in numbers. It seems I have ended up wif one by default.”
“You sound about as pleased as I am,” she said snarkily to hide the stupid thud of her heart as her eyes slipped over his wide lips. She licked her own nervously, and his gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth for a moment, following the track of her sliding tongue. The focused intensity in his eyes made her traitorous heart lurch dangerously behind her ribs. Why was breathing suddenly a conscious act? Wasn’t it supposed to be unconscious?
“Oh, I am pleased.” His dark eyes narrowed slightly. “We could be stuck here forever, and my kind is not accustomed to facing a future without the prospect of a mate.”
Gods, why was his voice so low and deep and velvety and sliding down her spine like warmed syrup? It wasn’t right that a male could make her feel like that with just the sound of his damned voice. It was immoral. She signed through her nose, trying to gather her defenses around her.
“You should try singledom. It’s not so bad,” she quipped cheekily in an effort to hide her nerves. He raised a fine eyebrow at her comment, and for a heartbeat she thought she was going to drown in his eyes, be tugged away by the turquoise flecks and lost forever. She would have to say something smart now. Otherwise he would see the effect he was having on her.
“Like what you see?” she asked as her eyes slid sideways to witness his scrutiny of her.He was standing on the other side of the room with his hands behind his back, staring out the porthole at the stars. He turned around and looked at her, tall and imposing, any thoughts he was holding totally masked. Somewhere inside her, she let out a small sigh of relief that it wasn’t Chitra. Junner would have been okay, but it wasn’t him either.
“I know you are bad behaved,” Tinny said. “But here you will be good.” He tapped his head, indicating why.
“You’re not supposed to do that,” she said angrily.
“You have been made exempt of the rule because of your treatment of the others,” he answered.
She swallowed hard. Things didn’t look too good right now. At least not from where she was standing. It was one thing to tolerate him as a work colleague and fellow traveler, but quite another to be thrust at him as a potential mate.
“Sit.” He pointed at the couch in his tiny lounge.
Kash knew this was her first test. And she just had to test, because she wouldn’t be Kash if she didn’t. “No.”
Come on, let’s see what you will do now, Tinny. She could feel her own will being bent to his almost immediately. Her stupid legs carried her over to the couch, bent at the knees and plunked her down onto it. Holy asteroids! He was much more powerful than Lunox or Tipha. She glared up at him, trying to stand up, but it felt like she had an elephant sitting in her lap. The only weapon she had left now was her voice. Or could he influence that, too?
“Is this fun for you?” she snapped.
“Not at all. But you set the tone.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? She tried to stand up again, but the elephant still reclined in her lap. He came over and sat next to her, catching her chin in his hand and turning her face as if he might find something by examining her so closely. Anger leaped along her nerve pathways from her jaw where he was touching her to every other nerve cluster in her body. Her mind tempted her to twist free while her stupid body leaned into him as if the connection to her brain had snapped off at her neck.
“Only the young males were promised partners, due to the mismatch in numbers. It seems I have ended up wif one by default.”
“You sound about as pleased as I am,” she said snarkily to hide the stupid thud of her heart as her eyes slipped over his wide lips. She licked her own nervously, and his gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth for a moment, following the track of her sliding tongue. The focused intensity in his eyes made her traitorous heart lurch dangerously behind her ribs. Why was breathing suddenly a conscious act? Wasn’t it supposed to be unconscious?
“Oh, I am pleased.” His dark eyes narrowed slightly. “We could be stuck here forever, and my kind is not accustomed to facing a future without the prospect of a mate.”
Gods, why was his voice so low and deep and velvety and sliding down her spine like warmed syrup? It wasn’t right that a male could make her feel like that with just the sound of his damned voice. It was immoral. She signed through her nose, trying to gather her defenses around her.
“You should try singledom. It’s not so bad,” she quipped cheekily in an effort to hide her nerves. He raised a fine eyebrow at her comment, and for a heartbeat she thought she was going to drown in his eyes, be tugged away by the turquoise flecks and lost forever. She would have to say something smart now. Otherwise he would see the effect he was having on her.
“Like what you see?” she asked as her eyes slid sideways to witness his scrutiny of her.
