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  He took Vorabenik and put him on an examination table. “There is no cure for that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because they do not break into his system, they ride his own hormones and intensify them. The only thing that could override them would be another set of female pheromones.” He readied a shot, “All I can do is sedate him until they wear off.”

  “You have to be kidding.”

  “No, I am not. Only another female’s hormones can override the Olankan’s. That is why she chooses men separated from their mates. They can’t fight back.”

  “And since Ben has no mate…”

  “Yet.”

  “Yes, yet. He has no way to override the pheromones.” The subject of their conversation was sitting bemused, with a raging erection.

  She mulled over the pros and cons of the situation. “Can you reactivate my glands for this purpose?”

  “Of course I could. But are you sure? It would be two months before I could redo the procedure to subdue them.”

  “Fine. Go ahead. He is already attracted to my mind. Let’s see if he likes how I smell.” She took a deep breath and hopped onto the table next to Ben’s. “Ready when you are.”

  He finished prepping the hypo and walked toward her with the spray, one hand outstretched to find her on the table. She became visible to help the doc and looked over to Ben’s vacant face. She reached out to take his hand and everything went dark.

  Chapter Seven

  “What do you mean that he’s gone?” Seval woke, only to find that her partner had been taken by the Olankan Ambassador.

  “Less than half an hour ago. I did try to stop her from taking him, but he is still under her thrall. He hit me.” The darkening bruise on his cheekbones was proof of the attack.

  Her body was not under her control as she sat up. Her mind tried to take control of it and go invisible, but all she could manage was a flicker. “Where are they taking him?”

  “To the shuttle bay. They are leaving and it seems she wants a souvenir of her stay on Kalish Station.”

  She stretched out her legs. Seval was quickly formulating a plan and, as soon as she got the doctor’s all clear, she ran. There were several ways down to the shuttle bay, but a quick communication with the launch bay had the Olankan ship delayed. Seval took the fastest one. There was limited oxygen, but she could hold her breath for two minutes and it was almost enough. The Olankan ship was clearly marked and there were some Station repair techs waiting for her next to it. As she arrived out of the service shaft, they opened the hatch on the ship and boosted her in. One stowaway was now officially aboard and she was not leaving until she got her man.

  As soon as the technical issue that the launch bay had reported had cleared, the Olankan ship was on its way, with her tight inside. She worked her way into the main portion of the shuttle and was heading for the cockpit when she heard a moan through the metal of the deck plates. Bitch. She was so going to kick Xara’s ass when she got a hold of her. Kidnapping an Alliance Agent carried a very stiff penalty.

  Seval ignored the moans and sighs that Ben was exuding, as well as those that Xara was now joining in with. She had a focus, a goal, and she was going to get there.

  The plate swung open to drop her into the cockpit. She used the medical stunner to knock out the pilots and then set a new course. They were going down. She locked the controls and then sheared them off with one of the pocket tools on her belt. Now to retrieve her mate. Uh. Her partner. Yeah, that was it.

  Invisibility was no longer a concern. Xara had only had the two guardsmen who also acted as pilots. They were not going to be in any shape to help or hinder. Nor was the Ambassador when she got a hold of her.

  The reverberations of Ben’s voice were drawing her. He was just around the corner. She rounded that corner and threw open the door to see the unforgettable image of her partner pinning the Ambassador of Olanka to the wall. By her neck.

  The urge to laugh fought with her urge to scream. This was just her luck. Ben had fought his way free on his own.

  “Agent Vorabenik. Put the Ambassador down and follow me to brace for impact. This shuttle is crashing.”

  “Who are you?” The hoarse gasp was emitted the instant that Ben let Xara down to the floor in a heap.

  “She is Agent Seval Wythin. Senior Agent of Kalish Station and my mate.”

  She was sure that he meant to say partner. Of course he did. The blood red impact of his eyes showed his Nyal ancestry and that he was definitely under hormonal control. He swept toward her and picked her up to kiss her, her legs dangling off the ground as he ravished her and woke up parts of her body that had been in permanent hibernation.

  “You have a mate? On the Station? Hells.” Xara looked disgusted. “I am sorry, apparently my research was faulty.”

  Seval was unable to correct the false assumption that Ben was her mate. His mouth still hadn’t left hers. She finally fought herself free. “Ben! Crash landing! Now!”

  His eyes were still vague, but he followed her to the crash station and strapped himself in. Xara came in next to them, contrite and quiet. The klaxon hooted the imminent impact and they simply hung on for dear life.

  “Will it be a water impact or land?” Xara was petrified.

  “Water, three skips, then a slide onto an uninhabited beach. They are waiting for us to crash.”

  “Who are?”

  “The Kalish.” Seval smiled evilly. The Kalish did not like Xara. They found her lack of respect for individual choice to be faithful to a mate distressing.

  “Of course.” There was no more time for talk as the shuddering of the craft drowned out all conversational avenues. They hit hard, once, twice, three times and then a shuddering slide took them straight onto land.

  It was the last thing Seval noticed before Xara knocked her out.

  * * * *

  The instant that the doctor had pronounced Seval’s reversal complete, Ben had known. Her scent came to him, weak at first, then gaining in strength with every second. His. A perfect match. When he tried to hold her, the doctor moved to stop him so he struck him. Seconds later, the Ambassador and her guards were there stunning him and dragging him off.

  He came to consciousness on the shuttle, bound to the bed by manacles. This creature was keeping him from his mate and he would not participate in her little games. She grew irritated when he would not play along and it was only when he used his mating strength to snap the cuffs and held her against the wall that she gave up on her attempts.

  The instant that Seval walked through the door, fully visible, his heart began to pound through his veins. She was gorgeous, her hair wild, waist tiny and eyes that were full of fire. She was his and he would prove it to her. But first, a kiss.

  When she told him to release the Ambassador, he did, almost forgetting that she was dangling by the neck. Seval drew him like no other ever would. Her scent intoxicated him and the feel of her in his arms was incredible. Her taste burned through him, marking him, making a memory of perfection.

  Idly, he followed her to the crash seats and buckled in. The women were talking about the shuttle, but he could only concentrate on Seval until the moment when Xara struck her. That he could not bear.

  She turned to him while hovering over his mate “Now, I can enjoy you without the stress of your mate nearby.”

  “Get away from her.” He backhanded Xara, sending her flying into the wall, then unbuckled his beloved. Her eyes opened blearily and she began to flicker in and out of visibility. He carried her away from the crash site and into the forest. It was just like his home on Azon, lush, green and dangerous.

  Ben could smell blood on Seval where Xara struck her. The cut was over her temple, but not too deep. It was probably more shock than anything else that was causing her to go in and out of consciousness.

  With Seval out of commission, he needed to make a shelter, so he used tools on her belt to sever tree limbs and assemble a rudimentary roof, then collected long leave
s to create the walls. By the time he tucked her inside, night was falling and he was content to sleep on a bed of fronds with his partner and mate curled against him. It was perfect, if not the mating night that his mother had always imagined for him.

  Chapter Eight

  “Ow. Who stepped on my head?” She was warm, dry and thirsty. The walls were green. That wasn’t right.

  “You are awake. Good.” Ben was crouched over a fire and heating something that smelled like meat. The fire was outside the door of what seemed to be a small hut.

  “Where are we?”

  “Do you remember the crash?”

  “No. Wait. Yes. We crashed on Kalish.” She looked around. “Why aren’t we with the shuttle?”

  “Xara attacked you, we needed to get away from her. So I carried you here.” Ben seemed agitated about something.

  “Did you set off my beacon?” She grabbed at her belt and found it, then thumbed it with a sigh of relief. “Okay, so you didn’t. They will be here to pick us up in about a day.”

  “I wish we had a bit more time alone.” He finished his cooking, set it aside and then came toward her with a compress. “Here. This will help the cut on your head. It is made from local roots, plants and a bit of geothermic mud.” He gently applied it to the pounding on her head. The wet coolness made her smile.

  “Why do you wish for more time?”

  “Because here I can just be myself, and you can be yourself, and we don’t have to be Agents.”

  His fingers stroked her face slowly, memorizing each bit of her. He didn’t seem to have the talons of the Azon, but she couldn’t be sure, and didn’t want to find out. His earnest eyes melted a portion of her, and it wasn’t her heart. “Ah. That.”

  “Yes. That.”

  He retrieved his cooking project and handed it to her. It was a small bird-lizardy thing, but it was fully cooked and prepared for her so she took it.

  “Your scent suits you by the way.”

  “Ah. So it worked?” She was trying to decide where to take her first bite. It was hard, leg, leg, leg or wing.

  “It did. Even before you left medical. If they hadn’t stunned me, I would never have gone with them.”

  “I thought you fought the doc?”

  “When he tried to keep me from going to you, yeah, I punched him.”

  She snorted and took her first bite, it was heaven. “He tells a very different story, but he was probably mad at you. This is really good!” She was surprised. Then she noted that he wasn’t eating. “Aren’t you going to have some?”

  “I had some earlier.”

  “But there was nothing else on the fire.”

  “I ate it while hunting.”

  Eww. Right. He was able to eat meat raw. “Then why did you cook mine?”

  “I thought you would like it better. I spoke to Nar about it and he said you didn’t like raw meat. Cooked meat though, you were all for.” He smiled in enjoyment as she continued to eat.

  “You and Nar really hit it off, didn’t you?”

  “You were our primary topic of conversation.” He moved behind her and put his arm around her, still munching, she leaned against him. “He cares for you a great deal. He told me of your adventures together.”

  “Oh sure, the adventures of the Hot Virgin and the Invisible. It was not fun at the time though. I recall our lives being in danger for most of it.”

  “And yet, you both survived.”

  “Yeah, I suppose we did. Srrah hated me though. She was convinced that I had sullied Nar.”

  “Which of course you hadn’t.”

  “Of course not. He is like my brother.” Once the statement was out, it felt right. Just like leaning on Ben for support and warmth. It felt right. She relaxed and let his strength and scent surround her. It was perfect.

  “And I?”

  “You are definitely not like my brother. Nor like any other man I have ever met.” Her hands caressed his thighs, he was now manoeuvred behind her like an easy chair, but the hard ridge against her spine was not easy. She leaned her head back on his shoulder and looked up at him. Love was in his eyes, which was good because her emotional blocks were wide open and it was in hers as well. The first kiss was slow. She leaned up to him, then hissed as her head and neck protested. He chuckled and moved her so that she was now cradled in his arms.

  “I don’t think you are up for a proper mating.” His smile was warm and his face spoke of a lifetime of patience that he was willing to devote to her.

  “No. I think that some time in medical will be needed first.” It killed her to admit it, but she thought that honesty was going to be her new policy with him. “So which of your parents is Nyal?”

  “My father. My mother met him on an exchange program to his world and he followed her home.” He smiled at childhood memories. “My father is Vnash and my mother is Rabeni. So Vorabenik is the best compromise that they could manage. What of your family?”

  “Ah. My family liked to pretend that I didn’t exist. It was why I got so good at my talent before I even left Terra. Attention from my family meant that I was in trouble so I kept out of sight as often as I could. Attention from boys could go from okay to bad so I learned to avoid men. And then I ended up in the offices back on earth figuring out the questionnaire, not noticing that I was flickering on the video that they were recording.”

  Ben looked a little surprised.

  “They offered me the chance to go, and I went. No one missed me.”

  “I have a hard time believing that.” He was silent for a few minutes. “So you really have no ties to your home world? I find that shocking.”

  “Well there are a few shocks in store for you if you continue to associate with me. I have very few pleasant memories of my childhood and it makes me leery about bringing up another generation.”

  “Well, any children that you would have would not be back on Earth, they would be raised where you felt safe, say…Azon?”

  She pondered that for a moment. “I don’t know. I have never given thought to raising children. I don’t even know if I can get pregnant.” A side effect of her talent had been her cessation of menstrual cycle.

  “I would be happy just to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  She was not surprised, but… “Are you really sure? I can be really annoying.”

  “I have seen you at your most annoying. I still want you forever and always.” He stroked her hair gently.

  He moved her back and forth in his arms, rocking her slowly. It worked, she was drowsy and then the last thing she saw was his smiling face.

  She really had to pee. Crawling out of his oh-so-warm embrace, she used her compass to help her orienteer her way through the woods. The rushing of water happened in gratifyingly short time and she found herself at the base of a waterfall. Stripping had never been easier and she first used the cover of trees for her ablutions and then ran headlong into the water.

  Wriggling in delight, she swam, dove and thrashed around in general happiness. If only she had some shampoo and a hairbrush, all would be heaven. After her exercise, she reluctantly turned to wash her uniform. It was easy to pick up, it was dangling from Ben’s fingers. “Gimmee. I need to do laundry.”

  She had just snagged the leg of her clothing when he let go and it smacked her in the face. In seconds, his clothing covered her as well. What the heck, he had made her shelter and hunted for her. It was the least she could do.

  The washing took only a few minutes and she laid the cloth out on some shrubs to dry. It was warm out, the fabrics should dry quickly. Now back to swimming.

  Ben was doing a lazy backstroke, his erection acting as a mast.

  “Does that thing every go down?” She was swimming near him, but out of reach.

  “Eventually, but not when you are pale and naked, wearing nothing but water.”

  She eyed him all very carefully and swam a little closer. “Right back atcha.”

  It was all the encouragement he needed. His hands s
napped forward and grabbed her wrists, then simply pulled her onto him. He was surprisingly buoyant, like a surfboard. With a mast.

  Astride him, she now was able to run her hands across his chest and abdomen with abandon. He was stuck simply cupping her breast and thumbing her nipples, any more activity and he started to sink. As soon as he moved his legs, hips, anything, he started to sink. This was too funny.

  “I think that the foreplay is better done on a stable surface where we can’t drown.” Her wise decision lit a fire in his eyes. As she finished her sentence, he stroked over to one of the large flat rocks near the base of the waterfall. He boosted her up onto the rock and followed her, landing in a feral crouch near her hip.

  “Was that an invitation?”

  She laughed and held her arms out to him. “It was.” He came into her arms with a relieved groan. He nuzzled her neck and just that minor contact had her body wet and squirming. Her neck had always been a hot spot and it seemed that time did not change a person’s responses, well at least not hers.

  She ran her fingers through his hair and played with the silky strands as he nuzzled that one spot on her neck. Her reflexes were quite sharp as each trail of his lips and teeth on one sensitive spot had her hips lifting against him. She let each moan, sigh, groan and whimper out of her lips without protest, giving him the signals that he needed to stimulate her just so. When one of his hands moved between her thighs, she spread her legs wide and let him have access to the slick moisture that his attentions had wrought.

  The fingertip teasing her clitoris made her mewl, that same fingertip dipping inside her, elicited a gasp. What was unexpected was a light grazing of his teeth on her neck. That triggered a shriek and an orgasm.

  He brought his head back in surprise and looked at her. She was flushed, from the sex and the embarrassment. “Sorry. It has been a while.”

  “How long?” He was laying tiny kisses on her forehead and cheeks while they spoke.