Alcandian Soul Read online

  But it was way too real to ignore.

  “You enjoyed that too much.”

  Zeva emerged from the night to shake her head at her mates. A sheepish grin appeared on Keenan’s face while Ravid outright smirked. She rolled her eyes as she cast a glance at Cole and Dyne. Both warriors were glaring at her mates with the fury of binding fever.

  “Congratulations, Cole.”

  The newly promoted warrior hesitated for a moment before answering her as he shifted his gaze from Cassandra in order to concentrate on what Zeva had said. His thoughts were centered on the sway of Cassandra’s hips as she made her way across the courtyard. Her walk was sultry and alluring. Somehow, he’d overlooked that fact before tonight. Taking his eyes off her took a huge amount of effort. The way she moved was sexy as hell.

  “Thank you.”

  Ravid tried to secure an arm around Zeva but she only pressed a kiss against his lips before she moved away from him. “I am going to see Cassandra settled in her current chamber.”

  Ravid frowned. “Are you friends with her?” He moved towards his mate, betraying the fact that the warrior really didn’t want his mate near Cassandra. Cole felt his temper rise.

  “Cassandra is not dishonorable.”

  “Yet she considers herself a captive. That makes her unpredictable.” Keenan grasped Zeva’s arm as her attention was on Ravid. She smacked his fingers in reprimand, but her mate did not release her. “Best you allow warriors to deal with her until she is more at peace.”

  Zeva didn’t think Cassandra was going to be anywhere near the word “peace” for a long time to come. But expecting warriors to understand how a female felt during the initial spark of binding fever and the final embracing of that reality was impossible. Warriors simply expected a female to listen to their ideas about what was meant to be. She understood the frustration that could build inside a female. Her own binding had been rougher than most, but it was just possible that Cassandra might have managed to take the honor of being the most stubborn female on Alcandar away from her.

  “I am going in there and best you two understand that now or sleep at the lower tables this night. I am quite capable of fending for myself.”

  “Not while carrying our babe, you are not.” Ravid crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to budge on the topic. Zeva pushed her lips into a pout before she batted her eyelashes. The feminine gesture was oddly placed on the Alcandian female because she was also a master of defense arts.

  “Paneil has decided to adopt Cassandra. My mother thinks that since Jessica is bound to her son that makes it her duty to act as guardian to Cole’s intended mate.”

  Cole felt his blood drain from his face. Paneil was five feet of Alcandian hellfire. Zeva’s mother was an icon among Alcandian mothers. She could kick his butt in two seconds flat using her graceful command of Alcandian feminine wiles and charm. If she chose to adopt Cassandra, he and Dyne could be kept away from her until Paneil decided they might see her. And Zeva had learned a great deal from her mother. She turned an innocent look at Ravid and fluttered her eyelashes again. The veteran Judgment Official squirmed under her look as he frowned at her use of feminine charms.

  “My mother has sent me to see Cassandra settled. If you don’t like that, Ravid, she is awaiting your communication to discuss the matter.” Zeva turned to look at Keenan. “Your mother agrees it is a good solution to Cassandra’s presence here. Someone needs to see to the matter. It is a woman’s duty. Unless there are charges against her?”

  “There are not.” Keenan released his mate. “But you know that. It was with regret that we decided to bring her to Alcandar. Yet it was the most logical choice. She is valid in her complaint against us.”

  “So let us not make it more unpleasant than needed. She does not even know how to adjust the lighting in that chamber, Keenan.” Turning her gaze towards Cole and Dyne, she shook her head. “Clearly Cole and Dyne cannot see to the matter. So I will.”

  “I will take care of Cassandra.” Cole barked the comment as Dyne moved forward at the same time. Ravid and Keenan formed a wall to stop them.

  “You will not.” Zeva spoke in a quiet tone as she looked between her mates. “At least grant her some respect. Since it appears that she is staying on Alcandar.”

  Cole gritted his teeth, but nodded his head towards Zeva. She was correct. It was inappropriate for warriors to be above stairs on the blue-curtained portions of the hall. While virginity wasn’t a pressing concern for Earth women, once they were on Alcandar, commitment to their intended binding mates became very important. It wasn’t the sex Alcandians cared about controlling. What they valued most was proving that a mind bridge was forming between a female and her warriors. Without that ability to link with each other’s thoughts, the relationship was considered shallow and doomed to failure.

  By invading her chamber, he and Dyne would be declaring that they were more interested in quick sex. Although sex before facing a formal binding wasn’t unheard of, Alcandians didn’t necessarily see it as a one-way path. What mattered was that the people involved ended up pledging their lives to each other. The details were allowed to flow sometimes, especially when the female had been brought in from another planet.

  But Cassandra had the final say. Being a warrior meant respecting the female’s wish on intimacy.

  In short, he and Dyne would be spending the night with their erections and each other. Cole growled as Zeva shot him a look full of triumph. She liked to win, and, for the moment, he had to concede defeat.

  But only for the moment.

  * * * * *

  “What are you planning?” Dyne tried to sound disapproving, but the gleam in his eyes betrayed how much the other warrior detested being separated from Cassandra too.

  “It’s called a covert operation.” Cole slipped another piece of fruit into a large serving bowl that he’d lifted off one of the food service tables in the warriors’ eating hall. Currently, it held an odd assortment of food that would travel well in a heap. Cole scanned the remaining food choices and reached for a Gilo roll. It was a lot like a tortilla wrap with meat and vegetables pressed against the flat bread. Looking back up, he caught Dyne watching him like an eager recruit awaiting his first deployment. Hefting the bowl a little higher, he gave a quick jerk of his head for Dyne to follow him away from the ears of the other warriors present. Ravid and Keenan had finally left him alone, satisfied that he was not going to pounce on Cassandra the second they turned their backs.

  His cock thought that sounded like a really great idea. But there was a huge part of him that wanted to tug on her hair and tease her into a reaction. It was a little like playing with your food before you ate it, and Cole decided that he enjoyed the image completely with Cassandra as the main course. She’d hit him for it, which only made him want to voice the idea in her hearing. The need to make sure her attention was centered on him surged through him. It didn’t matter if she was mad or happy with him, as long as she was thinking about him. Dyne drifted into his thoughts and Cole heard a low grumble from the warrior’s chest as he agreed with him.

  “What is the food for?”

  “Just a little picnic to help smooth out the tension.”

  Dyne looked at the bowl full of food but grunted instead. He tightened his control and wiped off the grin that had appeared on his face. “That is dishonorable. We will wait for her to meet us, as tradition dictates.”

  “Except that Cassandra isn’t Alcandian.” Cole glanced around before continuing. “Don’t expect her to show up for anything that includes a formal acceptance of our suit. If we want her, my friend, a little strategy will be needed in order to illustrate just how much she might enjoy a relationship with us.”

  Dyne grinned. His eyes closed to slits as he looked at the bowl. The warrior looked around before reaching for an empty training trieio. It was an Alcandian canteen the warriors took with them out to the training fields. Dyne turned the recently sterilized trieio upright and began filling it with swe
et briqth.

  “I am going to enjoy being your partner, Cole.” Dyne slid him a conspiratorial look. “You do not like waiting any more than I do.”

  Chapter Six

  Cassandra stomped into the room she’d woken up in and punched the bed. She curled her hands into fists and landed a couple of more blows onto the soft bedding as she clamped her lips tight to contain the scream of outrage she didn’t need sailing through the blue curtain and down to Cole and Dyne. With her recent luck, they’d use the sound as an excuse to run to her rescue and conveniently be alone in a bedchamber with her.

  Ughh! With the way her clit was begging for attention and her passage was aching, that would be a really bad idea. The sort of thing that just might land her in hot water. It might sting for weeks while you questioned your sanity over a passionate decision. Truthfully, she never made the best of choices when it came to men, her last two boyfriends had been commitment-allergic, and she hadn’t figured that out until after she had managed to fall for them. It left her nursing a sore heart and lamenting her lack of sense when it came to choosing a partner. She wasn’t asking for a hero, just a good old boy who wanted to stick around even when he wasn’t getting laid.

  “Warriors have that effect on me too.” Zeva spoke from the doorway as she unhooked the curtain and let it swing closed over the door. Cassandra narrowed her eyes as she realized she should have done that chore herself.

  “Zeva, I’m in a really bad mood.”

  “Yes, I understand that. I’m here because I am the only one on Alcandar who really does know what you are enduring. The least I can do it explain a few facets of how Alcandar works to you.”

  Zeva offered her a shrug as she walked right into the chamber. Cassandra jumped as the bed she’d just abused shimmered and straightened itself. The marks from her hands were completely gone now, the circular surface as neat as a boot camp bunk. She bet a quarter would have flipped off the material. It was the sort of thing her overheated brain just didn’t need at that moment. Passing out in a crumpled heap appealed more than trying to understand another puzzle.

  “Alcandian homes have advantages. The main computer will straighten that bed the moment you leave it. You need to set the hours you want that function active, or it will do it twenty-six hours a day.”

  “Twenty-six hours?”

  Zeva trailed her fingers over another keypad set into the wall next to the window. The dark surface came to life instantly with buttons. She tapped a couple as she nodded. “Yes, there are twenty-six hours in an Alcandian day. I changed the function controls to English, so you can begin to use them.”

  Cassandra clamped down her surly comment because Zeva was useful. It stung that she didn’t even know how to work the lights. She smoothed out her frown and considered how to gain more information from the Alcandian. Zeva would never betray her people but she might leak enough intel to help her escape the hall undetected.

  “What else does this computer do?”

  Zeva lifted an eyebrow. “Tracks your every movement. That includes outside the hall too. Your identification bracelet is always on the grid.”

  Cassandra controlled her face. She didn’t have any identification bracelet on her. One was glittering on Zeva’s arm and she’d seen a wider one on Cole’s forearm.

  “Let me show you the bathing pool controls.”

  There was another little helpful bit of information she needed. Zeva pointed to one of the lit buttons and pressed it. Part of the floor vanished. What looked like a sunken Jacuzzi was sitting in the middle of the stone tile.

  “I walked across that.” So had Jessica on her way to the chairs earlier.

  “Our technology is far advanced. But the ego that formed around our knowledge almost exterminated us. Playing with our genes produced stronger bodies, more aggressive immune systems, and quicker-learning brain cells. But there were side effects too. Alcandians produce very few females.”

  “There’re a few men on Earth who could use a lot less sperm altogether.”

  Zeva chuckled. “I agree. It’s my hope that your Rinehart never fathers offspring. He has no honor.”

  Cassandra laughed. “That would be nice. But the idea of seeing him castrated is a little more in tune with my emotional state.” Her eyes lingered on the water in the bathing pool. Her skin was coated in sweat and grime. Her feet ached from the miles she’d hiked in her quest to learn the perimeter of her location. A bath sounded absolutely perfect.

  Zeva chucked in a nasty tone as she nodded agreement. Rinehart and his “human pride” attitude had managed to muck up both their lives rather severely. He was a career-hungry asshole of the worst kind. He didn’t give a damn who he used or stepped on as long as he got what he wanted.

  Cole and Dyne weren’t like him.

  Cassandra frowned as that idea skittered through her brain. Both males were right back in her thoughts and her nipples tingled, begging for some attention.

  “You need to watch this little button.” Zeva knelt next to the tub and passed her hand over another computer pad. This one had been covered by stone tile too but now it lit up. “Hair removal” was written on it.

  “Press this one and any hair under the water surface will be removed instantly.”

  “No way.” Cassandra looked at the little computer pad as a wicked image of being completely hairless from the neck down filled her mind. If there wasn’t any wax to deal with she just might have to try it.

  “Stick your arm in the water.”

  Cassandra did enjoy the fact that Zeva always proved her point. “Okay.” Shrugging out of her robe, she pushed the long sleeve of her fatigue top up and plunged her arm into the water to her elbow.

  “It’s a little like static.” Zeva’s fingers glided over the control panel to depress the glowing rectangle. A tiny zip of electricity went through the water and her arm. It tingled and was gone almost instantly. Lifting her arm, she watched the tiny blonde hairs flow right off her skin with the water.

  “Totally cool.” No more razors during beach season! Her elation dissipated in a flash as she considered summer on the shores of California. She had been surfing with her dad since he’d been able to sneak her away from her mother. Her dad carried a picture in his wallet, of her standing on a board at the tender age of four. Despair clamped on to her tired mind and drilled a hole that ached.

  The tub shimmered, just like the bed had done. “Let me guess, no scrubbing the tub around here either.”

  “It’s a chore I don’t miss.” Zeva stood up and considered her. Cassandra broke their eye contact as she picked up the robe Cole and Dyne had brought her from the floor. Leaving clothing on the floor just wasn’t in her habits, so she folded it and looked around for wherever clothing was stored.

  “Behind the chairs.”

  The silence was uncomfortable. Cassandra listened to her boots on the title and the sound was way too loud. “I’m tired, Zeva.”

  Sleep was the furthest thing from her thoughts, but being coddled by the Alcandian woman was worse than her own lousy company. Turning around, Cassandra caught a little grin twitching at Zeva’s lips.

  “No, you’re not, but I leave with one last instruction for you.”

  “And that is?”

  Zeva’s face went serious. “That heat driving you insane is not the sort of lust you encounter on your planet. It is far more intense.”

  “Excuse me?” Being at the mercy of her overactive hormones was one thing. Discovering Zeva knew what was going on made her mad.

  “It infuriated me too. Binding fever is extremely frustrating but it is also unavoidable once it has sparked between a warrior and a female.”

  “There isn’t any spark going on between me and Cole. Unless you’re talking about my temper. That is currently in full firestorm.” Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You didn’t see blue light in his eyes?”

  Her forehead creased as she recalled the current of blue light. “I saw it in Dyne’s too. So
what?”

  “But not Ravid’s.” Zeva wasn’t asking a question. Her voice was low but firm with conviction. “Dyne has bound with Cole. They share each other’s thoughts and in this case, what one desires the other one will too. Alcandian unions are not monogamous.”

  “Yeah, Rinehart was happy to tell me that.”

  Zeva frowned at her use of that name. “That does not mean we are a planet full of…as you say, ‘kinky’ sex games. Love is considered the deepest bond. The blue light is the first sight of binding fever. Cole and Dyne will not back away from you. Their growing need will only increase. So will yours.”

  Zeva moved towards the door. She stopped with her hand on the curtain. “You have the right to know. We might not have been friends on Earth, but I respect you, Cassandra. In time, maybe we shall become friends here.” A little sarcastic look took control of her face. “Warriors like to leave human females ignorant of the facts surrounding binding fever. I think that is quite arrogant of them.”

  Zeva turned and left. Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief for being saved from having to answer.

  Her emotions were swirling around, confusing her with their strength. She had never been so tender or testy before. The stress shouldn’t be affecting her so acutely. If you wanted to survive in the Army, you learned to chill out. But there was a part of her that was fascinated by Zeva’s words. Was it really only Cole and Dyne she could see that blue spark in? It was a really wild idea that fed a few girlhood fantasies about true love. Well, right up until she sat facing two ego-bloated kidnappers anyway.