The Challenge (33 page)

He squeezed her buttocks. “I don’t see why not.”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and locked her gaze on his. “I felt terrible about your people, so I decided to do what I could.”

“You decided?” When she winced, he realized he was squeezing her bottom. He forced his hands to release her and rub away the hurt.

“Yes. So I used the computer.”

“After I forbid you not to?” She trembled beneath his hands, but she never dropped her gaze from his.

“Yes. I wanted to make things right. But then the Endekian called, and all I could think was that he’d captured or killed you. So I spoke to him. After I learned you were not in his clutches, he offered me a loan. As much as I wanted to accept it, I didn’t trust him.”

Her words shouldn’t have brought any measure of relief. She’d disobeyed him, hadn’t even spoken to him about her decision before putting herself in danger. And yet . . . she’d spoken to the Endekian because she’d been worried about his safety.

He gentled his tone. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

“I knew you would.”

“Did you ever consider the danger to yourself?”

“Yes, but even after I knew you were safe, I couldn’t end the call. The image of children starving because of my actions wouldn’t go away. I used the computer and the assets I’d acquired to purchase food for your people.”

“There’s food in the cargo hold?” Delight made him grin from ear to ear.

“I wanted to surprise you.”

She’d astonished him. He marveled at her ingenuity and her courage. She’d known he’d be furious. She’d known Jypeg was dangerous, and still, she had taken the call. Not because she’d thought Kahn wouldn’t find out, but because she thought what she was doing was right. “After Jypeg contacted you, did you ever once think of discussing the situation with me?” he asked both hurt and angry, especially since he read the answer in her eyes even before she spoke.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I couldn’t risk your refusal. We needed the food, and I will not have the death of innocent people on my conscience. And in truth . . .”

“Yes?”

“I thought if you knew, you would have stopped me.”

“I would have helped you purchase the food, but of course, I would have stopped you from making a deal with Jypeg.” At his words, she flinched, but he kept speaking. “He killed Lael. I have no doubts that he intended to kill you, too. He’s a skilled warrior and ever since we fought, our hatred has become personal. He doesn’t just want to kill me, he wants the glow stones on Rystan.”

“You should have told me more about him before.”

“I didn’t know the information was relevant. But I didn’t explain the situation to you. And that won’t happen again. I want you to have full access to Dora at all times with no restricted information except about the Challenge.”

At his words, Tessa’s eyes brightened with happiness, and she leaned forward to kiss him. “Thanks.”

KAHN HAD gone to see about the cargo, leaving Tessa a happy woman. Her expectation of her marriage had gone from trying to survive it, to hoping they could be working partners to genuine caring. When Dora informed her that she had a communication from Osari, Tessa opened a hyperlink with a bit of guilt that she still hadn’t told Kahn about her business arrangement. When she’d told him she’d used the computer and the assets she’d acquired to purchase food, she’d known he’d assumed she’d traded in her original purchases. While it might be wrong of her to let him make that assumption, she’d found that Kahn took her Earthlike independence better in small doses. She fully intended to tell him about her business—when the time was right.

“Greetings, Osari.”

Osari’s flat voice came through the hyperlink with no intonation, and she missed the emotional closeness that passed through touching his tentacle. “Our progress is ahead of schedule. Profits are above our initial expectations, and I’m depositing your share into the accounts you specified.”

When Tessa saw the amount of credits on the screen, she whistled. “Osari, you are a genius. I’m rich.”

“There may be a price to pay for our success. We have taken much business from the Endekians, and I fear you may be in danger. Is there anything you wish for me to do to ensure your safety?”

Credits in the bank would do Tessa no good if she didn’t live. Taking a deep breath, she told Osari exactly what she wanted to buy. She ended the hyperlink call, knowing that once again she hadn’t consulted Kahn, but surely this time he would approve of her purchase.

“It will be a fantastic adventure. With my new optics, I’ll see those muscular Rystani men performing all those extremely primitive and masculine things, like hunting and riding a
masdon
.”

Tessa expelled a breath, not the least bit eager to climb atop one of the huge gray beasts the Rystani used for transportation. “Why can’t we land right beside the village’s entrance like the supplies we dropped?”

“The supplies went down to Rian under cover of darkness, but in harsh terrain, night drops are too dangerous for fragile humans.”

“What about lights to guide us, or infrared night scopes? Or for that matter, it’s now daylight.”

“Kahn has other concerns as well. He believes the Endekians might be watching for live targets, and he intends to keep Rian’s underground entrances a secret.”

Tessa saw nothing enticing about this barren world. Living underground didn’t appeal to her at all. She liked open sky, watching the weather—no matter how blizzard-like the surface conditions. But mostly, she dreaded meeting the Rystani people, hated to be an outsider. Every time she’d changed foster homes, every time she’d had to start over at a new school, every time she met new people, she’d been the stranger. Never really accepted—except in the
dojo
by Master Chen—she’d been considered a freak by the other students because she’d been a woman studying a man’s fighting art. Once on Rystan she’d be the alien, and dread tied a knot in her stomach.

In minutes, they hovered over the only landing strip in site, barely large enough for their shuttle. No other spacecraft were visible. Unlike the multitude of ships on Zenon, Rystan appeared deserted. She saw no buildings. No trees. No animals. No crops. Just snow drifts and sheets of snow falling from an ugly gray sky.

Kahn landed on a rocky tarmac, the only expanse cleared of snow in sight. While he set the shuttle’s controls on automatic for the return to the mother ship, Tessa peered out the
bendar
window. Snow pelted the craft, some snowflakes as large as her fist.

“You will get used to the climate,” Kahn told her, reading her trepidation and heading through the hatch. Tessa walked a few steps behind her husband, keeping her eyes modestly downcast as Rystani custom required, careful to keep her dread from her expression.

Bitter cold whipped across her face as she stepped onto her new world. Arctic winds chilled her to the bone. Dressed in a long gown that reminded her of a shapeless black sack and heavy boots, she felt the frigid cold slice through her suit like a knife. She hadn’t exited four steps beyond the hatch before she began to shiver miserably and stomped her feet to keep warm.

She wanted to remind Kahn to adjust her suit’s heating elements, but before she could force words through her chattering teeth, an imposing delegation of four strapping men stepped out of the snow to greet them. Although none of the men looked directly at Tessa, she caught several curious glances.

After exchanging bear hugs with a man just as tall as himself, Kahn introduced her. “Tessa, meet Zical, my oldest friend.”

Zical had long, black hair that he wore tied in a queue at his neck. Vivid violet with sparkling red and blue highlights, his eyes reminded her of a rare alexandrite. With his impish dimples and lighthearted grin, he appeared delighted to meet her. However, no pleasant demeanor could conceal the sharp angles on his face, the hollows in his drawn cheeks that revealed he hadn’t eaten well for some time.

All the men looked dangerously thin. Kahn hadn’t exaggerated the conditions here, and she was glad they’d brought food with them. Since Dora had coached her on proper etiquette, Tessa didn’t speak or smile a greeting at the man, but bowed her head instead.

“This troublemaker is Etru,” Kahn continued the introductions as if the wind-chill factor wasn’t fifty below zero, and she wondered if Kahn had deliberately failed to adjust her suit in order to force her psi to heat her suit by herself. “Etru is one of Rian’s elders. He sits second seat on the ruling council.” Etru might have been an elder statesman, but she wouldn’t have known it from his muscular physique. Broad-shoulders and bronze skin seemed to define Rystani men, as did their flat bellies and lean limbs due to lack of fat in their diet. Etru’s hair was dark red, except at the temples where it was white. And his eyes were amber like Kahn’s but nowhere near as vivid.

“And last but not least are Mogan, our finest hunter, and his son, Xander.” Tessa saw the family resemblance immediately. While Mogan possessed the body of an adult and Xander had yet to grow into his large hands and feet, both possessed deep purple eyes, strong arrogant noses, and full lips.

All the men wore casual slacks and shirts, summer clothes, but the three tall Rystani men and the boy didn’t appear to notice the frigid climate. Obviously, they knew how to operate the temperature control in their suits. She didn’t.

If Kahn expected that after she turned cold enough, she’d make the necessary adjustment, she hoped he was correct. She was already so frozen that she couldn’t concentrate. Her teeth chattered, and her extremities went numb.

About to collapse from the cold permeating her bones, she whispered, “Kahn,” right before she stumbled.

Kahn caught her immediately, and she suspected he’d been watching her closely in case she failed. Peering at Tessa’s chattering lips, he frowned but began to heat her suit.

“What is wrong with her?” The red in Zical’s violet eyes darkened with concern.

Etru peered at her over Kahn’s shoulder. “Does our air disagree with her?”

“Is she pregnant?” Xander asked and received an elbow in his gut from his father for his too-personal comment.

“You dimwits.” Dora spoke up from Tessa’s pack. “She’s freezing to death. Do something.”

“I already have.” Kahn swore softly, holding her close and whispering into her ear, “I’d hoped your psi would take over the temperature control. I’ll have you warmed up soon.”

At Dora’s female voice, the three Rystani men and boy jerked to their feet and took up defensive positions around Tessa. She would have found their over-protectiveness funny, if she hadn’t been shaking so hard and if she hadn’t been so concerned over their reaction to Dora. Even half frozen, Tessa feared for her friend.

Kahn turned up the heat even higher in Tessa’s suit and blessed warmth made her toes and fingers tingle. But she couldn’t yet force words past her chattering teeth.

With a handsome frown, Kahn ceased looking outward for a menace to Tessa and her pack. “Dora?”

Oh no.
Kahn knew Dora’s name?

“I came along for the adventure.”

Zical tapped Kahn in the shoulder. “That is the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard—”

“Thank you very much,” Dora replied. “You are a most handsome figure of a man.”

“Kahn.” Zical’s eyes twinkled. “Who am I talking to?”

“I’m Dora, Tessa’s friend. And if you don’t warm her up I’m going to lose her.”

Kahn rolled his eyes at the sky, an expression of Tessa’s that he mimicked too well. “I’m already taking care of my wife. Soon now, she’ll be back to her normal, feisty self.”