Heart's Lair
ANIMAL MAGNETISM
"That's enough, Karic," Liane began, forcing a self-satisfied smile onto her lips. "I've seen enough."
His eyes clouded with confusion, slowly banishing the mists of passion. "Enough? What are you talking about, Liane?"
"I've seen enough of your lovemaking. Cat Men techniques seem to vary little from other humanoid species."
Karic's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying all this time you were studying me and my mating techniques?"
"And why else? I'm a scientist. I take advantage of all opportunities."
He frowned with cold fury. "I don't believe you."
Her eyes widened in feigned disbelief. "But surely you didn't think I found you attractive? You're a Cat Man, after all. I'd never mate outside my species."
Karic savagely pulled her to him. One hand tightened across her back, flattening her breasts against the hard planes of his chest.
"And what makes you think I care what you want or don't want?" he snarled.
Other
Leisure
and
Love Spell
books by Kathleen Morgan:
THE KNOWING CRYSTAL
CRYSTAL FIRE
CHILD OF THE MIST
FIRESTAR
DEMON PRINCE
ENCHANTED CROSSINGS
Kathleen Morgan
LOVE SPELL
R
October 1996
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
276 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book."
Copyright C1996 by Kathleen Morgan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
The name "Love Spell" and its logo are trademarks of Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
To Jean Anne. You said this was
my
, book, but in so many ways it's yours as well.
I couldn't have done it without your support and gentle guidance. Thank you, my friend.
And to John, my husband, science fiction consultant and research partner. You're not
half bad as a hero yourself, big boy.
They were after him.
Karic knew it though no sound stirred the deep silence of the forest, no enemy scent intruded on the damp sweetness of leaf mulch and wild violets. He could
feel
them coming, a sixth sense as innate to a Cat Man as lithe limbs and boundless stamina, a sixth sense that melded with a strong ability to cloak his presence from most humanoids. But this sol, his trackers had non-human help.
They'd pursued him for horas now, but Karic easily outdistanced them, maintaining a comfortable lead. It gave him time for a breathing space. Soon, though, he must move onbut not yet. It was still safe, and he wanted to spend those precious moments here, deep in a sunlit glade beside a water-splashed poolwatching her.
She was small, delicately boned, her ivory flesh caressing her finely sculpted frame like flowing silk. Her long black hair, glinting like dark glass in the sunlight, fell from a center part into soft cascades down her shoulders and back. She was ethereal, serene, a fragile beauty.
Karic wanted her.
That decision had been quick, simple. His mission was twofold, and one element was to bring home a breeding female of some humanoid species. Whether he gave her to one of the other young Cat Men or kept her for himself was not the issue.
From the first moment he saw her, Karic knew he'd take the female for his own. The problem, rather, lay in the other part of his mission, and for the first time in his life Karic's sense of duty warred mightily with an equally strong sense of desire.
She did nothing to ease his conflict. In an infinitely sensual motion, the female slowly stretched her arms over her head as if reaching for the sky, her soft breasts straining against her thin blue shift. Then, before Karic could inhale another breath into his tightly constricted chest, she lowered her arms and slipped the gown from her shoulders.
It fluttered to the ground in a long, agonizing flow of cloth. Karic thought he'd never breathe again. For what seemed an eternity of heart-stopping tension she stood there, exquisitely, unashamedly naked. Then she strode into the pool.
Karic's breath returned with a painful shudder, followed swiftly by a hot, heavy tightening in his loins. Sweat beaded his brow and glistened on his powerful arms and chest. He watched her, his body little more than a quivering, knotted mass of musclesand did nothing.
His people needed him. Too long had Agrica been at the mercy of the Bellatorian invaders, inhabitants of the distant warrior planet, Bellator. Too long had those greedy usurpers of his planet's agricultural wealth been permitted free rein, his own people the only remaining resisters on the peacefully bucolic planet. And now, even their rebellion could well be at an end if his primary mission failed.
No, there was still too much to be done. First, he must seek out the mysterious weapon fearful tales spoke of and ascertain the full extent of its powers. Then, and only then, could he return to her and take her home with him.
An eerie baying wended its way through the peaceful forest. Karic froze. It was the cry of the dreaded search canus, viciously hot on a scenthis scent.
Karic disappeared as silently as he'd come. Time enough to return for the lovely female and taste the sweetness of her. But for now, he must set his sights on the Bellatorian-held fortress of Primasedes, infiltrate its defenses and find the horrible weapon said to lie within.
1
''By the five moons of Bellator!" Lord Teran Ardane exclaimed. His bearded jaw clenched in frustrated rage. "I don't give a damn for your explanations. They all reek of lies and deceit."
His steely glance circled the assemblage of Bellatorian nobles and scientists seated at the huge table in the Agrican capital of Primasedes. "Is there no one here with the courage to tell the truth?"
Liane Allador opened her mouth to speak, then, shaking her ebony head of hair, settled back in her chair. She was a Sententian, she firmly reminded herself, averting her eyes from his compelling gaze. It was not her place to interfere in Bellatorian politics. Her assignment on Agrica, though she'd accepted it with some misgiving after having heard the rumors of the planet's problems, was to assist when requested and otherwise keep her opinions to herself. And Liane tried very hard to do that. Though of a Bellatorian subrace, her special Sententian gifts were not those of the more warlike Bellatorians. Instead, her people strove for attainment of peace and serenity, of learning and the development of the psychic powers of the mind. So, Liane remained silent in response to Teran Ardane's plea. It was the wiser course.
"Domina Allador." Lord Ardane's deep voice emphasized the title of respect as he addressed her.
Liane cooly turned her gaze toward him, her delicate brows arching in unspoken query. He was a commanding man, this ambassador of Bellator's High King, but his presence here had stirred only animosity and a most unsettling tension. Liane felt it strongly. No, if possible, she must stay above the rising turmoil. She dared not get involved.
"Domina Allador," Lord Ardane persisted, "you seemed about to speak a few secundae ago. What made you hesitate?"
Normally, Liane established deep mental contact by the laying on of hands, but not this sol. The power, the combined rage of this gathering, precluded the usual requirements. She could feel the assemblage turn its collective psychic force against her, mentally demanding her silence.
Their soundless commands fluttered against her skull like the wings of so many caged birds. It took all of her self-control to keep from raising her hands to symbolically protect herself. Irate demands, coupled with the innate Bellatori an compulsion to obey, warred with her more gentle, truth-oriented Sententian nature.
To betray her compatriots was unthinkable, yet was not the man seated before them also a Bellatorian by birth? Liane knew the story of how Teran Ardane, with the help of the Aranean Oueen Alia, had found the long-lost Knowing Crystal. Though the discovery of that famous stone of justice and power had occurred only a short time ago, the tale had spread through the planets of the Imperium like wildfire. Even Agrica, long considered a backwater planet, had heard the news.
And now he was here, with the full sanction and powers that only a master of the Knowing Crystal could possess, to begin the work of setting right the horrible wrongs and blighted leadership that had evolved throughout the Imperium in the hundreds of cycles since the Crystal's loss. He was here to help not only subjugated Agrica but Bellator itself, if only Bellator would let itself be helped.
Liane inwardly sighed, shaking aside the voices yammering in her head. Though she feared the consequences of such an act she must answer him. A Bellatorian should always obey.
She gave Teran a slow, sweet smile. "I hesitated, my Lord Ardane, in the misguided thought that I, of all assembled, knew the least about the problems. You see, I only arrived on Agrica a monate ago."
"And your assignment here, Domina?"
"Research scientist. I study the local population in the hope of finding more humane ways to control them."
A gasp of indignation surged around the table.
"My Lord Ardane," an angry male voice protested above the rising din, "she is but a scientist. She has no way with words and knows not of what she speaks. Let me explain the real truth of it."
Teran's hand rose to silence him. "And you, my Lord Necator, though Lord Commander of Agrica, are but a politician. You may have a way with words, but there's rarely any truth in them. I prefer to hear the Domina's explanation."