The Challenge (7 page)

“You ask too many questions.” He scooped her into his arms with such incredible speed that she bit back a gasp. He held her against his chest, and his light dusting of chest hair tickled her breast.

How could his chest feel warm and smooth against her skin right through his suit, when moments ago not all her skill could penetrate his shield?

Had he let down his defenses when he’d picked her up? What had happened to the invisible barrier that protected him? She pounded his shoulder, which sadly brought her no more results than her earlier full-scale attack. Apparently the shield snapped into place on an as-needed basis.

She wondered if it worked while he slept. If he slept?

The disturbing caresses and his exotic scent combined with his strong arms around her made thinking difficult. “Put me down. There’s no need to carry me.”

“I don’t wish for you to hurt yourself.”

“What a crock.” She leaned her head back and eyed the stoic expression on his face, those high carved cheekbones and brilliant amber eyes that changed from cool tiger yellow to a molten honey, depending on his moods that she couldn’t really read.

While Dora piloted the shuttle through two huge starship doors and they docked inside the flight bay with a soft clang, Tessa did her best to ignore the suit. “What exactly is your interest in me?”

Kahn carried her from the bay through a hatch, into the corridor with the pulsing lights, sculptures and moving walkways she’d seen before. “My success is tied to yours.”

She fought not to squirm in his arms and increase the contact between them. The last thing she needed was to fidget against him in a provocative manner. She attempted to figure out what was going on, but the erotic caress behind her ear, the sensual tickle at the arch of her foot, the slow and steady circular movements up the inside of her knees caused a genuine difficulty for someone like her. A woman trapped in a no-win situation. A woman who hadn’t been touched by a man in a very long time.

“What did you mean when you said that your success is tied to mine?” she asked.

“There are two parts to the Challenge. Your job is to complete the Challenge so Earth can become a trial member in the Federation. My job is to make sure that you succeed.”

While he held her close enough for the heat of his chest to warm her, concentrating wasn’t easy, especially with the damn suit caressing her, the massaging happening with multiplying frequency in increasingly intimate areas. That he wouldn’t meet her eyes clued her in that he knew exactly what she was feeling. He knew, oh yeah, he knew. And he wouldn’t do a damn thing to prevent it.

Concentrate on gathering information
. He’d told her that his success was tied to hers. “What’s in it for you?”

“Rystan’s permanent membership in the Federation, including voting rights.”

Politics had never been her thing, and with the suit caressing her, she couldn’t restrain the frustration in her tone. “And why are voting rights so damn important?”

Kahn’s tone deepened. “My people are facing starvation and possible invasion. Last year winter arrived much earlier than usual, and this season has been even worse. The normal growing months have been cut in half, and not enough food has been cached in the deep storage freezers below each village for my people to survive through the coming cold.”

Tessa fidgeted, trying to get away from the suit’s caresses. “I still don’t understand what food scarcity has to do with voting rights.”

“Hunting parties come back empty-handed, but with disturbing reports about Endekian spy ships sighted over Rystan.” That news clearly made Kahn uneasy. “With the food shortage, my world is ripe for invasion.”

“Okay, I understand that starving people can’t summon the strength to fight well, but why would anyone want your world?”

“Our glow stones, plus our real estate has prime coordinates. We’re close to Zenon Prime. But without full Federation status, our politicians can’t bring our grievances before the Prime Council. Our people need us to succeed. “

She swallowed hard. “I suppose you volunteered for this mission?”

He nodded. “This is why I will ensure that you develop your psi powers. Please remember that Earth needs you to win, too.”

As if she could forget. “So if I win the Challenge, Earth gets—”

“A trial membership. Once your world helps a newcomer pass the Challenge, you’ll receive permanent status.”

“What percentage of worlds pass the initial Challenge?”

“I cannot—”

“—tell me that,” she finished for him. “You can’t tell me anything specific about the Challenge?”

“Correct.”

“But you’ll answer all my other questions?” she asked.

“Not necessarily.”

She swallowed hard, wondering if there was a connection between his statements that her training had begun, the suit’s caresses, and developing her psi. “How long will my training last?”

“Until your Challenge.”

“Suppose I don’t have any psi ability?”

“You do. Just like you, my people also had their doubts about their psi ability and believed they would never be able to use the suits. However, the Perceptive Ones, an ancient race that mysteriously vanished over a millennium ago, left behind machinery that to this day manufactures the suits. All members of the Federation have learned to use their psi, and so will you.”

He seemed so determined that she had no doubts why his people had chosen him for a difficult task. She doubted the man had the word
quit
in his vocabulary and wondered about his world, a much safer topic than thinking about the man, his powerful arms, or the way she wanted to rub against him.

The suit was making her feel that way, she told herself. Her body was only reacting to the potent stimulations—so similar to the crazy little things Mike had once done to her. Mike had been kind and gentle, and he’d understood the raw power of sweet anticipation and private need. He’d been nothing like this big barbarian who preferred carrying a woman to letting her walk on her own two feet. However, dwelling on the past would only make her homesick. Firmly, she shoved the memories from her mind and changed the subject. “Is your home much like Earth?”

“Rystan is a larger world and similar in climate to your polar regions. We aren’t a technological society and don’t have your vast population or pollution problems.”

She supposed a larger planet had more gravity and might account for Kahn’s muscles. But in his low-slung trousers and vest, he didn’t dress for a cold climate. He’d probably adapted his garments to the ship’s temperature, just like she packed tank tops and shorts for a trip to the Caribbean.

Oh, God.

She could have sworn a man’s palm had brushed over the curls between her legs. It wasn’t the alien, either. One of Kahn’s hands was under her leg, the other gripped her shoulder.

It definitely wasn’t his hand between her thighs, but she blamed him. He’d already proven he was in control of her suit when he’d transformed the transparency before her visit to Earth. Oh, he was responsible for what was happening to her, all right.

She eyed him suspiciously. “If I had been a man would I be wearing a suit?”

“Yes.”

Was that a touch of sympathy in his eyes?

“And would the suit be sexually molesting me?” she demanded with a gasp as the fondling grew more intimate.

Kahn frowned. “The Challenge requires both of us to do things we wouldn’t normally do. I treat women with only the utmost respect.”

“Look pal, we obviously have different interpretations of respect. On Earth, men

don’t—”

“We aren’t on Earth.”

“So you’re telling me that you’re treating me the way you’d treat a Rystani woman? Your women put up with—”

“We aren’t on Rystan, either. Challenge candidates must do what is necessary for the good of their world.” He spoke gently, as if she were a child throwing a tantrum, not a woman who had every right to protest this invasion upon her person. “I am training you for the Challenge the best way I know how. Accept that as fact. For me to do less would betray my people. And my honor.”

He strode through a doorway that opened in a seamless wall and set her back on her feet inside the metallic gray room with the shimmering walls where she had first awakened. “Are you better now that I’m no longer touching you?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” In truth she didn’t know what to think. His little speech had sounded so honorable and told her nothing, and not once had the caresses stopped. She grabbed at the suit material at her neck and tried to pull it off. She didn’t care if Kahn watched. He’d already seen everything there was to see, and she wanted out of the torturous suit.

But the material wouldn’t stretch or tear. “How do I get out of this suit?”

“You don’t.”

As the suit licked and stroked and dipped between her thighs, she bit back a groan of exasperation. This felt so right but was so wrong. She wanted a man. But not him. She wasn’t quite that desperate. If she could get him to leave her alone, she could take care of the problem herself.

When he didn’t seem inclined to leave, she dropped to the floor into her meditation position. “What about bathing?”

“You can bathe with the suit on, but it’s not necessary. The suit has automatic cleansing units.”

And as she sat, she realized another problem that required an immediate solution. Her bladder was full, and she required relief. She glanced around the bare four-walled room, but saw nothing that resembled plumbing. “What about a toilet?”

He hesitated for a moment as if his translator had difficulty with the concept. “The suit will absorb excess fluids and waste. It’s a marvelous piece of engineering which you’ll grow to appreciate. Now I must leave you and attend to my duties.”

The moment the doors closed behind him, she tested the suit, and it worked as predicted. With a blessedly empty bladder, she’d remained dry and clean.

Tessa sat cross-legged on the floor. She tried to ignore the unnerving stimulation, tried to draw so deep into herself that she’d find relief from the constant sexual barrage. Panting, aching with pent-up tension, Tessa lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. She let her hand drift over her breasts and tried to recall Mike’s face. They’d gone to the brink of making love three years ago—actually, three hundred and thirty-three years ago—and would have made love that evening, but their timing had sucked. Instead of returning to her, Mike had been killed. Recalling her intense yearning for Mike, she’d often wished they had made love when they’d had the opportunity. From their limited time together, she recalled a yearning for Mike, but never such a strong craving for relief as right now. As desperate as she felt, satisfying herself wouldn’t take long, not in her state of arousal.

“Is this a good time?”

Tessa’s eyes flew open at the voice that sounded tinny and not as full-bodied as on the shuttle, but still recognizable. “Dora?”

“Why are you squirming around like that with your face twisted up?”

“How did you get in here?” Despite the fact that Tessa desperately needed release, she could have kissed Dora, if she’d had a face.

Dora’s tone stiffened. “You did ask if we could continue our conversation later. Your words implied you would welcome my presence . . . but if this is inconvenient, I shall leave immediately.”