SavingAttractions (10 page)

“What more?” Her legs tensed as if she was trying to get up.

He wasn’t letting her get up and walk away from him. He had
a feeling that once he released her she’d head straight back to camp so that
they wouldn’t be alone and she wouldn’t have to face what he said. She needed
to know. He didn’t want the sudden appearance of the stripes on her ribs to
scare her.

“You’re changing.” He started out with the most important
part of the information. The information that would probably draw the most reaction
from her.

“Changing? What do you mean I’m changing? Nothing’s changed
except that I’m having sex with you and you’re under the delusion that we’re
mates.” Her brows lowered and her eyes narrowed.

He held back a laugh at her stubborn response. “It’s more
than sex, but what I mean is that you’re transforming into a Zarain. You’ll be
a shifter as I am.”

Her mouth opened, but no sound emerged. She swallowed, took
a breath and then another. “I thought that was some kind of rumor.”

“No, it’s not a rumor. The bite injected an enzyme into you
that began the transformation from human to Zarain. It won’t be much longer
until it’s complete and I didn’t want you to be afraid when the markings
appeared on your rib cage.” He let his right hand stroke up her side and back,
trying to soothe and relax her. Slightly more than a Zarain, but he’d get into
that later, after she’d become more accepting.

“Markings on my rib cage?” Her voice was almost whisper
soft.

For a moment, she went completely still. Her muscles tightened
and she exploded into movement. She tensed and pushed against him. Her hips
wrenched to the side. Jagger held on to her as she went wild in his arms. His
cock slipped from the sheath of her pussy as she fought him, but he didn’t let
her bolt.

“Ada,” he said firmly and with just enough force to get her
attention.

Her head lifted and she locked eyes with him. She stared him
down. Her chest heaved as she drew in rapid breaths. The fire in her eyes told
him that the struggle was far from done in spite of the fact that doing so
hadn’t accomplished anything other than to aggravate her and arouse him.

“Let me go before I hit you.” She wriggled in his grasp.

“Fierce, aren’t you?” It wasn’t the way to calm her down,
but he couldn’t hold back his smile. He loved that show of spirit.

Her hands balled into fists.

“There’s more I need to tell you.” He pulled his lips down
into a serious line so as not to rev her anger to a higher level. Even though
it was fun.

“More. There’s more than I’m changing from human to something
else? Something I’m not even sure what it is.” She took a deep breath and
glared down at him.

“You’re changing into a Zarain, not something,” he clarified
softly.

“As if I know exactly what a Zarain is or does. I know, in
general, shifters are stronger and faster. I have no idea what other things you
can do.” Her fisted hand rested on his chest. “What is the more? Tell me now. I
don’t know how much more I can take.”

“I’ll show you when it’s time. I wanted to explain mating to
you, and the rest can wait until you’re in a more receptive frame of mind.” He
was fairly sure that he’d pushed as much as he could. “A mating is not just
sex. It’s something similar to a marriage and much more binding. All the Zarain
here consider us a mated pair already. There are no words to be said that would
make it more binding although we can have a ceremony. There are some ancient
ritual binding words that once took the place of a ceremony.”

“You said you’d let me go now.” She took a deep breath and
stared down at him waiting.

He could see the anger simmering just under the surface of
her calm front. He released her hips and she stood. She remained standing over
him for a moment before she started grabbing her clothes. As she pulled them
on, she kept shooting fuming glares at him. He dressed and folded the blanket.
He didn’t think she was through with him yet.

After she’d dressed and put on her shoes, she whirled back
to face him. She stomped over him and poked her finger into his chest. “Do they
teach you Zarain how to send a woman into a panic attack?”

He shook his head. Ada didn’t look panicked to him, but he
wasn’t going to contradict her at this moment.

“I tell you that I can’t do relationships and you blurt out
not an hour later that we’re married according to your people.” Her finger
stabbed against his chest and she glared at him. “Do you want to make me crazy?
I really can’t make a relationship work. I’ve never been able to do that. I
don’t know of anyone in my family who can.”

He took a deep breath and kept his face straight. Here might
be a chance for him to learn about her problems with relationships.
“Relationships are not in any way genetically predisposed. You make connections
with other people. You have a relationship with the people of the trade ship
crew. I’d wager you’ve been friends with some of them for years.”

“Friendship is different.” She shook her head and began
walking back toward the camp.

“Only in that there’s a certain distance to them most of the
time. But you’ve lived and worked with these people for years. You’ve probably
been closer to them than most of the men you’ve dated and for longer periods.”
He saw that even if she didn’t.

“That’s not the kind of relationship I’m talking about.” She
stopped and turned to face him. “You’re deliberately ignoring what I say.”

“No, I’m not. Those are relationships, but I can tell that
you’re afraid of something. Is it being hurt or hurting someone else?” It was
the most obvious guess. He didn’t know enough to be sure which one scared her
more or if it was a little bit of both.

“I can’t do relationships.” Her finger jabbed at him and she
stalked away from him.

He followed, keeping her in sight, but not rushing. Still,
he couldn’t let her think that he’d accept that lie. “You’ll have to learn
then. I’m sure I can teach you.”

Ada walked beside the large Zarain man leading her out of
the camp. She couldn’t quite remember his name. It felt as if it was on the tip
of her tongue but simply wouldn’t slide off. It frustrated her, because she had
been introduced to him.

She’d noticed the captain and a few others being ushered
quietly out as well. What were the Zarain doing? She didn’t think they were
planning a trap or anything such as that, but the man beside her hadn’t said
anything other than she was needed somewhere. The tone of his voice and the
look in his eyes hadn’t invited questions.

Until she’d seen the others also being led out of the camp,
she’d thought that maybe Jagger wanted to talk to her. She had been a little
wary of that but wasn’t willing to miss spending some time with him. Even after
those explosive revelations, she still couldn’t get enough of simply being with
him. Now she was confused.

She looked back over her shoulder. There were still people
from the
Setona
in the camp, although the remaining Zarain there seemed
to be keeping them busy. Turning her head back to the front, she wondered what
Jagger was doing. This had to have been orchestrated by him.

The man took her to one of the little groups of trees near
the river. As they walked, she tried to remember his name. Tag. No, Tav. He’d
been introduced as Tav.

The silence stretched and she grew tense. She focused on her
surroundings to try to calm her nerves. Leaves and twigs crunched beneath her
feet as she approached. Patches of grass and bushes grew anywhere the sun broke
through the leafy canopy. When she arrived, Jagger was already there, as was
Captain Thomas. Lauren and Keegan arrived almost at the same time and they were
followed by Owen and Carson. She tilted her head as she joined the others. She
leaned back against the tree to wait to see what Jagger wanted.

He looked good today and a little dangerous. His hair was
mussed, but that could have been from the wind or simply the walk through the
trees. She wanted to peel that light cream shirt right off him and those black
pants would hit the ground as well. She’d be a little more careful of the
stunner that hung at his belt, but if they were alone, she’d get rid of it.

Pulling her mind away from thoughts of Jagger naked, she looked
at all of the other Zarain men. They were armed. It was a visible reminder that
danger remained a very present threat. The sight of so many weapons managed to
cool her hunger a little.

“I’ve talked with your captain, and you’re the most senior
members of his crew, the people he trusts the most. We’re going to talk about
the pirate’s attack on your ship and if any of you have any idea why someone
would continue to assault crew members here.” Jagger looked over the people
gathered around the area.

Ada didn’t have a clue about what those people were after or
why they kept trying to hurt the crew members. They didn’t transport anything
that valuable. Nothing worth injury or death.

She glanced around at the others as the silence stretched.
They all looked as lost and confused as she felt. The continual harassment
didn’t make any sense.

“All right, since none of you seem to have anything to
volunteer, let’s start with something basic. What were you carrying on this
trade run?” Jagger exhaled heavily and folded his arms across his chest as he
leaned a shoulder back against the tree. “I want to know everything. I want
these men stopped.”

“That’s just it. There wasn’t anything worthy of even a raid
by the pirates in this load. They aren’t going to make any profit from our
cargo. The upkeep on their weapons and personnel costs more than what they’ll
make.” Captain Thomas shook his head. “There are runs where we have more
valuable cargo, but not this time. It was supplies. Mostly food.”

“Well, obviously someone within your crew thought
differently, because the two people who attacked were from this group.” Jagger
came away from the tree and glared.

“It was one of our scheduled deliveries though. Anyone who’d
been with the crew for even a few months would have known that unless something
special gets added, that leg of our normal route is almost always primarily
supplies and the occasional piece of equipment,” Ada offered softly. “Even the
newest person on the crew has been there long enough to know that.”

“Where were you going then? What was your route?” Jagger
frowned.

“We were on the outer leg of our route that takes us to the
colony world of Mantid. We run supplies and any food or extras that they can’t
grow there to the planet. On the way back, we were headed to the Central
Command base before heading to a planet to pick up more cargo.” Captain Thomas
shook his head. “It was normal business for us.”

“The base is part of your regular route?” Jagger raised a
brow, but he seemed more attentive now.

“Yes,” Captain Thomas affirmed.

“And you don’t think that might have anything to do with why
you were targeted by the space pirates on this end of your trip?” Cort, one of
the Zarain men, asked with doubt clear on face.

Even though she’d only been briefly introduced to the man.
Ada hadn’t forgotten him. That neck tattoo made him stand out among the big
muscled men. The others had tattoos, but he was the only one she’d seen with
one on the neck. She opened her mouth to answer when a soft laugh drew her
attention.

“You think that we carry anything special to them?” Lauren
smiled. “A lot of people outside the business have that misconception.”

“You don’t carry anything valuable to them?” Jagger came
away from the tree, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“No, what we take to the base is extra provisions. Military
transport carries the bulk of the supplies and all of the weapons and their
equipment. We get overflow of the non-necessity articles or low-priority
necessities. Clothes and the occasional luxuries they sometimes get are a good
example.” Ada tried to help explain. They had to have security clearance, but
that was only because they entered the base at all. It wasn’t because they
carried anything valuable.

“It was a regular stop for you though?” Jagger ran his hand
through his hair, clearly frustrated.

She understood the feeling. The attack and continued
harassment made no sense at all.

“Yes, we have a contract with them.” Captain Thomas nodded.
“The cargo is always the same. We don’t carry anything top secret or any kind
of weapons at all.”

“Is there a reason someone would think you were carrying
something secret for the base?” Jagger’s hands fell to his side and one hand
tapped against his thigh. His eyes were focused somewhere far beyond the people
and trees in front of him.

Ada’s first impulse was to say an immediate no and she saw
some of the crew shake their heads without hesitation. Before she did, she gave
it a little thought. She considered the events of each visit. They’d unload,
but they didn’t immediately leave. Most of the crew stayed on board the
Setona
because there weren’t very many places open to the public on the base. An
escort was required almost everywhere they went. The captain always had dinner
with the base commander. Sometimes another of the crew would join them.

Ada had sat in on one of those meals herself. Captain Thomas
was friends with the man, and their trade route often took them to the world
where the commander’s daughter worked. The captain sometimes took news from the
daughter to the commander.

“Ada, is there something you think might be important?”
Jagger took a step toward her but stopped.

“We don’t carry anything beyond what we told you, but there
might a reason someone would think that there’s more to our visits.” Ada bit
her lower lip.

“What are you thinking, Ada?” Captain Thomas asked with a
frown.

“Your dinners with the base commander. I know there’s
nothing behind them and so does the crew here. New crew though, I doubt they
picked up on the fact that the commander’s an old friend.” Ada glanced over at
Jagger and then back to the captain. She wasn’t sure, but it was a possibility.
It was the only thing that might lead someone to the wrong idea about the cargo
they carried. None of the other stops on this part of the route was more than a
drop-off in normal circumstances.

“It might be possible.” The captain considered and nodded.
“I don’t know how they’d get from a meal with the base commander to some secret
cargo though.”

“Doesn’t take much for some people to jump to conclusions,”
Cort offered.

“It could explain why they’ve been so persistent. They might
think you’re carrying a new weapon for testing or some sensitive information.”
Jagger’s eyes swept over the group. “Do you have any idea who it could be? Any
suspicions?”

“I suspect everyone I’ve hired in the last year.” Captain
Thomas’s lip curled and he shook his head. “That would be the three new people
I told you about. All three are male.”

“It narrows down who we need to watch most intensively.”
Jagger shrugged.

Ada glanced at Jagger as something in the way he’d said that
caught her attention. She thought it over and realized it was the “most
intensely” part. He and the other men would watch everyone. A little offended
at first, Ada shot a glare his way, but as she gave it a little thought, she
realized it was a good idea. She didn’t want to believe that any of her friends
might have attacked her or anyone else, but someone had. They wouldn’t be
certain who was behind it until the men were caught.

“You can return to the camp now. Enter the camp in small
groups from different areas, please. I’d like to keep those left in camp
unaware that there was any type of meeting.” Jagger straightened and looked at
two of the men with him.

Tav, the man who’d walked with her, and Shade stepped
forward and volunteered to walk back with them. She knew they weren’t supposed
to all simply stroll back into the camp as one big group, but she hadn’t seen
any kind of signal. As Ada turned, she glanced back, but Jagger hadn’t moved.
He wasn’t coming back to the camp yet. She followed Tav, but she couldn’t help
wondering what Jagger and the other men with him were going to discuss.