"What is the penalty for firing on the Divitta?" Rosik hissed.

"Death without hearing," Ryder rasped, clearly at the end of his tether. "But she cannot be the Divitta, Zana will be Divitta. All affiliated with the High Counsel have been informed of this although no formal announcement is expected until the end of moon tide." He licked his lips and continued, "You have been misinformed; the newcomers are nothing but vessels for our seed. She is but a low birth Earth female."

"She," he corrected both inside and out of the Commander's mind, "is daughter to Princess Nancia, of the House of Tuk and carrier of the next heir to Gattonia," Prolinc stated succinctly. "If your fire had endangered the Divitta or the child growing inside her you would already be dead; as it is...do you have any last words for yourself or your unit before you are terminated?"

A puddle formed at Ryder's feet but, other than that, he remained composed and resigned. Dee had seen enough; it was time to step in. "Of course there could be a way to save yourself and the others if you're willing to swear fealty to the Divitta and Divo, above all others. Don't you agree Linc? Rosik?" It had been the plan all along to use him as a spy to get the proof they needed to snare Dyfainius and any others acting with him, but at the way the vibrations swirled, she thought it prudent to remind them of their intended goal. Dee watched as their two sets of eyes cleared of bloodl.u.s.t and returned to the Commander, who obviously retained no loyalty, what-so-ever, toward Dyfainius after being set up for potential termination. a.s.sured of Ryder's co-operation, he departed with new orders.

Chapter Seventeen.

"Rocky, what are you doing with a female on top of you," Nadia whispered inquisitively, staring with unblinking amber eyes which closely matched Zorroc's own. "You said you would never bring a female to our private chambers until you had lifemated; and she looks nothing like Zana. She looks more like a midget with broken fire-hair," she concluded decisively.

Zorroc groaned and glanced up at the openly curious ent.i.ty ogling his mate with relation to his p.r.o.ne form. Zorroc smiled inwardly at her description of Catarina's lengthy, unruly ma.s.s of auburn ringlets, which tended to expand and undulate with exposure to humidity or wind. It differed greatly from the straight, weighty manes specific to Gattonians. Their reaction to his mate's hair ranged from delighted wonder to repellant scrutiny. He, himself remained spellbound and fascinated by the vivid color, springy texture and the way it wrapped around his fingers naturally as if wanting to secure and hold him. He enjoyed brushing and playing with the spherical tresses, though he would never openly admit it. "Nadia, you will leave my chamber immediately without uttering another sound and meet me in the small salon in five minutes." As his sister moved to comment further, he cut her off with an authoritative growl and then watched as she exited with all speed.

He noted, not for the first time since returning home, that his sister had blossomed into a stunning young female. Her long limbs had grown from gangly awkwardness to reed like agility. She had turned into a beauty before his eyes. He wondered if Prolinc had noticed the changes and how it might further complicate his situation.

He eased Cat off and onto her side before covering her gently with a thick comforter. She looked younger than Nadia, cuddled so peacefully on his mat and his heart expanded when he thought of the precious cargo she housed.

Nadia tracked the movement of the changing Gattonian sky while trying to figure out this latest change in Zorroc. He had been restless, distant, and irascible since returning home; like a beastie finding itself caged for the first time. She had thought it merely a by-product of returning to his daily responsibilities after experiencing the relative freedom afforded him on his voyage that caused his discontent, but now she questioned that theory. She'd had ample time to study the two asleep and, as usual, her powers of observation held her in good stead. The soft cloud of hair covering the female's features revealed only a small contented smile. It looked similar to the half smile her tornika, Spooka, donned in the middle of a particularly satisfying dream, no doubt conquering the secret realm of the monzu. Her brother really tipped things, however. He held her possessively, even in slumber like a rare prize he would never relinquish. He, too, looked contented and more relaxed than she had seen him since the Dargon attack. Zana would not be pleased.

In the fourteen months since the departure of her brother and Prolinc, Zana and Nadia had become fast friends. The first weeks after their departure left her feeling utterly bereft without the anchor of her family to fill her days. She had been deserted for the greater good of Gattonia. Zana swept into her life like a burst of swirling energy. She made everything fun and exciting and for the first time Nadia had a girlfriend to share time with. She had grown up almost exclusively in the company of her aunts, tutors and brothers. She had always considered Prolinc in the same light as Zorroc, and they both had coddled and spoiled her as only big brothers could. But Zana treated her as a grown up and a peer, filling her in on all the gossip of the High Council and courts and, of course, talking about the time when she and Zorroc would lifemate and they would become real sisters. Zana had confided that her father, in touch with a group of brilliant off- world scientists, were on the very brink of a cure for the Dargon virus and that she and Zorroc would be able to have as many offspring as they wished. Nadia had been sworn to secrecy on this though, because she wanted to surprise him. Even if the treatment failed, she a.s.sured Nadia, her father intended to fix it so Zorroc could have two lifemates and she would not have to be bothered with procreation at all. A female could lose her figure having offspring, she had confided, and she wanted to remain beautiful for Zorroc well after she took her rightful place at his side.

All this brought her back to the couple holding onto one another, forming what appeared to be one complete entelechy. Was she an Earth-mate as they were currently being coined? If so, why would he not choose Zana to be his first and this other one later? At her brother's determined footsteps, she could hear the answers striding her way.

Surely Nadia could not be hearing accurately. Her powers of observation might be keen but there obviously existed a ma.s.sive blockage between her ears and her brain. Her brother had been lifemated to that woman for months and failed to mention it because her life might be at risk. Moreover, he had not trusted his own sister with this news.

"What of your betrothed, what about Zana," she asked with growing annoyance.

"Zana and I ended our betrothal almost two years ago, the total length of which lasted three moons. It seemed an appropriate match at the time but we never formed a bond or binding commitment past the initial, formal one. Why do you ask these questions, you know even less of her than I do," he pointed out testily, standing before her trying to solve the unsolvable mystery of the female mind.

"She is my friend; my only friend! When you left with Prolinc I endured alone without even my aunts..."

"Your aunts are back," he mumbled while her tirade continued.

"Without my brothers..."

"Prolinc is not your brother," he countered haphazardly.

"And without any company at all; alone, until Zana befriended me. Furthermore, she had everything worked out so she could be with you and become my sister. You should have waited, she loves you; she told me so. She waited for you as you should have waited for her. You have ruined everything!" she concluded dramatically, like a wronged, hormonally challenged, sixteen-year-old.

"I have ruined nothing because there was nothing to ruin. I have no knowledge of your friendship with Zana but either way it would not matter at this date. My lifemating to Catarina is done and witnessed and in truth, a blessing I probably do not deserve. She will be your sister and no other. I would have you give her a chance. I think you will be well pleased with my choice of mates, if you do."

"Why can she not just be an Earth-mate, then you could still have Zana. She told me this would be acceptable. The earth newcomers are little more than spreaders for many but she is willing to share and does not care for the mating aspects of it anyway. She would not have her beauty marred by child birthing," she explained helpfully, not willing to give up on her friend's cause.

Zazu, Zana had been talking to Nadia about birthing and s.e.x acts, filling her head with proposals, supposedly closeted within the High Council, and poisoning her mind against the Earth women. He would know better next time than to leave his sister unattended while still unmated. How to counter this turn of events?

"Nadia, we need to talk," Zorroc stated with uncharacteristic reticence. "Would you care for Edenwine?"

Nadia blinked, startled at this tactical reversal on the part of her brother. And Edenwine? She had never been offered the potent liquid before. She observed a shifting of emotional atmosphere and squeaked, "Please," as calmly as possible. He had captured her full attention.

Zorroc rose and proceeded to the side bar where he poured a full measure of the liquid for each of them. Another surprise, for she would have thought to be given half of what he poured for himself. She accepted the wine and tested it on her lips. It tingled; she would be respectful of its effect.

Zorroc emitted a half laugh and sighed. "You have grown into a stunning female, Nadia, seemingly in the blink of an eye. I left a fledgling filly and returned to a sleek thoroughbred. I know I have failed to mention this before but it is the truth."

Nadia colored prettily at his words of praise but waited for him to continue.

"I should have told you about Catarina the moment we returned but I had no clear purpose on how to proceed. A force of Dargons attacked us shortly after leaving Earth. They had been waiting for us and caught us in an ambush. If the Miramid had not been within hailing distance there stands a good chance I would not have had the opportunity to see you grow into the beautiful young female you have become."

Zorroc smiled fondly at his sister, enjoying the moment of camaraderie if not the reason for it. "They were looking for a specific woman and we felt certain that the woman was Catarina. The Dargons seized her on the planet Zeba II; I almost lost her."

"How did you get her back?" she asked.

"She mindspoke her location to me and we retrieved her before rendezvousing with the Miramid."

"And this is why you think she is in danger?"

"Because of that and yesterday. A contingent of guards, on orders from the High Council, invaded her quarters, stun-blazed both her and her protector and then took them to a med-tech unit for reasons not confirmed, though it is being seen to.

"In trying to protect her by keeping her presence hidden, I could have caused her irreparable damage. You see; she carries my heir." Zorroc stared intently at his sister to gauge the effect of this latest revelation but if he expected her to speak, he was wrong. He could see in her eyes however, a dawning comprehension and wisdom that had been missing minutes before. Maybe this course const.i.tuted the right one.

"Are you familiar with the High House of Tuk and the Princess Nancia?" he asked.

Nadia shrugged and wondered at this sudden change of topic. "I know of the House of Tuk, of course, as does everyone but Princess Nancia, I have only heard of for she and her mate reside elsewhere."

"Yes, they a.s.sist us off-world. Catarina is their daughter. She is a split citizen who lived on Earth until her arrival here. She could never be an 'Earth-mate', as you named it, for that reason; but she is unfamiliar with many of our ways and that is why I ask for your co-operation in helping her and possibly guarding her."

"Zazu, she is daughter to the Princess of Tuk? Zana has been well and truly trumped and she will not like it. Where do you see the danger to Catarina lying? Surely, it could not be...Zorroc do you suspect Dyfainius? He would go far for his daughter, if all that Zana has revealed is accurate and I am almost certain that it is."

Nadia's mind raced to control the many conflicts and questions flooding into her. The truth suddenly seemed like spirits testing the winds for substance. One truth, however, rang ominously clear; Zana would be furious and was certainly not one to cross when she did not get her way. An evening several moons ago when Zana had come to collect Nadia for a visit to the Strummings of Gillaud, a formal and festive hearing of a popular off-world quartet, Spooka had made herself at home on Zana's cape and infused it with her own snowy white hair. Unfortunately the cape was black, a signature non-color Zana preferred with so much color in Gattonia. Zana would have broken Spooka's neck if Nadia had not been quicker. Now Nadia kept her pet well away from Zana's tempting black outfits. Did her father carry a like temperament?

"Which leads me to the next question. What has Zana revealed of the proposals by the High Council? Is Dyfainius alone behind the duel lifematings and child swapping proposed or could there be others involved? In my meetings with the Council they seem united."

First, he pleaded for her a.s.sistance and now he asked for her opinion, she felt like checking behind her to make sure he addressed her. Her eyes shone with new tempered depth as she mulled his inquiries over. Over the Legions rear, would anyone threaten her brother or his heir, while she was around.

Cat groaned. She felt like someone had taken a hot poker to her shoulder. She eased her eyes open to a.s.sess her whereabouts. Hmm, incarcerated in the lap of luxury, not at all an uncommon circ.u.mstance for her, after all. She sat up slowly and checked her shoulder; it had acquired a reddish purplish hue but otherwise seemed in working condition as she gingerly rotated it. What had happened to Dee? Surely, they'd taken her too. She slid down off the incredibly plush mat and padded toward the panel. Her clothing had been stripped from her and replaced with a sleeping shift, and her shoes had disappeared. Tentatively, she reached out and pressed, it opened silently. Why hadn't they locked her in? She crept down the hallway, taking in her surroundings.

The place looked like a palace. The smooth tiled floor felt cool under her feet and stretched out in a graceful ark extending to her left. The walls, intricately inlaid with cloisonne, depicted exotic vines and flowers that had strange fey creatures playing among them. It shouted serendipity in the extreme. She was delightfully charmed even if they had shot and kidnapped her. She came upon a panel to her left and pressed. It slid open to reveal an elaborate garden completely enclosed with a waterfall and large pool. She stepped under the colonnaded walkway and tried another panel. It led into a large but cozy dining area that had recently been used. Someone had thoughtfully provided fresh rolls and choc-bean tea, still hot in the container. Her stomach and the precious cargo stored there screamed in appreciation. She felt like Goldilocks, with the only missing ingredient being the porridge, thankfully. After polishing off three rolls and two cups of choc-bean tea, she proceeded to search for Dee and an exit. She wondered at the absence of guards or, for that matter, anyone, as she almost ran head on into a tall, lithe and ravishing female. She had rich, dark golden hair flowing half way down her arms and matching Amber eyes similar to Zorroc's. Cat realized that she herself must look like an escapee from the nearest asylum.

"h.e.l.lo, you are Catarina and I welcome you to our home. I am your sister," she explained with a shy smile.

Which exceeded miraculous, considering Cat was an only child. She examined her more closely. Any idiot would know the two of them couldn't be related; maybe she was in a looney bin this time. Better to humor her. "Well, it's nice to see you...Sis, but I really must be going. Uh, is there an exit around here that you're aware of, I really have someplace else I need to be."

The exotic creature tilted her head in Gattonian confusion and asked, "Why do you want to leave, do our accommodations displease you?"

Cat began backing slowly down the hallway toward a large, ornate panel she'd spotted at the end of the corridor. "The accommodations have been peachy and don't think I'm not accustomed to going to sleep at one location then waking up in another because it's been happening a lot these last few months, only usually my mate is with me and so I'll just be running along," she rambled incoherently.

"By the way have you seen a woman with silver blonde hair about five foot seven and built?" The blank look she received provided her answer. She connected with the large panel and with the push of a b.u.t.ton, was free. She hadn't thought of mindspeaking to Zorroc for a.s.sistance, she'd never make that mistake again. Obviously, he thought her no better than the many females he had bragged to her about, beating down his door for attention, but she had learned her lesson. She would take care of herself and their baby and by the time it arrived, he'd probably figure it belonged to someone else. Her run of celibacy had ended. She'd COM Rosik for a.s.sistance at her first opportunity. She looked around. Where was this place? Nothing looked familiar. The building she exited looked, from the outside, like a small Coliseum with huge windowed towers interspersed with flat stone panels. Against the panels were a wide variety of flowering trees and topiary. Edward Scissorhands popped into her head just as a voice reverberated loudly in her mind, making her yelp and search for cover.

"Zorroc?" she asked, as the voice dissipated.

"Yes, it is Zorroc, who else would it be?"

"Um, I don't know, it's been so long since I felt you inside my head, I forgot what it was like."

"Stay there and do not move; I am coming for you."

"You know where I am?"

"I am almost there."

The panel slid open behind her and he emerged. She almost cried at the sight of him; she'd missed him that much. He filled her vision as he filled her world, looking better, larger, and more solid than the thousand daydreams she'd had of him in the last few months. She should be furious with him for his treatment toward her these last endless weeks but he looked impossibly beautiful and eminently contrite. His eyes began to fill with moisture that would spill at a blink.

He drank in every inch of her, taking in her clouds of hair, her clear, too large emerald eyes in her gaunt face, along with her too thin body. Clearly, the separation had been as telling on her as it had on him. He focused intently on her abdomen picturing his offspring nestled there and was overcome by her beauty, and the essence that made up his lifemate. She just stared, seemingly not able to take her eyes from him.

"h.e.l.lo, my one," he grated huskily.

"What were you doing in there?" she asked softly.

"I live here."

"Well, what was I doing in there?"

"You live here too," he pointed out logically and then gave her a heart-stopping grin.

He was on her in two strides, scooping her high against his chest and chastising her gently for being outside in her sleeping shift.

Chapter Eighteen.

He lowered her onto their mat and slipped her shift off in one determined motion. He examined her shoulder, gently prodding for tenderness and swelling. Her intake of breath told him what he wanted to know as he began to peruse and test the rest of her, now that she had awakened.

"You will lie still and let me attend to you," he murmured softly proceeding to lave, kiss and nuzzle her beginning with her lips, ears, neck now free of the collar, before moving lower. When she began to quiver and lifted her arms to encircle him, he stopped abruptly, silencing her with his finger to her lips and issued his instructions. "I will not have you hurt by responding to my touch, therefore, you will be as motionless as a sitar and let me play on you and in you. I will be your master and you, my instrument that I will make sing. Move at all and I will stop and if I have to cease again I will trance you to immobility and take all power from you save one; the power to feel, do you understand?"

She nodded imperceptibly and he resumed once more. His focus on her made her more than moderately nervous; her trepidation, alone, keeping her still except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest. It had been months since she'd been touched and her body had changed; would he still find her pleasing? His eyes had taken on an eerie glow, dilating until almost no amber remained visible, as if locked in a hypnotic state or possessed. He had positioned her with legs spread wide and straight and her arms spread but bent at the elbows so that her hands rested close to her temples. He commenced his sensuous melody. He touched her only with his mouth, softly trailing his lips and tongue over the underside of her arm before moving to the side of her breast to her waist and then hip. He went very slowly and whisper purred that he wanted her to focus totally on the spot he touched and think of nothing else.

She figured out right away, that would never work, since his warm breath, the soft brush of his mouth and all sensation bee-lined straight into the growing pool located in her lower belly. She could also feel that moisture working its way down into her woman's pa.s.sage and pushing through her l.a.b.i.a like a flower giving up its nectar. She wouldn't tell him this however; her lips, at least the ones on her face, were sealed. She felt like he covered every sensitive place on her body before drawing firmly on one breast and then the other. A sheen of moisture now covered her entire body with the effort it took to keep herself immobile. It escalated into unbearable torture but one she could not give up. Finally, he settled between her legs to drink abundantly of all he had wrung from her and when he was through; drove his tongue into her and began to purr inside her to drink even more of her violent climax.

A scream started low in her throat and exploded loudly as spasms raked her in rapid succession. Zorroc rose up quickly to cover her mouth with his and then sheathed his engorged shaft inside her until he touched her womb. It felt so good, so right that he could not move for a moment. He shuttered then began to slide into her slowly at first then gathering in force and momentum until finally giving up his control. He would never stop, never, never, never...then he was coming, coming, coming...leading her with him into the pet.i.t mort.

Their souls were irrevocably fused and that truth infused itself into every cell of his being. He needed to explain and apologize for trying to run away from this...from her. He felt like a fool. Like a moth attempting to out-fly a Pod.

The panel COM sounded and Jaffers relayed that Prolinc had arrived with vital information needing his immediate attention. Zorroc groaned into her throat before responding.

"Enter Jaffers, and meet the new Divitta." Cat pounded him soundlessly and tried to burrow further under the comforter while m.u.f.fling a protest on his poor timing. He smiled wickedly and rolled over exposing her head, shoulders, and gloriously disarrayed hair just in time for Jaffers' dignified entrance. It was Cat's turn to groan.

"Jaffers, may I present my mate, Catarina, originally of the House of Tuk and daughter to Princess Nancia and Rowan, recently arrived from Earth. Catarina this is Jaffers of the House of Ra and main Inner House Facilitator." Then Zorroc leaned back to gloat with misplaced humor at the situation he had set into motion. After shooting Zorroc with dual emerald daggers she turned slowly in Zorroc's arms to face Jaffers, all the while feeling her skin color pa.s.s from a rosy glow to an even darker shade, until it radiated enough heat to fry her mate.

Jaffers responded like the professional he was. "She is red."

"Yes, her hair holds the color of our Gattonian sky; it is lovely is it not," Zorroc responded, pleased.

"But she is all red."

Zorroc turned her head to face him and smiled broadly. "She is blushing."

"She is mortified," Cat snapped testily.

"You are welcomed, Mi Divitta. Do you have instructions for me, Divo?" Jaffers inquired.

"Yes, tell Prolinc I will be with him directly, then order a full feast delivered to the aunt's chambers where you will direct the Divitta when she is ready. You are to further instruct the aunts to feed her until she can hold no more. She is carrying my heir and needs fuel. Thank you Jaffers."

At the panels' closure, Zorroc hopped up and dressed, informing Cat of the location of her clothes and belongings. Before leaving, he approached her, kissed her soundly on the lips and confessed, "I adore you."

She froze in place for a full two minutes before scrambling off the mat and heading to the clean room. She looked forward to greeting her aunts.

"We have him on voice and visual communicating with a Dargon called Dung," Prolinc began without preamble. "Dyfainius demanded the antidote for his daughter to restore her reproductive system, stating that he had met his side of the bargain, and more by providing them with the lay-out of secured areas within Gattonia and other sensitive information as to our fire power and size of force readiness. But it revealed much more," he paused with a combination of promised retribution and satisfaction. "Dyfainius went on to accuse the Dargons of failing to capture the women after she had been practically handed to them. The last bit of conversation, I am having transmission-loaded onto your COM, so you can review it first hand. They were after Catarina."

Zorroc felt like frozen crystal on the outside and an incinerator within; he would make Dyfainius wish he had never been conceived. "I suggest we discuss our options in dealing with him properly," Zorroc stated with deadly calm. He supposed he owed the Dargons a dept of grat.i.tude in one small measure. It had kept him from mating with the viper's daughter.

The rest of the late morning and early afternoon flowed comfortably for Cat. The aunts delighted in seeing her confirmed as Divitta and pleased as punch they would be residing under the same roof once more. Scotty and Spock acted just as happy; having more hands to pet, feed and coddle them. Nadia joined them with her tornika, which looked like a cross between a ferret and a longhaired cat. Spooka proved mischievous and affectionate and the three animals took to one another right away, their antics going a long way to help Nadia and Cat open the door to friendship.

Later that afternoon, Nadia took Cat on a tour of the chambers and grounds, both of which dwarfed vast. Cat knew she could remain lost for weeks in the underground webbing of protective corridors, shelters and computer facilities that regulated everything from grounds maintenance, clothing, food, utilities and upper level appliances. As they headed back to the living chambers, the main entrance panel signaled a waiting guest.

"I will get it Jaffers," Nadia spoke happily into the COM as the panel slid open. Her expression froze as she glanced uneasily from Cat to Zana. Fur was going to fly. Zana, on a mission though, did not notice the changing emotional climate as she bused Nadia on the cheek, greeting her as "sister" and then blithely announced that she and Zorroc had things to discuss; the time had arrived to re-formalize their betrothal and set a date.

Cat didn't know whether to laugh or spy. She would have given anything to be a fly on the wall for this confrontation. When her eyes met Nadia's, she knew they shared a similar thought.

"Come on," Nadia encouraged while propelling her down the corridor. "We need to hide. She will strike you dead if she figures out who you are on her way out. There is a room where we might be able to hear some of the conversation, follow me," she ended, a twinkle visible in her amber depths.

Since her talk with Zorroc, Nadia had figured out that Zana had most likely used her on several levels, not the least of which included getting on Zorroc's good side by cozening up to his sister. Nadia realized with new perception that when Zana spoke, Nadia's job entailed listening and being impressed. There had been little interaction the brand Zorroc had demonstrated during their last discussion.

Nadia and Cat needn't have worried about being able to listen in on the conversation; when outraged shrieking blasted out of his office and echoed down the length of the corridor. They slipped in to the chamber closest to Zorroc's office and waited silently. They made out the words 'vile spreader' and 'Earth wh.o.r.e' before all went silent. After several minutes, a light tap sounded on their panel, the two looked briefly at one another before Nadia rose and answered it. It was Jaffers.

"The Divo requests your presence in his main office, Mi Divitta, would you follow me?" Of course, it hardly served as a request; Cat strived for all the dignity she could muster, considering she had been caught eavesdropping, and followed him next door, where she was announced.

"Catarina, my love, may I present Zana, daughter to Dyfainius of the House of Tinz. Zana this is your Divitta, Catarina, formerly of the House of Tuk and daughter to Princess Nancia and Rowan." Cat wondered if she would ever get used to the woman that gave her birth, being called a princess. Had Zorroc realized he called her 'his love'?