What was wrong with him? It didn't help that his torso rippled as he twisted about, her eyes continually drawn to the flex and pull of his physique.

"Stab him."

"Gut him, Joni!"

The men in the room yelled and whistled encouragement. Kyele didn't spare them a glance but his mouth tipped in a wry gesture and his fingers curled toward her in encouragement. "Do your best, little Earthling. I won't let you hurt me...too much."

The taunt worked. Joni charged, both hands gripping her blades as she whipped about fiercely. She blocked any worry of hurting him. He'd asked for this and it felt good to work out her frustrations. To let loose the rage about her circumstances and to a small extent, to release the building desire she felt for the enigmatic man across from her.

Kyele countered her moves but gave ground with each step. Confidence overflowed and Joni feinted with her right while slashing with her left as she spun about him. Another crimson streak, this time across his chest.

Her breath stalled. His cocky grin pissed her off so Joni kept going when he didn't flinch. In fact, his eyes glinted with amusement. His humor cinched it. Once more she thought of the Marenians, of her imprisonment and the abuse she suffered. Anger took over, and her ears burned.

Another slash, which Kyele didn't try to avoid. Joni stopped, her lungs laboring, sweat gathering on her temple and dampening her arm pits. She took note of his calm demeanor as realization set in. Indignation rose. He toyed with her. At least she'd marked him. Four times by her count. The first on his shoulder followed by one across his chest and two smaller ones at his mid-section. Joni bet she'd caught him off guard with the last two.

"More?" she asked.

"Now, you are ready, Earthling." He weaved on his feet, becoming a blur too fast to keep track of.

Fingers brushed along her shoulder, another down her spine. Joni turned but Kyele moved again, shifting from some sort of mist form to solid and back again. Nothing in her training prepared her for such. "Damn it!"

Joni did her best to keep him in her field of vision but whenever she sliced at him, he ghosted on her, the teasing notes of his chuckle low. She bent and rolled, dodging Kyele's attempts to hit back. When he struck, the blows didn't hurt. He applied just enough pressure to warn she'd been hit then backed off to come at her from another direction.

Panic flared across her brain. What if someone attacked her and she couldn't defend herself? Her heart raced, movements becoming disjointed. Kyele slid behind her and Joni spun around. He wasn't there. She blinked as Kyele wavered out of focus. The speed and agility of his attacks continued to throw her off rhythm. Joni kicked out in desperation, using her legs and elbows in addition to the knives she clutched.

Her jaw clenched in determination, but none of the tricks she'd learned with the other guys worked. Team One grew silent, picking up on the intensity between her and Kyele. He was fast, moving at a speed that shouldn't be possible. Sensing an opening when he paused to adjust his footing, Joni ducked low and came at him full force. He blocked the move, using his forearm to keep her from slicing his mid-section even as he stepped back.

Thinking she had him, Joni pressed her advantage only to have her footing slip. Kyele grunted when their bodies slammed together. Chests bumped and legs tangled as they struggled with their arms locked. At one point their gazes clashed. His glowed with arousal, and she was certain her increased heart rate was partially due to being turned on by their close contact.

With a shove, Kyele broke her hold on his arms and twisted away, tagging Joni behind the knee with his booted foot. Her leg buckled and she fell forward.

Instead of coming at her, he waited until she regained her balance, wiping his wrist across his mouth. The speckle of blood on his bottom lip caused her eyes to widen. She must have nicked him when she fell. He didn't complain though merely arched a brow.

Incredible. Hair tumbling over his forehead and bare chest rising with each breath, Joni found herself struggling with concentration in the face of his undeniable sex appeal. Green eyes shone as he took her measure. Her nipples contracted tightly and Joni almost whimpered from the pleasure and pain of it but she forced herself to concentrate.

Getting close to Kyele was key. Then he couldn't use his speed against her. Risking a pretty painful blow once her mid-section was exposed, Joni launched a spin kick designed to force him backward. His hand whipped out and wrapped around her ankle, but Joni followed through with the move. Her other leg landed a punishing kick to his neck which by design should have incapacitated him.

Kyele dropped her ankle in the nick of time, blocking the foot aimed for his face and twisted about to deliver a chop to her side that barely tapped her skin. Then his palm planted flat to her chest before she could blink. The blow should have knocked her across the room but he didn't put any force behind the strike. Joni landed on her feet and bent over panting.

She needed a minute to recover but Kyele rushed her before she could react. His hands gripped her hips and tossed her to the mats. Hard. Breath rushed from her lungs all at once, and her eyes watered as she lay flat on her back. Pain radiated down her spine as she struggled to rise, both weapons in her hands. Kyele knocked one knife from her hold and it flew across the room. He snatched the other from her hand.

Cold steel pressed against her neck, while a large thigh pinned her to the mat. Unwilling to give up, Joni twisted and bucked beneath him. As Kyele leaned more of his weight into her, his green eyes darkened. He captured both of her hands in one of his and stretched her arms above her head, limiting her range of motion.

"What would you do now?"

Joni huffed and thrust her hips up. He exhaled, the breath soft against her cheek. Another thrust and he groaned. His shaft pulsed against her leg and soon desire replaced the frustration she'd been feeling. Her bones melted and Joni bit her bottom lip to muffle a needy moan.

"Now who's the baddest?" he teased.

After a few more attempts to get free, Joni's head fell back on the floor. She faced his gloating smirk, her words begrudging. "You win."

Kyele's weight shifted over her as he lowered his head. The ends of his hair tickled her ear when he whispered, "Never fight angry, Earthling."

Before she could respond he flowed to his feet and extended a hand to help her up. Joni ignored it and pushed to her feet with a handspring the way Jaron had coached her. Kyele knuckled her chin, staring into her eyes. Joni waited, unsure what he wanted. Then he pressed the knife into her lax fingers. She reluctantly accepted.

"I will tell Torkel you are ready for Team Two to help train you."

Without another word he strode from the room, leaving Joni somehow feeling bereft.

Chapter 5.

Kyele focused his attention on Torkel in hopes of ignoring the pain throbbing between his thighs. He leaned his elbows on the table to hide the arousal, which had yet to subside from having Joni beneath him hours earlier. Her body had been soft and giving, similar to a female eager for a male's touch. Red waves spilled about her head and onto the mat begging for his touch.

His Unit Leader rubbed the palm of one hand over the balled fist of the other. Anger filled the room from restrained violence. "During a raid by another Jutak unit, twenty women and men who were held captive burned in their cells after they were abandoned by the Marenians."

A senseless loss of life.

Torkel directed them to the last note he'd made in the electronic file. "Rumors seem to indicate the prisoners lacked buyers and were of no value to the slave traders."

For a reason. Torkel shared the images Jaron received from the other Jutak team after they hacked a salvaged communicator from the inferno. Each of the sex slaves bore disfiguring marks, limbs twisted and healed in grotesque angles. No one would have paid good credits for them.

"I am pulling Vee back. He's been unable to get close to Lothar. Lately, it seems as if Nikol and Arlo are doing all of the reporting on Lothar's behalf. The longer we leave Vee undercover, the greater the risk of his discovery."

V'hor belonged on Team Three and had agreed months ago to go deep undercover in hopes of gaining knowledge on a means to bring down Lothar, a Marenian who led a big part of the criminal underworld.

"I think it's a sound idea."

Their attention turned toward the man who'd spoken. Rydak sat to the far right of Kyele at the table. The Team Three Leader steepled his fingers across his mid-section. His steely gray gaze unnerved those who thought to challenge him. "I have some concerns with V'hor and I don't believe long-term exposure to the darker elements is in his best interest right now."

Rydak's gaze locked on Bane's black eyes. The other member of Team Three shifted in his seat but didn't speak.

"I agree." Jaron tapped on his data pad, missing the byplay between the two men then looked up and stared at Torkel. "You never left Rydak under this long. One can only do so much before it's hard to turn away from what is second to your nature."

He spoke of V'hor's origins as a Serpine exiled from his home world. The Serpines from what Kyele could gather lived under a matriarchal society and V'hor's mother was a prominent figure who'd banished him years before he signed with the Jutaks. Nothing about Serpines inspired thoughts of anything but evil.

Torkel made notes on his own portable communicator. "It is done. He will know to return as soon as he gets the message. Anything else we should address, Jaron?"

The Team One leader shook his head.

"Kyele?" A smirk accompanied his name.

Kyele's mouth twitched but he shook his head.

"Rydak, your team rolls out later to protect the group of doctors heading across the Vioxx zone. The vaccine they're delivering must not fall into the wrong hands. Do you have any worries about the assignment?"

Rydak broke his stare from Bane. "We're prepared."

Torkel pushed away from the table and set his communicator down. "Be safe. Meeting over. Kyele, stay behind."

Kyele jerked his head back toward Torkel. Everyone shuffled out until it was just the two of them left.

Torkel came to Kyele's side of the table. "Be honest. How are things going? Is the team acclimating well?"

"Better than expected." Kyele owed the friendship between them nothing less than the full truth. Torkel pushed for Kyele to have this role and he would not fail him. "How is your Chosen?"

A slow smile curled Torkel's mouth. "I'm pleased and happy to have her in my life."

Curiosity stirred. There had been a major security breach with Faye that had almost cost the Earth female her life. "Was it worth it?"

Torkel's gaze sharpened as he leaned his hip against the table and folded his arms. "I believe so. She's my heart and everything I've waited for."

It's what Kyele needed to hear. He was pleased for Torkel.

"What about you and Joni?" Torkel asked, his brown eyes knowing.

It hurt to force the words out. "There can be no Joni and I."

Torkel's brows lowered. "You know that isn't the truth. The two of you in the same-"

"You know who my father is," Kyele cut him off. "The deaths I caused make me a danger. Like father, like son."

Torkel sat on the edge of the table, one knee bent. "Those were accidents. Nothing is on record against you, Kyele."

That might be true, but Kyele was afraid to take the chance. People like him didn't have good things happen without something going wrong. "It's too great a risk. If I lost control...if I hurt her..."

He became ill at the thought.

"Nonsense!" Torkel slammed his palm on the table between them.

Kyele raised a brow at seeing his Unit Leader's extreme reaction. "Why do you care, Torkel?"

"Because you and I...we deserve love like everyone else." Torkel leaned close and lowered his voice. "I know what it's like. I attended seven presentations and not one female selected me. Time after time, I risked it because I wanted a Chosen."

Stark words. Kyele remembered the humiliation, the shame, each time Torkel walked the sands and left alone. No female had wanted to take a chance on a male who never denied he was of Marenian birth. He was an elite soldier despite the criminal actions of many from his lineage, but it meant nothing in their eyes until Faye came along.

"I took a chance on you, Kyele. The medics, the governing council, no one thought you should be on the teams. It wasn't because you didn't pass all of the Jutak training." Torkel exhaled and straightened. "Fuck, you are better than half of the Jutaks who completed training during your cycle at the Academy."

The conversation straddled too close to things Kyele didn't want to remember. He fingered the handle of his knife, running his thumb carefully along the sharp edge without breaking the skin.

"Do you know why I picked you?" Torkel asked when Kyele remained silent.

Kyele shifted his grip and twirled the knife through his fingers, trying for indifference. "You already stated I was better than the others."

"And yet none of the Unit Leaders would have you."

Kyele flinched. The Jutak Commander had explained all of it to him after he completed his training. "I know I owe you, Torkel."

Torkel shook his dark head with a rough exhalation. "You do not owe me, Kyele. I know what it's like for people to judge you by what they see. I've never regretted having you on the teams. You easily had the skills to be a Team Leader on the first day here but you clearly weren't ready to be responsible for anyone else. Ever wonder why I decided now to make you Team Leader."

"Not really," Kyele lied, causing Torkel to snort out a laugh.

"Joni."

Kyele swallowed.

"She's the first person I've seen you care for and I knew you were ready for the responsibility of taking care of others." Torkel stared at him.

Kyele didn't want to listen any more. "I need to go."

Torkel grabbed his arm before he could move. His brown eyes narrowed. "I might be Marenian but I'm also Enotian. I deserved to have a chance at love. And you do too."

The twirling knife skidded to the table. Torkel held Kyele's gaze and let his arm drop. "You're Enotian where it counts. You want a Chosen, a female who will accept you no matter the blood that runs in your veins. With Joni, you could have that."

Kyele stood and grabbed his knife, unwilling to linger on the words that echoed his deepest desires.

Chapter 6.

Joni relaxed back, elbows propped behind her on the ground. The guys were all away on missions, and the warm day was perfect for an Earth style picnic outside the facility. Purple skies above lent a hazy lavender glow to the afternoon.

Lissi, displaying one of her rare moments of mischief, tackled Sylvie and tickled her. "Take it back, you wretched female."

"Alright," Sylvie shrieked, tossing madly about on the grass. "I won't lust for Rydak's gloves. I promise."

Lissi straddled Sylvie and paused in her tickling efforts. "Can I trust her, Faye?"

From her cross-legged seat on a blanket playing with Aya and Boid, Faye barely glanced up. "Don't ask me, I still lust after his gloved hands."

Lissi yelled and jumped to her feet. "None of you Earth females can keep your eyes to yourself. They're just gloves."

Sylvie sat up with a snort, dusting off dirt and leaves. "Right."

"I don't lust for his gloved hands," Joni said, fingering the gold chain of her grandmother's necklace about her throat.

Lissi fixed the wild tangle of her blonde hair and smiled at Joni. "Thank you. I always think of you as the rational one."

Joni added, "But he's hot. You'd have to be blind not to notice that man's looks and none of us are blind. The ever present gloves just add to the mystery."