replied. "The look of a man who has taken his lifemate."

He gaped back at her, puzzled. "The robe?" he suggested, fingering the terry-cloth collar as if it would provide all the explanations.

"You might have taken the human as lover, but not mate," she dismissed, beaming at him.

"Then?"

"You glow, my lord," she trilled, gesturing toward him. "From the inside, all the way out."

He gazed downward self-consciously, and there, beneath his open collar, he could see the golden hue

that emanated from his bare, muscled chest.

"Ah," he agreed softly, "so I do."

"And I have a queen. At long last," she said, clapping her hands together like an innocent child. "My king

and I both have a queen." Unexpected tears gleamed in her sparkling eyes, visible by the doorway light. He bent low and brushed a kiss of grat.i.tude across his friend's cheek.

Anika was right: He had a queen. At long last, he did have a queen.

Kelsey retrieved a fire-warmed towel from where it hung on a rack by the corner hearth. She'd visited many posh places with her father over the years, but she wasn't sure she'd ever stayed anywhere with a fireplace in the bathroom. This one was made of stacked stone and stood in the corner, gas logs burning low.

No wonder the alien loved fires, she thought. Like some great mythological being, Jared was fire. It coursed in his body, powered through his loins, ran in the man's blood. Lifting a hand to her flushed face, she marveled at how he'd brushed fever across her cheeks just by kissing her there. Every place he'd touched glowed afterward-no, it burned. Not with a painful sensation, but a pleasurable, arousing one. It was as if he'd pushed right up inside of her with his other self, the vibrant one made of pure shimmering gold, and stroked her into fiery oblivion. No man had ever touched her that way. No other man ever could.

Smiling at the memory of their lovemaking, she caught a sideways view of herself in the mirror. Here she stood, half-naked and in a man's bedroom suite, and she felt... unashamed. Gorgeous. For once, she was with a man who wasn't shorter than she was-or even a similar height-but one who actually stood many inches taller. It was a remarkably feminine sensation.

Even though she and Jared had been apart for only a few minutes, she felt impatient for his return. He'd said something about a surprise-what, exactly, she could only imagine when she was dealing with a man capable of flying over water in the form of a glowing orb. Yeah, that whole fire thing would be so easy to explain to her father and to her friends. She thought of Ethan and his persistent scientist's habit of investigation. If he ever scented the first idea of who Jared was, he'd never back off until he'd figured the whole thing out. She'd just have to make sure Jared Bennett never once intersected with her real life. Besides, despite what he'd said earlier today about returning to Laramie, she had no immediate plans to leave him here.

Then she had a sinking thought: She had been here at . Jared's home for two full days. What if her father had been phoning her? Or if Dr. Carrington had been trying to track her down with the lab results? The voice of responsibility tried to make itself known, but for once she kicked it back into the corner. She'd been responsible plenty of times. In fact, she'd spent her entire life being responsible. Her father wasn't exactly consulting her on his love life these days, so she d.a.m.n sure wasn't going to ask his opinion of Jared. What would Patrick Wells have to say about the Refarian king, rebel leader extraordinaire? She winced; a time would come for facing her father about all this. Thank G.o.d it wasn't tonight.

Jared's footsteps sounded on the pinewood floor outside the bathroom. "You should come back in here," she called out. "It's warm by this fire, Jared." The alien loved his fires? She'd fire him up, all right, she thought with a mischievous turn in front of the mirror.

She heard him pause outside the door, then hesitate. "Jared, I'm waiting!" she sang out flirtatiously, ready to seduce him all over again. "Oh, I have a surprise for you."

She allowed her towel to slip to the floor and pool around her ankles.

And then every delirious thought died: A man she'd never seen before appeared in the doorway, a man with threatening, hooded eyes.

She shrieked, lunging for a bath towel, and shouted at him: "Who the h.e.l.l are you? I'm naked, for G.o.d's sake! You can't just come in here without knocking!"

He made no reply, but his vacant eyes locked with hers- cold, lifeless eyes, blacker than night. Eyes that in that split second Kelsey knew reflected his very soul-and what she saw in them was death. And suddenly her nakedness hardly mattered, not when her very life hung in the balance.

Lunging toward the door, she tried to escape, but he seemed to antic.i.p.ate her move, and slid wordlessly to block her exit. Her next thought was to run, to just get past him somehow, but she couldn't seem to budge, or even breathe, despite gasping for air. The moment was like something from her most terrible nightmares: Time froze, suspended endlessly before her. There was only the sound of blood rushing in her ears, and the sight of the dark man staring back at her as her mind worked to arrive at a plan of escape. She took a step forward. Who the h.e.l.l cared if he blocked her path! She'd get past him. Jared would be here soon.

Jared! she cried out with her spirit. Jared!

Then, oddly, the man stepped aside, as if he would simply let her pa.s.s. She didn't have time to worry about her nakedness, racing toward the door, but before she could even reach it, the thing slammed shut in her face.

From behind her, the intruder spoke her name. It was then that she heard the voice, a sound that seemed to echo from the depths of some soulless abyss, reverberating off the emptiness of s.p.a.ce. "Kelsey Bennett," the man said. "We meet again."

Jared took the stairs two at a time, balancing the chocolates and a tray of cheese in one hand and a bottle of champagne with a couple of gla.s.ses in the other. Last year Scott had hidden the champagne in the far reaches of the refrigerator for Victory Day, that long-hoped-for time when the Antousians would bow down before the Refarians in defeat. Jared had borrowed it for tonight's occasion, knowing he'd have the bottle replaced before his friend ever missed it.

Jared reached the landing and paused, resituating the items into a somewhat more elegant arrangement before taking the remaining stairs to Kelsey. On the landing's right side stood a cavernous den made from rough-hewn stone and wood. Designed by the architect to resemble a cave, the intimate room housed a movie screen and digital stereo system, and Jared never knew who of his elite officers might be discovered there, night or day. With a self-conscious glance, he hoped he would find himself alone on this stealthy mission of his.

Instead, a familiar, deep voice sounded from the hidden darkness. "I've been saving that bottle." There, leaning back on the leather sofa, sprawled his best friend.

Jared gave him a guilty smile. "It's not like I won't replace it."

Scott swung both feet to the floor, peering out at him from the semidarkness like a cunning night creature. The room was punctuated only by the muted flickering of the television's blue light, and Scott's energized eyes caught the gleam, reflecting it back at Jared.

"You're up late," Jared observed.

"I was watching over my commander." Scott's eyes turned golden with emotion, glowing like embers in the darkness.

"You weren't here when I went upstairs."

"I sensed you prowling about, and came to investigate."

Jared turned away, making to leave the room. "I don't need that kind of watchd.o.g.g.i.ng."

"You need me to kick about five levels of common sense into you!"- Scott snarled, jumping to his feet.

"Have you gone mad? She is human! Human, Jared. They are your enemies."

Jared rounded on his friend. "They are my protected."

"They are hunting your a.s.s!" Then, seeming to catch himself, Scott muttered, "With all due respect, sir."

"Only a few hunt me."

"Her people are hunting you, Jared," he maintained. "Don't fool yourself. They hunt you and will keep on

hunting you until they have you." Scott's eyes blazed golden-

red, then orange. Rarely did his friend's emotions flare visibly, only when he was at his most agitated.

"The humans don't care what you're doing for them. I don't know why you bother."

Jared stiffened. "We have a mission here, and that mission hasn't changed," he answered, his voice

formal. "We protect. That is why we came."

"We came to hide you," Scott countered.

"To protect," Jared repeated, lifting his chin. "That is the mission."

"And your safety is irrelevant?" They'd had this same d.a.m.nable conversation before-on numerous

occasions. His chief adviser had very specific ideas about his commander's safety, but they bordered on

smothering Jared.

"If I died tomorrow, Scott, would you carry out my mandate?" he asked in a serious voice. "Because I need to know your position."

"Yes."

"The humans do not understand us, but that does not make them our enemies."

"You don't belong with her."

Jared sighed, depositing the tray on the coffee table, and then the champagne bottle and gla.s.ses next to it.

"This has nothing to do with Kelsey."

Scott snorted. "It has everything to do with her," he countered. "The woman is one of them. For all you

know, she's a spy."

At this a.s.sertion, Jared smiled. "Scott, she is no spy."

"You don't know that."

"Trust me." He laughed. "She's not a spy."

"She was there the night you were shot down," Scott reminded him. "That was pretty convenient, don't

you think?"

"You don't know her."

"Excuse me, Commander-but you do? It's only been a week."

A quiet hush overcame Jared in an instant. "A week spent under the deep sway of a soul bond." He couldn't possibly explain to Scott about everything they had remembered.

Scott's eyes grew large, the golden-orange flaring bright in their depths again. "G.o.ds, you mated with her!" he cried, circling closer. "Tell me you didn't. Tell me you still plan to break the bond." Scott's eyes brightened to laser points, flickering vibrantly.

"Watch yourself, Lieutenant," Jared admonished, pointing to his own eyes by way of explanation. Scott blinked back at him, clearly unaware of how hard and fast his power had been escalating. "Your eyes," Jared said gently, and Scott dropped his gaze. Beyond his soul gazing, the hybrid soldier possessed other, more dangerous gifts, ones he always struggled to keep in check when among his comrades.

Pointedly studying the floorboards, Scott repeated his question: "Did you mate with her, sir?" His voice had a.s.sumed a chastened tone, his black eyebrows knitted together in worry as he waited.

Jared considered his reply. Scott Dillon had been beside him since boyhood, always loyal, always prepared to fight. From a biological standpoint, the two men should have been enemies; from a philosophical one, however, they stood together-always had.

"Yes, we are mated," he admitted quietly.

Scott made a flourishing bow. "Congratulations, my lord," he said, his voice hoa.r.s.e and filled with emotion. "I wish you many years of happiness together."

"I wish you approved."

Scott shrugged, sadness filling his dark eyes, brown again-no longer flaring with energy. After a moment of regarding his king, Scott whispered, "I do too."