"I stayed awake once for fifty-two hours. It was in the war."

Good G.o.d! "Were you in battle?"

She made short work of the sandwich and grabbed some nutrition bars and a couple apples for good measure. Before she rejoined him, she yanked the tie from her hair, letting it fall free around her shoulders. He'd wanted her hair free when they were together and she wanted him to stay put and rest. If that meant distracting him to do it, she was all for it. Walking out, she placed the simple feast on the table at his side.

"Here you go. Best peanut b.u.t.ter sandwich this side of Earth."

Taber started at her before focusing on the meal, his eyes locked on the plate with the sandwich. He swallowed hard, finally looking up at her. Fallon forgot to breathe when she saw the unshed tears in his eyes. Crawling onto his lap, she gently caressed his cheek.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, touching her hair. "Did I do something wrong?"

Nodding once, he gave her a small smile. "Yes, I was in battle. It was the first time I'd seen combat like that. I'd only been in the Protectorate for a few months."

She reached over and grabbed the sandwich off the plate and held it to his mouth.

"You need to eat something. So open."

He actually looked shocked at her actions. "You made this with your own hands?"

"Of course." She grinned at him. "Like I said, best peanut b.u.t.ter sandwich out there. I mean, the jam isn't as good as what you can get on Earth because I had to make it myself. And the hydroponics bay can't quite get the strawberries to turn out right-"

Her gasp was swallowed by his kiss. It took a second for Fallon's brain to clue in to what was happening, before her whole body responded. Closing her eyes, she relaxed against his chest, opening her mouth fully to his. It wasn't like their crazy, l.u.s.t-driven kisses from before. This time something had changed. He was less demanding with his lips, more gentle with his touch. When he finally broke the contact, neither one of them moved immediately away.

"What was that for?" She pressed another quick kiss against his lips.

83.

"On my planet, it is a high honor for a female to make a meal for a male. An even greater honor if she feeds it to him by her hand."

She couldn't help the smile on her face. "Well, it is an honor, Taber. You are a most amazing man."

Shifting in his arms, she brought the sandwich to his mouth and waited. He paused for only a second before taking a large bite and beginning to chew. A part of her was anxious to know what he thought of it, probably the same part that loved the fact a simple sandwich had turned into something bigger.

Because she realized she really did want bigger from him.

"So, do you like it?"

"It's delicious." He pulled her hand closer and took another bite.

"Good," she said and kissed his forehead. "I actually have another whole jar of the peanut b.u.t.ter and a bit more bread, but I'm almost out of jam. My next batch of berries won't be ready until next month."

"I will have to ask the Eurus hydroponics bay to add some of these berries to their grow list."

When he had only a thin strip of crust left, Taber reached up and held her by the wrist, preventing her from moving back. He put both the bread and her fingers into his mouth, sucking off the jam that had spilled over the side of the bread. The intimacy of the action sent a shiver through her, her nipples hardening at the thought of being sucked. A blush heated her face and she quickly looked at the table.

"Do you want something else to eat? I can make you something else."

Taber cupped her cheek and she couldn't help but lean into his hand. His thumb caressed her skin as his large hand held her.

"No. Thank you," he said in a shaky voice.

"You are very welcome."

He pulled her against his chest so her head rested on his shoulder. The position felt natural, comfortable, as if she'd done it a hundred times in the past. His body relaxed under her, and she cuddled in closer when he wrapped his arms around her.

"You asked about the battle I'd been in.'

"Only if you want to talk about it. I can imagine it wasn't pleasant for you."

His hand began to trace a lazy line along the top of her shoulder, tangling in her hair as he went. She thought his eyes were open, but she didn't want to move to check, inadvertently break the fragile mood in the room.

"I was very young when I met Calantha. Barely old enough to have a mate, let alone know how to make her happy. When she...died, I was nearly lost. I joined the Protectorate, hoping it would chase away the feelings."

Fallon reached up and caressed the base of his throat. "What feelings?"

84.

He swallowed hard before resting his chin on her head. "Guilt, anger. I was young and my mate was dead. I had nothing to lose, so it made me the perfect soldier."

"Did anyone know? That your mate was..." she struggled to find the right word.

"That she was gone?"

"Only my commanding officer. It was during that battle, my last with the Ecada, that he found out."

Taber stopped talking, his hand paused mid-caress on her shoulder. She was dying to know more, find out all she could about him, but she knew better than to push.

Getting people to talk was as much of an art form as mixing drinks. She didn't have to wait for long.

"We engaged the Ecada on one of our outer colony worlds. We'd pushed them back to a mountain, but they managed to find some tunnels and had dug in deep. They were still able to use their psychic abilities to confuse us. Most of the men were able to fight it, but I was too...new. I was trapped in a bunker with my commander. "

His hand began to move again, only this time the lazy pattern wasn't as relaxed.

Fallon waited, listening to his heartbeat slowly begin to increase in rhythm.

"When the group of Ecada that had us pinned down began to mess with my mind, I went crazy. I started to attack my superior, nearly killed him."

"s.h.i.t."

"He was stronger, more experienced than I was. But I thought he'd stolen my mate, taken her and killed her."

"Oh Taber."

He gave her a gentle hug. "I don't need your pity. It was a long time ago and something that helped me to move on."

"Okay."

Sitting up in the chair, Taber pressed a kiss against her temple. "I shouldn't talk of these things. I'm sure you don't want to hear about them."

Fallon sat up and smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand. "If you don't tell me what happened, I'm never making you another sandwich."

He gave her a tiny smile and nodded. "I tried to kill my commander with my knife.

That's how the Ecada killed so many of us. Confused our minds so we didn't know who the true enemy was. But the commander was strong, easily forced me to the ground."

It was hard to imagine anyone being stronger than Taber.

"What did he do?"

"He knocked me out and dragged me to safety. Once I woke, he forced the story from me. Similar to what you are doing to me now. He would have approved of your methods. Once he found out about Calantha and what had happened to her, he helped me get over the pain."

85.

She realized there was only one way his commander would be able to do that.

"He'd lost his mate too?"

Taber nodded. "He told me that life was different without your mate, but it was still life. Other people would come along who would make it worth living, worth protecting. I wish he was still alive so I could tell him he was right."

The look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. Taber wanted to make love to her right then. And she really, really wanted to. If it wasn't for the fact he'd been up longer than any person, or alien, should be, she would have been all over him.

"Thank you," she said and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I know you don't tell many people about your past. It means a lot that you would share it with me."

"You are only the second person who knows about Calantha. And Sean only knows because of our relationship."

Her heart began to pick up its rhythm. "We do, don't we? Have a relationship?"

"I believe we do."

Fallon leaned closer but kept her lips from brushing his. "That gives me special powers over you, doesn't it?"

Taber nodded, eyeing her mouth.

"Good. Then I won't feel guilty ordering you to my bed. I intend to watch you sleep."

"Sleep?"

This time she grinned. "Yes, sleep. If you get some rest, then I promise when you wake up, I'll wear you out."

"And how do you intend on doing that?"

He reached over and brushed her hard nipple through her shirt. Fallon sucked in a breath but didn't pull away from his touch. "That's not very fair."

"If I am to sleep in your bed, then I would hope you could at least give me some pleasant dreams."

Impulsively, she reached down and grabbed his c.o.c.k. "I said I wanted you to sleep.

Not be up half the night with a hard-on."

"Hard-on?"

"You can't tell me you haven't heard that particular human idiom before."

He offered her a little shrug as he pressed his hips forward, forcing his c.o.c.k further into her hand.

Fallon had to fight for control. She knew if she showed any sign of weakness, he'd dominate her and she'd be a willing partic.i.p.ant. And the mere thought of that was enough to make her come on the spot.

"No you don't. Bed. Rest first, then we play. Consider it incentive."

"Yes, ma'am."

86.

She slipped from his lap, missing the warmth of his body as soon as she did, and held out her hand. Taber took it and allowed her to tug on his arm several times before he finally rose from the chair.

He'd never been in her bedroom before. It wasn't a large room, but it felt even smaller with his ma.s.sive frame taking up every inch of spare s.p.a.ce. For a moment, Fallon wasn't sure if her bed would be large enough for him. The crew typically didn't have as large lodgings as the guests. But when he lay down, his feet hung over the edge only a few inches.

Fallon got a blanket from her locker and brought it over to him as he pulled his tunic off and tossed it aside. She froze and stared at him, still in awe of the perfect muscles that sculpted his body.

His eyes met hers and he smiled. Not a wide grin like most men offered her. This was a smile that was distinctly Taber. Small, subtle and most definitely in control. She watched as he rolled to his side, propped his head up with his hand and patted the empty s.p.a.ce beside him.

She waited for him to say something, which he didn't. This command was a silent one. With a rise of his eyebrow, she knew all she needed to know. If she wanted him to sleep, she had to sleep with him. Sighing, she crawled back into the bed she'd left only a short time ago. At least she didn't have to bother changing today.

Once she'd settled in on her side, Taber's ma.s.sive arm was draped over her waist, pulling her tight against him.