Just what she needed.

Above his head hung one of the paintings, a dull brown landscape with a bloodred sun.

"Are those your paintings?"

He smiled. "Afraid so."

She shook her head. "No, they're good. Really good. A little on the Goth side maybe. Freud would have a field day. Have you been to these places?"

He nodded. "Planets I've visited over the years."

She recalled the other paintings she'd seen. All landscapes. "Do you ever paint people?"

He was slow to reply. "No."

"Why not?"

He leaned his head back against the wall. "I guess there's no one I want to immortalize."

"I bet you could sell them if you wanted. Might be a safer occupation than stellar cartography."

"Not my style," he said, getting to his feet. "But I'm glad you like them."

She watched as he stretched and the muscles in his back bunched and flexed. Then he strolled to within a foot of her. His heat engulfed her senses. Maybe it was her heat; she didn't know and really didn't care. It felt good and dangerous and exciting-and damn it, a woman deserved a little excitement once in a while.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said softly.

She blinked, lost in her fantasy. "You were tired."

"No excuse." As he spoke, she realized that he had a beautiful mouth. His lips were just right. Chiseled but soft and firm. She liked the way his stubble framed them and his rare smiles.

"You can stay up here while I go underground for the next power cell. Once that's installed, I should have enough power to send you back. Today."

Today. She blinked. By this time tomorrow, he'd be out of her life forever, and she'd be alone with her database and her New Year's resolutions list.

"I'm coming with you." The words popped out of her mouth.

His eyes narrowed. "I thought you hated that bridge."

"I'll be fine," she insisted. The thought of never seeing him again seemed to dull the fear that crept inside her. "Besides, you could use someone to help you bring that power cell up. It's heavy."

He watched her for a few seconds. "You have a point."

Zain scoured the desert through his visor.

"Where do you think Pio is?" Lacey asked.

"Maybe looking for food or sleeping. I think we're on our own."

Zain joined her, and they headed for the dome. He couldn't believe how late he'd slept this morning. He tried to tell himself that it had nothing to do with Lacey, but the nightmares had changed for the first time in years. And when she was gone, he was sure the much more depressing version would return. He'd take these few nights of peace, even if they meant waking up fully aroused. It was a condition he was getting accustomed to.

He entered the interior of the dome first. Lacey followed, and they stopped at the counter. Zain brushed the sand off the top. "Do you remember the six areas Pio pressed?"

Lacey concentrated, a little crease forming between her eyebrows. She moved around the other side of the counter. Zain loved watching her brain work.

She stood in the same location they had yesterday and made six little Xs, one by one. They were spread out across the surface. After a few seconds, she nodded. "I think that's it." She cocked her head. "You know, it would take three people to operate this thing."

That had occurred to him yesterday. "Not very practical or efficient, but good for security. What are the odds of guessing the exact combination?"

"Almost nil. So, how are two of us going to do this? I only have one pair of hands." She looked him over. "I don't suppose you are hiding a couple extras?"

Zain chuckled. "Sorry, no." He moved up next to her and studied her marks. He leaned over and placed an elbow on one and then lowered his arm to reach another 'X' with his fingers. It fit, and he could stretch enough to touch one more with his free hand.

Then he stood back. "See if you can do what I just did."

Lacey moved in front of him and placed an elbow down and then her fingers. "This is a little like Twister," she said with a laugh. With her free hand, she touched one more near the center. "I have three. You'll have to get the others."

Zain noted two on her left and one on her right. The logistics were interesting. Not that he was complaining. He stood behind her and placed an elbow and hand. Then he leaned forward, pressing against her back to stretch himself over to get the last spot.

It was all he could do not to groan as her soft body made contact with his.

"Do you have it?"

He couldn't answer her, not until he could get his control back. Three years was a long time without a woman, especially one who was already interrupting his dreams. He indulged himself and breathed her in. She smelled clean and sweet and sexy. Raw desire swept through him. Not controlled and civilized like with Crista, this was volatile, swift and merciless. His imagination took over, the possibilities flooding all reason. He wanted to run his hands over Lacey's body, to remember what it felt like to hold a woman. Being a fugitive had some really lousy side effects.

"I'm set," he managed somehow.

"Nothing is happening," she said, and moved her bottom just enough to make him hiss through his teeth.

"Hold still," he warned, his body temperature jumping sharply. It took supreme effort not to grind her into the console.

"Well, nothing is going to happen if we don't move. Maybe this," she mumbled and slid her fingers over a little. The entire console lit up and there was a great rush of air as the floor lowered into the Well.

As soon as the lift was underway, Zain pushed off the console and away from Lacey. He sucked in a healthy breath and pulled out his rifle. The metal felt cold in his hands-a welcome return to reality. Lacey turned and leaned back against the counter, looking a little flushed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and smoothed her hair. "I suppose we'll have to do that again to get back up."

He decided not to think about it.

Lacey squinted at him. "How are you going to operate this when I'm gone?"

"I'll have to get Pio to help me."

The lift opened to the armory below and clicked into the floor. Zain swept his eyes and rifle along the platform. No threats. Except of course, Lacey.

He stepped to the monitor. The countdown showed three days.

"Still running," Lacey noted, coming up next to him. She gave an audible sigh. "How are you going to get out of here, Zain? Even if you fix Reene, you still don't know how to shut down those lasers."

"Reene and I will find a way, don't worry," he said. He made his way over to the touch pad panel of the bridge. More controls. Just what he needed. If he didn't have Pio here, he'd never get anywhere, but he didn't want to tell Lacey that. It wasn't her problem.

She walked up behind him and activated the controls. The bridge lowered. Zain stepped behind her and wrapped his free hand around her waist. As he pulled her back against him, he told himself it was only to soothe her fears. But as her heat seeped into him, he knew better.

Then the bridge hesitated markedly, and his warrior senses took over. High above, he heard a sound that chilled him, and he automatically swung his rifle up. He swore silently at what happened next.

The portal tubes were descending.

Chapter Sixteen.

Lacey's gaze lifted to the sound of certain doom.

Zain's hand gripped her hard around the waist and pushed her back in front of the bridge controls. "Stop this thing, Lacey. We need to get off. Now."

"Stop it? Easy for you to say, Mister I'11-let-Pio-do-it," she said, trying to calm her nerves enough to think straight. "I'm just copying him. It's not like I actually know how to work this damn thing."

"Just do something, Lacey," Zain ordered.

"Fine. It's your quarter," she said and hit two boxes on the panel. Nothing. She hit a few more. Nada.

She looked up at the tube coming right at them as loud as a 747. It was like looking into a giant nozzle. Now she understood why Oliver was scared to death of the vacuum cleaner.

She banged her hands across the whole damn control panel. The bridge slowed and then stopped.

"Good job!" Zain shouted.

She shook her head and yelled over the din, "I didn't do anything. It stopped by itself."

"Move." Zain wrenched her arm and dragged her down the bridge.

She wanted to tell him to quit telling her what to do, but frankly, "move" seemed like a good idea at the moment. She let him pull her into a tunnel lined with hundreds of shippers-bumper to bumper like a convoy. The storage units themselves were bigger than she'd originally thought, at least forty feet long and fifteen in diameter.

As they ducked around the first, Zain cast a glance over his shoulder and his expression told her something was very wrong.

He pushed her in front of him. "Run!"

She didn't need to look behind her to see what had happened; the resounding snap said it all. The portal tube had attached to their tunnel.

"Of all the tunnels you could have picked!" she yelled over her shoulder, running as fast as her legs could take her.

"You drove," Zain replied, hot on her heels.

The containers made a hissing sound, rose above the ground in unison and lurched forward toward the end of the tunnel. Lacey could feel the suction and power of the portal tube. They ran past a hundred or so moving units-she lost count after a while-and then Zain cursed loudly.

"Now what?" she gasped.

He cast her a quick glance as he sped by to take the lead. "The end of the tunnel is closing in. We're going to be shoved into the tube and through the portal."

Lacey looked up ahead and saw the end wall moving slowly but steadily toward them, pushing the shippers into the portal tube. "I hate this damn planet."

Zain stopped at one of the shippers. "You're going to hate it a lot more if you get sucked through a portal without protection."

He was concentrating fiercely and running his hands over the shipper's midsection when she finally reached him. "What are you doing?"

"Finding protection," he replied, and then she heard a click. The entire side of the capsule opened. Inside she saw a space ship, like Reene but smaller.

"Shit," she heard Zain say softly behind her.

"Good grief, now what?"

"Nothing. Get in."

She scrambled through the hatch and crouched in the small space beside the ship. Zain hopped in after her and hit a panel. The door slid shut, plunging them into the dark except for a few flashing red lights. Seconds later, a floating orb of luminescence lit the interior.

"What is that?"

"A lightball. Here," he said, guiding her to the side of the capsule where harnesses were attached to the wall. "I'll strap you in."

She watched him handle the clips with ease. Then he secured his pack and strapped himself in next to her.

"Reene," he said into his comm unit. "We're trapped in the teleportal activation.

I've accessed one of the shippers, and it looks like we're heading out."

Reene answered immediately. "That may not be a wise course of action."

Lacey nodded in full agreement.

"I know. Track us as long as you can. I hope we'll be back.""Yes, sir. Good luck."Zain snagged the lightball out of the air and stuffed it into his pack.Lacey blinked in the darkness. Their container swayed lightly. "The sane part of me knows that you wouldn't do this unless it was safe." She hesitated. "Right?"

"I used to travel this way at InterGlax all the time. An entire team could fit into one of these with all their gear. We ride through the portal and land on the other side. Easy," he answered smoothly.

Lacey gripped her harness and closed her eyes. Her heart beat painfully in her chest. She wasn't up to teleporting today. It just wasn't a good day. Tomorrow would be better. Or never. Never would work, too.

"What's going to happen to us?" she asked, even though she really didn't want to.

"We'll transport from here to the receptor on the other end. I know you find this hard to believe, but it's remarkably safe. In fact, it's basically the same technology I used to bring you here. You weren't afraid that time."

She pursed her lips. "I was an idiot then. I thought I was dreaming, remember? You were nothing more than a figment of my fertile yet celibate imagination."

"Celibate? I find that hard to believe."