"Not even close," he said. She sighed against him, and he smiled. He knew he would never tire of watching her climax. He ran his hands down her back and over curved buttocks. Silky skin flowed under his fingers, and he lost himself in the sensation. With a quick move, she rolled her hips against him, mercilessly reminding him that he was uncontrollably aroused.

"Lacey," he growled.

"What happened to 'don't'?" She ground her hips against him again and he forgot what he was trying to say.

"It's been too long," he whispered. "I'm not good for you."

"How long?" she asked, nibbling his lips as if it didn't matter what he said.

"Years."

She pulled back abruptly and looked down at him with a deep frown. "How many?"

He licked his lips to get a taste of her. "Three."

Astonishment lit her face. "You haven't had sex in three years? My God. That's not healthy, Zain. You could-"

He pressed a finger to her lips. "I appreciate your concern but really, can we just -"

She shook her head. "Why so long? I know women must throw themselves at you on a regular basis."

He smiled, ruefully. "My choice. I have my reasons."

"What? Do you have a disease? Saving yourself for marriage?" She glanced down at his pants. "Sexual deformity?"

He gave a chuckle. "No, no, and thank God, no. Other reasons."

Her blue eyes darkened, filled with concern or pity. He didn't need the pity. Lack of sex hadn't killed him. Yet.

"InterGlax," she realized. "I'm sorry, Zain."

She knew, and yet she still wanted him. It humbled him beyond any reasonable thought. Then she kissed him, and his body grew harder. InterGlax was abruptly forgotten in a tangle of tongues and bodies.

"Let me in, Zain," she murmured against his mouth. In his muzzy, unfocused brain, he still realized that Lacey might not be talking about sex. But he didn't care anymore. His mind was singularly focused.

He felt her hand on his pants, over his erection, fumbling with the unfamiliar clasp before slipping inside and driving him insane.

Aritrox didn't dull the rush of savage hunger he felt when she wrapped her warm hand around him and squeezed gently. He closed his eyes, lost. She pushed the fabric down his legs. Once he was free of the suffocating pants, her fingertips strummed his length, exploring him the way he'd just explored her. He arched his hips. He needed more, needed to drive himself into her and ruin them both.

His body screamed in frustration as he tried to roll her over. But his heavy muscles refused to obey, and all he could do was drag her over his tortured body. He uttered an incoherent curse. Damn the Aritrox.

"Relax," Lacey said. Zain opened his eyes to find her face inches from his, over him. She licked her lips, her concentration complete, and with one hand, she guided him into her.

Impossibly soft heat slid down his length in a tight sheath. Two ragged groans filled the space between, them.

"So good," he murmured, and kissed her parted lips. She nipped back as she lifted off him and then sank down again. Instinct drove his hips up, meeting her with a low, guttural growl. More. He gripped her hips and drove up into her again. He had to satisfy the need she instilled so effortlessly in him. Let her see the monster he could become; he didn't care anymore.

Hunger took him and fed his frenzied pace as he claimed her time and again. He could hear her gasps and feel her nails digging into his flesh with each powerful thrust. Sweet release taunted him and toyed with the scrap of control he held on to, but the battle was already lost.

A great roar built in his throat, her only warning, and with one last lunge, he surged into Lacey and let loose the animal. Each pulse ripped away at him in a release so great, it stripped him of everything-leaving precious peace, ultimate freedom.

Chapter Eighteen.

T minus two days and counting.. .

Schuler stepped through the personal portal that connected his home office on Kree to the heart of his clandestine operations center on the planet of Avakur. The ops center bustled with activity appropriate for the epic event about to take the galaxy by surprise.

In the middle of the room, a floor-to-ceiling holo-deck revealed his current progress in the quadrant. Red regions were under CinTerr's domain. The green dots now belonged to him: young planets he'd harvested from under CinTerr's noses. Each represented a political victory and economic bonanza, and further eroded CinTerr's solidarity. Locations in yellow were Schuler's next targets-or opportunities, as he preferred to call them. By this time next cycle, they would all belong to him.

Behind him, he heard, "Welcome."

Schuler turned to his ops chief, Everard. Short-statured and slight, Everard nonetheless commanded the ops base with reasonable competence. At least, he would until Schuler found someone better to replace him. "Everything seems under control, as usual," Schuler told the man.

Everard grinned proudly. "Of course. We are proceeding on schedule. Two days and counting. Are there any new developments at InterGlax I should be aware of?"

Schuler shook his head and stared into the hologrid. "CinTerr continues to badger InterGlax to stop the"- he smiled at Everard-"criminals who are soiling their name."

Everard frowned. "Will they increase their efforts to locate us? Perhaps we should postpone our activities for a bit?"

Schuler replied, "InterGlax is more interested in pointing fingers and keeping their high-paid, low-effort jobs. Random attacks continue to take InterGlax off guard and keep the pressure on CinTerr. I want to make sure every installation is running perfectly before the final assault."

Everard continued to look worried. "Won't they become suspicious of Avakur when we send the teams in after the strike?"

"No," Schuler said. "Over the years, I've made sure they see the Avakurians as simply harmless opportunists. Besides, InterGlax will be a nonissue after we hit every juvenile planet in the sector. Are all the installations tested?"

"We are running through final tests now," Everard said. "Minor issues, but we will be ready."

Schuler nodded. He didn't like surprises. "Where is Ferretu?"

Everard shifted uncomfortably. "He has been working on an assignment in his quarters." He hesitated and then added sullenly, "I have difficulty getting regular status reports from him."

"He isn't military," Schuler noted. "But don't worry. I have him working on a special project." A location inside the grid caught Schuler's attention. "Why is Installation 93 flashing?"

Everard stepped up next to him. "The defense system activated several days ago. We investigated, but the planet was experiencing a sandstorm. There was no problem inside the installation itself. I believe it was simply a misfire incident."

"The installation is fully operational?"

"Yes, sir. We have a reoccurring problem with the indigenous wildlife. However, they cause no real destruction and are simply a nuisance. I occasionally send a squad in to eradicate them."

Schuler watched the marker silently flash.

"You don't really believe anyone could bypass our security?" Everard asked, incredulously.

"If anyone discovers one of our installations, the entire operation will be in jeopardy."

Everard laughed. "Impossible. No one has ever survived the first laser attack. It is inescapable."

Schuler stared at the flashing light. "There's a first time for everything."

Lacey woke up, sprawled on top of Zain like a wanton woman as he slept. It occurred to her vaguely that he didn't need her weight on his injuries, although they hadn't seemed to slow him down. But she rolled off him anyway, her tender muscles protesting enough to remind her just how much fun it was to be wanton.

Zain shifted a little, and she slipped down into the narrow space, trapped between him and the wall. She closed her eyes. What had she done? If only he hadn't sounded so damn desperate, and she hadn't been so happy to see him awake again. Right. That was her excuse and she was sticking to it.

Okay, so the sex was best she'd ever had-and the best she would probably ever have in her life. That was still no reason for throwing herself at him. Even if he was gorgeous and beyond sexy, to say nothing of his extra-extraterrestrial physique.

She rested her cheek against his thick bicep. Who was she kidding? She was in major trouble if she couldn't control the self-destruct side of her brain, the one that couldn't say no to a man she cared deeply about.

And she did. She'd never felt like this for anyone before. She'd put it all on the line for Zain last night, and she'd do it again. He wouldn't even have to ask. So here she was-knowing it was a mistake and knowing she'd do it all over again. A hell of a place for a woman to be.

There was small meow, and she peered over a sleeping Zain's chest. Oliver blinked at her in the darkness.

"Don't look at me like that. I know what I'm doing. Mostly," she added, pushing herself up on one arm. Zain's big, naked body sprawled out, nearly filling the bunk without a hint of modesty or self-consciousness. He was beautiful, from his close beard to his powerful barrel chest, to his long, muscular legs and everything in between. No wonder she couldn't resist him. Her gaze returned to his tempting lips.

She moaned at the sudden stampede of heat to every pore of her body. Robert had never affected her like this, not even in the beginning. Sex with him had always felt carefully choreographed, as if he were performing for a crowd. It made her feel as if she were playing a part in his movie. And like a good director, he'd been the first one to tell her when she miscued.

Zain's lovemaking had been wild and careless and very real. He didn't hold anything back-no games, no analysis, and there was definitely no stopping him. Then her eyes widened as she remembered something really, really important: Birth control. She glanced over his body and perished the hopeful thought that he might not be potent.

"Damn," she whispered, and buried her face in her hands. What if she were pregnant? It was a complication she didn't even want to think about. The chances were slim, but the way things were going...

Zain turned his head and mumbled something semicoherent. It sounded like a name. His hands flailed a little.

"Zain, are you all right?" she asked, fearing his horrible nightmares.

"Crista," he murmured.

She listened to the very female-sounding name. Crista? Zain's body jerked and he said it again, more urgently this time and much clearer. Then he calmed down and relaxed.

Oh, great, she thought. As if she hadn't already done enough damage on her own, he was talking about another woman. Freud was right. All man's problems did stem from sex.

She glared at Zain sleeping peacefully with another woman on his mind. Maybe she could drug him again. Probably not an option, unfortunately. Escape seemed like the only viable choice. So, very slowly and very carefully, she stretched out over him to reach the other side of the bunk. With one hand down, she lifted her leg over him. If she could just sneak...

"Where are you going?"

Straddling him on all fours with her butt in the air, she froze. His heavy eyes opened slowly to meet hers. Caught.

"Um ... lav?" She pulled the old escape-to-the-bathroom trick.

His dark eyes narrowed, banked fire behind them.

"I really have to go," she added, just to make sure he wouldn't try to talk her out of it or sidetrack her with sex-because that would probably work. Then she scrambled over him and off the bunk. Snatching her clothes from the floor, she hugged them to her body and scooted into the lav. The door shut, saving her from herself.

She was in trouble. Besides the whole baby thing, getting involved with another man was not what she wanted or needed. Especially a man destined to break her heart in ways she probably couldn't even fathom. And he would, too. She was already in deeper than she'd ever been with Robert. She'd thought it hurt when be left.

She rubbed her forehead. If she didn't stop right now, there would be nothing left to rebuild from. She couldn't handle another rejection, and she knew that would happen eventually. Zain would see that she was just ordinary. Look at his life with its technology and exploration and space travel-what chance did a mousy little computer geek have against all that? She couldn't even keep Robert happy on her own planet.

No, sooner or later Zain would get bored with her. ..

She stopped. What was she thinking? There was no relationship. He hadn't asked for one. They hadn't talked about one. She was going back home. He was exploring the galaxy and obsessed with some woman named Crista.

So it had just been sex. Fine. She could do sex. Not that she was doing it again. Once was enough to wreck complete havoc on an existence she was trying to make havoc-proof. She didn't need any more help with the slow crash-and-burn she called her life.

She yanked on her clothes. No, if she wanted to survive this brave new world, her head was in charge and her heart would have no say in the matter. But who the hell was Crista?

Zain watched her run. It was pretty obvious by her quick retreat that she wasn't happy about last night. He tried to tell himself it didn't matter; she was heading home, he was a fugitive, and neither one of them was ready for anything more serious than trying to figure out which new sexual positions to try. Not that that wasn't an excellent idea.

He sat up on his bunk and shook off the spins, courtesy of the Aritrox. On his back, he felt the patches Lacey must have applied last night. Reaching around, he pulled them off and checked his wounds. They were healing nicely, thanks to her. Now that he could think straight again, he wondered how she'd managed to get him up into the ship and on his bunk.

But mosdy he wondered why she'd given herself to him. He tried to remember the few words that passed between them before he'd lost control of his body and mind. Soft skin, euphoric release, sweet kisses. The exercise only reminded him how much he wanted her again.

Besides, dawn was breaking outside. It was time to get off this damn planet once and for all. He slid off the bunk and walked past the lav to the back room.

"Reene?"

"Good morning, sir. Would you like me to run a status check on you?"

Zain pulled clean clothes from the wall cabinet. "No, thanks. I feel fine." In fact, he realized he hadn't felt this good in years, despite the remnants of an Aritrox haze. It was amazing what a little mind-blowing sex could do for a man.

He was adding "make love to Lacey" to his priority list. It might even top it.

He glanced at the lav door. Was she ever coming out?

"What planet were we teleported to yesterday, Reene?"

"Maadiar. 135-1-2 Sector, Quadrant D-12. You were gone approximately eighty-nine minutes. What transpired there?"

Zain tossed a shirt over his shoulder and winced at the stab of pain. "InterGlax launched a hell of an attack, that's what happened."

"Yes, Lacey conveyed that to me. However, that is not consistent with InterGlax's policies. I have also determined that the facility below us is not listed in InterGlax files."

"I'm not surprised." Zain pulled on his pants, then asked, "What else did you and Lacey talk about?"

"She asked about InterGlax and your role with them."

He pursed his lips. "And what did you tell her?"

"I explained CinTerr and InterGlax's functions, as well as your former position with InterGlax. I deferred all other questions to you."

Zain nodded. "Good. Scan intelligence reports for Maadiar. I want to know exacdy who was hit and why. And check the archives for similar attacks on any of the planets you matched using Lacey's data."

"Are we going to investigate this matter?"