"Beauty isn't easy," she joked.

The brown of his eyes intensified. "You would be beautiful no matter what, Lacey."

She didn't know how to reply to that. She'd never thought of herself as a great beauty and she never would. She wasn't tall or leggy or busty or any of those things that set gorgeous women apart from the mousy variety. She had a slew of geeky friends that she really liked and a cat that got her into all kinds of trouble. In fact, there was nothing special about her other than she was probably the only Earth woman living on another planet at the moment.

He sat up and reached out to pull her to him. As she fell into his arms, she stammered, "I have a speech."

"That's nice. You won't need this." He tugged off her top.

"Zain, you have to listen to me. I have something important... oh." He'd bent and wrapped his lips around one exposed nipple. "To say."

He suckled lightly while his gentle fingers caressed her skin, searing a trail of promise. Her pants were slipped off and disappeared somewhere. Strong arms lifted her onto the bunk and on top of him.

"I'm listening," he said, and kissed her throat until it burned.

What was it she'd wanted to tell him? Zain had left her breathless with his mouth and his hands and his heat. Even her mind refused to follow the plan. She had no excuse for responding to him, none whatsoever. He tongued a nipple, and she sighed. She'd find something to blame this on later.

Zain's patient hands roamed over her body, and his heat enveloped her in a sensual blanket, rich with anticipation. She endured the gentle assault of his mouth and lips on her breasts, neck, and shoulders, unable to recall a single word of her speech. Finally, she surrendered altogether. It was hopeless. She was a slave to her own passion and a puppet to his. Zain had no idea what he'd just unleashed.

She growled low in her throat and rubbed her hips against his. She kissed him, hard, with the force of a hundred failures and as many promises. Dammit, if she was going to crash and burn, she was taking him with her.

She planted her hands on his chest and pushed herself down his waist and hips. His eyes blazed hot into her soul as he watched, knowing what she had planned.

She bent and ran the tip of her tongue along the length of his erection, drawing an audible hiss as he sucked air into his lungs. The next lick brought his hips up, and he closed his eyes. She'd barely begun when he abruptly sat up, threw her on the bunk and rolled on top of her. The speed of the maneuver surprised her, but she really didn't have time to think about it as his mouth came down on hers, urgent and demanding.

She loved him like this-wild and unchecked. He wasn't hiding anything. No games to be won or lost, like with the other men she'd known. Just Zain, stripped down to his passion. If only it could be like this forever. If only the rest of the universe could fend for itself.

Then he whispered something in her ear that sounded so wicked and decadent that she trembled, even though she didn't understand a word. But whatever he'd said was meant for only her. And he thought she was beautiful. No man had ever made her feel this special. Zain's body showed how much he wanted her; it wasn't her imagination.

His hands were driving her crazy in ways she'd only dreamed. She wriggled beneath him, her body overwhelmed and overloaded with sensations.

When he finally slipped inside her, and just before she lost herself in him, it occurred to her that she would probably have to put that speech in writing next time.

The dream began much like it always did, with the acidic smell of the swamp and a cloud of overpowering failure. Zain stood in water to his knees behind the cover of a tree, peering through his goggles at the target a quarter klick away. Stolen cargo was being loaded into a sprawling warehouse that sat on a raised concrete bed in the middle of the empty swamp. Deja vu marked the moment, and he remembered they had followed the stolen ships here and were trying to discover how the cargo was to get off the planet.

He eyed the oversized structure as he had years before, but this time with new eyes. One tube-shaped section in the middle was several stories tall, looking oddly out of place with the boxy warehouse. In fact... he'd bet a large-scale teleportal would fit nicely inside. It all clicked. So that's how InterGlax had moved the ships around and loaded them into the Well.

He could sense Crista behind him, and he realized that this was the first time his dream had ever started this early-before the attack. Crista was still alive.

He turned to see her, and his heart stopped in alarm. She was standing behind him but she was half Crista, half robot soldier-the same type who had ambushed them. Her eyes peered out at him, but cold technology and hard, sexless steel replaced her body.

Training brought his weapon up but he didn't fire. He couldn't. She smiled at him knowingly.

"You can finish what we started," she said, her voice digital.

He struggled for words. She'd never talked to him in his nightmares before. He lowered his weapon.

"I failed last time," he finally said.

She shook her head, slowly. "We didn't fail. We were set up. This time you go in as one of them."

He frowned. "What?"

Her robotic arms lifted to her sides. "One of them. Use the tools you have around you."

He didn't understand. "Tools? What tools? I have a ship and a woman who won't follow orders. A cat, a bunch of crabs-"

She lifted an eyebrow. "You have more, though it is not yours. And Lacey is instrumental. Do not shut her out."

At the mention of Lacey, Zain's heart clenched. He tried to find the words to explain himself to his former lover. "About Lacey-"

Crista interrupted. "I never wished you alone, Zain. She is good for you. Trust her. Follow her."

He closed his eyes, her generous words feeding his guilt and anguish. She was dead now because of him.

"I let you down," he rasped. "I couldn't protect you."

"The decision was mine and I lived as I wanted. We were partners, but I was responsible for myself. You cannot confine the people you love."

He opened his eyes to find Crista whole and beautiful, just the way he remembered her.

"I don't want Lacey to die," he said, the words ripped from his heart.

"She understands the risks. Taking her freedom won't keep her safe. Or happy. She is your partner.

You will need her to stop InterGlax. Let her help you."

And then Crista faded away, back into his memories. Zain woke up, and Lacey started next to him.

His thoughts scrambled back to the present, dragging Crista's words into reality. Stop InterGlax. And she'd mentioned tools. What other tools did he have? Reene, his weapons, Lacey. He glanced out the viewport at the dome backlit by the dawn. The dome, the portals, the krudo, the armory... A flicker of a plan began to develop.

"Nightmare?" Lacey asked, in a concerned but sleepy voice.

He tucked her back under his arm. "No. Just a very interesting dream."

She nestled in. "Good. I don't like your nightmares. They scare me."

"If you think they're frightening, wait until you hear my plan."

Chapter Twenty-one.

Curled up in her chair flanked by Oliver and Pio, Lacey nibbled on a snack made of something resembled crushed nuts and molasses-a really bad galactic granola bar.

New Year's Resolution #10: Bring Twinkies on next space adventure.

Before her, Zain paced the short corridor of the ship, lost in concentration. She loved to watch him walk, and not just because he had a tush to the for. It was the way he moved, like a well-oiled, finely tuned, utterly sexy space cowboy. But he'd also changed. There was a bounce in his step that hadn't been there before, and the gleam in his eye really worried her.

He'd been like this the entire day, submerged in thought and plotting something about which she was almost afraid to ask. When he wasn't poring over maps and data from Avakur, he and she were making final repairs to the ship. He was getting ready for something, and she wanted to know what.

"Do I get a say in this plan?" she asked, the suspense killing her.

He stopped dead, as if he had just realized she was there. His dark eyes were thoughtful as he pulled himself back to the here and now. He zeroed in on her with a singular intensity that made her shiver in her slippers. He looked well rested and more relaxed than he had when she'd first met him. Great sex had helped, no doubt. Which, by the way, she was definitely not doing again.

She scanned his bare sculpted chest, broad, muscular shoulders, and the way his thighs bulged through his thin pants.

Right.

"You are an important part of the plan," he said.Her eyes lifted from his torso to his face. He grinned. "You seem distracted. It's my DNA, isn't it?"

She shrugged one shoulder carelessly. "Eh. It's okay."

A smile crossed his face. "I said-you are an important part of the plan."

She lifted her eyebrows. "Uh-huh. Do I get to wear clothes?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He sat down next to her. "Reene, bring up a holo-image of the Well." The image appeared, and Zain took his chair. "Remember Pio told us that InterGlax sends a team in every thirty-three days to check this place?"

"Yes," she said warily.

He pointed to the lower portal. "They should be here tomorrow morning, and we are going to be waiting for them."

Her fingers froze around the granola bar. "Then what do we do? Shoot them?"

"Only if we have no choice. No, I plan to apprehend them and steal one of their uniforms."

She had a bad feeling about this. "Why would you want to do that?"

He grinned devilishly. "Because I'm going to put it on and return to where they came from. InterGlax Command Center. Scared yet?"

"I'm getting there," she conceded. "Don't you think they will notice that you aren't the same guy who left?"

"When they come through the portal, Reene should be able to tell me how many access points are on the other side. I'm hoping I can insert at a different location inside their compound. Depends on the setup. Otherwise, I'll just have to take my chances."

"Now I'm scared."

Zain crossed his arms. "You haven't even heard the best part."

He looked far too happy, she decided. Probably insane. "Do I have to?"

"I'm going to locate the heart of their operation, set a timed charge to destroy it, and return through the portal."

She just looked at him, numbly. It sounded far too risky. "There has to be another way, Zain. A safer and easier way."

He shook his head. "Taking out this one armory is not going to stop them. We have to destroy the central command. Once that's inoperable, we can destroy this one too."

"And what do I do?" she asked.

"You are my link, Lacey. I need you to monitor the armory, the portals, and communication from here."

The horrible experience on Maadiar and the seriousness of the situation occurred to her. That portal would be his lifeline. What if InterGlax caught him, or he was trapped, or the portal wouldn't open?

As if anticipating her fears, Zain smiled and added, "There isn't anyone else I'd rather have watching out for me, partner."

As much as she wanted to stop him from choosing this plan, she couldn't. He'd made up his mind, and somewhere in the back of hers, she realized he needed to do this.

She sighed deeply. "I'll be here."

"Thank you," he said, and rolled his shoulders. "We have twelve hours until they show up." His gaze skimmed over her body. "Want to compare DNA?"

"I've got a better idea."

He laughed. "I doubt it."

She eyed him seriously. "Tell me about your family."

His expression sobered. He didn't want to talk about them, but if anything happened to him, she would be the only one who knew. The phrase "next of kin" kept popping up in her mind.

"You know about Torrie. I also have parents and six brothers. My family runs a very large, very successful galactic shipping business. I left home when I was sixteen and joined InterGlax. Now you know it all." He reached out and accessed Reene's console.

Lacey shook her head. "You've been alone with your computer too long. A little detail would be nice."

He shrugged. "Not much more to tell. I had a normal family life." Zain turned to her. "Your turn."

"What?"

"I want to hear about your family. Parents? Siblings?"

Lacey looked suddenly uncomfortable, and Zain enjoyed watching her squirm for a change. She obviously didn't want to talk about her family any more than he wanted to talk about his. Finally she said, "I grew up with both parents and three perfect sisters."

Interesting. "And you didn't get along?"

She blinked at him. "Of course we got along. That was never a problem. We were just... different."

"How?" he prodded.

She sighed. "Ever hear of a black sheep?"

He shook his head.

"It's someone who doesn't fit in, whether it be in a family or a society."