Desperate Measures (3 page)

type of style. Gianna wore a light green pullover shirt and gray pants. Neither outfit was tight or

revealing.

She didn‟t have any doubt that something had gone wrong. The men had to suspect that

part of their story was a lie. It was the only reason she could think of for this flood of male

attention, but she had no idea what had given them the slightest hint there was anything off about

their story. She‟d gone over it again and again in her head, but nothing was obviously wrong.

Everything should be proceeding perfectly. They hadn‟t done anything to draw attention to

themselves, but it seemed like every male on the ship was interested in them.

Raine didn‟t think it would be half this bad if some of the men had been the younger men

she‟d seen on the ship. Those pups she could handle easily, but they hadn‟t even tried to

approach the women for anything but work-related issues. The more experienced men seemed to

be circling. It was absolutely the worst situation. These older men definitely wouldn‟t be led.

They‟d be searching for any mistakes. Hell, she‟d bet every one of them had read their

applications and false history. By the end of the journey, the men would probably know it as well

as they did.

“Don‟t look now. We‟re going to have more visitors.” Gianna leaned forward but kept

her voice low.

Raine heaved a long sigh. They‟d just gotten rid of a group of males. She was tempted to

drop her head to the table. They were here to eat, but they hadn‟t even gotten halfway through

the food on their plates. They kept getting interrupted by men wanting to talk. She took a bite of

her food. It was going cold, but she kept eating. It was something to use to deter the men from

lingering. Well, at least most of them. Their meals had cooled to this point because of a few

chatty men who‟d brought up a few facts and questions about Jovala. Raine and Gianna handled

the questions, but their nerves were stretched taut.

“Are you enjoying your trip so far?” The deep voice sounded from just behind her.

Raine turned in her seat to look at the man. The second in command Rennick and a tall,

muscled redhead stood there waiting. The redhead‟s face was lean and he had a cunning look. He

wasn‟t traditionally handsome, but there was something that drew her eyes to him.

She didn‟t doubt for a moment that he would be a formidable opponent. Who was he?

She knew she hadn‟t met him before. There was no way she would have forgotten someone like

him. Just looking at him, her stomach tightened and it wasn‟t all nervousness. Letting her eyes

skim over his wide shoulders encased in a long-sleeved, dark blue shirt and the black pants he

wore, she tried to keep her gaze uninterested and brief. She knew she didn‟t quite succeed.

Normally, she liked men with dark hair and darker skin, but there was something about him that

made her want to know more. It was a particularly insane impulse under the circumstances. She

needed to keep her distance from him.

“We‟re having a good time. The work‟s not too difficult and the people seem friendly.

I‟m Raine.” Raine smiled up at the man. She wasn‟t going for open or innocent. She couldn‟t do

innocent very well on a good day, but she hoped she managed curious.

“Connal Drevan, the captain of the
Raitan
,” he said easily.

At first, she wasn‟t sure how to react and from the silence across the table, Gianna was

just as lost. Stunned horror definitely wouldn‟t do even if it was the truth. The
Natahl
, the leader, of this clan stood right there and she knew the rumors about him were true. He did catch any

Feiral
who crossed his path. Raine decided that insecurity might be the best route to take and it was the only option she had.

“Am I supposed to salute? Do you do that here?” She fought the urge to rub her palm on

a napkin or something. She just hoped she didn‟t drop her fork or something else that would

show how nervous she was.

“No, we don‟t salute. This isn‟t the military.” Connal smiled widely. “Do you mind if we

sit down with you?”

Raine nearly choked on the bite of food she‟d just put in her mouth. She‟d hoped he‟d go

away quickly after the introduction. Apparently, this was going to be an in-depth questioning,

not just an outwardly social stop. She really hadn‟t expected anything this obvious.
Why were

they so suspicious?
She mentally shook off the questions. There was no way to answer them and sitting here wasn‟t doing anything to soothe those doubts. Only an open, friendly attitude would

help.

“Take a seat. We‟re more than happy to talk with you. I hope you don‟t mind if we ask

you a few questions.” She gave him a small grin.

She wasn‟t going to ask anything in-depth. She thought a little curiosity would seem

normal. With their fake backgrounds, they were supposed to be familiar with larger ships and

this jaunt on a smaller ship with hundreds not thousands of people aboard would be new to them.

She was all too aware that she had to be careful. He would try to use the
Feiral
mental ability to draw the truth out of her. Knowing he would do it gave her an edge that she needed to use.

“Of course,” the captain said as he took the seat to her right and the second in command

took the seat to the left.

Considering the table wasn‟t that large, it felt a little crowded now. She knew that was

part of the captain‟s tactics. He‟d want them aware of him, even a little uncomfortable. It was

partly the shifter instincts in him, but probably more of it was because there was a lot of

dominant male in him. If she read him right, he wouldn‟t push it too far. He wouldn‟t give them

anything to actually accuse him of. He simply wanted them off balance and too unnerved to

guard their words.

“I noticed your last position was on the
Venonus
. That‟s a huge ship. What are your plans

after you get to Forunes?” Connal leaned back in his chair. A crewman brought him a plate of

food, but he made no move to eat.

“Actually, it was
Varcani
, but yes, it was a large ship. We‟ve got a friend who can get us

a position on one of the lines out of Forunes.” Raine tried to appear relaxed and calm. She idly

twirled her fork in a pasta dish. The man was good, that little name change had been something

she hadn‟t expected just yet.

“Do you mind if I ask why you left the
Varcani
?” Connal took a long drink from the cup

in front of him.

Raine took a bite of her food as he asked. She chewed, but she didn‟t look away from

him. “It was some personal differences with a few other crew members. They had seniority and

more friends with rank. Since the differences didn‟t seem solvable, we left.”

“So you feel leaving was your only option?” Rennick asked.

“We asked for transfers after we stopped trying to resolve the situation, but it would have

been over a year before they could do that. We took the other choice.” Gianne shrugged. “There

wasn‟t an ideal solution. We had friends there, but the situation was beginning to affect our work

life.”

“Leaving the position before the voyage was complete seemed like a better option than

getting dismissed if things became really bad.” Raine grimaced. She‟d actually been in a

situation like that before so the choices to be made were familiar as was the sense of isolation

and helplessness.

“Do you keep in contact with any of your friends from the
Varcani
?” Connal‟s fork

clinked against the plate as he lightly placed the utensil and reached for his cup.

“We did for a while, but haven‟t had a reply from them in the last week or so.” Gianna‟s

fork waved in the air.

“They may be out of reach of the common relay boosters. Eventually, they‟ll get the

messages and reply.” Raine ran her fingers over the rim of her glass and grimaced. “I‟m a little

anxious, but I know they‟re all right.”

“What are you two doing here?” His voice smoothed and his eyes bored into hers.

She felt the push, but before she could begin to resist, a slight dizziness washed over her.

The soft lapping of waves seemed to fill her ears. She could almost smell the sea and the tang of

a nearby forest. A hazy picture of a beach and an ocean shimmered in front of her eyes.

Resolutely she focused on the
Natahl
‟s eyes, using that to anchor her to reality.

“We took a position on your ship so that we could get to Forunes and the jobs waiting for

us.” It wasn‟t easy to get the lie out as smoothly as it needed to be especially when that psychic

push was urging her to tell the truth.

Inside she was almost panicked. What was that? She‟d felt the push of a suggestion from

another
Feiral
before. What that man had done wasn‟t even close to what it should feel like.

She‟d almost been swamped by the urge to answer him. The only thing that seemed vaguely

comparable was some kind of wordless hypnosis. She‟d never even heard of a
Feiral
being able

to do anything like that. A mild suggestion, that was the norm and the smells, the sounds and that

image that had flashed in front of her, she had no way to explain those. That wasn‟t normal.

The captain‟s eyes drifted over Raine‟s face before dropping to her chest. She kept her

eyes firmly above his broad chest. She didn‟t want to let him know that she found him attractive.

She knew some man would probably be assigned to try to get close to her. It would be easier to

keep control if it wasn‟t someone who attracted her as much as this man did. Control was

absolutely necessary. There would be other questions at relaxed moments and then would be the

chance to make a real mistake that could get them caught before they neared Forunes.

“How long have you been a captain?” Raine lifted her glass, but just held it. She hadn‟t

eaten much, but she hoped they didn‟t notice. Her appetite had disappeared.

“About fifteen years or so.” Connal smiled and forked up some of the vegetables on his

plate.

“You‟ve been with the same company for all that time?” Raine tilted her head. She could

have made some sickening sweet comment or tossed in a bit of cooing admiration, but it

wouldn‟t have rung true with the little the men knew of her.

She saw Connal‟s eyes narrow a little. She wished she knew just what he was thinking.

This was a dangerous game she played, but she had no other choice. She had to get to Forunes

without drawing any attention to their presence. That didn‟t mean she was going to sleep very

well on the journey there. Especially not with the amount of attention they‟d drawn.

“Yes, I‟ve been with the same
company
the entire time.” Connal‟s eyes swept over her

face.

She noticed the stress on “company”, but acted as if she didn‟t notice anything out of the

ordinary. The research they‟d done had been quick, but she knew the company was only a public

shell for the
Feiral
clan he was building.

“Have you two been friends for long?” Gianna asked.

Rennick nodded. “Longer than he‟s been a captain.”

Raine‟s eyes fell to Connal‟s lips as she tried to think of another question. The flesh

gleamed wetly as if he‟d just taken a drink. The thought of what they‟d feel like in a kiss popped

into her head. She tried to push the image away, but her mind suddenly seemed fixated on that

sensual slash of his lips and his hard body. Her hands itched to touch him, but she took a deep

breath and reminded herself of what was at stake.

“Do you like what you do? Captaining a trade vessel? You‟re always moving. Don‟t you

see the same ports, the same people? Doesn‟t it get boring running the same trade routes again

and again?” Raine firmly focused on the conversation. She couldn‟t think like that.

“The people aren‟t always the same. It‟s not the excitement that draws me.” He smiled.

“There‟s monotony in almost every job. If it‟s not the same places, it‟s months without seeing

any sign of life or a long slow trek to one of the boundary outposts.”

Luckily, it wasn‟t long after that that Raine and Gianna were able to excuse themselves.

They went back to their cabin. Raine dropped onto her bed and rubbed at her temples. She had a

raging headache. These meetings weren‟t going to get any easier. The men wouldn‟t back off

just because they hadn‟t received a simple, quick answer.

“He‟s going to come after you, you know,” Gianna said.

Raine lifted her head and frowned. The comment seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Who?”

“The captain. He‟ll pursue you. He could barely take his eyes off you and your reactions

weren‟t much different.” Gianna sprawled on the bed with her head cradled on her arm.

“He was trying to find out if we were a danger to his ship. For some reason, they aren‟t

buying the story.” Raine stood and began to pace. There was no real way to assure the men they

weren‟t threats. “And we‟ve got a problem. That question about what we were doing on the ship

had a push and it wasn‟t normal. I‟ve never felt anything like it. I could smell the tang of a forest and hear waves. For a moment, I thought that I saw an ocean. The need to answer truthfully

nearly overtook me.”

“Damn, we‟ll have to be careful and hope the others can‟t do that, but you‟re not going to

sidestep the issue. He wanted to find out what you look like without your clothes on and he‟ll be