Cold Attraction Read online

  “Don’t even start,” Kol said. Without another word, he opened the door again and stomped out into the corridor.

  Taron and Lhett exchanged a glance.

  “That was interesting,” Taron said.

  “But not surprising.” Lhett yawned and stretched his arms above his head, nearly touching the ceiling. “Anything else you want to talk about, brother? I need to crash for a couple of hours before Dr. Petersen drags me out on the plains again to stare at the sky the entire night.”

  Taron shook his head, clapped his brother on the shoulder, and let himself out. He didn’t think Lhett would appreciate a reminder to take care of Hanne at that moment.

  He was no closer to figuring out what was wrong with Adriana, but his mood was marginally improved: at least he wasn’t the only one who had no clue what he was doing.

  It was four hours later when Adriana popped up in the empty dining hall, where Taron had been reading a report on platinum mining from two decades ago. He’d accessed the files from his tablet, hoping no one at the library would find it suspicious that he was suddenly interested in mines. He needed to be very careful while sniffing out the information. Who knew what the regent would do if he thought the Naals brothers were plotting against him.

  Adriana was wearing Rendian clothes, which was enough to catch his attention, but it was her scent that invaded his mind, burrowing deep inside until his hands ached to touch her, to pull her closer so he could bury his face in her freshly washed hair and just breathe. That sense of peace she brought him, the calm, soothed his senses and had him relaxing his shoulders. He hadn’t even realized how tense he’d been not knowing where she was.

  “Did you do well in your examination?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet to avoid disturbing the others in the hall.

  She nodded. “Ben says I’m completely healthy. I even broke my personal record for the distance I ran in those thirty minutes. The extra oxygen seems to help.”

  Ah, that explained the healthy color in her cheeks. Taron stood, suddenly unable to resist, and crushed his lips on hers. He caught her gasp in his mouth, invading her with his tongue, reveling in the warmth of her kiss. And despite her previous reluctance, Adriana responded to him, her small, warm hands gripping his shoulders. She tugged on his hair, the pain a turn-on he hadn’t expected, so he picked her up and set her on the table. He ran his hands over her, tracing her curves, and drank in her every moan.

  Until she broke the kiss with a shudder and a gasp, placed her palms on his chest, and pushed. She couldn’t move him if she tried, but he straightened, releasing her, and stared down at her, confused.

  “We can’t,” she whispered, straightening her shirt, and cast a fearful glance over her shoulder. “We might be seen.”

  That cut him deep. “You don’t want to be seen with me?”

  Adriana’s face flushed a deeper red, her brown skin radiating warmth. “I didn’t— That’s not how I meant it. But we’re supposed to be keeping a professional relationship, no?”

  Taron stepped back and tried to get himself under control. His cock was hard and aching, but he resisted the urge to rearrange himself. He wasn’t ashamed of his attraction to her—she was a stunning woman, and he was hungry for her.

  But she hopped from the table, cleared her throat, and sat in the chair opposite his. “I don’t want any trouble, Taron.”

  She wouldn’t meet his gaze, so he didn’t know whether she was lying to him or simply not telling the whole truth. But short of picking her up and shaking the answers out of her, he couldn’t make her tell him.

  He sat in his chair and regarded her in silence. Maybe she would break if he stared fiercely at her. Humans were weaker than Rendians, and he’d been told his glare was one of the reasons why his crew obeyed him without question.

  But his human didn’t seem to register any of this. She put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Listen, I’ve been thinking. We’ve been exploring Volarun for nearly two weeks now. That’s one sixth of my time here, gone.”

  Taron’s entire body froze. Was this true? She was right, of course—but suddenly, that time seemed too short. She would return to Earth, and he’d stay here; he might not even be allowed to captain the ship that would take her away from him.

  She continued, oblivious to his thoughts. “I want to explore some of the rural communities. Seeing the society in a city is fantastic, but I also need to compare that to village life, you know? See how people divide work, what roles they take on, and so on.” From a pocket of her wool jacket, she drew a rolled-up sheet of paper and unfolded it on the table. It was a map of the mountains, one of their own.

  “I checked with Lieutenant Anilla—there are no settlements closer to Volarun than these lakeside villages right here.”

  Taron closed his eyes for a second, knowing where she was pointing. When he opened them again, she had her finger directly on the Murrun lakes. Where they were told specifically not to go.

  His first thought was to call Anilla and chew her out for pointing Adriana in this direction, but he suspected Adriana would have found out one way or another.

  “How long will it take us to get there?”

  Her face was alight with the thought of new discoveries, and he hated himself for shutting down her dreams. But it had to be done.

  “It’s a day’s ride on a hover sled,” he said, and she stared at him, eyes round, her lips forming the words ‘hover sled’ soundlessly. He drew in a deep breath and added, “But we won’t be going there.”

  Adriana blinked. “Why not?”

  Ah, here it was. The moment where he could tell her the truth and risk her exposing the danger to everyone, or lie and keep her safe.

  “Because the villagers are very…untrusting. They’re not known for receiving strangers well, especially not people from other ends of the universe.”

  He kept his voice level, sent a wish to his ancestors that he wouldn’t turn blue at the untruth.

  Eyebrows raised, Adriana asked, “Would they turn hostile at the sight of me? I haven’t had any problems in the city. Everyone seemed very nice, even enthusiastic when I explained what I do.”

  He really should have thought this through before they had this conversation. But she’d surprised him with her plans, her questions—she was always keeping him on his toes. The innocent villagers from the Murrun area would now fall victim to his poor planning. “Yes. They’re…a rougher sort of people. There aren’t many of them, and with the nomadic tribes…” He trailed off at her delighted gasp.

  “You have nomadic tribes? Oh, Taron, I need to go there!”

  She was radiant with excitement, her dark eyes shining, and he felt like the worst kind of tyrant. “Are you even listening to me? They’re hostile. You could get hurt. We get reports of skirmishes on a monthly basis. People have been known to vanish in those mountains.”

  Some of that light went out of her, and he wished he could bring it back.

  “But… You’d be there. Surely that would be enough? Or maybe we could take more guards?”

  Her tone had turned pleading, and if it was anything else, any other thing she wanted, he would have caved immediately. But now…

  “I will not take you there,” he said, deliberately giving his voice a rough edge. “And I won’t risk my crew’s lives so you can study my people like we’re some test subjects.”

  She recoiled, her mouth opening and closing. “Is that what you think of my work?” she whispered.

  Ah, shit. He hadn’t meant for the words to be that harsh. “No, I—”

  “Have I ever been disrespectful to anyone? Or pried into their private lives if they didn’t want me to?” She got up, shooting him a poisonous glare. “I observe, Taron. I never intrude.” She dragged her hand through her long hair, looking suddenly lost. “You know what? Forget it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Taron watched her go, aware of the stares from the handful of people who had arrived in the dining hall—their argument had not go
ne unnoticed. Deep self-loathing coursed through him, and he picked up his tablet and left, knowing he wasn’t fit for company. Several hours of grueling training in the cold would be a fitting punishment for behaving like a total idiot.

  But at least she’d be safe. He kept telling himself that through the miles he ran on the snow-crusted roads, the sharp stabs of pain radiating in his lungs. And he repeated it, over and over, when he stood in front of her door for long minutes before turning away without knocking. At least she’d be safe.

  10

  Adriana

  “I mean, how dare he?”

  The question was one she’d asked several times already. Mika and Hanne exchanged a look, then Hanne passed her the bowl of frozen custard, the best match to ice cream they’d managed to find on Rendu. Adriana dug in her spoon and licked the sweet, creamy dessert with a sigh.

  “Okay, I’ll stop feeling sorry for myself now.” She’d barged in Mika’s room, grabbed her friend’s hand, and dragged her down the hall to Hanne’s door. Then she’d proceeded to vomit up all the rage and hurt Taron had made her feel, only stopping when Hanne brought out the custard.

  Now they were passing the tub back and forth—only Mika refrained because she was vegan and the frozen treat was made from rica milk. The large, lumbering animals looked a lot like yaks, and their milk was surprisingly tasty, as was the custard the cooks had provided for them.

  “What I don’t get is why Taron would accuse you of being insensitive,” Hanne mused. “He doesn’t seem like the type.”

  “I told him I wanted to study the rural communities around the Murrun lakes,” Adriana replied. “And he told me it was too dangerous and he wouldn’t risk his crew’s lives so I can study his people like test subjects.” Those words nearly stuck in her throat; her indignation might have faded somewhat in the last hour, but the pain had not. How had he misunderstood her work so completely? And why had he been so kind to her if he secretly thought she was doing something unethical?

  Mika sat up. “Kol told me about those avalanches. So weird that people live there in spite of it, right?”

  Adriana gave her a blank look. “What are you talking about?”

  “I heard there are massive birds that roost in the area, so I asked Kol to take me there. He said the mountains are dangerous because of the avalanches that roll down the slopes all the time. They’ve been known to bury entire villages. And it’s impossible to climb those peaks because you could end up setting off…” She narrowed her eyes at Adriana. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

  Adriana set down the custard. “Taron told me the villagers were hostile to strangers and I might get hurt if I tried to invade their communities. That people vanish sometimes if they go into those areas—and that the nomadic tribes attack the villages.”

  They both turned to Hanne, who put her hands in the air. “Don’t look at me. When I talk to Lhett, he only gives me monosyllabic answers and grunts. And I have no wish to go to the mountains, thanks. I can see the stars from here.”

  “But it’s weird that they gave us two different stories, right?” Mika said. “Why would they do that?”

  Adriana remembered something else then. “When I was searching for maps of the area, Lieutenant Anilla didn’t mention any of that. You’d think she would have warned me to be cautious if there was any real danger there, right? She’s always been so nice to us. I can’t believe she’d deliberately send me into an area that has dangerous avalanches and murderous locals.”

  “I’m going to murder Kol ad Naals,” Mika muttered. “You’ll be my alibi, okay?” She pointed a finger at Hanne, who nodded as though this was the most natural thing in the world.

  Adriana cringed. “What happened?”

  “He really got into the story. Told me all about how he survived being buried under an avalanche.” Rubbing her face with her palm, Mika let out a loud groan. “I may have swooned a little when he said he dug himself out with his bare hands. Oh, shut up,” she said as Hanne and Adriana exploded into laughter.

  Hiccupping, Adriana finally sobered again. “So the fact remains that two members of our guard detail have made up elaborate excuses to keep us from going into the mountains. The question is why. Could it be a sacred site they don’t let foreigners see?”

  “You’d think they’d just tell us that outright and expect us to respect it,” Hanne said. “I think it has to be something bad.”

  “Like what?”

  “Mass graves from a recent genocide?” Mika offered grimly.

  Adriana thought long and hard about this. “I don’t think so. I’ve spoken to so many people these past days, and I never got the feeling they were a nation who’d do something like this. There’s nothing extremist about their culture, they interact peacefully with different races from countless planets…” She shook her head. “I have no idea what it is, but it can’t be that bad.”

  “You’re such an idealist,” Mika shot back. “We need to find out what’s going on.”

  “Do we tell the others?” Hanne asked quietly. “Our delegation, I mean.”

  “We’d be stupid not to,” Adriana said. “We’ll be here for two more months. Chances are, someone is going to stumble across this secret, and they better be prepared.”

  So it was that they quietly dispersed the information among the human delegation. They’d decided not to hold a big meeting, which would be too suspicious, but rather sneaked minutes of hushed conversation here and there to hammer out the plan.

  Their teammates reacted in very different ways to what the three of them revealed. Jean, the engineer, simply shrugged and went back to unscrewing the lid of something that resembled a large rice cooker. Steven, one of the two military specialists and their guard, seemed concerned but offered to help, while Graham, their highest-ranking member of the US Army, merely narrowed his eyes at the news. Adriana forced out a promise from him that he wouldn’t alert the Rendians about this, but she didn’t particularly like the guy, so she was glad when he declined to cooperate.

  She kept up her previous routine of interviewing willing Rendians from various professions, and while Taron sat in on most of those conversations, he rarely contributed anything beyond the initial greetings. His manner had cooled visibly—the sizzling kiss they’d shared in the mess hall seemed no more than a dream to her now. She’d tried once more to get him to talk about the supposed conflicts between the villagers and the nomadic tribes, but he’d shut her down. This tipped her decision to go along with the plan; she might have reconsidered if he’d been willing to talk.

  In the end, the idea was very simple. Adriana and Steven, the SEAL guard, would procure a hover sled and make for the nearest village, which lay seven hours north of Volarun. Since Steven had spent the past two weeks riding those very same hover sleds around the city, learning from the Rendian soldiers, the plan wasn’t as crazy as it seemed at first glance.

  The entire human team helped squirrel away enough supplies to last several days, including a tent and reusable heat packs. Mika even parted with a bag of vegan energy bars, her expression fierce as she shoved them into Adriana’s backpack.

  “You take care of yourself, Adriana Isabella Ribeiro,” she said, throwing her arms around her and squeezing tight.

  Adriana returned the hug. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back before you know it.”

  11

  Taron

  It took him nine hours to realize what she’d done.

  He first came knocking on her door in the morning, ready to accompany her to her next round of interviews, but Hanne had opened the door, telling him Adriana was unwell. Retching sounds and running water from the bathroom confirmed this. When he’d tried to enter the room to see if she needed anything, Hanne placed a warm but firm hand on his chest.

  “Do you really think she wants you to see her like this?” Her blonde eyebrows lifted toward her hairline, and Taron had to concede that no, Adriana probably didn’t want him there at all.

 
It wasn’t a pleasant thought.

  So he’d gone to train for two hours, trying to ignore the persistent itch that seemed to crawl under his skin. He returned to her quarters and found Mika guarding the room, which was completely dark.

  “She’s finally asleep,” she whispered. “I’ll let you know the moment she wakes up, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

  He didn’t understand why holding his breath had anything to do with a stomach sickness—but he left, deciding he wouldn’t be turned away the next time. He came knocking again in the afternoon and found Hanne on duty while Adriana threw up in the bathroom. He marched down the corridor and half dragged the lanky human doctor, Ben, to the threshold of her room.

  At the panicked look Hanne sent Ben, Taron narrowed his eyes. And when Mika’s voice sounded from the bathroom, asking, “Is he gone yet?” he knew they’d done something incredibly dangerous.

  “Where is she?” he growled, pushing the two humans into the room and slamming the door panel to shut the door behind them. He didn’t want any witnesses in case he decided to kill them all. “Where is Adriana?”

  Mika poked her head through the bathroom door and went pale at the sight of him. Taron knew his skin had likely turned blue, but he was beyond caring.

  “The mountains,” Hanne finally whispered. “They’ve gone to the mountains.”

  Taron clenched his fists to keep from punching the wall. “Who?”

  “Adriana and Steven.” Ben dragged a hand through his brown hair. “We thought—”

  “She left alone with a man?” Taron roared. “To the mountains? Didn’t she fucking listen to what I told her?”

  “She did!” Mika’s voice rose, too. The small woman stood in front of him, her fists at her hips, and shouted at him, “And your story was different from Kol’s. You weren’t going to tell us what’s really going on at Murrun, so we decided someone needed to find out.”