Her inner voice chided her, reminding her that no human had ever made her feel like this before. She swallowed hard and nestled into the crook of Aidan’s arm.
I can’t be falling in love with him. I can’t be. Because then he’ll have won, and I’ll never see Earth again. Would that really be so bad?
She didn’t have an answer, and that scared her most of all.
Waning sunlight crept through the window, casting red and orange patterns on the floor. A pounding on the living chamber door startled Jacey. She sat up in bed, noticing a yawning Aidan following her motions. He looked toward the door, frowning when another rap echoed through the room.
“I’ll be right back.” He pressed a kiss to Jacey’s temple and then rose from the bed. He grabbed his robe off the floor, sliding it on as he entered the living room.
Jacey strained to hear the sounds of a door opening.
“Jodarin,” Aidan said. He didn’t sound happy, and Jacey wondered who the person might be. She moved from the bed, reaching for a blanket to wrap around herself. For a moment, she thought it might be another woman. Fury simmered inside her. She remembered the way Aidan had looked at ease with the young boy and the furmarups. The woman had looked at him with something akin to adoration. She peered around the door.
Aidan’s body blocked her view.
“Lord Starsek. I apologize for intruding.”
Jacey imagined the man’s gaze taking in Aidan’s disheveled hair and his rumpled robe. She recognized the voice as belonging to the man who had verbally challenged Aidan when they had arrived.
“How can I help you?” Even without seeing Aidan’s face, she knew he struggled to keep his tone civil. On the steps of the palace, she thought he was curt because the man had challenged his authority, but now, listening to Aidan address him, she wondered if it might be something more personal.
“There is one more ritual you haven’t honored. Prior to Deactivation Day, you have to compete in the Dajarka. I challenge you, Lord Starsek, as is my right.”
Jacey shivered. Whatever the Dajarka was, it sounded serious. She remembered the image outside her chambers with the man standing over his opponent. It couldn’t be. She must have misheard the name, and she strained to listen for Aidan’s answer.
“You have the right to challenge me, and as Lord of this house, I have to accept. But you will not find me so easy to fight.”
Fight? Jacey hitched the blanket tighter against her chin. What if she was right? What if the Dajarka was a fight? The customs of this world sounded positively archaic. First they deactivate androids that do not fall in love, but now they must fight first. Aidan hadn’t mentioned any of this. She shivered again, thinking of Aidan’s body possibly broken and bruised by the stranger. Could he be harmed? It seemed his creator had striven for realism. Possibly he could bruise or even die. Her heart raced with the thoughts.
“You must say the ritual words,” the stranger growled.
“Fine, fine.” Aidan clearly sounded impatient. “I accept your challenge, Lord Jodarin. I will fight you in the Dajarka. Satisfied?”
Jacey imagined the grin that spread across the other man’s face. “Quite.” Without saying anything further, he left. The click of the door closing echoed in the room.
With a weary sigh, Aidan turned from the door. “I didn’t want it to be like this,” he mumbled to himself.
He looked up and saw Jacey standing in the doorway to the bedroom. His gaze took in the tumble of hair around her shoulders and the blanket hitched to her chin. Even beneath the fabric, she felt his gaze caressing her breasts, across her stomach to her long legs. She watched, fascinated, as beneath his robe his cock began to harden.
“You heard all of that, I assume.”
Jacey nodded. “Who was that man? He sounded like the one who challenged us. And what is the Dajarka?”
* * * *
Us. Aidan smiled for a moment at her use of the word.
I think she’s starting to care about me, but damn it, it’s so hard to tell
. He breathed deeply, weighing in his mind how much to tell her about the customs. He had spoken of Deactivation Day. He’d had to in order to explain why he had taken her from her home world. Running his fingers through his hair, he wished it could have been easier. But of all the women in the universe, she alone had intrigued him.
He should face Deactivation Day. It would be the honorable thing to do. Of course, he might not have to now that he accepted Jodarin’s challenge to fight in the Dajarka. With a minute shake of his head he dismissed the notion. Honor be damned. He wanted her to be his lady, wanted her to fall in love with him. He was already half in love with her.
“The Dajarka has not been fought for many years, my sweet. Jodarin is jealous and like a petulant child is throwing a temper tantrum in hopes that he will get his own way.”
“What does he want?” Her soft voice sounded so innocent, as if she didn’t know that the Dajarka might end in his death. She couldn’t know, not being from this world, and he prayed she’d never find out.
“He came to challenge me to the Dajarka. It is a ritual that the domanin complete when they have chosen a life mate. It has to be done prior to Deactivation Day.”
Jacey gasped. “But if I fall in love with you, then you won’t be killed, right?”
Aidan swallowed hard. Jacey stared at him, clearly not believing that he would drag her off to BelaZed and then die on her. A pang of loss closed around her heart, and she stepped away from him.
Aidan stepped forward. He closed his arms around her shoulders. “Jacey.”
“No!” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Answer me. Tell me that you won’t be harmed.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“Then why did you kidnap me? I—”
“It’s tradition. I have to accept his challenge and fight.” He brushed his lips across hers. He tried to gentle her with a soft kiss, but she stiffened in his arms.
Jacey pulled away. She turned away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. Her lower lip trembled. “If you’re going to die, then you have to take me back to Earth first.”
Aidan’s swift intake of breath filled the room. Gods, he wanted to enfold her in his arms and never let her go. “Jacey…” He couldn’t stop his voice from rising with frustration.
Jacey stopped, and for a moment he thought she was going to turn around. Instead, she forced herself to take a step forward, then another, until she strode away from him. She stopped just inside the door to the bedroom. Turning, she stared at Aidan as he stood between her and the exit.
“Whatever you’re going to say, it doesn’t matter. If you’re going to die, then take me home!” She screamed the words at him. She stared at him for a long moment, then turned and sulked into the bedroom. She sank onto the bed and buried her head in her hands. “You can’t. You won’t.”
Her emotions tore at him. He didn’t want to hurt her but knew that if he refused Jodarin’s challenge, the other domanin could claim her. She’d still have to love him, and he was certain his Jacey could never love such a being. Still, he’d never allow that to happen. Sending more resources to his comforting subroutines, Aidan sat down beside her on the bed. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her flush against his side. Jacey burrowed into his warmth. He tilted her chin to look at him. “I won’t do anything to endanger myself, but I won’t reject the challenge either.”
“Why not?”
“Because, if I reject the challenge, then Jodarin will claim you as his bride.” He spoke softly, not wanting to startle her, but she gasped anyway.
“No. I don’t want him. I want—” Jacey clamped her lips together.
“I know. I know.” He smoothed a strand of hair that had fallen over her forehead. “I won’t let that happen. You have to trust me. Should I fall, I’ll give Linu orders to take you back to Earth.” A steel vise clamped around his heart. Androids hadn’t been originally designed to feel emotions, but he’d be damned if he let anything, even death, take her from him now.
He wanted to confess his love. Surely that would keep her on BelaZed. His people would accept her as lady, but they’d have to, for if he died, Jodarin would inherit not only his woman, but his lands as well. Gently, he laid his finger across her lips. “You don’t have to say anything. Even if you loved me like no domanin has been loved before, I’d still have to fight in the Dajarka.”
She nodded meekly, a side of Jacey he had to admit he didn’t much enjoy. He leaned closer to her. His cock tightened, and he quickly sent power to the subroutines to control himself. She didn’t need sex right now; she needed love. Slowly, he rose to his feet and shed his robe, then helped her do the same. Jacey moved as if she were on autopilot, retreating deep inside herself, and he gently tucked her beneath the covers. He lay beside her and, gathering her close to his body, held her. “It will be all right,” he whispered. He caressed her hair, feeling the silky strands beneath his fingers. Gradually, she relaxed against him. Her deep, even breathing told Aidan that she had fallen asleep.
For now, I just want to hold her
. Soon he allowed himself to drift into a dreamless, mechanical sleep.
Chapter Seven
Jacey wanted to hold on to the cuddly feeling Aidan gave her, but as the morning ebbed into afternoon, she found her fears returning. She’d lost her best friend. Surely now when she finally thought she might be making a new life, she wouldn’t lose Aidan too. She really was growing to care about him. For the first time since her friend’s death, she felt like she really had a future instead of more of the same old dreariness.
Walking next to him, she tried not to concentrate on their destination—the training fields. She knew that Aidan would need to practice for the Dajarka. She wouldn’t want her lover to be ill-prepared to fight. But the idea seemed so barbaric to her.
At least her gown seemed more suited to walking today. She looked down at the lush peach skirt. The fabric felt like cotton but looked as if it was some kind of gauzy material. The fitted bodice draped to a loose broomstick skirt with artistic swirls of peach and black. While the color combination left something to be desired, at least she didn’t feel as if her body were on display.
Jacey focused her attention once more on the man walking beside her. He didn’t have to take the challenge. Sure, it might damage his reputation or his manliness, but if he loved her, he wouldn’t accept.
Yeah right
. Her mental snort of derision drew Jacey’s attention away from the swish of the gown against her calves as she walked.
How many men do you know who would have said no? That’s right. None!
Aidan led her from the lush manicured lawn that formed the walkway from the backyard of the palace to the training grounds. Cresting a slight rise, she saw the grounds spread before them. A seemingly endless sea of green grass, clipped short so as not to interfere with walking, spread into a flat plain below. There, trimmed hedges with entrances in one end marked the borders of the training fields. Men sparred. The clatter of wooden weapons filled the air, mingling with hoarse shouts. Several pairs battled with quarterstaffs, and she saw a solo man practicing forms with a sword. A glowing blue aura surrounded it. Looking at the glowing blue light, Jacey couldn’t suppress a shiver of dread that darted through her.
“What’s that?”
Aidan peered down at the fighters. “I’m assuming you mean the
hatasword
. It’s a weapon that only domanins use. The blue is an electromagnetic field that disrupts our circuits. When it is applied to our neck or our heart area, it will deactivate us.”
Jacey gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth, and she balled her fists against her lips to keep from crying out. Looking closer, she recognized the man who had challenged Aidan upon her arrival. She looked at Aidan, then at the man across the field, trying to see some resemblance.
Could he be another domanin?
She shook her head. It seemed silly. Aidan had told her how the domanins were considered gods on this world.
Aidan squeezed her hand reassuringly. Jacey looked up at him, still not believing that he would take his place among these other warriors and fight. It seemed a barbarian practice. If this were still Earth, she would have readily understood. Human males seemed driven by a need to prove their manhood, but Aidan was an android. Something different.
“I don’t want to see any more,” she said. She turned and buried her face against his shoulder. “The customs on your world are worse than Earth.”
Aidan wrapped his arm around her. He rubbed her back with lazy strokes of his hand. Jacey tried not to let it soften her, but she found herself melting against his side, lulled into a sense of complacency by the rhythmic motion of his hand. “We don’t mean them to be. You forget that our customs have been in place for hundreds of years. It has only been recently that we have gone off-world to find mates.” He feathered his fingers through her hair and pressed his lips to her temple. “Don’t worry, Jacey. I will not be harmed.”
Peering past his bulk at the man on the field, Jacey tried not to doubt Aidan’s words. The domanin wielded the hatasword in deadly-looking figure eights, the blue glow around the blade flashing stars of light in its wake. She shook her head. “I’m going to hold you to that.” She cupped his shoulder. “Can we go inside?”
Aidan nodded. “As you wish, my lady.” Gently, he steered her from the field and back toward the house.
* * * *
Lamps sputtered in wall sconces, giving the effect of subdued candle lighting. Jacey followed Aidan up the twisting stairway that led to the upper reaches of his palace. He claimed he had a surprise for her there but had said no more. She watched as his muscles moved beneath the simple gray robe he wore, the fabric concealing the taut lines of his buttocks and his muscular thighs and calves.
Jacey pressed her fingertips against the smooth stone walls as the staircase wound higher into the palace. The steep pitch of the steps made it seem likely that this wasn’t an often-used stairway, and, not for the first time, she wondered what lay at the end. She glanced again at the lights built into the wall. For a moment, she could believe she ascended the stairs in a medieval castle, but the smooth round bulbs belied the fact that the effect came from technology.