Captive Heat Read online

  “I’m sure,” he clipped. Then, he softened his tone. “I’m sure,” he repeated in a calm voice. “Mia, I have to focus for a while. We’re heading into an asteroid field. We can’t avoid it. This is tricky navigation.”

  A million questions bubbled up inside her, but they would have to wait. “Of course. I’m sorry.” She sat back in her seat and willed herself to be as still as possible.

  Navigating an asteroid field required constant attention and quick reflexes. Jaden’s eyes never left the view screen as he made adjustment after adjustment to their course. Mia clutched her heart and sank back in her seat. Thank goodness he was a skilled pilot.

  As she worked to keep her mouth shut, Mia glanced around the cockpit. Complicated electronics and other gadgetry filled the small space. Even with all the fascinating equipment, her eyes kept coming back to Jaden. She hadn’t gotten a chance to get a good look at him on the Bermer ship, so she took the opportunity to study him now.

  Jaden took over the cockpit with his broad, commanding shoulders and wide, muscular chest. But it wasn’t just his chest that was muscular. Jaden Zoma was toned sinew from his neck to his well-defined legs. His snug-fitting flight suit didn’t hide a thing. His cropped-short, almost-black hair allowed her to study his face.

  She’d only had a moment to consider his face during her rescue, but she’d seen trust and honor in his dark, serious gaze. Hard, masculine angles made up the rest of his face. He wasn’t classically handsome, but there was a manly sensuousness that would attract any female. Her skin warmed as she took it all in.

  Her gaze fixed again on his hands, hands that skillfully operated the ship and maneuvered them out of harm’s way. These were the strong, confident hands that had saved her life. Restless in her seat, Mia wondered how those hands would feel on her skin.

  When she’d slipped and almost fallen in the Bermer ship, his arms had captured her waist and pulled her hard to his chest. In that instant, she’d only been grateful for his protection. Now, her body warmed as her eyes followed those hands.

  “Damn.” Mia reeled back as Jaden leaned forward in his seat, yanked an arm from the control panel, and crushed a palm into his side. The muscles in his face tightened as specks of bright, red blood dotted the side of his form-fitting dark jacket.

  “Oh, God, you’re hurt.” she cried out, almost jumping from her seat.

  “I’ll be fine,” he snapped and went back to manning the control panel of his ship. “I need to get us through this asteroid field before I do anything else. I put the ship under stealth cover, so no one can track us. The Bermers are nowhere near us now, and I plan to keep it that way. But we’ve been hit and some of my key systems are off-line. I need to go very slowly to conserve power.”

  “Can I see to your wound?” She wanted to help in any way she could. This man had saved her life. The least she could do was tend to his injury.

  With a slight gesture of his hand, he waved away her concern. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “I’ve had some medical training,” she offered up, not wanting to take no for an answer. As a teacher of young children, she’d completed a series of first aid classes. While she hadn’t had to deal with anything like this, she could attend to his injury.

  At first, Jaden didn’t respond. Then, his thick, broad fingers pushed a series of switches on his console and bright light flooded the cockpit. He took a deep breath and reached for the bottom of his jacket. The prominent veins on the back of his hands pulsed as he peeled the heavy material away from his injured skin.

  “Let me help with that.” She unbuckled her seat restraints to kneel beside him. She winced when she uncovered a raw bloody gash right above his waist. “This isn’t nothing.”

  “It’s not too bad.”

  “It’s not life-threatening, but it must hurt like crazy.” With steady fingers, she poked the taut skin around his wound, trying to assess how deep it was. “Do you have a medical bag?”

  “In the mess area.” He gestured to a nook in the back corner of the ship.

  Mia hurried to find the supplies they needed. She yanked open a number of small compartments and finally dug out the device she was searching for. She pushed a few buttons and discovered it had no power. “What’s wrong with your soft tissue laser?”

  He groaned under his breath. “It’s not charged.”

  “Why?”

  “I haven’t needed it in years.”

  “Where can I…”

  “You can’t. We have no extra power to spare.” Jaden rapped his fingers on the panel in front of him. “There’s a healing gel and some skin paste in there. I’ll take care of it when we get through this field.”

  “I can take care of it now while you’re still navigating.”

  “It can wait.”

  “Please,” she pleaded, wanting to be useful. “I can help—and you’re still bleeding.”

  She wasn’t sure why he agreed, but a moment later, he nodded his head.

  Mia pulled a swab from the bag and squeezed some gel onto the sterile pad. For a moment, her eyes drifted back to the medical kit. The lettering on his first aid bag was Vantanese. Her rescuer was from Vanta, a small humanoid planet located halfway between Delphus and Old Earth. She’d never met anyone from Vanta before, but she was certainly glad to know Jaden.

  Mia crouched next to Jaden and patted the skin surrounding his wound. The laser had sliced right through his flesh. Thank goodness, it hadn’t hit any vital organs.

  Jaden winced under his breath as she dabbed thin layers of the healing gel onto his bloody wound. “Am I being too rough? I’m so sorry.” She grimaced as she slowed her movements but continued applying the necessary medicine.

  “No, you’re doing fine,” he reassured her.

  The healing gel, a slick, greenish goo, would disinfect and cauterize his injury, but at that instant it looked rather grotesque mixing with his bright-red blood. A few moments later, he stopped bleeding, and his wound appeared remarkably better.

  More confident, Mia thumbed through through the compartment in front of Jaden for the skin paste and smeared a thick coating on his injury. Satisfied with her work, she located a heavy bandage in the bag and affixed it over the wound, patting the bandage to secure it.

  Her fingers lingered on the lean, taut skin and the toned muscles of his stomach. Every millimeter was rock hard. Color flushed her cheeks as she considered other hard areas of his strong fit body. Her eyes drifted from his tight abdominals to the juncture between his legs, and her throat tightened when she swallowed.

  Jaden’s eyes never left his view screen, but she wasn’t the only one who’d been jarred by their contact. The slight catch in his breath when her hands smoothed over his wound told the tale. It wasn’t a gasp of pain, but a heated intake of air.

  “Are you finished?” He spared her a sidelong glance.

  Mia nodded her head and sat back in her seat, securing the restraints around her middle. The tips of her fingers tingled. She eyed his rigid body again. Did the warm skin where she’d touched him tingle too?

  Mia sat back further in her seat and closed her eyes. It was crazy to be attracted to the man who’d saved her life. He wasn’t here to be her friend or anything else. He was here to do a job, and her part was to be quiet and cooperate.

  “We’re getting toward the end of this asteroid field,” Jaden announced after what felt like an interminably long time.

  “Can I talk now?” She perked up in her seat. Not that she had any complaints, but she was bursting with questions.

  “Yes.” With eyes still on the view screen, his lips turned up.

  “How long have I been gone?”

  “Four Old Earth days.”

  Mia gasped. How could that be possible? “That long?”

  “I imagine they’ve had you sedated during most of that time. There are a lot of drugs in your system.”

  “I don’t remember much.” She shook her head. Everything since her kidnapping was a great big blur
. “I woke up maybe ten hours ago, but I can’t be sure.”

  Jaden pointed to a small blue-green planet on his interstellar display. “You were getting close to Santara. When I broke through their transmissions six hours ago, you were less than a qualit away from the planet. I imagine they wanted you to be somewhat alert before they turned you over to Rolof Walish.”

  “Who is that?”

  “The man who was intended to be your new master. Apparently he’s partial to blonde, blue-eyed, humanoid females.”

  She breathed, needing cool air to fill her lungs. “I knew it. The Bermers, they’re sex traders aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” he answered his voice thick with disgust. “Hold on a minute. We’re not quite clear of the field. I need to get us out of here, and then we can talk further.”

  Chapter Two

  When they finally broke through the asteroid storm, Jaden shoved away from the control panel, and took a deep breath. The intensity in his serious dark eyes was gone, but he still focused on his work. “Mia, I need to check in with my people and let them know I have you, and you’re safe.”

  “Not yet,” she gasped and jumped up to stand beside him. No one could know where they were. What if the Bermers found them? What if they took her back?

  He patted her hand, offering reassurance. “I promise this is safe. I waited until we reached the edge of the Balas sector. We need their help.”

  “But you broke through the Bermers’ transmissions.” She clasped her hands together, trembling, as a bitter chill ripped up her spine. “Maybe they can break into yours.”

  “They can’t.”

  The soft hum of Jaden’s vessel reminded her of the sluggish moan of the Bermers’ ship. She couldn’t go back there. “But what if…”

  “They can’t,” he interrupted. “Mia, you have to trust me.”

  Jaden faced his console and keyed data into the machine. After inputting his message, a reply appeared on the screen. Mia couldn’t decipher the encryption.

  “Tell me, please. What does it say?” She hoped they were letting Jaden know her kidnappers—and whoever had hired her kidnappers—had been apprehended and were, at that moment, being arrested and led away in heavy chains.

  “Hold on.” He raised his palm to stop her from speaking. After reading through the scrambled message at least twice, he keyed in a response and waited again for a reply. His jaw tightened as he read the return information. He murmured something unpleasant under his breath as his fingers balled in a tight fist.

  “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” She grabbed at his arm, and fear sliced through her gut. God, it wasn’t over. “They know where we are, don’t they?”

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that.” He shot her a quick glance, but then his eyes returned to the text in front of him.

  “Well, what is it then?” The silent type always made her crazy. Information, she wanted information.

  He took a deep breath and dragged his palm through his short dark hair. Finally, he met her gaze; something was very wrong. “I need to scan you.”

  She took a step backward, almost tripping over her feet. “Scan me?”

  “Yes.” He nodded his head, but added nothing else. A distinct tensing in his neck and shoulder muscles gave her shivers.

  “Jaden, you’re scaring me. What do you need to scan me for?” Could she have been injected with something deadly? No, no, that didn’t make sense. She wouldn’t be a particularly valuable commodity if she were dead.

  “I need to check you for implants.” He spoke in a calm, measured voice, but the hard line of his jaw tightened even more.

  “Implants?” Her voice cracked, and her pulse raced.

  He inclined his head again, but the tension in his face didn’t lessen. “They’re not life threatening. You’ll be fine.”

  “What kind of implants?” A moment ago she feared the Bermers had injected her with some kind of virus or toxins; now she didn’t know what to think.

  He paused before he answered. “The Bermers want their products ready to turn on—literally.”

  “Turn on?” Her brows narrowed as she took in his words. What did he mean by that? “I don’t understand.”

  “Take a deep breath, Mia.” He cleared his throat and growled. This couldn’t be good. “Apparently they implant a chip into a female captive’s vagina—obviously humanoid females—and it sends out a pulse that makes her very receptive to sexual contact when intimately touched.”

  Mia rocked back on her heels and almost staggered. She hadn’t been expecting anything like this. “You think they might have planted a chip in my…”

  “Yes.”

  Her throat contracted, but she still forced her words out. “When you say receptive to sexual contact, what does that mean? Please tell me everything you know.”

  “They want you to be very responsive when your new master touches you.” He failed to keep the agitation out of his deep masculine voice. “These pulses put you in a pre-orgasmic state from the slightest intimate touch—and they’re especially potent soon after insertion. Over time, your body would adjust somewhat, but you’d still be very responsive. Even if you fight it here…” His fingers skimmed her temple. “You won’t be able to fight it there.” His hand gestured to the juncture between her legs.

  Her lips trembled as she clasped shaking hands to her chest. “This is so horrible.”

  “It is,” he replied not hiding his disgust. His lips flattened to a thin, white line as the rest of his body remained rigid. “But you’ll get through it.”

  “I can’t…I don’t believe…” While most of her body still ached from being bound and held for days, she’d never sensed any discomfort or stimulation from that part of her anatomy. “I don’t feel anything like that. Maybe there’s nothing there. Maybe it’s a mistake.”

  “I’ll scan you, and we’ll find out.” Jaden reached into a low compartment of his instrument panel for a small, pocket-sized device. With steady hands, he input a code into the compact machine. “I need to program this to be able to search for the chip. Stand upright.”

  Mia stood as straight as she could as Jaden waved the device over her lower abdomen, scanning her body. It was hard not to shake as he took the reading. It didn’t take him long to get results. “Here it is.” His device provided a detailed schematic of her pelvic region. He tapped at a spot in the middle of his screen.

  There was a small, shiny square low in her groin area, something that obviously didn’t belong.

  She grabbed a handful of her long, tangled hair and twisted it behind her head. “I can’t believe this. How did they…?”

  “Manually.” His tone was clipped and laced with frustration. “After they knocked you out, they inserted this into your vagina right on top of your G-spot.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. “Oh, God, they touched me like that. Do you think they…?” She couldn’t say the words out loud. What if they’d raped her while she’d been unconscious? Her stomach roiled at the thought.

  “No, they wouldn’t want to risk damaging their merchandise.”

  Mia nodded her head, and shook off the thought of them inside her body.

  “We need to get it out right away. Our intelligence says if the chip is removed within seventy two to ninety six hours, you’ll have no lasting side effects. We don’t know when they inserted it, but we’re likely getting close to the deadline. If we wait…” He paused as if considering—then dismissing—other options. “It’s not a good idea to wait.”

  “What? What happens if we wait?”

  “Then it has to be surgically removed, and there’s a very good chance it will destroy your sexual nerves in the process.”

  “So, it’s an all or nothing kind of thing?” She spoke to herself more than to Jaden, but he nodded his head. “How do we…?”

  “Manually.” He cut her off. “I’ll need to retrieve it manually.”

  Manually meant he wouldn’t be using some nif
ty device that would remotely turn off the chip and disengage the pulse. Manually meant it would be just the two of them—with his hands touching her intimately. Manually was a terrible idea. “Isn’t there a station we can go to? Have medical personnel remove this thing?”

  “There’s not enough time.”

  There wasn’t much room in the cockpit, but Mia paced anyway. “So it’s just you and me?”

  When he nodded his head, her brain raced again. An awful thought occurred to her, and she stopped dead in her tracks. “You mentioned earlier that females with this chip are pre-orgasmic with the lightest touch. Does that mean…?”

  He didn’t make her finish asking the question. It was obvious what was on her mind. “You’ll probably climax several times before we finish.”

  “Oh, God.” She paced again and wiped her damp palms on the bottom of her jacket. “While I’m very grateful for your help, I don’t know you well enough to do this. I’m really not even comfortable discussing my vagina with you much less having you anywhere near it.” It was an inane thing to say, but the embarrassment of the situation was killing her.

  “This isn’t sex, Mia. I’m not trying to take advantage of you. I’ve got a job to do, and so do you. It’s as simple as that.”

  “I know. I know,” she sputtered, not wanting to make the situation worse than it was. “That’s not what I was saying. I didn’t mean to imply that you were.”

  “I realize this is awkward, but there’s no other way around it. You should be able to decide who touches you sexually, who brings you to orgasm. I’ll do this as quickly as I can. I know it’s hard to think of this as a medical procedure, but that’s all it is.”

  His matter-of-fact explanation sent her reeling. “Touching me like this. It’s only a medical procedure to you?”

  “It has to be.” His gaze darted around the shuttle before meeting her eyes again.

  “It has to be?” Mia repeated his words. “You won’t feel anything?” she pressed, inching closer to him.

  “My job is to…” His eyes shut for a moment as he let down his guard. As he swallowed, his Adam’s apple trembled. “You’re a beautiful, desirable woman. How could I not feel anything?”